CHAPTER 115: YOUR WEAKNESS IS...

There was a massive red gem on the monster’s forehead. How the hell had he missed it? However, Xu Tao felt like this was the first time he had seen it.

"...No."

Rather than noticing it just now, it was more like his mind had been unconsciously ignoring it all along.

"Some sort of cloaking technique was applied to it, and it’s been undone..." he commented, scanning the surroundings.

Traces of a formation were drawn on the forehead, indicating what kind it had been. However, the middle of it—where the caster should’ve stood to maintain the technique—was empty.

"Going this far to hide this place means..." Xu Tao drew his sword, then casually stabbed the middle of the red gem, which was as wide as he was tall. "This is an important place for this monster!"

His deduction was spot on.

The Dual-Soul Wraith, Pharsa, had been keeping the cloaking formation running the entire time. However, she’d left her post as soon as Xu Tao came close. A mistake born from her hatred toward him—and her impatience.

GROOOOH!

The Leviathan roared in pain as the gem shattered, revealing a hole beneath it—like the breathing hole of a whale.

The gem wasn’t a core—it was a hatch. A gateway to the monster’s real weakness!

"Brain, heart, or some sort of other core... whatever it is, I’m coming for it!"

He jumped down the hatch without hesitation, diving deeper into the monster’s insides.

To his surprise, the space inside resembled a cathedral—spacious, cavernous, and made entirely of pink, pulsing flesh.

"An alternate space inside its body?" Xu Tao guessed. "Still doesn’t change what I need to do."

Right. His task was simple: look for anything that looked vital, and destroy it!

"Hmm?"

But just as he took his first few steps, he noticed an anomaly.

The surface of the "meat" floor... no, even the walls and ceiling were releasing a gooey white substance. Feeling a wave of foreboding, he quickly used Cloud Steps to move out of the way.

It looked harmless—almost like saliva pooling around a hungry mouth. But when he dropped a piece of bread onto it, it didn’t soak—it sizzled, then melted into black sludge.

A foul brown smoke rose, smelling like month-old sewage stew—so bad he wanted to rip his nose off and bleach it.

"Shit, that’s nasty..."

He’d been right to avoid it.

But this also meant his movements were now limited. Touching that transparent-white digestive fluid would mean getting burned. And furthermore...

"Grrr...!"

"As expected, there’s them." Xu Tao grinned as a few figures popped out from the meaty walls.

Monsters that looked like a mass of tentacles—like tumbleweeds made of dozens of wriggling appendages.

Xu Tao drew his sword and took a deep breath, focusing.

"Looks like it won’t be easy getting through them...!"

With a lightning-fast dash forward, and a sword swing that could seemingly cleave the entire passage in half—he began.

🔷🔷🔷

"Quick! To the castle!"

"Don’t push! Just move with the crowd!"

"Monsters! Help...!"

Down below, chaos was unfolding.

Almost all the non-combatants had already taken refuge inside the castle, but a few stragglers remained. Worse still, more than half of the defenders were occupied holding back monsters!

"Shadow Spear!"

"Blossoming Palm Strike!"

"Strike! Hit them hard!"

The third squad worked hard, focus-firing on one monster at a time. But due to the level difference, even their combined might wasn’t enough to burst down the monsters. They had to launch three or four volleys per target—far too slow, considering how many monsters were swarming them.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

"Shit! What the hell is Master Tao doing?!" Yifa grumbled while pulling the trigger.

Only the Revolver had enough power to kill monsters in one hit. However, its limited firing rate forced her to shoot, fight manually, then shoot again on repeat.

"Argh! H-Help!"

A nearby defender—a stout dwarf holding a shield as tall as he was—fell. A flying monster swooped in, claws raised, aiming straight for his face.

"No...!"

Yifa extended a hand, but even if she cast her Shadow Technique now, it’d be too late. Her revolver had just entered cooldown, leaving her... helpless to do anything but watch.

Right as the claw was about to land—

"Get your dirty claws off our people!"

—a shadow flashed into view with great force.

The spear, adorned with a long white flag, waved wildly, sending nearby monsters to their deathbeds. None were spared.

"You! Stand up and run!" The figure—the little saint Jehanne—commanded. "Leave the rest of the monsters to me!"

"..."

Yet instead of moving, everyone just stared at her.

"...Ah."

Jehanne had just remembered her attire—and the consequences that came with it. Seeing the intoxicated expressions on everyone’s faces—regardless of gender—she could already imagine what would happen next.

"Ah, right!" Just then, she recalled a move she could use.

With swift movements, she returned the arm cuffs of her Bunny Suit into her storage ring. With that, the Bunny Set was now incomplete—causing the Charm bonus to be canceled.

Right, as per its description, the Charm bonus was only applied for wearing the "full" set!

"W-What was I..."

"Shit...!"

"Ugh, I... I...!"

Even so, the chaos wasn’t entirely over. Most of the men either leaned forward or dropped into a crouch, as if mourning their fate.

"Huh?" Of course, Jehanne had no idea why they all reacted like that at the same time.

Still, snapping them out of her "Charm" was more than enough.

"I said evacuate now!" she repeated. "Go on, quick!"

She didn’t stop moving even as she shouted. By now, hundreds of monsters had swarmed them. With such numbers, even she would struggle to protect others while fighting.

BANG!

"From behind her, Yifa’s revolver cracked—firing a bullet that whizzed past Jehanne’s cheek.

She could feel the shockwave from its path—just barely missing her—and striking down a monster that had snuck up behind her!

"I’ll cover your back!" Yifa grinned.

Though thankful, Jehanne scoffed. "...Although I’m not convinced, I’ll leave the evacuation to you!"

At that moment, an unusual combination was formed.

Jehanne stood at the front, waving her long spear and turning monsters into loot boxes with each flash. Yifa, stationed behind her, shot down any threats that got close to the evacuees—or anything Jehanne happened to miss.

Their synergy was surprisingly effective... even considering that Jehanne had been trying to kill her not long ago.

With their help, the evacuation proceeded as planned.

GROOOOOH!

"Huh?!"

But up above, the situation didn’t look good.

A gigantic shadow covered the entire walled area with ease, gradually getting thicker, darker.

After looking up in curiosity, everyone froze. The gigantic Boss Monster, for whatever reason, began falling to the ground—

straight toward the heart of their little walled city!