Chapter 272

Aims. Measures. Focuses. And charges.

A body consisting solely of a large eyeball and a long tail lacks any part capable of eating. The creature, Bimoa, has no mouth. Not even a fly has such a concept as a snout. This monster has never eaten anything before.

Instead, it lowers its long tail deep into the ground, piercing the flesh walls with its tail tip and connecting with tentacles to draw energy, sustaining its life.

This monster, parasitic on the Primal Body, cannot survive long if it leaves the Primal Body. Hence, it has never ventured beyond the Arctic to the continent.

As a living being, it’s full of flaws.

As a monster, it might seem unqualified,

But as a weapon, it’s flawless. No, it’s even better.

As long as it’s connected to the Primal Body, this monster fears nothing in the world.

Infinite resources lie just below. It only needs to take and use them.

Originally designed as a weapon, this monster fails as a monster but excels as a weapon. In the aspect of combat, it surpasses any monster.

As the monster focused its eyes and glared into the void, its pupils began to glow red. Soon, a flash of light burst from its eyes. A light so intense it could blind shot into the sky.

The sky was engulfed in light, and the ground boiled and melted. A giant monster emerged from the depths, glaring at the airborne creature. Without hesitation, it gathered light in its eyes again. If the attack didn’t work, it simply prepared for the next one. Instead of feeling frustration, it gathered energy and attacked once more.

[What, what is this thing!]

Another beam narrowly missed the dragon. Even though it dodged, the intense heat made the dragon panic. It was clear that even a dragon wouldn’t fare well if hit directly by that beam.

The beam monster, Bimoa, did not roar.

Because it has no mouth.

It did not puff up its body to threaten its opponent.

Because it has nothing that could be called a heart.

This monster weapon, devoid of fear or terror, focused solely on one purpose: eliminating intruders. Even if it meant its own destruction, it wouldn’t care.

Because—it not only lacks a brain but also any semblance of a survival instinct.

It dodges attacks, but not because it feels pain or suffering.

It’s merely the mindset of a weapon aiming to minimize damage and maintain combat capability. In fact, calling it a mindset is a stretch. It simply moves as ‘programmed.’

-There’s no sense of life at all! No, it doesn’t even have what you’d call emotions…

“Could it be that your abilities are lacking? It clearly looks like it’s trying to kill us, yet you say there’s no sense of life?”

-As my Saint, have you forgotten what kind of god I am? If it falls under the category of evil, it’s generally under my jurisdiction. Regardless of strength, if it harbors ill intent, I can sense it immediately.

Oberta screamed. She was the one who eerily sensed when Grimudo harbored murderous intent towards her. Deception, deceit, murderous intent, schemes… those who are good at such things are usually good at detecting them. The more experienced, the quicker they can see through them.

But the thing before her—it doesn’t even have what you’d call emotions.

-What the hell is that grotesque thing? I thought I knew enough about the monster legion, but could such a monster still exist?

“Probably due to a lack of information.”

-Have you forgotten what kind of followers I have? Most of them live in the shadows of the continent. Living in such places, there’s hardly any information they don’t know. Especially about monsters, which are prone to rumors!

If such a monster had ever appeared in the world, it couldn’t have been hidden. Even if it had, rumors of a giant eyeball monster roaming around should have remained.

The Oberta faith is popular among those who engage in shady activities, and some of them have exceptional information-gathering skills. It’s almost impossible that they missed something like this.

The conclusion is one. The monster before us is the secret monster that Demon King Grimudo kept hidden until the end. Monsters are far from ordinary creatures, and when they appear in the world, they bring great shock and terror.

Thus, there’s no monster that isn’t infamous. They’re that widely known.

The Manticore, famous for eating people. The Hydra, renowned for its potent venom. The Phoenix, so active it earned the title King of Monsters. The Cockatrice, feared for its petrification ability. The Death Worm, which destroyed a nation. Few on the continent don’t know their names.

Some monsters are especially famous, their names appearing in folk tales and legends. But not Bimoa. While other monsters roamed the continent, gaining fame, this monster remained dormant in the Polaris Fortress, always faithful to its duty.

It was natural for the party, seeing this giant eyeball for the first time, to be struck with shock and terror. Its appearance was so unlike a monster, it didn’t even seem like a living creature. The dragon, with its years of experience, was the first to snap out of the shock and shout.

[If that’s not a monster, what is? More importantly, do something quickly. That thing charges its beams too fast; just dodging is exhausting. At this rate, we’ll have to flee!]

It’s not just its strange appearance that’s the problem. The real issue is that we know nothing about it. How strong it is, its weaknesses, its abilities and limits—we can only find out by confronting it directly.

And from what we’ve seen so far, that monster is strong. Extremely strong!

“Even you, a dragon, can’t handle it?”

[If I could just buy some time to prepare a transcendent spell, why wouldn’t I be able to handle it! But there’s no time for that now. Honestly, I’m on edge even now!]

Beam.

As the name suggests, it’s a beam of light. Its speed is literally the speed of light. Dodging it after seeing it is absolutely impossible. Seeing the light means it’s already entered your eyes.

If it’s already hit, where are you supposed to dodge? By the time you try to dodge, your body would already be roasted.

So if you want to dodge, you have to predict where the pupil is aiming and evade before the beam is fired. Dodging the beam itself is impossible for anyone, not just a dragon.

In short, you have to predict one step ahead and dodge, but even if your calculations are off by a bit, you’ll get hit. And if that happens, who knows what will occur.

If you want to know, you could try getting hit, but if you end up getting cooked, it’s a big problem. Seeing the steam explosions every time the beam hits the ground, the thought of taking a hit and enduring it vanished. The dragon had no intention of doing so, even if it meant death.

[Ordinary magic doesn’t work either! The power it’s emitting is too strong… it acts as a barrier. To bypass it and land an attack, you’d need transcendent magic.]

Instead, they tried a long-range magic battle. As the dragon scratched its claws, a magic circle appeared in the air, and dark arrows of darkness shot out.

Each arrowhead was imbued with the essence of the deep abyss, and black light flashed as the claws were raised. But when Bimoa blinked, the dark fragments were pushed back by the light pressure, and even those were swept away by the beam, leaving no trace.

As the dragon gathered magic power and chanted a spell again, an ice storm swept in, engulfing Bimoa entirely. Several factors determine the power of magic, and ‘where’ the magic is cast is quite an important factor among them.

If such a spell were cast in a volcanic area, the magic power would be consumed, and the power wouldn’t be as effective. But this is the Arctic. A place naturally suited for ice magic. Even a small amount of effort can yield great results with nature’s help.

Moreover, it wasn’t cast with a naive mindset. They put their full effort into the spell. While not on par with transcendent magic, with the help of the surrounding cold, it achieved comparable power. In the raging cold, ice shards harder than steel flew at fierce speeds. Each one could easily pierce armor and even castle walls.

But—the output is different. Just as a person breathes in and out, Bimoa naturally released heat from its body. Even in the Arctic, getting close to it felt warm, almost hot, creating its own airflow.

A shield of heat blocked the cold’s intrusion. The sharp frost shards gradually melted, turning into water before they could even reach the monster.

As if the concept of fatigue didn’t exist, Bimoa’s movements hadn’t slowed since it appeared. The speed at which it charged its beams was still immense.

They needed a plan.