I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

Chapter 706: One Body, Thousands of Powers

The Glacial Reaper Claw moved toward Roderick’s chest.

But White Oblivion did not dodge or turn his body to defend himself, instead, he only raised the index finger of his right hand and pointed it toward Lian.

A huge pressure was released, a concentrated force that targeted his entire body in an instant.

’What?’

Young Vorhelm did not have time to fully examine the attack.

The pressure struck the World-Devourer Bastion armor.

The ancient plates absorbed a large part of the force, but the impact was so powerful that his body was thrown off the ground at high speed.

Lian was thrown backward, passed through the remains of two broken pillars, and crashed into a tall stone structure in the southern part of the battlefield.

The stone behind him split apart, large pieces fell around him, and the two black wings behind his body opened and stopped his movement before a second impact.

A few moments later, he landed on the stone ground, his chest hurt beneath his armor.

Lian placed one hand on the front of his armor and took a short breath.

Damn it.

But instead of staring at the place where he had crashed, his gaze immediately returned to White Oblivion.

The man was still standing beside the cliff, he had lowered his hand and returned his attention to the ritual, and he had not even looked to see where Lian had landed.

He stared at this behavior for a moment, and then something became clear in his mind.

’That pressure...’

The nature of that force was familiar.

Not exactly like the physical strength of a human, but similar to the force the Forsaken Apostate had released when using Atlas’ Burden of Heaven.

But White Oblivion currently only had Roderick’s body, and Lian knew very well that Roderick had never possessed such power.

’Wait.’

His gaze remained fixed on the man’s familiar face.

Roderick...

The memory of one of his abilities returned to his mind.

Roderick had an Innate Skill connected to his own class that allowed him to borrow the power of his subordinates.

Lian had known about the existence of such an ability before, but until this moment, he had found no reason to connect it to the choice of Roderick’s corpse.

Now everything had a different meaning.

He looked at the Forsaken Apostate, then at Vesperis, and finally at the thousands of Withered standing below the plateau.

Two Unholy and thousands of Withered...

All of them are under this Calamity’s command.

He slowly stood up.

’So that’s why he chose Roderick.’

Roderick’s body was not just a way for White Oblivion to appear physically, his class ability allowed him to use the power of his subordinates.

And now, a creature that controlled thousands of prisoners and two Unholy could gain access to their abilities through that same skill.

Of course, Lian still did not know what limitations this power borrowing had, after all, he did not have Roderick’s class and had not read the skill’s description.

But what he had experienced was enough to reach an initial conclusion.

’This body is much more dangerous than it looks.’

Roderick could not use the full potential of that Innate Skill.

But a Calamity was different, that thing could enslave an entire world and borrow the power of all its inhabitants.

How terrifying would this creature’s power become then?

Lian spat out the small amount of blood that had gathered in his mouth and then raised his head.

White Oblivion was still looking at the ritual and continuing his work, as if Lian’s attack had only been a short interruption to something much more important.

Young Vorhelm looked at him for a moment.

Well.

’Now at least I know why this body is valuable to you.’

And without wasting time, he moved toward the battlefield again.

From the eastern side of the plateau, the sound of two blades clashing was heard.

Vesperis had attacked One with his swords.

His semi-transparent shadow performed the next movement slightly earlier and forced the ant to raise his upper hand for defense.

But this time, One was not fooled, and instead of dealing with the shadow, he slammed another hand into the ground.

[ Aftershock Hand ]

The remaining pressure from the previous cracks was released in part of the stone ground and changed Vesperis’s foot position.

The Inquisitor was forced to adjust the path of his real strike, and this short delay allowed Two to approach from the right.

One of the wolf’s eight eyes turned golden.

[ Bone Mountain ]

Bone structures rose from the ground and limited Vesperis’s movement.

But the Inquisitor immediately swung his red sword, and gray and red flames passed along the bones and broke several large sections of them, then he moved east with two short steps.

Lian examined the situation from farther away.

One and Two can still keep him busy, but the main problem remains, White Oblivion was continuing to sacrifice the Withered without the slightest hurry.

And as long as the two Unholy servants controlled the paths forward, reaching the Calamity again would be difficult.

At that moment, Rindo’s voice came from the southern side of the plateau.

"Lian!"

Young Vorhelm turned his gaze.

Rindo, Alicia, and Noah were farther away, behind a group of broken pillars.

The Bone Minstrel was also still playing his guitar in the same area.

His melody was slowly reducing the effects of their previous injuries and maintaining the temporary combat power enhancement of the Colony members.

But the music could not change the situation on the battlefield by itself.

Lian moved toward his companions in one movement, however, before reaching them, he noticed something strange.

Alicia took several steps toward the eastern path.

Vesperis, who had been fighting One and Two until that moment, immediately turned his head.

Then he changed the direction of his attack.

He did not move directly toward Alicia, instead, he stood in a position that blocked the girl’s path through the eastern section.

Alicia immediately stopped when she saw the two swords, and Rindo also lowered the tip of his spear.

Neither of them intended to duel an Unholy, but although the Inquisitor was only a few dozen meters away from them, he did not launch a deadly attack.

Lian watched the creature’s behavior for a moment.

Vesperis could have targeted at least one of the three humans with one of his fast attacks and killed them on the spot.

But instead, he had only blocked their path.

Young Vorhelm turned his gaze toward White Oblivion.

’So our presence really is important to his plan.’

To make sure, he watched Vesperis’s behavior for a few more seconds.

When Rindo tried to move from another direction, the Inquisitor changed his position again, but he still had not pointed his sword toward Rindo’s body.

’He doesn’t want to kill them.’

This conclusion was certain.

And considering White Oblivion’s previous words, another possibility formed in Lian’s mind....the Calamity needed them alive.

He slowly landed beside Rindo.

His three companions immediately looked at him.

"That creature won’t let us pass from this side."

"I saw."

Lian glanced at Vesperis and then looked at Alicia and Noah.

"I think we have an opportunity here."

"An opportunity? All I see are two Unholy waiting to tear us apart." Noah asked in disbelief.

"One of them still hasn’t done that, even though he had the chance."

Rindo thought for a moment and then added.

"You mean they don’t want to kill us?"

"That’s how it looks, for now, they’re trying more to keep you here than to eliminate you, he definitely needs us alive."

Alicia frowned.

"Why?"

"I don’t know yet, but I want to test it one more time."

Rindo looked at him.

"How?"

"From a safe distance, move toward the eastern passage, not toward him, but just enough to make him think you’re trying to leave the plateau."

Noah glanced at Vesperis.

"And what if he decides to actually attack this time?"

"You retreat immediately, I’ll stay nearby too." Lian answered without hesitation and then continued.

"None of you will enter his sword’s range, and if you feel for even a moment that you can’t get out of the attack’s path, we’ll cancel the plan."

Rindo nodded.

"Understood."

Alicia also agreed despite her worries.

Noah let out a short sigh.

"I really hope your guess is right."

Lian glanced at him.

"Me too."

And then he sent a new order through Hive Dominion.

’One, Two, when Vesperis moves toward them, limit his path back.’

’Three, Four, keep the knight busy.’

He then turned his gaze toward White Oblivion.

’Now let’s see how much you need them.’

Rindo was the first to move, he came out from behind the pillars and advanced along the eastern section of the plateau.

Alicia moved a few steps behind him, and Noah watched the path behind them with his umbrella.

Their distance from Vesperis was still large, but the Inquisitor noticed their movement almost immediately.

He lowered his blue sword and then moved toward the eastern passage with several quick steps.

One moved from the left side.

[ Fault Hand ]

A long crack formed along the stone ground.

Vesperis was forced to change his path, and at the same time, Two approached from the other side.