The Hero of Nature had discovered the Cherufe's weakness, but victory still seemed elusive. Because they still had no means to kill the monster, and the battle was taking a toll on the Hero's body and world energy.
The Hero's determination remained unbroken, however he understood that, in order to defeat the Cherufe, he would need to come up with a new strategy, one that would take advantage of the monster's vulnerability without exposing himself to danger.
As the battle raged on, the Hero pondered all the options, considering every possible approach. He knew that victory was within reach if he persisted longer, but also the fact remained that one wrong move could mean his defeat.
The Cherufe continued to evade the Hero's attacks, its phase-shifting ability allowing it to slip away from the Hero's grasp at the last possible moment.
It was a frustrating and exhausting battle, one that seemed to have no end.
But the Hero refused to give up. With every passing moment, his resolve grew stronger. He would need find a way to defeat the Cherufe, no matter what it took.
"Alright… I will have to use it here." spoke the titan hero to himself and soon, the two suns in the sky suddenly sent massive beams of heat that saturated across the Hero's ginormous figure.
"Sage Art 2nd Form : Apollo's Decree!" roared the hero of nature as he gathered all his strength and the solar beams coalesced into a massive 800 meters long sword made of blistering heat, evaporating the clouds above and the seawater beneath.
Even Cherufe, a mythical creature of magma and earth element, felt terror.
As the suns began to set, the Hero's domain flared to life, a burst of energy that signaled the end of the battle.
The Hero knew that this was his moment, their chance to turn the tide of the fight.
With a mighty roar, the Hero charged forward, their body infused with divine sword granted by the suns in the sky.
The Cherufe tried to phase-shift away, but this time, the Hero was ready.
Bang!
Bang!
Dozens of those massive hands blocked its vision, some even attacking it at the same.
The Cherufe barely managed to phase shift through those attacks but now, the Hero of Nature knew how long it will be able to stay in that form and then be forced to materialize again.
The whole charging with that massive sword was a 'feint' move. His real objective was to create that one-second window.
Slash!
With a swift motion, the Hero struck the monster, his attack striking true the moment Cherufe returned to the real world.
BOOM!!
A shockwave shook the nearby 10 kilometers of sky and sea as the attack finally landed.
SCRAAAA!!!
The Cherufe let out a terrible cry as its crystalline form dissipated, vanishing into the crumbs that submerged into the sea below.
The battle was over, and the Hero of Nature had emerged victorious.
Thud!
He collapsed onto the ground of the seashore, exhausted but triumphant, knowing that he had saved countless lives by defeating the Cherufe.
"Finally... I can rest." spoke Hero of Nature, thoroughly exhausted.
Rumble!
Rumble!
But as fate would not allow him a victory… another unbelievable phenomenon occurred.
The presumably dead Cherufe came back to life, just as new when their battle began.
This time, Juno and others were simply terrified. They met an unkillable enemy and now, even the Hero of Nature failed to end it.
[Should I use my divine weapon?
No! It's not safe to use it here.
Especially not so close to other people and the cities within 100-kilometer radius.
I would be doing more harm than good even if I managed to kill this monster by using it. I would be destroying their lives instead.] he thought to himself.
The battle had drawn for over 6 hours and all the people in danger were evacuated. But for some reason, the Hero of Nature wasn't willing to his Divine Weapon even as the last resort for reasons unknown.
----------------
Swoosh!
At that very moment, a new presence arrived on the battlefield. A blue-furred fenrirborne warrior, covered in icicles on the shoulders and ancient runes across his body, stepped forward.
It was Kahn in his Atreus persona, who had been sent to the battlefield by Romulus.
But without surprise, he too was flabbergasted after looking at the battlefield of elemental hands and the Hero of Nature's titan form.
Vildred who was with Kahn, using his new abilities after the 3rd enlightenment, watched everything from the True Dimension.
[He is very impressive. Even the Heroine of Nature in my time wasn't as good at controlling all the natural elements to this degree.
I killed her very easily back then. But if it was him… I believe I would have to struggle a bit.] said Rathnaar, the Peak Saint.
Vildred, the Dragon Emperor also spoke sternly…
[Indeed. He has formed perfect synergy between elements despite not having 100% affinity to all of them or using the Elemental Fusion technique on himself.
Even for a chosen Hero, this is a truly great accomplishment.
Looks like there's another Hero in this generation who is as hardworking as you are despite the pain and suffering it causes to achieve such mastery and strength.] he spoke, showing approval to Hero of Nature after seeing his forms firsthand.
Atreus quickly absorbed what was happening and made his presence known by releasing his aura as a 4th stage saint to everyone. Revealing his real rank as a 5th stage saint was unnecessary here.
"I'm here to help." he spoke directly to Hero of Nature.
"What can you do? Even my strongest attack move can't end it." responded the hero.
"Keep fighting it. We can't kill it because of its abilities.
But we can stop it from using them." he spoke, offering a way to kill the mythical monster.
"How?"
"I have an artifact given by my master.
I can create a legendary rank formation by setting coordinates and artifacts. You only need to keep stalling for time." replied Atreus.
Romulus had already given vital information about Cherufe, the main reason why Kahn had to be here to help Juno.
But unexpectedly, he met the Hero of Nature instead.
In truth, the artifact he spoke of was actually a legendary rank formation taught by Vildred, especially useful against monsters and beings made of crystals that can phase shift. But it took time to set over a big battlefield.
And Kahn couldn't reveal that he was also a saint magician. So he used this excuse of installing an artifact.
"Alright, I'll do that. It's better to stop this thing here." agreed the titanic hero as it dodged another barrage of crystal missiles.
"But given your conditions… you might die if things don't go according to plan or we run out of time before the formation is set." said Atreus.
To his cautious words, the hero let out a visible smile.
"Soldiers should always be prepared to die for the country and their families at home.
Because our citizens, our families and children who are the future of the empire… We must protect them at all cost.
For that… I'm willing to make any sacrifice." he replied.
"Aren't you scared? You might die for real." spoke the blue wolfkin.
Yet another adamant response came from the ginormous knight hero.
"When you're fighting in a war, the first thing you have to kill is not your enemy…" his voice echoed as he spoke in a valiant tone.
"It's the fear of death."
The echoing words fell on Kahn's ears and for the first time, he felt that his mind was swayed by someone else's conviction to protect others.
This was a resolution of a true warrior and a knight who would fight for the defenseless even at the expense of their life.
This was the Hero of Nature. This was…
Maximus Gladius.
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