Chapter 85: The privilege of a handsome face is terrifying...
’The privilege of a handsome face is terrifying...’
Eiros thought this as he watched the woman in front of him, who seemed genuinely enchanted. He’d considered that something like this might happen, but he’d never actually thought through what he was supposed to do about it.
He gave an awkward smile, unsure what to say. Luckily, he didn’t have to say anything, because the gorilla monster, seething with rage, had already risen and let out a roar in his direction, forcing Eiros and the woman to snap back into focus.
"Miss, why don’t you head somewhere safer? I’ll play with this one."
The woman blinked back to herself. "Ah, right, but... will you be okay? That thing’s almost at the Luminous Tier..."
Hearing that, Eiros didn’t think too much of it. If he had to actually defeat the monster, he might lose. But if it was just about buying time—a mindless beast like that would never be able to shake him off.
His immortality made that possible. So really, there was nothing to worry about.
"Don’t worry, miss! I’m a free-roaming wanderer—if I were weak, I wouldn’t have survived this long."
Eiros smiled with his White Swan face, flashing white teeth, hypnotic enough to leave the woman utterly captivated.
"Ah, right... th-then you’d better make it out alive, okay?!"
The woman spoke a little too fast, but that was understandable, seeing as the gorilla was now charging straight toward them.
Eiros nodded. The woman put more distance between them and hurried off. As for Eiros, he drew his greatsword and turned to face the gorilla.
Crack—! Crack—!
"Ah, damn it... why does this thing look so hard?"
The smile on Eiros’s face turned strained for a moment. He’d struck the monster with his sword earlier, and it had genuinely felt like hitting solid iron that his blade—sharp as it was—simply couldn’t cut through.
Boom! Boom!
The monster charged at him, smashing through everything in its path. Then its body surged forward, throwing a lethal punch wrapped in shards of stone, packed dense and hard.
Blast—!
Boom!
Eiros dodged just in time, the building beneath his feet crumbling instantly under the sheer pressure of the gorilla’s punch.
The next second, the monster came at him again with terrifying speed. Punch after endless punch aimed to crush him. No matter where he dodged, the gorilla kept closing the gap, smashing the ground wherever he landed, carving out small craters.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Eiros darted across a rooftop, then leapt again, and found the gorilla had already smashed the exact spot he’d just left.
The next second, the gorilla roared and slammed its fist into the ground. A brief tremor rippled beneath Eiros’s feet before a spike thrust upward—sharp stone jutting straight up.
Eiros’s brow furrowed. He raised his sword, angling it beneath his own body. The stone struck the blade, the impact and friction sending Eiros flying up into the air.
At the same moment, he felt a violent gust of wind at his back. He froze for an instant, twisting his body around—a terrifying punch nearly caught him, so close that cold sweat broke out across his face.
But the assault didn’t stop there. The gorilla’s other free hand rose into the air, then came crashing down like a hammer of judgment.
Eiros drew his sword back, swinging it in a curved arc to catch the blow. The gorilla’s fist slammed into the blade, and Eiros felt firsthand just how monstrously heavy that punch was.
"Ugh...!" He winced, and before he even registered it, his body had already been sent flying backward. The force of the impact sent vibrations shuddering through his sword and straight into his body.
He coughed, slamming hard onto the empty street below. Then he saw the gorilla looming above him, arms crossed, ready to turn him into pulp.
Crack—!
Eiros drew on more Soul Essence, raising his sword once more to shield himself.
BOOOM—!!!
The blow crashed down onto his blade from above, and Eiros hissed as he felt an overwhelming surge of pressure, his legs cracking the ground beneath them from the sheer weight of the strike.
The next instant, his legs shattered the road beneath him entirely, forming a small crater around his feet.
Eiros’s face went completely rigid, every muscle in his body throbbing with pain. The gorilla roared, raising both fists high, and brought them down once more.
Kaboom—!!
"Gah!" The force of the blow drenched him in cold sweat, his whole body nearly buckling to its knees as his gaze dropped to the ground.
Of course—the only reason he’d once beaten a basilisk at the Luminous Tier was pure coincidence; that basilisk had already been dying.
But here, Eiros was facing an awakened monster whose raw power had been massively amplified by the corruption and demonic energy it had absorbed. Its tier was nearly at Luminous too, making the gap between them genuinely terrifying.
He was gasping for breath, the pressure suddenly intensifying until his knees buckled, the crater around his feet sinking even deeper.
This might well have been a horrific death for Eiros. But luckily, he didn’t have to find out, because just then, he heard a whistling sound in the distance.
Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!
Blast!!
A flaming arrow slammed into the gorilla’s face, erupting into a blazing explosion, smoke curling up despite the pouring rain.
The gorilla thrashed in fury, its grip momentarily slackening, and Eiros didn’t waste the opening. He drew on his soul essence and shoved back against the gorilla’s fist in a sweeping arc.
Slash!!
The gorilla staggered back several steps, its face still wreathed in smoke. Eiros didn’t waste a single second, surging forward immediately. It would’ve been nice to know where its Soul Core was so he could actually kill it.
But unfortunately, he had no idea, so he decided to just drive his blade straight through its heart. If he got lucky, maybe that would be enough to kill it.
Pierce—!!
Wild crackles of lightning surged through his sword as he plunged it into the gorilla’s chest. A horrific cracking sound rang out from its body as Eiros tore through its thick armor—but it wasn’t deep enough.
Eiros growled in frustration, the rain swallowing everything around him into an eerie hush. He yanked his sword back out, and the gorilla, vision restored, was already charging at him, fury written across its whole face.
Eiros clicked his tongue, taking several steps back. The monster kept coming!
But right then, he caught sight of something flaring in the distance, deep in the western forest!
***