I Am Not Goblin Slayer

Chapter 396: The Punishment of Beasts

To be honest, if Gauss's various attributes hadn't reached an exceptionally outstanding level, and if he hadn't become more sensitive to evil forces due to receiving Mete's blessing, he might not have been able to accurately identify the aura emanating from Fisher right away.Speaking of which, he still had a mark within his body.

That was from before he had leveled up to become a professional, when he was still just a low-tier adventurer.

During a mission to clear out a ratfolk nest beneath a church, the ratfolk priest who ultimately chose to commit suicide had left a mark on him, using his own life and the lives of his clan as the price.

At that time, it had also mentioned the existence it worshipped behind it—Vespertilia.

He had later asked Mete for help in removing it. Unfortunately, Mete wasn't skilled in that kind of purification, so he had only used some methods to conceal it a bit.

"So, like that ratfolk priest, is Fisher also a pawn of that mysterious existence?"

Gauss signaled the other members of the Red Dragon Guild not to approach.

Even though he didn't know whether it was an evil god, a demon, or some kind of devil, it was definitely not benevolent. Ordinary people coming into contact with power of that level was no different from seeking death.

"Ksss ksss ksss!"

Fisher's already tattered body, which Gauss had shot full of holes, suddenly trembled. Then, a dark green energy flow surged from within his body, enveloping his entire form. It looked like some kind of wraith coiled around his torso.

Then he slowly floated up, looked at Gauss, and let out a twisted laugh.

His current appearance no longer seemed human; it was closer to the humanoid evil creatures in the common perception.

No wonder, after seizing power, he had tried to kill Luna and the others.

"Be careful."

Aria also signaled the Red Dragon Guild members to move further back.

At the same time, Serlandul quickly cast blessing spells on everyone present, to prevent any toxic aura from dispersing and infecting the group.

Behind Fisher, the dozen or so elite members he had brought along had varying expressions.

Several urgently pulled on their reins, their eyes flickering with terror as they looked at Fisher, this second-generation Guild Leader.

Anyone could see the eerie strangeness of Fisher's current state.

After exchanging glances, their concern for their own lives overwhelmed the loyalty built over a short period. They swiftly turned their mounts around and galloped away another few hundred meters.

"Fisher, you finally couldn't hide it anymore, could you?"

In the distance, Luna also witnessed Fisher's transformation, though his current appearance had indeed exceeded her expectations.

Because on the night Wolf died, she had only arrived at the main tent at the last moment and hadn't witnessed the entire process, so she didn't know what special method Fisher had used to kill Wolf.

She had originally thought Fisher was just an ambitious schemer.

Murdering Wolf was just to seize the Fang of the Pale Wolf. But now it seemed this guy had some backing behind him.

Gauss lowered his gaze, looking at the few among Fisher's people who were accelerating and charging toward his direction.

Were they really that loyal? Even though Fisher had already revealed his true form.

However, after they got closer, he quickly sensed a similar, though much weaker, energy aura from them that shared the same origin as Fisher's.

Their transformations weren't full-body, only manifesting locally—like one arm, or the head, torso, etc.

The transformed areas of their bodies displayed an energy form of black and green intermingling.

So they were accomplices. No wonder they weren't panicking but instead accelerating toward the battlefield—more accurately, targeting the Red Dragon Guild members ahead.

Luna and the others had also arrived at the Red Dragon Guild's side during this time, clearly not intending to stand by idly.

Whether for personal grudges or for the sake of their own safety, she had to help the Red Dragon Guild. Otherwise, even if she ran away, Fisher and the others could still come after her later.

Gauss looked at the fully transformed Fisher, his expression still relatively calm.

Was this Fisher's reliance?

According to the intelligence Luna provided, this guy seemed to have had his eye on him since the beginning of the year.

He had also been constantly undermining Guild Leader Wolf, trying to incite Wolf to deal with him.

There seemed to be another puzzling point here.

He had killed the Fang of the Pale Wolf's Guild Leader Wolf a few days ago, indicating his strength was considerably higher than Wolf's.

If he wanted to investigate the secrets on Gauss, he could have just acted himself; there was no need to continuously urge a helper he could easily kill.

Moreover, why hadn't he come directly before, yet now couldn't restrain his urge to act?

Just because, after seizing control of the Fang of the Pale Wolf, he gained a few more transformed helpers?

Unless... he had only recently obtained this power.

This would also explain why he could lie low and remain subordinate for the past few years, yet now couldn't conceal his ambition.

Once a person gains power far exceeding their current level, it's easy for their mindset to become unbalanced, to become inflated.

"However, this still isn't enough."

Although Gauss was very curious about who, or what opportunity, allowed the Fisher before him to obtain this power that shared the same origin as the ratfolk priest's, thinking he could defeat him relying solely on this parasitic energy was still underestimating his current capabilities.

Furthermore, ordinary people might find this negative energy troublesome, but that definitely didn't include him.

After all, he still possessed Mete's blessing and held Godwater in his hands. Despite Fisher's arrogant appearance, during the brief earlier attack, the energy parasitizing his body had already been eroded a small amount.

He possessed the power to kill Fisher; it was just a matter of expending more effort.

But, was it with this parasitic energy that he swiftly killed the Fang of the Pale Wolf's Guild Leader Wolf?

Despite Luna's intelligence suggesting it was highly likely Wolf was killed in an extremely short time, he still had some doubts.

The aura of the transformed Fisher before him at most reached the peak of level 10 strength; it didn't give him too strong a sense of threat.

Even if in this state he might indeed be stronger than Wolf the warrior, killing a level 10 warrior in just tens of seconds, with Wolf offering almost no resistance, clearly required more than just peak level 10 strength.

At the very least, it would need to reach the Transcendent stage.

For example, taking himself as an example, going all out, swiftly killing Wolf was possible.

So, did Fisher still have some special method hidden?

Gauss activated the Dragon Breed power within his body.

Instinct told him that the racial talent Second-Stage Ghostification didn't seem to have a restraining effect on the current Fisher.

Fortunately, his current methods were diverse. Whether it was the furnace-like potent power of Dragon Breed, his body after Mete's blessing, Godwater, or the racial talent Encountering Evil Hour, all could counter his opponent.

This was also a terrifying aspect of Gauss's current strength.

He was too well-rounded, almost without weaknesses. No matter the enemy, he could almost always find suitable countermeasures. For the vast majority of adventurers, this was inconceivable.

"Control Water."

He cast a spell, recalling the Godwater.

Although the distant Fisher, feeling the power within his body far exceeding normal levels, was getting carried away, when he saw the shimmering blue water light flowing over Gauss's body, a trace of subconscious fear flashed deep in his eyes.

Deep within those water currents indeed lurked an extremely malicious power that seemed capable of erasing the divine power within his body.

Fortunately, he hadn't acted impulsively before. Now he had mastered that divine spell!

It was precisely by relying on that technique that he had easily killed that clueless Wolf.

Seeing Gauss's body flash with blue light, he knew the other was casting the spatial magic mentioned in the intelligence.

It's coming!

His heart tightened.

The next moment, Gauss, flashing at high speed, had already arrived not far in front of him!

And the blue-gold water spear in his hand had condensed into a form resembling a slender knight's lance. As he thrust forward—

The tip of the blue-gold knight's lance instantly shot out with a sharp point.

"Pfft!"

The sharp lance plunged straight into his head, precisely striking a certain condensed knot within his brain.

After the knot exploded, it slowly reformed in another location.

"Too weak! Too weak!"

"The current me cannot be killed!"

Fisher, with his head pierced, was still eerily repeating.

Gauss certainly knew he was just putting on a tough front. The natural divine power at the spear's tip had already erupted, continuously eroding the evil energy parasitizing his body.

As long as it was completely annihilated, the seemingly undead Fisher would return to being mere flesh and blood.

His eyes were fixed on Fisher.

He noticed Fisher seemed to be preparing some kind of spell.

Although he didn't know the exact effect, what the enemy wanted to do was what he needed to prevent.

While using Draconic Language to cast an upcast Magic Missile, countering the dark energy arrows Fisher cast mid-air, he continued casting Dimension Door to rapidly close in on the constantly retreating Fisher.

The Fisher before him was indeed considerably stronger compared to a normal spellcaster. At the very least, he seemed able to maintain extremely fast casting even while injured and under various abnormal statuses.

"Counterspell!"

He uttered a spell, utilizing the power of Precision. This magical effect swiftly and precisely descended upon Fisher. Unfortunately, the moment it activated, it was instantly blocked again by that evil force.

Just as he wanted to thrust his lance again to pierce the re-formed energy knot in Fisher's brain, a triumphant laugh from Fisher reached his ears.

At this moment, Gauss knew the biggest card he held might have already been played.

The vigorous dragon blood within his body, squeezed by the dragon heart that pumped like a blood pump, was continuously delivered throughout his body. Gauss's body became as hot as fire.

This potent power was enough to repel the vast majority of evil energy.

This was the strength of dragons as a Legendary race.

In the material plane, a powerful ancient dragon could even be unafraid of deities.

While Gauss's Dragon Breed talent was obviously not at the ancient dragon level, the Fisher before him was merely an evil servant.

"Curse Divine Spell, Beast's Punishment!"

For some reason, Gauss seemed to hear a certain voice in his ears.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Then darkness fell before his eyes.

Soon he saw countless figures appearing around him.

"This is—"

Gauss's body suddenly froze in mid-air. Some kind of invisible yet powerful locks seemed to manifest around him, layer upon layer stacking on his body, firmly trapping him.

Not far away, looking at the motionless Gauss, Fisher's face finally revealed a triumphant smile.

"Hahahaha!"

His laughter was so rampant.

So much so that below, Aria, Luna, and the others, who were fighting several captains with localized energy transformations, looked up uneasily.

They quickly discovered Gauss "locked" in mid-air.

"How could this be?"

Aria's pupils rapidly contracted.

The situation in the sky seemed clear. Gauss was locked by some unknown force, while the instigator Fisher remained free to move about.

"I have to help Gauss!"

Aria grew anxious.

Although her level wasn't very high, the gradually awakening Elf Bloodline within her body and that sublime yet extremely faint Moon Goddess power could still help her suppress those evil forces.

"Be careful."

After uttering a warning, Albenia didn't have time to watch Aria, who had transformed into a peregrine falcon. She just swung her giant axe, forcing back Aria's original opponent.

"Let's go down together, both of them!"

In the sky, Fisher, who felt the matter was settled, wasn't in a hurry to take the next step. Or rather, he needed Beast's Punishment to continue destroying the power within Gauss's body. Otherwise, he didn't dare get too close, fearing Gauss might have some means to counterattack.

So he just kept his distance, silently admiring the layers of beast-form locks stacking on Gauss's body—a sight only he could see—pressing down on Gauss like a mountain.

It was a far more spectacular scene than with Wolf, like a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.

"What have you done to Gauss?"

The peregrine falcon transformed from Aria approached Gauss, injecting her own energy into his body. Unfortunately, she felt no change.

Her power seemed insufficient to help Gauss resolve his situation.

"Beast's Punishment."

"This is the supreme divine spell bestowed by the deity. Give up on that idea."

"No adventurer can escape the judgment of this divine spell."

"Under the effect of this invincible divine spell, the resentment, unwillingness, and pain of monsters killed by one's own hands in the past erupt in the form of a curse."

"I heard your Guild Leader really enjoys slaughtering monsters, right?"

"The more he kills, the harder it is to break free from the spell."

"This is the weight of life!"

"Perhaps his body will explode like a balloon, with a 'pop'."

Fisher was unwilling to get close to Gauss, worried that the restraining power on him might also erupt when Beast's Punishment fully manifested. Looking at Aria attempting her futile efforts, he generously explained.

After all, everyone present would be killed by him.

Wolf had lost his ability to resist under the effect of this move. Unfortunately, this divine spell consumed divine power. The stronger Beast's Punishment's effect, the more divine power it consumed.

Otherwise, he might have chosen even stronger targets.

However, after killing Gauss, he would definitely obtain even greater power.

Just as he was immersed in imagining what powerful reward the deity would grant, his eyes suddenly stared fixedly at Gauss, as if he had seen a ghost.

"H-how... how is this possible?"

He sensed that the omnipotent divine power within his body was rapidly draining away.

If that were the case, it could still be understood as Beast's Punishment about to fully erupt within Gauss. But what unsettled him was that, in his eyes, the locks coiled around Gauss's body were rapidly crumbling.

"No! This is the power of a divine spell!"

He had heard that Gauss had killed a massive number of monsters in the past two years, possibly tens of thousands.

Before leaving Falim, he had asked someone to inquire; it should be true.

Gauss usually loved taking on large numbers of low-level commissions or assaulting nests with high monster populations.

In his mind, this was a killing technique specially selected by the deity and bestowed upon him to target Gauss. It should have been able to crush Gauss effortlessly.

"You seem surprised?"

At some point, Gauss had regained his senses. He opened his eyes, looking at the utterly terrified Fisher.

As he moved his limbs, those invisible locks completely shattered with a crash.

The earlier curse eruption had indeed arrived with overwhelming force.

However, its actual effect wasn't as powerful as Fisher imagined. The resentment and other negative emotions coiling around him were incredibly dense, forming locks that restricted his body in the short term. Yet, they strangely feared him like a ghost or deity, never daring to actually attack him.

When he realized this, those seemingly ferocious resentments dissipated like wraiths exposed to holy light.

Of course, this was also perfectly reasonable.

When alive, they couldn't pose a threat to him, this monster slayer. How much of a storm could their wills stir up after death?

If the numerous resentments belonging to goblins, dog-headed creatures, and others could act autonomously, they would probably avoid him like the plague.