The roar of the colossal beast echoed through the heavens.
After taking the curse beams unleashed by Cernunnos head-on, the pitch-black hound was not only unharmed, but had grown larger once again, as if the magic and curses contained within those beams had become nourishment for it…
Yet, even though the black hound's body had grown taller by several meters, before the incomparably vast frame of Cernunnos, there was still no difference at all—it remained nothing more than an ant… Merely leaning forward slightly toward the edge of the great chasm, Cernunnos's body caused the entire land to tremble. Cracks spread rapidly across the ground, collapsing into the abyss below, even beneath the charging feet of Blackmer as it rushed toward Cernunnos.
And yet, Blackmer showed not a hint of hesitation. Its massive body, nearly a hundred meters tall, suddenly bent its legs before springing forward, leaping straight from the chasm's edge onto the body of Cernunnos. It opened its blood-filled maw, dozens of meters wide, and bit fiercely into Cernunnos's flesh.
Those flame-coated fangs pierced easily into Cernunnos's hide, tearing away massive chunks of meat with ease, revealing beneath the surface the long-decayed, purplish-black flesh. The black hound showed no aversion—swallowing whole those dozens-of-meters-long slabs of meat into its belly.
After devouring that flesh, the mana around the hound suddenly surged. It raised its head and roared to the sky, pausing only for a brief moment.
Then, its body suddenly swelled again, while its jet-black fur grew even deeper in hue.
From around it, a thick and ominous fog began to seep forth, darker and more dreadful than the storm clouds that had once circled it. Meanwhile, the fiery clouds and lightning that had once surrounded its form seemed to diminish somewhat.
As if the feast had yielded it immense power, Blackmer let out another excited roar, then lunged forward again to bite deeper into Cernunnos.
With each bite, its body grew larger and larger, its growth now far more rapid than before. Soon, it had doubled in size, towering nearly two hundred meters high.
Perhaps because Cernunnos had long been dead, its body now thoroughly decayed, the titan did not even attempt to shake off or swat away the hound that gnawed at it. Unlike the typical colossal bosses of games, it simply continued firing its curse beams at Blackmer, unable to halt its frenzied devouring.
"It's still eating… It seems the Beast Calamity has even greater potential for growth than we imagined."
Watching this sight, Noknare could not help but murmur:
"Cernunnos's immense regenerative ability is basically providing it with an endless food supply. If this continues, could it possibly consume Cernunnos whole?"
At the same time, while tearing away Cernunnos's flesh, Blackmer seemed to sense something—it had locked onto a spot within Cernunnos's body, a place where mana was abnormally concentrated. With that, it gnawed its way purposefully toward that direction, eating as it grew, its feeding speed now gradually surpassing even Cernunnos's regeneration.
At that moment, perhaps sensing the growing threat, Cernunnos let out another earth-shaking roar. At the same time, several enormous dark-red spheres, each tens of meters in diameter, formed in the sky, radiating an ominous aura as they hurtled down toward the black beast.
Compared to the curse beams it had fired before, these crimson spheres were far more devastating.
The hound, which had endured the curse beams head-on, now let out a shrill scream as one of the massive crimson orbs struck it.
The indescribable force contained within the orbs crashed down mercilessly upon its body, knocking it off Cernunnos and sending it rolling down its hairy frame toward the abyss below. Only at the very edge of Cernunnos's body did it manage to dig its claws into the fur, halting its fall.
Clearly, these crimson orbs—let us call them curse meteors—contained not only the same concentrated curse power as the beams, but also immense magical force, granting them overwhelming physical impact.
As Blackmer clung to the edge, trying to climb back up, more of the curse meteors formed in the air, raining down toward the Beast Calamity to cast it into the abyss, never to return.
At that moment, however, two figures suddenly leapt up near Blackmer, intercepting the falling meteors.
One figure, after catching a meteor, immediately fell to one knee, unable to rise again. The other figure, however, with his small frame, shattered several meteors in succession before landing beside his fallen comrade.
Looking at Bogut, who knelt on the ground coughing up black blood, Woodworth, his own expression grim, still bared his sharp teeth in a mocking grin:
"…What's wrong? Just one curse meteor and you're already finished? And you dare claim to fight for the honor of the Fang Clan?"
"You… what kind of monster are you? Those things… they're like Mors's curse, or maybe even something more primordial. How can you withstand so many?"
Bogut coughed up more black blood, speaking with difficulty.
As a leading warrior of the Fang Clan, he was naturally resistant to the curses of Mors. Furthermore, that human, Grimm, had just performed some sort of miracle, protecting them somewhat from the curse and enhancing their endurance… Yet even so, for Woodworth to withstand the rest of the curse meteors alone—he truly was a monster among monsters.
"Hmph. Do you still not understand? The reason I lead the Fang Clan and not you is because our powers are fundamentally different."
Swallowing back the blood rising in his throat, Woodworth sneered coldly:
"To be honest, if you had chosen combat instead of ceremony when you challenged me for leadership back then, you'd have been dead many years ago."
"Enough talk. Another wave is coming soon. Can you still help me bear the burden for her?" He tilted his head back, grinning at the meteors forming above.
Thanks to their intervention, Blackmer had a brief moment to breathe. The Beast Calamity climbed back up onto Cernunnos's body, returning to its frenzied gnawing.
As expected, Cernunnos quickly condensed more curse meteors to stop it, but now every single one of them was intercepted by Bogut and Woodworth. For the moment, the Beast Calamity was unharmed, free to feast upon its prey… until the two warriors reached their limits.
"…Looks like this is the end for me."
Kneeling weakly upon Cernunnos's body, Bogut's eyes bled dark red tears as he spoke in exhaustion.
"To think you held out this long… I'll give you that much, Lion Head."
As Woodworth's voice sounded in his ears, Bogut felt a hand on his shoulder.
"Nothing much… I just see you differently now. If, after I die, anyone were fit to inherit the title of Fang Clan Chief, it would be you."
Before Bogut could process his words, an overwhelming force pushed him. He felt his feet leave the ground, his body flung away.
Having hurled Bogut aside in one final act, Woodworth finally succumbed. A mouthful of black blood sprayed into the air.
"…Looks like I've reached my limit as well."
Mustering his fading strength, Woodworth lifted his head, gazing at the black spheres forming in the sky. He muttered softly:
"…Your Majesty, are you watching?"
Then, bending his knees one last time, he launched himself like a cannonball straight into the falling orb.
A blinding explosion of magical energy erupted. And then… silence.
...….
"Woodworth's presence is gone."
On the land at the edge of the great chasm, Grimm slowly opened his eyes and spoke.
"…I see."
At his words, silence fell upon the group. Guinevere sighed softly, then bowed toward the place where the last curse meteor had exploded.
Cernunnos's body was so massive that from outside the battlefield, the others could only see the gigantic form of Blackmer. The two warriors who had fought by its side, Woodworth and Bogut, were almost invisible to them. Only through the constant flashes of exploding meteors could they guess that they still held the line.
But now, that too had ended.
After a brief rest, Grimm forced himself to his feet, walking toward the group:
"I've steadied myself a little. I think I can support you all once more… How is the situation?"
"Not good." Noknare's face was grim. "We thought that perhaps Blackmer could grow infinitely stronger by devouring Cernunnos, but now… see for yourself."
"Hm?"
Grimm turned his gaze toward the distant beast, which had already torn a gaping channel into Cernunnos's body. But upon seeing its condition, his brows immediately furrowed.
"The corrosion is that severe? Even the Beast Calamity cannot withstand that monster's hatred?"
At this moment, in their sight, the calamity-born Blackmer was still devouring. Its body, once less than a hundred meters tall, had now swollen to five hundred meters.
But its might was gone. Though Woodworth and Bogut had already intercepted all of the curse meteors, the black hound could barely move.
Its flesh was rotting away. Its limbs had long since snapped beneath the ever-growing weight of its swollen form, leaving it slumped upon Cernunnos's body like a pile of decaying meat. Only its endless maw continued to feed mechanically, while its body was moments away from rotting completely and merging into the carrion of Cernunnos.
It seemed that even the Beast Calamity could not escape the curse of Cernunnos. With the curses endlessly pouring into its body, piling up without end, its body was doomed to burst apart.