Lord: I can see loyalty.

Before the giant ape's roar had even faded, its massive body had already begun to move, its speed far exceeding its enormous size!

Instead of coming directly to Vio, it suddenly raised its giant foot, wriggling with black mud, and stomped it hard on the ground.

Boom!

A violent tremor shook the ground, and a shockwave, visible to the naked eye and mixed with debris, spread outwards!

Several Cooper hunters and Southern Militia who were fighting the barbarians had no time to dodge and were knocked to the ground by the shockwave. The black mud splattered on their skin and immediately made a "sizzling" corrosive sound.

"Get out of the way! Don't get that mud on you!" Albright roared, shoving aside a somewhat stunned young hunter beside him, but getting his cheek grazed by flying stones.

"Vio! Draw its attention for us! Valerie and I will try to find a weakness!" Albright shouted at Vio, while the faint forest aura emanating from her body suddenly intensified.

The effect of [Forest Shelter] was activated, causing his muscles to bulge. He and Valerie attacked the giant ape's relatively slender ankles from the left and right flanks.

The giant ape seemed to have sensed the two small insects' intentions, and its thick arm swept horizontally with a speed that surprised everyone!

Valerie, with her amazing flexibility and speed, narrowly missed the mud-covered arm, the spear tip piercing the giant ape's arm.

The spear tip sliced ​​through the surface of black mud, but only left a shallow mark on the thick skin underneath, failing to penetrate deeply at all!

The force of the recoil made Valerie's wrist go numb, forcing her to leap backward.

Albright was even more valiant. He seized the brief opening created by the giant ape's swinging arm, roared, raised his spear, and with all his might, stabbed it fiercely into the back of the giant ape's knee!

puff!

This time, the spearhead finally pierced through the black mud and thick skin, penetrating a small section.

But the giant ape acted as if it had only been bitten by a mosquito, letting out an impatient growl. Its injured leg suddenly sprang forward, and terrifying force traveled through the spear shaft.

Albright felt a sharp pain in her arm, the spear slipped from her grasp, and she was thrown backward by the force of the impact.

"No! The skin is too thick! Normal attacks are almost useless!" Valerie shouted urgently, her attacks having little effect on the tough fur and muscles.

Just then, a gray-black figure shot towards the giant ape's front like an arrow released from a bow!

It was Vio!

Vio understood that someone had to hold the monster back head-on, otherwise, if it charged into the already somewhat chaotic commando formation, the consequences would be unimaginable.

By pushing the sand breathing technique to its limit, the dark color of his skin became more pronounced, and his strength and speed reached their peak through the breathing exercises.

Instead of engaging in a direct confrontation, he maximized his speed advantage.

When the giant ape saw this enemy who had killed the priest and dared to charge at it, its scarlet eyes flashed with ferocity, and it slammed its giant paw down on the head!

But just before the giant hand was about to strike, Vio swiftly slid sideways, almost skimming the ground as he passed the giant ape's hand!

Vio was already close to the inside of the giant ape's forelimbs, which was one of the giant ape's blind spots!

The will of the Southern Realm swung in his hand, and with a sword that gathered all the power of the breathing technique, he fiercely stabbed into the relatively soft area on the inside of the giant ape's forelimb, where the black mud was also thinner!

puff--!

The blade felt significant resistance, but the power from the breathing technique successfully pierced through the skin and muscles, and foul-smelling blood immediately gushed out!

"Roar—!!!" The giant ape let out its first painful roar since the start of the battle! It violently swung its injured forelimbs, trying to throw Vio away.

But Vio had already used the momentum to draw his sword, his body retreating like quicksand, widening the distance once again.

The wound wasn't deep; it might have been just a superficial injury to the giant ape's massive size, but it was enough to enrage it and fix its attention firmly on itself.

The giant ape was indeed thoroughly enraged. It ignored Albright and Valerie who were harassing it, and did not charge into the formation. Instead, it stared at Vio and strode after him.

Its arms flailing wildly, grabbing stones and even corpses from the ground and hurling them at Vio, while simultaneously slapping with its giant paws, trying to crush the small insect in front of it.

Vio took a deep breath and pushed his speed to the limit, weaving and dodging amidst the flying projectiles and terrifying palm strikes.

Each time, he narrowly dodged while precisely counterattacking, exploiting the openings left by the giant ape's attacks to inflict wounds on the ape that, while not fatal, continued to wear it down.

The mutated giant ape grew increasingly violent, but its movements gradually became chaotic due to its anger and accumulating pain.

However, just as Vio dodged one of the giant ape's attacks, the giant ape seemed to have anticipated his landing point, and its thick, pillar-like hind leg kicked Vio's chest with a speed far exceeding its previous strike!

This change of tactics was extremely fast, and it seemed almost impossible to avoid!

"My Lord Earl!"

"Count Vio!"

Exclamations of surprise rang out from all around.

Vio only had time to cross his arms to protect his chest, and he focused all his energy on the sand breathing technique on his upper body, making the darkness on his skin even more intense!

boom! ! !

A dull, loud bang erupted in the air!

Vio felt a violent jolt in his arms, and was thrown backward, crashing hard into the trunk of a large tree, causing leaves to fall in a rustling sound.

To his surprise, apart from his arms being numb and sore from the shock, his body was completely unharmed!

A clear red mark was left on his chest, which was covered with dark skin, but no blood was drawn!

The defensive power provided by the first level of the Sand Breathing Technique far exceeded Vio's expectations!

The giant ape seemed to be stunned for a moment. It knew the power of its kick, but the little insect in front of it was completely unharmed.

While the giant ape was momentarily stunned, Albright and Valerie seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!

"Now!"

Albright roared as he and Valerie had somehow risked climbing a leaning tree and were now positioned behind the giant ape's neck!

Valerie hurled the spear in her hand with all her might toward the giant ape's enormous eye.

call out--!

The spear struck its target precisely. Although the spearhead was not sharp enough, at such close range and with all its might, it still pierced deeply into the giant ape's eye socket!

"Roar! Roar! Roar!" The most agonizing roar of pain echoed through the mountains and forests!

The giant ape's remaining eye instantly became bloodshot. It wildly flailed its arms, descending into madness. Its massive body staggered and swayed, leaving it wide open!

And Albright leaped down, and the king descended from the sky!

He gripped the spear tightly with both hands, concentrating all his weight and the power of the forest's protection into this one strike!

"Go to hell!"

With a roar, the spear pierced the side of the giant ape's neck, which was exposed as it tilted its head back and howled in agony!

With a "plop," the spearhead pierced deep into flesh, and dark red blood gushed into the sky like a fountain!

The giant ape's screams abruptly stopped, and its massive body stiffened abruptly.

Vio had already rushed back. His eyes were fixed on the giant ape's huge wound. He leaped up, and with all his might, he used the Southern Will in his hand to slash along the wound left by Albright!

A flash of sword light.

The grotesque, massive head, still impaled with a bone spear, was completely severed from its neck, rolled over, and crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.

The headless, massive torso shook a few times before collapsing with a deafening roar, causing the ground to tremble and sending up clouds of dust and black mud.

"We...we won!"

The militiamen and knights locked eyes and then burst into cheers.

The black mud on the lifeless giant ape corpse on the ground began to evaporate and disappear.