The SSS class adventurer is a divine cleric
Chapter 105: Grief

Chapter 105: Grief

Back at the Camp

The sky dimmed.

For a second, the blazing afternoon sun vanished, replaced by sudden twilight, an unnatural eclipse of pure darkness.

And then...

BOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!

The ground trembled. A blinding flash swallowed the horizon, followed by a thundering shockwave that made tents flutter and support mages stagger.

The air itself shivered.

The camp was far from the frontline, yet even here, the explosion had weight, like the heavens themselves had just been punched.

"What the hell was that?!"

"Was that... night?! Just now?!"

"No way, that aura... it... it felt like an epic rank skill! But, wasn’t there only one Epic on our side?"

"Is that even possible...?! A gold rank can’t do that! Can they?!"

A healer dropped the potion bottle she was holding, shattering it on the ground. No one even noticed.

Even the princess stood, eyes wide, one hand over her heart. "That... wasn’t Sairi."

Somewhere, high in the sky.

The wind screamed around him.

Gareth Vael dashed through the skies like a white streak of fury, pushing his speed faster and faster. The moment he’d heard mutants were attacking Hather, he knew the kingdom was either suicidal... or desperate beyond belief. Sending 30 or so gold ranks and 1 epic to fight against it.

But now?

Now he saw it.

The sky had turned dark.

Not a cloud or eclipse. Just pure darkness. And then, an explosion that split the sky in two.

And yet... it wasn’t from an epic. The aura, he recognized it.

It was Gold rank and there was no mistake. As a man who had lived through hundreds of battles he could not make mistakes even if he wanted to. And only a gold rank with legendary legacy could do something this strong and reckless. It was impossible for any gold rank to mimic this kind of power.

"BASTARDS!!!" Gerald shouted, voice laced with fury and dread. "You let a kid do THAT?!"

With a deafening CRACK—BOOM—BOOM—BOOM, he broke through the sound barrier ten times in a row, each shockwave slicing across the sky like thunderclaps.

He prayed he wasn’t too late.

At the Ruins in the centre of that explosion

The obsidian-skinned mutant staggered, smoke curling from the spiderweb cracks across its massive frame. From head to toe, its body was lined with damage it had never suffered before.

Pain. Real, true pain like never before.

It screeched in agony.

Then its eyes landed on the source.

Neal a few metres away from him.

Charred and unmoving. Barely clinging to life. But alive.

That... that boy had dared to wound it.

With a roar of unspeakable fury, the monster lunged forward, eyes gleaming with murderous intent. It would finish what it started. It would erase that life from existence.

But before it could even take another step...

WHAM!!!

A blur struck it in the chest.

So fast it couldn’t even see it.

So hard, the mutant was launched into the sky like a ragdoll fired from a cannon.

Its chest caved in with a deep crater and when the mutant noticed it , a human handprint was burned into its stone-hard flesh.

It wheezed in confusion, spinning mid-air, when did....

BOOM!!

Another flash.

Another punch.

Another shockwave.

Gareth Vael appeared in white and gold armor, wings of light extending from his back like blades. His fist crackled with pure kinetic force. And he wasn’t done.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

Each punch sent the monster flying further. It never touched the ground.

It couldn’t.

Because Gerald wouldn’t let it.

They blasted across the sky in a horizontal line, the mutant flailing like a broken meteor. Every time it tried to stabilize, another hit landed with precision, speed and brutality. It was no longer a fight.

It was a one way beating.

Far below, the ruins were silent. Everyone stared upward.

Sairi, bloodied and wide-eyed, whispered under her breath. " No... No, this... this is not possible."

Sairi collapsed to her knees beside Neal’s body, shaking.

What was she supposed to say to Derek?

’He sacrificed himself’

That would be utterly nonsense when they had her an epic rank. The guilt and fear gripped her throat, unable to say a word.

Tears welled up in her eyes and they fell like rain on a sad day. And as if the world was grieving with her, mourning for the loss of a heroic man, rain started pouring down. It started from small droplets and it eventually turned into a strong downpour.

Kaitlin stood beside her aunt, placing a hand on her shoulder. She didn’t know who this man was before they teamed up for this monster raid. But now she was clad she had met him.

The team tried everything they could to heal Neal and bring him back to life. But his lifeforce was only slipping away further to the unknown.

Then as they were about to give up. A strong powerful aura landed beside them and without a word she kneeled beside Neal and began healing with a powerful green glow enveloping Neal’s entire body slowly stabilizing his life force from slipping away but that was it no more progress.

One of the gold-rank rogues muttered, "Is there no way to save him...?"

Their new healer didn’t say a word, she just started crying. Nobody knows who she was or how she was related to Neal to show such emotion.

"No?" Sairi said, rising slowly, her voice a breathless tremor. Seeing the powerful healer like this made her lose all hopes again.

Out Over the Sea.

The mutant slammed into the ocean, the waters erupting upward in a massive geyser. For a moment, it lay there, dazed, trying to heal, to catch a breath.

But the sea around it froze.

Three auras ignited above it. Burning, Searing and Suffocating.

Gerald hovered in the air above, fists clenched, eyes cold.

To his left, two more epic ranks appeared out of nowhere.

The reinforcements had come.

And the mutant?

Was utterly done as it was alone.

The monster didn’t even get the chance to scream.

Gerald was already on it.