Chapter 444

Chapter 444: Escape?

The flesh mountain gave everyone little time to react; its tentacles formed and immediately swept downward with savage roars!

Their targets were precise: some assaulted the black-armored knights who had just severed countless tentacles, while others shot unexpectedly toward the earlier severed tentacle fragments on the ground—moving even faster than the first group.

A blood-red maw gaped open, swallowing the gory half-tentacles with a sickening *crunch*. Then, as if absorbing nutrients, the devoured tentacles were channeled through the appendages back into the flesh mountain’s core.

“Destroy those severed tentacle fragments!”

Noticing the flesh mountain prioritized the grounded tentacles over them, the tallest black-armored knight—nearly two meters tall—bellowed in a low voice.

The surrounding black-armored knights subtly deferred to him, and closer inspection revealed his armor was darker and more lustrous than the others’.

He appeared to be the captain of this Adventurer Squad.

At his command, the team members acted instantly, fanning out to obliterate the severed tentacles.

Their method was straightforward: first drenching the fragments in specialized fuel, then setting them ablaze.

Flames erupted immediately, and under extraordinary heat, the severed tentacles rapidly charred into cinders.

“ROAR!!!”

Yet this move seemed to enrage the flesh mountain.

It abandoned reclaiming the fragments, instead hurling every tentacle toward the black-armored knights.

“AH!!”

“AH!”

“AHHHH!!”

Its cavernous maw snapped shut, swallowing knights whole—even devouring their armored mounts in a single bite!

With sharp *crunches*, the knights’ sturdy black armor finally yielded to the monstrous teeth.

Screams of agony instantly tore from these once-valiant warriors.

“Monster! A MONSTER!!”

“Its strength—unbelievable! My weapon shattered!”

“Run! Flee! How could we ever oppose… this?!”

Watching comrades who’d fought beside them moments earlier die effortlessly—and their own attacks proving futile—the knights’ resolve shattered. They scattered, some fleeing, others cowering, plunging into chaos.

Nearly all Class B armored knights fell helpless before the colossal tentacles. The scant remaining Class A knights barely defended themselves, landing only occasional blows.

Only the near-two-meter-tall black-armored captain held the massive tentacles in check.

“Class B, scatter and retreat now! Everyone else, stand with me! Hold the line and cover their withdrawal!”

The towering knight roared, charging tentacles with a spear thicker and longer than his comrades’.

“OOOOOH!!!”

His natural strength, amplified by a power-and-speed enhancing skill, made his arms bulge grotesquely. His spear tore through the air and—moving too fast to track—impaled a giant tentacle.

An explosive *thud* echoed as the spear’s impact blasted a gaping hole through the tentacle’s flesh.

Crippled by this devastation, the tentacle could no longer sustain its massive maw and abruptly slumped.

The knight captain did not let such a prime opportunity slip; after landing this strike, he gave the spear in his hand another flick before swinging it sideways in a heavy slash!

Under this relentless assault, the already teetering tentacle was cleanly split in two.

After dispatching one tentacle, the black-armored Knight Commander also remembered to destroy the severed portion that had fallen to the ground.

He certainly wasn’t reluctant to incinerate the longer segment still attached to the flesh mountain, but once severed, the flesh mountain retracted that part, rendering it beyond reach.

Moreover, during earlier engagements, he’d ordered his subordinates to attempt various specialized attacks against the tentacles—dousing them with flammable oil, applying potent toxins, or directly tasking the squad’s mage with offensive fire and ice magic…

Yet the results proved unsatisfactory. While alive, these tentacles released by the flesh mountain exhibited considerable resistance to both elemental magic and abnormal status effects.

By comparison, physical attacks yielded notably better results.

…

Back to the present.

Though the black-armored Knight Commander had severed one tentacle, the relentless barrage of attacks had taken its toll; his breathing grew increasingly labored.

Despite issuing commands to his men, their execution faltered amidst the chaos.

One by one, knights were torn apart by the massive maws on the tentacles, devoured into the creature’s body… funneled as nourishment toward the flesh mountain.

And with each knight consumed as sustenance, the already colossal bulk of the flesh mountain seemed to swell further, while the tentacles erupting from its form gained renewed vigor.

As one side waned and the other waxed… not only the black-armored knights embroiled in the fray, but also the observing trio of the ‘White Lion’ Adventurer Squad—Lloyd and his companions—and the battle-shirking quartet of the ‘Hyena’ Adventurer Team grasped the grim reality of the situation.

“What about the others? The Imperial Guards? The Sword King? Lloyd, didn’t you three encounter anyone else before arriving?”

The bespectacled man finally panicked, urgently approaching Lloyd and his group with his three comrades.

He’d just witnessed the flesh mountain’s mobility—it was easily a match for their own speed. And if the tentacles could evolve further, those thick supporting limbs might also transform…

Now they faced only two choices: abandon the commission immediately and flee far away, or hold their ground awaiting reinforcements…

“We set out ahead of the main group, same as you. We encountered no one else on the route. As for the Sword King’s whereabouts…” Lloyd shook his head, “…how could we possibly know?”

Though he disapproved of the Hyena Adventurer Team’s refusal to aid the ‘Black Ant’ Adventurer Squad—who had, in a way, saved them—the memory of his own group’s recent rescue by these four stifled his reproach.

“Are you planning to flee?”

“What alternative remains? We never anticipated such a monstrous entity. This commission far exceeds a standard S-class mission. Had we known its true difficulty, we would have refused it outright.”

The bespectacled man retorted.

“This surpasses what our Class A Adventurer Squad can handle. Matters must now fall to the Sword King, correct?”