Chapter 641: The Battle with the Troll Emperor

The Troll Emperor stood still, carefully watching their movements.

The heavily armored trolls formed a defensive wall at the front, while the regular trolls attacked Adam and Eve. Beyond that, there was no movement—

No, that wasn’t entirely true.

When the Troll Emperor raised the scepter in its left hand, a rift in space opened before it, and from within, more trolls began to emerge.

“Does this mean they’ll keep spawning endlessly unless we defeat the Troll Emperor?”

Tauro frowned seriously as he watched.

Tauro’s group had planned to reduce the number of trolls in the great hall by sending the humanoid puppets Adam and Eve to the front before engaging the Troll Emperor. But now that the Emperor had begun summoning reinforcements, they had to reconsider.

“I’ll mow down the small fry.”

With that, Aeris began chanting a spell.

“—Got it. I’ll take down the heavily armored trolls in the front and carve a path to the Troll Emperor. Ragune and Zion, move with me! —Garo, I’m counting on you.”

Tauro said meaningfully.

“Gau!”

The wolf-shaped puppet Garo barked in response and carried the gatekeeper elf to the rear.

Since Garo shared thoughts with Tauro, no detailed explanation was needed.

The next moment, Aeris finished her chant and raised her ebony staff toward the ceiling. Thunderclouds gathered above, and lightning flashed violently throughout the hall.

“Crush the enemy—Thunder God’s Hammer!”

As she shouted, a massive hammer-shaped bolt of lightning descended from the clouds toward the Troll Emperor.

Even in such a large hall, this spell was overwhelmingly powerful in an enclosed space.

The sound alone was deafening, but its destructive force far surpassed Aeris’s other magic.

The aftershock struck the surrounding trolls, electrocuting them and turning them into charred remains in an instant.

Like a living serpent of light, the lightning rampaged through the hall, striking every living thing in its path. It even reached Tauro and his allies, but Ragune blocked it with [Area Defense: Aurora Shield].

“You really shouldn’t use that here!”

Tauro shouted over the thunder.

“Huh? What? I can’t hear you!”

Though surprised by the spell’s power herself, Aeris pretended not to hear him over the noise.

Once the storm subsided, Garo immediately sent Adam and Eve charging forward without even confirming the enemy’s state.

The smoke obscured visibility, but this was exactly the kind of situation in which the puppets excelled.

Normally, Ankh would clear the smoke with wind magic and charge in, but this time the strategy was to send Adam and Eve ahead.

Ragune and Zion followed close behind.

Given the power of Aeris’s magic, it seemed possible all enemies had been wiped out—but they still needed to confirm whether the Troll Emperor was alive. If it was, they had to press the attack.

Meanwhile, Tauro drew the Bow of Artemis and channeled magic into it.

He prepared his most powerful shot: [Aurora Arrow].

As the smoke cleared and Tauro shared Adam’s vision, he saw that the Troll Emperor was completely unharmed. A vanguard of heavily armored trolls had apparently shielded it from the blast.

Tauro fired immediately.

The arrow became a thick beam of light and shot straight toward the Troll Emperor.

Although multiple trolls stood in its path behind layered shields, [Aurora Arrow] pierced through them and continued toward the Troll Emperor—

Or so it seemed.

Just before reaching its target, [Aurora Arrow] struck something unseen and vanished.

“!”

Tauro was slightly surprised, but quickly switched tactics. Judging that magic was ineffective, he nocked a physical arrow instead.

Meanwhile, Adam engaged the enemy front line, while Eve charged straight down the path Tauro had opened to the Troll Emperor.

The Troll Emperor readied its magic sword to meet her.

At the moment of impact, Eve unleashed a zero-distance Shockwave.

This had been planned in advance through shared thoughts with Tauro.

The Shockwave was a guaranteed killing blow that ignored defensive magic.

Surely even the Troll Emperor couldn’t escape unharmed.

But the Emperor had already seen this technique through the eyes of the Troll Grand General that had fallen to it.

As Eve released the Shockwave, the Emperor stabbed its magic sword into her chest.

Still, the Shockwave didn’t fully dissipate. Part of it struck the Troll Emperor.

Its crown was blown off, and its scepter went flying.

Blood spilled from its mouth; the Troll Emperor had clearly taken heavy damage.

Without missing a beat, Zion dashed in like a streak of black light.

She spun and delivered a full-force palm strike to its abdomen.

“Guh!”

The Emperor doubled over—but swung its sword at Zion.

Ragune jumped in, blocking it with her shield and thrusting her spear at its face.

The Emperor barely dodged, and Ragune quickly grabbed Zion and leapt back.

Zion couldn’t move for a moment after her full-power strike.

Then another physical arrow from Tauro’s Bow of Artemis shot forward, pierced the Emperor’s chest, and embedded itself in the rock behind it.

Yet the Troll Emperor still didn’t stop.

It raised its sword again to strike Ragune and Zion.

This time, Garo attacked.

Swiping aside the sword with its foreleg, Garo bit into the Emperor’s neck—

—and unleashed another point-blank shockwave from within its jaws.

This time, the full impact hit.

Blood burst from the Emperor’s body as it dropped to one knee.

Still, it didn’t fall.

Its endurance was monstrous.

It even counterattacked, slashing Garo and sending it flying.

Ragune and Zion retreated and prepared to finish it—

But Tauro was faster. Using [Teleportation], he closed the distance to the Troll Emperor in an instant.

Switching from the Bow of Artemis to Modified Shortsword Tauro and the Guardian Doll Round Shield, he struck.

Without channeling magic, he relied purely on his enhanced strength and drove the blade upward through the Emperor’s lower jaw toward its head.

Yet the Emperor still didn’t fall.

It seized Tauro with its left hand and hurled him away.

Tauro was about to crash into the rocky ground, but Pella cushioned the impact.

Tauro was smiling.

“Finish it!”

At Tauro’s signal, Aeris cast [Lightning Needle Strike] at Modified Shortsword Tauro, which was still embedded in the Troll Emperor’s head.

The lightning traveled through the blade and burned the Troll Emperor’s brain.

Even the Troll Emperor couldn’t endure that.

Its massive body froze—

—and then collapsed to the ground.