Yulia cursed the bastards who wouldn’t let her pull off a proper ambush while stomping on them.
Suddenly, she noticed something odd about the sensation under her foot.
Instinctively, she took a few steps back.
The next moment, a thick, foul-smelling black miasma erupted from the spot.
Even though Yulia had retreated in time, the stench still hit her like a truck.
“Blegh!”
Once the fumes dissipated, she turned her gaze toward #1.
Bro, why are YOU going berserk too?
A quick glance at his health bar revealed—good lord, he’s already down to half.
Well, going berserk at half HP made sense.
But the problem was, aside from the two hits she had just landed and the initial strikes at the start, this guy had been doing sneak attacks from the side. He hadn’t even been taking damage.
So how the hell did your health drop by half?
Looking closer, she noticed that the Chaotic Defiler’s HP was continuously draining while in its berserk state.
Then she checked No. 4, who had been berserking for a while—damn, already down to 40% HP.
The other two, however, were still in good shape, both above 80%.
She finally understood.
Chaos Defilers traded HP for power. Those black fumes were a manifestation of their energy—and their life force.
They were strong, undoubtedly among the toughest elite-tier enemies. But their strength came at the cost of their own vitality.
A tempting yet deadly poison.
Yulia shook her head helplessly.
She thought back to the Demon Hunter in the Tower of Heroic Trials.
The Demon Hunter was in a state of Chaos Corruption, which was slightly better than these Chaos Defilers, but many of their traits overlapped.
They all exchanged their lives for power.
But the Demon Hunters were her friends—heroes worthy of the Tower of Heroes.
As for the enemies before her now? No matter what circumstances they had faced, no matter what tragedies had befallen them—if they stood in her way as foes, she would cut them down without hesitation.
At most, I’ll mourn for you when it’s over.
“Enough. Now that I understand, it’s time to end this.”
With a wave of her hand, Yulia pulled out a hammer from her inventory.
She had looted it from the corpse of a bishop in the last church.
The weapon’s stats were nothing special—its damage output was about the same as her fists—but she liked the weapon.
[Item Name: Holy Light’s Justice (Weapon)
Rarity: Blue Rare
Description: The Holy Light is absolute justice. Should anyone doubt this, you may present them with Justice to earn their unwavering faith.]
“Justice has arrived!”
Yulia gripped the hammer with both hands, spun, and swung.
The berserk #4, who had just lunged at her, met the hammer face-first and was instantly sent flying back.
She pivoted and smashed downward—#1, who had just struggled back to his feet, was promptly buried in the dirt again.
“Next, you.”
#2 was still some distance away when he saw the hammer suddenly enlarge, its handle extending before it came crashing down toward his skull.
“Big Hammer—Eighty!”
BAM!
Eighty!
BAM!!
Eighty!
BAM!!!
Eighty!
BAM—!!!
Three brutal strikes later, #2 was also planted firmly into the ground.
Only one left. Yulia turned her gaze toward #3, who was still hesitating at the sidelines.
Damn, all my bros got wrecked… Maybe I should retreat?
Then he heard a voice call out:
“Let me show you all a little magic trick—big and small as you wish!”
Saying that, Yulia clenched her right hand.
The hammer, whose handle was 10 meters long with a head as thick as 2-3 meters, rapidly shrank until it was small enough to fit in her palm.
Once transformed, she hurled it straight towards #3.
Boom!
Headshot!
The hammer ricocheted into the air—but Yulia was already there, catching it mid-flight.
“Small Hammer—Forty!”
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
One strike at a time, she hammered #3 into the dirt as well.
With that done, Yulia balanced the hammer on her fingertip, spinning it playfully as she strolled to the center of the battlefield.
After a brief pause, she snapped her fingers and caught the hammer. “Should be about time.”
The moment she spoke, two furious roars erupted, accompanied by that nauseating black miasma.
The last two Chaos Defilers had entered their berserk state.
The roars seemed to act as a signal—all four berserk Defilers lunged at Yulia simultaneously.
Unfazed, she merely smirked in disdain.
Then, she tossed Holy Light’s Justice high into the air, watching as it reached its peak before beginning its descent.
The four Defilers, like ravenous wolves, saw only the petite figure at the center—a tender lamb ripe for slaughter—completely oblivious to the Sword of Damocles looming above them.
The next instant, Yulia vanished.
Holy Light’s Justice, now a hundred times its original size, came crashing down, flattening all four Chaos Defilers beneath it.
Yulia reappeared at the very end of the hammer’s handle.
“Really, you shouldn’t mess with Chaos power. Come, believe in the Holy Light instead. But first—let’s purify those tainted souls of yours.”
With that, she lifted the colossal hammer high.
“Ah, Holy Light!”
BOOM!
“Praise the Holy Light!”
BOOM!!
“Open your hearts to the Holy Light!”
BOOOOM!!!
After three baptisms of Holy Light, Yulia peered into the massive crater she had created.
At the bottom, there were no more Chaos Defilers—only dissolving puddles of black sludge.
A satisfied smile spread across her face. “How wonderful. You’ve finally embraced the Light.”
She wiped away nonexistent tears, stowed Justice, and clasped her hands together in prayer.
“Amen.”
Then she checked her points.
HOLY CRAP! This payout is insane!
Earlier, blowing up that massive magic circle had netted her 2,000 points. Now, each of the four Chaos Defilers was worth 1,000, bringing her total to over 12,000 points.
Looking at the second-place player—not bad, over 300 points. They must’ve cleared at least one Minor Exploration Zone as a team.
Sophia reappeared at some point.
After inspecting the crater, she gave Yulia a thumbs-up.
“Good job, Little Mei! Took out all four in one go.”
“Eh, it was nothing. Hey, Sophia—do you know where I can find more of these free points?”
She was quite addicted to grinding now.
“You want more?”
“Mhm! Not enough yet!”
“But… there aren’t any left.”
Yulia tilted her head. “No more big magic circles?”
“There were four in total. And, well… these four guys.”
“…”
So blowing up one circle summoned all four at once?
These monsters were no joke—if other players ran into them, even a full squad would’ve had a brutal fight.
“Fine. Let’s head to the church to rest, then move to the next location.”
But Sophia lowered her head sadly. “I’d love to, but… I don’t think there’s enough time.”
“Time? We’ve got plenty.”
She had only been in the dungeon for a few hours—there were at least 40 hours left before the event ended.
Sophia gazed up at the giant moon in the sky and whispered weakly,
“I mean… I don’t have time left.”