Chapter 115: Chapter 115: Kalamus House (13)
The battlefield was chaos. Sparks of mana, steel, and bone clashed in a storm that shook the entire chamber. Jax’s [Timeless Moon Arrows] cut through the air like silver streaks, but the skeletal spider moved with terrifying speed, dodging each shot with twisted, precise movements.
The monster wasn’t stupid. It had realized Jax wasn’t using [Lunar Dusk]. The reason was obvious: at the start of the fight, he had charged the ability, but Kalamus had forced the battle close to the girls. An explosion there would have wiped them out too. Jax had canceled the attack, grinding his teeth in frustration.
"Damn it..." he spat, rushing forward again.
The spider roared, its eight bone legs hammering the floor like war drums. Jax closed the distance, relentlessly harassing it so it couldn’t strike at Manaia, who stood with her staff raised high, chanting a spell filled with divine power. She just needed a little more time.
The fight turned brutal. Jax dodged purely on instinct, his reflexes pushed to the limit. But without offensive skills, he couldn’t counterattack. A direct blow smashed into his chest, slamming him into the wall. Stone shattered around him as he hung from the rubble, blood pouring from his mouth.
The spider shrieked with a demonic echo and lunged to finish him off.
Then Manaia stepped forward. Her voice thundered through the chamber, her staff glowing like the sun.
[God... Bless!]
A wave of divine light swept across the hall.
Everyone’s bodies burned with renewed strength: HP, SP, and MP restored instantly, while strength and magic doubled. It was as if the goddess herself had descended to bless them.
But the price was devastating.
Manaia collapsed to her knees, and a moment later, her body fell completely limp. She had poured out every drop of mana. She was unconscious.
Kalamus’s eyes blazed with hatred as he saw Jax now dodging with renewed vitality. The monster screeched furiously and immediately changed targets. It rushed at Manaia, who lay passed out on the floor.
"No!" Jax roared, using [Nocturne Temporal Dash]. His figure flickered like a shadow flash, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye. But even with that speed, he was too far. Way too far.
The beast was already upon her.
Lira, who was running to lift Manaia, saw it first. Without hesitation, she shoved the unconscious healer out of the monster’s path.
She could have dodged easily.
But she didn’t.
"Liraaa!" Zela screamed.
The impact was brutal. One of Kalamus’s sharp legs pierced straight through her torso, and with a single motion, ripped her body in half.
Silence fell over the chamber.
Every pair of eyes widened in horror. No one moved. No one breathed.
The sacrifice had just unfolded before their eyes, and none of them could believe what they were seeing.
"Liraaaa!" Jax’s broken voice thundered across the chamber as her body fell in two blood-soaked pieces onto the stone.
Jax clenched his teeth in rage, raising his hands in desperation.
"[Sanctuary of Life]!"
A dome of silver light descended over Lira’s body. The divine energy wrapped around her wounds, trying to stitch together the torn flesh, to regenerate what had been destroyed.
But it didn’t work.
Jax realized it instantly. The sacred mana unraveled the moment it touched her wounds. Lira’s body trembled under a sickly purple glow: Kalamus’s venom, a cursed corruption draining her life nonstop, blocking any chance of healing.
"No, no, no, damn it!" Jax snarled, pouring more mana into the spell, his eyes bloodshot with desperation. "Heal, damn you, heal!"
But nothing happened.
At that moment, a mocking laugh echoed in his mind. A woman’s voice, sharp and cruel, cut into his thoughts like a blade.
"You foolish brat... do you really think divine skills are that simple? You have no faith in me. You’ve used my gifts without respect, like they were nothing but weapons. And now you dare demand more..."
Jax’s eyes widened in horror.
"You... you’re...?"
The voice of the moon goddess grew colder, sharper.
"You are no longer mine. As of this moment, I strip you of my blessing."
Suddenly, Jax felt a gaping emptiness tear through his chest. It was as if something warm that had always been with him was ripped away in an instant. His body trembled, collapsing to his knees.
In front of his eyes, notifications appeared:
[Blessing of the Gods Removed]
[You have been expelled from the faith of the Moon Goddess]
"NOOO!" Jax roared, his cry so visceral it shook all his companions to the core.
Panic swallowed him whole. For the first time in his life, he no longer felt the divine protection that had always been his anchor in battle. It was like a piece of his very soul had been torn away.
"Jax, fall back!" Lyra shouted, running to Lira with her hands glowing with healing light.
Leila appeared beside her, summoning a desperate healing circle. But the curse still lingered, devouring Lira’s flesh, snuffing out her light little by little.
"It’s not... it’s not healing!" Leila cried, tears streaming down her face.
The spider roared, charging with terrifying speed. Each step made the bones beneath its body creak and splinter. It gave them no room to breathe. Every time a healer tried to channel magic, Kalamus forced them back with a sweep of its legs or a wave of foul mana.
"He won’t let us heal her!" Elnara shouted, firing explosive arrows that barely deflected the monster’s strikes.
Chaos consumed the group. Everyone fought for a single goal: to save Lira. But Kalamus, with his demonic laughter, seemed to savor every second of their suffering.
Kalamus halted for a moment, his many legs stabbing into the stone like blades. His skeletal body leaned forward, hollow eyes glowing with sickly light. A dry, grating laugh filled the chamber, freezing their blood.
"Pathetic..." His voice scraped like metal on bone. "Is that all you can do? A useless prayer, a healing that will never work... and a child crying because his goddess has abandoned him."
Jax clenched his fists, trembling with rage and despair.
"Shut up, you damn monster!"