Chapter 81: Not Human

The instant I called out to Carlo, ten thousand lightning bolts struck down from above—overhead, the wyverns were obliterated! The sky was torn apart by lightning, and thousands of wyverns, maybe more, tumbled one after another to the ground.

Blinding light and deafening thunder swallowed everything.

I crouched low, squinting, trying to open my eyes—scattered across the ground were the lifeless bodies of wyverns, motionless, dead.

"What the hell happened!?"

Luca was bewildered beside me. He scanned the area, checking on the others. Freyja up in the sky seemed fine. And then—...

"Gojo?"

While everyone else was hunched over, Gojo stood upright, staff raised. Had Gojo just used magic...? If so, I've never seen a spell cover this much ground before.

Gojo raised his staff toward the remaining dozens of dragons on the ground.

"Lightning Flame!!"

A crimson lightning strike tore through the dragons! After being struck, they erupted into flames, burning fiercely—then collapsed, dead on the spot....That was a combo spell...?

Three dragons hidden among the rubble lunged at Gojo! Spellcasters are weak in close combat. "Danger!" I shouted—but then—those dragons were sent flying backward, as if hit by an invisible force.

"What the hell? What did you do!?"

Luca stared at Gojo, utterly confused.

"Too fast to see... I just punched them bare-handed."

"Bare-handed!?"

Luca looked even more stunned by my words. The dragons that had been flung away didn't so much as twitch.

"Hey, Leo! Something's off here."

"Yeah, Gojo used 'Qigong Martial Arts.' Wang said he actually has the 'Monk' profession... seriously..."

"That can't be right! A Great Mage is an advanced magic user. A Monk is an advanced martial artist and monk—combined, their职业 skill should be over five!!"

Exactly right, Luca. If we had special weapons like we do, that’d be different—but Gojo doesn’t carry anything like that.

And 'Composite Magic' and 'Qigong Martial Arts' are both considered high-level职业 skills. I’ve never seen anyone actually use both properly... never...

"Luca... bring Greese here."

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"Whoa... taking down that many Wyverns? Gojo really is strong, huh?"

After the Dragon was dealt with, Carlo spoke up.

"Of course. Gojo could handle something like that without a problem! Still, Gojo—did you use offensive magic too? Why didn’t you say anything?"

True... I didn’t see him use offensive magic in front of Wang... but why’s Wang so proud all of a sudden?

"Hey, he’s a 'Mage,' so using offensive magic is normal, right?"

"Gojo’s a 'Monk'! Magic’s just a side job!"

"That’s ridiculous!"

What’s with Carlo and Wang’s mismatched conversation...? Well, I guess it’s my fault for not explaining anything...

When I tried to regroup with the others, I couldn’t see Leo or Luca anywhere.

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"Got him! Leo!"

Greese appeared before me, fidgeting nervously.

"Uh... Leo’s husband, is there something you need...?"

"About Gojo. Why did you lie?"

"I—I didn’t... I didn’t do anything..."

"Stop playing dumb!!"

Lucas grabbed Grese by the collar and lifted him off the ground! Grese flailed his legs, gasping in pain.

"Please... no... it's not like that..."

"Gojo wasn't just *kinda* strong! If I'd known from the start, our whole strategy would've changed!"

Lucas was red in the face—furious. When I told him to stop, he lowered Grese, but didn't let go.

"He... Gojo's just... too strong!! His stats... they're off the charts!!"

"If he's just strong, that's *good*! Why didn't you say anything!? What are you hiding!?"

Lucas yanked him up again. Grese choked out a cry.

"If I told the truth... Leo's husband... you'd go after Gojo. And you'd die for sure!"

"Why would I fight Gojo? I have no reason to!"

"I've only ever seen... two... times... someone with stats like that... Gojo... he's beyond Solo!!"

For a second, I didn't understand what Grese was saying... two times? The "Leader" from Angora and Green Land?... If that's what he meant... then... the realization hit me like ice down my spine.

"No way... the 'Leader'... a human-shaped 'Leader'!?"

Silence. All three of us froze. The idea of a human-shaped "Leader" had been whispered about before. Same intelligence as a person. Same form. If one really existed... it'd be a threat far beyond any Dragon.

"Grese... are you sure?"

"There's no other explanation... for someone that insane level of power... He's not even human... he's a monster!!"

Lucas stepped in.

"But that's not set in stone, is it? Seriously, Gojo's been helping us—doesn't that make him more likely to be on our side!?!"

Lucas had a point. But...

"This is deep in enemy territory. We only have two choices... Abandon the hunt and fight Gojo, or trust Gojo as an ally and keep the mission going."

If Gojo was the "Leader," then he had some purpose in being with us. We couldn't fight two "Leaders" at once—Dragon and human.

"Grese... when I fought Gojo... was there any chance I could win?"

"None. I’d be dead."

"What if the Sanctuary Knights all fought together?"

"Still, we’d all be wiped out..."

"Then there’s only one way to survive... Trust Gojo and move forward. Keep the operation going. Keep it quiet. No need to spread panic."

Grese sprinted back to Elias and the others.

"Shouldn’t he have said this sooner? We could’ve done something about it earlier!"

Lucas was furious—but...

"No... if he’d said it sooner, I’d have definitely tried to kill Gojo. And just like Grese said—I’d be dead."

"But how can we even prove whether Gojo’s the 'Leader' or not?"

"We don’t need to prove it."

"Wait... what?"

"Just the possibility is enough to rule him out."

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"Ah!"

Checking my status, "Great Mage" had hit max level.

Composite magic had risen from "B" to "A." Useful stuff—thanks for that. What job should I pick next...?

I touched the职业 board for Holy Warrior. Been curious about Elias’s "Barrier Art" ever since. Not becoming a Great Mage anymore, but then again, no one’ll be checking my stats every five seconds anyway...

Everyone gathered. Time to go.

We’re finally just a little bit away from the "Abyssal Hole"!