Chapter 245: The Gargoyle Statues
~FWISH~
Stark punched one of the stone statues that were displayed along the stone path of [Reaper's Garden].
He had aimed for the first one he saw after walking a bit as he didn't want to take any risks: what if those statues were a trap, or what if they came back to life, and thus he would be forced to fight hundreds of them.
The gray statue he had punched was that of an ugly gargoyle, its eyes glowing with a green aura that seemed to following him.
~BOOM~
Obviously, as Stark's attack was enhanced by crimson aura, the statue shattered into hundreds of pieces the moment his fist hit.
"Huh, nothing I guess," Stark titled his head, he actually really expected this to be a trap, "Hm…" but then he looked at the other ones, and all the small auras in their eyes who kept looking at him, "What if it's only a few of them…"
This made much more sense.
And so…
~BOOM~
Stark destroyed the statue next to the one he had already shattered, and then the one in front of it.
And so on, and so on.
~BOOM, BOOM, BOOM~
He kept punching as he walked, he didn't lose anything by doing that, so he just slammed every statue he saw, even going as far as going back to the entrance of the garden to destroy the ones he had left.
Just like that, of destruction passed, making Stark believe that he might have been wrong since he was getting closer and closer to the fountain in the middle.
Approaching it though, made Stark notice that above the stone structure of the fountain was a massive gargoyle, yes, at least thrice as big as the other ones.
"…" Stark look at it with a neutral expression, "Yeah… I'm destroying this one."
If there was a trap in this entire zone, it sure as hell was this.
~DASH~
And so he began dashing toward it, wanting to get rid of it as SOON as possible.
The stone gargoyle's wings were extremely big too, each of them just as big as its body, and spread, a dark green aura in its eyes as it faced Stark, who didn't stop running.
~DASH, FWISH~
After reaching an appropriate distance, he jumped in the air toward the monster's statue, confident he could destroy it with one punch, too.
Stark soared through the air, muscles coiling with energy.
"Let's see what you've got," he muttered, his fist clenched tight.
The gargoyle's stony gaze remained fixed on him, the dark green light flickering like a heartbeat, almost judging him.
~FWISH, SLAM~
As he connected, a resounding crack echoed through the garden.
~CRACK~
Stark's punch landed, and so he fully expected it to be destroyed like all the others.
~BAM~
And yet… instead of crumbling, the gargoyle shuddered.
"Huh?" Stark dropped to the ground again, looking up: the statue was not even harmed from his attack.
Instead…
~CRACK, CRACK~
Small cracks were beginning to form on the statue's stony texture, and a green light was escaping those cracks.
~CRACK~
After only ten seconds, the crack grew bigger and spread throughout its entire body.
And then…
~BOOM~
The explosion sent shards of stone flying in all directions, and Stark shielded his face as fragments whizzed past him, the air filled with a sudden roar.
He immediately looked upward toward the top of the fountain.
And…
From the heart of the destruction, the gargoyle emerged, its massive wings unfurling like dark shadows, green light glimmered in its eyes, now burning with life.
"Great," Stark muttered, backing away slowly, "I had the idea but not the right execution, huh…"
Stark thought about the possibility of using [Heaven's Wrath], which would have made it infinitely easier, though he couldn't have known.
"Ksssgrak~" with a low growl, the creature flexed its wings, the ground trembling beneath its weight as it jumped from the fountain, landing on the stone path and making cracks appear on the ground.
"Why do they always have to be so dramatic?" Stark shook his head, readying himself.
But before he could begin attacking…
"KKSREAAAAAKKKKK~" the gargoyle roared again, this time ten times louder than before, creating some sort of sonic wave around its mouth because of the sheer intensity.
And right as it finished its "incantation"…
"Call of the Gargoyle," it cast its skill and…
~CRACK, CRACK, CRACK~
3 of the statues he hadn't destroyed behind him cracked open, their forms crumbling to dust as the gargoyle that had been hidden inside came back to life.
"Just what I needed," he muttered, fists tightening.
The newly animated statues—each resembling the gargoyle although smaller—moved with an eerie grace, their bodies glistening under the faint light.
But they weren't the only ones since…
~FWISH~
From the other half of the zone appeared two other gargoyles, using their wings to fly and land right in front of their "king".
They were regrouping.
But before they could even do anything…
"Domi-Chains Restrain," he summoned the chain, spanned it in his hands a few times, then sent it toward the three flying gargoyles above him as they attempted to go toward their friends.
The chain whirled through the air, slicing the space between Stark and the three flying gargoyles, chasing them as if it was a predator.
And…
~FWISH, SPIN~
Surprisingly, these things were so dumb that they didn't even notice it, meaning that they chain wrapped around one of them, then took a turn and began to surround all of them a few times, restraining them from using their wings as the chain was much more powerful than they were.
"Kraik?"
"Grakks!"
They tried their hardest to keep flapping their wings as to not fall, but it was futile as after less than 5 seconds, the chain began to suck up their energy, all three of them rolled up as the chain forced them to stick close to one another.
And after a few more seconds of struggle, none of them were able to hold the weight of the three of them, so they fell.
~FWISH… CRASH~
Their bodies were crushed upon impact with the hard ground, all three dying since the chain weakened them, and thus reduced their defense.
"Grakkr?!"
"GKrakr!!!"
The two other gargoyles which had placed themselves in front of the bigger one took a step back, actually scared of the human, as it so easily eliminated three of their kind.
But before Stark could even begin truly fighting…
"Krakrkz…" the big gargoyle shook its head, and Stark could ALMOST understand what it said: useless.
~SMASH~
Using its hands with sharp claws, it immediately grabbed both of the gargoyles heads and smashed them together.
"Gkakra…" it didn't seem to care though, as it pierced their bodies like they were some sort of meat kebabs, then drank their blood, "GKRKAKAKK!!!!"
~FWISH~
It threw the bodies toward Stark, who easily dodged them by stepping to the side.
And now... the gargoyle looked more powerful than before, its green aura having strands of crimson one appearing on it, probably because of the blood of the others.
"Alright," Stark got into position again, "I don't really care if you're a cannibal, but you're not eating me."
"GROOAOKKK!"
[Gargoyle King - Level 140 (ELITE)]
And now… it was just another 1V1.