SFS Chapter 285: The Dark Truth Behind the S Rank Party Heroes’ Return.
Chapter 285: The Dark Truth Behind the S Rank Party Heroes’ Return.
Maddy felt a genuine shiver run down her spine. Without a sound, a massive, towering shadow loomed directly behind her.
She began to turn her head, her Compound Vision already catching the terrifying silhouette. A giant, armored figure stood in the darkness, raising a massive claymore high into the air.
The blade wasn’t glowing with standard light magic anymore; instead, it was bathed in a sickly, corrupted golden hue that seemed to distort the very moonlight passing through it, illuminating Maddy’s hooded form from behind in a pale, deathly glare.
An ominous, layered voice echoed through the narrow alley, carrying a heavy, unnatural resonance as it chanted the name of the technique:
"Golden King Smite—"
The massive claymore descended with terrifying, crushing velocity, threatening to cleave through the cobblestones themselves. Yet, despite the sudden, overwhelming pressure of the alpha aura behind her, Maddy’s Reflexive Body Control and Apex Predator Instinct kept her completely unfazed.
Without even turning her entire body, she pivoted sharply on her heel. Raising her greatsword with absolute precision, she met the corrupted golden blade head on.
BANG!
Instead of a desperate block, Maddy executed a casual, perfectly timed parry. The immense physical force of her diamond-like hardness and ogre strength collided with the descending strike, effortlessly deflecting the momentum of the heavy claymore and shattering the sickly golden energy into harmless, fading sparks. The sudden redirection of force completely halted the giant figure mid-motion, leaving him overextended and wide open.
Through the dim, distorted moonlight, the identity of the attacker was revealed. It was Erwin. The captain had somehow forced himself back up, his body acting as a vessel for a completely different, darker power than before.
Before Erwin could recover his balance or draw his weapon back, Maddy’s attention snapped toward the rear. Ed, still possessed by that strange, buzzing presence, was just beginning to shift his weight to move.
Maddy didn’t give him the chance. With a fluid, whip-like motion of her left arm, she unclasped her heavy round shield and hurled it straight across the alleyway. The shield spun through the air like a heavy disc, striking Ed squarely in the torso with blunt, calculated force.
The impact knocked the wind right out of him, sending him slumping heavily against the brick wall. The shield bounced off his chest and clattered to the floorboards, leaving the marksman completely immobilized and unable to move a single muscle.
With the backline thoroughly secured, Maddy turned her full, undivided attention back to the mutated captain standing right in front of her.
Erwin’s body suddenly locked up, a violent tremor rippling through his entire frame. The sickly golden energy that had fueled his ambush vanished as quickly as it had appeared, replaced by a much more visceral, agonizing reaction.
He dropped heavily to his knees, the cobblestones cracking beneath his weight. Only his right arm remained planted on the ground, trembling fiercely as it strained to support his massive, armored torso. Underneath his gauntlets and around his collar, his skin began to react unnervingly—churning and bubbling as if subjected to intense internal heat.
Even his underlying skeletal structure seemed to warp and lose its rigidity, shifting unnervingly beneath his flesh. The physical toll of hosting that foreign, kingly presence was tearing his body apart from the inside out.
Despite the immense agony, Erwin ground his teeth together, his face contorted in a desperate display of pure willpower. He forced his failing muscles to tighten, fighting against the corruption with everything he had left.
"I can... I can do it..."
Erwin gasped out. His voice was heavily distorted now, fluctuating between his natural tone and a deep, guttural register that rattled the quiet alleyway.
"I can still... fight... without it...!"
Maddy didn’t move. She stood perfectly still a few paces away, her massive greatsword held loosely at her side. She didn’t offer a snarky retort, she didn’t strike him while he was down, and she didn’t show even a flicker of fear.
Beneath the deep shadow of her hood, her violet eyes simply watched him with a cold... curiosity. She observed the bubbling skin, the warping bones, and the desperate struggle of the S rank captain, silently analyzing the true nature of the monstrous entity that had hidden within the golden hero’s son.
Erwin slowly forced his head up, his neck muscles straining against the unnatural fluid shift occurring beneath his skin. His face was a mask of sheer agony, veins bulging in dark, distorted lines across his temple. He locked his fading, bloodshot gaze onto the hooded figure standing before him.
"Get... away..."
Erwin rasped, his voice tearing completely into that deep, monstrous resonance.
"Go... before I... complety... change..."
But before the transformation could take another agonizing step forward, a sudden tearing sound broke the heavy silence of the alleyway.
The residual kinetic energy from the Golden King Smite hadn’t completely dissipated when Maddy parried it. Though her physical defense had been flawless and her body felt absolutely no damage due to her Divine Body, the sheer wind pressure and the razor-sharp edge of that sickly golden hue had done its work on her attire.
With a soft hiss of fabric parting, the dark cloak and hood that had kept her identity entirely shrouded split cleanly down the center and dropped from her shoulders. The fabric fluttered to the damp cobblestones, completely stripping away her disguise.
The pale moonlight poured directly into the narrow alley, illuminating her features and revealing her true face and self to the captain.
Erwin’s breathing hitched, the horrific convulsions of his body freezing for a fraction of a second as his wide, mutating eyes took in exactly who had just single-handedly dismantled his entire S-rank party.
A thick, glowing gold liquid suddenly welled up in the back of his throat, coughing past his lips and dripping onto the dark stones. He completely ignored the searing pain, his gaze locked entirely on her face as his trembling voice cracked in sheer, unadulterated disbelief.
"M-Mother...?"