Gauss felt the cold energy flowing from the ogre leader’s body rapidly merging into his ghost-transformed bloodstream.
Although he had just finished a fierce battle, he did not feel exhausted. On the contrary, the influx of this energy made him feel very full.
This allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
After all, every time he used the Ghost Form in conjunction with the Hardened Scales state, there were often significant side effects upon release.
But now it seemed at least it wouldn’t be as severe as the previous times.
He glanced at the ogre leader who had just fallen to the ground.
The dust dispersed.
It lay on the ground, body convulsing violently.
With each twitch, bluish-black foul blood gushed from a gaping wound the size of a bowl on its back.
The energy within it had completely spiraled out of control.
The purifying energy Gauss injected was still surging within its body.
He reached out to recall that surge of Holy Water, then raised his palm slightly.
A searing magical power slowly gathered in his palm.
"Fireball Technique!"
"Boom!"
A massive, blistering fireball technique rose from the ogre leader’s corpse.
Gauss hovered in mid-air, his pale hair fluttering in the heat wave.
After everything ended, he quietly stared at the burning remains of the giant beast below, his gaze calm and unruffled.
"Commander-level demon ogre leader (Ghost Transformation) *1 killed."
The moment the Monster Atlas notification popped up, the huge stone in his heart finally settled.
He had finally killed this powerful enemy.
Not counting the Dragon Priestess Cecilia he encountered outside of Flute Castle, this ogre leader should be Gauss’s strongest opponent he had faced so far.
Don’t be fooled by the short duration of this battle, and the real decisive move being only that "Divine Hand", the battle process was extremely perilous.
If he hadn’t been focused enough, reacted quickly enough, he might have already been chopped into mincemeat by the other party.
However, many real battles are often like this.
You just need to seize the opportunity, and often a few moves are enough to kill your opponent.
Clearly, Gauss, who was at a disadvantage in strength, was precisely that person who seized the opportunity.
He slowly released Ghost Form and Hardened Scales.
A strong sense of weakness emerged from the depths of his body the moment he released them.
Gauss’s body swayed twice in the sky, but eventually stabilized.
His muscles still ached a bit, but it wasn’t to the point of utter exhaustion.
"Charge!!!!"
His gaze turned further away.
Sir Belock, leading a group of elite cavalry, charged in.
The scene of Gauss piercing through and killing the ogre leader in the sky was witnessed by many monsters on the ground.
This caused the monster legion’s morale to collapse instantly, with panic spreading like a plague among the beasts.
Clearly, organizing resistance might still hold a slim chance of survival, but they turned and fled.
Only a batch of elite ogres still resisted stubbornly, roaring orders to their subordinates to continue fighting.
But faced with the already disbanded formation, their orders were to no avail.
Even the monster officer’s pupils showed a hint of fear and shock when their gaze landed on the human still floating in the sky.
Their leader, such a powerful creature, died at the hands of a human who appeared weak as a feather, fearing they would be even more easily crushed if that white death god targets them.
"Run!"
The majesty of the Green Dragon Queen, the glory of the tribe, were inconsequential at this moment.
Gauss sensed the little remaining magic power in his body and cast a few more fireball techniques at the areas with the densest monsters, harvesting some monster heads.
On the battlefield’s outskirts, the human army was mounting their final victorious charge with unstoppable momentum.
Hooves trampled on mud and monster corpses, spears and sabers gleaming coldly in the firelight as they crashed into the routed monster horde.
This was no longer a battle, but a unilateral slaughter and pursuit.
Without command and morale, the monster legion stood no chance against the well-organized cavalry charge, falling in swathes.
Gauss slowly descended to the ground, his feet landing on the scorched earth still warm to the touch.
Serdur arrived beside him, reaching out to support him.
He looked at Gauss, noticed his body seemed in better condition than previous times, and couldn’t help but relax a bit.
Then used healing magic to mend the damaged tendons within Gauss’s body.
"The battle is won."
Gauss did not move again, calmly accepting Serdur’s treatment.
The magic power within his body had been exhausted.
Moreover, he had slain enough enemies tonight, it was time to take a break.
The night breeze swept through, battle cries still echoing across the battlefield.
Very soon a squad of cavalry surrounded Gauss, who was receiving treatment, to protect him.
Ensuring he would suffer no harm from monsters.
Of course, this was evidently unnecessary, because monsters viewed him like a god of death, fleeing in fear, far from daring to approach.
Sir Belock’s cavalry had already driven the fleeing monsters far away, any isolated resistance was swiftly extinguished, the battlefield was littered with monster corpses.
However, Sir Belock himself did not continue the pursuit, and instead led a portion of the cavalry back, heading directly towards Gauss.
Hooves stomped in the mud with a muffled sound, arriving promptly before him.
The old knight dismounted, his armor covered in marks from knives and axes.
He approached Gauss, lifted his visor, revealing a face slightly flushed with excitement.
Evidently, this night’s engagement was a great victory.