Inventory of Chaos: Iconic Scenes That Shattered Everyone Instantly

Chapter 272: ICISEI Episode 258

Episode 258: Ultimate Technique · Avalon Immortal Slaying!『 BANG—! After another violent collision, Ishtar quickly adjusted her position, successfully putting distance between herself and the Lahmus.

However, these tenacious creatures didn’t seem to intend to let up. They crossed their hands over their chests, looking down on all living things on the ground from above.

Then, they revealed that chilling, menacing grin.

Despite the huge challenge before her, Ishtar’s face still wore a smile filled with determination and confidence.

She understood that only by fighting head-on could the crisis before them be resolved.

"What a troublesome... bunch..."

Recalling the past, even the weaker mass-produced Lahmus could be easily wiped out by Ishtar using her powerful long-range shooting skills or even AOE attacks.

But the elite-level Lahmus she faced now were completely different—even after taking multiple arrow shots, they remained unscathed.

This near-invincible state made the confrontation even harder.

Although Ishtar could barely hold them off for now, if this dragged on, Tiamat would likely take the chance to escape the Underworld.

To prevent this, someone had to stay behind to hold off the last ten remaining Lahmus.

Thus, after careful consideration, the goddess often called "useless"—Ishtar—sighed slowly, as if having made an important decision.

"Ereshkigal! You take Fujimaru Ritsuka and go stop the Beast from returning to the surface as quickly as possible. As for this side... let us few hold the line for a while." 』

『 .....』

〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜

[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "She actually made a decision like that?" ]

[ Oyama Mahiro (Onimai): "Even though she had that expression before, she’s so brave now." ]

[ Keqing (Genshin Impact): "Because she is also a member of this team." ]

[ The Herta (Honkai: Star Rail): "Not bad." ]

[ Aventurine (Honkai: Star Rail): "Heh, that really is a gamble." ]

[ Tartaglia (Genshin Impact): "That’s how it should be! Keep fighting!" ]

[ .....]

『 But... There was no other way. The situation had reached the point where it had to be resolved.

Someone had to step forward to crack this seemingly unsolvable problem.

"Leave it... leave it to me..."

At Ishtar’s words, Ereshkigal resolutely accepted the task in this moment of crisis.

The few people with flight abilities in the Underworld were thus entrusted with the most critical mission.

Just as they were talking, a Lahmu quietly lurked over, approaching Merlin’s position.

BANG—!

Fortunately, Merlin’s alertness was extremely high, and he managed to block Lahmu’s sudden attack with the magic he possessed.

But even so, the powerful impact nearly made Merlin unable to hold on, forcing him to retreat several meters back.

"This... Lahmu..."

After experiencing the terrifying power of these Lahmus, Merlin truly realized the severity of the problem.

The Lahmu they had encountered was undoubtedly...

"Is this one of the newly born eleven beasts? What a troublesome existence..."

At this moment, Merlin, known as the Magus of Flowers, looked solemn. Staring at these incredibly ugly and disgusting creatures, a trace of worry couldn’t help but well up in his heart.

"Looks like things aren’t going well..."

In any case, they could no longer hold back; they had to go all out to deal with the current situation.

"Anyway... we will block the enemy’s advance here..."

After saying such a heroic line, both warriors showed extremely firm and resolute looks in their eyes.

"Alright... let’s do as you say..."

Saying this, Merlin—the one called the Magus of Flowers—actually conjured a sharp, thin sword from his staff, preparing to face the even harsher challenges ahead.

After a brief discussion, Fujimaru Ritsuka and Mash nodded repeatedly, both of their eyes revealing a trace of firm determination.

Now was not the time to be emotional; they all knew it very well.

Whether for Uruk or for themselves, they could not let personal feelings affect their decisions.

After all, the current situation was more severe than ever; any mistake could lead to irreversible consequences.

Once Tiamat truly returned to the surface, having regained her power, even if all the forces of Uruk threw themselves at her, it would be meaningless.

By then, this land would fall into complete chaos and would even be swept away by destructive forces.

Therefore, this had to be stopped, without delay.

The Lord of the Underworld, Ereshkigal, also realized the severity of the moment, and the three no longer exchanged many words. Because they all understood that time was the most critical factor now.

To stop Tiamat from returning to the surface, they first had to reach a place higher than Tiamat, to cut off her actions at the source. Otherwise, everything would be in vain.

"MERLIN!! ISHTAR!! I LEAVE THIS TO YOU!!" Fujimaru Ritsuka shouted, his voice filled with trust and expectation.

He firmly believed that these two powerful comrades would definitely buy them enough time.

Leaving these final words, the three flew off in the direction Tiamat was ascending.

However, how could the Lahmu swarm let them leave so easily?

These monsters from the abyss of hell seemed to sense the approaching threat and thus pursued them even more crazily.

At the speed of the Lahmus, even if they let them fly for a distance, they would eventually be caught up to.

But... precisely because she realized this, Ishtar also constantly tailed the Lahmu swarm, trying to slow down their pursuit.

This brave, fearless goddess did not choose to retreat alone but instead faced the powerful enemy head-on.

Just as the Lahmu’s ugly, twisted tentacle was about to touch Fujimaru Ritsuka’s back, Ishtar’s timely attack fell like thunder, directly knocking away a Lahmu that was closing in.

"DON’T YOU DARE!!" She roared angrily, the sound echoing between heaven and earth like a lion’s roar, shaking people’s hearts.

At this moment, Ishtar was like a war god possessed, piloting her prized Maanna, rushing toward the enemy with lightning speed.

Every collision triggered a massive tremor, even punching huge holes through solid walls.

Even the Lahmus, with their tenacious vitality, could not withstand such a powerful impact and fell one after another.

With the booming sounds one after another, the battle entered a white-hot state.

But even so, it was still very difficult to completely intercept so many Lahmus.

Ishtar knew that it was hard to achieve full defense on her own, so she decided to adopt a smarter method.

While constantly changing direction to dodge the opponent’s attacks, Ishtar kept firing golden arrows at the several Lahmus following closely behind.

These sacred blades could instantly pierce their targets and firmly bind them, unable to move an inch.

It was with this method that the goddess managed to hold back the actions of as many as five powerful opponents.

After using all her strength, although most of the frontal attacks were dodged by the agile Lahmus, thanks to Ishtar’s high mobility and rich combat experience, quite a few monsters that unfortunately fell into her control range were successfully wiped out.

She manipulated Maanna to weave through the battlefield, like weaving a net full of deadly traps.

The intense chase continued, but because some Lahmus were eliminated, the situation was shifting in favor of the human heroes.

However, what happened next was unexpected and made everyone watching the battle tremble with fear.

Almost at the same moment, the five previously suppressed Lahmus suddenly changed their strategy, bypassing the entangled Ishtar and lunging directly toward Fujimaru Ritsuka’s position.

With terrifying acceleration beyond normal imagination, almost in the blink of an eye, they had rushed to a spot not far behind everyone!

"Absolutely cannot let these guys get close to us!" Fujimaru Ritsuka gritted his teeth, silently warning himself that he had to react quickly.

At the same time, Ereshkigal and Mash also instantly realized that if they continued to dodge passively like this, the final result would be total annihilation.

Accompanied by a harsh bang, the leading Lahmu recklessly swung its long tentacle and smashed it down.

Fortunately, Mash was positioned at the front line, raising the giant shield in her hands to just barely block this fierce attack.

But even so, the intense impact still caused her arms to go numb, nearly unable to hold the heavy shield, almost slipping to the ground.

At this moment, no matter who it was, their magical energy was nearing its limit.

However, the Lahmus did not; these guys had no such thing as magical energy, relying entirely on strength and speed beyond that of normal people, fighting all the way to now without showing any signs of fatigue.

BANG—! BANG—! BANG—!

One Lahmu after another, as if they had taken stimulants, recklessly slammed into Mash’s sturdy shield.

However, Mash had completely overdrawn her magical energy. Facing this kind of powerful attack, she couldn’t block it at all for a moment, and was knocked heavily back to the ground.

BOOM—!

Accompanied by a huge sound, Mash was smashed fiercely onto the ground, and beside her was Ishtar, who had also been knocked down from the air.

Both of them had suffered severe impacts.

Their situation was very dangerous; the outlook was not optimistic.

But the battle did not end because of this. Those Lahmus that seized the opportunity immediately rushed toward the two fallen people at an astonishing speed to pursue them.

BOOM—!

Like a bomb, a Lahmu smashed a huge crater into the hard ground with its heavy body.

Fortunately, in this life-and-death moment, both girls reacted quickly and dodged this fatal blow in time.

The scene before them was extremely unfavorable: Mash was currently trying to absorb energy continuously transmitted from Fujimaru Ritsuka’s body to recover herself as quickly as possible.

And Ishtar, who continued to fiercely confront the Lahmus in the sky, seemed increasingly to struggle.

Compared to her previous state, the situation of the two was even more worrying now.

"Damn it!" Above the Underworld, Ishtar was still entangled with the tenacious and troublesome opponent.

On the other side, Merlin, known as the Magus of Flowers, was responsible for protecting Mash and the others who were in the process of energy transfer.

"I really feel... things are getting worse and worse..." Ereshkigal looked at the scene unfolding before her, her face full of worry.

Seeing that the few people in front of them had no power to fight back—even that famous great mage Merlin seemed to be only for show—a few Lahmus became quite arrogant and proud, and launched an attack directly at them.

DING—!

When the ugly black tentacles hit the staff, a sharp, ear-piercing sound immediately rang out in the air.

This moment seemed to be constantly reminding everyone: the battle was still ongoing.

"THIS POWER...!!!"

After another round of intense collision, both were forced to retreat several steps due to the strong recoil, leaving deep cracks on the vast surface of the Underworld.

"This is... power belonging to the god-level existence!" Witnessing this scene, Merlin couldn’t believe his eyes; he felt extremely astonished.

It turned out that those seemingly simple Lahmus possessed strength comparable to gods; this was truly unbelievable!

But there was simply no time to think about the reason now. If things continued like this, it would likely cause Tiamat to reappear in the human world and gain invincible power. By then... the entire history of humanity would face the fate of extinction!

Knowing the severity of the situation, Merlin realized that someone had to stay here to block the advance of this group of monsters—even if this task was almost impossible to complete, he had to try his best.

The Magus of Flowers made up his mind!

"Fujimaru-kun! Leave this to me!"

The battle between the Lahmu swarm and Fujimaru Ritsuka’s group continued, the atmosphere exceptionally tense.

Merlin, who had just collided with a Lahmu, also realized the severity of the situation. His originally playful look had disappeared, replaced by a serious and determined expression, staring fixedly at the terrifying enemies in front of him.

"Although I’ve wanted to try saying this for a long time." Merlin took a deep breath, his voice firm and full of determination.

Looking at the two warriors who had made up their minds to fight, the other teammates didn’t know what to say for a moment, and could only stand by the side, silently cheering them on.

"Merlin..." Fujimaru Ritsuka shouted with some worry, his words revealing deep concern for his comrade’s safety.

"Anyway... at this point, let me bring out my signature move." His words were sonorous and powerful, as if injecting a shot of adrenaline into everyone present.

Saying this, under the eyes of everyone, they saw that in Merlin’s outstretched hand, a holy sword(Excalibur) shining with dazzling light suddenly appeared out of thin air.

This change instantly attracted everyone’s attention; everyone stared wide-eyed in unison, looking at what was happening before them in disbelief.

In the eyes of most onlookers, this person who was usually witty in his speech might only use swordsmanship as a supplement to his magic attacks, but they never expected... 』

『 .....』

〜Dimensional livestream, Chat Room〜

[ Rimuru Tempest (Tensura): "Wait, isn’t he a mage? Why did he take out his long sword again?" ]

[ Eriri Spencer Sawamura (Saekano): "Is this the legendary, melee mage?" ]

[ Umaru Doma (Himouto): "This is quite normal, after all, mage melee has become a tradition." ]

[ Chika Fujiwara (Love Is War): "But this... has the traditional mage become a melee mage?" ]

[ Chika Fujiwara (Love Is War): "I just feel, it’s so strange." ]

[ .....]

『 Merlin, however, gripped the long sword tightly in his right hand at this moment, while his left hand held the staff firmly, and his whole person rushed toward the enemy’s direction like an arrow released from a bowstring.

WHOOSH—!

Only an afterimage swept across the ground, launching an attack on the foremost Lahmu at a speed that was almost impossible for the naked eye to capture.

In an instant, Merlin’s figure appeared in front of the Lahmu as if breaking through the constraints of space, and that blade shining with silver-white radiance thrust forward fiercely.

Although Merlin relied on his sudden extreme speed to temporarily gain the upper hand and successfully hit the Lahmu’s body part;

But...

Facing such an attack, the current version of the Lahmu was already of a strength not comparable to the early models.

Even after suffering such a violent and sudden blow, there were still no signs of injury on their surface.

Sure enough, when seeing Merlin’s thunderous blow being steadily received, he himself did not show any surprised expression, but instead revealed a confident smile. 』

『 .....』