It was a very peculiar feeling.
It felt as if he was floating in the air, and someone suddenly pushed him.
Riezel only felt that one second, he was still in a familiar place, and the next second, his vision blurred, and he was already shoved into an unfamiliar space.
If it had been someone else in this situation, they would only have felt a moment of darkness and then nothing more.
Only Riezel, because he possessed teleportation magic, could vaguely sense that he had been teleported to another time and space.
Yes.
Riezel had already left the previous timeline and entered another one.
He had not only crossed through space, but also through time.
Whether it was teleportation magic or time magic, Riezel had dabbled in both, so he was not unfamiliar with his current situation.
Since he had already made some predictions and guesses beforehand, Riezel calmly accepted the current situation and opened his eyes.
As soon as Riezel opened his eyes, the first thing that came into view was a shoreline.
At this moment, he was standing on an unknown shore, with thick fog all around him.
The sound of waves filled his ears.
The ocean lay before him.
Behind him was a forest.
While this place was somewhat similar to the shoreline near the Nameless Forest, it felt different as well.
It could only be described as an unknown shore.
Unfortunately, Riezel was not the only one who had come here—there was also a towering shadow reaching into the clouds.
"######!"
Amid an aura of fearsome curses, the antlered monster began to change.
Originally, it was just a mass of pitch-black fur, resembling a beast with deer's antlers, but now its body began to writhe, and its trunk started to split.
In the blink of an eye, it stretched out numerous branch-like arms, causing its form to change drastically.
At this point, it looked less like a monster and more like a plant that was neither tree nor hands—this was the true form of Norwich's Calamity, a being formed purely from condensed curses.
*BOOOM!*
When those massive, branch-like hands crashed down from the sky and struck the ground, the unknown shore was shaken.
Sand and stones surged.
The dense fog was stirred.
The ground caved in.
The air trembled.
The deafening sound echoed across the entire shoreline, even pushing back the crashing waves and stirring up layer upon layer of waves across the sea.
Riezel, who looked as tiny as an ant, was attacked by Norwich's Calamity without any hesitation, destroying half the shore in the process.
*Swish!*
At that moment, a sound broke through the air high above.
Riezel, whose figure should have been covered by the cursed hands, now appeared here, floating even higher than the Calamity, looking down on the curse monster that exuded an ominous aura, his eyes filled with coldness.
*BOOM!*
In the next instant, Riezel shattered the air beneath his feet, turning into a streak of fire and diving down.
"Burning Bones, Summer Sun!"
Flames surged, spinning into a fiery vortex, like a tornado of fire descending from the sky and slamming down on the Calamity in an instant.
*BOOOM!*
Flames large enough to swallow half a city square exploded on the Calamity, but it was like a firework bursting on the giant's body, unable even to force it back a single step.
However, this attack clearly provoked the monster, as the countless cursed hands on the Calamity became agitated, disturbing the atmosphere as they reached toward Riezel, seemingly ready to grab him.
It had to be said, although Norwich's 'Calamity' had a simple fighting style, its momentum was truly terrifying.
Targeted by those countless cursed hands, Riezel felt as if several giants were hunting him, each one chasing after him and constantly reaching out, as if trying to catch a fly.
If he were caught, the consequences were obvious.
Moreover, the cursed aura emitted by this Calamity continuously affected the mind, though it was unclear if it targeted all living things or just fairies.
Fortunately, no matter who it targeted, Riezel, who was completely immune to mental interference, would not be affected, so he turned into a streak of fire, darting back and forth between the many cursed hands, continually evading the Calamity's attacks.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
While constantly evading the grasp of the cursed hands, Riezel also seized the opportunity to unleash holy attribute offensive magic at the Calamity.
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
*BOOM!*
In an instant, blinding rays of light shot up three times in a row from beneath the Calamity, engulfing it entirely. It was as if someone underground were firing laser cannons, and the torrent of light struck the Calamity again and again, purifying its body.
"########!"
Swallowed by the flood of light, the Calamity began to tremble violently, black smoke rising continuously from its body.
As the embodiment of curses, it was naturally vulnerable to holy attribute attacks, suffering extraordinary damage and effects. With the added special damage from Pioneer of the Sun, this monster was being completely countered.
Knowing this, Riezel started casting the magic relentlessly.
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
"Triplet Maximize Magic - Brilliant Radiance!"
Countless torrents of light erupted beneath the Calamity, crashing down upon it over and over, causing the black smoke pouring from its body to become even denser.
Riezel seemed to possess an inexhaustible supply of magical energy, continually casting holy attribute magic at the Calamity.
As the damage inflicted on the Calamity became overwhelming, it began to go berserk. Its cursed hands moved faster and struck more violently as it attacked, frequently sending out waves of curses—like a demon's lament—blasting toward Riezel.
Riezel was well aware that these waves of curses posed a significant threat to him, since this Calamity born in Norwich was exceedingly powerful. It was so strong that when Artoria and the others saw it for the first time, their immediate reaction was not to resist, but to helplessly await death.
Perhaps it was not as strong as the Juvenile Beast of Cherishment, but in terms of sheer terror, it was easily on par.
Its power had definitely surpassed Riezel, though that did not mean it was without weaknesses.
Just like the Autonomous Guardians inside the Underground Demon Beast Yarakulon, and the Floor Bosses in the world of Danmachi's dungeon, Norwich's Calamity possessed tremendous strength, but this was only specialized in one or two aspects, while other aspects were rather mediocre.
For example, the Calamity had been moving at an incredibly slow pace from the start, which made its gigantic body nothing more than a living target, completely unable to dodge Riezel's attacks.
Yes, its cursed hands were quite fast, but even so, they could not keep up with Riezel's speed, who had mastered burst speed techniques.
An opponent like this could not pose a real threat to Riezel and could only serve as a punching bag, gradually worn down and drained of life.
In other words, while Norwich's Calamity was an invincible monster to others, to Riezel, it was merely a doll with thick skin that would fall after some time.
However, the Calamity's curse wave attacks were nothing like its own slow movements.
Each time a curse wave appeared, it surged fiercely through the cursed hands before shooting at Riezel with astonishing speed, narrowly missing him each time.
Given the Calamity's strength, if one of its attacks actually struck Riezel, the damage would be on par with a blow from Koyanskaya transformed as the Beast of Cherishment.
Back then, Riezel had nearly been defeated by a single attack from Koyanskaya. If not for his timely use of defensive magic, he would have triggered the second ability of Divine Meloe, causing time to reverse and restoring himself completely.
He had already used the first invincibility effect of Divine Meloe during his battle with Woodwose, so there was no way he wanted to be hit and seriously injured by the Calamity now.
"Energy Immunity - Negative!"
At this moment, Riezel cast defensive magic while also activating the effect of the Origin Ring, boosting his strength as he desperately dodged the curse waves.
Man and monster engaged in a cataclysmic battle on the shoreline, their clash shaking the very land, splitting the shore, and sending wave after wave crashing, each echoing with thunderous roars.
If this battle had taken place in another era, Norwich would have surely suffered the same fate as Salisbury, with half the city reduced to ruins.
Fortunately, only the shoreline was involved, so no matter how fiercely they fought, no one else would be affected.
In this way, Riezel continued his relentless assault on the gigantic monster, crushing the shore and forcing more and more black smoke from its body.
Its frame kept shrinking, and as it grew more frenzied, its attacks became even more savage, with cursed hands and curse waves tearing through the area, even carving a chunk out of the nearby forest.
After about two hours of this fierce battle, the outcome was finally decided.
*BOOOM!*
With yet another torrent of light, the Calamity—now covered in wounds—finally collapsed, toppling like a heavenly pillar and crashing to the ground, sending rocks and dust flying everywhere.
Riezel remained floating high in the sky, surrounded by countless overlapping magic circles, forming a massive dome-shaped three-dimensional magic circle—its brilliant light illuminated the surroundings.
"##########!!!"
Struggling to rise and fight back, the Calamity let out a peculiar roar, but because of its sluggish movements, Riezel managed to finish the long chant for Super-Tier Magic first.
"Super-Tier Magic, Fallen Down!"
Following these words, the dome-shaped, three-dimensional magic circle rapidly expanded around Riezel, and soon, a dazzling, massive pillar of light descended from the sky, crashing down onto the Calamity.
*Rumble—!!!*
In an instant, the scorching heat evaporated everything, flattening the entire area and leaving nothing behind.