The thick smoke slowly dissipated, and the pilots of the F-35 fighter jets looked down to see that the Ice Dragon had been blasted into three or four massive chunks of flesh.
"Target confirmed destroyed, beginning return to base," one of the F-35 pilots reported to their superior via the communicator.
"Well done, get back here quickly. There are monsters in other locations that need you to eliminate them," the commander on the other end of the line said with great satisfaction.
"My God! It's not dead, it's regenerating! This Ice Dragon is a true monster!" another F-35 pilot suddenly exclaimed.
The massive chunks of the Ice Dragon's flesh began to converge toward a central point. Once the convergence was complete, they began to reshape, and a brand-new, unblemished Ice Dragon reappeared on the ground. The Ice Dragon roared at the sky, furious. Two tiny mosquitoes had actually dared to attack it—it was humiliating. To uphold the dignity of a dragon, it intended to eliminate these two mosquitoes.
"Keep firing missiles! I refuse to believe we can't kill this Ice Dragon." Seeing the situation through the footage transmitted by the fighter jets, the commander immediately ordered the two pilots to launch more missiles.
"Acknowledged, Commander!" The two F-35 fighter jets prepared to launch four more missiles, but before they could, the Ice Dragon unleashed a breath of frost. This frost breath destroyed one F-35, and then the Ice Dragon continued its assault, destroying the second F-35 as well.
The two fighter jets plummeted from the sky, crashing into the ground in a violent explosion. The unfortunate pilots inside, unable to press their ejection buttons in time, could only share the fate of their aircraft.
The White House in Eagle Country had already become a ruin. An hour ago, a giant Minotaur monster had destroyed the building, and the president inside had unfortunately passed away. Former President Trump announced a strong return to take over all presidential duties, emphasizing that he would definitely lead the people to defeat these monsters.
More than half of the people of Eagle Country below cheered continuously. They celebrated Trump's return, believing that he could lead them through the disaster.
After a while, many tanks arrived on the ground, and countless fighter jets filled the sky. Missiles and artillery shells rained down on the Minotaur as if they were free. The Minotaur was battered beyond recognition, its body shattered into pieces that lay scattered in the White House.
Soldiers and civilians cheered, while Trump loudly touted his own great achievements, claiming that the Minotaur monster had been defeated under the leadership of the great former president.
But not long after, the Minotaur resurrected. The creature seemed completely fine and charged toward the civilians and soldiers.
This frightened their great former president, Trump. Abandoning the civilians and soldiers, Trump fled to a black car. He chose to make a "strategic retreat," making it clear that he was not fleeing—how could a president's actions be called fleeing? This was a retreat.
Although the former president and the civilians had escaped, the soldiers bravely chose to fight the Minotaur. The final result was that all the fighter jets and tanks were wiped out; it was as if the Minotaur eliminated every single one that came.
The Minotaur's regenerative ability was incredibly powerful, and it could resurrect, leaving the military completely helpless against it. Every army that arrived here was annihilated, with no survivors.
An hour later, Vice President Harkas, who was in San Francisco, became the new president, as the previous one had passed away.
President Harkas received news that the Minotaur had destroyed the White House and wiped out the army sent to suppress it. Faced with such a monster, President Harkas decided to launch a nuclear weapon. Her subordinate brought a briefcase containing the nuclear launch button; only when the president pressed the red button could the nuclear weapon be launched.
Officials and business tycoons in Washington had already evacuated, and the public had also received orders to evacuate. Most of the citizens had left, but a small number were unwilling to go, claiming that this was their home and that the government was infringing upon their democracy, freedom, and human rights. They resisted, holding up flags and marching in the streets.
Inside a nuclear base in Eagle Country, the supreme commander received the president's order to launch a nuclear weapon. He immediately issued instructions to his subordinates, and the staff began working tirelessly.
A massive hatch opened in the ground of the nuclear base, and the nuclear missile beneath it began to rise slowly. This was a 10-megaton TNT equivalent nuclear bomb with a kill radius of 15 kilometers. Using such a powerful nuclear weapon showed that the president attached great importance to the Minotaur monster.
"Nuclear missile launch sequence initiated! Ten!" "Nine!"... "One! Launch!" "Boom!"
The nuclear missile soared into the sky, propelled by powerful engines at its tail. It flew into the atmosphere and, upon exiting into space, the first stage of the missile began to separate the unnecessary parts. It flew through space, and after reaching a certain point, the second-stage multiple warhead vehicle activated. The re-entry vehicle was released, and the nuclear warhead detached, continuing its flight back toward the atmosphere.
In the third stage, the spin generator at the tail of the nuclear warhead activated, and the warhead spun at high speed as it crashed into the atmosphere.
After re-entering the atmosphere, the nuclear bomb streaked across the sky like a meteorite. Upon seeing this sight, those who had not yet left the vicinity picked up their cameras to record it, realizing it was a nuclear warhead.
They believed that even if they had failed to stop the government from launching the nuclear weapon, they would at least let the world know that their resistance was immortal.
The Minotaur, sitting amidst the ruins of the White House and eating human flesh, raised its head. Sensing danger, it looked at the incoming nuclear warhead and raised its longsword, attempting to block it.
"Boom!" A deafening roar erupted. Flames soared into the sky, and a mushroom cloud billowed upward. Countless shockwaves surged out from the center of the explosion, instantly vaporizing everything and everyone within 15 kilometers, while a massive hole appeared in the thick clouds above.
The nuclear base began its report, announcing that the target had been destroyed, and the supreme commander relayed this to President Harkas.
Upon receiving this good news, Harkas was overjoyed, but her joy did not last long before a subordinate brought her bad news. "Madam President! That Minotaur monster has resurrected again."
"What? Resurrected again? How is that possible? Let me see." The president watched the Minotaur monster's resurrection process through the footage transmitted by satellite.
The Minotaur monster had been blasted into bits of rotting flesh everywhere by the nuclear warhead, but before long, these pieces began to converge toward a central point. In no time, they formed a massive lump of flesh that pulsed continuously. A moment later, a brand-new, unblemished Minotaur monster reappeared in the ruins of the White House.
"If even a nuclear warhead cannot destroy a monster like this, what are we supposed to do now?" President Harkas said in shock after witnessing the Minotaur's resurrection.
No one answered her. After all, if the president herself had no solution, asking them wouldn't yield any answers either.
At Cambridge University in Britain, a giant tree demon sprayed green venom in all directions. Students who were accidentally splashed had their entire bodies instantly dissolve into rotting flesh and bone soup, a truly horrific death.
The military had deployed a group of tanks to shell the tree demon. Although a round of shelling destroyed the tree demon into chunks of flesh, it wasn't long before those chunks converged back together.
After a short while, the tree demon resurrected again and sprayed venom directly at the tank group.
The venom was terrifying. The thick steel plating on the tanks sizzled, and in no time, large holes were corroded through the tops of the tanks. The pilots inside were splashed by the venom, and after a few screams, their bodies dissolved into pools of rotting flesh and bone.
In Paris, France, at the Eiffel Tower, a monster with the body of a lion, the tail of a scorpion, and the face of a human and head of a lion grabbed the people inside the tower, biting them in its mouth. It crunched their skulls into fragments before gulping them down.
The human-faced, lion-headed monster would grab the next fleeing human to chew and swallow after finishing one. It seemed insatiable, eating one after another. It had forgotten how many humans it had consumed; it had started counting from the beginning, but after reaching ten thousand, it couldn't be bothered to count anymore.
A model was grabbed by the monster. She had originally wanted a photographer to take pictures of her there, but unexpectedly, the monster had appeared. This monster had consumed many people; just a moment ago, the photographer accompanying her had been swallowed whole by it.
"Let me go, or I'll make you regret it!" The model was terrified inside, but fear couldn't help her. She could only put on a fierce expression to warn the monster, hoping that it would scare the creature into not eating her.
The human-faced, lion-headed monster was indeed startled by the woman. It hadn't expected her to dare to resist so boldly. Usually, humans who saw it were terrified and fled in all directions. This woman, however, not only didn't run but actually yelled at it. The monster, which wasn't hungry, found it amusing and set the woman down.
The beautiful model appeared calm on the surface, but inside she was panicking like crazy. What was going on? Why was this thing so obedient? Could there be some kind of conspiracy?
The beautiful model walked away. She walked slowly, not wanting to run away quickly, knowing that the more you flee, the more the monster will think you are weak.
Because if you are weak, it will look down on you, and then it will immediately dash in front of you and swallow you.
For every step the beautiful model took, the monster followed. If she stopped, the monster also stopped. The beautiful model grew angry and scolded the human-faced, lion-headed monster: "Stop following me, or I'll kill you!"
At this moment, the monster was also enraged. It had originally just wanted to play with this human, but it hadn't expected her to forbid it from following. Thus, the monster decided to eat the beautiful model.
With a rip, the monster used its claws to tear a hole in the beautiful model's clothes. It had only attacked her clothes and hadn't harmed the model herself. This enraged the monster; a mere human actually dared to dodge! Wouldn't it be better to just let herself be eaten? Since that was the case, it would have to use its ultimate move.
The monster leaped, pinned down the beautiful model, and opened its gaping maw.
"Ah!"
The beautiful model screamed miserably. The monster bit off and began eating her large breasts. The model's heart and other internal organs were exposed to the air. Due to the intense pain, the beautiful model immediately fainted.
Seeing the beautiful model faint, the monster opened its mouth and swallowed the model whole. The beautiful model thus died tragically at the monster's hands.
After finishing the beautiful model, the monster lay down directly beneath the iron tower and fell asleep. It seemed the Human-faced Lion-headed Monster was typically one that slept after eating its fill.
The monsters appearing all over the world caused local governments to panic. They could eliminate small monsters using weapons, but large ones were impossible to destroy; even if defeated, they would quickly revive, leaving people helpless... Meanwhile, Illustrious and her companions had already eliminated over fifty monsters here, but just as they were about to catch their breath, a five-meter-tall Giant Ape appeared before them.
The other sword art online players were either exhausted or too afraid to fight, hiding in the corners. Only five people remained standing before the Giant Ape.
"This is an Elite Monster. It's different from the ones before. Everyone, be careful," Kirito said to his companions around him.
"Will this ever end?! Can't they let us rest for a bit?" Klein complained.
"Looks like this is the last one. Once we beat this, we can go home," Agil said, raising his axe onto his shoulder and grinning.
"Uncle Agil! You're Setting a Death Flag! You're going to get us killed," Illustrious said helplessly.
"Illustrious! What does'Setting a Flag' mean?" Asuna asked curiously.
"It's an internet meme. For example, when a male soldier goes off to war and tells his sweetheart, 'We'll get married after the war,' he usually ends up dying on the battlefield. That's a Flag," Illustrious turned and explained to Asuna.
"I see!" Asuna nodded.
"The Elite Monster is coming. Watch out for its attacks." Kirito charged ahead to attack the Giant Ape.
Seeing Kirito attack, the others also raised their swords and rushed toward the Giant Ape. The Giant Ape's attack was very simple, only performing Basic Attacks (A). No skills were seen being used, likely hidden for a critical moment.
"Whoosh!"
The Giant Ape raised its massive club and swung horizontally, aiming for a wide-range attack against Illustrious and the others. Illustrious and Kirito dodged with backflips, while Klein and Agil ducked down. Asuna retreated before rushing back in.
Kirito reached the Giant Ape's feet and used Horizontal Arc. The Giant Ape felt pain in its foot, kicked hard, and sent Kirito flying. Klein and Agil, who had dodged the Horizontal swing, used Sonic Leap to reach the Giant Ape's side. Klein executed a Slant, while Agil performed a Horizontal.
Seeing the two attacks, the Giant Ape used its massive club to block. With a clang, it stopped their strikes and then swung hard, sending both men and their weapons flying away.
Klein crashed into a car parked on the roadside. If this were his normal body, he might have been severely injured upon hitting the car, but now he only felt a slight pain.
The Giant Ape turned and rushed toward Agil, raising its right foot and stomping down on his body.
As the foot came down, Agil rolled to the right, dodging the Giant Ape's attack.
Asuna somehow appeared behind the Giant Ape. With a light leap, her rapier emitted a blue light—a flash—as she struck the Giant Ape's waist with Flashing Penetrator.
"Awooh!"
With its waist attacked, the Giant Ape cried out in pain. It savagely swung its massive club at Asuna behind it, aiming to smash her into paste with one blow.
"Bang...!"
The Giant Ape continuously smashed its club at Asuna, but Asuna was extremely agile and dodged all the attacks.
Seeing Asuna under attack, Illustrious quickly went to help. Seeing the massive club descending, she used Revolving Shield to defend.
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