The ballistas might be strong, but it would be hard to aim it against an extremely fast moving target, even with my modification.
Verina would attempt to use her spell-musket, and Lupina wouldn't take the chance unless she was 100% sure of her shot.
However, both of them would definitely change their focus when the Sandstalker revealed itself.
"How can a Calamity Object be named Sandstalker but can also burrow under normal ground…"
There weren't any Calamity Objects in the vicinity outside of the Shardfiend and the Sandstalker, so I should wrap this up before the next wave of ordeal arrived.
Both the spiraling moon and Hollow Star were definitely enjoying this performance.
"Right there!"
Tightening the body of the pike in my armpit, I charged forward with every thrust of fervor that could be generated by my greedy vessel.
I set my sight on the trajectory of the appearing afterimages of the Shardfiend, lining up my direction of attack.
A glimmering light sparkled for less than a half second, and then a noticeable blur of an incoming shard was aimed toward me.
"Darn it."
The shard projectile grazed my upper arm, but it wasn't enough to prevent my relentless assault.
Right before I reached the ten meter distance between the two of us, I flicked the body of my 5 meters wooden pike and repositioned my hand to an overhand grip.
Breath crimson steady, and eyes filled with fine bloodlust latching onto my enemy.
With my whole inertia traveling forward to the ground, I thundered these blessed muscles and dexterity that I was granted with, and began to dastardly hurl my weapon of war.
The throw broke the sound barrier, delivering the equivalent of eight-times the speed of an average baseball pitch with the equivalent mass of a five kilograms dumbbell.
As such, when my attack hit, it would hit hard.
And in this case, it hit.
The 5-meter-long pike, propelled at the speed of sound, slammed itself into the Shardfiend with a deafening crack, greatly staggering the monster into a weakened halt.
A huge chunk of its crystalline head shattered under the tremendous impact, sending fragments flying in every direction like a violent explosion of glass.
The pike broke upon impact, with the front end splintering and the rest of the pike either snapping or bending due to the extreme forces involved. Afterall, the Shardfiend's crystalline structure, while brittle and prone to shattering, would still be hard enough to cause substantial damage to the wooden pike.
As I was still relentlessly moving forward, I grabbed what was left of the scattering, shattering pike, and hurled a devastating swing toward the center balance of the Shardfiend.
Again.
And again.
Into an insurmountable amount of pieces.
Until the very formation of its soul's anchors holding its entire existence broke apart.
"If the damage done to the physical vessel is overwhelming enough, the soul will just detach its anchor, huh."
And when the soul was no more, its regeneration stopped working.
I still had the Consciousness buff that Verina applied to me in our ohrtending crash course, so I could see the connection of the body and the soul of an existence whenever I wanted to. Albeit, it wasn't as effective as before.
"Now, where are you…"
If these Calamity Objects acted as an actual entity with a goal to accomplish, they should possess some sort of instinct for self-preservation.
Just like how the Shardfiend ran around from place to place so that its survivability increased instead of staying in one spot like a mindless zombie, they should possess a logical train of thought for what was safer, and what was not.
And for the Sandstalker, the least thing they could do was to attack me who was positioned far away from my cover and allies, instead of the two people atop of a fortified four-meter-wide wooden wall made from the deforested half of an entire biome.
"It's here!"
As my feet caught the increasing tremor below me, I began to run around while minding the entities' potentially dangerous remains.
I glanced back at the direction of my lovely fortress, and I saw that both Lupina and Verina were preparing their aims respectively. They knew what was about to transpire.
And then the event struck, two Sandstalkers emerged from the surface in a violent splash of debris. Their hulking mass and size alone would erupt the ground by just moving their limbs upward from beneath the ground.
It smelled like an earthy red iron.
Not all of them had emerged from the ground. The trembling of the dirt amongst the chaotic smoke of debris implanted a cautious reminder in me, that I need to keep moving lest I want to be mangled dead and sacrificed for the amusement of the moon and black star.
I moved my whole body. I saw one of the Sandstalker was struck by a devastating ballista's bolt, and I saw one of them was hit by a flaring projectile of combustible inferno.
I saw the tracing imagery of the monster beyond the surface, I heard my heartbeat prancing to the aortic rhythm on my veins.
The fatigue from dealing with all of these Calamity Objects started to weigh on me. It was only when I tasted my own salty sweat that I realized how soaked and cold my body was from all of these fighting.
—Injuries—
[Left Hand: Torn ligaments (moderate - 25% pain, -30% manipulation)]
[Right Hand: Blistered (minor - 10% pain, -10% manipulation)]
[Left Arm: Muscle strain (moderate - 20% pain, -15% manipulation)]
[Right Arm: Deep laceration (moderate - 35% pain, -40% manipulation)]
[Chest: Bruised ribs (moderate - 20% pain, -20% breathing)]
[Back: Muscle spasms (moderate - 25% pain, -15% manipulation, -15% movement, -15% breathing)]
[Left Leg: Cramped (minor - 15% pain, -20% movement)]
[Right Leg: Pulled hamstring (moderate - 25% pain, -25% movement)]
[Feet: Blistered and sore (moderate - 20% pain, -10% movement)]
[Overall: Exhaustion (severe - 40% pain, -30% blood pumping, -30% consciousness)]
This body wasn't meant for war.
"Everything is darkening…"
My Pain had reached a 235% threshold. A single loss of focus would result in me falling down and laying helplessly like a dehydrated fish.
Verina and Lupina were probably in a similar state. Though I did ensure that they wouldn't be taking as much of the wounds and fatigue as I am, since their knowledge and experience were much more crucial for me to survive the Ordeal of the Midnight.