Chapter 54

Chapter 54: Rift Opening (5)

A timer appeared on the Artifact Yulia held out toward me.

[0:10]

Ten seconds remained.

It had been rough. 

I had been so busy dealing with the Mutants that I had not even noticed the time passing.

Yulia and I stopped fighting and approached each other.

“...What?”

The Fallen Cult Leader was flustered by our sudden behavior, but it was too late.

[00:09]

WHIRRR......

The Artifact had already activated and was letting out an activation hum.

“Take my hand!”

At Yulia’s words, I took the hand she held out to me.

“Whew, somehow it went according to plan.”

Squeeze.

Yulia held my hand tightly and let out a deep breath of relief.

...Yes, this should be enough.

I twisted the corners of my mouth up at her.

“You are surprisingly careless about things like this.”

“Pardon?”

[00:05]

The blue mana released from the Artifact enveloped her entire body.

...That was right. 

Only her body.

The waves of mana did not reach me, even though we were holding hands.

“H-Huh?”

Right. By this point, you must have noticed that something was strange too.

“Even if you only obtained that Artifact yesterday, how can you use it without properly knowing its effects?”

“Wh-What do you mean by......”

[00:03]

“That Artifact is for one person.”

“...Pardon?”

Yulia’s blank face slowly filled with horror.

“No, damn it! You knew th......!”

[00:00]

PAAAAH......!

The Artifact activated, and blue light surged upward.

Along with a short gust of wind that swept out around Yulia, she vanished from before my eyes.

FLASH.

Only the faint warmth of the hand she had been gripping remained in mine.

“...What a temper.”

Now her true personality finally comes out.

“You damned......! ‘Teleport’?”

After confirming that Yulia had disappeared, the Fallen Cult Leader’s face twisted with rage.

“Tell me where that girl went! The ritual cannot be exposed like this......”

“Where else would she go? She went over there.”

I raised my middle finger.

“Up into the sky.”

“You......! Capture that bastard at once! We have to find out where she went!”

He was taking his anger out on me after letting her go because he was careless? 

His personality was thoroughly rotten.

All the Worshippers, including the Mutants, broke through ‘Healing Wave’ and began tightening the encirclement.

It was because Yulia, who had been casting ‘Healing Wave’ with me, had vanished, lowering the concentration of Holy Power around us.

Now, as long as I fulfilled one simple condition here......

Clap.

I pressed my palms together and released all the Holy Power stored in my heart out of my body at once.

Without leaving a single speck behind. 

All of it.

Elementary Holy Magic, Divine Blessing.

And then.

SWISH!

At the same time as I drew a circle with both hands, I released it all around the altar.

PAAAAH......!

The Worshippers stopped in their tracks before the enormous mass of Holy Power that rushed in like a gust of wind, burying their faces behind both arms.

Since I had merely released it in a brute-force burst, its endurance was not particularly high.

At most, it would only be able to hold them in place for one or two seconds.

With this, all the Holy Power stored in my heart had been used up.

SHAAAAK......

The gust of wind died down.

The ‘Healing Wave’ that had dyed the altar golden also faded away.

“His Holy Power disappeared?”

The Worshippers and the Fallen Cult Leader narrowed their eyes at my bizarre act of releasing all my Holy Power.

“Did he surrender?”

“Surrender? Me?”

A derisive laugh escaped me at that ridiculous misunderstanding.

Let us see if you still cannot grasp the situation after seeing this.

“Heh, as if.”

Rustle.

I pulled out the ‘Mana Crystal Dagger’ hanging at my waist.

I circulated the pure mana stored in my heart throughout my body and raised mana along the blade.

Lowering my gaze, I stretched both hands toward the floor.

The formulas engraved in red Demonic Aura on the altar floor entered my sight.

“Watch carefully.”

I lifted my right foot slightly.

“This is how you use Black Magic.”

“...What?”

THUD!

I stamped my foot on the formula and fired a Thought-Message inside my head.

‘Authority Activation.’

RUMBLE!

The altar trembled.

The formulas that had been engraved in red were overwritten in purple in the blink of an eye.

To use powerful ‘Descent Type’ Black Magic, a corresponding price had to be paid to Valak.

And that price, that Offering, had become more than abundant on the floor thanks to the battle Yulia and I had just fought.

GLOOP... SLURP......

The limbs of the Mutants scattered all over the floor turned into blackish liquid and sank into the altar floor.

“Bl-Black Magic?”

“How can a Holy Power Awakener use Black Magic......!”

Faced with a situation they had never expected, the Defectors turned pale and trembled.

“This is an altar you made to summon Valak, is it not?”

In other words.

“As long as I understand the formulas, a Contractor who has contracted with Valak can modify the altar formulas however he likes.”

“Th-That cannot be possible....... How can a Holy Power Awakener......”

The Fallen Cult Leader’s face stiffened rigidly.

Flicker......!

The blade, which had been wrapped in blue light, was dyed purple.

Then I drew the dagger vertically through the air.

RIIIP!

Space tore like paper.

The Rift torn open to a length of one meter slowly widened, forming a massive Portal behind my back.

“Impossible......”

It was only natural that he would be shocked.

This was ‘Descent Type’ Black Magic that could only be cast when all sorts of minor conditions were satisfied.

High-Rank Black Magic, Void Transfer.

It was a type of Portal that could only be opened by a Formal Contractor of a demon while standing on an altar that served the demon they had contracted with.

However, just as it had many restrictions, its effect was certain once it activated.

After all, aside from here, there was only one place where Valak’s altar had been established.

“Go say hello to your Cult Leader after so long.”

“You... madman......”

“It has been quite a while since you last saw each other, has it not?”

FLASH... PAAH......!

Believers wearing black robes walked out from inside the murky Portal.

Their number easily exceeded one thousand.

...Thankfully, she listened to me.

At the head of the Believers stood one person.

Step.

“So this is why you told me to stay at the altar?”

Lucia, the Cult Leader of the Valak Order, stopped walking and turned her gaze toward me. 

Then she looked down at the Beastfolk Corrupted Bodies lying beneath me.

“It was good that I listened to you. Truly......”

“Um... By any chance, do you feel tight in the chest or anything? Like you want to smash everything apart?”

“...What are you talking about after calling me all the way here?”

“Well, if not, that is good.”

RUMBLE......

As soon as all the Believers passed through, the Portal rapidly closed.

Lucia looked at the Fallen Cult Leader.

“I see. So you were the one who took them?”

Her expression was cold, but anger seeped into her voice.

Snap!

Several Believers formed a formation as though protecting the Corrupted Bodies, and the rest scattered all at once.

In an instant, the area around the altar became a chaotic melee as the Defectors and Believers tangled together.

“You......!”

The Fallen Cult Leader spread both hands to use his Authority on the Defectors.

But Lucia was not the sort of person who would simply let that happen.

When Lucia swept her right arm horizontally and spread her mana through the area, the Defectors clutched their heads and began suffering.

“Guaaaah!”

“Aaagh!”

The Defectors, who had lost their will to fight just like that, began to be subdued easily by the Believers of the Valak Order.

“Wh-Why is my Authority......!”

“You tried to use your Authority on others right in front of me, the Cult Leader? Did you think that would work?”

The Believers who had subdued the Defectors moved in perfect order, opening a path toward the Fallen Cult Leader.

“Ah......”

Despair appeared on the Fallen Cult Leader’s face.

“Do not even think about running.”

CRACK!

Lucia’s arms instantly transformed into the arms of a beast, raising sharp claws toward the Fallen Cult Leader.

At that moment, I approached her side and spoke.

“...Before that, why not catch your breath?”

“You must be tired from fighting. Then stay here. I will eliminate that bastard.”

“I was talking about you, Senior, not me.”

“......?”

Stagger.

Her legs gave out, and her body tilted to one side.

“...Huh?”

“Tsk, see?”

I grabbed one of her shoulders to support her.

RUMBLE......

Demonic Aura.

Murky Demonic Aura rose faintly from Lucia’s body.

After realizing her own condition, Lucia’s shoulders trembled heavily, and her complexion rapidly turned pale.

SHAAAA......

She quickly took deep breaths and began calming the Demonic Aura inside her body.

As strength gradually returned to her body, Lucia removed my hand from her wrist.

“...Sorry.”

“Even if you are the Cult Leader, overusing your Authority will obviously strain you.”

“...Do not worry. I can endure it.”

“Oh, is that so?”

Endure it, my ass.

In the previous timeline, she had said that too, then failed to withstand the madness and went into Rampage.

“Kukuku....... Cult Leader, you really are selfish.”

Even though he had been driven to the edge of a cliff, the Fallen Cult Leader chuckled and shook his shoulders.

“You must know why we left the Order... why we do not follow you... why we had no choice but to do this......!”

The eyes of the Fallen Cult Leader, which I had thought held only madness, slowly blazed as he glared at Lucia.

“Cult Leader... Is this not all because of you? If you are the Cult Leader who receives Valak’s favor, then you should act in a way befitting that!”

“......”

Even under the Fallen Cult Leader’s furious denunciation, Lucia’s face remained dry.

“As you know, Cult Leader, all of us came to Saengterminum to find you after receiving revelation and guidance from Lord Valak, did we not......?”

“...Yes. That is true.”

That was why demons were cunning. 

Even if they did not form a contract, if they saw an opening in a human heart, they would slip inside the mind and whisper words of temptation.

All the bastards here had come to find Lucia because they had been seduced by Valak’s proposal. 

To begin with, the Valak Order had expanded its power in this way.

“But... is it not laughable? You have never tried to recruit Believers of your own will, Cult Leader.”

“That is......”

Lucia glanced briefly toward me, but soon maintained her silence.

In truth, what the Fallen Cult Leader was saying was correct. 

The only exception was probably me.

“Even though you are the Cult Leader, you are reluctant to make Believers yourself. Can someone like that even be called a Cult Leader?”

The Fallen Cult Leader’s voice grew more and more heated.

“I cannot understand it. No, it infuriates me......!”

Sensing something unusual, I pulled my right hand behind my back.

“Cult Leader......”

Holy Light Forging.

Holy Light Dagger, Single Forging.

Grip.

Holding the Holy Light Dagger between my fingers, I stretched my arm forward.

Auto-Casting.

Grace of Agility, Grace of Strength.

“You are not qualified to be a Demon Cult Leader.”

CRACKLE!

The Fallen Cult Leader’s right arm rapidly expanded.

It was a Mid-Range distance of more than fifty meters.

Even so, the Fallen Cult Leader’s right arm began rushing toward us with terrifying force.

Lucia noticed the abnormality and tried to defend against the attack by covering both arms in Demonic Armament, but there was no need for her to do that.

PING!

Because the Holy Light Dagger I had thrown first was flying precisely toward the Fallen Cult Leader’s eyeball.