Chapter 55

Chapter 55: Rift Opening (6)

“......!”

The Fallen Cult Leader hurriedly twisted his body away from the Holy Light Dagger that came rushing right before his eyes.

To begin with, the distance was far, and the Fallen Cult Leader’s physical abilities were far beyond the human realm. 

I had not expected the dagger to hit.

However, thanks to his posture being disrupted, the Fallen Cult Leader’s strength was scattered.

RUMBLE!

As a result, the Fallen Cult Leader’s right arm, which had swollen like a balloon, failed to reach us and struck the innocent altar floor instead.

The Fallen Cult Leader glared at me as if he would kill me.

“You......!”

Right now, Lucia was in a state where she could not properly control her body because the Demonic Aura inside her body had begun rampaging from the aftereffects of using her Authority. 

She would be able to calm it down before long, but she needed a little time to recover.

Looks like I need to buy some time.

Bastards steeped that deeply in madness immediately flared up and started running their mouths if you provoked them.

And provoking the temper of bastards like that was not especially difficult for someone like me, who had once been called Mad Dog.

I met the Fallen Cult Leader’s anger head-on.

“They say a stupid bastard becomes frightening when he has conviction. That is exactly what you are.”

“Do you know how long I have been a Believer of the Valak Order? What would a brat like you know......?”

“Why should I care about that?”

“What did you say?”

I gestured with my chin toward the man’s right arm.

“Just look at what you have become, bastard.”

SCREEECH......!

Before I knew it, the man’s right arm had mutated into a giant snake about forty meters long.

The sight of a snake drenched in red blood attached in place of a human arm was not merely horrifying. 

It was enough to inspire disgust.

“Has the danger of demons not already been made more than clear even to ordinary people? You were seduced by a demon’s temptation and even became corrupted, yet you are acting like you are so impressive while talking about whether she is qualified to be Cult Leader?”

As I spoke, even I became so dumbfounded that the veins in my neck stood out.

“Hah, what would a brat know? Then does it make sense for a man your age to try to offer the parents of an eighteen-year-old girl as sacrifices? Did your intelligence become half as well because half your face got ruined by Demonic Aura?”

I sneered and touched one side of my face.

“Ah Sorry. Now that I think about it, even the parents who gave birth to you would not recognize your face. I was not considerate enough.”

“Shut your mouth!”

WOOOOOO......!

Thick Demonic Aura began rising from the Fallen Cult Leader’s distorted body.

The timeline may have changed, but where would that famous mouth of mine go?

“...Are you feeling a bit better now?”

“Yes, thanks to you.”

Lucia, who had barely calmed the Demonic Aura inside her body, let out a heavy breath and stood up.

As a side effect of using her Authority on nearly one thousand Defectors, the madness she was controlling had reached its limit.

...Tsk. 

Should I say this is similar to the previous timeline, or different from it?

Lucia had overused her Authority just like she had in the previous timeline.

The Fallen Cult Leader’s power had grown stronger than it had been in the previous timeline.

Those two things were variables I had not expected.

One wrong move, and Lucia might go into Rampage like back then......

I brushed my gaze toward the reed field visible in one corner of my vision.

As much as there was a variable on this side, there was also a variable over there.

“Senior, play along with me in a little while.”

“What are you talking about?”

“...Just keep it in mind for now. You will know when the time comes.”

Because of the ‘Void Transfer’ I had cast earlier, the mana I had stored in my heart and the ‘Mana Crystal Dagger’ was scraping the bottom.

At best, I could probably use Low-Rank Black Magic once.

Right now, drawing on the Holy Power of the Sacred Mark was more efficient than using Black Magic.

PAAAAH......

The cross-shaped mark engraved on the back of my hand deepened.

CRACKLE!

Lucia also raised ‘Full-Body Demonic Armament’ over her entire body and entered a battle stance. 

At the same time, we charged toward the Fallen Cult Leader.

***

The reed field near the edge of the barrier.

“That was too much......”

Yulia’s lips twisted.

She stared blankly at the Artifact in her hand.

“Brother, why did you not tell me that......?”

In truth, she knew.

There had been no proper way to escape that place safely other than using this Artifact.

He must have deliberately kept silent because he was afraid he would become a burden.

“I was the one who suggested going in there in the first place... so why did you......”

Clench.

Without realizing it, strength entered the hand gripping the Artifact.

“You fool......”

No matter how many Demon Worshippers there were, they would have a hard time finding her here.

If she followed the reed field like this... she would be able to leave the barrier safely and inform the people outside of the situation.

However.

“By then, it will be too late.”

Since she had escaped, by now, they would be capturing Damon and interrogating him about her location. 

He was probably still alive.

But if even a little more time passed here?

Damon would certainly die.

She had seen many people die. 

At this point, something like that would not shake her.

But someone dying because of her mistaken judgment......

“I do not want that....... Not that......”

Yulia looked toward the direction where the altar had been erected with a heavy expression.

Even so, returning to the altar would be no different from making his sacrifice meaningless.

‘...What should I do?’

After wavering for a few seconds, unable to make a decision.

‘...Huh?’

Her eyes widened as she looked toward the altar.

It was because purple mana was surging from the direction of the altar.

It was because of ‘Void Transfer,’ which Aron had cast, but there was no way Yulia could know that.

WHIRRR......

Before long, the purple mana vanished, buried in the darkness, but she had clearly seen it.

“What was that just now......?”

When she and Damon had entered, the altar had been pulsing with red light.

That was why she had thought they had halted the ritual... yet that altar had suddenly taken on a purple hue?

That was not the only strange point.

‘What is going on......?’

As she stared ahead through the reed field, she felt a strange sense of déjà vu.

Since she had fled, common sense said they should have released the Believers to comb through the inside of the barrier in search of her.

And yet she did not hear even a single sound of Believers approaching.

It seemed she needed to confirm it again.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she raised Holy Power and advanced through the reed field.

The closer she approached, the more her doubts gradually turned into certainty.

“...It was not my imagination.”

What had happened on the altar?

...If that was truly the case, then for now, it was better this way.

If there were no Believers pursuing her, then during that time, she could draw out as much of the Holy Power contained within her Sacred Mark as possible.

The cross-shaped mark engraved on the back of her hand glittered.

WOOOONG......

The blade of the sword she held began to fill densely with Holy Magic formulas.

Like that, she continued to pour Holy Power into her sword while heading back toward the altar for several minutes.

When she brushed aside the reed field, the altar came into view once again before her eyes.

It was still true that the Believers near the altar were surrounding the area around it, but that was precisely why it felt strange. 

They were not showing any movement to search for her.

THUD....... KYAAAK! 

RUMBLE......

On top of that, there were large and small cracking sounds continuously coming from the altar.

Even though the distance was great, the sounds were this clear.

Thousand-Mile Vision.

Her eyes, strengthened with Holy Power, reflected the distant altar as if it were right in front of her.

There were so many Believers surrounding it that she could not properly see the inside of the altar, but she could tell that a giant red snake was whipping across the altar floor like a lash.

“Ah......!”

Soon, she let out an exclamation.

A weapon formed from Holy Power was repeatedly expanding and shrinking as it struck the red snake again and again.

That was definitely ‘Holy Light Forging,’ the technique Damon used.

“Thank goodness......”

He was safe.

She had only just let out a breath filled with relief.

Soon, however, her eyes saw a person moving swiftly by using the body of the red snake as a foothold.

“...What?”

Yulia’s eyes shook.

Their movements were too fast for her to properly make out their gender or appearance, but there was one thing she could tell.

“...Full-Body Demonic Armament?”

What that person was using was undoubtedly ‘Full-Body Demonic Armament.’

It was Black Magic treated as Forbidden Magic in the Holy Empire.

Come to think of it, the avatar of the demon called Valak had said something like that.

‘...Have you properly thought about how my Cult Leader will react if you offer those Corrupted Bodies as sacrifices?’

Then that person was... the Cult Leader leading this Order?

Grip......

She tightened her grip around the sword hilt filled with Holy Power.

She had poured a considerable amount of Holy Power into this sword while coming here.

If that person really was the Cult Leader of the Demon Order... then that person was the root cause behind all of this.

If she finished it in one blow with this, she could uproot that Demon Order itself.

Having made her judgment, she began walking toward the altar.

Without even dreaming that the Cult Leader was someone she knew.

***

The giant red snake twisted its body and disturbed my vision.

Holy Light Spear, Single Forging.

Grip.

WHOOOSH!

I grabbed the center of the Holy Light Spear and spun it rapidly three times in empty rotations.

KYAAAK!

Matching the motion of the snake opening its maw, I injected Holy Power into the Holy Light Spear.

Holy Light Spear, Giantification.

RUMBLE....... BANG!

The enormous spearhead, which had instantly grown five meters long, stood upright as I struck the red snake’s head with it.

By adding centrifugal force and using ‘Giantification’ right before the attack, I increased its instantaneous destructive power.

It was a minor trick, but there was nothing quite like it when dealing with a giant bastard like that.

The attack just now left a deep wound on the snake’s face, and Holy Power even began surging from the area it had struck.

The attack itself worked, but.

No, is that not going too far?

CRUNCH......

In the blink of an eye, the Holy Power faded, and new flesh and scales sprouted from the wounded area.

KYAAAAAH!

The red snake’s maw lunged toward me immediately.

I let go of the giantified Holy Light Spear and threw myself sideways to dodge the attack.

BOOOOM!

The earth trembled as cracks split across it.

After regaining my posture, I gripped a new Holy Light Spear.

HISS......

Even though it had struck the altar floor so hard, there was not a single scratch on the snake’s head.

“Damn it, what kind of regeneration is that......?”

He was definitely consuming all the Demonic Aura he had received from the Defectors for the ritual.

THUD! CRACKLE! BANG!

Lucia, who was ahead, was trying to approach the Fallen Cult Leader by nimbly avoiding the snake’s body as it swept around her.

I would keep my distance while dealing with the red snake and restrict its movements.

Lucia would cut off the right arm from which the snake had grown.

It was a plan Lucia and I had come up with on the spot, but the operation itself was fine. 

If we considered only physical ability, Lucia was better than me at close combat.

The problem was that Lucia’s condition was not very good after overusing her Authority.

PAAAAK......!

Demonic Aura leaked from Lucia’s body once again as she faced the Fallen Cult Leader.

It was the backlash from using ‘Full-Body Demonic Armament,’ a Black Magic technique, before the Demonic Aura inside her body had been properly calmed.

“......!”

Because of that, Lucia’s movements became sluggish.

The snake’s body curved like a whip, then snapped like a bow and struck Lucia directly.

THUD! BANG! THUMP!

Lucia rolled across the floor several times and was pushed back to where I was.

“Cough....... Hah......”

Thanks to the solid Demonic Armament wrapped around her, she had not suffered any major injury, but the color of the Demonic Aura rising from her had become even darker than before.

Even after fighting continuously for roughly twenty minutes, victory was not tilting toward our side. 

Rather, we were only being pushed back.

...This is troublesome.

If Lucia could not control the Demonic Aura inside her body like this... she might collapse soon.