Chapter 56

Chapter 56: Rift Opening (7)

After objectively grasping the situation, I opened my mouth.

“…Let us stop now.”

Lucia’s eyes widened.

“Are you seriously saying that…….”

“You are the one who needs to get a grip, Senior. Demonic Aura is coming out of your body again. If this keeps up, you are going to die!”

“If we cannot kill that bastard here… we are the ones who will die here.”

She was not wrong.

That Fallen Cult Leader would not let us leave quietly either.

“And yet you are telling me to stop? Do not make me laugh.”

Lucia rose to her feet, flashing with killing intent.

“Kahahaha! You look exhausted, Cult Leader!”

KIEEEEK……!

The Fallen Cult Leader, mounted atop the Red Snake’s head, burst into mad laughter and charged toward us.

If Lucia gave up on controlling her Demonic Aura, she would probably be able to defeat that Fallen Cult Leader with ease.

But that was not what I wanted.

So from this point on, it is your turn, Yulia.

“Ha, did you really think I told you to stop without any plan?”

The moment I twisted my lips into a smirk.

RUMBLE…….

The movements of the Fallen Cult Leader and the Red Snake, which had been about to rush toward us, froze like stone statues.

“How…….”

KIIIIII…….

Their heads creaked as they turned to one side.

The Fallen Cult Leader and the Red Snake began raising their guard to the utmost as they glared toward one corner of their vision.

“Why did they suddenly……?”

“When they are corrupted to that extent, their survival instinct becomes absurdly strong.”

Leaving the bewildered Lucia behind, I continued speaking.

The beastlike survival instinct they had gained by abandoning their humanity.

In the earlier battle against the Fallen Cult Leader, neither Lucia nor I had been able to avoid struggling.

Because of that, however, they would now be feeling it even more painfully.

I followed the direction they were looking and turned my gaze.

“Heh, I was wondering when she would arrive.”

I had expected it, but seeing it in person was still absurd.

WOOONG…….

How powerful was the Holy Power being sensed from that direction right now?

How intensely was that beastlike survival instinct warning them of death?

The other believers here were no exception.

“Ugh……. Ah…….”

“Good heavens…….”

“What in the world is that…….”

The believers waiting around the altar let out screams filled with fear.

Even though Lucia had not given any separate order, the pale-faced believers cleared a path with the expressions of people being chased by something.

“That is… Holy Power?”

Lucia, having sensed the terrifyingly condensed Holy Power, also began trailing off.

Not long after, I could see it as well.

WOOOONG… WOOONG…….

Yulia was approaching Lucia, illuminating the surroundings with a blade formed from gathered and condensed Holy Power.

“I do not know who you are, but…….”

Her voice rang out as though sounding an alarm through the battle, as though making a declaration.

“If you can use ‘Full-Body Demonic Armament’ skillfully, and Demonic Aura is even coming out of your body… then you must be the Cult Leader of this Order.”

WOOOONG……!

Yulia appeared before us and raised her Holy Power toward Lucia, pulling her sword behind her back.

My expression twisted on its own.

“Tsk, you are not even giving me time to talk?”

This is why I cannot stand the clergy. 

Their actions are always so extreme.

I might be fine, but if Lucia, contaminated by Demonic Aura, took that directly, her body would instantly turn into ash.

Leaving Lucia, whose body had gone sluggish, behind me, I stepped a few paces forward and stretched my right hand toward Yulia.

Holy Light Shield, Single Forging.

A shield forged from Holy Power blocked her sword strike head-on.

“……!”

Yulia’s eyes widened when she realized my intention, but she had already swung her arm. 

It was too late to stop the attack.

Yulia’s sword rushed toward the Holy Light Shield.

The Holy Power contained in the blade drew a golden arc along the sword’s path.

…This cannot be blocked with just this shield.

PING.

The Sacred Mark engraved on the back of my right hand flashed.

I immediately forced the Holy Power inherent in the Sacred Mark into the shield.

Forced Rampage.

Holy Light Shield, Giantification.

RUMBLE!

The area of the Holy Light Shield rapidly expanded until it was large enough to cover my entire body.

KWAAAAA!

“……!”

A heavy pressure crushed down on the Holy Light Shield.

The white, condensed Holy Power crashed against it like a waterfall, scattering to the left and right of the Holy Light Shield.

If that was a waterfall, then this side was a rock firmly embedded in the ground where that waterfall struck.

However, even a rock would be ripped out if the force of the waterfall was strong enough.

TIK… TIK!

The Holy Light Shield could not endure the continuous impact, and cracks began spreading from its edges.

Even though they were both Holy Power and there was no compatibility disadvantage between them, I could feel the difference in power.

“Why…….”

Yulia’s trembling voice came from beyond the shield.

“Why are you blocking me……!”

CREEEAK… SHATTER!

When Yulia swung her sword upward, the Holy Light Shield failed to endure the accumulated impact and shattered. 

At the same time, the violently surging waterfall of Holy Power instantly grew calm.

Thanks to the rampaging Holy Light Shield breaking apart as it was, I avoided having the Holy Power run wild, but……

WOOONG, WOOONG…….

What is this?

Somehow… it feels better than before?

Since I had forced it into a rampage this much, I should have been feeling quite a bit of exhaustion, yet my body was not as abnormal as I had expected.

The side effects from the rampage had eased significantly compared to before.

I had an idea why that might be, but I had no time to think any deeper.

SWISH.

Because Yulia, who had approached me, was pointing the edge of her sword at my neck.

Even now, condensed Holy Power surged from her sword.

“Damon…….”

Yulia pressed her lips tightly together, swallowing her anger toward me.

“What do you think you are doing?”

Yulia glared at me.

“Can you not tell by looking? I prevented friendly fire.”

“Did you grow attached to that person just because you fought together for a little while? Are you not thinking? That person is the Cult Leader of this Demon Order. That person is the one who brought the Demon Order into Saengterminum!”

“She is someone you know too.”

“Do not say something ridiculous. There is no way I would know a Demon Cult Leader who even has Demonic Aura coming out of her body…….”

Yulia’s expression rapidly sank as her gaze moved past my back.

Of course it would. 

Even if she had used ‘Thousand-Mile Vision,’ the distance had been too great for her to identify exactly who it was.

“Lucia… Senior?”

The sword Yulia had raised toward me dropped weakly.

Yulia’s eyes gazed toward the far side in utter bewilderment.

At Lucia, whose entire body had been contaminated by Demonic Aura while she was clad in Full-Body Demonic Armament.

“Senior… were you… the Cult Leader of this Order?”

I followed the two of them with my gaze.

Amber eyes and ash-gray eyes looked at each other.

“Ah…….”

Lucia’s face became sorrowful.

A shadow fell over Yulia’s face.

Was that why?

It felt as if the conversation I had shared with Yulia right before returning to the past was playing again.

‘First, we will have to try stopping the war between the Dark Empire and the Holy Empire.’

‘Will that be possible?’

‘I thought about it even more than what you mentioned earlier. About what I should do if I go back.’

…That is right. 

I thought about it even more than you did.

About what I should do if I went back.

“This situation is truly laughable. The suspicion I had back then was right all along. Haha……. You must have been laughing so much inside……. Is that not right, Senior?”

So please do not make that face.

We still have a long way to go. 

If you, who even gave me a Sacred Mark, act like that, it will not do.

So this is where I should step in.

Not as the Rabid Dog Black Mage, ‘Aron Bayonel,’ but as ‘Damon David,’ a student of the Holy Magic Department, I opened my mouth.

“Why would you do something like this……!”

“Senior saved me.”

I cut off Yulia as she tried to question her.

“…What?”

“…What?”

The two of them stared at me with blank faces.

“After you ran away, Senior came out from on top of the altar with the people here.”

I understood that their positions were different.

However, if things kept being hidden, the misunderstandings between them would only deepen.

“I know you have a lot you want to say. But you saw Senior fighting together with me too, did you not?”

That was why I lied to Yulia.

A plausible lie, half-truth and half-falsehood.

But what did it matter?

“Is that not enough for now?”

For now, this would be enough.

Amber eyes and ash-gray eyes.

Just as Yulia and Lucia were about to turn their heads toward each other again.

“Lies… Those are lies!”

The Fallen Cult Leader’s voice rang thunderously around the altar.

“You used Black Magic to summon the Cult Leader onto this altar, and now you dare lie……!”

“Wow, look at how vicious that bastard is. He is saying every kind of nonsense just to drive a wedge between us.”

“…Wh-what?”

“You are saying I used Black Magic while using Holy Power? At least say something that makes sense.”

“What……. I saw it clearly with my own two eyes!”

The Fallen Cult Leader was stating only the facts, but unfortunately for him, his karma was far too terrible.

“What a first-rate liar. Is that not right, Senior?”

“Phew……. That is true.”

Lucia swallowed her agitation and glared at the Fallen Cult Leader.

“Holy Power and Black Magic cannot coexist. From the moment a person casts Black Magic for the first time, their body becomes unable to refine Holy Power.”

“Right?”

It seems like there is an exception when a Sacred Mark is engraved, though?

Since I was the first, there probably was no precedent.

“You shameless bastard……!”

The Fallen Cult Leader glared at me as though he wanted to devour me, veins standing out on his face. 

Then, before long……

CRUNCH, CRUNCH……!

A black-red ‘Demonic Armament’ began rising over the bodies of the Fallen Cult Leader and the Red Snake.

That was the final struggle performed at the cost of reason.

If they survived even after that struggle ended, they would likely become powerful Corrupted Bodies whose reason had completely vanished.

I turned my gaze toward Yulia, who was still standing there in a daze.

“Hey, I understand that you are stunned, but it is not too late to hear the whole story after this is over. Let us deal with that bastard first.”

“You really know how to scrape at my nerves properly…….”

Yulia’s sulking chest rose and fell.

An inhale, and then an exhale.

“Still… yes. You are right.”

After regaining her shaken composure, Yulia raised her sword again.

Good. 

Then……

“How long do I need to hold out?”

“Pardon?”

“You can use that more powerfully if you buy just a little more time, right?”

“I did use about one-third of it already, but…….”

“What? Then that is enough.”

Yulia returned her sword to its scabbard and assumed a drawing stance.

“Please wait one minute. During that time…….”

“You cannot move, right?”

“…How did you know? No, why do you know so much?”

“I use all kinds of weapons, remember? I can tell just by looking.”

GRRRRR…….

A golden formula began being drawn on the ground where Yulia stood.

The Fallen Cult Leader and the Red Snake screamed as they tried to interfere with Yulia’s casting, but there was no way I would allow that.

Elementary Holy Magic, Divine Blessing.

I wrapped my entire body in Holy Power.

“Senior, you deal with that serpent. I will handle that Cult Leader now.”

“With your physical abilities, that will be difficult.”

“It is possible now.”

“……?”

“It really is amazing how big the difference is between being aware of it and not being aware of it.”

I gave a bitter smile.

SWAAAK…….

I drew two Mid-Rank Holy Magic formulas I had memorized onto my body.

Auto-Casting.

Grace of Strength, Grace of Agility.

Originally, two was the maximum number of Mid-Rank Holy Magic spells that could be cast through ‘Auto-Casting.’

However, the proficiency I had gained after fighting for dozens of minutes was not something I could disregard.

After all, the exhaustion I felt when I had forced the Holy Light Shield into a rampage just now had not been that great.

“I have fought so many bastards contaminated by Demonic Aura. How could my understanding not have increased?”

Along with the faint exclamations the two of them let out,

WOOOONG…….

Auto-Casting.

Grace of Durability, Grace of Strength, Grace of Agility.

Three Mid-Rank Holy Magic spells, cast simultaneously.