Chapter 245
Fist and sword strikes, wreathed in aura, surged towards Reed.
The destructive power, concentrated on a single point to minimize collateral damage, was immense.
Not only did Reed’s hair wildly flutter from the wind pressure alone, but people nearby were also pushed back.
However.
Thump!
A hollow thud vibrated through the wrists of the two Aura Masters.
Instead of the intruder, an unknown transparent wall absorbed the impact.
The handsome man, with his long black hair ruffled, calmly walked through the gale.
Leaving a soft incantation.
“Mortal’s Rest, Grave Flower, Fallen Angel’s Tear.”
Dark magic, Erebo-mancer, was triple-chanted. At that moment, hell unfolded in the human world.
Creaaak!
“W-what is this!”
“Why is the surroundings like this… Aaaargh!”
As if demonized by a Dungeon Burst, the central courtyard transformed into a graveyard.
Countless skeletal hands burst from the ground. They envied the lives of the living, pulling human bodies into the earth.
It was a live burial.
As each person was buried, a tombstone of earth rose, and a red Deadly Bloom flowered.
The petals, having absorbed the fertilizer and bloomed instantly, shone with a vibrant luster.
“Ah, no, this!”
“Gasp!”
Defense was impossible as the power applied to their very existence.
Even Duke Hispenril and Marquise Lekandro could not resist the absolute power and were dragged into the ground.
While a hellish landscape was drawn on the ground, the sky was not normal either.
Pitter-patter, drip, whoooosh-!
Sinister black clouds squeezed out rain. Red rainwater, containing powerful acid, scorched skin.
“Ughaaah!”
“Barrier, a barrier…!”
A pandemonium erupted amidst the highly acidic rain of hell.
It was the same sinister weather phenomenon that occurred after the Helkaion subjugation battle some time ago.
Only then did the Holy Knights recall their memories from that time and shout.
“H-he’s the Black Demonic Swordsman!”
The wind pressure grew rougher.
It was because Reed, as if he had been waiting, unleashed his own rank and demonic energy. Now, no one dared to stop him.
Meanwhile, Reed’s steps stopped before Muriel.
“…”
“…”
It was quite a close distance.
Thanks to this, Muriel could clearly see the features of this breathtakingly handsome man.
“You… that face…”
She seemed to recognize him. Reed, meanwhile, had something to say about this matter.
“And your face isn’t the one I know.”
“…!”
Some stranger was pretending to be Muriel Philise.
His deep crimson eyes, smelling of blood, narrowed slightly, but only for a moment.
Reed felt no particular deep curiosity towards the Saintess before him.
Since she was an individual who would soon die anyway.
“Ugh!”
The demonic sword pierced Muriel’s left chest.
“S-Saintess!”
“Kyaaaah!”
The cult members, half-buried in the ground, screamed.
Reed picked up Holy Ground Construction from the pool of blood. The blood-soaked banner passed into his hand.
“Ah, darkness begotten by light…”
Among the few survivors was Pope Benedict.
She closed her eyes as if resigned.
It was when Reed, having glanced at his limbs he controlled from behind the curtain, was about to turn away.
“How dare you harm the Saintess…!”
The Pontifical Palace was not entirely filled with cowards.
Clobis showed his fighting spirit towards Reed.
The gravity that forced humans to crawl was already lifted. Clobis kicked off the ground and instantly approached Reed.
Swoosh.
The sound of air being torn echoed.
Just as the aura-wreathed sword was about to strike Reed down.
“…!”
The long black hair, lifted by the sword wind, settled, revealing the handsome man’s profile.
“You…!”
Silver-gray eyes widened to their limit.
Crack!
Clobis’s sword, blocked by Reed’s left hand, shattered into fragments. Amidst the scattering sword shards, the gazes of the two men met.
The astonishment was one-sided.
Reed’s face, looking at Clobis, was expressionless, almost inorganic.
Reed had severed all human aspects. Personal feelings had long since worn away. There was no way he would feel any emotion now.
Therefore, the hand reaching for Clobis’s neck was also utterly indifferent.
Whoosh!
“U-ughaaah!”
Black flames poured from the grabbed collar. The hellfire, licking out its tongues, swallowed Clobis’s body.
Thud.
The valiant Holy Knight instantly turned to ashes and vanished, leaving only a white uniform in Reed’s hand.
“…”
Reed stared at the clothing, which had become a memento, for a moment before turning his back.
Five steps ahead, a Gate had already opened its maw, waiting for the Chaos Evil.
“Ah, right.”
Suddenly, Reed stopped. He had a message for the surviving humans.
“Go to Litniel Plain and wait there. The Demon King will emerge into the human world through that place.”
“…!”
His casually spoken words struck the people’s ears more intensely than any prophecy.
It was impossible to tell if it was mercy bestowed by evil, or mockery towards powerless humans.
Shuuwup.
The Gate, having received Reed, disappeared. What remained was the ruined central courtyard of the Pontifical Palace.
Only then did they realize that the specialness of being chosen by God was an illusion.
The despair of the surviving cult members lingered in the Pontifical Palace for a long time.✠“I’ll do it.” [
“The contract is established.”
At Inferinos’s gesture, Marquis Levant approached.
“Marquis Levant will assist your infiltration. It would be good for you two to greet each other.”
“Though I’m displeased, I shall greet you, Evil’s Bane Executor. I am Marquis Elentia Levant, Chief Aide to His Great Majesty Demon King Inferinos.”
When a white hand removed the mask, a familiar face was revealed as expected.
An intelligent, cold beauty with sky-blue bobbed hair that was long only on the sides.
She looked exactly like Elantia, Librarian of All Creations. Given the similar names, they seemed to be sisters.
Elentia said.
“I shall help the Deadly Bloom root well upon that pink hair of yours. Oh, right, before that, we must decorate the flowerpot to Carpheios’s taste. First, to the dressing room…”
“No need.”
I pulled out two outfits suitable for such an occasion from my inventory.
The Demon King and his aide simultaneously shone their red eyes.
“Your eye is quite discerning.”
“Consider it an honor to be recognized by His Great Majesty Demon King Inferinos, who possesses such refined taste.”
I bought some time leisurely choosing an outfit.
Glancing at the Pit of Solitude, I immediately stripped off my Holy Knight uniform jacket right there.
“Get ready quickly. We don’t have time to dally here.”
Chapter 40: Tomb of Chaos Gods
It was dark.
It was a darkness where vision failed.
Tesillid was vulnerable in such a space where light had died.
Because the terrible memory of being trapped in an abyss named ‘Pit of Atonement’ tried to consume him.
The only reason he could maintain his sanity was that sound had not died out as well.
Whooooosh!
Graaaah!
A battlefield where entities offered as sacrifices to black magic fought fiercely. Deafening noise permeated the surroundings.
This is not an abyss. Yes, this is not an abyss.
Tesillid thought, repeating to himself.
Just think of it as merely having his eyes closed.
It was when he, after repeating self-hypnosis, focused on senses other than sight.
Chr-r-r-r-t!
An unknown entity was detected approaching rapidly, dragging its body across the ground.
Tesillid immediately swung his Holy Sword.
Slicccce.
The opponent’s long body was completely split in half only after being cut for a long time.
Thick bodily fluid splattered everywhere, emitting a repulsive smell.
Perhaps it was an A-rank boss level entity.
It was the moment he announced his participation in the battle royale by killing the first demon.
A stinging sensation, along with a hot energy, rose in his right arm holding the Holy Sword.
“This is…”
Even in the pitch-black darkness, he could see what was happening on his forearm.
An unknown pattern was being etched, glowing with a subtle black light.
It was ‘Dark Stigmata’ (暗痕), also called the demon’s stigmata.
This place, the Pit of Solitude, is designed to concentrate the power of all sacrifices onto one entity.
Power absorption occurred immediately whenever a killing took place.
Predators grew by consuming prey, and then those strengthened predators competed for supremacy in the food chain.
Thus, the last remaining entity would monopolize all the power of the other entities.
Dark Stigmata was the body’s reaction, signaling that the prey’s power had been transplanted into the predator.
There was no way a human body could accept a demon’s stigmata.
For an ordinary human, especially one who had awakened divine power, which is diametrically opposed to demonic power, their body might have disintegrated.
Of course, Tesillid was not an ordinary human, and he also possessed the means to purify the Dark Stigmata.
The Holy Sword—no, the Holy-Demonic Sword—which was like a part of Tesillid’s body, had the function of perfectly converting opposing powers.
From the black pattern etched on his right arm, a white light emerged as if paint were peeling off.
The Dark Stigmata had changed its nature into Holy Stigmata.
Tesillid took a deep breath once.
The absorbed power seemed to be a resistance to poison. He realized this from the fact that breathing became much easier.
As long as the Holy-Demonic Sword remained a Holy Sword, Tesillid would be safe from the Pit of Solitude’s magic even if he killed all the sacrifices.
But what if, as a consequence of killing them all, even sound were to die?
“…”
He could not guarantee what would become of his fragile mind.
However, there was no way out of this place without killing them all.
Somehow, he had to return to Aillet’s side.
Tesillid gently closed his blue eyes. The Holy-Demonic Sword in his right hand began to trace sharp arcs.
A Privilege for the Possessor