Chapter 1314: Grand General’s Mausoleum (12)
Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah…!!!!!
The trailing black hand unleashed a mournful scream, dropping onto the human sacrificial altar.
As if unable to control the overflowing power and will, it ravenously devoured the Grand General’s corpse enshrined in the crypt.
A divinity so fierce and brutal that its recent whispering presence to Lennok felt like a lie.
The great Sea God was not being toyed with or swayed by the manipulations of a mere Priestess.
From the outset, the distortion of the Outer God was not simple enough to be controlled as she wished.
However-
‘It’s because of me… and the Pontiff’s existence.’
The Incarnation Ritual attempted by the Priestess was originally a setup prepared for the Pontiff’s return.
That’s why the Outer God, sensing ‘Lennok’s presence’ in the ritual, was obsessively devouring him.
Because the Pontiff and Lennok were both similar and dissimilar, different and yet not different.
If the Outer God’s will, descended to this world, could not distinguish him, or chose not to.
If it intended to be utterly faithful to its origin and essence as a harbinger of Demise that consumes worlds and causality.
Paaaah!!!
The Cardinal’s head rolled on the floor from the center of the holy light, and a woman glowing pure white walked out.
The ethereal form of the 11th Priestess, Ureka Naydree, projecting her appearance by gathering the dense divine power within the crypt.
The Priestess stopped before the fallen, ash-covered vampire’s corpse and spoke.
“What a grotesque sight you’ve become, Lariata.”
“……”
“Even after cleansing the madness that tainted your soul, there’s no curing the stupidity and dullness etched into your blood.”
Ureka’s expression turned chilling.
“Do you know how many lives I sacrificed to reuse you? I won’t tell you to have the intelligence to pick your fights, but I did say I wouldn’t forgive you if you bothered me.”
“……”
“I’ll activate the Crimson Star factor etched into your blood and turn you back into pig feed.”
Ureka slowly placed her hand on Lariata’s corpse and declared in a bitter voice.
“If your habits aren’t corrected even after being chewed up by beasts, then I’ll have to dispose of you.”
Paaaaaah…!!!
Pale holy light flowed from the Priestess’s hand, enveloping Lariata and digging deep into her brain.
The holy light, piercing into the vampire’s head, split into fine tendrils like neurons, seemingly incinerating her spirit and flesh.
Each time, the already lifeless vampire’s corpse trembled as if convulsing in immense agony.
“Ha… Ugh… Haaack…!”
An agony so tremendous that the deceased vampire’s body, which had died in combat with Lennok, reacted as if being carved up.
But Lennok realized that this was the new Acquired Authority of the 11th Priestess herself.
Ureka’s true ability: recycling mad Apostles and sending them ceaselessly back to the battlefield.
“Why, are you curious? Shall I let you experience it too?”
The Priestess, stepping over Lariata’s limp corpse, turned to Lennok and slowly dusted off her hands.
“As long as the ritual is maintained, Forbidden Magic can be used without cost. I can show you how it feels, if you wish.”
“As long as the ritual is maintained, huh…”
Lennok replied in a cold tone.
Ureka was the 11th Priestess, without the authority of a High Priest. She was a half-Priestess, lacking the ability to preside over the Cult’s rituals.
However, while she couldn’t initiate a large-scale ritual herself, she was capable of taking over an already commenced ritual and sustaining it.
“It was inevitable that my plan would be somewhat disrupted the moment that Yaksha twisted the situation as he pleased.”
The Priestess walked forward.
“If I just watched, the Outer God’s True Body would descend to this world, but if I stopped it, the Grand General would awaken in the process, wouldn’t he?”
“……”
“It was clear that neither would obey my control, and both were extremely dangerous, so I couldn’t just leave them be. So I decided to merge them both into one and create a new Apostle.”
The Priestess stepped on the rolling head of Molton Cardinal and smiled broadly.
“Borrowing His power and revisiting the miracle He performed before. It was an incredibly creative solution, wasn’t it?”
“……”
Was she as wary of the Grand General awakening as she was of the Outer God’s True Body descending?
How mad a monster must the Grand General of Brilliance have been in his lifetime, that she would even possess the Outer God’s will to control him?
Did she believe that without causing such a profound imbalance, she couldn’t prevent the Grand General from awakening and rampaging?
“If I follow the precedent He set, a powerful Apostle comparable to the First Apostle will be born, and I will be able to command such a Transcendent as the Cult’s dog.”
She lifted her hand and examined it as if intoxicated with herself, then clenched her fist tightly.
A stiff, painful movement, as if her fingers were not moving freely despite her ethereal form.
But then, clenching her fist so hard that her veins bulged, she spoke in a chilling voice.
“Then I can tear off that damned Adamant Thunder’s head and make him praise my stature forever.”
“……”
Ureka’s assertion, as if she had already succeeded in transforming the Grand General of Brilliance into an Apostle.
But Lennok knew that Ureka wasn’t speaking without reason.
If the Pontiff, long ago, had indeed caused an Outer God to possess an Ascendant’s body, corrupting them into an Apostle.
And if that Apostle, born from such an act, was the identity of the First Apostle, still sealed within the Cult, then he could understand why the Priestess displayed such confidence.
Ureka’s attitude, wielding the prestige of an Outer God and the authority of the Pontiff, without shame, despite not using her own power.
Because she was so bold and authoritative, as if it were her rightful privilege, she was all the more dangerous and powerful.
“Your thoughts seem complicated. It must be because even a great wizard like you can’t directly interfere with the Incarnation Ritual, can you?”
The Priestess sneered, looking at the silent Lennok.
“If you mishandle an Incarnation Ritual directly linked to an Outer God, and the backlash explodes, you truly won’t make it out alive. I know exactly what unbelievers like you are thinking.”
“……”
“Why didn’t you dabble in Forbidden Magic earlier, then? You chose the difficult path, bound by trivial humanity and morality, so you’re paying the price.”
The Priestess chuckled with a raspy voice, then slowly raised her hand.
“Evan Martinez, it’s funny, but I acknowledge you. To stand before me alive, despite being an Apostle-Slayer, and to have fought and competed with that Adamant Thunder. It’s an achievement too great to ignore for a mere apostate.”
“……”
“But I prefer obedient dogs over stiff-necked geniuses like you.”
The Priestess smiled broadly.
“So die here. Who knows, if I’m pleased, I might even resurrect you as an Apostle?”
“I’m not here because I chose the easy path.”
Lennok raised his gaze.
“It’s because I know that using humans as tools will ultimately never succeed.”
“Ha, still spouting such antiquated nonsense—”
“Isn’t the failed savior you constantly babble about proof of that?”
“……”
For a moment, the expression vanished from the Priestess’s face.
She looked at Lennok with a blank expression, then tilted her head in a grotesque manner.
Simultaneously extending her hand in the scattering storm of light, pale holy light burst forth explosively, engulfing the entire Mausoleum.
“Good. You only learn when you face divine punishment, is that it?”
KWOOOOOOOOSH!!!!!!
The Incarnation Ritual, being performed by sacrificing the Grand General’s corpse.
Pale light surged like a tidal wave from the ritual’s starting point, moving according to the Priestess’s will.
As the ritual, directly answered by the Outer God, progressed, the Priestess freely wielded the Cult’s Forbidden Magic without any cost.
Ureka Naydree’s Forbidden Magic Incantation, a Priestess who, though not possessing the High Priest’s authority, inherited the talent to claim the position.
“Sanctuary Declaration.”
Ureka muttered, spitting out the words.
“Interim Manifestation: Pantheon Summoning.”
WOOOOONG!! CLANG!!
CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE-CRUMBLE!!!
Pillars of pure white light descended across the entire Mausoleum, constructing and manifesting a dazzling, pure white temple.
The ultimate forced act: forcibly overlaying a magnificent temple of light onto the corrupted Mausoleum and declaring it the Cult’s sanctuary.
Yet, with the Outer God descending, using the Grand General’s corpse as material, even such a forceful act became a rule that altered the world.
Pababababah!!!!!
OOOOOH!!!!!
Fallen Cult priests and Rectification Knights across the Mausoleum rose, enveloped in pale holy light.
The Cult’s battleships and war machines, crashed and broken within the Demonic Realm, were repaired and rushed into the Mausoleum.
Thousands of Cult assault teams, who had been waiting outside, unable to enter the Mausoleum, formed battle lines according to the Priestess’s will and prepared for a holy war.
KWOOOOSH-KWOOSH-KWOOSH!!!!!
The Priestess, unleashing the Cult’s Forbidden Magic across the entire Mausoleum, raising both the living and the dead as instruments of holy war, spoke in a chilling tone.
“I thought there might be some use for you, since you fought that Adamant Thunder, but like a wizard, you ramble on in a similar, fucking annoying way.”
“……”
“Enough. You’re irritating me, so just die here.”
Overflowing holy light coiled around Ureka’s hand, flashing intensely.
“If I turn the Grand General into an Apostle, I won’t need a wizard like you anyway.”
“Martinez!!”
“Go.”
Aileen sharply turned her gaze, and Lennok gathered his mana.
“We’re breaking through head-on.”
KIIIING-!!
The holy light condensed in the Priestess’s hand exploded, striking the spot where Lennok and Aileen stood, turning into a pillar of light.
Simultaneously, the resurrected instruments of the Cult shattered walls and ceilings across the Mausoleum, charging towards Lennok.
“Join the great holy war—”
“In the name of God…!!!”
“We shall join in the paradise led by Him!!!”
KWOOSH-KWOOSH-KWOOSH!!!!!
Priests and Rectification Knights, temporarily given life and power within the sanctuary declared by the Priestess.
Alliance Spell Masters and corpses from the mausoleum, though not originally affiliated with the Cult, were at this moment consumed by its dogma.
The Cult’s battleship flew through the collapsing ceiling, showering blessings and grace like rain, and pale light artillery bombarded the ground.
Mana and holy light exploded everywhere, an onslaught of holy light pouring down to kill Lennok and Aileen.
BANG!!
The crypt ceiling shattered and fell, instantly becoming a barricade to absorb the bombardment.
Aileen, sliding through the debris, urgently looked back at Lennok.
Having apparently killed over a dozen priests in a short time, her gunblade was heavily stained with blood.
“It’s too late for us to escape from here, you know that, right?”
“I never intended to escape in the first place… but the level of Forbidden Magic wielded by the Priestess is far higher than I expected.”
Lennok leaned against the debris, raising his head.
“Not only has she pulled in the Cult’s forces left outside the Mausoleum, but she’s also building a front line by declaring a sanctuary and imbuing it with blessings and grace. Even if she’s a half-Priestess, she is a Priestess of the Cult.”
It was a situation where the Outer God was directly bestowing power upon this world through the ritual of sacrificing the Grand General’s corpse.
The Priestess was wielding that received power, declaring a sanctuary within the Mausoleum and unleashing Forbidden Magic.
The scale was so vast that a portion of the Demonic Realm, consumed by corruption, was being overwritten by the Cult’s sanctuary.
But that wasn’t the only problem.
“The rampant will of the Outer God is possessing the Grand General’s corpse and descending. At this rate, the Grand General of Brilliance will indeed be resurrected as an Apostle.”
CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!
Lennok’s gaze darkened as he looked up at the wall of debris, shaking as if it would collapse at any moment.
“The problem is, even if we deal with the Priestess now, there’s no telling if the Incarnation Ritual will stop. Perhaps the Priestess directly stepping in was merely to buy time for the Grand General’s Apostlification.”
“And if we arbitrarily stop the ritual, the Outer God’s power might run wild and annihilate the entire Demonic Realm.”
“We can’t stop the ritual from our side. We don’t know if killing the Priestess will stop it. If, in the worst case, we have to face an Apostle-transformed Grand General directly…”
“There’s no need to take a long detour from the core of the problem, is there?”
Aileen and Lennok’s gazes briefly met.
CLACK!!
Aileen, rising with her gunblade, nodded as she looked down at Lennok.
“I’ll buy you time. You can do it, right?”
“Just don’t die.”
Lennok cracked his knuckles.
“Then I’ll somehow take care of the rest.”
Paaah!!!
Without even a reply, Aileen’s form darted out from under the debris, starting to run.
Her gunblade slung over her shoulder, she kept low, speeding through the Mausoleum under a barrage of holy light artillery.
As soon as Aileen’s form, accelerating at incredible speed between falling debris, was sighted, light rained down from all directions.
KIIIIING-
BOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!!
Ducking under laser-like holy light raining from all sides, she cut down Rectification Knights blocking her path with a pale face.
Thrusting her blade into the tattered flesh and lungs of the knights, she fired mana bullets. Breaking through, rupturing their organs and hearts.
“Kugh…!!!”
The crypt floor collapsed, and Aileen’s figure instantly vanished from the priests’ sight.
Aileen leaped up, stepping on fragments, and the moment she placed one hand on the floor and leaned forward.
Aileen’s form accelerated, shooting like a bullet towards the Priestess at tremendous speed.
SWISHHHH!!!!
There was nowhere to run once the Outer God descended into the Demonic Realm and the entire Mausoleum was declared the Priestess’s sanctuary.
To buy time, Aileen’s task was not to flee from the pouring bombardment, but to directly target the Priestess, the source of the sanctuary.
‘Just once, if I can hit her properly…!’
CLACK!
Aiming the loaded True Blood mana bullet at the Priestess’s forehead, she slid at subsonic speed and pulled the trigger.
In mid-air, Ureka summoned a staff and deflected the mana bullet Aileen fired with incredible speed.
TA-TAAAANG!!!
“……!!!”
“I told you your thoughts were transparent, Holy Gunblade Wielder of Altrama. Did you think I wouldn’t know?”
The Priestess elegantly spun the staff in one hand, sneering.
“If you can’t directly interfere with the ritual, you’d come after me. The reason you went first was probably for Cheonbeon to prepare a spell to kill me in one go, wasn’t it?”
CRASH!
The Priestess slammed her staff onto the ground and casually beckoned with her hand amidst the scattering holy light.
“Try to lay a single hair on my body. If you consider it your last entertainment before you die, perhaps you can enjoy it too?”
“Nonsense…!!!”
Following the series of falling holy light explosions, Aileen instantly concealed herself.
Beyond the Rectification Knights falling into the crypt, an ominous presence from all directions targeted the Priestess.
Blades flashed between the Pantheon’s pillars, and sword strikes and bullets flew towards the Priestess’s vital points.
TA-TA-TA-TANG!!!!
“AHAHAHAHAH!!!!”
Ureka’s mad laughter as she wielded her staff, parrying Aileen’s attacks.
But contrary to her arrogant words, the Priestess’s eyes were coldly calm.
‘The Flame-Heat system is a saturation magic specialized in wide-area annihilation. Considering that Cheonbeon is a strategic-class sorcerer, sweeping away my cultists wouldn’t be difficult.’
Pillars of pale light descended across the entire crypt, and the Cult’s battleships and priests unleashed spells, creating a grand spectacle.
But Ureka Naydree knew that this situation, which appeared overwhelmingly advantageous for the Cult, held little real meaning.
‘He’s a wizard powerful enough to kill the Seventh Apostle and a Grand Spell Master simultaneously. If he’s determined, he’ll clear the battlefield in an instant. But the reason he isn’t is—’
It must be because he was preparing a spell that could incapacitate the Priestess in one blow and nullify the Incarnation Ritual.
If he couldn’t directly target the Outer God or the Grand General, then the target would inevitably narrow down to Ureka herself.
In that case, it was entirely possible for her to prepare for it and, conversely, set a trap to buy time.
BANG!!
The Priestess parried the blade attacking from behind and unhesitatingly gathered her mana.
‘Even if all the priests here are annihilated, my victory is assured as long as I buy enough time for the Incarnation Ritual to finish…!!! It’s already too late!!!’
Not only the Cult’s forces bombarding the Mausoleum within the sanctuary, but even the Priestess’s ethereal body here could be discarded as a pawn.
The important thing was to counter Aileen and Lennok’s offensive targeting the Priestess until the very end, dragging out the time.
“HAHAHAHAHAH!!!!”
Simultaneously, a heavy staff slammed down from above, accurately piercing Aileen’s shoulder from behind.
KWOOOOOSH!!!!
“Kugh…!!”
Aileen’s body, impaled as if by a harpoon, was driven into the ground at the Priestess’s feet, emitting a violent roar.
Soon, blue blood profusely flowed from beneath the Priestess’s foot, hotly soaking the floor.
“Your movements are good, Ranger.”
Looking down at Aileen, who was convulsing at her feet, the Priestess sneered.
“But this is already within my sanctuary. You should have known that all spacetime here is under my perception.”
“Haa, haa…!!”
“To capture an Ars Nova noble alive, this is a delightful gain in itself. I was curious how efficient human sacrifice with a True Bloodline would be.”
CRUNCH!!
She twisted the staff, stepping on Aileen’s shoulder, widening the wound even further.
“I know you were deliberately trying to buy time. But it’s useless. I was doing the same.”
The Priestess whispered.
“Do you think Evan Martinez can reverse this situation, no matter what he does? That fool, afraid of the ritual’s backlash, who can’t even lay a hand on it?”
“…I’m not… waiting because… I’m afraid of the ritual’s backlash…”
Aileen replied, her voice trembling with a pale face.
“It’s because… he knew… where to strike… if this situation needed to be ruined…”
“What?”
“You truly know nothing about Cheonbeon.”
Aileen’s blurry gaze turned towards the Priestess’s back.
“Cheonbeon was… from the very beginning…”
“……!!!”
At that moment, Ureka realized where Aileen’s gaze was directed and sharply turned her head like lightning.
In the very heart of the Incarnation Ritual, where the Outer God’s will poured down like a waterfall, possessing the Grand General’s corpse.
Lennok, standing atop the Grand General’s corpse, which lay on the altar, looked down at the remains with an expressionless face.
“Martinez!! You goddamn apostate…!!!!”
“The Grand General’s body is dead, but his Will-thought still lingers throughout the Mausoleum.”
Lennok said.
“That means the Grand General of Brilliance’s consciousness has not yet vanished and remains here… implying that it can be forcibly awakened using specific means.”
“Get down from there immediately?!!! What are you doing?!!!”
FLARE!!!
The image of a colossal, blazing fiery banner in his hand.
Lennok slowly raised the banner, adjusting the tip of the burning flagpole onto the Grand General’s forehead.
“If there was a tool that could forcibly ‘expand’ a target’s consciousness, it could even forcibly awaken the consciousness of a Transcendent who has died and fallen dormant.”
“Impossible, no!!! What is this madman—!!!!!”
From the beginning, Lennok had no intention of targeting the Priestess, or directly stopping the Incarnation Ritual while ignoring the backlash.
If no one else, except the two beings connected to this massive ritual—the Outer God and the Grand General—could intervene.
If any other Transcendent, save the Priestess who borrowed the Pontiff’s power, would only be treated as an impurity in the Incarnation Ritual.
Then his plan was to awaken the Grand General of Brilliance himself, who was being offered in the ritual, and make him stop the ritual personally.
If the participant of the ritual, by their own will, ceased the ritual, then the offering and Incarnation would not occur.
If to achieve that, the mad butcher, who had never awakened until now, had to be roused here—
CRUNCH!!
Before the Priestess could let out a chilling scream and unleash holy light, Lennok, holding the fiery banner, unhesitatingly plunged it into the Grand General’s forehead.
The power of the Crimson Star, a Ritual Armament that forcibly expands, stimulates, and awakens a target’s consciousness.
The flame that had once erupted with Yaksha’s spiritual presence now permeated the Grand General’s interior in the exact opposite manner, as if being sucked in.
The moment the swirling, absorbed flames of the Crimson Star vanished, a heavy heartbeat erupted like a ripple.
THUMP…!!!
“Wake up, Grand General of Brilliance.”
Lennok whispered.
“I’ll help you shatter all the plans of the Cult and the Alliance with your own hands.”
CRACK.
Black veins bulged and pulsed on the Grand General’s pale, discolored forearm.
An overwhelming sensation, a massive spiritual resonance, spread and engulfed the entire Mausoleum.
As the corpse with disheveled black hair slowly opened its eyes, a chilling killing intent burst forth.