Why Are You Coming Out of There? Part II
Somewhere in the Great Mountain Range of the north, the stronghold of Pandemonium.
Seated in his chamber, Eligos continuously monitored the situation inside the Holy Kingdom through a vision linked to his terminal. With the Pope—the de facto ruler of the Holy Kingdom—now corrupted, the collapse of the Central Church was literally a matter of time. Indeed, the Pope had fallen hook, line, and sinker for Eligos's schemes, ruining his own country at this very moment.
Alongside this, Eligos had spread the madness to a significant portion of the Central Church's believers. However, the Holy Kingdom was not entirely helpless. There were still those who had resisted the madness, continuing their struggle centered around the Holy Knights stationed across the nation.
Meanwhile, an incident had occurred in Easthold where the remaining residents vanished all at once. There was no report that the fused form of Prokel and Balam had used them as sacrifices. This meant the citizens of Easthold had not simply disappeared; they had successfully escaped.
Gathering survivors from a city plunged into chaos and evacuating them en masse overnight was by no means an easy feat.
Furthermore, the Holy Knights stationed in Patermachi were resisting with unusual ferocity, to the point where they were on the verge of reclaiming the cathedral. To stop them, Pandemonium had decided to deploy one of their own directly to the field. Thus, the fused entity of Prokel and Balam descended upon Patermachi.
The corrupted clergy, consumed by madness, performed demonic rituals they would never have dreamed of in their right minds, allowing the fused entity to manifest.
Patermachi was a gateway city close to the Holy City. Therefore, Pandemonium needed to completely consume it. At the same time... Eligos was deeply bothered by a young inquisitor fighting alongside the Holy Knights in Patermachi.
A man wielding a Light Sword that seemed similar to what the Holy Knights used, yet harbored a far greater power. It was highly likely to be that bastard who was accompanied by the other half of the Main God Justia.
“……Yohan.”
Eligos muttered the man's name under his breath. The moment the words left his lips, a chilling, bone-deep aura of death filled the chamber. Prokel and Balam had previously clashed with him and been forced to flee. Naturally, their fused form would want to redeem themselves this time.
In fact, the main reason Eligos had bypassed other members to dispatch their fusion was because of the high probability that the inquisitor stirring up trouble in Patermachi was indeed Yohan. The fused entity had declared they could not afford to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
A demon that had devoured numerous sacrifices could exert far greater power. Moreover, if those sacrifices were clergymen possessing a significant amount of divine power, the effect of devouring them would be amplified. The deeper their faith, the greater the inverted power became the moment they fell.
Yohan would be exhausted from continuous combat, whereas the fused entity had grown stronger by devouring the Holy Kingdom's priests. The odds were heavily in their favor. No matter how much divine authority he could channel, he wouldn't be able to hold out under such unfavorable conditions.
Thus, Eligos began planning their next steps, operating under the assumption that the fused entity would successfully exact their revenge and return.
First, they would completely suppress the Holy Knights resisting across the nation, plunging the Holy Kingdom into a crucible of madness. By gathering the negative emotions harvested from this chaos, they would dismantle the barrier protecting the Holy City, allowing all the demons of Pandemonium to descend upon it.
Next, they would sacrifice every remaining human in the Holy Kingdom to fully resurrect “Him,” who now existed as a mere vestige. Gamigin would raise the corpses of the sacrificed as an undead army, and with every new life they claimed, the ranks of the legion would swell.
They would lay waste to the neighboring Empire in an instant, eventually wrapping the entire continent in death and terror. In the process, the barrier sealing the Main God Justia would naturally shatter, but once “He,” the Demon King, was fully resurrected, there would be no need to worry about anything else. A newly awakened Justia, still disoriented, could easily be dealt with.
The grand scheme they had nurtured over countless years was finally nearing its completion.
“Ohh……”
Eligos, who took the form of a frail old man, closed his eyes and rubbed his age-spotted face with both hands.
“You dig your own grave!” the goat-headed demon roared, his voice booming like thunder.
Thud! Immediately after, the beast stomped its massive hoof. The ground convulsed violently, shaking as if a localized earthquake had struck the area.
“A lot of talk for a guy who chickened out and ran away last time,” Yohan retorted with a bored shrug. That goat-headed bastard had absolutely no idea what he was up against.
Fwoosh. Yohan unfurled the Wings of Light on his back. At the same time, he unleashed the full, suppressed aura of an Apostle.
“You bastard!” The goat-headed demon matched him, spewing a torrent of malevolent energy. The clashing auras filled the sealed barrier, making the air so heavy it was difficult to even breathe.
—That creature... It has undoubtedly...!
The Goddess's voice echoed in his mind. Yohan instantly understood what she was trying to say. Compared to their last encounter, the goat-headed demon had grown significantly stronger. It was surely the result of sacrificing numerous Central Church believers, including the corrupted inquisitors.
“……”
Thinking that far only made the demon more unforgivable. Well, it wasn't as if Yohan hadn't already been planning to beat the bastard to death at the first opportunity anyway...
“Die!”
With a savage roar, the goat-headed demon lunged. Yohan instinctively swung his Light Sword to parry the incoming strike.
Clang!
The sword imbued with the Goddess's divinity clashed violently with the scythe dripping with high-level demonic energy. And that was only the beginning. In the span of a single breath, Yohan and the goat-headed demon traded countless blows, their fury threatening to tear the very barrier apart.
The stone-tiled floor, built in the classic architectural style of the Holy Kingdom, was instantly obliterated, exposing the raw earth and bedrock beneath. Even the solid bedrock was gouged and shattered into flying debris under the relentless sweeps of the demon's scythe.
Unlike before, Yohan had nothing holding him back. When they had fought in the wilderness, he had companions behind him to protect. But now, by utilizing his authority to manifest a pocket dimension, he had created an arena completely free from outside interference.
Furthermore, thanks to his rapidly growing flock of believers, his authority as an Apostle had become vastly more potent. The proof was right here. Even against a demon born from the fusion of two high-ranking devils, further empowered by devouring countless sacrifices, Yohan did not yield an inch. In fact, he was dominating the fight.
Step.
After a flurry of exchanges that far exceeded the limits of human perception, Yohan and the goat-headed demon backed away as if by mutual agreement, falling into a tense standoff. A brief silence ensued.
“Ha... Hahaha!”
Feeling the heavy, bone-chilling sensation of a true life-or-death struggle, Yohan suddenly burst into wild laughter. The sensation he had almost forgotten while focusing on spreading the faith of the Unnamed Goddess instead of fighting powerful foes had finally returned.
Yes. This was more like it.
Yohan nodded deeply, ignoring the dull throb of pain radiating up his wrists. What was the “justice” his foolish Goddess prattled on about so incessantly? Protecting the weak, spreading the value of good deeds...
But getting even with interest when wronged was also justice.
And... beating the bad guys to a pulp was also justice.
If the Goddess could read his thoughts right now, she would probably cheer in agreement.
Yohan opened his closed eyes, and a brilliant white light flared within his dark pupils. Backed by nearly two thousand believers, the Apostle's authority finally unleashed its true, unbridled power.
“Where do you think you are looking!” the goat-headed demon roared, refusing to stand idle. He prepared his next strike, channeling the full, terrifying power of a high-ranking demon fueled by the souls of the clergy. Yet, even the absolute best a high demon could offer was nothing but fragile weakness before the Apostle of a God.
The barrier erected with Yohan at its center pushed away all surrounding life. It didn't destroy anything it touched, but it isolated the inside from the outside as completely as a massive, impenetrable fortress wall.
From the soldiers collapsed under the crushing weight of the demon's energy to the Holy Knights who had been steeling their resolve by overcoming their terror with faith—everyone was pushed back.
“What in the world is this...”
Dumbfounded, the knight commander tapped the surface of the barrier several times. Only two remained inside. Yohan, the one who had erected the barrier, and his target, the goat-headed demon. It was almost like...
“The... the demonic energy is gone.”
The Holy Knights surrounding the barrier realized that the suffocating aura of the demon had vanished entirely. This meant the young inquisitor named Yohan had locked himself inside with the demon solely to protect everyone else.
“What are our orders, Commander?” a Holy Knight approached, requesting instructions. The others also turned their gaze toward the commander.
The commander pondered. For what reason had Yohan erected such a powerful barrier? He sought to understand the motive.
The first thought that came to mind was to buy time for the rest of the forces to escape safely. Sacrificing oneself to save comrades in a dire situation was a virtue highly praised by both the Holy Knights and the Central Church. Yet... he had a strong premonition that this wasn't the reason.
Above all, because he had seen Yohan's expression as he looked at the demon right before the barrier manifested.
“S-Since he bought us time, we should retreat and regroup...”
“Calm down. I am thinking.”
The commander silenced the knight and continued to contemplate. The knight's suggestion was perfectly logical. The demon that had appeared inside the Patermachi Cathedral was arguably the strongest entity the commander had ever encountered.
Its presence was incomparable to low-level devils born from mere fragments of negative human emotions. Had they not been holding their rosaries, simply losing consciousness would have been the least of their worries.
“……”
The commander stared at the translucent surface of the barrier. Normally, someone resolved to sacrifice themselves would wear a grim, determined expression, prepared for death. But Yohan had been different. Right before summoning the barrier, he had been grinning widely. A smile that looked as if he had been waiting for this exact moment.
“Surround the barrier and keep watch on the perimeter!” the commander barked his orders. Though a few knights and soldiers cast puzzled glances, they quickly nodded and formed a defensive perimeter around the barrier.
Yohan hadn't sacrificed himself to buy them time to flee. Rather, he had built an arena where nothing could enter or leave, solely to ensure the absolute eradication of the demon before him. The commander was certain of it.
Boom!
At that moment, a massive ripple distorted the surface of the quiet barrier. Startled by the sudden change, everyone widened their eyes and gripped their weapons tighter.
Boom!
Another shockwave rippled across the barrier. Cracks, both large and small, began to spiderweb across its smooth surface. It was a clear sign that the barrier was on the verge of shattering. Standing right in front of it, the commander silently drew the sign of the cross.
Please, let the bright smile on that young inquisitor's face not have been in vain.
Crash!
The commander's prayer was answered. The cracked barrier shattered all at once, revealing the space that had been completely isolated from the outside world.
In the center of a massive crater that looked as if a meteor had struck the earth, Yohan stood alone, casually holding the severed head of the demon.