605
Chapter 605
Black Corps members under Ingel's command gradually closed in around the High Tables.
Nabu opened his book again and summoned soul-imbued swords by reading the text.
Seeing this, Ingel shouted to the Black Corps members,
"Shields!"
Black energy rose from the Black Corps members' dark arms, forming obsidian-like solid shields.
They charged forward with their black shields toward the swords Nabu had summoned.
CLAAAAAANG!
Nabu's swords collided with the Black Corps members' black shields.
Though the massive impact shook the stone chamber, unlike before, the Black Corps members were only pushed back without taking damage.
It became clear that the word-spirit manifestation of soul-imbued swords couldn't deal significant damage to them.
Nabu clenched his teeth and tried to find different text.
But at that moment, he felt intense dizziness and vertigo.
"URGH!"
He had reached his mental limit from continuous use of word-spirits.
Seeing this, Ingel smirked again and spoke to the High Tables:
"Ghosts of a bygone era. Stop your meaningless resistance and surrender. Our merciful lord shall grant you peaceful rest."
Nigel pointed her sword and replied?
"Drop your worthless god-talk. You crazy cultist bastards."
Ingel's expression twisted at Nigel's words.
Like a devotee whose god had been insulted, she erupted in pure rage and spat out manic words:
"Kill them! Kill that blasphemous Ghost!"
At Ingel's command, the Black Corps members transformed their shield-arms back into black claws and charged at the High Tables.
Nigel jumped forward and swung her sword at them.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Nigel's sword strikes, imbued with soul energy, definitely damaged them.
However, even the Black Corps members who fell to her sword recovered and stood up again after some time.
Moreover, they seemed to grow stronger after dying and reviving, charging at Nigel with even more powerful energy than before.
'Damn it.'
She was already quite drained from fighting other demons earlier.
The other High Tables also showed clear signs of fatigue.
Feeling the difficulty, Nigel clenched her teeth as she looked at Baron Draker standing behind Ingel.
'Is that the only way?'
She could certainly stop them by using her true divine power.
But doing so meant Nigel could no longer remain in the mortal realm.
With luck, she might ascend to the Peach Blossom Spring, but otherwise her soul could be annihilated by karma's intervention.
With other High Tables destroyed by unknown demons and their leader out of contact, if Nigel herself was annihilated, it would practically mean the extinction of the Highlanders.
She glanced at Nabu behind her while fending off the rushing Black Corps members.
Despite their frequent squabbles, Nigel trusted Nabu the most among the Highlanders.
While swinging her sword, she sent a message to Nabu:
—Nabu, I leave the rest to you.
Nabu, who was lying on the carpet due to dizziness, jolted up in shock at Nigel's message.
"What? Old hag! What are you saying?!"
Just as Nabu spoke, light flashed from where Nigel stood.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Elegant silver light scattered from Nigel's body.
Due to her divine power being so strong, Nigel had been suppressing her power while taking the form of a child.
But as she released her divine power, her appearance transformed to her original form.
WHOOOOOOSH!
Her tied-up hair came loose as long silver hair fluttered.
Her arms and legs lengthened, and her whole body changed to a slender yet resilient form.
Most notably, the horn that had been cut off at her crown began to slowly grow.
The fully transformed Nigel looked exactly as she had appeared in Nabu's Mirror of Truth.
An elegant goddess as if crafted from captured moonlight.
That was Nigel's true form.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
They could feel power of a completely different dimension from Nigel as she unsealed and released her divine power.
Baron Draker, watching from behind, twitched his eyebrow as Nigel revealed her true form.
Then Ingel shouted before the Baron could give any orders:
"What are you doing?! Kill that blasphemous ghost immediately!"
At her manic voice, the Black Corps members who had briefly hesitated charged at Nigel.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
They flew in from all directions, striking at Nigel with their black claws in rapid movements.
Nigel also swung her sword at them.
SLASH!
The Black Corps members around Nigel vanished instantly.
THUD! THUD! THUD!
With a single sword strike, the Black Corps members were cut into six pieces, their remains scattering across the floor.
Ingel's single eye widened as she watched from behind.
"Th-That is!"
The sword of Nigel who had revealed her divine power was completely different from before.
Her sword could not be blocked.
Nigel's soulinfused sword cut through the very foundation of existence.
It didn't matter what the black energy enveloping the Black Corps members was.
For Nigel, she simply had to cut through whatever it was.
Seeing this, Ingel shouted at the Black Corps members:
"Damn it! Kill her! Attack her all at once!"
At her command, over a dozen Black Corps members charged at once.
Though they had just seen their comrades cut to pieces, they didn't hesitate.
The Black Corps members were originally trained for absolute obedience to orders.
Now with madness added, there was no hesitation in their movements.
SWOOSH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!
Nigel raised her sword as she watched the Black Corps members charging at her like black shadows.
A soft silvery moonlight rose from her sword.
She swung her sword toward the black shadows.
Soul technique Moonlight Sword
Solo Spell
Will of Severing
Nigel's sword, imbued with her will, swept toward the Black Corps members.
SLAAAAAASH!
Her sword, gleaming with moonlight, passed through the Black Corps members' bodies.
Unlike normal sword strikes, the moonlight didn't collide but passed through their bodies like a scan.
But the moonlight that passed through carried Nigel's embedded will of severing.
"Gu-guhk!"
The charging Black Corps members froze for a moment before their bodies began to collapse.
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Over a dozen Black Corps members splattered on the ground like liquid blood.
SPLAAASH!
The area around Nigel was filled with blood, shattered bones, and scattered flesh.
In this world stained completely red stood a goddess displaying an untouchable, noble beauty with a cold expression.
Seeing Nigel like this, Ingel's face twisted as she trembled.
"This damned non-human bitch..."
In truth, Ingel was an even more severe racist than Castro Pollock.
She scratched around her arms as if breaking out in hives at the sight of Nigel, a unicorn.
"We can't let vermin like that exist in the new era. Must kill them. Must exterminate them all."
Ingel stepped forward with a manic expression.
As she lowered her arms, her fingertips gradually turned black.
Unlike other Black Corps members, black energy gathered in her hands like flowing liquid before dripping to the floor.
Ingel muttered while looking at Nigel.
"I am the new humanity of the new era. The new pure-blooded Draker, Ingel Draker."
The black liquid flowing from Ingel's hands crept around and attached to the backs of other Black Corps members' necks.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
When the black liquid attached to their necks, the Black Corps members' eyes changed.
The whites of their eyes disappeared as their entire eyeballs turned black, showing no trace of human reason.
They had fallen to become puppets moving according to Ingel's will.
Ingel began controlling the Black Corps members like a puppeteer with her hands stained with sticky black substance.
Soon the black substance attached to the backs of their necks spread thinly and enveloped their entire bodies.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The Black Corps members, now with black energy spread throughout their bodies rather than just arms, looked as if covered in sticky substance.
In that state, Ingel raised both hands.
The sticky substance enveloping the Black Corps members transformed, hardening like obsidian as sharp blades protruded from their arms.
Ingel shouted at them:
"Kill her!"
WHOOSH!
With her words, the Black Corps members charged at Nigel.
Nigel raised her sword with a calm aura and swung at them.
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
The Black Corps members' bodies shattered like black crystal when struck by Nigel's sword.
HISSSSSS!
But amazingly, the scattered fragments melted into liquid before recombining to return to their original form.
GROWL!
The Black Corps members, reformed into black monsters, charged at Nigel again.
Even though Nigel's soul-infused sword strikes shattered the Black Corps members, they kept regenerating their original form, making her sword swings futile.
'This...'
Nigel furrowed her brow at this unprecedented phenomenon.
But then.
CRACKLE!
The karmic backlash began manifesting from the sword she held.
The karma's intervention had begun on Nigel who had released her divine power.
Nigel realized she didn't have much time left.
But as she readied her stance to swing her sword again, a monster suddenly emerged from her shadow.
SLASH!
Nigel quickly spun around and swung her sword at the monster.
As before, the shattered monster regenerated to its original form.
The regeneration speed was gradually increasing as time passed.
Watching from behind, Nabu shouted at Nigel.
"Damn it! Stop it, Nigel! Let's abandon this place and retreat!"
For Nabu, losing Nigel was more devastating than failing to protect this place.
But Nigel ignored Nabu's words and continued swinging her sword, only blocking them from approaching the door.
The problem was that Baron Draker still remained behind them even if they could block these monsters.
'Damn...'
Nabu clenched his teeth while considering what to do.
Just then, Ivan, who had received treatment from Manna, stood up.
With bandages wrapped around his severed arm, he approached Nabu and said.
"It seems the Leader has been annihilated."
"Th-The Leader annihilated? What do you mean?"
"I can no longer sense his energy in the tower. Since the Leader cannot leave this tower, we must assume he's been annihilated."
Nabu's expression filled with despair at those words.
The Leader had been their only hope, and with his annihilation, there was practically no hope left.
Nabu clenched his teeth and said to Ivan:
"Ivan, open that door."
But Ivan shook his head.
"The Book of the Dead must not fall into their hands."
Nabu shouted at Ivan.
"You fool! You should have opened the door and given it to Nigel earlier! Do you think that nonsense makes sense now?!"
He grabbed Ivan's collar and yelled in rage.
"We need to retrieve it and escape from here now! If we stay any longer, we'll die and they'll take the Book of the Dead!"
Despite Nabu's words, Ivan's expression didn't change. He still seemed to believe the tower would protect the Book of the Dead.
Realizing he couldn't reason with him, Nabu turned and shouted at Manna:
"Manna! Open that door right now! Hurry!"
After hesitating, Manna put his hands together in prayer and approached the door.
Ivan tried to stop him, but Nabu held him back.
"Not this time. Come to your sen…"
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Just then, the High Tables urgently turned at the loud impact sound. There they saw Nigel thrown back and embedded in the wall from an attack.
RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
Several Black Corps members who had become monsters had merged together into an even larger monster.
Plasma phenomena were occurring on Nigel's body embedded in the wall due to the karmic backlash.
Ingel shouted at the monster.
"Kill her! Kill that filthy non-human right n….!"
SLICE!
In an instant, with a sharp sound, Ingel's head fell to the floor.
THUD!
Ingel's rolling head stopped against something.
THUMP!
Someone in the darkness placed their foot on Ingel's head and crushed it.
SPLAT!
From the scattered remains of Ingel's brain matter, he revealed himself with golden dragon eyes gleaming.
Nabu shouted as he saw him.
"Zeke!"