Chapter 171
Chapter 171
Chapter 171
The Queen and the Witch (1)
A vivid power that could be recognized immediately even from this distant place.
They too seemed to have noticed the situation on this side, as they immediately began closing the distance.
'...This is more incredible than I thought?'
The pressure felt was on a completely different dimension from what he had simply encountered in the original novel—just how powerful could a being who had completely 'inherited' the Seven-Colored World become?
Even knowing they weren't enemies.
WHOOSH!
As soon as Maria noticed the presence of Rudian and his party, she didn't simply fly over but folded space and leaped directly.
THUD!
Without any particular warning, Maria and Rebecca set foot on the battlefield.
"......!"
Raihon and the other gods widened their eyes at the sudden appearance of the two women.
"This, this is...."
"Impossible!"
"What kind of irregulars are these...!"
Watching the shocked gods with disdain, Rudian laughed inwardly with satisfaction.
'They must be quite surprised.'
A strong person who had completely inherited the Seven-Colored World hadn't appeared even once since Erenika Celestial, the inheritor of the Blue World and head of the Celestials eight hundred years ago.
Moreover, it wasn't just Maria—Rebecca standing beside her was also dyed in vivid red, emanating a presence no less than Maria's.
'...Huh?'
Wait? No less than Maria's?
Rudian realized this fact and stared directly at Rebecca with widened eyes.
"Yaho!"
Rebecca, making eye contact with Rudian, waved her hand expressing joy....
'What, what is this?'
Rebecca's power as a Demon Eater was certainly not lacking as a member of the original Abel party.
But to say it was comparable to Maria, the final boss of Chapter 2? That was absolutely not the case.
'It's good that it's good, but... what on earth happened?'
The witch called the Witch of Fresh Blood, a tragic woman who lived her life unable to separate from the karma of crimson blood and was eventually consumed by that blood and died.
How much effort had Rudian put in to prevent Rebecca from being led down that path?
Of course, her current confident and self-assured appearance was completely different from the dark and damp witch he had seen in the original work.
'Well, this is...'
For now, since there was nothing bad about the current situation, he decided to resolve the matter at hand first.
***
"It's been a while, Rudian."
Maria, who had joined Rudian's side, lightly offered a greeting of reunion.
"How long has it been?"
"3,513 days and 2 hours."
"......"
As a heavier answer than expected returned, Rudian's mouth naturally closed.
Maria chuckled and waved her hand.
"Ahaha, just kidding. How could I measure so precisely?"
"Right?"
Maria had become much more playful since they last met.
Was it because she had had more time to put down the burden she carried as the head of the Psychic Luminous during the past time?
Her expression had brightened and her image had changed in an interesting way.
Especially her voluptuous blonde hair being dyed a brilliant green reminiscent of the former Evangeline was quite....
"3,417 days, 14 hours, and 25 minutes, sister."
"......"
"......"
"Calculations should be done thoroughly."
"......"
"......"
At Rebecca's voice from the side, both Rudian and Maria's mouths closed simultaneously.
Calculations? What calculations?
Before he could think deeply about it, a prickling killing intent was flowing from the front.
"To ignore us to this extent, truly a fresh experience."
"Ah, sorry, sorry...."
Rudian sincerely apologized to Raihon.
To lose focus in front of a god of that caliber was indeed excessively insulting, no matter what.
"Yes, now I remember. You were much stronger than expected, so it took me a while to recall."
Raihon began glaring at Maria with burning fighting spirit.
"The psychic who fought alongside the Demon King Marbas. Now you've become the master of the Green World."
"......"
"I fought Marbas tediously during the Heaven-Demon Great War. I've wanted to cross hands with you who defeated such a fellow."
"Both of us? You alone?"
SNICKER!
A small sneer crossed Maria's expression.
"Stop talking nonsense and bring several of your colleagues. Unless you're planning to bring your main body."
"Such impertinence!"
An arrogance hard to imagine as the way a creation addresses its creator.
Naturally, the other gods of the pantheon beside Raihon were enraged.
"Everyone, stop your anger."
"Raihon?"
"That human has the right to speak so."
Raihon glared at Maria with sunken eyes.
"Yes, a strong person who could sufficiently compete even fighting my main body. Though you're thoroughly hiding it, that overflowing divinity cannot be concealed no matter how you try."
"Mmm... was I found out?"
"The fact that you can still maintain your physical body without ascending to heaven must be thanks to that Green World. Good, I'll do as you wish."
SNAP!
When Raihon snapped his fingers, as many as four gods took their positions behind him.
"Dayra, god of floods; Tepe, goddess of drought; Gairas, god of war; Javis, god of deadly poison."
Instantly five against one.
Raihon turned his head and this time looked at Yev.
"Great Yev, with their joining, I believe the justification for your involvement has disappeared. What do you think?"
As expected, Raihon knew of Yev's existence.
He had just seemed indifferent and unaware, but in fact, even that war god Raihon didn't want to get entangled with Yev.
"...Fine."
Did she judge that the balance of power was somewhat matched?
Yev snorted and stepped back.
As Yev withdrew, Rudian, whose calculations were thrown off, slightly frowned and approached Maria.
"...Will you be okay?"
"If it's five... winning would be difficult, but holding them down is possible."
Maria's expression was full of confidence.
She never overestimated or underestimated herself.
If she said so, then it was so.
"Good. Then I'll quickly finish off the rest and come back."
"That goes for me too. I'll finish off that woman and kill you all."
Raihon gritted his teeth while surrounding his entire body with lightning.
With Maria taking on five, Rudian, Evangeline, Rowen, and Rebecca remained.
"I'll take two, Miss Evangeline will take two, and Rebecca and Sir Rowen will handle the remaining one."
Then Rebecca raised her hand and objected.
"Mmm, I think I could handle about three?"
"...Three?"
Rudian shook his head at Rebecca's spirited words.
"You don't have much combat experience yet. Even if you received strong training in the hall, actual combat is a separate matter. Especially if your first real combat opponent is a god."
The presence Rebecca was currently emanating being no less than Maria's certainly meant she had undergone some dramatic change.
But even so, he couldn't recklessly burden her in such a battlefield.
"Okay, if Rudian says so, I'll do that!"
At Rudian's words, Rebecca nodded brightly with a radiant smile without any particular complaint.
"You've seen Sir Rowen here once before, right? He's a veteran of combat, so follow his instructions well."
"Yes, yes. I'll finish quickly!"
Rebecca continued with a smiling face while looking directly beside Rudian.
"I want to finish quickly because I have things to ask too!"
"......"
Rebecca's eyes turned toward Evangeline, who was attached to Rudian's side.
GRIN!
Was it his imagination that Rebecca's eyes seemed to narrow slightly for a moment?
Though she didn't turn her head, he could easily notice that she had made eye contact with Evangeline.
'Why... am I getting chills....'
Rebecca was still Rebecca, and Evangeline was still Evangeline.
He had worked hard to distance both of them from their destructive appearances in the original work, and he was confident he had achieved notable results.
But why was he now having doubts that all that hardship had been in vain?
CLAP!
"Well, they won't wait indefinitely, so let's finish the job quickly."
Rowen, sensing the strange atmosphere flowing among the party, clapped his hands to change the mood.
"We'll somehow hold down our assigned one, so Lord Rudian, please somehow handle the remaining four well with Evan."
Rowen knew his place well.
No matter how much he was called a Swift as Wind and Thunder or whatever, having reached Grand Master level, he recognized that in this battlefield, he was the weakest among the ten who could hardly handle even one of them.
"Then...."
Thus Rudian and Evangeline, Rowen and Rebecca each created distance.
Rowen, who didn't know exactly what Rebecca's abilities were, steeled himself to face his assigned enemy alone.
"Hmph, insects have gathered."
The god who approached Rowen and Rebecca was Dirmara, god of law, a mid-level god of the pantheon.
As he governed law, which was distant from combat, he belonged to the side with the lowest combat power among the ten dispatched gods.
"Rebecca?"
"Yes."
Rebecca, separated from Rudian, had changed to an expressionless face as if it had never been otherwise, receiving Rowen's words.
At that extreme change, Rowen felt slightly awkward, but anyway, Rebecca was now no different from a comrade-in-arms... someone he had to rely on back-to-back.
"For now, I'll fight that fellow and gauge his full power. Rebecca, you observe that fellow's power well, and if there are weaknesses or openings...."
"If I kill him quickly, it would help Rudian, right?"
"Ah, what?"
Before Rowen could ask what she meant, Rebecca pushed past Rowen and stepped forward.
She looked at Rowen with some unknowable smile.
"Rest for a moment. I'll finish quickly and come back."
"Wait! What are you saying now...!"
SHIVER!
Rowen couldn't finish his words to the end.
The crimson aura beginning to flow from Rebecca.
The moment he sensed it, his body suddenly stiffened and stopped obeying him.
By the time he realized the identity of that aura was demonic energy, Rebecca had already charged at the god Dirmara.
***
"Blamir, god of blood."
"Karon, god of shadows."
The two gods assigned to Rudian were Blamir and Karon, strong persons second only to Raihon.
Both gods were high-ranking gods of the pantheon who had made their names in the Mythical War.
If they had met when Chapter 4 was progressing, they would have been strong enough to require giving up his life.
Unlike other gods who looked down on humans as creations, the two gods faced Rudian quite seriously.
"I won't be careless."
"You who block the path of Lord North, though I'm grateful that you previously spared the life of the first servant that lord cherished, merit is merit and personal matters are personal matters.... I will kill you and recover that lord's sacred object."
That North, who governs darkness, had sent even Karon, who could be called her direct secretary, showed how much she was staking her life on this matter.
"Well, fine. Let's clash with full power once!"
Rudian shouldered Diablo and brought out the Black World.
'With Maria holding back as many as five, I can't be consistent with defense.'
Fortunately, it was after receiving the Black World from the Underworld King, so there would be no shortage of power.
Though there were clear limits to the power he could use since he hadn't achieved 'inheritance' like Maria, if he linked with the Underworld King's energy, he could considerably alleviate the penalty of non-inheritance.
"Alright, let's go, Diablo."
-Kuh, kuhkuhkuhkuk!
Just as Rudian was drawing up demonic energy and the Underworld King's energy simultaneously, Diablo began laughing as if something was amusing.
'What is it, Diablo? You seem excessively happy. Do you have some grudge against those guys? Did you get beaten by them before?'
As Diablo raised his voice pleasantly, Rudian chuckled and scolded the fellow.
But....
-Kuhaha! Oohahahaha! Kuhahahahaha!
"...Diablo?"
As Diablo's laughter became excessively loud, Rudian felt something strange.
Then Diablo began spouting incomprehensible words along with mad laughter.
-Baal! Your and my unintended collaboration has brought about such a butterfly effect! Did you know? That the power of mine was also contained in the body of that girl you awakened!
"That girl? What do you mean...."
As Diablo suddenly mentioned Baal, confusion spread across Rudian's expression for a moment.
"Kuaaaak!"
"......!"
Before Rudian could ask Diablo the meaning, someone's painful scream was heard from far away.
Not a simple human scream, but a god's scream with divinity leaking out.
The gazes of Rudian and the other gods turned toward that direction simultaneously.
And everyone was shocked.
"...What is this?"
Witnessing what had suddenly occurred in the distance, Rudian opened his mouth with an expression of disbelief.
CRUNCH! CRACK!
There was Rebecca, emanating crimson demonic energy, somehow lifting up the god she had been confronting by the neck with one hand!