Chapter 89
Chapter 89
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 89
Chapter Title: Desperate Battle
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A massive beast's form, and right in the center of its chest, Yuri's fist was embedded. It was merely a fifth-tier fist. It shouldn't have landed any damage even if it connected.
But Agwi knew that wasn't the case against that fist. His right hand, which had blocked it earlier, still had no sensation.
Blocking or dodging was impossible. Orca's lightning had made his limbs sluggish, limbs he desperately wanted to use to kill her with. All he could do was take the hit and endure. Agwi concentrated all his soul power, divine power, and every ounce of strength he could muster at the point of impact from that fist.
It was an attack of unknown origin, ominous and unsettling, but there was no way it could pierce defenses like these. The previous strike had worked because Agwi hadn't even considered defending. With such a vast gap in tiers, no attack should have landed.
—Thud.
Even that judgment proved wrong. The moment the fist connected, something dwelling within it entered Agwi. It was a tiny spark, no different from a speck of dust. Yet the instant it entered him, that spark turned into apocalyptic flames. The very power Agwi had gathered to endure became fuel feeding the blaze.
"Kugh!"
It was utterly different from when he'd blocked it with his hand. Whether by design or chance, that fist had struck Agwi dead center. If the body was a miniature universe, that spark was a black hole at its core, devouring everything and growing larger.
'What the hell is this?'
The flames showed no sign of dying down; they only grew. His soul power and divine power were burning away to ash. This was annihilation at the root! Agwi's mind went blank. If his core burned away completely, recovery wouldn't be easy.
This was no time to be picky about hot or cold rice. Agwi even drew forth his true essence. Better to burn that than escape the situation somehow. Any longer, and he'd suffer irreparable aftereffects. No—even now, escaping would be difficult.
Too late.
Kwarung! A crimson slash tore through the sanctuary's darkness. It targeted the base of the invisible 'tree' precisely. Boom! The Spirit Command Tree's main body shook, and blood sprayed from Agwi's mouth.
It was a chaotic melee. Eleia boldly stepped into the lingering darkness. Seeing she hadn't fully severed the Spirit Command Tree, she raised her greatsword again.
The only way to destroy a divine authority was with an attack of equal tier. Another slash brimming with intent targeted the Spirit Command Tree once more. Now that she'd locked eyes on it, distance meant nothing to Eleia, and her greatsword was more axe than sword at this point.
Kuuuung! From beneath the massive tree shaking as if it might topple any second, Agwi's jaws gaped wide. Thanks to drawing his true essence, he could move. That bastard's fist was still embedded in his chest.
I'll chomp him to death like this. He'd failed to kill Orca, but this fucker—he had to die no matter what. Agwi thought that and tried to bite down on Yuri whole, but a pitch-black shadow blocked his view.
It was Ha-ryeong. Perched on his shoulder, she drove the black-and-white twin daggers in her hands downward. Splurch! Two short swords plunged into Agwi's right eye.
"Kaahak!"
Sword energy pouring from the daggers destroyed Agwi's eyeball. Ha-ryeong didn't stop, shoving the daggers deeper to turn his brain to mush. But after shattering the eye, the daggers hit a solid wall midway and couldn't advance further.
She didn't cling to the impossible. Ha-ryeong yanked the black-and-white twins from the eye and leaped backward. The pinnacle of Tang Clan hidden arts, Ten Thousand Flowers Rain from Heaven, unfolded in incomplete form. Puk-puk-puk-puk-puk! Countless hidden weapons and energy needles riddled Agwi's face, some even gouging his opposite eye.
"Krrr...!"
Agwi shook his head in a mad frenzy. He had to bite Yuri somehow. But he failed again. Even through his mangled vision, he could see the brilliant light blocking his fangs.
It was Estor's lightsaber. Wielded tirelessly to aid Eleia, it sawed through Agwi's canine. In pure cutting power, the lightsaber far exceeded fifth-tier sword energy. It sliced into his maw, ripping his jaws lengthwise.
"You fucking mutt."
Estor spat the words through eyes brimming with murderous intent as he glared at Agwi. The beast's current form was that of a massive wolf, making "mutt" a perfectly fitting curse. Estor didn't hold back his rage. He slashed wildly, mangling Agwi's face.
"Kaaaak!"
The pain in his face was maddening, but the flames scorching his chest were more urgent. Even drawing his true essence to suppress them, these unknown flames showed no sign of extinguishing.
The bastard's fist was like a wedge. Without pulling it out, the flames wouldn't die. Agwi barely glimpsed Yuri's face. The guy's eyes saw nothing but the fist. No matter what happened around him, they held only grim determination and venomous focus on not removing the wedge he'd driven in.
'This crazy bastard...!'
The lightning binding his limbs weakened. Orca, using Rayci's body, was reaching her limit. Agwi seized the opening, swinging his hastily freed hand at Yuri.
But he failed to smash Yuri again. Ha-ryeong, who had pulled back, scooped up Yuri's body and leaped away. Estor blocked his hand with a roar, preventing pursuit.
Estor took the hit in turn and crashed into the ground, but he sprang up without a scream and charged Agwi again. Kuuung! At that moment, the Spirit Command Tree snapped.
"Kugh!"
The backlash from the forcibly broken divine authority hit. Agwi convulsed, black dead blood spewing from his mouth. With the wedge-like fist removed, the flames stopped spreading and rapidly died down—but what was burned was gone forever.
'This is... really...'
Fucked. Agwi rasped for breath, dragging his feet backward. How the hell had it come to this?
You played around too long. Orca's mocking words scrambled his mind. It was natural for the strong to toy with the weak, so how had that led to this? But now, it was undeniable.
If he'd killed them outright instead of playing, none of this would have happened. Orca wouldn't have come, the gap wouldn't have failed, the false sanctuary wouldn't have collapsed, the Spirit Command Tree wouldn't have broken. What drove Agwi mad most was the flames that weakling had wedged in. How much divine and soul power had burned away? How much true essence had he poured to extinguish it? Even conservatively, a decade of his power was gone.
Worse still, this wasn't even the 'worst' yet. The worst was now. As if confirming it, the ground beneath Agwi surged. Kwadddud! Chains of earth seized his lower body.
"Got you."
It was Guzel. Mounted on a massive earth golem, he thudded into the sanctuary. He paused briefly at the sight of Rayci wreathed in lightning but had no time to ask about her amid the urgency.
His opponent was Agwi, one of the evil god's saints. Information on known saints was scarce, so capturing him held immense value.
The arrivals surrounded Agwi. Orca, at her limit, dialed back the lightning and handed the chains to Guzel without overexerting. Guzel's magic, smoothly received, bound Agwi tighter. His lower body up to the waist was already swallowed by the earth foundation, sensation gone. He'd poured everything to resist, but he couldn't hold long. Eleia, greatsword on her shoulder, eyed him too.
No way out. It's over. Agwi's eyes trembled violently. An unforeseen catastrophe. Should he self-destruct? Or... Agwi seriously considered it. Compared to the humiliation and torture ahead, suicide or another choice might be salvation.
But Agwi lacked the courage to decide and act. Decades in this world, revered as a saint, yet at his core, he was less than ordinary.
"Krrr..."
Decades had taught him not to overcome fear, but to hide it. He shook his blood-soaked, unhealed head, baring his beastly fangs.
Unfortunately, no one around him feared broken teeth. The iron fortress grimaced as it reinforced the foundation, and Eleia poured power into her greatsword to counter any outburst. Even Yuri, gasping in Ha-ryeong's arms, glared at Agwi, as did Estor beside him, eyes thick with killing intent.
Earth Church priests approached, positioning around Agwi. Long years of alliance with Haberth Tower stemmed from perfect synergy. Divine power infused the foundation holding him, making Agwi's eyes quake fiercer.
His sustained transformation unraveled forcibly. Fur shed in clumps as his size shrank rapidly.
"What happens now?"
Estor asked, checking Yuri's wounds. A priest infusing divine power replied.
"We'll contact the Union, and high inquisitors from each church will come."
Excitement laced the priest's voice. Capturing an evil god's saint was unprecedented.
"Aaaaaah!"
Choice was forced. High inquisitors meant pain beyond death. Would it end? He might end up soul-preserved in eternal torment.
So Agwi built an altar in his heart and offered himself. Geers. With sufficient price, even the impossible became possible. A life worse than death beat immediate death or inquisitor custody.
"Kyaaak!"
Priests infusing the foundation screamed and convulsed. Irresistible force shattered their miracles, drawing blood tears. Then light bloomed from the earth, cradling them—their Earth God's divine power.
But offerings differed. No number of ordinary priests could bridge the gap.
From the unsealed sky rift, a slender finger descended. Simultaneously, black mist like malice incarnate surged.
"Evil God!"
Eleia bellowed. Without hesitation, she kicked off and flew at the finger. Sword energy thick with intent moved to slay the divine.
It was blocked. Her greatsword halted short of the finger. In that gap, the finger seized Agwi's head.
"Kuaaaak!"
Mere touch, yet Agwi's scream was his most wretched yet. Crack, crack-crackle...! He'd wished to escape alive; the evil god granted no such mercy.
Crunch-crunch!
Agwi's body, held by the foundation, tore horrifically. Not just his earth-buried lower half, but right hand and gut. Only head, shoulders, and chest, barely unburied, were clutched skyward.
All fell silent at the gruesome sight. The miracle had meticulously extracted only Agwi's 'body'. Robe and all else tumbled down with blood, flesh, entrails.
"Kwaaa! Aaaah!"
Half his body severed, yet Agwi lived. He shrieked in a guttural rasp as the finger rose higher. Soon, it vanished into the rift with him.
"..."
The saint they'd nearly captured fled, yet none could speak. They sensed blocking it impossible, and Agwi's end too horrific.
"Geers, huh."
Orca murmured, staring blankly skyward.
"Geers? Can Geers do something like that?"
Yuri, dazed, asked in disbelief.
"Geers... is a miracle demanded with a price. Usually gained through taboos and oaths for special powers, but saints close to gods can offer more for a 'true' miracle."
A blood-vomiting, heaving Earth priest answered.
"To escape alive, Agwi must've paid dearly. He couldn't afford to kill us all, or Geers miracles have limits."
Orca shook his head. His head throbbed, body ached. No issue for him returning, but Rayci would bedridden for days paying the price.
"Can't interrogate, but we got results. He barely escaped alive, but Agwi can't wield saintly power anymore."
"Should've killed him."
Yuri muttered, frowning. Orca smirked and approached the foundation.
"Couldn't kill, but plenty left behind fleeing with just his body. Recover and examine, might dig up cult info."
What was lost was lost. What could one do against the evil god's finger itself? Orca approached the intact foundation without regret.
"...Orca Derusia, right?"
Guzel, face grim, eyed Orca. Orca looked up at Guzel atop the golem and smirked.
"Guzel Haberth. Never thought we'd reunite like this."
"Urgh... Another weird spell. Possession?"
"Sent part of my soul via proxy. My true self's still at Derusia Tower."
"Convenient but risky. Possessors erase the host soul; yours seems safe?"
"No risk. Only part of the soul transfers. Overdo it, and the vessel might shatter or souls mix."
"Too dangerous?"
"Manageable with caution."
"True... You'd never be that stupid."
"Save the reunion for my real body later. Gotta see this through before leaving."
Orca eyed the foundation. Guzel nodded slightly and collapsed it. Robe and lower half tumbled down. The savagely torn stump was horrific, but Orca was nonchalant.
"..."
Lifting the robe over the lower half, rare bewilderment crossed Orca's face.
"...Why was he wearing just underwear under the robe?"
Among Agwi's remnants excluding fluids: black robe, gold wristband and necklace, torn-mouth mask.
And one pair of large underwear.
"This fucker was just in underwear under the robe?"
Bewilderment faded to disgust on Orca's face. Fighting a lunatic in only underwear beneath his robe was revolting.
"What kind of psycho...?"
Guzel muttered in disbelief.
"..."
Yuri said nothing.