Chapter 126
Chapter 126
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: penny
Chapter: 126
Chapter Title: Demon King Descent
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It was too crude and incomplete to be called a true dragon, but a massive and powerful monster that carried dragon blood had been summoned.
Powerful enough to one day be dubbed a disaster, it let out a roar, clearly irritated at being forcibly summoned out of the blue.
The sheer ferocity of that roar nearly made me hurl the Longinus spear in my hand on pure instinct, but before I could, the Pope at the center of the summoning opened his mouth and issued his decree.
"Dreadful and savage disaster, sentenced to the end of fate—I shall execute your permitted final destiny in the name of the great god."
A brilliant, holy light descended upon the holy knights arrayed behind the Pope.
The gaze of the gods intensified, and the dragonkin—with its potential to become a near-disaster—roared once more, driven by primal unease. The final ritual began.
I watched for a moment before turning my eyes away.
At the topmost spectator seats of the coliseum-like building, overlooking the entire scene.
Three cardinals, the Saintess, and two Saintess candidates.
At this moment, they were all gathered there—everyone except the Pope, who was personally commanding the holy knights below and offering his faith to the gods, as if liberated from the chains of fate.
My gaze shifted to one of them. In the highest seat, reserved only for the Pope, sat a man smirking wickedly.
Cardinal Aoira. No—Blood Clan Puppeteer, Vampire Berthas.
Did he sense my stare? Or was it mere coincidence?
He turned toward me, flashing that chilling, razor-sharp smirk.
He no longer bothered with the gentle, merciful facade. He knew the end was near.
Instead, his body twitched uncontrollably, as if he could barely hold back from initiating the descent ritual to summon his god right then and there.
I gripped Longinus tighter and steadied my breathing.
The time to battle a god was approaching. Time flew by in a haze of tension and fear, and eventually, the massive, ferocious near-disaster met its end.
At that signal, two figures shot up from their seats.
Me, gripping Longinus and channeling throwing power through my body.
And Cardinal Aoira, grinning with a face twisted in ultimate madness and grotesquery, as if the hour had finally arrived.
The Pope turned to Aoira with a weary, frail look, as if his allotted time was up, then quietly departed the scene.
The arena entered a brief lull as everyone recovered from the battle's exhaustion and prepared the final ritual to offer the sacrifice.
That was when Cardinal Aoira leaped from the spectator seats, landing in the coliseum's center before the slain sub-dragon's corpse.
"Hahaha! Finally, finally, the time has come!"
He threw his head back and unleashed a mad howl.
"What the...?"
"A surprise event?"
"Isn't that Cardinal Aoira? Who knew he could make that kind of face."
"But what's going on? Something feels off..."
"Off? This Holy Spirit Festival is a huge event. Probably just another special show. I'm excited!"
The crowd felt a flicker of instinctive dread but quickly dismissed it, refusing to suspect the usually benevolent and revered Cardinal Aoira. They wrote it off as part of some unique event.
Even the guards meant to stop such outbursts did nothing. If elite holy knights had been on duty instead of civilian militia-types, the response would have been entirely different.
But all the named holy knights—and even those who could lend a hand—had exhausted themselves slaying the monster and withdrawn for rest, rendering the what-if meaningless.
Aoira had revealed his true face precisely because he knew this was their most vulnerable moment.
Cardinal Aoira drew a sacred, beautiful chalice from his robes.
"I offer the great essence of demon blood! Altar to welcome the god, reveal thyself!"
The black blood in the chalice spilled onto the sub-dragon's corpse and flowed to the floor. Smoke rose from it, and the entire coliseum began to shake.
Kududuk! Kwajik!
The altar—no, the small pedestal holding the demon beast from Berthas's basement in his puppet master lair—emerged.
It had grown vastly larger, more imposing and ominous, big enough to hold the near-disaster's body without issue.
Only then did they sense something was wrong.
Fear, anxiety, panic, and excitement began to spread.
But it was too late. Cardinal Aoira set the holy grail on the ground with an expression bordering on ecstasy, climbed atop the altar beside the sub-dragon's corpse, and...
"Ah... Great god. You who devour death, rule death, and achieve perfection through death—reveal thyself!"
He bellowed a cry of worship and praise toward the Reverse Heaven Grimoire, the god's divine relic floating above the altar's peak, then...
Without hesitation, plunged a dagger into his own heart.
"Kyaaak!!"
"Cardinal!"
"What the hell is happening?!"
"It's a demon! A demon possessed the cardinal and killed him!"
"What do we do? What do we do? Where are the other cardinals?!"
Panic erupted, only to be forcibly silenced across the audience.
It had to be. After witnessing what happened before their eyes...
The grimoire's eye opened. It scanned the mortal world with arrogant loftiness, then smirked in satisfaction and unleashed demonic energy.
The summoning—no, the descent—had begun.
In exchange for the puppet master's most cherished puppet corpse, the sub-dragon's body, and the god's relic.
All the summoning magic circles Berthas had planted across the Holy Kingdom activated at once. Countless prepared sacrifices had their souls and bodies eternally erased as the price.
As the descent commenced, those who finally grasped the situation sprang into action.
The holy knights who had retreated for rest rushed back first, drawing their weapons in horror. The high priests in the stands and the remaining two cardinals moved as well.
"Charge! Drive this demonic filth from our sacred and beautiful domain!!!"
"Destroy it! For such foul impurity to appear on this holiest, most radiant festival day is blasphemy!"
With the cardinals' shouts, holy power attacks flew toward the altar—massive enough to cover a fifth of the coliseum.
But...
【Hmmm...】
Too late.
The space where the Demon King's relic had floated tore open. It was still a small, insignificant rift. But what lay within was anything but.
The being inside spotted the incoming attacks and extended its right index finger through the hole, then dragged it downward.
A single flick of the finger. All divinity was denied, all lifeforms knelt and bowed, all mana paid homage.
【Worthless, worthless worms.】
The rift widened. The finger became a hand. The hand an arm. The arm a torso. The torso finally a full body.
The existence wasn't particularly massive, grotesque, or overtly evil-looking.
It resembled Cardinal Aoira. Yes, if a demon took that exact form, it would look just like this.
Had the puppeteer modeled his puppets after his god's image? Or had he descended in that form because of the puppet offered as sacrifice?
I couldn't say for sure, but one thing was clear: the darkest, most malevolent demon had descended upon this brightest, most beautiful place.
【Rejoice and wail before death! Your slayer has personally descended here! Through your deaths, the great plan shall be fulfilled!!!】
Was that message laced with worry? Dismay? Resignation?
One thing was certain: unlike before, this was a proper descent backed by fitting sacrifices and long-accumulated karma, so the system imposed no special restrictions.
To be honest, at that moment, he was weaker than the fifth-basement-floor clone—or even the second-basement-floor calamity.
Stronger than the sub-dragon corpse dubbed a near-disaster, but far too pathetic and frail to be called a god. Yet he could grow. More precisely, he could regain his power.
By devouring death.
The moment the messages filled my view, there was no more hesitation. I released the spear's charge, rose from my seat, pulled my right arm back, then unleashed it like a snapped rubber band straight at him.
【Devour these worthless specks of light...!】
Gamigin twisted in panic. Demonic energy gathered around him to block the incoming spear, as one might expect from a so-called god.
Fat chance. Longinus's power couldn't be stopped by mere clumped energy, let alone a basic skill.
No, he might have blocked it if he'd regained even a fraction of his strength. But with his current power, he stood no chance against Longinus with its twelve special authorities activated.
Kwagagaga! Crash!
The pitch-black barrier clashed with the spear, holding for a tense moment before shattering pathetically.
【What?!】
Gamigin tried to dodge in a fluster, but it was futile. Longinus curved mid-flight, piercing straight through his evading flesh.
Chiiik!!
Light and darkness, divinity and demonic energy—they were polar opposites. Especially a holy relic piercing a Demon King?
【Kuaaaaaagh!!!!】
With a monstrous scream, Gamigin thrashed wildly, trying to pry the Longinus from his right chest.
I drew a deep breath at the sight.
My eyes gleamed as I slowly drew forth the mana of pride from within, manifesting solar true energy to envelop my body.
A sacred, radiant sun charged at the demon and evil.
The final act.