Chapter 133
Chapter 133
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 133
Chapter Title: Seat 4, the Lord that Devours Death - Gamigin (3)
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On the ninth day, the activation rate finally surpassed 80%, and a denser radiance enveloped the spear, infused with the tremendous and mighty power known as divine slaughter.
The preparations were complete. Standing before the central altar in the colosseum, I brushed the dust off myself and gazed at the mountain of sacred items piled atop it, then turned my eyes toward the location of the Holy Kingdom's underground prison.
It was almost time. Just then, two figures approached me from the side—the two cardinals who had survived this chaos. They bowed their heads slightly toward me and spoke.
"Soon... the demon will ascend. The sounds from the second underground level have stopped."
Fuu...
They'd held out for a long time. Honestly, as Bertas had said, I thought we'd escape in about a week, but the calamities had bought us plenty of time.
The good news was that, thanks to my growth, the Longinus Spear's activation had progressed faster than expected, ultimately breaking past 80%.
I hadn't reached the original minimum goal of 85%, but that could be fixed by using those sacrificial offerings to weaken him—no problem there.
'Can I kill him?'
It was possible. That's why I'd gathered all those sacred relic items. Over the past nine days, it felt like I'd scraped together every last holy artifact in the Holy Kingdom.
From small handmade statues of minor ranks to the grand statues representing each temple of the Holy Kingdom.
All of them lending their power to slay the demon king rising from below.
"Belial. Bertas."
"Speak, contractor."
"As you command."
Belial was seething with rage. It was only natural, given that the demon king had dared to toy with the avatar of the demon god she had served.
Bertas, meanwhile—whether he needed time to gather his thoughts or had some scheme of his own—had quietly obeyed my orders and guarded me for the past nine days.
"Belial, go provide support. Bertas, prepare to weaken the demon king."
At my command, Belial spread her wings and flew toward the underground prison, while Bertas began interfering with the summoning magic circle on the altar.
And at that moment, the precursor finally appeared.
Rumble rumble rumble!
The ground shook. All the ordinary citizens within the Holy Kingdom had already been evacuated under the pope's guidance. Since this was a fate I was meant to protect anyway, this level of intervention was fine, so he'd taken the kingdom's people to shelter in a new territory for the time being.
Thanks to that, the only ones left inside the Holy Kingdom were the absolute elite of the elites.
Given Gamigin's power to devour death and wield it, we'd cut off any means for him to recover at the source.
The moment the signal of the demon surging from below arrived, a massive dome materialized in the sky as if it had been waiting.
A colossal dome enveloping the entire Holy Kingdom. Golden holy power beautifully formed the dome, inscribed with dozens of runes.
A barrier jointly created by the two cardinals centered on Nabilung. Even if things went wrong, it would hold the demon king back from escaping the Holy Kingdom for a short while, and during the battle, prevent his power from spreading outward.
The Longinus Spear wailed, desperate to judge the enemy right then and there.
Hah!
I could feel it. Underground level one. He'd arrived there. With the divine barrier fully dispelled, an overwhelming, destructive, and malevolent demonic energy began rising from the underground prison and spreading outward.
In the face of that suffocating power, everyone except me and a few others trembled uncontrollably.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
We hadn't extracted some of the prisoners from underground level one. They were too dangerous to touch carelessly, and given the circumstances, we couldn't afford mercy for them either.
Terrified by the fear of death, those prisoners submitted to the demon king. There was no resistance. As death descended and the conquest of underground level one ended...
A silence like the calm before the storm settled over the Holy Kingdom.
"Prepare."
My low but resounding voice put everyone on edge as they readied for battle.
'Be cautious. Perfect judgment is needed.'
He knew I possessed the Longinus Spear. With ample time, he must also know it had activated to some degree.
Which meant he'd definitely prepared some countermeasure. If I could grasp that counter... and if these people held out until then...
Victory would be ours.
"Begin!"
At my order, Bertas and the followers attached to the altar—where the descent magic circle was drawn behind me—initiated the ritual.
Holy light mingled with dark crimson blood demonic energy, interfering with the descent magic circle engraved on the altar as the mountain of sacred relics began to be absorbed.
Gulp.
I swallowed hard and stared toward the distant underground prison. And then it finally began.
BOOM!!
A massive explosion kicked up a cloud of dust, and from within, the dead rose alive once more.
-Kieeeek!!
-Kueeeek!!
-Kuweeeeng!!
The first to appear were none other than the Hungry Ghosts. An instinctive revulsion and disgust washed over us.
They were different from the ones we'd seen on underground level two.
Those had been filled only with blood, slaughter, and chunks of flesh, but these moved with clear intent and intelligence, launching attacks under explicit orders.
The followers and knights recoiled in horror, desperately and instinctively averting their gazes from the creatures.
Since their original bodies were already dead and they themselves were undead, the Hungry Ghosts' mental attacks were weakened, but it was still too much for the frail to withstand.
"Bring out the preparations!!"
That's why I'd prepared countermeasures. The knight commander and high-ranking followers maintained their sanity and shouted. At the same time, a wave of holy and beautiful light poured down from the heavens.
Transfer Holy Magic. An advanced holy spell that bestowed one's holy power upon another was cast toward one person.
"Great light, please grant your sacred baptism to us lowly ones!"
Min Chulong manifested a miracle with that immense holy power.
'Perfect!'
That's right. I'd anticipated this situation. I even knew those things were the extent of the undead under Gamigin's command.
No matter that Gamigin was a Seat and a demon king, I was certain he couldn't resurrect the calamities. Even in his true body descent, the system or the sealing formations wouldn't allow it.
Above all, my reasoning was that to advance to the next living level, the sealing formations required him to be unable to command calamities.
And to confirm that certainty, at the end of my last meeting with the pope, I'd asked about the calamities—the biggest potential variable in this plan—and received an answer.
The pope had said those calamities were forcibly removed from the flow of time. Beings who had already lived for eons.
Thus, once the sealing formations' power that forcibly severed them from time vanished and they met death, they would shatter without leaving even corpses or souls behind.
In other words, Gamigin absolutely could not command the calamities.
Well, I figured he could command the infinitely regenerating Predator Hungry Ghosts.
If he'd reached underground level two, all sealing formations up to there must be broken.
And sure enough, Gamigin sent the commanded Hungry Ghosts as his vanguard, as if testing our reactions.
The Hungry Ghosts writhed and convulsed in agony against the holy wave but couldn't defy the absolute command, pressing forward relentlessly.
The knights charged at those creatures, supported by the followers behind them.
And at the forefront of our allies, the legion empowered by the same Transfer Holy Magic...
"......ROOOAAARRR!!!"
With a massive roar, they created holy entities that safely shielded our allies from the enemy and made it easier to strike the foes.
The earth's strongest shield. The invincible war machine. And countless other epithets for the hunter force.
Thus began a battle worthy of being called a war. And immediately, the next move revealed itself.
The prisoners. The worst of the worst left on underground level one used death as a springboard, emerging empowered by Gamigin's might.
-Kuhahaha! For the great demon king, I shall bring death upon this damned kingdom!
-Foul and repulsive lights, the descent of darkness is here!
-Accept the mercy of the great Lord that Devours Death!
As expected, he'd devoured their deaths without fully erasing their souls and flesh. Well, he'd already gone beyond mere recovery by consuming the calamities' deaths that way. Using these as disposable pawns wasn't a bad play.
Belial dove toward the prisoners. She could handle them alone. With that, the battle intensified.
"How far along is it?"
"About 70% complete."
The weakening process was going smoothly too. It was about time he noticed something off and emerged.
And sure enough. Half the Hungry Ghosts were wiped out. Belial shifted into her Judgment of Justice and Sin—Sataniel Mode, regained through subjugation, taking angelic form to overwhelmingly judge the sinners.
Finally, the demon king fully demolished the underground prison entrance and revealed himself on the surface once more.
He was definitely stronger... or rather, he wasn't.
'Success.'
The moment the pressure of his power and rank descended upon us, while everyone else trembled in shock and terror, fainting in droves, only I could burst into laughter.
The plan to weaken the demon king using the altar and descent magic circle had succeeded.
"How much is left?!"
"About 90% complete! Three minutes and it'll be done!"
Even now, he was continuously weakening, and I could see Gamigin's impatience, urgency, and unease.
His gaze rapidly scanned the battlefield. It brimmed with anger as well.
Resolve to never fail no matter what, mixed with irritation at the absence of the demon god's avatar that should have been on underground level five.
The vortex of emotions swept over the entire land before finally settling on me, standing before the central colosseum altar in spear-throwing stance with Longinus.
A roar. No, exultation.
His emotions rapidly faded as Gamigin kicked off the ground and soared through the sky toward me. At that sight, I moved my body.
Giant's Strength. Might of the Strong Giant. Wings of Pride. Even Equivalent Exchange.
I applied every buff to amplify my power and finished my spear-throwing preparation. A single strike would end this interminably drawn-out game.
'He can't block it.'
The judgment was made. Cautiously and objectively. Gamigin absolutely could not block this strike.
"Eat shit and die already."
I propelled my pulled-back body forward, yanking my right hand back fully.
And then thrust it forward powerfully toward him.
By the time I saw the sinister, malevolent smile curling on the lips of the charging Gamigin, the Longinus Spear had already left my hand.