Chapter 166
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 166
Isolation Magic.
The Pope and his clergymen immediately recognized the nature of the spell. It was a high-tier magic, far more difficult to cast than a simple Veil. It completely cut off everyone within its bounds—including the caster—from the outside world, making teleportation impossible.
"C-Could it be...?!"
Damn it. The Pope cursed inwardly and tried to react, but the paladin was faster.
The paladin smirked, covering his face with his palm for a brief moment. When he pulled his hand away, his face had changed completely.
"I am Sian Tsukikrup."
The blue-haired paladin—or rather, Sian, who had been magically disguised as him—addressed the crowd.
"Is this everyone?" Sian asked again. His tone was still flat, but now it carried a subtle, chilling edge.
Only then did the Pope fully comprehend the situation.
He had been played.
Sian hadn't just been asking if there were others; he had been confirming his kill count before striking them all down at once.
Then, the real one...
The holy relic Sian wore was genuine. Common sense dictated that the relic wouldn't be here if its original owner were still alive.
He's dead? Even with two holy relics that boast absolute defense?
No, more importantly, how did he find this place?
Had they been dancing in the palm of his hand the entire time? Did Sian possess some kind of mind-reading magic that allowed him to see through their every thought? As the Pope’s mind swirled with doubt, Sian opened his clenched fist. Resting in his palm was a single, insignificant black bead.
It was one of the dozens of decorative beads from a rosary... one the Pope recognized instantly.
He had been wearing that very rosary around his neck when he went to meet Ar.
But how could he track me with just that bead?
Suddenly, a certain figure flashed through the Pope's mind. There was someone among the Edelbreas Black Wolf Knights with a ‘special constitution’ that allowed them to track a target with even the smallest trace.
Ar's closest confidant, the ‘Pursuer.’
Garot Azaneljia...
He had thought the Edelbreas Black Wolf Knights were wiped out in Uin and Ar’s absence.
"You... You bastard!" the Pope roared.
Yet, not a single paladin or clergyman rushed Sian. They weren't even looking at him. As the Pope screamed, they were all staring blankly at the sky.
High above, two massive spheres of mana had appeared and were steadily expanding.
It was <White Extermination>, a spell that boasted the highest destructive power among all high-tier magic.
"Are you... planning to die with us?!"
Sian didn't answer. He merely stared at them with a cold expression. After several seconds of staring at Sian’s impassive face, the Pope realized how terribly he had misjudged everything.
While the isolation magic prevented anyone from escaping, it didn't mean everyone inside would die. Sian possessed two holy relics with absolute defense. There was no way he would be harmed by a mere high-tier spell.
"You... you wretched bastard!"
In the sky, the two spheres of light merged into one.
The Pope shrieked. He couldn't let the plan he had spent his entire life preparing vanish so pointlessly.
"God's divine punishment will find you!!!!!!"
Sian leisurely lowered his helmet's visor. The white energy gathered more densely, and the Pope's vision began to bleach into pure white.
"God's! Divine punishment!"
The light that had been swirling in the sky poured down.
For a fleeting moment, the Pope's life flashed before his eyes. Among the memories was a scene of himself, declaring that God's judgment would come.
Sian's judgment swept through the hundred or so believers.
*
Two beads had been secretly detached from the rosary. One had been given to Sian, but the other remained in Garot's hand.
It's gone.
It was a sensation only Garot, with her ability to track traces, could perceive. The most potent presence connected to the bead she held had just vanished.
It meant the Pope was dead.
"..."
Not all the Orcs had crossed into Riaze yet. By a rough estimate, less than half had arrived. But there was no longer any need to wait. Kurak was already here.
"Lady Uin," Garot said softly.
Despite the noisy clatter of weapons and supplies being moved behind them, Uin heard the quiet voice and turned to Garot.
"You know of the Heavenly Wings."
Uin nodded. The Sky Carriage was a common sight in the skies of Riaze, so of course she knew of the Heavenly Wings.
"...The 3rd Generation Homunculus research."
"I know of that as well."
Because she loved the citizens of the Empire more than anyone else, and to stop acts that violated humanity, Uin had made countless efforts since being granted the title of Hero. Because of who she was, she knew.
The Artificial Lifeform Development Project.
The ultimate goal of the research—often called homunculus development, though its meaning had been distorted by events like the collapse of the Orthodox Church—was to create life that was nearly human. The academic discipline of alchemy, which served as the project's foundation, was a field that demanded understanding above all else. To create gold, for instance, one had to first understand gold.
The Artificial Lifeform Development Project was no different. To create an entity similar to a human, one first had to understand humans.
Homunculus research based on alchemy inevitably required human ingredients.
"...But that research was suspended."
The Artificial Lifeform Development Project had ended in failure. The relatively successful 1st and 2nd generations had their technological lineage severed by a certain incident. The 3rd Generation Homunculus, the ‘Heavenly Wings,’ had met a futile end after failing in its primary goal of undermining the prestige of the Orthodox Church.
As a sign of their complete abandonment of the project, the Empire's high-ranking officials had revealed the Heavenly Wings to the public, repurposing them as a new means of transportation called the Sky Carriage. It was a public declaration that the research was over. The study, which had claimed countless victims through human experimentation, seemed destined to fade away as a dark stain on history.
"..."
This time, Garot turned her head in silence. The magic scholar from the ‘Third Eye,’ who had been tagging along beside her, met her gaze.
Garot gave the magic scholar a sharp nod. Understanding her meaning, the scholar flashed an unpleasant smile.
"Understood."
He vanished on the spot using teleportation magic.
"What are you trying to say...?"
At Uin's question, Garot’s expression became complicated and heavy. Sensing the anguish behind Garot's actions, Uin fell silent and looked back down at the Orcs outside the castle walls.
A few minutes passed.
"This," Garot suddenly said.
Just then, a strange, unrecognizable clamor began to echo from behind them.
"This is one of the things the Captain was hiding."
Hearing Garot's words, Uin turned toward the source of the noise. Her gaze naturally drifted upward.
The sky was completely blanketed in black.
It was something she had never seen before, yet she recognized it instantly.
A swarm of homunculi so vast it blotted out the entire sky.
"Ah...?"
Uin slumped to the ground. Ever since Garot had brought up the homunculi, terrible images had filled her mind, and she had desperately prayed they weren't true.
Damn it all. A Hero's Intuition was only ever right about the bad things.
"This is reality, Lady Uin," Garot said, her voice even more resolute.
Blood trickled from her tightly bitten lip.
*
They had wings.
Their eyes were entirely gray, with no distinction between sclera, iris, or pupil. Their mouths were hideously torn, a disgusting sight. Purple blood trickled from the wounds.
At least several thousand of them covered the sky.
The weapons they held fell into three main categories. The most numerous had long, sharp talons for claws. Others wielded spears. A third type was shrouded in mana, with mana stones embedded in the backs of their hands instead of claws.
Though their armaments differed, their overall appearance was identical.
"M-Monsters!"
Since they were flying from the direction of the Empire's heartland, the citizens were the first to scream. With an unknown monster appearing on top of the Orc invasion, they plunged into instant despair.
The Imperial soldiers were trembling with equal fear. To them, the monsters looked like nothing but allies of the Orcs.
Soldiers reeled in terror, and more than a few stumbled and fell from the castle walls.
"...It's the end."
One soldier stared up at the homunculi and muttered. No one replied. They all shared the same thought.
With the end so near, their will to fight evaporated.
But contrary to everyone's expectations, the homunculi did not attack the citizens of the Empire.
Their hatred was directed at the phantom beasts floating in the sky.
"Kieeeeeeeek!"
The swarm of homunculi charged, descending upon the phantom beasts. Though each homunculus was barely the size of a human, the sight of dozens clinging to a single beast was enough to freeze the soldiers in place.
One by one, the homunculi latched onto the phantom beasts and opened their mouths. Their jaws tore open more than five times wider than a normal human's. With those gaping maws, they savagely ripped at the beasts' flesh.
Those unable to get a bite tore at the phantom beasts' hides with their claws. They attacked indiscriminately, showing no concern for their fellow homunculi as they ripped through muscle and devoured entrails.
"Kueeeek, kueek!"
Under the sudden onslaught, the phantom beasts were shot down helplessly. They crashed to the ground one by one like falling leaves, and within five minutes, not a single beast remained in the air.
This time, the homunculi turned their heads in unison toward the Orc camp.
They charged again like madmen, and a slaughter began.
Fountains of blood erupted everywhere—half from the Orcs, half from the homunculi. Yet to the Imperial army watching, the battle looked like nothing short of a one-sided massacre.
The homunculi possessed no emotions. They felt no fear. Seeing the dread etched on the Orcs' faces, it was a miracle they were even holding their ground.
"Shhh! Shhhhh!"
"Kahk, kahhhhhk!"
The bizarre shrieks filling the battlefield finally subsided after several dozen minutes. Just when it seemed the Orcs' sheer numbers would grant them victory, the sky blackened once more. A new wave of homunculi had arrived, right after the first had been annihilated. This new wave looked even larger than the last.
For the first time, the humans witnessed despair on the faces of the massive Orc army.
Once again, the shrieks filled the heavens and the earth.
Even amidst the chaotic melee, some stood out. Kurak was one of them. Every time he swung his axe, the homunculi rushing him were torn in two. Any that tried to exploit the opening after his swing had their heads crushed under his heel. He was surrounded by a sea of purple homunculus blood, making him easy to spot even from a distance.
But despite the valor of individuals like him, the Orcs' dire situation remained unchanged. Kurak, too, had limits to his stamina.
If this continued, the Orcs would be wiped out. Kurak understood this perfectly.
"Is this the Pope's doing...?"
After hastily slaying one charging homunculus and tearing another apart with his bare hands, Kurak looked up at the castle walls. A pink-haired woman was looking down at him coldly. From her gaze alone, he was certain this was her doing.
"I have never received information that humans possessed such military power..." Kurak frowned.
There was one thing he could be sure of: these entities were artificially created. Not only were they creatures he had never heard of, but as he kept killing them, he saw that their appearances were identical down to the last detail. They weren't just similar—they were identical, as if mass-produced from a single mold.
If they could be mass-produced, the Orcs could not win.
This didn't just apply to Nilkubal. If such things existed, the balance of the entire world would shift. ...Just what on earth had humans created?
"Legion Commander!"
While Kurak was lost in thought, an urgent voice called out. Kaltum, the chieftain of the Kariem tribe, was running toward him.
"Legion Commander, the situation is grim!" Kaltum shouted, panting as he arrived. Even then, he swung his hammer, crushing a charging homunculus. "Please, order a retreat immediately!"