Saint Maria and the Swamp Monster -5-
-Woooong!! The holy power filling the temple interior began pressing down on me like it had a will of its own, trying to shove me away.
-Woooong!!
-Kieeeek!! In response, I drew out the divinity of my demigod Nzambi nature and unleashed my death energy, repelling the light-attributed holy power.
-Woooong!! A pale halo formed behind my head, and the clashing holy powers began scattering more easily than I'd expected.
'Must be thanks to that nameless Four Heavenly King's ritual weakening the holy power.' Or maybe it was just weak sauce to begin with.
With that, I pierced through the holy power eroded by my death energy and advanced. At last, in the center of the temple—what seemed to be a prayer room radiating solemn reverence—I spotted my target.
-Woooong!!
“...”
In the center of the prayer room, formed by stones laid out in a circle on the ground, stood a woman radiating immense holy power. Clad in a nun's habit that covered her entire body, she knelt with her hands clasped in pious prayer. A faint smile tinged with inexplicable loneliness graced her lips. Her long hair was the signature pink of those closest to the goddess.
-Woooong!! And behind her head floated a golden halo. She was none other than Maria Raphael, the strongest saint said to have sealed a catastrophe-class monster and died forty years ago.
Defying the words "dead" and "forty years ago," Maria looked vibrantly alive. To an unknowing observer, she might seem merely a woman with her eyes closed in prayer. But my undead instincts told me otherwise.
'She's definitely dead.' That lifelike appearance was just a facade maintained by holy power; her internal organs had long since ceased functioning. She was nothing more than a receiver tuned to holy power now.
Having assessed the saint's corpse to that extent, I began judging whether I could turn it into an undead.
'It's packed with holy power, but at my current level, no problem.'
I could do it!! Me!! No joke—this was a total non-issue. The Undead Meister, an advanced class from Corpse Sculptor, made it possible to undead even bodies brimming with holy power that would normally resist creation.
-Sssslip.
The moment I reached out toward the saint's corpse—
“Halt!! Do not touch her!! Fool!! If the saint leaves that spot, the catastrophe will awaken once more!!”
Suddenly, a giant made of wood appeared behind me, trying to intervene. Likely an Ent, classified not as a monster but a sacred beast in this world.
“I am Darris, guardian of this saint's remains at the request of Luminus, friend of the goddess Vita, mother of life!! Begone from the saint's body at—!!”
“Shut up.”
-Boom!!
“Guhk!!”
Irritated at the interruption during such a crucial moment, I casually smashed the Ent's lower body with a punch. No one—no one—gets in the way of me creating a Living Death servant and lives to tell about it.
I turned back to the saint's corpse and reached out again.
◆◆◆
Darris, one of the few remaining kin of Vita—who had become the World Tree upon death and was mother to most life in this world—was dying.
And at the same time, 'How can a mere mortal midday being possess such power..!!'
He marveled at the sheer strength of the one who'd pulverized his lower body with a single punch, leaving him on the brink of death. Bound by the goddess's request and his own oath, unable to stray far from the saint's corpse, he was still one of Vita's transcendent creations. His power surpassed what ordinary mortals could withstand—even the pinnacle of demonkind called Archfiends were weaker than Darris. Only black-rank powerhouses, the zenith of humanity, could hope to match him.
Yet this being before him had swatted Darris aside like an annoying fly.
But even so, Darris's mind was filled not with fear of death or rage at his foe, but only worry for what was to come.
-Sssslip!
The saint's remains he'd guarded vanished from reality in an instant. What Darris didn't know was that Seokgil had stored the corpse in his morgue.
“It's over..!!”
With a lament, the dying Darris uttered those words.
And as the saint's body disappeared—
-Rumble rumble ruuuumble!!!!
The entire temple shook as if struck by an earthquake.
-Creeeak!!
-Ruuuumble!! Amid the massive tremors, the temple—built as sturdy as its ornate exterior suggested—began crumbling bit by bit.
And soon—
-KABOOOOOM!!!!
The wall at the front of the prayer room exploded outward, revealing the outside scenery. The tediously familiar swamp and its central massive lake. But the swamp's atmosphere had clearly changed. The ground and water surface pulsed violently under some chilling, unknowable force.
Above all, revealing the source of the impact that shattered the prayer room wall, a gigantic crater gaped in the earth near the temple. As if a fierce underground explosion had erupted, vast amounts of dirt and water sprayed outward from the hole's rim.
And from within that crater—
-KABOOOOOM!!!!
“KIIEEEEEEK!!!”
A colossal roar drowned out even the thunderous boom, shaking the surroundings as its form emerged.
“Kirrrrlrl!!”
It resembled a monstrous manta ray crafted from cowhide. Broad fins spanned its chest, a whip-like tail trailed behind, and insectoid eyes protruded long from its head. Countless razor-sharp teeth lined its skull, exuding menace. Its most striking feature? Sheer size—easily a kilometer long, by rough estimate.
-Crackle crackle!!!
Vast currents of electricity surged across the gigantic manta monster's body.
-Ruuuumble!!
Those immense currents spread skyward, birthing towering thunderclouds.
-Pooooour.
A hole seemed to tear in the heavens as torrential rain poured from the newborn storm clouds.
And then—
-Rooooar!!
“Kieee!!”
As if its task complete, the manta beast plunged into the massive lake, vanishing beneath the surface.
“Fool.. I only sought to protect you..!! From that thing..!! You and the world!!”
Witnessing it all, Darris cried out in lament toward Seokgil even as he lay dying.
“The catastrophe beast Elcuero has been unleashed!! It may take time, but it will gather all moisture from the surroundings and rain it down here!!”
This was why Elcuero was called a catastrophe beast. It dispersed its bizarre lightning everywhere, drawing in all atmospheric moisture to summon rain. The Daradul Great Swamp grew ever more waterlogged as a result, while nearby regions lost their humidity, ceased receiving rain, and turned to desert. And the range of its moisture pull expanded the more it gathered.
Given enough time, it could potentially desertify the entire western Lurope region of the Roman Empire's supercontinent.
Elcuero itself wasn't Demon King-level, but it was so overwhelmingly powerful that mortals could scarcely subdue it. Truly a beast that could bring world-ending disaster given time.
“Grraaah.. It's over now.. Even if you felled me… you midday mortal scum…”
In his fading consciousness, Darris lamented and rebuked Seokgil's folly.
-Swipe.
But ignoring Darris's words, Seokgil extended his hand into a blade and raised it skyward.
-Woooong!!!
Death energy beyond Darris's wildest imagination gathered on the blade. And the alien principle-infused power (imagery)—with that power-laden blade—
-Swoooosh!!!!!
He swung it straight at the massive lake.
“You'll defeat Elcuero… Huh?”
Darris, mid-rebuke, froze in stunned realization at what unfolded.
Because—
-KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!
-Ruuuuumble!!!!!
A world-shaking boom erupted, and the entire Daradul Great Swamp quaked, great and small.
Nearby areas rocked violently enough that ordinary folk could barely stand, let alone walk.
-Rumble rumble.
“Huh? What the hell?”
“The water's rippling faintly?”
In the swamp's outskirts, teeming with adventurers, only faint ripples reached the surface.
And what Darris witnessed—
-Rooooar!!
-SPLAAAAASH!!!!
A tsunami-like spray erupted as the massive lake split in two, exposing its bed, and—
-Creeeak!!
“KIIIIEEEEEEK!!!”
Elcuero writhed in agony, parts of its body bursting from the shockwave of the blade strike.
Darris thought then, 'I should've just stayed put.. Meddling for nothing…'
He blamed himself for making a fuss about the "catastrophe" and dying ahead of his time.