Chapter 96
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 96
Chapter Title: Red Lake
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Apostles of the Demon God. The first demons.
Seven existences burdened with all sorts of modifiers. But the name most widely known is undoubtedly the 'Seven Deadly Sins'.
Sloth, the origin of all Blood Demons who turned her back on the world and slumbers atop a ruined castle, having lost interest in everything.
Pride, who deems herself the only noble one atop a kingdom built of corpses and looks down on all others.
Lust, who appears in countless seductive forms that would stir impure thoughts even in the purest saint...
But among them, there's one existence said to be the least fitting of its epithet.
That would be Wrath.
According to testimonies from those who have directly encountered Wrath on the battlefield, contrary to her name, she is known as the mildest among the Seven Deadly Sins. Moreover, she primarily dwells in the middle of vast oceans, making encounters with humans rare to begin with.
Even when she occasionally crossed paths with humans, she never struck first, and her combat style and temperament were far removed from the word 'wrath'.
However, any being who has ever directly faced her wrath would understand why she bears that name.
"Whiiiing...!!"
A demon of beautiful form suddenly appeared at the lakeside. This mysterious demon, with a lower body shaped like a fish, glared at the humans with an extremely angry expression for some reason.
"That's... a siren?"
Grichul, who had spent countless years amassing strength and knowledge to battle demons, identified the opponent's race from Aqua's appearance.
"Was this lake a siren's territory? However..."
He couldn't fathom why she was directing such fury at them. Of course, he knew sirens despised it when the lakes they inhabited were soiled. But they had only just washed off some blood at the lakeside—no reason for that to provoke such rage...
"Tch. Let's deal with her quickly and move on."
"Whiii! Whing!"
Watching the siren emit unintelligible shrieks, Grichul drew his weapon without much tension.
He didn't know why she was charging suddenly, but there was only one opponent. In contrast, over fifty people had gathered here. Elite forces, no less, with more than ten heroes bearing holy relics among them.
Not some ragtag demons, but a unit dispatched to conquer a dungeon in the south—none of the knights or heroes felt any fear as they drew their respective weapons and faced off against the siren.
"She's quite pretty... Wonder if we'd make a killing selling her as a slave?"
Amid the standoff, one man kicked off the ground first and lunged at Aqua.
Lusting after her beautiful form. Looking at such allure, it was easy to see why some humans occasionally mingled with demons to produce half-breeds.
But...
"Those fish legs of yours rub me the wrong way...!!"
Muttering under his breath, the hero swiftly drew and swung his sword. In an instant, the blade extended dramatically, hurtling toward Aqua's lower body at the center of the whirlpool with enough force to cleave it entirely.
An attack combining the indestructible durability unique to holy relics with the ability to freely adjust the blade's length.
Confident that this strike ignored distance and would slice off her scaly lower half in a flash, the hero flashed a smug smile.
-Kclang!
"...?"
"Whing."
The moment the blade touched her gleaming scales, it halted with a clash like metal on metal.
"What kind of durability...?"
Though he couldn't wield aura and had merely swung after lightly enhancing his body with mana, a holy relic's durability was no joke.
Not blocked by armor or shield—just mere scales stopping the attack...?
-Shwaaaaah!!!
As the stunned hero muttered blankly, a massive water mass shot toward him. Just as he was about to take the hit, Grichul intervened, blocking it with his shield.
-Kwaaaang!!
"Ngh!!"
A colossal impact like being struck by a cannonball sent Grichul tumbling back along with the sword-wielding hero.
Waving off the knights rushing to him in alarm, Grichul gripped his trembling arm and lifted his weapon again, his expression turning slightly serious.
"Come to think of it, I've heard tales. Sirens dwelling in the deep sea possess tremendous bodily durability to withstand the ocean's pressure..."
-Shwaaaaah!!!
As if refusing to give them time to think, the lakeside—which had just served as a rest spot—transformed into a lethal weapon, surging toward them.
Among the heroes, a knight clad in full plate armor, confident in his defenses, charged through the water mass toward Aqua.
-Kwang! Kwang!
"Haaaaap!!"
His holy relic granted super armor—an ability allowing approach without staggering from any attack. Ignoring the water jets battering his body, the hero closed in on Aqua.
"This bitch is mine!"
Deeming her abilities mere water blobs or jets, the hero reached for her neck upon reaching her.
-Shlurp!!
"Wha...? Urk!!"
In that instant, the water soaking his armor seeped through minute gaps—into his eyes, nose, mouth, ears, lower orifices, and every pore.
"Guhk...? Kek... kek?!"
It didn't stop there. Water continued pouring from the lakeside, flooding into the hero relentlessly.
Desperately expelling mana to disrupt the flow as his body swelled grotesquely, the hero failed—the bizarre water ignored his mana and kept infiltrating.
"Wh-what's happening! Help me!"
Realizing something was wrong, the knights and heroes rushed to support and extract him, but humans couldn't fully block flowing water. It kept filling him. And...
-Boom!!
"...!!!"
An indestructible holy relic. Formed as full plate armor, always at the vanguard—yet from within came the sound of something bursting.
In this moment, the fact that the armor could never break felt utterly despairing.
-Drip... drip...
"Urk...!!"
Clear lake water poured from the armor's seams in torrents, mingled with massive amounts of red. The fishy stench made even blood-accustomed heroes cover their mouths and stifle vomit.
"You... vile demon!"
Grichul, who had been cautiously observing the enemy's movements, bellowed and unleashed the aura marking a seasoned swordsman, charging at Aqua. Behind him, mages and archers provided support fire.
-Kugugugung!!!!
"A... a tidal wave?!"
But the colossal tsunami rising from the lake rendered their diligently cast spells and arrows mere sparks and toothpicks. The casters lost all will to fight in an instant.
Their puny magics lost their light the moment they were swept into the massive wave.
In the past, humans witnessing lightning from the sky or great tsunamis would say, 'God is angry.' In this world where gods exist, it wasn't far off.
Then what of a being that could artificially summon such a tsunami? From a forest lake, not even the sea—drawing every drop to form a monstrous wave.
"Whing!"
With a cute voice clashing against the massive tsunami, an angry-faced Aqua swept her hand downward. The endlessly rising wave crashed upon them.
"Sh-shield!"
Mages hastily erected barriers to block it, but...
-Crack! Crrrack!!
The impact of tons of water crashing down was unimaginably immense. Multi-layered shields shattered instantly, and frail mages were pulverized into minced meat by the sheer force, their bodies disintegrating.
"Kaaack!! You bastard!"
Grichul, barely fending off encroaching water jets with his aura, swung his sword as he finally closed in.
'If I just kill this one!'
Slaying the culprit behind this carnage would save the knights swept below by the tsunami and the heroes bloating with water just like the one who died earlier.
-Shzzzt!!!
"Gu... hk?!"
-Halt!!
His aura-clad greatsword stopped just short of Aqua. Then, the water infiltrating his body sharpened into blades, shredding his organs. Sensing death imminent, Grichul stared at Aqua.
"Whing."
Glancing toward where the heroes had been heading—realizing her home must lie that way, beyond the ruins—she looked relieved.
'That... place...!'
Realizing where Aqua's gaze fell, Grichul understood why this siren attacked them.
'The moment we headed that way—where Fallen King perished—she struck. Furiously, for some reason.'
What lay there to make her bar their path? What manner of being was this siren, annihilating them in seconds?
'Ah, I must report...! To the Empire...!'
The site where Fallen King fell still held something. Something terrifying enough to station a siren capable of instant annihilation like a mere guard fish in the outer lake!
"I must report...!"
With desperate will, despite his guts being mangled, Grichul fumbled for his communication magitech device.
-Boom!
Lake water, injected to its limit, burst through his skin and out.
"Whing."
Her anger somewhat assuaged, Aqua gestured. The water jets and tsunami that tore them apart receded, returning to the lake.
The reformed lake lay serene, as if nothing had happened.
Only its surface now gleamed a shade redder than before.