Chapter 271: Mysophobia and Jealousy (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 271: Mysophobia and Jealousy (4)
The Apostle could not comprehend the current situation.
He could not understand why the Curse King, whom he had been trying to recruit, was here.
Nor could he understand why the Avatar prepared by the Apostle of Pride was in this place.
Yet, amidst the confusion, there was one thing the Apostle realized with absolute clarity—
‘It’s dangerous.’
This situation was perilous beyond measure.
The moment he realized this, the Apostle immediately threw his body backward.
Splat!
The Apostle’s right hand, which had been seized by the black hand, was torn clean off, spraying crimson blood in every direction.
The Apostle didn’t even blink at the agony of self-mutilation. Instead, as if the severed limb were an opportunity, he hurled his flying right hand toward Seolrang and Nangwon.
Then—
Rumble!
Lumps of pure white flesh erupted from the arm that had been gushing blood.
It was a sight like a bursting ray of light. The rapidly multiplying flesh swelled in an instant, attempting to swallow Seolrang and Nangwon.
However.
Snap!
Regrettably, the Apostle’s ingenuity was crushed in a heartbeat.
Crackle!
A golden flash shot out like a beam of light, ruthlessly pulverizing the lumps of flesh and reaching the Apostle in an instant.
“!”
It was a movement so swift that even an Apostle blessed by the Great One lost track of her form for a second. The Apostle tried to react, albeit belatedly, but—
Crunch!
His body was already being sent flying.
His frame bounced like a ball, carving a massive line across the ground. The Apostle’s body tore through trees and forest alike, leaving a trail of devastation.
And then—
BOOM!
He slammed into the middle of a cliff, creating a massive crater.
“Cough—!”
The Apostle coughed up black blood, his eyes bulging in disbelief.
‘This... much power?’
He knew the Avatar was strong. But he hadn't expected Seolrang to be at this level. The sense of crisis he had felt moments ago was strictly because of the Curse King, whom he viewed as a candidate—not because of the Golden Moon before him.
Therefore.
‘This makes no sense—’
The Apostle scrambled to stand, trying to prepare his next move.
Grip!
“!”
Unfortunately, pinned against the cliff, he could not rise. It was because of the black hands that had manifested around the cliff where nothing had existed just a moment ago.
Hundreds of hands, saturated with curses and malice.
Seeing them, the Apostle spat out more lumps of flesh.
Squelch!
Flesh erupted from his severed arm just as before.
However.
Crunch!
“Agh—?!”
The black hands already surrounding him seized the Apostle’s body firmly.
“Don’t think you’re getting out of here alive, you piece of filth.”
In the next moment.
Black Hand Gaze.
Abyssal Hand.
His body was snapped.
Neck,
Shoulders,
Chest,
Waist,
Pelvis,
Legs,
Knees.
Every existing joint was twisted.
His arms were contorted grotesquely. His neck was nearly torn away. His legs were crushed, and his waist was rotated at an impossible angle.
The Apostle’s body was discarded onto the ground like trash.
But as if it weren't over yet, the black hands that had completely blanketed the cliffside crushed the very edge of the precipice, dropping the massive boulders onto the Apostle.
Then.
As the massive cliff face fell with a heavy roar—
“Die.”
Seolrang struck it down with everything she had—
───────────!!!!!
The ground exploded.
Dust billowed in every direction. A deafening roar echoed past them, reaching all the way to Rosario.
It was a tremendous commotion.
In truth, Nangwon and Seolrang had been extremely cautious until now. Neither of them wanted Alon to see them like this. That was why they had kept up their childish bickering and hair-pulling until now.
But at this moment, those past worries vanished as if they had never existed.
To them, protecting Alon was far more important than the fear of being hated by him for showing this side of themselves.
With eyes sunken into a deep chill, Seolrang and Nangwon stared at the spot where the dust clouds rose.
The Apostle’s form visible through the dust could no longer be called intact. There wasn't a single normal part left on his body. His limbs were mangled and twisted, and his neck was a gruesome sight, more than half-torn away.
Completely covered in grotesquely protruding lumps of pure white flesh—it was no longer human.
“……Heh.”
Even then, the Apostle twisted his lips into a smirk.
“A pity... truly a pity. If it ends like this, I won’t be able to assist That Person.”
The Apostle muttered to himself.
“—Still, it seems I won’t be entirely useless.”
He grinned broadly.
In an instant, the pure white flesh began to surround Nangwon and Seolrang. Before they could even react, the flesh enclosed the Apostle and the two of them completely, as if constructing a small arena.
Crunch!
In the next moment, the Apostle’s head was ripped off by Seolrang.
Despite this, the Apostle looked at Seolrang with amusement.
“It’s no use. Even if you kill me, this won’t disappear. Nor will you be able to pierce through these walls of flesh. This flesh is... quite special.”
“You—”
“Now, let us witness it together—the descent of the Great One! Let us see what happens to the one...”
He smirked.
“...the one you were trying so hard to protect.”
He sneered with ultimate arrogance.
* * *
As the sunset faded and the dark night sky took over, a bizarre sound echoed.
Alon looked up at the sky.
There, the previously silent lumps of Sin were moving, emitting a grotesque noise. The flesh undulated as if announcing that the Sin would soon reveal its form.
At that sight, Alon clutched his dizzy head and organized the situation.
‘...Below, the pure white abominations are rampaging to kill the citizens, and above, the Sin is being born.’
The situation was dire, but it wasn't quite the absolute worst-case scenario.
He had weakened the Sin to the maximum possible extent. Furthermore, he had instructed Yutia in advance to evacuate the citizens to the opposite side of where the Sin was located.
For a desperate response, he had done everything he could.
In other words, Alon had made the best choices within his power.
Yet, the reason anxiety flickered in his eyes was the Sin that was about to appear.
The Sin was certainly weakened. If it emerged now, it would likely possess only about a fifth of its original strength.
But Alon knew. He knew just how irrational an existence a Sin was.
Thump!
The moment that thought crossed his mind, the mass of flesh that had been twisting frantically suddenly stopped moving.
And then, what appeared next was—
“!”
A hand.
A colossal hand that blanketed the night sky.
A hand so large it could easily cover half of Rosario tore through the atmosphere and plummeted downward.
It happened in the blink of an eye.
Before Alon could do anything, the hand plunging toward the earth ignored the barrier spread over Rosario as if it were a joke and struck the city directly.
BOOM—!!!
Immediately, it began to return everything in sight to nothingness.
The pure white streets brushed by the giant fingers were pulverized. The crushed central plaza turned into ruins. Temples collapsed under the swing of the hand.
With just a single move.
As if a Calamity that could not be stopped had descended upon the earth, the Sin reduced half of Rosario to rubble.
At that sight, Alon...
“Ha...”
He was simply overwhelmed.
By that nonsensical irrationality.
By that existence that stood peerless by its very presence.
■■■■■■■■■■—!
As the giant hand was slowly withdrawn, a blood-curdling scream echoed through Rosario.
A horrific scream that sapped one's will to fight.
Watching the incomplete but massive form beginning to take shape within the cocoon, as if a new life were being gestated, Alon hardened his resolve.
The Sin had awakened.
But.
‘There is only one chance.’
Because of that, he knew that this very moment was his opportunity.
And then.
“Art of Defying Heaven.”
With Alon’s murmur.
“!”
The necklace around his neck began to emit a blue light.
A brilliant blue light, like a blue moon.
* * *
On the rooftop of the Eastern Temple, where most of the citizens had evacuated.
“Uaaah—”
Sergius let out a faint cry as he looked out over the landscape of Rosario.
...With just one attack, the territory of Rosario was now reduced to half.
They had succeeded in clearing out all the pure white abominations that had been incessantly swarming the temple. He had breathed a sigh of relief that everyone had survived.
But then—
“Heh...”
The resting citizens let out hollow gasps.
‘How can something so nonsensical...’
Sergius slumped to the ground without realizing it.
The fighting spirit that had been slowly blooming as they drove back the pure white creatures was completely extinguished by the scene he had just witnessed.
That was the extent of it.
The sheer irrationality the Sin had displayed.
Sergius, whose soul had turned to ash as he stared blankly ahead, suddenly heard a small laugh.
“Heh—”
He instinctively turned his head toward the sound.
There stood Yutia.
Yutia was smiling brightly, as if this situation truly made her happy.
In her eyes, the Milky Way spread across the sky, centered around the blue moon, was reflected. A faint red glow, matching her red eyes, touched her cheeks. Her lips were curled into a radiant smile.
She looked incredibly beautiful.
...And incredibly alien.
Half of Rosario had been wiped out. In a sense, Rosario could meet its end starting today.
In her eyes, the ruins of Rosario were undoubtedly reflected along with the Milky Way.
...And yet, she was smiling.
More brightly than ever before.
“...Lady Yutia?”
Sergius spoke, as if possessed.
At his call, Yutia looked at him with a smile and parted her red lips.
“Sergius.”
“Yes...?”
“You once asked me, didn't you? How a god is born.”
It was a sudden question.
Indeed, Sergius had once asked her that, but he had never received an answer. To be precise, Sergius hadn't expected to hear one.
But why?
Why was the answer coming now?
Sergius simply stared at Yutia in silence.
Yutia looked back at him and said.
“It’s happening now.”
“...Pardon?”
“Right now, he is being born.”
A smile of supreme happiness graced her lips.
At those words, Sergius turned his gaze to the sky and bore witness.
With his ink-black coat fluttering in the moonlight.
Radiating a brilliance like that of the Goddess Sironia, floating loftily beneath the blue moon.
“My god.”
A man—
“...The hope beneath countless eyes.”
The Marquis Palatio, with the Goddess Sironia at his back.