Chapter 473: Astaroth (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 473: Astaroth (4)
How long had it been since they set out to subjugate Astaroth?
Alon noticed an anomaly.
"…The sky is dark."
"It is."
Until moments ago, the sun had been pouring down brilliant light through the gaps between the countless Divine Blood entities. Now, it was gone.
In its place, dark, heavy clouds occupied the heavens.
‘…Those don’t look like… ordinary storm clouds.’
Alon stared silently at the clouds—too dark to be natural—before turning his gaze toward Seolrang.
She, too, was looking up at the sky with a look of curiosity, as if witnessing something bizarre.
Furthermore, the further south they traveled toward Astaroth’s location, the darker the sky became. Alon briefly wondered if something was hidden within those clouds.
"Lord Alon, over there—"
At Evan’s call, Alon shifted his gaze and spotted ruins at the edge of the distant horizon.
The traces of former human habitation were clear.
However, it had transformed into a place where no one could possibly live. Only the skeletal remains of castle walls stood as a testament to the territory that once existed there.
As the Divine Blood and Alon’s party all confirmed the sight of the ruins—
"!"
Divine Blood entities suddenly appeared within the empty ruins.
They manifested abruptly, clad in black armor.
The members of the subjugation force were momentarily bewildered by their appearance.
But that confusion soon turned into incomprehension and scowls.
For good reason.
[…What is that?]
From the empty ruins, black Divine Blood entities began to appear one after another.
First two.
Then four.
Then eight.
Soon, they began to manifest in such numbers that the subjugation force lost count.
The force fell into a momentary state of chaos.
It was only natural. These Divine Blood entities hadn't crossed the horizon; they seemed to have literally popped into existence out of thin air.
As the Divine Blood entities watched the scene in a daze—
[Attack—!]
Red Faith finally snapped out of it and gave the order.
It might have been a hasty judgment.
However, at Red Faith’s command, the Divine Blood entities charged toward the black-armored foes without hesitation.
It might have been premature, but everyone knew one thing:
Something suspicious was happening here.
With their interests aligned, the subjugation force clashed with the black-armored Divine Blood as if by prearranged signal.
───────────BOOM—!
A bone-chilling sound erupted from the collision.
Explosions occurred in rapid succession—forces so violent that any ordinary human nearby would have been vaporized instantly. Before long, gruesome sounds echoed from all directions as the battle truly began.
####
The battle, which had begun abruptly with the appearance of the black-armored Divine Blood without any warning, unfolded somewhat differently than Alon had expected.
‘What is this…?’
Doubt flickered in Alon’s eyes as he watched the battlefield. Until a moment ago, he had been agonizing over how to deal with Astaroth’s Divine Blood.
The reason for his doubt was that the tide of battle had deviated significantly from his predictions.
He had expected significant casualties even with the subjugation force’s help. Based on the information he possessed, Astaroth was a formidable opponent.
But—
"…Lord Alon."
"What is it?"
"…Isn't this a bit too easy?"
—Strangely enough, the situation was far more favorable than Alon had anticipated.
"……."
Alon turned his gaze forward.
There, at the vanguard, were Red Faith and Stuck Eyes, ruthlessly slaughtering the black Divine Blood.
Indeed, this wasn't a war.
It was closer to a one-sided massacre.
────────■■■■■!!!
A black Divine Blood entity let out a horrific scream as it approached Red Faith.
Simultaneously, its body began to melt.
Crunch—!
As black armor and flesh liquefied into a grotesque mess, Red Faith decapitated the entity without hesitation. The red cross floating above his head glowed even more intensely, melting every black Divine Blood entity that entered his range.
Shatter—!
Nearby, Stuck Eyes was also disposing of the black-armored foes with ease. He struck down enemies who were swinging their weapons into empty air as if they couldn't see a thing.
It was the same elsewhere.
While some members of the subjugation force were being killed by the black Divine Blood, the majority were overwhelming their opponents.
Too lightly.
Too easily.
And before long—
"…I think it’s over."
The battle ended in an anticlimactic fashion.
With a victory for the subjugation force.
‘…Does this make sense?’
Alon looked at the battlefield, unable to comprehend the result.
The fight against Astaroth had certainly ended in a total victory, and in several places, entities were already celebrating their success.
In truth, it wasn't entirely strange. According to their intel, the Divine Vessel—the strongest leader of Astaroth—was currently incapacitated while assimilating a fragment.
[…….]
…Of course, there were others besides Alon who frowned, finding this easy victory suspicious.
"Teacher."
Seolrang, who had been silently observing the situation, suddenly spoke.
"Those guys… they’re the same as the ones from before."
"The ones from before?"
"Yeah."
At Seolrang’s nod, Alon looked blank for a moment before realizing what she meant.
"The ones who felt like Divine Blood, but weren't?"
"Exactly."
Seolrang nodded at Alon’s words.
Creak—!
Then, the anomaly began.
It was subtle, but Alon and Seolrang both caught it at the same time.
The corpses of the black entities, which had been lying on the ground as cold husks, began to slowly distort and compress.
[…!]
The moment Red Faith, who had also been suspicious of the situation, noticed it—
Creeeeeak—!
The black-armored Divine Blood corpses, already crushed into the shape of small spheres, shot toward a single point. They began to gather right in front of Red Faith.
In an instant, the black mass began to take on a human-like form.
[!]
Seeing this, Red Faith immediately turned his cross a deep crimson and swung his sword at the gathering black mass.
────────BOOM—!!!
A terrifying explosion followed.
Violent power, enough to easily level a village, was concentrated on that one spot.
However.
The Red Divine Blood—no, all the Divine Blood entities—looked down in shock.
Standing where Red Faith had struck out of a sense of danger was a single figure.
Strictly speaking, it couldn't be called a person.
It wore tattered clothes, similar to a monk’s robes.
It was so emaciated it looked like a mummy, making one wonder if it could even be considered alive.
There was a hole through the center of its heart, yet it clearly possessed a human shape.
However, the reason it couldn't be called a 'person' was—
It had no head.
In its place were two spears.
Two spear shafts were crossed and embedded in its shoulders where a head should be, and it was blocking Red Faith’s sword.
With a single finger.
[The Divine Vessel—]
As Red Faith gasped in horror at the sight—
[My brother’s ability does not have a very wide range. And it takes a long time to inflict damage.]
The voice of an old man echoed.
In the next instant—
Splat—!
Red Faith’s head exploded.
A grotesquely large spike had erupted from the old man’s back.
[!]
Seeing this, Stuck Eyes immediately tried to retreat.
Zip—!
But in the next moment, the old man was already standing before him.
[My brother cannot use his ability unless he makes physical contact.]
With those words—
Crunch—!
He drove his fist straight into the entity's body.
Squelch—!
Stuck Eyes’ heart was instantly crushed.
The Divine Blood entities froze at the shocking sight, but only for a moment.
[My brother’s ability is meaningless unless he concentrates for a certain period of time.]
As if he had been waiting for this, the old man—no, the Divine Vessel—began to slaughter the Divine Blood entities one by one.
[My brother’s ability is powerful, but easy to dodge.]
One by one—
[My brother’s ability is—]
Calmly—
"!"
The moment he saw this, Alon had two realizations.
One was that the information the subjugation force had was wrong.
And the other was—
Splat—
The reason why the Divine Vessel had bothered to send out the black-armored Divine Blood entities to fight a battle he knew they would lose.
‘It was to figure out their abilities…!’
The moment Alon realized this, the old man stopped his slaughter.
No, he hadn't just stopped.
More accurately, he had finished the primary cleanup.
He had eliminated the Divine Blood entities who had revealed their 'abilities' during the battle with the black entities.
"……."
Alon realized that most of the dead were the very ones who had been at the vanguard, butchering Astaroth’s forces just moments ago.
[I shall make a proposal to my brothers.]
The Divine Vessel spoke.
[How about you all serve the Great Astaroth?]
His voice was incredibly calm.
[If my brothers abandon the path of heresy and serve Lord Astaroth, we would be more than happy to welcome you as one of us. Just like those who came before you.]
He made a proposal to the Divine Blood entities in a serene tone.
A rather strange proposal.
[Those who… came before?]
[Yes, just like your comrades.]
[…Are you talking about the ones you just killed?]
When one of the Divine Blood entities listening to the conversation asked in confusion—
[Kill? How could that be?]
The Divine Vessel shook his head.
[They have simply become our brothers.]
[What kind of bullsh—]
The Divine Blood entity scowled at the Divine Vessel’s words.
But his voice trailed off. He realized that the corpses of the Divine Blood entities, which had been spilling red blood just moments ago, had vanished.
Furthermore—
[Now, look.]
The vanished corpses were manifesting once again.
[Have they not become living servants for Lord Astaroth?]
They were now clad in the black armor that was Astaroth’s trademark.
[Inside of me.]
And then—
[This is—]
[Impossible—]
[The intel—]
With those words, a strange tension and fear spread among the Divine Blood.
They had seen with their own eyes as Red Faith, the leader of the Pure Blood, and Stuck Eyes, the leader of the Closed Light, were slaughtered in an instant.
Of course, the total strength of the Divine Blood gathered here hadn't diminished significantly just because those two were dead.
As far as Alon knew, while those two were strong among the Divine Blood currently on the surface, their power wasn't transcendent.
Nevertheless, the fear spreading among the Divine Blood after witnessing the overwhelming death of their leaders was not something that could be easily quelled.
[…Don't tell me—did you eat even the Divine Blood who followed you?]
[You should choose your words more carefully, brother. We have simply become 'one.' All for the sake of welcoming Him.]
The error in their intelligence brought even greater confusion and terror of the enemy to the Divine Blood.
"…Shouldn't we run away now?"
"This looks like a real disaster."
Fear was visible in Evan and Penia’s eyes as they listened to the Divine Vessel.
However, Alon, who had been silently watching the Divine Vessel, glanced at Seolrang.
She was looking back at him without a word.
Finally, Alon finished his thoughts.
"…It doesn't seem like that will be necessary."
He spoke with a quiet sense of certainty.