Chapter 92
Chapter 92
Saint, You’re So Vulgar! – Chapter 92
A power one cannot control is like poison strangling one's own throat.
It was something Asher had always heard, and at the same time, the core of his creed.
That was why Asher never wielded divine power through Versia's body.
The overwhelming mass she harbored was clearly beyond his control.
However, every maxim changes its application depending on the situation.
Healing an unspecified number of people collapsed across a vast expanse of land.
In such cases, it was far more effective to indiscriminately unleash the overflowing divine power.
Zzzzzing!
It was a sight closer to divine punishment than healing light.
The golden flash split into dozens, hundreds of beams that slammed into the ground, and when they exploded on impact, the nearby curses screamed and vanished.
Asher was stunned inwardly.
'To think it's this much!'
This was the first time he'd deliberately unleashed divine power at maximum output.
The spectacle made him freshly realize just how monstrous Versia truly was.
In the midst of it, the civilians freed from the curses began to regain their senses one by one.
They focused their hazy vision on Asher, the source of the light.
The halo scattering radiance and vibrating, wings forged from the flash.
That was how it appeared from an outsider's perspective.
"An angel?"
"."
Asher's lips pursed. His cheeks flushed a little.
Versia chimed in.
"Whoa, total angel."
"Hmph!"
This wasn't the time for jokes.
Asher cleared his throat, then infused his voice with divine power and shouted.
[Those who can walk, please evacuate this area! If anyone is trapped somewhere, we ask that you rescue them!]
His voice rang out like a clear bell toll. The cry laced with a healing prayer sounded almost like a sacred whisper.
Humans feel awe toward most things beyond comprehension. The civilians were no different.
"Ah! Aaaah!"
"I hear the angel's voice!"
"Rescue We have to rescue!"
Those who could stride forward hoisted up the unconscious and began departing.
The streets were emptying of people.
But the non-humans were increasing.
Clack! Clack!
A group of fully armored mercenaries appeared.
The Lion Corps, Sandstorm.
They seemed beyond communication. Their exposed eyes showed only whites.
They were brainwashed.
"Looks like we'll have to break through, huh?"
Asher nodded at Versia's words, though his face showed reluctance.
No telling where civilians might still be hiding.
Offensive prayers couldn't be used like this.
Even as they spoke, Sandstorm's numbers swelled.
Before long, they surrounded Asher and Versia on all sides, numbering in the hundreds.
It was a crisis.
The moment Asher bit his lip
"Chaaarge!"
"Waaaah!"
Cheers erupted from somewhere.
Then came the thunder of furious footsteps.
Clang!
The clash of weapons rang out.
Screams followed.
Asher whipped his head around in alarm.
And saw them.
"Big Ten?"
Hundreds of armed mercenaries clashed with the possessed Sandstorm, pushing toward Asher.
Leading them were Baern's pillars, the ones called Big Ten.
Had they come to help?
How? The thought had barely formed when Gester appeared amid them.
He'd ditched the drag, and on his back was the former king, wrapped in cloth.
"Hey! You okay?!"
The streets turned into chaos in an instant.
Blood soaked the ground from the clash between Sandstorm and Big Ten.
But the tide of battle had shifted dramatically in their favor.
Asher murmured in astonishment.
"How?"
"Heh, surprised you good, miss. Gotta seize the opportunity. Perfect conditions to purge those traitors who've risen up."
Gester pointed to his father on his back.
"Was gonna evacuate him. But running away wouldn't solve a damn thing. Found something I could do, and here I am."
Gester's gaze turned to Versia.
He still didn't know Asher and Versia's bodies had swapped.
"Asher, I told them you're from the Holy Church, here to hunt that witch. Said the current dynasty and Sandstorm colluded with her, and if we don't drive them out, Baern's done for. They bought it."
"That's not the only reason."
Versia said insightfully.
Gester grinned.
"Gotta fill the vacancies once we boot those guys out. Need a new dynasty and Lion Corps."
The dynasty had Kuolin.
The Lion Corps? The glory of that seat would go to whoever racked up merits in this war.
That explained Big Ten's desperate charge.
Gester drew a breath and readjusted his father on his back.
"Asher, you know this? Our old man's a real tough cookie, even now. Hates wasting away. Look! His color's better than when he was lying down."
The improved complexion was thanks to Asher's prayer.
The wide-area divine power bomb had neutralized some of the poison eating at his body.
No time or need to point that out, though.
"Go, Asher. And you, miss. Beat that witch or whatever to death!"
"You"
"I'll hold here. Ten years. Ten years I've waited for a day like this. Can't kill the witch myself, but I can smash these shitty Sandstorm bastards."
Thud. Gester tapped Asher's solar plexus with his fist.
Versia gazed down at him, then nodded.
"Live. Let's grab a drink later."
"You know it!"
That was when.
"Bro! Weapons here!"
Asher's eyes went wide. So did Versia's.
The man staggering up with armloads of weapons was all too familiar.
The current crown prince and Gester's cousin, Jern Ushiope.
Gester glanced at him, looking sheepish.
"Said he'd help. 'Gotta fix what's wrong,' he says."
He seemed burdened.
Jern, meanwhile, followed with flushed cheeks.
Versia muttered under her breath, for Asher's ears only.
"As expected, incest gay."
Asher pinched Versia's waist.
"Th-then, we'll leave it to you!"
"Count on it! No, I'm counting on you guys!"
Asher turned and dashed toward Sandstorm's main base.
Versia stuck close by his side.
It was different from being surrounded by enemies on all sides.
Big Ten's forces cleared the path. Their leaders showed exactly why they were called Big Ten.
"Make way! The angel's coming through!!!"
"Outta the way! Move!!!"
Somehow, he'd become an angel here too.
Versia laughed as she spoke.
"Goddess this, angel that everywhere we go. Starting to think it's your natural state."
"Quiet!"
With some breathing room, he could snap back.
The halo was still whirring above his head.
Faster than before.
He was only now realizing it, but the halo's spin speed was tied not just to divine power output, but also proportional to Asher's embarrassment.
* * *
The heart of the main base was a sight no one could call a world fit for humans.
The walls were entirely coated in human blood and flesh, and the interior decorations carried a sinister religious hue.
It was like a temple draped within some monster's innards.
Kaol, a top Sandstorm executive, felt deeply uneasy about it.
"C-Captain!"
He called out to Grost in a voice thick with anxiety.
But Grost merely kept his eyes gently closed, expressionless.
"Captain, this is seriously bad, right? Fuck, Big Ten's swarming outside. And those witch hunters!"
It was outright rebellion. The kind that could spark a revolution if it kept going.
Sandstorm would be gone. So would Kaol's dreams.
Wealth, power, women. Becoming Lion Corps captain meant endless indulgence.
That's why he'd followed Grost, but now all he saw was execution.
"Say something! Captain!"
In desperation, he grabbed Grost's collar.
Had to convince him.
If they claimed they'd been duped by the witch too and begged for mercy now, they might save their necks.
But Grost, clad in black ritual robes unlike his usual attire, refused to open his eyes.
Then, suddenly
Pfshk!
"Gurk?"
A fist plunged into Kaol's solar plexus.
Kaol stared down at it in disbelief.
Blood gushed from the gaping hole.
He looked up. Grost was gazing down at him now.
"Cough, urk."
"Kaol. That's why you'll never make it."
A deep bass rumbled in his ears.
Pity flickered in Grost's eyes.
"That mindset of yours, content to lord it over one desert city. That baseness, blind to ideals greater than material things."
Grost placed a hand on Kaol's shoulder.
"Pitiful beyond belief. I pity your narrow vision."
"Wha t."
"It never mattered. Baern's Lion Corps, the royal patronage. I didn't come this far for petty honors like that. It's all just a process."
Cold flames burned in Grost's eyes. An obsession worthy of the name madness.
"I will become a superhuman. Kaol. Greater than that man."
Grandiose nonsense.
Unfortunately, it was all Kaol would ever hear.
Thud.
Kaol's body tilted sideways and collapsed.