Episode 1200
Episode 1200
'No. In a situation like this, it's actually reassuring.'
Come to think of it, the madness of magic criminals was helpful in times like these.
Magic criminals generally didn't want to get involved with evil god worshippers either. Who would enjoy dealing with lunatics?
But judging by what this Antagondals was saying, it didn't seem like he'd run away alone just because evil god worshippers were coming.
Squeak squeak squeak squeak squeak!
Antagondals' hamster screeched fiercely. At the sight, Enster unconsciously frowned.
'That's a really peculiar taste. What's so great about that hamster that he carries it around?'
It wasn't even a rare beast capable of magic—just an ordinary-looking hamster, wasn't it?
Truly, the inner thoughts of great mages were hard to fathom.
As the other party stared holes into him, Lee Han felt oddly uneasy and changed the subject.
"Why are those Sanguiros bastards coming?"
"......"
Though Lee Han casually tossed the question since he already knew the answer, it was an extremely difficult one for Enster to answer.
"Did you make some deal with them? No need to hide it. It's not like that's anything special."
"Y-yes, that's right."
Seeing the other open a path, Enster quickly took it.
Of course, Antagondals wouldn't know how deep Enster's connection with the Sanguiros cult was.
But there was no need to tell him. If the other was misunderstanding, wasn't it natural for a magic criminal to take advantage of that?
"We should prepare to fight."
Lee Han spoke aggressively while gesturing to Enster.
The meaning was clear—hurry up and summon your golem to prepare for battle.
Naturally, his true thoughts were different...
'Wait and stab them at the right moment.'
If the Sanguiros assassins and Enster fought, Lee Han would only be grateful.
Why stop them when two hated parties were destroying each other? He planned to wait and attack whoever remained.
But Enster wasn't stupid.
"No. I'll withdraw first. There's nothing good about mixing hands with lunatics."
Though he didn't know what the Sanguiros remnants were after, staying here any longer was dangerous.
For them to boldly enter a mage's workshop like this—it would be impossible unless they had some assurance.
Moreover, these lunatics were hard to predict normally.
While thieves might at least plunder, these types might just start with self-destruction.
'Damn it.'
Lee Han was disappointed.
He'd wanted to make them fight somehow, but...
-Hey. Wait.
'?'
-...Did your memory fly away? Did you forget what you were just doing underground?
"...!!"
Only then did Lee Han recall the situation below.
Hadn't he been diligently sabotaging things until just now!
'But was that method really effective?'
The method Hamster had advised was rather weak in effect.
It was like continuously pouring water into a pot with a broken bottom.
In that case, there was a possibility the underground escape methods weren't properly disabled.
-With a little more time, it would've been certain, but I can't say for sure.
'I knew it. I thought it was too weak a method.'
-It's because you brat can't even perform proper spatial movement that we had to resort to this method. Don't blame others. If we can just buy time until those lunatics come down...
Though not completely disabled, the damage done was enough to stall for time.
Lee Han and Hamster waited nervously for Enster's reaction.
Clunk—
"...Aaaaaaaah!!!"
Enster, who had opened the underground door, threw aside his previously calm demeanor and screamed.
Not a trace of a mage's dignity or composure remained. That's how horrific the underground situation was.
Perhaps the dozens of installed spells backfiring and malfunctioning had created a compounding effect—not a single intact object was visible.
The precious scrolls stored there weren't even in pieces anymore, and the portal installed on the wall was spewing grotesque slime in torrents, seemingly connected to some strange dimension.
If the most treasured items were in this state, the rest needed no explanation. Hamster quietly squeaked.
-I don't say this often, but aren't your methods too vicious?
"......"
Lee Han was so dumbfounded he almost dropped Hamster from his shoulder.
You're the one who told me to do it!
"You should have just sent enough to break the scrolls! Do you have some grudge against the basement or something?"
'How was I supposed to know the right amount? I've never done something like this before!'
"These damned bastards must have a death wish to cause such chaos..."
Enster's eyes burned crimson, radiating murderous intent.
He was convinced this disaster was the work of Sanguiros assassins preparing an attack. Lee Han quickly agreed.
"Their methods are truly vicious!"
"Do they think we're afraid to face such vermin? I'll slaughter them all! Filthy maggots who wouldn't even be fit for dogs to bite, how dare they—"
"Show them what we're made of!"
"All golems, deploy!"
Mad with vengeance, Enster activated every functional golem. Lee Han praised his efforts while egging him on.
Hamster watched Lee Han with a lukewarm gaze.
'This brat showing his true colors is genuinely terrifying...'
Even as a magic criminal, he'd have excelled at it.
The Sanguiros worshippers hadn't actually come to assassinate anyone.
As everyone knew, this was a cult that had already fallen once. With numerous enemies and unfavorable circumstances, this wasn't the time for forceful assassinations—they needed to persuade and recruit the remnants.
"Ens—"
"Kill them!"
"!"
Hearing both the bloodthirsty shouts and the whirring of golem mechanisms, the worshippers quickly crouched low.
WHOOOOM—
The golems immediately fired refined mana beams from artifacts mounted on their arms. These were attacks meant to kill on contact.
"Enster, stop! We come in the Regent's name! The Regent expects your loyalty!"
Instead of answering, Enster sent more golems charging forward.
These combat dolls, modified for close quarters, spewed poisonous mist from their facial units while firing powerful repulsion blades from their limbs. They were formidable summons that had claimed the lives of many swordsmen and knights.
The charging golems enraged the evil god worshippers. Even an idiot could understand what this meant.
"How dare you?!"
One worshipper's body dissolved into bloody mist before vanishing completely. The sight made Enster tense.
Having once belonged to the Sanguiros Cult, he recognized the omen immediately.
They were sacrificing one of their own to invoke an Authority!
"...GRAAAAAAH!"
A relatively ordinary-looking worshipper's body erupted with explosive energy, transforming into a monstrous form never seen before.
In a single strike, it tore apart the approaching golems, ignoring both the poison and repulsion blades embedded in its body.
Enster's face darkened instantly.
"Antagondals! Help me!"
But Antagondals didn't step forward. Enster gritted his teeth at the sight.
That stubborn refusal to offer free help even in death was the very essence of a magic criminal.
"Fine... explode!"
A golem detonated immediately, obliterating its surroundings.
The vibrations and commotion might reach outside, but there was no choice. Right now, survival came first.
Yet the worshippers didn't stop. If anything, they grew more furious and pressed the attack.
Enster felt his blood boil at the sight.
After wrecking the workshop's core mana core, these bastards had the audacity to act like this?
Normally, Enster would have rationally considered escape first, but this was do-or-die now. He kept throwing golems into the fray, detonating them one after another.
-These guys can fight this recklessly??
Hamster was stunned.
While evil god worshippers were half-mad to begin with, Enster was a magic criminal.
If he kept blowing up golems like this, there'd be no cleaning up the aftermath.
'Isn't this the price of worshipping evil gods? The consequence of obsessing over power without regard for means or methods.'
Though Hamster privately blamed Wardanaz for provoking this rather than seeing it as inevitable karma, he kept that thought to himself.
The relentless battle of attrition ultimately ended in Enster's victory.
Fighting in a mage's workshop gave him an undeniable advantage.
The last surviving worshipper staggered, glaring hatefully.
"Enster, don't think you can reject the Regent's glory and live. He is watching you!"
"In the names of Prahgal, Ksaxarigol, and Gonadaltes, go eat shit."
All warmth and emotion had drained from Enster's voice as he coldly spat out his words.
As the cultist crumpled to the ground, Enster quickly gulped down a potion. The damage he'd taken wasn't just severe—it was catastrophically so.
Only about one-fifth of his golem remained, his workshop was half-destroyed, and the commotion had surely been heard outside. There was no choice but to abandon everything and flee.
'Should I finish him now?'
Lee Han prepared his magic, intending to end things with a single decisive strike.
Enster was a powerful mage, but ultimately just a summoner who relied on his golems to fight.
At this range, Lee Han held the advantage. Moreover, his opponent was exhausted and off-guard.
-If I had to compare his level, he's about equivalent to a fourth-year at Einrogard. Given his exhaustion, you could knock him down another half-year.
'Are you saying I'd have trouble winning?'
Lee Han was puzzled. The Hamster grew irritated.
-No, you idiot! I'm saying you can win, so attack now, you blockhead!
Lee Han inwardly grumbled at the Hamster's incomprehensible metaphors and subsequent anger.
That's when it happened.
A massive crimson sigil rose above the fallen cultists' bodies. Enster reacted far quicker than Lee Han.
"San... Sanguiros?!"
It was the same sigil Lee Han had seen back at the cult's temple.
And seeing that symbol manifest over already dead bodies was deeply ominous.
What in the world...?
So this is how it happens.
A voice came from beyond the sigil.
It wasn't a voice produced by physical vocal cords. A telepathic message composed of hundreds, thousands of layered meanings was transmitting across dimensions.
Enster, who had never directly contacted an Evil God even during his temple days, turned deathly pale.
Was the God really manifesting just because he'd killed some cultists?
"That's impossible! For those worthless worms?!"
Lee Han remained calmer than Enster.
Though his experience as a mage was far shorter, the scale of what he'd been through allowed him to make clear-headed judgments.
'...Can an Evil God really possess such distinct self-awareness?'
-!
The Hamster stared at Lee Han with wide eyes.
Amazingly, it was an accurate observation!
While even veteran mages were panicking, this greenest of novices had pinpointed the core issue.
-He's right. That's strange. Evil Gods aren't... beings capable of conversation like this.
Being a Grand Mage, the Hamster also believed the source of divinity lay in collective unconsciousness.
Not that gods existed first, but that mortals' power created gods.
Thus gods were more like impersonal laws or principles without true selfhood.
So how...?
-Nothing's impossible. The Evil God could've been corrupted, or transformed somehow. Though I've no idea how that'd be possible...
The Hamster's voice was weaker than usual.
Unlike other times, he lacked his usual certainty.
Quite an eccentric mage, aren't you?
Sanguiros spoke while observing the Hamster.
Why would a mage of that caliber abandon magic to become... a hamster?
-......
I have a proposal for you mortals. Cease hunting my followers.
At this, both Lee Han and the Hamster simultaneously gave looks of disbelief.
An Evil God making such a feeble proposal?
-Seeing him show such weakness means he must be truly desperate. Absolutely refuse.
You're mistaken. Whether you capture and kill my followers changes nothing. Do you think eradicating the cult will make me disappear? I've already attained true existence. That shabby organization means nothing to me now.
"I wonder if you'd still say that if a Bishop-rank member of your cult died."
Lee Han spoke steadily without flinching.
Of course, even if the cult were completely annihilated again, the Evil God could endure.
But it absolutely wouldn't be without consequence.
Bishops? Hahaha... There aren't even Bishop-level figures among my followers! Just pathetic scraps, every last one.
Lee Han and the Hamster's expressions wavered.
Until now, they'd assumed some Bishop-level powerhouse had meticulously rebuilt the cult.
But that wasn't the case either.
So all this was just the rampage of insane remnants without any foresight?
If you want to chase down and kill those insects, be my guest. I've already gained sufficient existence—it matters not to me.
Lee Han's expression grew grave.
If that wasn't bluster, their plans had a serious flaw.
Even destroying the cult would leave the Evil God with its power intact.
Worse still, it now possessed self-awareness.
-Let it go. We've no means to capture it now anyway.
'Even if we stole another Evil God's Authority, we couldn't harm it?'
-That's closer to just transmitting a voice than a true presence, making attacks diffi... w-wait. What did you say?