Heaven's Net: Shadows' Fury and the Saintess's Challenge

Shiiik! A shadow blade grazed my cheek. I'd only provoked him to begin with—no intention of taking the hit.

Blood hadn't even started flowing from the gash before black poison burrowed into the wound.

"Kukukuku! How's that! This is the power of the abyss!"

The Silent Elder cackled wildly, swinging at the empty air. At his gesture, the entire darkness of the ruined house writhed like a living creature. Shadow thorns sprouted from every direction. A suffocating pressure crushed the space. Thanks to the mandrake concentrate I'd given him, the bastard was outputting more power than in his prime.

Clang!Kaang!

I deflected the blades aiming for my vitals with my dagger.

'As expected, no pushover.'

No regrets. This fight had to be utterly solitary.

A fact I hadn't known before regression. After executing the Elder of Abundance, I'd recovered the Demon King's Horn he possessed. As Adel said, it should have been the real deal. But after acquiring it, it turned out to be just a shell. A replica stripped of its core.

I didn't know then why it had become fake. But I soon realized the reason.

You had to claim it with your own power alone. Just like now.

'Like how the Silent Elder acted—the Demon King's Horn seeks a stronger host.'

If the Estel Knights or anyone else intervened? What he held would surely revert to a replica.

That's why I'd pretended to show him goodwill, letting him complete this barrier.

'Take down just this guy here, and I can recover the intact horn.'

"Die! Lee Han!"

A massive shadow hand smashed through the ceiling, slamming down. No room to dodge.

"Tch."

I crossed my arms in a defensive stance.

Kwaaaang!!

An immense impact rocked me, knees buckling. The floor caved in, dust clouding my vision. I heard my bones scream.

"Haa… haa…."

I was being pushed back bit by bit. Even wrapped in Dragon Heart mana, it wasn't enough inside his homeground barrier. In this Silence Sanctuary.

Shadows regenerated endlessly, while my stamina plummeted toward zero.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

The system window flashed red. Use Dragon Slayer here? I could rip him apart in an instant. With absurd overwhelming force.

'But no.'

I shook my head. Using the title now would trigger penalties, plunging me straight into exhaustion. Problematic. Right after this fight, I had to deal with the next piece of my plan—her.

With just an empty shell of a body left, I couldn't shape the saintess into the state I wanted.

"It's over, brat! Hand over your heart!"

The elder gathered mana for his final strike. A massive black spear materialized in the air. An oppressive killing intent that could tear space itself.

But I always had an ace up my sleeve.

"Who said it's over?"

I reached into my subspace. A cold, jagged, strangely pulsing texture met my hand. Back at Eden Farm, just before the Holy Church knights stormed in. I'd swiped one of the most vicious ones, unpurified and radiating malice.

"Fight fire with fire, they say."

I pulled out the Blood Mandrake, veined with red, shaped like a human face. It let out a grotesque scream, as if alive.

"Time for my doping."

I shoved the whole thing—leaves, roots, and all—into my mouth.

Crunch.Snap.Grind.

A rancid blood taste like rusty iron. Earthy stench like rotten sewage. Tongue-burning agony.

Gulp.

I forced it down.

"Gaaaaah!!!!"

The scream burst from my mouth. My gut felt like it was melting. No—like chain bombs exploding inside. A scorching sensation boiled up from my brainstem, not my heart. Golden Dragon Heart mana clashed with the mandrake's red madness, surging madly through my veins.

Thump!Thump!Thump!

War drums thundered in my ears. Vision tinted red. I clenched my teeth to hold onto my sanity as it tried to flee.

"Grrr…."

A beastly growl escaped my lips. Veins bulged black-red ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠across my body, eyes swirling gold and crimson in a feral glow.

"Y-You… what the hell is that?!"

The elder flinched back a step. The guy who'd been dying moments ago had turned into a monster. The aura pouring off me was as vicious as the abyss itself.

"Power… overflowing."

I clenched my fist. Air burst with a crack.

"Let's end this."

I kicked off the floor. Speed incomparable to before. The ground didn't cave—it exploded upward.

Thud!!

Before the elder could react, my fist plunged into his gut. Shadow barriers? Shredded like paper.

"Guh… heuk?!"

The elder's eyes bulged. More terrifying than the agony in his belly was the madness radiating from the man before him.

"You… that power…!"

"Best way to catch a villain is with villain tactics."

I hoisted him up by the fist embedded in his body and slammed him into the floor.

Bam!!

The barrier screamed in ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠his stead. Black blood fountained from the elder's mouth. I didn't stop. Couldn't stop. Berserk physical prowess had slipped my control, rampaging freely.

Thud! Ruthless barrage.

Splat!Crack!

Each punch unleashed shockwaves, pulverizing the ruined house's pillars.

Crunch!

"Gaaah! Sp-Spare…!"

The elder screamed, but it didn't reach my ears. Only the instinct to pulverize the enemy before me dominated.

"Die."

Final blow. I stabbed my knife through his chest, ripping open his torso to snatch the glowing red horn hidden inside.

"No! That's… my life!!"

The elder desperately clawed at my wrist. His nails dug into flesh, but I stomped his head.

"Thanks for the hard work fetching this."

Thud!

Neck snapped, the elder slumped. His body dissolved into black smoke along with the knife.

"Hoo… hoo…."

The Demon King's Horn was in my hand right on time. My red-tinted vision cleared. Simultaneously, muscle pain hit like I'd been beaten all over.

I checked the horn. Vast mana churned within the grotesque shape. This time, no replica transformation.

"Success."

I stowed the horn deep in my subspace.

Shhh!

The Silence Sanctuary rippled briefly, then blinding light filled the space. Holy light. Driving out darkness, judging sin.

"Playing the silent hero now, I see."

From the light stepped a paladin in silver armor. Pristine, untouched by dust, with colder eyes than ever. Saintess Isha von Estel.

'Good… the stage is set right on time.'

I turned to her casually. My blood-soaked form contrasted sharply with her noble grace.

"Right on time. Good timing."

"Did it never occur to you I could track your phone?"

Isha pulled a flip phone from her bosom and waved it. The screen clearly showed my text.

[Here. You alone. Now.]

"The guy dodging the heavenly net tells me his location himself? And says come alone?"

Isha's eyes narrowed. She looked baffled. A fugitive voluntarily revealing his spot. And insisting she come solo.

I wiped the blood from my mouth and grinned.

"It was a date invite. Just the two of us, cozy."

"……."

Ignoring my joke on purpose, Isha extended her hand.

"Hand it over."

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. The Demon King's Horn."

Her red eyes pierced my subspace pocket like lasers.

"That seed of disaster the old man had. I saw you snag it. Think you can hide it from me?"

"You've gotten sharper."

"Hand it over. It's dangerous. No individual can handle it. Looks like you're contaminated by demonic energy too."

She mistook the lingering Blood Mandrake residue for demonic traces.

"So?"

"It belongs to the Holy Church by right. We recover, purify, and seal it. Can't let it slide like when you stole the mandrakes. That thing could end the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world."

Her voice carried firm resolve. Saintess duty and distrust of me. But I had no intention of yielding.

"I returned the mandrakes in the end. Minus daily rations, sure."

"That's not the point! This is on another level!"

Isha yelled in frustration. She was right. But no one but me could be trusted with it.

Hand it over now, and history repeats—I might walk that hellish path again. Or maybe not. There could be more chances.

Above all.

Today, Isha's first defeat had to remain our secret.

I looked at her. The perfect saintess. Undefeated paladin. But that perfection was her Achilles' heel. Unacquainted with defeat, she'd crumbled so easily before true despair.

What she needed now was a vaccine. The experience of her "world's strongest" self shattered by me, crawling on the floor, bone-deep realization of her powerlessness.

That would give her the strength to rise against the real catastrophe to come.

For that, no witnesses. Protect her honor while crushing her.

That's why I'd given the elder the mandrake to create this barrier.

I glanced around. Perfect stage.

"Hand it over, Lee Han."

Isha's hand rested on her holy sword's hilt. Final warning.

"Nah."

I tilted my head defiantly.

"Spoils of my hard work. Holy Church has no right to dip in."

"……Haa."

Isha sighed deeply. Signal that talk was pointless.

"Fine."

Shing.

She drew her holy sword. Radiant light illuminated the ruins. She'd decided to fight.

Sign my strategy was proceeding as planned.

"Then let's do it this way."

She tossed a bisected sword hilt at my feet. A cheap convenience store barcode on the handle—F-grade mass-produced dagger. Her greatest humiliation, trauma symbol. The very blade I'd used to behead Desolatus, to parry her holy sword and escape.

'What, a rematch?'

Reading my eyes, she spoke.

"Fair this way, don't you think?"