Chapter 52
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 52
Chapter Title: Under the Name of the Evil God (4)
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Agent Period, the branch manager of the Centirius branch.
He was now secretly leading the investigators of the Centirius branch up a mountain.
Midway up the mountain Agent and the Cloud investigators were climbing, a large fortress was situated.
According to the information Agent had gathered beforehand, it was the headquarters of a cult that worshipped a malevolent evil god.
Hundreds of followers were staying there, along with an altar dedicated to their evil god.
This information had been extracted by torturing a cultist the Cloud investigators had encountered nearby.
The cult was also responsible for the recent large-scale disappearances.
Cloud had no reason to let the cult members, who were disrupting public order, go unchecked.
This was why Agent, judging the cult to be relatively small in scale, had immediately decided to launch a subjugation mission.
"We're not far from the destination now. A battle with the cult is imminent, so everyone stay alert."
Agent spoke to the investigators following him as he carefully ascended the mountain.
The investigators with Agent were those who hadn't been dispatched to the Kueberberg subjugation team.
Since most of the elite investigators had been sent to the subjugation team, the ones on this mission were relatively inexperienced.
Agent, taking this into account, planned to lead the charge himself this time.
It was a way to minimize casualties among the investigators participating in this operation.
As the Cloud investigators drew closer to the fortress's wooden palisade, his deputy, who had been following him, asked Agent a question.
"The palisade is higher than expected. Will you be alright?"
"Don't worry. I'll find my way in."
"We'll be waiting, trusting in you, Branch Manager."
After his conversation with the deputy, Agent slowly approached the palisade.
Once he was close to the wooden wall, he drew the sword from his waist.
Shing.
After drawing his sword, Agent gave a hand signal, and his subordinates moved up to the palisade one by one.
Then, following the plan they had established beforehand, they began to move slowly toward the fortress entrance.
Confirming his subordinates were in position, Agent pulled three daggers from his coat.
"It's been a while since I've had to do this."
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
The daggers Agent threw embedded themselves sequentially into the palisade.
At a glance, they looked like a set of stairs.
Agent tapped the embedded daggers with his hand to check them, then braced himself and leaped from his spot.
Tap. Tap. T-tap.
His body shot upward as he kicked off the daggers embedded in the wall in succession.
Each time Agent kicked off a dagger to propel himself higher, the dagger beneath his foot lost its strength and bent.
But in contrast, Agent's body reached the top of the palisade in an instant.
After swiftly vaulting over the palisade using the daggers, Agent's eyes scanned the area for enemies.
'Two below. Five ahead of them.'
Two enemies were passing right below where he was about to land.
Having identified his targets, Agent's sword moved swiftly.
Swish!
Slicing through one enemy as he fell, Agent rolled on the ground to absorb the impact and then lunged toward the other nearby foe.
The cultist, holding a crude wooden spear, stared at Agent with bewildered eyes.
It seemed he hadn't yet grasped the situation.
"Wh-what...?"
Cutting down a bewildered enemy was an easy task for Agent.
Thrust!
Parrying the wooden spear, Agent closed the distance, and his sword pierced the enemy before him.
The cultist blinked blankly at the sight that had unfolded in an instant.
A moment later, a scream erupted from the mouth of the cultist Agent had stabbed.
"Gyaaaargh!"
"That makes two."
Pulling out his sword, Agent's gaze swept over the group of enemies.
He flicked his sword forcefully to shake off the blood, warily watching the movements of the approaching enemies.
There were only five in sight now, but their numbers would swell as time passed.
He needed to subdue the outer guards and get inside as quickly as possible, before he was surrounded.
Thump-thump-thump.
Having made his decision, Agent began to run toward the main gate.
Of course, the five cultists facing Agent didn't just stand by.
"I-It's an attack!"
"He's heading for the gate! Stop him!"
"Fireball!"
One of the cultists launched a spell, aiming for Agent.
A low-tier fire spell, Fireball.
Even a low-tier spell could be dangerous if it hit, but for Agent, it was a familiar magic.
Spotting the incoming spell, Agent picked up his pace for a beat, dodging out of its trajectory.
BOOM!
The fireball, having missed its target, exploded harmlessly behind Agent.
"The enemy is coming!"
"Everyone, get ready!"
Seeing Agent dodging the attack and rushing toward the gate, the cultists guarding it reacted.
They uniformly aimed their sharp spear tips forward, waiting for him.
It seemed they had formed a formation to make his approach difficult.
Of course, to Agent, a first-class investigator from Cloud, poorly trained soldiers were nothing.
As he charged toward the gatekeepers, Agent steadied his breathing.
Aura.
He was about to display a technique only a martial artist who had surpassed the boundary of life and death could manifest.
"Huuu..."
Vwooooom!
Agent's sword began to glow, enveloped in a blue aura.
The materialized aura possessed a destructive property, constantly vibrating to destroy anything it touched.
Because of this, it was impossible for even the hardest metal to indefinitely defend against an attack imbued with aura.
Manifesting his aura, Agent charged straight at the enemies before him.
Seeing an aura for the first time in their lives, the cultists reacted in a panic.
"The enemy's coming! Raise your spears!"
"Do you really think you can stop me with that?"
As the length of the aura enveloping his sword extended dramatically, Agent swung it at the gatekeepers.
CR-CR-CR-CRASH!
Agent's aura, now nearly five meters long, shattered the gatekeepers' spears in a single blow.
His sword strike could reach them from much farther away than their spears.
The aura pierced through the forward-pointed spears and then cut down the gatekeepers maintaining the formation in one fell swoop.
Struck by the vibrating aura, the gatekeepers' stances all collapsed at once.
"Guaaaargh...!"
"Gah...!"
"That makes six."
Flick.
After dealing with the gatekeepers, Agent turned his attention to the fortress gate.
He intended to open the closed gate and let the investigators outside in.
The rope connected to the gate was tied securely to a nearby post.
Confirming the mechanism, Agent raised his sword, its aura now faded.
While Agent was examining the gate's mechanism, the cultists drew closer, but having witnessed his prowess, they hesitated to attack.
"Who are you!"
"Too scared to come closer, I see. Is that all your faith amounts to?"
Taunting the cultists watching him, Agent swung his sword at the rope.
Slice.
The rope supporting the gate was severed, and the closed fortress gate slowly began to open.
As the gate opened, the faces of the cultists watching the scene darkened.
Beyond the opening gate, the Cloud investigators stood waiting with their swords drawn.
The moment the gate, its securing rope lost, swung wide open.
Agent issued a command to the investigators who had been waiting for him.
"All units! Annihilate the cult of the evil god!"
"The gate is open! Charge!"
With a fierce roar, the Cloud investigators poured in like a flood.
The Cult and Cloud.
The battle between two irreconcilable groups had begun.
Amid the shouts, Agent raised his sword, and aura flared to life on its blade.
Since recruiting the count's eldest son, Archbishop Loan Hebriss had handled many affairs in the city.
These mostly concerned the personal safety of the eldest son, Rex Maier, or the commercial activities of the merchant guild master, Shuron.
However, as an Archbishop, he couldn't stay away from the cult indefinitely.
There were many matters within the cult that couldn't proceed properly without the Archbishop's approval.
For that reason, as soon as his business was concluded, Loan had returned to the cult to oversee its affairs.
The first thing Loan did upon arriving at the cult's headquarters was to gather the executives for a meeting.
The purpose was to hear reports on what had happened within the cult and to discuss future plans.
"So, we are currently working to establish a means of communication with the newly appointed bishop."
Of course, even in Loan's absence, the cult had been proceeding with various tasks.
Such as continuing to erect new buildings.
Or, for instance, arranging a way to contact the new bishop.
Hearing the cultist's words about preparing a means of communication, Loan looked at him and asked.
"A means of communication... Are you planning to prepare a communication crystal for the new bishop?"
"A normal crystal won't work over that distance. The cost of preparing a suitable one would be too high. So, we've been proceeding with training carrier pigeons."
"Don't worry too much about the cost. I'll contact Honorary Bishop Rex and arrange for a crystal..."
Creeeak.
Loan couldn't finish his sentence and was forced to look at the meeting room door.
Because a cultist had suddenly thrown the door open and entered.
Blood was streaming from the forehead of the cultist who had burst into the meeting room.
It looked as if he'd been cut by something sharp.
The bleeding cultist wasted no time upon seeing Loan, immediately giving his report.
"Archbishop! It's an emergency!"
"What is it? Don't tell me we're under attack."
"Cloud has invaded the cult's headquarters!"
Hearing the report about Cloud, Loan's expression darkened.
Cloud was a name he had been familiar with even before he first learned black magic.
It was an enforcement agency under the imperial family, responsible for maintaining public order by apprehending criminals across the land.
To become a Cloud investigator, one had to pass a rigorous exam, and their combat abilities were often compared to those of knights.
And now, those very Cloud investigators had come prepared to raid the cult.
Loan had always thought Cloud might come for them one day, but he had never expected it to be now.
"Where are the intruders now?"
Shooting up from his seat, Loan asked the cultist for the enemy's location.
The reporting cultist grimaced for a moment, the pain from his wound apparently flaring up.
But he quickly regained his composure and delivered the report on the enemy's position to Loan.
"Ugh... They're currently engaged with our followers at the main building's entrance."
"What's the situation?"
"It seems the entrance will be breached soon. Especially because of an opponent who uses aura..."
Hearing this, Loan's expression grew even more grim.
Cloud's investigators were people who fought countless battles against ruthless criminals.
There was no way the cultists could hold out for long against thoroughly trained investigators.
Furthermore, with an aura-wielding investigator among them, the main building being breached was only a matter of time.
In this urgent situation, Loan issued a command to the cultists around him.
"This meeting is adjourned. Gather all available followers and bring them to the main building's entrance."
This was the first crisis the cult had faced since its founding.
Watching the cultists scatter to gather people, Loan moved toward the entrance where the battle was raging.
He intended to join the fight himself.
Thud. Thud.
The sound of Loan's hurried footsteps echoed down the hallway.
As Loan drew closer to the main building's entrance, a cacophony of sounds began to reach his ears.
"..."
The screams of men. The clash of weapons.
And the voice of a strange man shouting commands.
A battlefield, a chaotic mix of all these sounds, was unfolding before Loan's eyes.
Biting his lip at the sounds filling his ears, Loan arrived at the main building's entrance.
The scene of the cult's headquarters turned into a pandemonium entered his view.
Clang! Clang!
The cult's followers were locked in a desperate struggle, their swords clashing against those of the Cloud investigators.
"Die! You filthy minion of an evil god!"
"Uwaaaaaaah!"
Each side was screaming, trying to push the other back.
Countless cultists lay on the ground, bleeding and fallen.
Many followers had already been cut down by the Cloud investigators who had stormed in so suddenly.
At the tragic sight before him, Loan drew the magic sword he carried at his side.
The cult was a place he had built with his own blood and sweat for the sake of the great being.
And now, the Cloud investigators were trying to trample all over it with their muddy boots.
For Loan, this was utterly intolerable.
"Damn them all..."
Grit.
Loan gritted his teeth as he glared at the Cloud investigators.
The cult was everything to Loan.
To try and eliminate its followers was to negate everything he had accomplished.
And it was an insult to the great being Loan served.
Loan aimed the magic sword in his hand toward the main building's entrance.
Then, he unleashed his magic at the investigators struggling to push their way through the door.
"How dare you try to enter!"
Crackle. Sizzle.
The magic sword Ednos in Loan's hand began to spit out a massive amount of sparks.
It began to release the vast magical power it had been holding within.
The moment Loan fired the resulting lightning magic at his enemies.
KRA-KOOOOM!
A spear of lightning shot forth, blasting away the enemies blocking the entrance.