Beyond the Dream (4)
Beyond the Dream (4)
I gripped Mistelten tightly. The erosion was still ongoing, but my mind was perfectly clear.
This was different from Paramer. Compared to back then, the me of now was practically a complete version.
If I made use of the items I had, my specs were enough to barely hold my own even against Tiela, the strongest within the church.
If I pushed Mistelten's erosion rate to its limit, I might be able to hold out for quite a while. I could even cross swords with Estelle, who had done nothing but shatter me before.
"...Strike."
At the gesture of Pablos, the paladin order commander I had seen once before, the paladins rushed in all at once. I lowered Mistelten at an angle.
[Seeping Darkness - Sanajeh (S) activates.]
My presence vanished. Mistelten's tip was swallowed by the shadows.
The assassin's sword said to appear in the scriptures of Naga.
Soundless death moved along my hand. The moment I stepped forward with a tap, six paladins collapsed backward, spraying blood from their throats.
Pablos's eyes flew wide open.
"This is absurd... You bastard..."
Pablos snarled through the scattering blood.
"So you're Zahard."
"Yeah. That's me."
"Why do you raise your hand against His Eminence Cardinal Dwayne? Why do you obstruct our great cause?"
"You're the ones who touched me first."
"His Eminence is willing to bear disgrace solely for the sake of the church! He is a man who dreams of a future so distant that a half-wit like you could never imagine it!"
"Bullshit."
I glanced behind him. Amar. I could see her.
Judging by the rippling darkness, she hadn't yet fully reached a state of rampage.
But that wasn't all. Something was extending out behind her. As if a crack had formed in space, the pitch-black darkness was devouring the enormous magical power flowing out of Amar.
So that was why the building was still standing at a point where the Punishment Office should have been blown apart by the aftershock alone.
Most of her power was being sent somewhere. It was probably arriving on the other side through the rift that had opened in space.
But I couldn't tell where it was headed.
Still, I could make a guess.
"...No way."
I furrowed my brow.
"That son of a bitch Dwayne... he isn't using Amar's power, is he?"
"Do not invoke His Eminence's name so carelessly. You half-wit inquisitor."
"What is that portal? This massive Holy Art..."
I swept my gaze across the floor. The intricately connected spell formulas seemed to have been woven to control the power.
It wasn't simply a matter of creating a portal. The power being sucked into the rift in space was being filtered down to only the purest of the heterogeneous energies.
Like drawing electricity from a carefully selected, infinite battery. As if someone intended to use it on the spot.
"...These sons of bitches."
I clenched my sword.
"They dare use Amar as a living biological battery?"
"You're quick on the uptake."
Pablos slowly shifted his steps. Green flames clung to the sword he raised.
Faintly, a form transformation settled over it. But the shape was utterly alien.
A blade formed of serrated teeth, with a strange atmosphere as if part of it had been broken.
I had memorized the entire scriptures of Ra. But no weapon with that appearance was written anywhere within them.
I had thought form transformation only manifested Divine Artifacts... so what was that?
"Are you even really a paladin of Ra?"
"I serve the sun. But from now on, that man is the true sun."
Pablos smiled sinisterly.
"His Eminence is becoming complete at this very moment. When his glory reaches its zenith, a true sun will be born, one that even His Holiness the Pope will have to look up to. The age of myth is returning. The church's name will be exalted, and the Sun God Church will become a true church ruled by a living, breathing god."
-...What nonsense is this bastard spouting right now?
Ra growled.
-You think gaining a demon's power can win you a god's glory? Nonsense! That is impossible! At best, he'll become a degraded copy of you, Zahard! A human can never become a god!
"She says so."
"What are you suddenly talking about?"
"Ah, you can't hear her words, can you? Well... what would heretical scum like you hear anyway."
"...You're saying you can converse with Ra?"
"She's no different from my own little songbird that just bites and sucks and chirps."
Naga, who had risen from the Mistelten I held, slyly stuck out her tongue.
"I-I'm jealous..."
Ra growled. Her amplified voice struck my eardrums.
-D-Don't talk nonsense and make sure you kill him! As long as that demon keeps supplying power, Dwayne will be gaining power equal to a demon's! Severing the connection and killing the demon along with him is the only solution!
I cracked my neck. Even if I decided Amar's death later...
First, I'd slaughter every last one of these paladins.
"If you surrender now, I'll spare your..."
"Just keep talking."
I moved.
"It'll make cutting out your tongue that much easier."
Shadow flashed. Pablos hastily raised his hand.
Flames burst. Melted into the shadows, I slipped past him. He was the strongest one here, but he had no way to catch me.
My first targets were the paladins moving busily over the massive spell formation.
I'd dismantle the formation first. Then I'd deal with that irritating bastard.
"Gah!"
"W-What?!"
"I-I can't even see...!"
Throat. Head. Heart. Lungs.
Blood burst from the vital points I aimed for. The paladins resisted, but they couldn't keep up with me.
A one-sided slaughter followed. The paladins screamed. Pablos shouted.
"You bastard! How dare you fight so cowardly!"
"Cowardly? You think this is my first day in combat?"
"All you've got is a mouth!"
"Other things are alive too."
I clashed with Pablos, who had chased after me in desperation. But more than half of the paladins had already fallen by then.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The green flames were certainly overwhelming. Their surging waves were quite menacing.
But my shadow struck precisely at the openings. I avoided a head-on fight. There was no need to meet him directly.
The goal was simply to kill. I let the destructive force slide past and inflicted small cuts all over Pablos's body. As my sword flashed, blood sprayed in every direction.
The dance of blades mingled with splitting flesh. As his body split open with a crack, Pablos recoiled in horror.
"W-What in the world is this absurd sword?!"
Under the continuous exchange, the green flames wavered dangerously. For an instant, his stance collapsed.
I didn't miss the moment. I struck at the clearly exposed weakness like a serpent.
The sharp blade bit into his shoulder. A scream burst out.
"Graaah! Y-You! You're no ordinary inquisitor!"
"While all your subordinates outside were getting wiped out, you didn't even notice?"
[Venom is produced within the body.]
The lethal venom coating the tip of my blade climbed Pablos's shoulder and devoured his body. The stench of flesh burning alive brushed past my nose.
Pablos gasped. I could hear the sound of his flesh sizzling as it melted.
"T-This is poison?! How do you wield the Holy Arts of the Serpent Church?!"
"Your perception is damn slow."
All that remained was the finishing blow.
I immediately pressed deeper into his guard. I pulled the sword that had pierced his shoulder free and spun my body.
Sacred Power converting.
Blazing flames!
Ra's flames, which displayed vicious destructive power in a head-on fight, swallowed Mistelten. Naga screamed.
"Kyaaah?! Z-Zahard! What do you think you're doing using that on me...!"
"Endure it even if it feels awful!"
"That's not the problem...!"
Crunch.
Ra's flames, mingled with shadow, tore off Pablos's right arm entirely. It shattered the form transformation head-on and rendered him completely incapable of combat.
The suppression was over in an instant. Pablos, slammed into the wall, vomited blood. Trembling, he stared at his own severed arm on the ground.
"T-This is absurd... I... I obtained such power... and yet..."
"Stick out your tongue."
I pulled the tongue out of his mouth directly. Now he was finally quiet.
I dragged the thrashing Pablos along. I dropped him in front of the paladins who were urgently casting their Holy Arts.
"Everyone freeze. If you don't want to see your heads roll, put down whatever you're doing."
"......."
"......."
The paladins didn't stop what they were doing. If anything, they chanted their Holy Arts even more desperately, as if speeding up.
Well, well.
I stomped on Pablos. To keep him from resisting, I drove my sword deep into his chest.
Mistelten's venom began to slowly erode him. Black roots began to grow from the hole in Pablos's chest.
His death was now certain. I just had to kill the rest of them too.
I moved. To collect the remaining heads, I wrapped Sacred Power around my sword.
But after taking a single step, I stopped.
Someone moved. The woman who had been silent the entire time.
The Demon of Love opened her eyes.
Amar, who had been trembling in silence, raised her head.
"I... hate..."
A single murmured word pierced through the surroundings. As if whispering from the depths of the darkness, she let out a sob.
Falling tears. A distorted expression as if pleading with sorrow.
"Ah... ah... I hate it..."
Pablos, who had been wheezing, laughed from behind me.
"It's... over... everything... is over... Zaha...rd... you... are too... late..."
The darkness rippled.
Grrdrdrdrdrdrdrdrk...
An unpleasant sound rang out alongside it.
The darkness that began to rise from behind Amar swallowed everything. A cozy yet cold void. A deep darkness where nothing existed.
Amar's eyes were definitely open. But at the same time, she was wandering within a dream.
The darkness spread out behind her was a space where her illusions and reality had collapsed.
That place was not filled with happiness. Rather, it was a world inside a dream filled with horrific memories.
Behind her back, her memories flickered past like a panorama. Like a broken video with emotions, heart, and experience all fused together, it showed her entire life.
The appearance of one on the verge of rampage. A phenomenon visible when everything had reached its peak.
...Too late.
"This is insane."
I ground my teeth. From here on, this was territory I knew as well.
It was a peculiar phenomenon that occurred before the wide-range explosion of magical power that blew everything apart.
If this were the game, I would have to enter inside it directly. To avoid being swept up in the explosion, there was no choice but to kill Amar within that world.
But that was only possible with several relics. Because the world inside the dream was a world of pure spirit, none of the Sacred Relics I possessed could take effect within it.
In other words.
If I entered that place as I was now, I would certainly die. Amar was practically a god within that world. It was like being told to fight a boss monster at least in the mid-level 80s without any equipment.
If I couldn't kill her, I wouldn't be able to escape from inside. I would wander her world forever.
I took a step back. Since it had already erupted, the right move was to plan for later. First, escape from here, then somehow...!
"...Huh?"
My gaze swept past. I met eyes with the condemned prisoners watching from inside the cells.
Valkan, the wolf Beastfolk.
Rakkum, the Lizardfolk.
Tsubaki, the explosion maniac.
Eve, the ascetic.
Tentacles burst out from behind Amar. They hurled the paladins who had been chanting prayers into the shadows and expanded their domain. Not satisfied with having swallowed dozens, the tentacles stretched even into the cells.
"What the...?!"
Startled, Valkan pressed himself against the wall. Rakkum rose to his feet.
The iron bars were forced apart. The Holy Arts restraining the prisoners shattered one after another. In an instant, the entire cell block was swallowed by darkness.
Amar's world, from which one could never escape once entered.
The condemned prisoners were seized by the tentacles. Without even a chance to resist, they were sucked into her world.
Rakkum, the last one remaining, urgently turned to look at me. He shouted desperately.
"Run! Brother!"
Not a plea to save him, but a command to run.
-He's right! Just run! Zahard!
Ra's whisper sounded distant for some reason. I knew full well that he was right.
But my feet froze on their own. For some reason, I couldn't move my body easily.
Ra screamed.
-You, of all people, know full well how dangerous 'that thing' is!
I know.
I know, but...
"Ah... aah..."
I heard crying. I could see Amar sobbing in the darkness.
"I... hate... don't do... this..."
It was visible behind her. The bleak laboratory in her memories, and...
The figure of a woman embracing her.
To me, who knew the whole truth, it was a sight beyond revolting.
"...Hah."
I let out a sigh. I stretched out my foot.
-Zahard!
"I know. I know it's a brutal difficulty..."
I moved forward.
The darkness swallowed me.
"But I don't want to be dragged around by the enemy's intentions."
-You lunatic?! You're deliberately making up a reason to walk into hell?!
Guess I got caught.
But there's no helping it.
I don't know how this will turn out... but well...
Honestly, it's fucking infuriating. Being dragged around is shitty, and I don't like just getting beaten on either.
If that's how it's going to be, I'd rather challenge the impossible. I'll resolve what was believed impossible right before their eyes and land a blow on that damn Dwayne's face—that's the only thing that'll satisfy me.
And above all...
It pisses me off.
It pisses me off so much that I can't stand leaving those bastards behind.
"...Wait. Amar."
My vision melted. I glanced at her. I reached out my hand toward the sobbing Amar.
"I'll get you out of there."