The Serpent Church (11)
The Serpent Church (11)
A foul stench. I wrinkled my nose.
This bastard. Just as expected. Doesn't even brush his teeth properly.
I let out a long sigh. Still, I'd been waiting for this day.
All that brutal training wasn't for nothing!
[Zahard Balton] [Level: 47]
[Race: ???] [Class: ???]
[Class Unique Skills]
-Sun God's Love: Sun-God-related skills you possess grow rapidly.
-Sun God's Grace: Your Sacred Power recovers rapidly.
-Sun God's Blessing: You can handle the Sun God's Sacred Relics without risk.
-Sun God's Prayer: You are immune to mental corruption.
[Class Unique Skills]
-Serpent God's Love: Serpent-God-related skills you possess grow rapidly.
-Serpent God's Grace: Your Sacred Power recovers rapidly.
-Serpent God's Blessing: You can handle the Serpent God's Sacred Relics without risk.
-Serpent God's Prayer: You are immune to status ailments.
[Apostle]
-Mixed Sacred Mark (A): Repels all Demonic Force. Can grant Sacred Marks to others. Subordinate priests become mixed, and some body parts may twist. (5/20)
-Mixed Divinity (A): Two divinities have mixed. Usage has become more difficult, and it is not detected by ordinary Sacred Power detectors.
-Healing (B): Can perform healing and combat simultaneously. The world calls this 'Immortal's Battle.'
-Blessing (B): Status effect resistance greatly increases, and you can maintain composure except in special situations. Physical abilities greatly increase, and Sacred Power temporarily increases greatly.
[Church of Ra]
-Sacred Flame (B): Produces sacred flames. Purifies evil and can burn some things that cannot be burned. The size and limits of the flame are proportional to Sacred Power.
-Prayer of Fire (C): Praying maintains body temperature for a set duration. Physical abilities improve.
-Holy Water Production (C): Infuses water with Sacred Power. Activates the body's healing power and increases resistance to Demonic Force.
-Sacred Wall (B): Can block off certain areas. Can be applied thinly over the skin and wreathed in fire. Exhibits power comparable to armor and negates impacts below a threshold.
-Whisper of Fire (B): Enhances weapon performance. Flames settle upon it, and it can be granted to others' weapons as well. Grants resistance to Demonic Force.
-Purification (C): Expels curses and purifies the corrupted.
-Sword of Judgment (B): Derived from the Sun God Church's foundational swordsmanship, 'Song of Fire.' Unnecessary elements were trimmed away, and the inquisitors' swords have long been famous for lacking mercy.
-Crown of Ash (EX): Offering tribute raises the grade of Sun-God-related skills.
[Church of Naga]
-Yeongryeon (C): Creates a quiet shadow. Can seep into darkness and move without sound.
-Prayer of Scales (C): Praying erases your presence for a set duration. Physical abilities improve.
-Venom Production (C): Can produce venom within the body that causes stomach pain.
-Serpent's Whisper (C): Part of an object's appearance seeps into darkness. Can hide objects, and only applies to objects being held.
-Erosion (C): Seeps into the mind and plants suggestions in another's mind.
-Black Scales (B): Derived from the Serpent Church's foundational swordsmanship, 'Song of Shadows.' Unnecessary elements were trimmed away, and those who master the sword are famous for living in darkness.
[Shared Skills]
-Meat Cooking (C): Grills meat deliciously.
-Seafood Cooking (B): Can make even seafood that cannot be cooked delicious.
Well, well.
At this rate, there might eventually be so much I won’t even be able to read it all!
I shoved away a clinging crab shell. As the stench intensified, the cracks beneath my feet began to multiply.
Then, crash.
"Wh-what?!"
"What the hell?!"
"We're falling! Get a grip!"
The terrain began collapsing rapidly. A sound rose from far below.
A grinding, crunching sound, as if something was being chewed into tiny pieces.
"Innkeeperrrrr!!!!!!"
I shouted at the top of my lungs. I took command of the panicking people.
"There are giant teeth under the cracks! Be careful not to get chewed!"
"H-how?!"
"Go in when they close once and then open wide again! Get the timing wrong and you’ll be flattened into paste, so be careful!"
With a crunch, the terrain heaved violently once more. The cracks split even wider. The ground fully split apart, enough to see the enormous mouth below.
"On three, we go!"
"O-okay!"
With a lurch, the terrain sank another level. The stench worsened. A nauseating, revolting smell surged up.
The ground completely collapsed. Oh, shit.
Isn't this too fast?
"One, two, three, jump!"
"Count slower!!!"
We fell together. The less capable Serpent Church followers were hurriedly grabbed by the inquisitors and Serpent Church paladins.
Falling.
I fell endlessly into the darkness. The stench pressed in, accompanied by faint, sticky sounds. Surrounded by those undulating walls of flesh, I felt like I had come back.
"...Haha!"
For some reason, laughter burst out. This bastard. It's been a damn long time!
Seeing it like this, it's refreshing! I never thought I'd get another day to screw you over!
And in such a vivid form I never even imagined!
"I'll crush you!"
My chest swelled. Unbearable joy surged in.
Falling into an unknown space.
That's an event a gamer can never resist!
. . .
Divine Judge Dimona hurriedly wheeled her horse around. She saw the entire ground heaving. A massive tremor.
The whole ice cliff was collapsing as if being swept away. High cliffs that should have at least kept their shape were sinking completely.
This was now a disaster beyond human hands. The continent's renowned powerhouses...
At the very least, wouldn't it take the Sun God Church's pope to handle this alone?
From the collapsing snow mountain, snow surged down like a waterfall. The snow kept falling.
Endlessly, without cease.
Amid the blizzard that completely obscured their vision, the inquisitors shouted urgently.
"Divine Judge!"
"Give us orders!"
"Be quiet!"
What should she do? Radatok might be in there. She had rushed here, putting everything else aside...
And then what?
Jump into that hell?
Dimona hesitated. If she were alone—no, if only the Sun God Church's inquisitors were here—she might have jumped in immediately.
But there was one more uninvited guest here. The damn Serpent Church believers.
They were here too. Witnessing the natural disaster together, not knowing what to do.
"Divine Judge!"
"I believe I told you to be quiet!"
Why are they here?
Is there someone they need to save, or are they the ones who caused this?
Dimona's thoughts leaned toward the former. If it were the latter, there would be no reason for them to be here.
Deliberately leave traces to prove they did it? And with a force like that?
Impossible. Dimona knew. The Serpent Church was wicked, but they were not fools.
The reason they had come all the way to this easily swept-away place was that they, too, had someone inside who must not be lost.
"...Damn it."
Radatok was in there—a senior colleague who was like family, an irreplaceable comrade.
But even so, she could not show her back. If she did, she had no idea when they might attack.
If that happened, things would take the worst possible turn. She might lose every soldier she had brought with her.
Would she drive everyone to their deaths as the price of saving one?
Or would she simply stand and watch?
The two forces quietly faced off. The two churches that had come to rescue their own only watched each other, silently gazing at the collapsing snow mountain.
Without even knowing what was happening inside.
. . .
"What the hell?!"
"Wh-what, why are there so many?!"
"Wh-what is all this?!"
The inquisitors and Serpent Church paladins were appalled. I tore apart the tubifex worm in front of me.
Normally, just laughing it off and stomping it to burst would have been enough. But unfortunately, that was impossible today.
Because you can’t kill a giant tubifex worm dripping digestive fluid that melts flesh just by stomping on it!
"Use the crab shells as shields! These don't melt!"
The key to the Vagueness raid is simple.
Somehow, we have to get through that horde of parasites and reach Vagueness’s core.
The fortunate part was that there were rest points along the way.
The bad part was that the stretches between them were incredibly long and treacherous.
There were enough enemies to make even me sick of them, and I had been through this several times before. Despair settled over the inquisitors and Serpent Church paladins alike.
The first to drop his sword was a Serpent believer. Focus vanished from his trembling eyes.
"Ah, a demon... I've surely walked into hell... At this rate, we'll all die..."
A giant tubifex worm lunged at him.
The next moment, only thick red blood remained, congealing on the floor.
Damn. What a brutal way to die.
Once one person gave up, others began giving up one after another. The elite troops held steady, but the weakest among them started putting down their weapons.
"Aah... the end of the world is coming..."
"We're all going to die... there's no escape..."
"O God... why have you forsaken me..."
Our numbers dropped rapidly. I could manage with only the elite troops, but falling morale was a problem.
That must not lead to mental corruption. I used a crab shell as a foothold and leaped high.
It would cost me some Sacred Power, but keeping as many human shields alive as possible was the key to this raid!
"O God!!"
[Sacred Flame (B) activates.]
[Holy flames engulf the surroundings.]
[Purification (C) activates.]
[Forcefully repels the surrounding digestive fluid.]
[Sword of Judgment (B) flashes.]
[The unclean begin to burn.]
I drew the sun into my body and swung my sword. In an instant, brilliant flames enveloped me.
A falling meteor. A blazing star.
Divinity descended upon the writhing walls of flesh of Vagueness.
BOOM!
"Kieeeeeek!"
"Kreeeeek!"
The bodies of the parasites bombarded by the fire divinity exploded all at once. Scream-like sounds, produced as the air filling their insides rapidly escaped their lungs, echoed from all directions.
Everything my toes touched was burning. A huge amount of Sacred Power had drained away, but I could still stand.
One step.
And another step.
I swung my sword. Sparks flew. I flaunted the Sacred Flame coiled around my whole body, making it blaze larger.
Everything within sight was wrapped in flame. The parasites caught up in it were roasted alive.
A performance only I, whose Sacred Power regenerated quickly, could pull off. A miracle made possible by all the time I had accumulated.
Amid the surging flames, an inquisitor whispered, staring wide-eyed at the miracle’s return.
"...The second coming... of Ra."
"How can... a mere apprentice priest... produce such flames..."
"Good heavens... this is... absurd..."
Radatok stammered. I felt those calm eyes, which had never once wavered, gazing steadily at my back.
"...O God. Was he truly the one your whisper meant...?"
I straightened my back. I wanted to pant with my tongue hanging out immediately because I was exhausted, but I forced myself to hold it in.
Shit! I put on this performance, so if any of you think about killing yourselves, you're all dead! Know that you'll die by my hand!
"Ra watches over me!"
I ground my teeth amid the holy flames.
"It's a holy war! Drive out these filthy demon bastards!"
"Uwaaaaaah!!"
"Holy war! Holy war!"
"Ra wills a holy war!"
"Ra!"
"For Ra!"
"Inquisitor Pelsis will follow you!"
"Inquisitor Abel will follow you!"
"Inquisitor...!"
"Inquisitor...!"
Beneath the pouring praise, Radatok murmured last. Strength surged into the hand gripping the greatsword.
"Inquisitor Radatok..."
The dying flames roared back to life.
"...will follow you."
The Serpent Church believers stared at me blankly. Then they began to furtively pick up the weapons they had dropped.
The Serpent Church paladins looked at me. Eyes wide as if they had witnessed the impossible, they stood shoulder to shoulder beside the inquisitors.
Paladin Isabella murmured.
"...If this is not the will of God, then what is it?"
A sword drenched in monster fluid was angled across Isabella's arm. Her eyes gleamed eerily.
"Paladin Isabella. For a time, I will follow the Sun God Church."
"The commander has spoken!"
"Everyone, raise your swords!"
"Drive these filthy demon bastards from the face of the earth!"
"It's a holy war!"
"All believers, raise your swords!"
"Naga!"
"For Naga!"
The two churches shouted as one.
"The holy war calls to ussssss!!!!!"
I spat. Yeah. Shit.
"It's a holy war, you sons of bitches."
I grinned at the swarming parasites.
"Repeat after me: you're all dead."