The Paramere Subjugation Battle (10)
The Paramere Subjugation Battle (10)
[Zahard Balton] [Level: 71]
[Race: ???] [Class: ???]
[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. You can freely switch between the two divinities and change the nature of your Sacred Power as desired.
-Healing (A): Can perform healing and combat simultaneously. Can heal more wounds with less Sacred Power. As long as Sacred Power does not run out, combat can be sustained.
-Blessing (A): Status ailment resistance increases drastically, and composure can always be maintained. Physical abilities improve significantly, and Sacred Power temporarily increases greatly. 'One Who Severed the Cycle' or
[Church of Naga]
-Yeongryeon (A): Seeps into shadows. Can move from shadow to shadow, and presence cannot be noticed except by those exceptional at detecting signs.
-Prayer of Scales (A): When praying, seeps into the surrounding environment for a certain period. Sound disappears from the sword, and physical abilities increase greatly. No sound is made even when moving the body.
-Venom Production (A): Can produce venom within the body that causes terrible pain. The deadly poison melts flesh entirely and causes intense pain.
-Serpent's Whisper (A): The appearance of an object seeps completely into darkness. Distance becomes impossible to gauge, and the object maintains its state even if external substances touch it.
-Erosion (A): Seeps into the mind and brainwashes another's mind. They do not wake except from certain stimuli, and it is maintained for a long time.
-Seeping Darkness - Sanajeh (S): The scales wished for it. I walked without sound. Blood flowed on the path carved into the darkness. Blood with no end in sight.
-Black Swamp - Favela (S): The scales wished for it. The two ends I pulled out were sharp. I was breathless. I slowly opened my mouth and devoured. O Naga. Watch over me.
[Shared Skills]
-Meat Cooking (B): Can make even meat that cannot be cooked delicious.
-Seafood Cooking (B): Can make even seafood that cannot be cooked delicious.
-Beverage Making (C): Can make delicious beverages.
I exhaled. The sword made from a mistletoe branch bit into my shoulder.
[Mistelten is eroding your body.]
[Erosion Rate: 16%]
[Warning]
[You may lose your reason if Mistelten fully erodes you.]
[High Potion is suppressing the increase of the erosion rate.]
Mistelten, the Sacred Relic of Naga taken from the treasure vault.
A Sacred Relic no different from a demon sword that erodes the body, and the greatest weapon I can currently wield.
I slung the black-sword-shaped wood over my shoulder. The wind blew. It was a cooler wind than ever before.
"...Hah."
I opened my closed eyes. I looked ahead. I could feel the frozen giant watching me.
【H...how...?】
A sound came. Aris's voice reverberating. Was this the first time she spoke?
It was only natural, since I, whom she thought she had completely swallowed, had carved up her hand.
"How? What do you mean, how?"
I glanced down. Among the inquisitors, the Serpent Church, and the mercenaries, I could also see the Hector bastards.
Quite a crowd. Quite a crowd indeed.
I turned my gaze away for no reason. I hadn't expected this many to come.
...I hadn't expected a single one, actually.
....Well.
Not bad.
I stood up. The wind swept past my forehead. The stench of rot was occasionally bearable, I supposed.
I flicked off the piece of flesh stuck to my cheek.
Disgusting. The city called Paramer, and now this rotten flesh too.
"So..."
I lowered the sword at an angle.
"We'll have to see this through to the end. Right? Aris?"
【Ah...aaaaah...!!】
A scream covered the entire city of Paramer.
【Don't...don't interfere with Aris...!!!】
"Just wait right there."
An option that had originally been impossible had opened up. It was thanks to these people who had done the insane thing of deliberately walking into a death trap.
If I can gain something, gaining it is the best move. On top of that, it was also a chance to put Flora in my debt...!
Now that the conditions were met, I'd put a leash on that bitch's neck!
【Diiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiie!!!!!!】
A voice as if through a megaphone erupted from the giant. A fist that covered the sky, rapidly regenerated, lunged to crush me.
"Z-Zahard! It's dangerous!"
The manifestation of the Serpent Goddess Naga dwelling in Mistelten crawled up my arm. The white snake coiled around my right arm whispered.
"Cut it...down...!"
"No."
No need to waste strength.
I drew in breath. I pushed air into my lungs to the limit.
I let it burst out all at once.
"Floraaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!"
At the shout that pierced through Paramer, the lord's manor at the innermost part of Paramer's inner wall split in half.
Turning gears. The essence of Paramer, practically the pinnacle of magic engineering.
The Magic Siege Cannon that Fer Bach had taught me about revealed its majesty. A sleek iron exterior. The long barrel, filled with the essence of magical power, was the size of a house.
Flora's voice, too small to even be seen, rang out through magic.
"First round, manual loading!!!!"
The elves' voices rang out simultaneously.
"First round, manual loading!"
"First round, manual loading!"
"First round, manual loading!"
Yeah. Shit!
You'd better deliver what I taught you!
The sound of something dropping echoed inside the long barrel. The massive barrel moved with a grinding sound.
Flora's voice, teeth clenched, shook Paramer.
"Fiiiiiiiiireeeeeeeeekyaaaaaaaak?!!!"
The sky above Paramer shattered for an instant.
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The sound was loud. So loud it felt like my eardrums would burst. The wind swept through. From the sheer pressure alone, the corpses of rotten monsters fluttered in every direction.
An explosion erupted from the giant's head. The giant's movement halted abruptly as part of its head was blown away. Smoke rose from the Magic Siege Cannon's barrel.
The barrel spun around once.
Wait.
That wasn't part of the plan.
"Uwaaaaah! How do you control this thing?!!!!"
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!
The second explosion blew away a section of the outer wall. Flora's voice, having shelled the wrong place, spun around along with it.
"What am I doing right nooooow?!!! I'm sooooorry!!!!!!!"
...Good grief.
Well. Landing even one shot is something.
"HEY!!!!!!!!"
A voice flew in in an instant. I flinched in surprise and looked to the side.
I was sent tumbling across the rooftop, colliding with something.
At the familiar face now straddling me, I couldn't help but laugh. A face in complete disarray. A face covered in rotten blood and flesh, with tears welling in the eyes.
Divine Judge Dimona sniffled.
"It's you, right?! It's you?!!!"
"Are we on casual speech now?"
"Why...why are you so..."
Dimona groped my chest.
"Why did you get so big?!!"
"I'm in my growth phase."
"What kind of growth finishes in six months?!"
"My vessel expanded, so my body followed suit."
"A-and...why...the traces of Ra are gone...d-don't tell me..."
Dimona grabbed my shoulders. Flames flickered in her moist eyes.
"Did you go over to the Serpent Church?!!!!"
"No, calm down. The bastard inside there took it from me."
"Took it?! The power of Ra?! Is that even possible...?!"
"I didn't know either, but apparently it is. So I'm going to get it back."
I raised my body. My line of sight was now far higher than Dimona's. The difference was more than a full head.
"Judge."
"Y-yes?"
"You've gotten smaller, haven't you?"
"Do you want to die?!"
[Mistelten is eroding your body.]
[Erosion Rate: 18%]
I wanted to talk more, but this was as far as it went. I had no time.
As the erosion rate rose, my body's condition strengthened accordingly. But if the erosion rate exceeded its limit, the 'Seed of Evil' sleeping within Mistelten would bloom through my body.
A mad skill that dragged my body's condition to its limit, along with complete loss of reason.
But without the Sun God's privileges, I had no skill to maintain my mental fortitude now. Because of the condition of losing my reason, it was no different from a trash skill.
One side of my vision warped, then immediately returned. Let's hurry. A prolonged battle was unwinnable anyway...!
"Dimona, listen carefully from now on."
I explained the rough plan. Suspicion settled in Dimona's eyes.
"You want me to do that? No, in the first place, there's no way we can physically drag that thing down?!"
"It'll periodically enter a groggy state. There's one reliable gunner. The weapon I'm holding will help too."
BOOM!!!!!!
Another section of Paramer's outer wall was blown away.
"I-I'm getting the hang of it! Really! Savior! I mean it!!!!"
Dimona blinked. Her voice was thick with doubt.
"...You expect me to trust that?"
"...Probably?"
"Hey!"
"Anyway, I'll leave the ground command to you. I need to have a personal meeting."
[Using Black Branch (SSS).]
Clank.
A black chain slipped out from the end of Mistelten and fell to the ground. A unique skill sleeping within Mistelten.
'Black Branch (SSS)'.
A chain that forcibly seals the opponent's strength. It was a skill strong enough that an ordinary knight would collapse to the ground from a mere graze.
The limit of chains that can be drawn out is tied to the limit of shadow Sacred Power. In my current state, I could draw them out endlessly.
I'd bind the giant with these. I'd lower the other ends of the chains to the ground and have the humans pull.
An absolutely necessary operation to extract Aris from that rotten giant!
BOOM!!!!!!
"Ajaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!! I said I got the hang of iiiiit!!!!!!"
Along with the rough bombardment, the giant's regenerated right arm burst. Whew. If I'd known about this in the game, it would've been much easier!
The reason Fer Bach went out of his way to tell me about this was probably because this place was reality. Guilt is something only humans can have. It was information he would never have revealed otherwise, even if it killed him.
As expected...somehow...
This isn't simply a world inside a game.
I glanced back. My eyes met Dimona's. Amid the falling fragments of massive flesh, I scratched my cheek.
"...I didn't really think you'd come, you know?"
"What kind of thing is that to say to someone who came all this way!"
"So..."
I stammered awkwardly. I turned my head sharply.
"...Thank you."
Was this the second time?
Someone who had thrown away their life to save me.
"Thank you. Dimona. Truly."
. . .
Dimona stared blankly at the retreating back.
"C...cute."
She hastily covered her mouth at the words that had slipped out without her realizing. The back that had now grown so much looked too large.
At first, she had almost not recognized him. No, even if a person changes, there are limits...
Where did the pretty boy go, and who is this world-class handsome man?!
But it wasn't only his appearance that had changed. In the empty space where Ra had departed, only Naga's energy swarmed.
He was different from before. Definitely different. She didn't know what had happened over six months, but the vessel of the person himself had grown larger.
This wasn't the time.
This was no time to be lost in sentiment. Dimona leaped from the building. She cut in half a rotten monster charging at Ashval Haltz.
"Your Excellency!"
"I-Divine Judge Dimona?! What about that monster—why have you come down here?!"
"Everything has changed now! The tide of battle will turn! We need to shore up the outer perimeter of the defensive line! The rest of you, put down your weapons and look at the sky!"
"What are you saying?! Have reinforcements arrived?!"
"They have! Just one person, but...!"
Dimona glared into the empty air. She followed with her eyes the back of the person now shrunk to the size of a dot.
She smiled without realizing it. In a situation of nothing but horror and despair, laughter came out on its own.
A person no different from a miracle.
A genuine disaster beyond comparison to herself was sprinting across the giant's body.
"A real...a real genius...is going to lower a lifeline right now! A chance that might be the last!"
The inquisitors raised their heads. They saw the countless chains coiling around the rotten giant's body.
The paladins of the Serpent Church stopped their swords. They saw the black lines descending from the sky.
Amid the rotten giant's scream, even its remaining head split apart completely. A diagonal line was drawn, then it shattered into countless pieces and soaked the sky. Fragments of burst flesh poured down like rain.
Dimona snatched one of the falling black lifelines. A black chain. She felt a strange power, but there was no other unusual reaction.
Two thousand in total. With the number of casualties now exceeding 300, chains fell like rain before the eyes of the remaining troops.
It was a move that might be a gamble. An operation that anyone else would have dismissed as nonsense.
But Dimona hurled her doubts far away.
Hadn't he always been the one to carve out a path?! Hadn't he been the one to lead impossible things to success?!
"Everyone!!! Everyone grab the chains!!!!"
She wrapped the chain around her hand once. She pulled with all her strength.
Alone, it was impossible. But when many gathered, it was different.
"W-what in the world is this...!"
"Leave only the minimum personnel and grab them now!!! It's time for the counterattack!!!!"
Dimona ground her teeth.
"With our own hands...!! Let's bring that monster down!!!!"
Some of the inquisitors dropped their weapons. They grabbed the chains with both hands.
"Grab theeeeeem!!!"
"Follow the Judge's orders!!!"
"Pull it down!!! Right now!!!!"
"A small number, support the perimeter!!! We'll handle this!!!"
Ashval Haltz leaped from his horse. He wrapped the chain around his whole body and pulled.
"I don't know what this is about...! But there must be a plan, right?! Divine Judge Dimona!!"
"There is! I'm telling you, there is! Everyone grab the chains! Grab the last chance!!!!"
"All troops!! Grab the chains!!! Everyone except those on the perimeter, grab the chains!!!!"
The soldiers hung onto the black chains one by one. Isabella threw her whole body and grabbed five chains at once.
"Black Scales! Grab them now!!! They're Naga's chains!!!"
"N-Naga's chains?!"
"Now that you mention it...! That person's power!!"
"Don't tell me our brother really joined the Serpent Church...?!"
"Stop talking nonsense and just graaaaab!!!!"
The massive giant slowly knelt. It raised its arm to sweep away the cockroach-like humans.
BOOM!!!!!
"Hup-yaaaaaaaaaah!!!! Now it's a hundred shots, a hundred hiiiiits!!!!!!"
At the elf's reverberating voice, the giant's left arm collapsed. Strength drained from the giant's body as it fell into a groggy state.
Dimona's eyes blazed. She scraped together every last bit of her remaining Sacred Power.
Now!
Right now!
"Bring it doooooooooooooooooown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
With the burst of her shout, the humans gathered their voices.
Cheers and shouts. Blood vessels bulged in arms pulling with all their might.
One alone might be feeble.
But one became many, and that soon exceeded hundreds.
The chains digging into the giant's flesh went taut. Mistelten's erosion weakened the giant, and the Magic Siege Cannon put to sleep the strength with which it tried to resist.
Small feathers gathered to form wings. The formed wings stirred a wind of change.
That was a miracle.
A true miracle of coincidence overlapping with coincidence, settled within impossibility!
GROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO..........
The horrifying sound of the giant began to fall.
From the sky that had seemed unreachable.
To the earth where human hands could reach.