Really, these young ones nowadays.

Undead…

Although it was Celia’s first time directly encountering them, what she felt when seeing corpses moving wasn’t unfamiliarity.

Around the time she inherited the family after her father’s death, when she hadn’t yet undergone her coming-of-age ceremony.

It was none other than the previous emperor who passed on the title of Empire’s Sword to her.

“How remarkable, great former Emperor. You’ve achieved your long-dreamed wish for immortality in this form.”

Even a halo that realizes a being with will through faith is amazing.

Is it possible to do this too if divine power is twisted with powerful lingering attachments?

Of course, beings created like that can’t maintain consciousness or accumulate memories, they just endlessly repeat their strongest lingering attachment.

Beings like what are commonly called ‘ghosts’ in the world.

Those who are only interested in resolving grudges can be considered nothing more than evil spirits, not humans.

“I don’t know what they’re trying to do in this underground by raising so many corpses like this… But whatever it is, it shouldn’t be left alone.”

Celia sighed deeply and tried to put her hand on the sword in its scabbard again.

As she gazed at the undead preparing to rush at her, she realized something and let out an exclamation.

“Oh wait. Did I already cut them?”

At that moment, a ‘slash’ sound echoed.

From that point, fine lines gradually became visible enough to see on the walls, floor, and ceiling indiscriminately.

The corpses existing along that path were no exception.

“I guess I really am getting old. Seeing how I keep forgetting things these days…”

Realizing this point, Celia let out an ambiguous laugh and soon prepared to set foot towards the passage of the space, turning her back on the corpses.

-Crack!

Even at that moment, the cracks drawn in the space widened further, and the movements of the corpses also stopped all at once.

No matter how much they’re monsters without pain or reason.

If they take enough damage to be unable to move, they end up being nothing more than wriggling lumps of meat.

“Then I’ll be taking my leave.”

Yes, soon everything will collapse.

The cracks cut with such fierce power that even the space was distorted, absorbing even a large amount of air.

The moment they expanded in volume again, destabilized along with shockwaves from outside.

-Booooom!!!

A vortex raged with the chain explosion, and as it pushed out the enclosed space, it came to create a fierce torrent in the passage.

Fragments forming the waterway and rotten bloodstreams existing within the corpses.

As all of that spread throughout the passages with air pressure, Celia began to sprint through the passage with both arms pulled back.

At the same speed as the fragments that should fly towards her front.

-Gargle…!!!

At that moment, groups of shadows visible from the opposite side of the passage.

She thought they might be the cultists advancing ahead, but they’re different.

They too are corpses…

But judging by how they seem quite old, they appear to be corpses brought in from outside rather than forces that died in this sewer.

‘Well, for guys who manipulate corpses, they could use the corpses they had as guard forces.’

Moreover, those who had powerful abilities in life exert even more formidable power.

The Emperor learned of the Elder Fanatics’ existence in the process of investigating their grave robberies or hunting of the continent’s strong ones.

Even the forces who died fighting such capable opponents are being revived as undead again by the strange power permeating this space.

One can’t rule out the possibility that forces sent to open the way would instead return as enemies after dying.

‘Conversely, if you don’t die and kill them all, that would be the end of it.’

Anyway, if they block the way, you just cut through them all and move on.

Realizing this point, Celia grasped the sword at her waist again as the distance between them narrowed.

While putting strength into her two legs with her weight.

-Bzzt!

The spark occurring all over her body at that moment is just a byproduct created by the operation of mana.

Mana compressed at high density responding to will.

It stimulates the surrounding air by itself, causing plasma.

-Boom!!

The sword draw originating from such output rushed forward as a flash of light.

Her body sprinting at a speed like lightning striking cut down all the corpses in the passage, and the spilling rotten blood drew afterimages where she passed.

Heat enough to evaporate even drops of rotten blood without a trace.

When that output subsided, what appeared before her as her vision recovered was a large gaping mouth.

-Kyaoaa!!

One undead opening its mouth right in front of her face and swinging both arms.

It’s not difficult to cut it down.

‘But what about after this?’

Right after aiming her sword at that undead, Celia quickly stretched her bent legs, recognizing dozens of corpses swarming behind her.

-Thud!

Her body rising with a light noise.

The hands swung aiming at her brushed through the air, and behind that, dozens of hands began to stretch upwards aiming at her alone.

But they don’t reach.

No, even if they reached, her light footsteps would just let everything flow past nonchalantly.

Her weight lightened to the limit was creating enough buoyancy to soar upwards just with flailing hand gestures.

-Kyaoaa! Aaaah!

Despite maintaining ridiculous balance in such instability, the corpses didn’t notice the strangeness and just opened their mouths greedily trying to bite her flesh.

But her body didn’t sink into the river of the dead.

Her body floating in the air was extremely light.

And she had enough composure to play tricks in the midst of that.

-Whoosh!

Eventually, as she spun like a swallow and surpassed them, she began to sew what was tied to her fingertips onto the sword handle.

Threads made of mana…

The moment she performed craftsmanship by realizing energy that can’t be seen with the eyes and is only perceived by senses in the form of threads.

-Grrr, kaak!!

The dead who had lost their reason couldn’t even feel that those threads were spread on the corpses existing on the path she had passed.

Without even knowing that all of that would exert physical force matching the will of the sword being drawn.

-Slash!!!

Finally, the passages began to split along with the sword draw targeting the air.

Groups of lines not drawing any parallels cut down the bodies of the corpses and began to dirty the passage with their blood.

-Kyaoaa!

Rotten blood bursting out like an explosion.

Dozens of corpses beginning to open their mouths as if they had been waiting at the plaza area she arrived at with her back to that…

-Crack!

Along with the handle being swung with the sword stabbed into the open mouth of the one standing at the front, a single thread begins to spread between them.

And swinging again.

-Slash!

With sword strikes reaching twice in a split second, everything existing in a straight line splits into three and scatters on the floor.

Yet there are still those grinding their teeth or with breath remaining, but anyway, once their movement has stopped, they won’t be able to interfere with her.

“…There’s no taste in cutting.”

After briefly muttering unpleasantly with such a miserable scene behind her.

“Oh, I was standing by just in case, but a guest has arrived.”

A man beginning to approach while turning the corner as she was about to advance further through the passage.

What was revealed along with his hand leaning on the wall was a man in monk’s robes smiling with teeth showing clearly, in contrast to his haggard face.

Yes, a very unpleasant impression.

“I won’t tell you to turn back, as you must be as desperate as we are.”

As that man revealed himself staggering, he began to open the book grasped in his hand.

Necronomicon.

The cover of the book serving as a medium for using dark magic was none other than human skin.

But no matter how unpleasant or hideous, to her he’s just someone to cut down and move past.

“So if you’re going to advance further, you’d better be prepared! From now on, what you’ll be facing is one of the Elder Fanatics’ Arch-Sin Bishops, the Bishop of Sloth, Petel…!!!”

-Slash!

Along with the sword motion drawing a horizontal line, a sword beam was shot.

As everything existing along that trajectory split, his waist too was split in half and his head plunged into the sewer water.

“Really, these young ones nowadays.”

Being too relaxed in a fight.

Celia clicked her tongue and put the sword in her hand back into its scabbard.

Afterwards, as she was about to pass by that corpse and move on, her fingertips turned to the sword handle again at a sensation chilling her spine.

‘He’s alive.’

Yes, he doesn’t die just from having his waist cut.

The opponent was already in a state standing on the border between life and death through necromancy.

“Ehee, hahahaha!”

As if to prove that, laughter burst out and the split part was connected by blood vessels, and the wound began to heal as it was pulled.

“Certainly, you seem to have the skills to come this far, but coincidentally, physical impacts are meaningless to me. The power of immortality gained by serving that one holds this soul from ascending to heaven!!!”

At the cost of depleting vitality and mental power, but being able to continue fighting even with such a body is an unparalleled opportunity for those with conviction.

The Bishop of Sloth who straightened his restored body like that began to put strength into various parts of his body with a sardonic smile.

“But I am not alone.”

-Crack! Crack.

Arms beginning to grow from gaps throughout his body.

Arms spreading like a spider split into two branches again and begin to construct weapons made of bone.

“If I weave the records called forth by this faith into this being, I can achieve enormous feats that can’t be accomplished alone!!”

It’s not even a proper body part.

A craft using an incredibly bizarre human body like a rag doll with threads forcibly threaded.

However, excluding that hideousness, it would boast a majesty worthy of the name of a one-man army in itself.

Literally, it could be called the authority of sloth that removes those ahead without using one’s own hands and makes them one’s appendages.

“How could you possibly handle these hands alone…”

His breath stiffening the moment he shouted confidently about that.

Although it’s a body that doesn’t need breathing, as it’s half alive, instincts arising from the unconscious inevitably come out naturally.

Something so powerful that even such instincts are forgotten in an instant.

-Riiing!!!

The ringing sound heard in his ears made his instincts stand on end.

‘What…’

Vibration.

Sound waves originating from that are leaking from the sword latent in its scabbard and echoing in the passage.

The faint light rising under the bridge of his nose separated from that is the result of highly concentrated compressed mana hardened to its limit.

That phenomenon that should stop at heat haze distorting light was distorting space enough to absorb even the faint light flowing in this darkness.

That in itself was created with the sword as the focal point.

Like an ‘event horizon’ created while sucking in everything around it.

-Swoosh!!

The moment that sword containing such power was finally released, that body became an afterimage and caused a storm in the straight passage.

Where that sword tip was aimed was exactly in front of his eyes.

‘I saw…’

A clear smile formed on the lips of the Bishop of Sloth who recognized that existence.

‘I saw it!!’

Yes, if he saw it, he can deal with it.

The moment even one of the hundreds of hands grown from this body touches her body, it will tear that body to shreds.

“Is it the same even with reason?”

But when his hand actually reached out into the air, the voice was heard from behind, not in front.

At that moment, the body he thought he had caught disappeared, and the empty fingertips even had their nerves cut and began to droop.

No, they will soon droop.

Only after the voice was heard behind him did the Bishop of Sloth belatedly realize that he had been ‘cut’.

‘Wh-What is this…’

Even though he realized it, whispers trying to deny it endlessly echo in his mind.

Is this truly possible?

As if the process of cutting through him and passing by had been deleted…

As if time had leapt, is it possible for human hands to achieve a phenomenon where only the result of ‘being cut’ remains?

-Rip!!!

No, this isn’t human technique.

A being transcending humans.

An outrageous technique that only a being equivalent to ‘god’ itself can handle…

“Are they coming again, how annoying.”

The attention of the woman who achieved that had long since been withdrawn from him and turned to the wriggling shadows on the opposite side.

Reinforcements who came after hearing the commotion. They are Arch-Sin Bishops corresponding to executives of the Elder Fanatics like himself.

Wrath and Envy, and Pride…

‘Ah, no.’

His view of them splits in half, then in half again.

The moment he realizes that everything is being distorted, splitting into countless lines, the Bishop of Sloth realized that even the slightest hope was disappearing.

‘This one, mustn’t be sent back…’

-Rumble!!

Finally, his vision blacks out with distortion. And silence.

That was all that remained where something wearing a human disguise that had left its den passed by.