Ch.1098Soul-Destroying Sword

The Moon on the Water.

The power of illusion I had spread in advance to avoid being caught and stopped was crushed and dispelled by the destructive force that shattered the entire space.

All that remained was an old man who seemed to have never entered the cave in the first place, standing nearly two hundred meters away.

Dressed in a gloomy robe. His face was drenched in cold sweat, tension and bewilderment evident. Perhaps he hadn’t expected his power to be broken so quickly.

“I’m a bit surprised. I didn’t know you possessed such an advanced power.”

Indeed, it was quite a clever scheme.

If I hadn’t realized that Hersella was also affected by the illusion, it would have been difficult to conceive that his power targeted the space itself rather than me.

I probably would have spent a long time just wondering why I was caught in an illusion.

“To cast your power on space itself and manifest illusions as reality. The power of Menes is more profound than I thought.”

As far as I could tell, ‘The Moon on the Water’ was a power that targeted space itself… that is, a part of this world, to manifest illusions in reality.

In other words, he had deceived the world and thereby deceived me as well.

“Well, in the end it was just a delaying tactic.”

It was an impressively advanced power, but its limitations were clear. Not so much the limitations of Menes, but rather the limitations of Paulus who wielded that power.

“When the user is so pathetic, even an exceptional power loses its luster. Ever heard the saying about pearls before swine?”

I mockingly spread my arms, showing off my unharmed body.

Yes. Despite Paulus perfectly wielding his advanced power of illusion manifestation to trap me in that domain, he couldn’t inflict a single wound on me.

He had merely gifted me an infinite punching bag that kept reappearing no matter how many times I killed it.

That was his limitation.

If he had been stronger than me—or even my equal—he could have crushed me through sheer numerical advantage, but his actual combat ability couldn’t even properly withstand a single blow from me.

Moreover, seeing that he couldn’t even create an opponent stronger than me like Garmerlic, it seemed that manifesting illusions beyond his own capacity was impossible.

So in the end, he could only die endlessly without accomplishing anything. A powerful ability that had found the wrong master.

“…Still, I bought time. That’s all I was hoping for anyway.”

“Did that buy you a whole minute?”

It seemed like you were talking for nearly ten minutes. Maybe you should have been a public speaker rather than a clergyman?

And even that was only because I listened to you. If I hadn’t listened and had fought right away, you would have only gained a minute at most.

You can hardly call that buying time, can you?

“It’s enough. While you were sitting quietly in that illusory cave, I’ve already completed all my preparations.”

“Preparations for your funeral?”

In the next moment, a vacuum slash extended like lightning, tearing off Paulus’s left arm.

“Kugh…!”

He staggered, gritting his teeth and suppressing a scream. Not bad. I was aiming to split his body in two, but only got an arm.

“It’s… still too early… for a funeral…!”

He grabbed his severed arm with his right hand and pressed it against the cut surface. A silvery-white holy light formed over the wound, healing it.

Menes’s healing miracle, Twilight Light. Perhaps he had been greatly favored by Menes before his apostasy, as the holy light he emitted was as bright as Agnes’s. Though not enough to surpass Lena’s healing.

That Menes, what an idiot.

If he was going to give his follower such powerful abilities, he should have prepared a means to take them back in case of emergency.

He only gave power without the ability to reclaim it. Terrible aftercare. No wonder this guy turned out this way.

Essentially, I’m cleaning up the mess Menes left behind. I felt like I had one more reason to beat up that lunatic god someday.

“Too late.”

But first, I needed to tear this old man apart.

*Thud thud thud!*

Just as Paulus was about to unleash some miracle or power with the holy light he had summoned, my twelve tentacles, moving faster, pierced through his entire body like spikes.

“Grrrrgh…!”

Paulus twisted his body, gritting his teeth.

Yes, it must be agonizingly painful. The tentacles of murder karma that had penetrated his body were splitting into smaller tendrils inside, ravaging his internal organs.

*Rip, crack, squish, tear.*

The power of murder karma—slicing through muscles, scraping bones, crushing and bursting internal organs, tearing blood vessels and nerves to shreds.

I had to commend him for not passing out.

What impressive willpower. You should have used that will to make the world a better place with your power. Not to make it worse.

He even managed to counter-attack through the extreme pain.

Using the holy light he had summoned to continuously heal his breaking body, and creating something like silver arrows to shoot in rapid succession.

“Struggling in vain.”

Of course, how effective could a counterattack be when your body is being destroyed in real time?

Whenever he tried to pull something dangerous, I would use the murder karma tentacles to tear up his insides and interrupt him.

“Kuh, ugh…! Kua, k, ugraaaagh!”

Now you’re finally opening your mouth.

After having his nerves and organs torn apart and healed repeatedly, even his superhuman patience seemed to be reaching its limit, and proper screams finally began to emerge.

A requiem for those who fell victim to the apostles’ schemes, you might say.

I concentrated my consciousness on the space between my palms, bringing them together in front of my chest, while appreciating his screams. Meanwhile, Hersella was enthusiastically torturing Paulus in my place.

Now then… let’s give this a try.

“Kenaz, Hagalaz.”

Fire and destruction. I manifested both runes simultaneously and concentrated them in the empty space between my palms, forcibly fusing two powers of different attributes into one.

*Crackle, sizzle!*

Crimson flames and mana light collided, twisting and distorting chaotically, repeatedly collapsing back on themselves. Fragments of broken mana exploded like small lightning bolts.

‘Indeed, this isn’t easy…’

As expected, combining the powers of two different runes into one was an extremely difficult task.

It was like holding two needle-thin magnets, eyes closed, trying to perfectly align their same poles—or even harder.

Moreover, these runes were violent, destructive forces that burned or shattered whatever they touched.

Without extremely careful balance control, instead of fusion, one power would simply tear the other to shreds.

Normally, I would need to add the divinity of stars and the power of murder karma to stabilize the repulsion. That would create Leviathan, the twilight fire that destroys gods.

However, what I was trying to create now wasn’t Leviathan. That would be excessive.

The god-destroying flame that burned even the World Tree to death.

Using that on someone like Paulus would be like using a dragon-slaying sword to cut a chicken’s neck, not just overkill. The cost would be enormous too, leaving me completely exhausted after a single use.

Therefore, what I was trying to manifest now wasn’t the flame that destroys gods. It was something much weaker, more like a diluted version.

Excluding divinity and murder karma, focusing solely on stably fusing the power of the two runes. That was my goal. A flame Leviathan, so to speak.

For what purpose, you ask?

Think about it. Leviathan, which combines four types of power, is strong enough to destroy even gods, right?

Then, if I create a flame of destruction by combining just two types of power, what would its power be?

Since the input power is less than half, it obviously wouldn’t be enough to destroy gods, but couldn’t it easily destroy “other things”?

…For example, things like human souls.

*Whoosh!*

And after what felt like almost an hour of extreme concentration, a sword made of flames finally appeared.

Wow, it actually worked. Before, no matter how many times I practiced, it never formed properly. Perhaps it was thanks to my experience of perfectly manifesting Leviathan once?

I looked down with satisfaction at the flame sword formed between my hands and lightly grasped its hilt.

A rune sword with the shape of destruction mana as its framework, covered in flames.

The moment I gripped the burning hilt, I knew immediately. As I had expected, this sword possessed the power to burn and destroy even souls, for those without divinity.

Soul-destroying sword, Flame Leviathan.

For apostles who repeatedly resurrect through Feirius’s chance, it was literally a natural enemy.

Because their souls would not return to Feirius, but would be destroyed and vanish right here and now.

“Grrrrgh… that… that sword, what is…!”

Perhaps instinctively sensing the threat, Paulus’s eyes trembled uncontrollably as he looked at the Flame Leviathan.

At last, he wore the face of someone who had just watched all their carefully prepared safety measures vanish into thin air.

“What, only now realizing something’s wrong?”

I grinned as I pulled on the murder karma tentacles, dragging him before me. The flame sword in my right hand blazed fiercely, distorting the air with its heat.

“When you meet Menes, give him my regards… no, on second thought, you won’t be able to.”

With your soul itself annihilated, you can’t possibly go to a god’s side.

“What are you saying…! No, wait, surely not…!”

Understanding my meaning, Paulus’s mouth fell open. I smiled, pulling the corners of my mouth up to my ears, and raised the Flame Leviathan high.

“You should thank me. At least you won’t fall into hell now.”

“No, stop! I—!”

The blade of crimson flame struck down on the head of the second apostle.

Like a candle held before a bonfire, Paulus’s body melted away from head to toe, dissolving into nothing. No, not just his body, but his soul as well.

The fire of destruction annihilated the second apostle.