Ch.122Chapter 122. Battle for the Saint (8)

Chapter 122. Battle for the Saint (8)

“L-Lord Charon! I’m still alive!”

Jei, who had been trembling at the sight of Lakye’s swordsmanship, shouted loudly.

“A woman with a totem attacked headquarters with goddess cultists and a zombie!”

“She’s right in front of us!”

“Please help us!”

The Reptilians were opening their mouths at this opportunity. They were practically like baby birds looking for their mother.

[I’ll borrow your eyes for a moment.]

“…What? Ugh!”

Red energy flowing from the black skull enveloped Jei’s head.

[It’s been a while, Malak.]

Jei’s gaze turns toward Totem #3.

– Charon.

He was threatening to begin with, but now he’s become an opponent I need to be even more wary of.

I don’t know if “winning” meant beating him up and chasing him away, or killing him and adding him to the corpse army, but didn’t he defeat Roa’s manifestation?

A genuine divine being.

[Indeed. Have you regained much of your power with the help of that demigod?]

Jei’s gaze lingered briefly on Lakye who was attacking the barrier, then returned.

[You killed a high-ranking demon.]

Is this really the same Charon who couldn’t contain his anger when he saw me? He’s too calm.

Did defeating Roa put him in a good mood?

– Since I became your underling, it wasn’t much of a challenge.

[Is that so? It’s my fault for not giving you a proper reception.]

Ah, this sounds ominous. It sounds like he’s saying he’ll give me a proper reception now.

What the hell is he trying to pull?

[I have an intuition that I must stop you here and now, no matter what sacrifice it takes. My intuition has never been wrong.]

– Lakye. Break the barrier quickly.

“Yes.”

With a bad feeling rising, I urged Lakye to speed up her destruction. Even Asha, who had been guarding the Pope, moved.

Bang! Bang!

We need to kill the Reptilians quickly and destroy that black skull. That’s the feeling I get.

[It’s time to put an end to our long, bitter relationship. Don’t you think, Malak?]

As soon as Charon finished speaking, red energy flowed from the black skull and penetrated into the bodies of the Reptilians, including Jei.

“Guh, guhk!”

“Uuurgh!”

The Reptilians struggle in agony. The red energy extracted white smoke from their bodies and drew it into the skull.

…Is it absorbing their souls?

“Th-this is betrayal…! Betrayal!”

Jei, who had resisted until the end, screamed, but Charon spoke calmly.

[You were going to die anyway. At least be grateful that you can take them with you as companions.]

“Y-you son of a b-!”

Jei collapsed with his eyelids flipped inside out as the white smoke was extracted. After the smoke from all the Reptilians entered, the black skull began to writhe.

This is insane. Flesh is growing on the skull?

Clang!

Lakye, who had broken through the barrier a bit late, rushed in and swung her meteor sword.

Slash!

The flesh was split in two, but the growth didn’t stop. It quickly clumped together and grew with a sound like a boiling kettle.

“Uuugh…”

“Spear of Light!”

Even Asha and the Pope couldn’t inflict significant damage.

At that moment, the bodies of the dead Reptilians swelled up and exploded. Not an ordinary explosion, but a magical power explosion.

Charon must have used some trick.

“Kuh!”

With a bang, the two people and one zombie were thrown back.

– Oh no!

I don’t know what that flesh will transform into when it finishes growing. Charon’s main body might come.

Ah, should I have saved the Chaos Totem?

No. That could have put Lakye in danger. That was the best move at the time.

So what should I do…!

Grrrr-!

With a bizarre sound I’d never heard before, the flesh mass took on a complete form.

A demon with a woman’s upper body and a horse’s lower body—a half-human, half-horse appeared. It emitted a darker demonic energy than the shadow demon.

– It’s a high-ranking demon. Be careful.

Ha. So the stingray demon and Atomic Rex weren’t the end. A hidden boss has appeared.

Its size was only that of a low-rank demon, but the energy it emitted was different. It was clearly a high-ranking demon that had become a zombie.

Did he use an ability similar to my transfer totem to summon it here from his main base?

[This is a demon once called the Hunting God. It excels at fighting humans. It can kill even a demigod.]

Thanks for the explanation, you kind bastard.

Lakye was the first to attack.

After shaking her head a few times as if to shake off the aftereffects of the explosion, she swung her meteor sword.

It was a fast and fierce strike, but the half-human, half-horse easily dodged it with a light jump. An incredible reaction speed.

Whoosh!

The half-human, half-horse created a bow and arrow by condensing magical power and began firing. An arrow as long as a spear is shot toward Lakye.

Bang!

The creature’s strike pierced the Pope’s barrier in one go. Lakye barely avoided it, but a small cut appeared on her cheek.

I’ve watched Lakye fight dozens of times, but this is the first time I’ve seen her bleed. That’s how threatening the attack was.

A direct hit could be fatal. I used the healing totem to restore her wound.

Besides that, the situation isn’t good. Lakye has used “Potential Explosion” several times today. Her stamina must be quite low.

If this drags on, we’ll obviously lose. We need to kill it quickly.

I canceled all orders to Asha except “kill the enemy.” This was to draw out all of Asha’s skills.

– Pope. I can’t protect you in this situation. Support us from a safe place.

I said “safe place,” but honestly, I don’t know where is safe.

The Pope’s barrier was broken in one hit. Where could possibly be safe? I’m sorry, but I don’t have the capacity to worry about him.

“I understand. I’ll try harder.”

The Pope spoke calmly, whether he understood my thoughts or not.

Lakye, now more alert, Asha focusing on battle, and the Pope interfering with the enemy by applying various debuffs—they all fought with all their might, but the opponent was too formidable.

Charon had already completed his necromancy and was supporting the half-human, half-horse with strange spells and buffs.

“Haah!”

Lakye’s meteor sword slashed the half-human, half-horse’s body several times, but it was futile.

[Excellent weapon and body. I shall have both.]

Every time Charon, speaking through the half-human, half-horse’s mouth, chanted a strange spell, the demon’s wounds healed. If it weren’t for that damn necromancer, we would have taken the half-human, half-horse’s head by now.

The difference between Charon, who was strong from the beginning, and me, who hasn’t completed necromancy yet, was this big. Even though I’ve worked hard too… I can understand why.

Charon can control the enemies he kills, while mine are converted into points, so our growth rates are bound to be different. Charon probably knows this and thinks this is his decisive opportunity, so he’s putting everything into it.

[Young demigod, give up. You cannot defeat me. Drop your sword, and I’ll give you a painless death.]

“You apostate, all talk…!”

Lakye was breathing heavily, seeming to have lost stamina.

Not good. Not good at all.

[Good. It was worth expending so much power. Malak, I’ll make up for this loss with your followers.]

Ignoring his aggro completely, I read the information in his words.

It seems Charon also consumed many resources to forcibly summon the high-ranking demon. If we kill the half-human, half-horse, he’ll suffer a great loss too.

But… I don’t know how to kill it.

With nimble steps, the half-human, half-horse deflected attacks and turned Asha, who was acting as a tank, into a porcupine with rapid-fire shots.

“Aaaah…!”

Asha collapsed with a painful groan, dozens of arrows stuck in her body. She doesn’t even seem to have the energy to regenerate.

“Ugh.”

The Pope’s complexion also worsened. Is it because he used too much of the goddess’s power?

My mind goes blank. What should I do? I don’t have enough points to buy manifestation.

Why don’t I get a new blessing even after killing a high-ranking demon? I got the points, but… is manifestation the end?

Even if I invest in other blessings, I don’t think I can turn this situation around.

The tribal federation is too far away. Everything will be over before reinforcements arrive.

I can’t get help from the real Malak. If he could help, he would have done so already.

What should I do?

Think. There must be a way. Think.

“Ha… I… “

The Pope mutters to himself behind me. In my excited state, I couldn’t hear well, but.

“I wanted to live… hahaha…”

For some reason, I heard that one sentence clearly.

…Yes, he would want to live. That’s why he reached out to a heretical god.

“Huff… huff…!”

I looked at Lakye. At her, fighting with her eyes wide open.

She must still believe in me.

– …

Let me think calmly again. There might be a way.

Charon clearly said he summoned the high-ranking demon after many sacrifices. It might have a short duration.

Or there might be imperfections in the summoning process. It didn’t look like a normal teleport-type summoning, but more like the body being reassembled.

Let’s not lose hope. Let’s look for a weakness.

Lakye and I can do this.

“Lord Malak, do you remember? The reason I became Pope without proper procedure.”

The reason he became Pope without proper procedure? The question was so out of the blue that I turned my gaze.

The Pope was smiling gently.

“It seems there was a reason I came this far.”