Ch.132Traitor (3)

The room with drawn curtains.

Beyond the calm darkness sits an elderly man with white hair at a desk.

None other than the Dean, Gaston Gallimard.

He had his eyes closed as if concentrating on something.

The teacup at his fingertips was simply growing cold.

“……”

Not even the slightest movement.

An exceptionally heavy atmosphere.

In text, it would be described as silence, but if one could see through its surface, it was closer to chaos or pandemonium.

The old man stands amidst violently shattering fragments of the future.

Then.

“……It has begun.”

The prophet mutters.

An ominous feeling rising from deep underground.

Fear, anger, despair, sorrow… a beast’s howl containing all those ill omens.

He senses the stirring of sticky evil.

It seemed that.

The story was flowing unchanged.

Unable to escape the prophecy after all.

The clock hands following predetermined fate are like an execution falling upon the condemned.

The old man sets down his teacup filled with black tea.

Though brief, the trembling red surface resembles himself, sprawled before duty.

Aged lips speak.

“Betrayer.”

To a certain boy.

The prophet recites a request that will not reach its destination.

With a heart stained by complicated emotions.

“Please… I entrust that child to you.”

A voice that scatters fleetingly.

The Dean sank back into silence, as if swallowed by waves.

***

Academy underground.

Blood and corpses lie scattered around.

It was a space where pitch darkness had settled.

A ceiling so high its height couldn’t be gauged, humid air adding to the eerie atmosphere, and finally, the terribly pervasive stench.

The temple’s scenery seemed to capture human depravity perfectly.

Truly the bottom of sin.

We stood at its center.

KWAAANG-!

The ceiling shakes with an explosive noise.

Demonic Energy flowing fiercely.

Firepower that seemed to create a storm throughout the underground.

Fragments of broken magic, blood, flesh… they spray in all directions.

Enemies swarm in.

“Lambs! Repay the Lord with slaughter!!!”

Assailants charge in unison, chanting.

Every one of them shedding tears of blood.

If nightmares could be expressed as images, wouldn’t they feel like this?

Though furrowing my brow, I swing my sword lightly.

“Hmm.”

Slash-!

I cut down an arrow that flew right up to my face.

A distinctive tremor transmitted to my fingertips.

The sensation was less like cutting through something hard like metal or wood, and more like slicing through a lump of protein.

Well, it was a weapon made from human bones and flesh after all.

‘Offering… using life as a medium.’

A disgusting method.

Muscles and intestines still alive and writhing.

Moreover, perhaps due to contamination by Demonic Energy, corrosion was progressing where blood had splattered.

It was a wretchedness that stimulated unpleasant emotions in many ways.

I raise my sword.

“This is troublesome.”

I was in a position where I needed to conserve my output.

Magic cracked by the injection of Demonic Energy.

I needed to restore the seal supposedly left by an ancient star.

Since I didn’t know how much output would be needed in that process, I had to limit my lies more than usual.

An annoying constraint.

Of course.

“Everyone’s being such a nuisance.”

That didn’t mean it was overwhelming.

Just a complaint about the inconvenience.

Having received personal training from a sword saint, I wouldn’t be helpless even unarmed.

I’ve experienced muddy fights from the bottom several times.

Thickly accumulated experience.

I take a step forward.

CHANG-!!

My lightly swung sword strike collides with the spear of a robed figure at the front.

Sparks flying in an instant.

I roughly break through the defense and push the fellow back.

KANG!! Kik, keugeugeugeuk…!

While we were engaged in a test of strength with our blades pressed against each other,

Another robed figure had somehow slipped to my side and was launching a thrusting attack aimed at my neck.

A naturally flowing combination.

Of course.

Being read meant it was already over.

I lightly flick my finger.

Tak-!

Just slightly.

A lie so minimal it wouldn’t even register as output.

A thin shadow covers the enemies’ eyes.

Their vision blocked as if blindfolded.

Their posture wavers.

“……?!”

Just one second.

But that instant disrupts their sword path.

Pisut-!

The attack goes astray.

A lukewarm sensation of bone fragments remains on my cheek, which was barely grazed.

Due to the disrupted posture, the opponent’s stance collapses.

I don’t miss that opening.

Pushing away the robed figure I was facing head-on, I grab the long, flowing hair of the other one.

The shadow lifts and their vision returns, but it’s too late.

“Ta-da.”

Seogeak-!

A silver line drawn through the air.

Immediately after,

A cleanly severed head is in my hand.

The headless body soon collapses.

As I slightly step back, the robed figure I had pushed away earlier charges at me again.

Pupils filled with madness, shedding tears of blood.

A prayer like a scream.

“!!Lord the to life our offer We”

The robed figure swings a spear with a shout.

I hold my sword at an angle.

While smoothly deflecting the falling attack, I grip the severed head with my other hand.

Grabbing the long tied hair, I swing it like a flail.

SWAAACK… PUEOK!!

A dull impact sound spreads.

As the head flies with full force and strikes the temple, the charging robed figure loses balance and staggers.

Without delay, I thrust my sword into the figure’s heart.

Rotten blood splatters.

Pook-!

‘That makes five.’

A calm deep breath.

Although I said I needed to conserve output, that didn’t mean complete inability.

I could use lies to help a little in battle like this, as long as it was within a level that didn’t burden me.

I clap my hands.

Jjak-!

Then my vision flickers.

The golden afterimage that momentarily disappeared reappears in the middle of enemy lines.

It was a short-distance teleportation, lightly leaping.

I form a hidden weapon at my fingertips.

“Where are you looking?”

PEOBEOBEOBEOK-!

I don’t even give them time to turn around.

Fragments of pitch-black shooting in all directions.

The flower that spread in dozens of directions pierces the foreheads of the puppets. Blood and flesh swept away like leaves before the wind.

With slightly rising breath, I sheathe my sword.

Indeed, fighting barehanded wasn’t good for stamina efficiency.

There was no problem yet since these were just small fry.

‘The problem is.’

That their numbers seemed endless.

Evil rushing in frantically.

Even with bodies pierced, cut, and limbs severed, the puppets continued to charge.

Such blind movement was even unnatural.

Indeed, they were not easy opponents.

I glare at the man sitting at the center of the blood-soaked temple.

A familiar face.

‘The Puppeteer.’

Among cultists, mutants occasionally appear.

Katasto.

Performance, singing, painting, description… when Demonic Energy mixes with one’s innate talent and breaks the basic framework.

In terms of numbers, it’s as rare as a [Star].

Since each possesses power equivalent to a disaster.

Even in the original work, they appeared in roles leading to the world’s destruction, such as hunting faculty members or key figures, or destroying the cathedral, which could be considered the church’s headquarters.

That man was one of them.

‘So you’ve appeared.’

The Puppeteer.

Commonly called the Marionnette.

In the original work, he was a villain who appeared from the middle part.

While being one of the most formidable forces among the cultists, he was also a grim reaper who harvested countless corpses.

The small fry visible now were all his subordinates.

“Indeed… a troublesome ability.”

Forces that showed no sign of diminishing.

Puppets carrying out their master’s will.

The man wasn’t just manipulating chimeras and humans, but now even the corpses scattered on the floor were moving.

Therefore, the battlefield was only growing more chaotic rather than being cleared.

Rising breath with fierce battle.

It seemed difficult without consuming output.

‘Of course.’

If I wasn’t alone, the story would be different.

I signal.

Toward the fox whose hair had turned bright red.

A call pronouncing judgment by fire upon sin.

“Miss Irene.”

“Yes.”

“Blow them away.”

“Leave it to me.”

Immediately after.

A streak of flame cuts straight through the air.

Following that, exploding flames engulf the surroundings.

Hot heat explodes, turning corpses and puppets to ashes.

Only a roaring sound remains in my ears.

KWAAAAA-!!

Firepower that seemed about to collapse the temple.

After brushing away the flames that touched my cheek, I then call to the princess.

The girl thrusts her sword into the floor as if she had been waiting.

“Your Highness.”

“I’ve been waiting.”

Those lips recite.

The activation word that will turn the tables.

“Sword, be stained.”

-Sharlotte Style Domain Swordsmanship Fifth Form-

‘Ash Garden’

KUGUGUGU-!

As cracks form in the marble-covered floor, steel vines begin to emerge one by one.

A festival of swords and roses continuing as if clearing a path.

It was a splendidly unfolding garden.

As the delicate hand twists the sword thrust into the floor, thousands of petals flutter as blades.

The scattered fragments pierce the hearts of the puppets.

Blood spreads even on the flowers.

I mutter as I watch.

‘The flow isn’t bad.’

I calmly assess the situation.

Two helpers.

Each was doing well at keeping the puppets in check.

Of course, given the opponent, it seemed difficult to handle them completely, but at least the small fry were being cleared.

The continuing chorus of flames and vines creates a straight path.

A path leading to the altar.

“Now I can see.”

Beyond the smell of burning flesh and remnants, the Puppeteer is visible.

He was placing his hands on the seal.

He was staring at us with cold pupils.

As if aware of our presence.

‘Looking at the altar’s condition… progress is still under 50%.’

There seemed to be plenty of time.

I planned to prioritize cleaning the vicinity first.

I wrap pitch-black around my hand.

The opponent was not to be taken lightly.

Although not as formidable as the ‘Conductor’ who was said to have reached [Star], he was still among the top-tier villains.

He wasn’t an opponent to face lightly in a situation where output was also limited.

I compress the thinly deployed lie.

As I was preparing to leap while revealing killing intent.

“Yes… I understand.”

Suddenly, he speaks from over there.

Fixed pupils.

Eyes stained with madness reflected only the golden snake.

The man speaks as if he had realized something.

“About the being that has been blocking our will all along.”

I tried to ignore it, but.

His next words made my steps freeze.

“It was you, ■■■■.”

A word referring to oneself.

I pause.

How does that guy… know that name?

My brain momentarily comes to a halt.

“Wait, what did you just…”

“I cannot defeat you.”

And for good reason.

How could a mere insect challenge the vessel of a god?

But.

This plan cannot fail.

For His will.

“Therefore… I will sacrifice everything.”

KWADEUK-!

The Puppeteer shows a sudden action.

Perhaps because I was distracted by the fact that my [name] was called, I missed the suspicious signs unlike myself.

He scattered Demonic Energy around while biting off his own tongue.

A crimson light seeps from the altar.

‘Suicide offering…!’

He had offered his own life.

The soul of a Katasto with unique talent, one of the continent’s most formidable powers, was enough to completely break the seal that had already cracked.

In an instant.

JJANGEURANG-!

A noise like glass breaking echoes.

The seal shatters into pieces.

At the same time, a black light spurts from the temple floor, and soon Demonic Energy swirls around the area enough to block all vision.

It’s difficult to even maintain balance amidst the fragments of blood and corpses flying about.

I protect my companions by creating a curtain with shadows.

KWAAAAA-!

A mercilessly raging storm of Demonic Energy.

The temple was already close to being completely destroyed.

The Puppeteer’s body that had broken the seal was torn to shreds, and even the surrounding puppets had melted without a trace.

I gradually increase my lie’s output to withstand the fierce wind.

How much time passed?

As the ferocious flow gradually subsides.

The real disaster appears.

“…This is bad.”

I click my tongue.

The scene before my eyes was truly terrible.

I slowly raise my head to look up.

KRURURURU-.

A noise that seemed to scrape the eardrums.

A creature’s head barely touches the ceiling, which must be at least 50 meters high.

Huge wings and tail cover the broken temple.

Black flames flicker between its jaws.

Although it was clearly a living being… it didn’t match the word vitality at all.

Because parts of its flesh, including the heart, were rotting.

[EP23. Awakening Evil]

-Blood and malice stirring, life calling for death-

The episode’s boss monster.

Described in the setting as [Death] incarnate… an ancient dragon tainted in chimera form.

In modern terms, it would be a Death Dragon.

We were facing disaster.

KUOOOOO-!!

A howl that seemed to shake the entire underground.

Feeling the chill running down my spine, I mutter a complaint.

“No choice, I guess.”

I clench my fist again.

What I grasp with both hands is a sword carved from shadow.

Slowly opening eyelids.

The fully revealed white pupils were shining dangerously.

The snake declares.

“Hunting isn’t my preference, but I have no choice.”

It seemed.

I would need to bring out the second plan.