Ch.145145. Divine Punishment (3)

From the braziers floating in all directions, from the braziers glowing red inside, heat rays compressed to their extreme limits until they turned white, heat projectiles of various sizes were being fired.

Woong—KWANG! Woooong—KWAGAGAGAG! Woong—KWANG!! Woong—KUWOONG!!!

Their power varied greatly.

The thin heat rays shot from smaller braziers wouldn’t even leave a scratch if they hit, but the heat projectiles blasting from the massive braziers were dangerous enough to pose a serious threat if they struck.

Moreover, there was something else attacking him.

Kung, kung, kung, kung, KUUNG!

WHOOOOSH—KWAAANG!!!

They were house-golems—the residential buildings scattered throughout the area had transformed like robots and reconfigured themselves into bipedal robot-like forms.

Of course, looking at each threat separately, neither was particularly difficult to handle.

The thinner heat rays that could barely be called projectiles could simply be endured, and the potentially lethal ones could be spotted and dodged or blocked with aura.

As for the house-golems, their transforming or combining appearances and sheer size were intimidating, but that was all.

For a powerhouse like Bjorn, these house-golems were flimsy constructs that would crumble after just a few punches.

While neither attack was particularly impressive on its own, facing both simultaneously created considerable pressure.

Though the house-golems themselves were soft enough to be destroyed with bare hands, the problem lay in their overwhelming size and mass.

They served as cover that blocked incoming heat projectiles, but when destroyed, their debris would rain down on Bjorn, threatening to bury him alive.

Even for Bjorn, who had reached a mythical realm beyond superhuman, pure mass and weight were extremely annoying nuisances, if not lethal.

Ultimately, as long as Bjorn wasn’t completely free from the laws of physics, the debris from the house-golems restricted his movement, making the situation all the more frustrating.

One way or another, he had to clear away the debris of these house-golems that had collapsed on him if he wanted to move properly.

Moreover, even if the buildings were shattered into debris, these house-golems weren’t completely finished.

Woooong—

“What the hell is this?!!”

KWAAAANG!!!

When enough debris from the destroyed buildings gathered, they would reform into golems. Though smaller than the rectangular house-golems, these were of a completely different quality.

They possessed physical specs equivalent to mid-lower tier, special abilities to draw in surrounding objects to restore their bodies, and without any core or nucleus, they could regenerate endlessly no matter how many times they were destroyed.

Even though a single swing of Bjorn’s arm could scatter them like dust, an endlessly regenerating and replenishing army was truly terrifying.

“Again?! More?!!”

Worse still, heat projectiles were constantly being fired from the braziers through these golems, meaning one wrong move could result in a fatal wound.

It was fortunate that he could at least read the warning signs and dodge the heat projectiles powerful enough to kill even someone as durable as himself.

The Chaos Dragon, which had been buried in debris earlier, had been reverse-summoned after being overwhelmed, and even Bjorn himself, though not in mortal danger, was struggling to close the distance.

‘These heat projectiles… they’re not magic?’

The heat projectiles weren’t magic but more like skills, making them immune to dispel effects, and the relentless assault from the house-golems and debris was effectively buying time.

Bjorn determined that to break through this situation, he needed to overturn the entire battlefield. Immediately after making this decision—Bjorn used his power as an Apostle.

[O God of Bloody Vengeance! Your lifeblood, here and now!!!]

As Bjorn stretched out his hand and prayed to use a “miracle,” blood infused with what looked like black mist began to surge around him.

From the gaps between the debris piled everywhere, from the ground, from the windows of buildings—from any opening in inanimate objects—blood gushed forth in torrents.

With the pouring blood—or more precisely, the chaos contained within it—the debris and house-golems surrounding him collapsed and crumbled under the dispelling power.

The overflowing blood soon began to move according to Bjorn’s will, forming into a massive wave of black-tinged blood.

Ma-Duk’s exclusive miracle, ‘Wave of Blood.’

Its damage was modest, and its special effect was merely an irresistible push, with an unnecessarily wide range that made offensive use difficult unless against large groups of weak enemies.

However, the true value of this miracle lay in resetting the battlefield environment—instantly destroying any terrain that had been set up to favor the enemy.

Despite this, the damage it dealt could still be useful for clearing out minor enemies depending on the caster’s capabilities, and it could be enhanced with additional effects from other skills—

“Found you!!”

It was an excellent ability for completely overturning the situation.

“THERE YOU AAAAARE!!!”

With a roar deeply rooted in hatred, Bjorn rode the wave toward the location he had detected.

The enormous wave, at least 10 meters high, not only crushed all debris and obstacles in its path but also—

Despite its seemingly sluggish appearance due to its overwhelming size, it reached the two goddesses before they could even react.

《Braziers!!》

But that was as far as it got.

The goddess Bestia summoned reddened braziers and released their heat, completely evaporating the blood that composed the incoming wave.

《Destroyer!! Home Wrecker! Face judgment!!》

And immediately after, Juno-Shala, as the goddess and protector of homes, used her authority—though weakened—against Bjorn, who stood in the midst of the steam that filled the surroundings.

She cast ‘Punishment’ on Bjorn, whom she believed to be responsible for turning the city into ruins, holding him accountable for destroying countless homes, but…

《…What?!!》

《It’s not… working…??》

“…Punish…ment?”

Not only did it fail to affect Bjorn, who had been hunting emperors and gods rather than being the actual culprit, but the very mention of ‘punishment’ for destroying homes blew Bjorn’s fuse.

‘Me? You’re punishing ME? After I lost everything at your hands?’

All of Bjorn’s family had been—as he believed—killed by the Rom Empire, and he himself had been captured and enslaved.

And now this self-proclaimed goddess of homes was declaring that she would judge him…

Bjorn’s anger, hatred, and thirst for vengeance reached a realm beyond reach.

In other words, his fury had reached its absolute limit.

WOOOONG…!!

DUDUDUDUDUDUDUDU…!!!

The tremendous pressure of aura emanating from his enraged form shook the surroundings like an earthquake, and the overwhelming energy—the wavelength of his aura—distorted the space around him.

Any sense of accomplishment from killing the chief deity Anat had completely vanished.

All that remained was killing intent, nothing but pure killing intent.

Like a bag of red paint bursting over a black canvas, with the blood-colored paint completely dyeing the pitch-black background red.

Bjorn, the ‘Avenger’ Bjorn, unleashed his hatred without restraint.

As countless powers of enhancement extended from and enveloped his body, the culmination was the miracle ‘Champion of Revenge.’

His body exuded an aura as if it had swollen dozens of times larger, and black flames of hatred containing chaotic power blazed all over his body.

Looking more like some transcendent entity than a human, Bjorn charged toward the two goddesses with maddened eyes.

《My servants! My angels!》

《Former believers! Descend once more!》

Perhaps frightened by Bjorn’s menacing appearance, the two goddesses summoned their servants and subordinates from their divine realms to stop him.

Angels and golden warriors materialized according to their will, forming a battle formation and reinforcing themselves with magic in preparation for the collision—

[GET OUT OF MY WAAAAAAAY!!!]

KWAAAAAAAAAANG!!!

Their attempt became futile before Bjorn’s great sword.

The moment the sword touched the formation, explosions erupted and thunderous roars spread.

In an instant, hundreds of mid-tier angels were dismembered and fell to the ground, while the warriors were blown apart just by the slashing waves released from the sword’s movement.

No one was exempt.

His swordsmanship, wielding the great sword with its nearly 150cm-long blade as if it were an extension of his arm, reduced everything in his path to well-cut pieces of meat.

But right then.

《—!!》

Bestia, concentrating so intensely that she didn’t even summon her braziers, fired a heat projectile at the optimal timing calculated by her divine mind.

PEEEEENG!!

Bjorn took a direct hit to the head from the meticulously aimed heat projectile, which shattered the helmet portion of his armor—

Revealing his face with a few drops of blood trickling from a wound on his cheek, but…

As if such a thing wasn’t even worth his attention, Bjorn’s great sword continued its arc and cleanly separated Juno-Shala’s head from her body.