Ch.146Chapter 146. The Cloud Demon (5)

Chapter 146. Cloud Demon (5)

This attack was powerful. Powerful enough to cause a momentary blackout.

There was no physical damage, but about one-third of the divine power enveloping my body had evaporated.

Cloud Demon, so you had one more finishing move. Have you been saving this attack all this time?

The fortunate thing is that I saw its body burst at the last moment.

It concentrated its divine power into its body, amplified it, and exploded. In other words, it was a self-destructive attack that could only be used once.

It wasn’t used at the last moment for nothing. It must have been waiting for me to let my guard down.

– Hmm…!

I shook my head several times to clear the shock.

It self-destructed, but I haven’t confirmed the kill yet. Above all, no ashes were scattered.

That means it’s still alive. I surveyed the surroundings.

– As expected.

The octopus head was floating weakly in the sky. It must have used some special ability to save just its head before self-destructing.

Woong! Woong! Woong!

It wasn’t just fleeing; it seemed to be calling someone. Is it sending coordinates to that Seven-Headed Dragon thing in the capital?

I can’t let that happen. I need to kill it before it sends everything.

My head felt like it was about to split open, but I gathered divine power and focused on my next attack. Thinking this would be the truly final attack.

Aim and… fire.

Krrrrrng!

A thick lightning bolt pierced through the Cloud Demon. The crispy roasted octopus head turned to ash and scattered.

This was the end of the Cloud Demon, who had led the demons, massacred George’s raid party, and driven Dina’s special forces to near annihilation.

…Ah, I really can’t hold on anymore.

I wanted to say something cool to the believers shouting from the ground, but it’s just too hard.

True Malak said that terrible things would happen on earth if he descended directly into the material world. Now I understand a bit.

If I had continued to wield such powerful force, this world, the material plane, wouldn’t have been able to withstand it. At this point, I wonder if the barbarians deliberately helped him ascend to prevent the world from being destroyed.

I canceled the divine manifestation and didn’t resist the drowsiness that came over me.

How many days will I sleep if I fall asleep now? It was more difficult than when I used “Unstable Manifestation,” so will I easily sleep for over a week?

I can only trust that Lakye and Dina will manage well during my absence.

***

Hmm.

Oh, is it time to wake up now? My blurred consciousness slowly returns.

Good. Has it been over a week? First, I should check with Lakye who should be near the altar…

What? Why is it so dark around here? I opened my mouth to ask why it’s so dark, to call out if anyone was there.

No, I tried to open it.

– …

My mouth won’t move. To be precise, it wouldn’t be a mouth, but anyway, no sound came out.

What is this? What’s going on?

Seeing that I can’t move my arms and legs, I seem to be in totem state, but I don’t even have what could be called my physical body.

There’s nothing here but darkness.

What went wrong? Did I pay a heavy price for using divine manifestation for too long?

I was panicking, unable to even make a sound in this empty void, when it occurred to me.

…Status window. Right, let’s get a grip and check the status window first.

[Name: Malak]

– Available Blessings: Healing Totem (Superior), Divine Descent, Binding Totem, Zombie Control (Advanced), Confusion Totem, Storm God’s Power, Malak’s Domain (Advanced), Enhancement Tattoo (Advanced), Transfer Totem, Believer Summon (Intermediate), Divine Manifestation

– Used Blessings: Berserker’s Soul (Kanto), Skilled Spirit Master (Paya), Storm God’s Guardian (Lakye), Potential Reached (Lakye), Incomplete Manifestation

– Available Points: 9,581

– Followers: Paya, Lakye, Muri, Nix, Bojak, Sola… (See more)

– Enter Community

Good. I can access the status window.

The fact that the status window works means that the power of the goddess Ishtania, True Malak’s power, still resides in me. I should be able to use blessings too.

I tried to use the “Binding Totem” blessing to transfer my consciousness to totem #3.

What? It’s not working?

[You are not in a state where you can use blessings.]

What does it mean I’m not in a state where I can use them? I tried all totems from #1 to #5, but it was impossible.

What about other blessings? I tried to use Divine Descent on followers like Lakye, Paya, and Muri.

[You are not in a state where you can use blessings.]

It doesn’t work either.

The status window works, but I can’t use blessings… what does this mean?

With a glimmer of hope, I stared intently at ‘Enter Community’.

[You have entered the Community.]

The Community works? This is confusing. I checked the posts.

[DinosaurPunch: Is the Cloud Demon really dead?] (4)

[LuluTV: Praise Malak Praise Malak Praise Malak] (16)

[SsangmundongMomDispenserDestroyer: So now nothing happens if we kill intermediate demons?] (3)

These are posts that were uploaded not long ago. Checking the time, it’s been only a day since I killed the Cloud Demon.

So, I’ve been sleeping soundly for a whole day and now I’ve woken up in this unidentified space.

Perhaps I’m in a state where I can’t interfere with the material world as I pay the price for divine manifestation, but my consciousness remains clear in something like an inner world.

I calmed myself and fell into thought.

After some time, I organized my understanding of the situation I’m facing.

Let’s think about it this way.

Because I used divine manifestation before, even unstably, I’ve developed some resistance. Since I’ve experienced being unconscious for a whole week, my mind has recovered quickly.

Or maybe last time I manifested unstably so I completely lost consciousness, and this mental awareness is actually normal.

It’s not like there’s anyone to ask or anyone to provide answers.

At least I can use the Community. For now, I can be active in the Community as UltraSansMadWithMoonlightMassacreMode, Malak’s messenger.

I won’t be suspected like last time when people wondered why I was also absent when Malak was. My alibi is complete.

[UltraSansMadWithMoonlightMassacreMode: Cloud Demon Subjugation Live Thread]

First, let’s see what the other paladins were doing while I was fighting the Cloud Demon.

I scrolled down to where I last checked and started reading. The volume is enormous.

– Comments –

[PrincessDina: What are you doing? Please comment only when you enter combat]

ㄴ [MorningTentSetupKnight: Water Control Officer]

ㄴ [CowBikiniDance: That’s right! The community users are working together to not post any comments on this thread to help you! Do it properly!]

ㄴ [ITrustedMonkeyUncle: Didn’t you just comment?]

These guys were like this back then too. Well, I can understand they’re trying to relieve tension.

We’re not soldiers, and the Community isn’t a military communication network. Malak can’t interfere with the Community to enforce discipline.

[FallenPowerKnight: Wow. A large-scale war? This is my first time, it’s really noisy. Sound is everywhere. Voice communication won’t work? I think this thread should be used like a real-time chat]

ㄴ [PrincessDina: That’s right. This is my first battle like this too, so I didn’t know.]

So that’s why the comments got so long. Communication is important.

[MorningTentSetupKnight: He’s here! Malak is here!]

[NotACatfish: …Indeed, he does look incredibly powerful]

[MorningTentSetupKnight: Just realized that voice recognition works for writing posts? Did everyone know this? So convenient]

ㄴ [NotACatfish: You just found that out? Pathetic ㅉㅉ]

[PetiteNoa: The demons are coming! With the cloud!]

[ArmchairPolitician: Malak struck them down with lightning!]

[FallenPowerKnight: The barbarians are charging! Everyone follow!]

[NotACatfish: Those brainless barbarian bastards!]

This is when the real fighting began.

[ITrustedMonkeyUncle: I’ll protect the people operating something like catapults]

ㄴ [FallenPowerKnight: Aren’t you retreating too quickly? I thought you were running away]

[PetiteNoa: I’m surrounded by demons with the 4th squad! Holding out with a barrier! Help us!]

ㄴ [ArmchairPolitician: Coming with Isaac! Just wait a little longer!]

[PooPooPoong: This is Soup! The flying ones are descending! They’re targeting two mages! Need backup!]

ㄴ [FallenPowerKnight: I’ll go!]

[NotACatfish: Ah, it’s chaotic. Hard to focus even on the battle right in front of me]

[ITrustedMonkeyUncle: Tentacles! Motherfucking cloud is shooting fucking tentacles!]

[PetiteNoa: Malak blocked them!]

[MorningTentSetupKnight: Malak is beating the shit out of the cloud! Let’s just focus on handling the demons]

[MeleeSpy: …]

ㄴ [MorningTentSetupKnight: Who are you? Get lost, MeleeSpy bastard]

ㄴ [ITrustedMonkeyUncle: For a moment I thought MeleeSpy came to fight too;;]

ㄴ [MeleeSpy: Is it true? Is that god Malak really fighting the Cloud Demon?]

ㄴ [MeleeSpy: And… beating it up?]

ㄴ [MorningTentSetupKnight: I posted with photos attached. Look]

ㄴ [MeleeSpy: …]

So MeleeSpy was watching the live coverage too. I continued reading.