Ch.2929. Emil Albieu (2)

The ritual was, in fact, a kind of repetitive task with nothing particularly grand about it.

First, offer a prayer to the Great God of Vengeance, then purify the impurities by washing the pre-prepared dagger with one’s own blood, and finally, behead the “sacrifice” with the purified dagger.

Slash.

The part cut by the dagger was none other than where the carotid artery passes, and from that cleanly severed spot, blood flowed out—all Emil, the ritual’s host, had to do was collect that blood in a cup.

The “sacrifices,” whose necks were half-severed yet couldn’t scream or even see due to total paralysis, experiencing the pain of their cut throats without making a sound, were strange enough. But even stranger was the flow of blood itself.

Despite the terrible injury of a severed carotid artery, the blood trickled into the brass cup like a gentle upstream brook, and the bleeding stopped the moment the cup was filled.

These were clearly magical phenomena, but Emil, whose reason was half-numbed by vengeance and whose body and mind were gradually breaking down from using the dagger, was not one to be distracted by such things.

And so, without any particular incidents, ten brass cups were each filled with the blood of one thug, while the ten thugs with their throats cut open silently screamed in agony within themselves.

To complete the ritual, Emil took a deep breath, aimed the dagger with its blade pointing toward himself, and thrust it forcefully into his own heart—

FLASH!!!

At that moment, the crude magic circle drawn on the floor emitted an ominous blood-red energy and began to glow, while simultaneously, the blood in the cups started to overflow, filling the room—and the transformation began.

With Emil kneeling in the center of the magic circle, the dagger piercing his heart, his body slumped, the blood gushing from the cups began to fill the floor and first consumed the thugs.

The thugs disappeared as if melting, with the blood expelled from their bodies serving as the foundation… But their souls, instead of being guided to the god Phobos, were captured by the blood (the divinity of Ma-Duk) and transformed into thicker blood, which then entered Emil’s slumped body.

[■■■■■■■■■■■───!!!!]

From Emil’s mouth came what seemed like an otherworldly sound—the thugs’ dying screams as their souls were crushed—and simultaneously, Emil’s body began to swell.

As a sticky, black liquid resembling tar or molten metal burst through his skin from within, this liquid transformed into something reminiscent of fibers or polyester wire, making Emil even larger.

With no facial features to speak of, and instead of clothing, fiber strands that looked like tentacles writhing over muscular flesh, he became a giant twenty meters tall, breaking through the building to stand imposingly on the ground.

WHOOSH!!!!

As crimson flames erupted from the giant’s body, the sky rapidly darkened, and the fire began to spread to the surroundings.

Through the ritual, Emil had “ascended” to become the Avatar of Vengeance, a high servant of Ma-Duk who carries out the will of Ma-Duk, using the brass cups and blood as vessels, burning the souls of the sacrificed thugs as fuel, existing solely for vengeance.

His body was made from those who were the objects of his hatred, and the crimson flames burning from that body were his vengeful spirit materialized through Ma-Duk’s blessing.

The jet-black body, best described as filled with muscle, was crafted from the essence of divinity, reminiscent of an artwork deliberately sculpted by the greatest artist to inspire fear. Though the head had no face, mortals who looked upon it instinctively felt endless vengeance emanating from it.

It was a being that perfectly embodied its name: the Avatar of Vengeance, carrying out the will of Ma-Duk.

And naturally, the mere manifestation of the Avatar of Vengeance in this world was enough to devastate the slum area.

The wave of blood released during the ascension swept through and collapsed the surrounding residential area, and the crimson flames that followed evaporated the blood that had formed the wave.

Few humans survived these twin calamities.

Half lost their lives buried under buildings collapsed by the blood wave or drowned in the blood, while the other half were thoroughly cooked by flames and heat hot enough to evaporate all that blood.

The violent gangs of the slums, who had come out wearing smuggled armor to protect their property, died screaming horribly as their armor melted and fused to their bodies,

and the legion soldiers responsible for maintaining order were no exception.

From the moment the Avatar of Vengeance revealed itself in this world, the surroundings rapidly darkened as the sun began to be obscured—clearly an artificial phenomenon considering it was only about 2 PM.

This obscuring of the sky effectively exploited the Roman Empire’s concept of the gods residing in the heavens, creating an environment difficult for them to intervene in, meaning that even the gods of the pantheon could not directly descend at this moment.

Moreover, most of the skilled individuals in the Roman Empire capable of standing against the Avatar of Vengeance were currently deployed in the war against the Orc Empire,

meaning there was no one who could stop this being right now.

Thus, having satisfied all conditions to rampage freely, the giant—the Avatar of Vengeance—reached into the left side of its chest and pulled out the dagger that had been embedded in its body.

As flames surged around the dagger, it grew in size until it became an enormous greatsword, as large as a temple pillar, wreathed in flames—

WHOOSH!!!!

With no intention of controlling the crimson flames that engulfed the greatsword like a torch, it advanced with the intent to burn down the entire slum, and then for the first time, thrust the greatsword into the ground.

—THUD!

With a ground-shaking impact, the red-hot sharp blade easily melted into the floor, and from this position, the Avatar of Vengeance began to continuously pour intense heat through the blade into the ground.

BOOM!

WHOOSH!!!

RUMBLE!!!

With explosive sounds, the flames that had flowed into the ground burst through the surface, forming pillars of fire, and the surrounding terrain began to melt from the overwhelming heat, transforming into a viscous red liquid—lava.

As if determined to leave not a single survivor in the slum near the Temple of Phobos, as if ensuring no one would ever set foot there again.

The Avatar of Vengeance, a crystallization of living vengeance and virtually the personification of a volcano, walked steadily, burning everything in its path, approaching the Temple of Phobos—the true target of this revenge drama.

Having retrieved the burning greatsword that had been embedded in the ground, it intended to complete its vengeance by destroying the Temple of Phobos—the only building that remained intact despite the surroundings having transformed into something resembling a primordial Earth, thanks to the magical power generated by Phobos’s blessing and the structure of the place.

Just as it raised the greatsword above its head, compressing the flames to their limit before releasing them to destroy the temple—

CRASH!!!!

Suddenly, a massive boulder flew in from the side and struck it, causing the Avatar of Vengeance to stagger. As it turned its head to look in that direction.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

There stood a stone giant, slightly smaller than itself (17 meters) but much wider, wearing an ugly wooden mask on its face, retrieving the rocky fist it had just hurled.

Rocks, partially tinged green as if covered in moss, floated mysteriously to form the shape of a giant, and from that massive body emanated a powerful force—divine power manifesting in a form that inspired fear.

On its head, it wore a wooden mask painted with a dirty and chilling face—this was the “Banner of Horror.”

Like the Avatar of Vengeance, a high servant of Ma-Duk, the god of revenge and bloodshed, this was a high servant of Phobos, the god of fear and coercion.

Responding to the crisis at the Great Temple, the headquarters and origin point of the Phobos faith, it had appeared according to a pre-arranged protocol to repel the threat to the temple—the Avatar of Vengeance.