Ch.34The Ghoul’s Altar (7)

# Ghoul: A Type of Man-Eating Monster

Ghouls are a type of man-eating monster. The more humans they consume, the stronger they become.

Though not naturally powerful creatures, after devouring hundreds of humans, their decaying bodies begin to transform. Their endurance and strength improve, their mana increases, and they gain the ability to use a wider variety of magic.

Amalgam, a 500-year-old ghoul, was likely the strongest ghoul in the world.

[“Come here.”]

As Amalgam extended his hand, the pillars of the altar resonated in unison. They were magic stones created by condensing the remnants of human sacrifices. Each pillar stored mana that Amalgam could draw upon when needed.

Filled with magical power, Amalgam revealed his stark white teeth.

[“Earth, rise up.”]

Thorns erupted from the ground, forcing Erich and Tiria further apart. By this point, Erich was busy pulling various magic stones from his hip pouch, his right hand moving frantically.

Amalgam had already recognized the difference in caliber between himself and the opposing mage.

He had an abundance of mana, while his opponent was lacking.

There was no possibility of his opponent stealing mana from the stone pillars. Amalgam had placed a special barrier that only he could use. To unlock it would require solving a complex magical formula in a short time.

Could this mere mage with seemingly insufficient mana possibly accomplish that? Absolutely not.

It was going as Amalgam predicted. The opposing mage was fully occupied with defending against his spells. Just a little more pressure and he would collapse.

[“Strike. Push forward. Flow around like the dew of stone echoes.”]

A rapid-fire incantation that consumed a fair amount of mana. Yet Amalgam felt no signs of mana depletion. The power he had accumulated from devouring countless humans and sacrificing their souls sustained him.

Amalgam suddenly glanced to the other side. Tiria Kasten, the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s military chaplain and saint, had entered the altar while avoiding his gaze.

“Major, Major! Wake up!”

“…Ugh, Colonel?”

Had he been too focused on the mage and left himself vulnerable?

No.

There was no way the cunning Amalgam would miss the saint rushing forward with her halo glowing. He had sensed her presence but deliberately pretended not to notice.

In fact, besides the stone pillars, there was another barrier on the altar—a saint-breaking barrier created in the past through His grace.

Within the saint-breaking barrier, the use of Sephiron was restricted. No matter how powerful one’s divine power, holy magic would be nullified.

Given its extraordinary conditions, maintaining and repairing it required considerable effort. Nevertheless, it was worth it at times like this. Not a single cleric who had entered that barrier had ever escaped alive.

“Can you move?”

“Yes. I’m truly sorry for causing trouble.”

“Never mind that, let’s get out of here.”

“I’ll lead the way… Wait, there’s a barrier here? Colonel, we can’t get out!”

While entering might be easy, leaving was not.

[“Sacrifice.”]

Amalgam’s incantation became a seed that struck the sky. Dark clouds split the place where the sun should be. A stream of mana emerging through the gap signaled that all preparations were complete.

An offering to Him.

Though this would be far from enough, advancing one step at a time would suffice.

Then Amalgam could become even stronger. Eventually, he could become the chief contributor to His resurrection. When the era of demons returned, he could escape this boring deserted island and freely indulge in human flesh.

[“I’ve caught two rabbits, and what remains is…”]

Amalgam looked down at Erich with a smile that assured victory.

[“The two women are trapped in the barrier, and your magical power is running out. Now, human mage, what will you do? How will you overcome this crisis?”]

[“What do you mean, what will I do?”]

The mage answered.

Not from the front, but from behind.

[“If there’s a barrier, I’ll have to break it.”]

[“…!”]

Incantation is the language of demons. Only those who have naturally grown close to magic can acquire it. There’s no way it could come from the mouth of a cleric following the Holy Spirit Order.

Then.

Could it be?

Amalgam focused on the flow of particles floating around. There was a very subtle flaw in the array—evidence that someone had interfered with his mind.

[“…An illusion spell!”]

[“Correct.”]

He restored the disrupted mana flow to its original state. Only then did he see that the positions of the Holy Spirit Kingdom’s chaplain and the mage had been switched.

The mage had been inside the barrier all along.

[“You deceived me!”]

[“Concealment and pride. Virtues, aren’t they?”]

Amalgam wasn’t the only one surprised. Rachel, who thought the person before her was Tiria, widened her eyes in shock when she suddenly transformed into a man.

If the mage was inside the barrier, the situation changed completely.

Generally, barriers are more vulnerable from the inside than the outside.

Though the probability was slim given the barrier’s quality, if the mage managed to disable either the saint-breaking barrier or the stone pillar restriction barrier, victory could no longer be guaranteed.

And the mage…

[“What is this outdated magic formula?”]

Disabled both at once.

[“This can’t be! How could you break the construction formula I built up!”]

[“What are you, someone from five hundred years ago? Still using things like this.”]

Erich gave a bitter smile. Then he extended his hand.

[“Come here.”]

The power stored in the pillars flowed to Erich. The fruits of Amalgam’s efforts, collected bit by bit over hundreds of years for a special purpose, vanished in an instant.

They say people become strangely calm when extremely angry.

Ghouls weren’t much different.

Amalgam’s blood boiled coldly.

[“Heaven, continue the offering! I will give you the altar’s sacrificial lamb, so in return, grant me power!”]

But it wasn’t working.

The flow of mana within the altar had already shifted to Erich. Unless he used the sacrifice, Rachel’s life would not be forfeit.

[“The barrier is broken, and your magical power is running out. Now, ghoul mage, what will you do? How will you overcome this crisis?”]

Erich mocked him, throwing back the exact words Amalgam had said to him earlier.

Grinding his teeth, Amalgam swung his shoulder wide.

[“I’ll finish you.”]

Meanwhile, Rachel quickly assessed the situation.

When she regained consciousness, the battle had already begun.

The saint who had rushed to rescue her was actually the mage disguised with an illusion spell. Though she didn’t understand how he could use illusion magic, now wasn’t the time to dwell on that detail.

Having regained her senses, she needed to join the fight.

Erich extended a spear to Rachel. No words were necessary between them. They could skip most conversations with just gestures.

“Take it.”

As always, he was asking her to take the vanguard position.

“Of course.”

Just as Rachel briefly replied and reached for the spear, a long metal needle pierced through Erich’s wrist. The spear he dropped rolled down the altar’s slope.

“Ngggh!”

Erich gritted his teeth, suppressing a scream.

That wasn’t the end.

The next needle was flying toward Rachel. This time, the ghoul’s reaction speed was faster than hers.

And Erich’s reaction speed was even faster than the ghoul’s.

Thunk!

The second needle lodged in Erich’s abdomen. Having lost his balance, Erich collapsed helplessly. He rolled down in a direction slightly away from the spear.

“Ah…”

[“Still inexperienced. Getting distracted during battle.”]

The ghoul chuckled and rushed toward the man. He still had four pairs of metal needles on his hand. If he stabbed all of those into Erich, he would surely die from excessive bleeding.

She had to act before that happened.

But her position was unfavorable.

The goddess of battle bestows the blessing of applying divine power to all kinds of weapons. Rachel was an entity who had received oracle from such a goddess.

So what weapon did Rachel currently possess?

Her fists.

Only her intact limbs.

Having been defeated by the ghoul not long ago, her physical condition was at its worst. But no matter what, she had to save the mage, save Erich.

It was a reflexive movement. When someone in danger is before your eyes, you save them. How their relationship began didn’t matter.

No, perhaps it was more important because they were enemies. At the very least, a mere ghoul shouldn’t be the one deciding the mage’s fate.

“Don’t touch him—!!”

She leaped down from the altar with all her might and charged at the monster at full speed. There was no time to pick up the spear now.

Skilled in close combat, Rachel deflected the ghoul’s knife hand and drove her clenched fist upward. Crack! The ghoul’s jaw twisted. Following that, she delivered a straight punch filled with divine power to his solar plexus, which had not yet fully healed.

Thud, thwack!

The monster staggered precariously after receiving the consecutive blows. Divine power truly seemed to be poison to monsters.

But the ghoul didn’t just stand there either.

Amalgam’s endurance, developed by devouring numerous clerics, had reached the limits of his species. In exchange for receiving Rachel’s divine power, he succeeded in pushing her down.

“Ugh!”

[“Troublesome woman!”]

Both were finished.

As the enraged Amalgam was about to stab a metal needle between Rachel’s eyes as she lay off-balance…

“———.”

With sacred language, a heavy impact sound reverberated through his skull.

[“Kuhak!”]

Amalgam’s head twisted once more.

The physical impact wasn’t particularly strong, but the divine power strike was incomparably fierce.

He realized as he was hit.

In his sudden rage, he had forgotten about one person.

Tiria, who had been calculating the angle of the back of his head all along, had struck the ghoul’s head with her baculus. The soul-shaking impact nearly made him lose his mind, but he barely held on.

“Y-you’re still fine after taking that…? Kyaaaah!”

Amalgam’s arm, bent backward, grazed Tiria’s robe. A long, four-lined laceration formed from her lower abdomen to just below her chest.

This was an opportunity.

Rachel moved quickly to retrieve the spear that had fallen some distance away. Simultaneously, Erich, pinned under the ghoul, took out magic stones from his pocket and combined them.

From front and back, divine power strong enough to take away souls.

From below, a highly destructive penetration spell was being prepared.

A life flashed before Amalgam’s eyes.

***

Everything went according to plan. Except for the Valkyrie getting hurt.

When the ghoul tried to shoot metal needles at the Valkyrie too, I instinctively threw myself to take the attack instead of her. Ah, it really hurts like hell.

Still, it was an excellent response for a sudden situation. The Valkyrie was our only vanguard and a crucial figure in battle and hunting. She shouldn’t get hurt if at all possible.

The saint seemed to have similar thoughts, as she bought time for the Valkyrie to retrieve her spear. She appeared to have been injured as a result.

However, the end of the battle was coming into view.

I just discovered here that the Siren’s brain longevity stone manifests her ability. So I tried it experimentally. The result was successful. The ghoul mistook me for the saint.

Of course, I know illusion magic is forbidden. Although it was indirectly manifested through a magic stone and the intensity was weak… a taboo is still a taboo.

If it becomes known that I used forbidden magic, what punishment would I face? Could there be room for leniency if I claim it was unavoidable for survival?

There was no time to think deeply about that now. Returning to reality, I completed charging the bundle of magic stones.

The power charging itself was very easy because the ghoul had stored magical power in the reflective stone pillars. Simply put, it was a vault. Though the password was easy to solve.

Thanks to that, my internal mana was overflowing. Right now, I could fire several magic stones at maximum output.

Since I could, that’s what I did.

[“Lightning, become a cluster and strike down. Destroy falsehood with the flame of truth, leaving only light in the world.”]

The bundle of magic stones pierced through between the ghoul’s legs and exited through his head. Various parts of his body burst, spraying blood. Being pinned underneath, I got completely soaked. I hurriedly got up.

Next, the Valkyrie drove her spear into the regenerating ghoul’s throat. The saint did the same. The divine power, overlapping and entering a supersaturated state, caused a Sephiroth-ignition reaction. White flames blazed up.

[“Kuheeeeoook—!!”]

Even an immortal monster couldn’t maintain its nature when injected with excessive divine power. The ghoul’s torso began to crumble.

Eventually, with its body completely turned to ash, only the ghoul’s soul remained. What a persistent creature.

[“I, I cannot die like this…”]

But would there be time to find a new body?

Don’t be ridiculous.

The saint’s baculus bisected that soul form.

[“As a demon, I only tried my best for His Majesty… Ah.”]

The ghoul’s last words were quite a spectacle.

[“Five hundred years of dedicated work, all in vain.”]

The saint had said something like this on our way here. That ghouls aren’t particularly strong monsters but use cunning tactics. I wondered how this could be considered “not strong,” but I guess after 500 years…

Finally, the mysterious man who had tormented us for a month was gone. His last words revealed much information. I should tell the saint about this.

But before that.

“Ugh.”

“Ngh.”

“Ow ow ow…”

Let’s rest a bit first.

All three of us were in terrible physical condition. I had penetrating wounds in my right wrist and lower abdomen where the appendix is located, the saint had lacerations, and the Valkyrie just looked bad overall.

Come to think of it, being hit by those metal needles could be fatal. At this rate, we might get tetanus.

“Mage, come over here. You too, Major.”

Fortunately, thanks to the saint using her healing divine power, there seemed to be no worry of infection. She treated me and the Valkyrie first, then tended to her own wounds.

“Major, as I said before, healing divine power isn’t omnipotent. You must rest thoroughly after receiving treatment.”

“What about you, Colonel… Is that wound okay?”

“I’m fine. Thanks to the thickness of my robe, the cuts aren’t deep.”

There they go again, talking just between themselves. I sighed.

“We’re out of water. Let’s quickly gather what we need and head down.”

There might be more clues to escape the island on this mountain, but we can’t search anymore now. We need to return to base and rest. The sky was already turning sunset colors.

I retrieved a greenish magic stone from among the ghoul’s ashes and decided to descend the mountain with the two female soldiers. Supporting each other, we went down the mountain slowly, yet as quickly as possible.

“…Mage, thanks for earlier.”

The Valkyrie whispered just one sentence, but I couldn’t understand what she meant.