Ch.374Chapter 374 – The Cursed Ones (2)

Sia parried the sword swung by the Cursed Knight.

While Sia blocked the sword, she kicked and broke it, then immediately leaped up and swung her halberd at the knight’s head.

The scale armor around the neck shattered, and the knight’s head began to dangle as if it would fly off at any moment.

Sia immediately raised her sword, attempting to completely sever the knight’s body.

However, with a loud bang, a silver shield blocked Sia’s sword, and soon after, Somnus began swinging his cursed whip and launching magical spheres.

“‘Protect the young lambs.'”

Chris’s shield protected us for what must have been the umpteenth time.

But taking advantage of the moment our attention was diverted by that attack, the Cursed Knight forcibly reattached its head and swung its sword at us.

As we were forced to retreat slightly, I could see the broken scales, neck, and sword rapidly regenerating.

‘This won’t be settled easily.’

The Cursed Knight was withstanding our attacks at close range.

The former Saint was protecting the Cursed Knight while simultaneously firing holy magic at us.

And Somnus was controlling both of them while mixing magic attacks with threatening curses aimed at Sia and me.

They were executing a combination that would be difficult to break unless we took one of them down first.

‘This is endless.’

As long as the curse remained active, killing the Cursed Knight seemed impossible.

But.

‘In any case, that thing is made of curses.’

If Chris could dispel the curse, at least the Cursed Knight would fall.

I concluded that to win, we needed to buy time for Chris to neutralize the knight, and I began dodging and deflecting the incoming holy arrows and spells.

Of course, Somnus was attacking me along with the former Saint’s brain.

‘…I’ll end this here no matter what.’

If we let him escape again, who knows when we’d get another chance.

If we kept him alive, he would continue sacrificing others to achieve his goals.

I didn’t know what those goals were…

‘Surely some despicable reason.’

Whatever his purpose might be.

It’s no justification for making others miserable and treating lives like garbage.

Even a god wouldn’t have that right.

“You seem distracted?”

“Shut up.”

After striking Somnus’s magic with my shield again, he spoke to me.

“Let me guess… you’re curious about my purpose?”

“It’s obviously something despicable, so what’s the point in hearing it?”

I switched my weapon to a bow and immediately shot an arrow at Somnus.

Predictably, a silver shield protected him, and in retaliation, holy weapons flew toward me.

As I dodged those attacks without Chris’s help, Somnus smiled and said:

“Despicable? I’m working for a purpose more important than anything else in this world.”

“…What is this grand purpose of yours?”

Perhaps because Somnus was distracted by talking, the Saint’s brain temporarily ceased activity.

Thanks to that, Sia, who had been facing the Cursed Knight in my place, went on the offensive and began slashing at various parts of the knight’s body.

Of course, Somnus paid no attention to that.

“It’s not difficult to tell you…”

Somnus said with a smile.

“But you shouldn’t focus only on me, should you?”

Right after Somnus finished speaking.

The ground where our rear guard stood began to shatter.

I quickly turned to see an ornate spear emerging right next to Beatrice.

“That’s…”

Instinctively, I gripped my holy relic tightly, sensing the energy from the spear.

Meanwhile, noticing that my attention had shifted toward her, Beatrice shouted:

“Togu, don’t worry about us! Focus on the nun!”

Snapping back to attention at Beatrice’s voice, I changed my weapon to a shield and moved quickly.

I extended my shield protectively in front of Chris, who had been helping Sia but was distracted by what was happening behind us.

The cursed whip that had been secretly launched bounced off and began returning to Somnus.

Somnus spoke with apparent disappointment:

“I was aiming to take advantage of your distraction. The mad dog did something unnecessary.”

Without waiting for a response, I threw my shield like a boomerang.

This time, Somnus deflected the shield with his prosthetic hand, and the shield bounced back with a dull sound, returning to my hand.

Then Somnus smiled and said:

“Still, you shouldn’t let your guard down, Test Subject 13. This may have been your home once…”

“……”

“But as you can see, it’s my domain now.”

Somnus spoke quietly:

“I told you earlier, didn’t I? The former Saint has many useful applications… So I was preparing one for the future…”

The ground where our rear guard stood began to crumble.

Consequently, the dome-shaped defensive spell that Kara had deployed started to disappear.

“…Well, since the opportunity has presented itself, I thought I’d use everything I could activate.”

As if on cue, two figures rose from the ground, precisely dividing the space between us and our rear guard.

Immediately, Sera shouted:

“…They have the same face as Kara!”

“Of course, that couldn’t have been all of it!”

I heard Beatrice angrily swinging her chains.

And another replicated Kara blocked Beatrice’s attack.

The Kara holding the ornate spear that had appeared earlier deflected Beatrice’s chains, while the Kara wielding dual swords swung them at Beatrice.

But Eve immediately jumped out to protect Beatrice, swinging her sword.

“A swordsman should fight another swordsman.”

It was a sword made using Dragon Bone, which she had previously displayed in Florence and the Kingdom.

Watching this, Somnus sighed slightly as if disappointed.

“…I summoned all of them, but only two are activated for now.”

“…What are those things?”

“They’re custom products.”

Somnus smiled and raised a finger.

“I named these custom products ‘Valkyries.’ Virgins specialized for combat who die fighting for the gods. Quite impressive, don’t you think?”

Somnus spoke with a smile.

Mocking him, I said:

“Warriors of the gods? Does that make you a god, controlling them as you please?”

“I’d like to properly explain that part, but such blasphemous thoughts don’t apply.”

Somnus spread his hands and said:

“Because this Somnus acts according to the will of the omnipotent great god-king, Emiris.”

“Not Idea?”

I threw my halberd at Somnus while speaking.

Somnus dodged and launched magic as he answered:

“Right now, helping Lady Idea is what serves Lord Emiris… Well, to be precise…”

I deflected Somnus’s attack using my returned halberd.

Soon, Somnus smiled slyly.

“Well, that’s not something to discuss here. But, are you alright? You immediately noticed what the Valkyries’ weapons were, didn’t you?”

“…That’s right.”

I briefly glanced at the holy relic in my hand.

That’s because the moment the Valkyries appeared, I sensed the same energy from their weapons as from the holy relic I was holding.

I could state with certainty.

The Valkyries’ weapons were holy relics.

“…You replicated holy relics?”

“Huh? No? Haven’t you heard?”

Surprisingly, Somnus expressed shock as he launched his cursed whip.

Ignoring me, Chris, and Sia, the whip flew toward Eve and Beatrice in the rear.

Eve dodged as if she had anticipated the whip’s path, while Kara summoned a shield to block the other side.

Meanwhile, Somnus continued speaking:

“Didn’t Hakan tell you before? Our Emiris Order has been collecting holy relics.”

Somnus said with a smile.

“To boast a little, we’ve found quite a number of holy relics. Some secretly passed down, others from extinct religions, abandoned or buried items… Even Hakan’s greatsword was among them.”

Somnus spread his hands and said:

“I just took them from storage and distributed them to the Valkyries. If you surrender and join us willingly, I could give you a few as well?”

“I don’t need them!”

Irritated with Somnus, I dodged the chains the former Saint launched at me.

Meanwhile, the Cursed Knight, who had somehow escaped Sia’s attacks, swung its sword at me. I blocked it with my halberd and pushed it back.

Immediately, Sia slashed at the Cursed Knight’s waist, and Chris blocked Somnus’s cursed whip from the start.

During this, what appeared to be a bomb thrown by Sera hit the Valkyrie that Eve was facing, while Kara deployed a spell to block curses before parrying the Valkyrie’s spear with her staff.

Taking advantage of the opening, Beatrice launched a large flame spear at Somnus, but the former Saint’s brain created a massive silver shield to block it.

‘…This isn’t good.’

Thanks to our vigilance, we prevented the rear guard from collapsing despite the sudden appearance of the Valkyries.

Eve, Sera, Beatrice, and Kara each took on one Valkyrie and were looking for opportunities to support us.

But the battle had turned chaotic.

At the front line, while the Cursed Knight was withstanding our attacks, Somnus and the former Saint continued to provide support, creating a confusing situation. Meanwhile, the rear was also in disarray due to the intrusion of the two Valkyries.

It was a relief that they still had the capacity to provide support, which meant they weren’t just barely holding off the Valkyries, but the situation had quickly shifted from our advantage to a stalemate.

And there was still a problem.

‘…He said only two were activated.’

His tone suggested there were many more.

We might be able to handle one or two more.

But if more reinforcements arrived, our safety would be difficult to guarantee.

We couldn’t afford to drag this out.

And the answer to this was clear.

‘We need to target the head.’

Somnus was responsible for creating and controlling this situation.

Ultimately, if Somnus was neutralized, there was a high chance that the rampaging Valkyries in the back and the interfering Cursed Knight and former Saint’s brain at the front would also be neutralized.

And I found myself considering the one move that could immediately break this situation.

‘…If only I could summon the armor.’

I could have grabbed Somnus directly without being hindered by the Cursed Knight or the Saint.

It would have been the most certain trump card.

I felt tremendous regret at not being able to use it now.

‘…If I can’t use a certain trump card, I’ll have to take a risk.’

I unconsciously looked at Beatrice.

If Beatrice could use a certain spell.

I would have a way to directly target Somnus, who kept spouting nonsense from the air.

While fighting the Valkyrie, Beatrice kept glancing in my direction until our eyes met.

And I also saw Beatrice, Sera, and Eve exchanging glances.

“Kei, focus!”

“I didn’t need that reminder.”

The Cursed Knight swung its sword at me, perhaps seeing an opportunity when I was briefly looking at Beatrice.

Naturally, I deflected the sword and gave Chris and Sia a look.

I mouthed one instruction to Chris.

Chris nodded, and at the same time, Sia briefly turned her body backward.

“Holy Light!”

An intense light illuminated where Somnus and his group were.

An attack that wouldn’t directly harm non-evil beings.

But it was an excellent spell for blinding.

“Oh my…”

Perhaps because the Cursed Knight was partially blocking his view, Somnus slightly covered his eyes.

As the Cursed Knight retreated in pain, I immediately raised my halberd, preparing to throw it at Somnus.

And the halberd was blocked by a silver shield.

‘That makes sense.’

The former Saint only had her brain left, so blinding wouldn’t affect her.

So she could summon a shield without delay.

“Right. She summoned a shield.”

It would only be for a moment.

Having already summoned a shield, she would need some time to summon another one.

Toward the momentarily defenseless Saint’s brain.

Sera launched something and detonated it in mid-air.

“It’s Divine Chaff!”

A powder that interferes with holy magic, created in Ferarius.

The glowing powder began to envelop the Saint’s brain.

Simultaneously, the silver shield started to disappear.

And.

“Now’s the time!”

With Eve’s signal, Beatrice extended her hand toward us and shouted:

“Gravity Sphere!”

A powerful gravity sphere, strong enough to trap a dragon, was launched.

Of course, due to the location, it was smaller compared to when it had trapped the dragon.

But its suction power was still formidable.

While I grabbed Chris to steady him, Somnus, who was momentarily incapacitated from covering his eyes, was pulled into the gravity sphere.

“…This much…!”

Seeming to grasp the situation, Somnus extended his hand.

However, the gravity sphere’s role.

Was not just to pull Somnus in.

“You have many openings, you know.”

Sia, who had flown using the gravity sphere’s suction power, was drawing her sword.

At the same time, the gravity sphere’s effect disappeared as Beatrice released it.

Somnus, who had covered his eyes to block Chris’s light and was distracted by trying to dispel the gravity sphere, didn’t notice Sia coming right in front of him.

“There’s no more shield, Somnus.”

The Cursed Knight was crouched down, perhaps due to the Holy Light.

The former Saint’s brain, hit by Divine Chaff, couldn’t properly cast spells.

The Valkyries were being held back by Eve and Kara.

There was no shield to protect Somnus.

“Ah, I see.”

Somnus smiled slightly.

“So it comes to this.”

Sia raised her sword to slash Somnus.

And then she brought the sword down on Somnus.

Blood began to stain Somnus’s clothes.

‘So even a creature like him bleeds red.’

After all his inhuman talk, it was almost surprising to see that his blood was red.

In any case, he didn’t have time to turn into sand.

He began to fall, slashed by Sia’s sword.

And.

“Kei, get back!”

I heard Eve screaming.

At the same time, the falling Somnus suddenly raised his head and smiled.

“It’s disappointing to take a hit, but I’m not the type to just take it lying down.”

With Somnus’s smile, black energy began to rise from the surroundings.

“What is this?!”

“The curses I’ve been scattering were for this moment.”

Black hands began to rise from everywhere.

“Using the traces of curses that you’ve been deflecting or destroying and that have scattered everywhere, I’ve been aiming for this single moment.”

Somnus laughed while splattering blood.

Then he snapped the fingers of his prosthetic hand.

The black hands all began to reach out toward me.

“Among curses, there is one called the curse of instant death, arrogant test subject.”

Somnus said in a cold voice.

“Farewell.”

I gritted my teeth at Somnus’s desperate move.

I struck down the black hands, changing weapons as I went.

The hands moved like snakes, some crawling along the floor.

I quickly leaped into the air and struck the hands with my halberd.

And at that moment.

A black hand began to rise directly below me.

‘Oh no.’

It was a time-delay attack.

Taking advantage of my lack of focus while dealing with the other hands, he sent a black hand right below me.

It was too late to dodge as I had already jumped into the air.

I thought about blocking it with my shield somehow, but the black hand moved like a living thing, bypassing the shield and aiming for my head.

I was about to be exposed to the curse.

“Absolutely not!”

Chris, spreading golden wings, pushed me away.

Thanks to that, I escaped from the encirclement of black hands.

And.

“Chris!”

A black hand touched the pure white nun’s habit.

“Got you.”

Somnus began to laugh with his blood-soaked face.