Ch.448Unexpected Fierce Battle

I brandished my sword with a show of bravado, but in truth, I wasn’t optimistic about the situation.

The fact that they had set a trap specifically targeting me meant that, at least in their minds, they were confident they could defeat me.

Unless they had gathered here with the purpose of committing suicide.

“Indeed. That’s correct. Two hundred priests alone would be insufficient to face you.”

In reality, Cardinal Lübitz was looking down at me with complete composure, showing neither anxiety nor fear despite directly facing my killing intent.

As if he had already anticipated this level of pressure.

“Aishan-Gioro Haschal. The Empire’s strongest warrior who surpassed the Master level before even reaching twenty. Karma of Murder materialized from transcendent achievements. Fire sorcery of unknown origin alongside Elpinel’s blessing of Mana Resistance. And even one of the Great’s Twelve Knights’ true silver swords. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say you alone are comparable to an army.”

“Hmm. You know me too well? I might call you a stalker.”

So they’ve already finished gathering information about my abilities.

Not good. Especially considering I know little about their capabilities.

“You never hid your abilities to begin with. There are only believers and non-believers; your reputation already resounds throughout the world.”

“…I am rather famous. Is that enviable to a countryside priest? Your name was… Baldur, was it? Such an obscure name, I can hardly remember it.”

I approached him one step at a time with Durandal resting on my shoulder.

As if I might charge at him at any moment.

“Low-intelligence provocation. Just as I heard.”

“Sure, sure. Congratulations on being smart.”

Lübitz, who had been smirking, clenched his right hand that had been spread wide.

The divine symbols and ancient words that had filled the air contracted, forming a brightly glowing magic circle.

I wasn’t sure what spell it was.

Whatever it was, it must be dangerous.

“Maybe if I dig out half your head, you’ll become more like me!”

In the next moment, I kicked off the ground and charged toward Lübitz.

– BOOM!

My body shot forward like a comet. The ground beneath my feet shattered, leaving deep cracks.

In the blink of an eye, I had reached Lübitz’s vicinity!

“I’ll slice you in half!”

I gripped Durandal with both hands, raising it above my head before bringing it down.

The Sword of Defying Fate.

My ultra-fast strike that compressed time was about to cleave Lübitz’s head—

『Dīvus gressus – God’s Footstep』

Ancient words muttered softly.

With a flash of holy light, Lübitz’s body dispersed like a mirage.

‘A teleportation spell?!’

Durandal, a moment too late, sliced through only the lingering streaks of light in the air.

[ Above you! ]

‘I know!’

I looked up to see Lübitz floating in the air above me.

It wasn’t an illusion spell or high-speed movement.

The moment the holy light flashed, his presence had already shifted several meters upward.

The miracle of disappearing and simultaneously appearing elsewhere.

Without doubt, it was a short-range teleportation spell.

A spell with insane mana consumption relative to its effect—even Isabella wouldn’t use it—and he’s using it from the start?

Is he confident in his mana reserves?

Or perhaps spells cast with holy power have different efficiency?

I don’t know.

There was too little information.

“An accelerating slash without increasing power. Yes. That must be the technique that severed the Winter Wolf’s left arm. Rather modest for a Hero’s technique, but I would have been caught off guard had I not known.”

“Stop talking like you’ve already won!”

I extended tendrils of Karma of Murder from my back and lashed them toward Lübitz.

The crimson-stained blade whips, Jeokpyeonin, surged toward his limbs.

『Sapientiális claustra – Barrier of Wisdom』

– CLANG!

The extended Jeokpyeonin scraped against the mana barrier he deployed, creating sparks.

If I had cut it with Durandal, I could have broken through the pure mana barrier, but I couldn’t shatter it with just the power of Karma of Murder.

Though flexible in form, its power was ultimately only equivalent to a steel sword.

“Karma given form—that too is a blessing from the gods. But with such meager power…”

As Lübitz shook his head and pointed his right arm at me, the other priests simultaneously unleashed their magic.

A tidal wave of holy light and mana surged toward me.

My Mana Resistance screamed, warning me to dodge immediately.

A meteor shower unfolded above the ground.

—-

What followed was a spectacle of hundreds of spells.

My threatened body exhaled heat-filled rage, and my senses—already beyond human—sharpened further.

Hearing so sensitive I could catch even the faintest breath.

Vision so clear I could see the flow of air.

Intuition so keen I could sense movement from all directions simultaneously.

It felt as if the world had suddenly expanded.

Amid these overloaded senses, I responded to the magical bombardment with everything I had.

Without stopping for even a moment, I ran while drawing a dagger to intercept fireballs and swinging Durandal to cut through approaching spells.

Since most of the spells were based on holy power rather than mana, I couldn’t properly nullify them even with the true silver sword.

– CRACKLE!

“Kuh…ugh!”

Lightning that I reflexively deflected traveled down the blade.

Though greatly reduced in power, it still caused damage.

A tingling pain scraped at the nerves in my right arm.

– BOOM! RUMBLE! CRASH!

The underground prayer hall had become a battlefield, turning into ruins.

Stray fireballs exploded upon hitting the ground, and wind blades carved long claw marks into the walls.

Fire and lightning, light and storms filled every direction.

“Haa… haa…!”

The heated air made it difficult to breathe.

The winter armor Asha made for me was holding up well, befitting armor made from the Werebeasts king, but the robe I had been wearing had long since turned to ash.

“You crazy bastards, shooting fireballs underground of all places!”

Wouldn’t we all be buried alive if this place collapsed?

Shouting with anger, I pulled out a statue of Grimnir and hurled it toward the second-floor railing.

“Futile effort!”

Despite a boulder-sized stone flying toward them, the priests didn’t panic at all and shot spells that shattered the statue to dust.

I mean, I threw it, but that’s still your god’s statue—is it really okay to destroy it like that?

While their spells were directed at the statue, I made a great leap toward the second-floor railing.

I needed to deal with these guys before targeting Lübitz. That bastard would be hard to catch because of his teleportation spell.

From the beginning, after firing that meteor shower just once, he hadn’t attacked again—he was simply looking down at me while gathering holy power and mana.

As if he wanted to properly assess my full strength.

“The Aishan-Gioro is coming!”

However, killing the others wasn’t easy either.

If they had used simple attack spells, I could have deflected or neutralized them, but instead, they responded with infuriatingly complex methods.

“Fall!”

Chains of holy light grabbed my legs, making me sluggish as if weights had been attached to my entire body.

My vision alternated between darkness—as if they had cast a spell to block my sight—and light, as my Mana Resistance partially resisted the effect.

Restraint, weakening, and blindness on top of that.

As Lacy and I had feared, curse spells manifested through holy power were penetrating even my Mana Resistance.

“This kind of thing!”

I whipped my sagging body and charged forward, gritting my teeth.

They might have numbers, but individually their skills weren’t that impressive. If I could just get close…!

– Thud.

My outstretched left hand caught the edge of the railing.

I gripped it tightly and swung my body around, landing on it.

“Oh no…!”

A young priest whose eyes met mine stepped back with a startled face.

Finally within reach.

“Die!”

My fingertips shot out like bullets.

Before he could deploy a mana barrier, Frosting, filled with killing intent, pierced through his face.

Or at least, it seemed to.

The sensation at my fingertips wasn’t that of flesh and bone being crushed.

It was more like… digging into a boulder….

[ Wake up! ]

Hersella’s shout.

My vision spun, and the scene before me transformed.

My left arm wasn’t embedded in the priest’s head but in the stone wall beside him!

Was it a confusion spell this time…?!

As I hurriedly pulled out my left arm, the thorns of Karma of Murder manifested by Hersella impaled the priest who had collapsed on the railing floor.

“Guhk…!”

The priest, skewered from buttocks to mouth by the crimson spike, convulsed and vomited blood.

Three minutes into the battle, I had finally managed to kill one of them.

“Nicol is down! He’s come up!”

“Don’t panic. Lord Grimnir’s magic is working! Bind his movements!”

Right after killing one as I came up, and crushing another priest along with his mana barrier, dozens of chains wrapped around my body.

“KYAAAAAAAH!”

With a fierce roar, I summoned all my strength to shake off the chains binding me.

The restraint spell shattered like glass, scattering fragments of holy light.

I swung both arms, cutting down five more.

– CRACK!

One with his face completely torn off by the claw-like Frosting.

– SPLAT!

Another whose head exploded like a bomb from the back of my hand.

“Kuhek!”

“AAAAARGH!”

And those cut in half by Durandal’s blade.

“Still not enough!”

And again, a barrage of curse spells poured down.

My senses twisted chaotically, and my body grew heavier.

I couldn’t even tell where I was swinging the longsword in my grip.

Damn it, I never knew facing mages without Mana Resistance would be this difficult…!

Truly worthy of being called a church of mages.

The variety of curses seemed endless.

Like this one.

For an instant, my vision flashed, then completely changed.

I had been staring at an enemy aiming a shadow spear at me, but the next moment, what I saw was myself baring my teeth with glowing eyes directed at him.

Ha, using a sight-sharing spell like this?

An unexpected application.

With a mix of admiration and shock, I closed my eyes and relied on instinct to counter.

Sensing with my body the moment something sharp stabbed near my lower abdomen, I twisted and swung my sword as soon as I felt the piercing sensation.

“AAAAGH!”

The feeling of cutting through flesh and bone.

A fountain of blood sprayed, warming my face.

I could feel it without seeing.

His spear had only left a slight scratch, but my sword had definitely split his upper body.

I confirmed my restored vision and lunged toward the next one.

“How about this!”

This curse also exceeded my expectations.

Holy light bloomed like mist.

The moment I touched the light, my entire body suddenly grew hot.

My chest swelled slightly, and my lower body throbbed with heat.

The man before me looked so attractive that I wanted to embrace him right now—

UWEEEEEK.

With nausea strong enough to turn my stomach inside out, the spell invading my mind shattered instantly.

“You bastard, trying to charm me!”

My fist, filled with rage stronger than ever before, pulverized the upper half of his body into powder.