Ch.512The Arm of the Evil God

*Crack!*

On the altar of the underground grand temple, the third chalice maintained by Peyrus’s power began to crack. As the corner of the golden cup broke off, dark red liquid began to drip through the broken gap, one drop at a time.

‘The chalice is… cracking?’

Peyrus reached toward the chalice with a bewildered expression. Pale souls flowing from his fingertips flew toward the bleeding chalice, sealing the cracks.

Though it was only a temporary measure, he had somehow prevented the chalice from breaking completely.

‘There should have been plenty of margin before reaching the limit. What happened…? Did Heaven’s Wall shake?’

His mind raced, trying to deduce why the chalice had been damaged. He had been postponing the destruction of the third chalice to guard against the power of the fairies, yet it had cracked. This was beyond his expectations.

Since he had halted the collection of souls, the contents of the chalice hadn’t overflowed. So the cause must lie not with the chalice itself, but externally.

If so, damage to Heaven’s Wall connected to the chalice was likely what caused the damage to the chalice.

‘Ascension, or descent…? No, ascension is impossible. As long as the wall exists, the prerequisites can’t be met. Descent seems more plausible. Someone tried to summon a being from beyond the wall.’

And they must have failed. Peyrus was certain of that.

Only two chalices had been broken. That was nowhere near enough for those who had reached ascension, or those who existed in the heavens from the beginning, to descend.

Clearly, they must have been blocked by the wall during their attempt to descend and been banished back. Even dragons had to hide underground to sleep, evading the eyes of the wall—there was no way beings greater than them could roam the surface.

‘Even so… now that the chalice is cracked, I can’t keep it halted like this… The fairies will become even more active.’

Peyrus looked up at the temple ceiling, contemplating the orders he would give to the other apostles.

Once the third chalice broke, the world would change once again. They needed to prepare in advance.

========[ Haschal ]========

The shockwave that swept through the entire city left a massive crater in the center of Arvil.

An enormous ruin covering more than half the city. Everything that remained inside it had been scattered into debris, regardless of whether it was living or inanimate. It was truly a terrifying power.

“Holy shit…”

Honestly, that was all I could say.

Ruins everywhere I looked. Everything inside the city except for us had turned to dust, and buildings on the outskirts had collapsed like they’d been hit by catapults, transformed into piles of debris. Even the city walls were cracking and crumbling bit by bit.

“Is everyone okay? Still alive?!”

Hoping the evacuating residents hadn’t been caught in it, I turned my head to check on my companions’ safety. Lacy and Ceylon had deployed holy barriers right before the collision, but given the power of the blast, that alone wasn’t enough to reassure me.

“Elpinel, I thank you for your protection…”

As if answering my question, Lacy murmured the god’s name while kneeling. Her pale face was covered in cold sweat.

She had poured all her holy power into the barrier to block the shockwave, but it seemed she had no strength left to even stand up.

Still, thanks to her, my companions and I were able to survive the collision that devastated the city.

Unlike Lacy who was exhausted after one defensive move, Ceylon was still standing upright, staring at the epicenter. This was likely due to the difference in stamina between a paladin and a priest, as well as his own hero-level capabilities.

“…I wonder if I’ll ever be this astonished again in my lifetime.”

Nigel answered, using her spear as a cane, her lips trembling. Her mind seemed empty after a series of events beyond her comprehension.

“That just now, was that… a god? Was it really the power of gods helping us…?”

Leonore’s face was dumbfounded. Her stammering voice was full of confusion.

Yes. Even for people here who unquestioningly believed in the existence of gods, they’d likely never witnessed divine intervention so clearly.

“…Miss, I’m asking this seriously, but do you have some ability like prophecy or foresight or something?”

Prophecy…?

Ah, I suppose I did say something that sounded like a prophecy. Something about the gods surely helping us.

It was just a joke I made to boost morale, but I never expected it to actually happen. In fact, I was more surprised than anyone.

“Of course not. If I had such abilities, I could have prevented this from happening in the first place.”

I shook my head in denial.

Even if I knew the story in advance, what I knew were only events that ‘might’ happen. It was far from prophecy.

People aren’t programmed machines, so their actions can change with even the slightest variables.

Take Valkers, for instance. How could I have imagined he would scheme to summon an evil god?

—-

After confirming my companions’ safety, I turned my gaze from them to look inside the dust cloud.

Through the gradually clearing veil of dust, I could see a massive, ominous right arm embedded in the ground like a giant tree.

Invidius’s arm.

Though it was merely flesh separated from its main body, it exuded such pressure that my fingertips trembled just looking at it.

I could sense it. That arm, despite being severed, was still alive. It was chilling.

“The evil god’s right arm… I can’t believe it. Is what I’m seeing really happening?”

“Yeah. How nice it would be if this were a dream.”

Because nightmares disappear when you wake up.

However, unfortunately, this was reality, and that arm showed no signs of disappearing.

No, far from disappearing…

*Rumble!*

With a heavy noise, it slowly began to writhe.

“…It’s moving?”

Leonore let out a hollow laugh and muttered. Did she think it was just a piece of flesh? She seemed unable to even imagine that a severed arm could move.

*Rumble…!*

The earth trembled, causing a small earthquake. Feeling the ground shake beneath my feet, I widened my stance slightly and lowered my posture.

Well. After such a grand ritual, there was no way this would end peacefully.

Rather, this was just the beginning.

【 Grooooaaaa….】

Like a whale swimming in the ocean, a heavy cry spread out. It was wailing like an orphan searching for its mother.

The evil god’s arm, which had been writhing slightly, melted down like shedding its skin, creating a black lake. The arm began to sink into this lake of dark mana that seemed bottomless.

“What’s happening? Is it escaping…?”

“I don’t think so.”

Denying Ceylon’s murmur, I gripped Durandal, which was turning golden, and glared at the surface of the lake. My mouth went dry with tension.

Eventually, the center of the lake began to boil, and from there, massive tentacles shot up like a whirlwind.

Pillar-like tentacles twisting and sticking together. Nigel and Leonore firmly gripped their weapons, while Ceylon recited a short prayer. Lacy staggered to her feet.

Everyone must have sensed it. That this was the enemy we had to fight.

I took a spear in my left hand and threw it toward the mass of tentacles that was taking on a new form.

I didn’t know what was being born, but it seemed defenseless at the moment, so I attacked as a test.

The thrown spear shot like a tank shell. The moment it reached the vicinity of the creature,

*Splash!*

A spray of dark mana rising from the lake blocked the black iron spear. The hero’s spear, which could pierce and destroy even buildings, was swallowed by the spray of dark mana and sank pathetically.

…So it won’t go down easily.

“Ceylon, can you attack that tentacle mass from here?”

“I’m sorry. Unless we get closer…”

Ceylon shook his head.

Closer…

Yes, we would have to get closer.

The only ones who could attack from this distance were myself or Millia, but Millia was currently collapsed with serious injuries, and I was more specialized in swordplay than spear throwing.

“Lacy, how are you feeling? Can you move… no, can you fight?”

If she couldn’t fight, I’d have to send her out of the city.

Losing a force of Lacy’s caliber at the point of having to fight the evil god’s arm would be a big loss… but there was no choice. This wasn’t an enemy weak enough to fight while carrying dead weight.

In the first place, Lacy had already fulfilled her role by protecting us from the shockwave that swept through the city.

“…Yes. Somehow. I won’t be able to manifest large-scale miracles… but I should be able to fight like this.”

Lacy nodded with a determined face, recovering her vitality by casting blessings on herself.

So she might struggle with holy flames but could still manifest blessings or barriers. That should be enough to keep herself alive.

“That’s good. Then let’s go. Whatever comes out, we just need to tear it to pieces.”

I gestured to Leonore to carry Lacy, then rushed toward the lake of dark mana with my companions.

—-

While we approached, the mass of tentacles melted together, forming a new shape.

A massive, grotesque mass of flesh. It resembled a monster, but was overwhelmingly more imposing than any ordinary monster.

A height equivalent to ten people combined.

Its lower body emerging from the lake consisted of tentacles made of entrails intertwined like tree roots, and above that, dozens of ribs fused with flesh protected what appeared to be the torso, writhing.

Inside the ribs, which were spread like hooks, a mass of flesh covered in black blood vessels squirmed, with a round diamond-shaped opening in the center.

Inside that opening, like the hole in the sky when Invidius emerged, was an endless void.

From that hole, eight long arms emerged and swayed. They resembled human arms with the skin peeled off, but had three joints each, and each arm bone was unnaturally long.

At the end of each arm were massive hands, with fingers similar to human ones, but instead of palms, they had black, glistening lips.

Black saliva dripped from between the open mouths.

Above the torso was a massive tentacle that appeared to be the neck and head.

A tentacle resembling a cow’s tongue. Eyeballs protruded like boils all over it, and at the tip were two faces reminiscent of death masks.

They were faces of a man and woman with only skin remaining, without a single hair. The mouths, open as if screaming, were blocked with flesh, and dark mana flowed from the eye sockets.

*Woooong!*

And above the creature’s head, dark mana rain poured down from a black hole floating like a halo, soaking the monster’s body.

【Graaaaaaah!!】

The monster born from the evil god’s arm raised its eight arms and roared.