Ch.77Labyrinth (3)

The crimson-bodied Minotaur, Khan—whom the cult called Rage—made Jes’s body disappear with a single punch.

“AAAAHHHH!!! Brother Jes!”

Parion, who had been leading the choir, screamed at the sight.

Just moments ago, Jes had promised to protect them. He was highly regarded within the cult as a powerful figure, known as Uldur’s Hammer—and now he had died so easily!

It was an unbelievable reality, one they didn’t want to believe. And Deputy Commander Zenfil, who led the Holy Incantation Unit, felt the same way.

With their holy power nearly depleted, Jes, who had been protecting them, died without putting up any resistance.

“Haha…”

Zenfil let out a hollow laugh as he stared blankly at Rage, unable to accept this reality. The crimson muscular body, red fur with mane and tail, and tall white horns rising high.

While Zenfil examined Khan’s appearance with blank eyes, Parion and the others fell into panic.

But determined to land at least one blow before dying, they began to summon what little fighting spirit remained, scraping together their depleted holy power from the very bottom.

“Mmm?”

Khan made a questioning sound. Something seemed strange, and he even tilted his massive head.

“Grrrr… I am… a Knight of God…! One of… the cult’s most powerful… weapons… who follows… Lord Uldur!!!”

BOOM—!!!

With a battle cry, Jes began pushing Khan’s fist upward. Seeing this, the choir immediately began their part.

“Ah— Aaaah—— Ah—!”

As the choir started singing, a pure white light surrounded Zenfil, enhancing all his physical abilities and defending his mind.

“Lion Heart, Strength, Holy Barrier, Holy Armor, Holy Weapon!”

The Holy Incantation Unit squeezed out what little holy power remained to cast support magic on him.

Lion Heart strengthened his mental barriers, while Strength Enhancement made his already powerful strength even stronger.

The Holy Barrier allowed him to withstand Khan’s attacks, Holy Armor created armor of light over his existing armor to increase his defense, and Holy Weapon caused his weapon to glow brightly.

“HAAAAAAH!!!”

With the choir and Holy Incantation Unit squeezing out all their power to support Jes, he responded to their expectations by sending Khan’s fist flying high into the air.

Then came the hammer surrounded by pure white holy power. His hammer radiated light as if blessed by Uldur, the God of Light, and Jes swung it at Khan.

“Evil, be gone!”

BOOM——!!

The hammer of light, which exerted absolute power against those belonging to the demonic realm, struck Khan’s leg. Upon contact, the hammer of light released holy power, leaving a mark like a brand on Khan’s leg.

Jes’s hammer didn’t stop there. Once he began his assault, his hammer struck like a storm, continuously leaving brands.

As the hammer swung and the explosions were amplified by the labyrinth walls, creating enormous sounds—

“Ah…”

Those watching from behind Jes couldn’t help but sigh. How pitiful that the Knight of God, the mighty Brother Jes, would show such a sad display.

Swinging his hammer like a storm, Jes hadn’t realized something was wrong. He thought Rage couldn’t properly resist his fierce attacks, but those watching from behind saw everything.

That Rage wasn’t even paying attention to Jes.

The massive 10-meter body simply stood still, as if the attacks from someone less than 2 meters tall caused no damage at all.

Even as Jes’s attacks left brands on his legs and the smell of burning fur filled the air, Khan just stood watching. Finally, he moved.

BOOM—!

“Ugh! Finally starting to attack? Come on then! I, Jes Oria, Knight of God, will be your opponent!”

Blocking Khan’s kick with his hammer, Jes retreated and twirled his hammer, taking his stance. Like it was his signature pose, he held the hammer diagonally with one arm extended.

He was ready to swing his hammer whenever Khan approached, but Khan just stared blankly without taking any action. As if he were doing something else entirely.

Seeing this, Jes finally realized. This bull bastard was completely ignoring him. Veins popped on his forehead, and with a reddened face, he prepared his ultimate technique.

“Fine! I’ll make you unable to ignore me! Great Lord Uldur! I, Jes Oria, your servant and weapon, beseech you to permit me to use your mighty power!”

With those words, light descended from the sky and illuminated Jes.

SCREECH—!

Then came the sound. Jes’s hammer absorbed the light and began to transform. The hammer head, which had been pure white with a jewel embedded in the center, began to split open.

Blue light leaked from the opening hammer, gathering at the front to form a pointed siege hammer.

Jes’s armor also began to emit blue light.

“This is the Warrior of Light, available only to the 10 chosen by Lord Uldur! No one has seen this form and lived to tell about it!”

Jes pointed his hammer at Khan.

Despite his declaration, Khan just stared blankly elsewhere.

At this sight, Jes charged forward. He would deliver a fatal blow with this attack to force his opponent to fight seriously.

Though he believed one shouldn’t win dishonorably on a battlefield watched by Lord Uldur, he thought this much would be forgiven given how his opponent was ignoring him.

Advancing with blue light, Jes looked like a meteor falling through the night sky. Running with blue light, he jumped high into the air.

Then Jes began to spin. Rotating round and round, the blue light flew toward Khan, emitting an increasingly bright glow.

“STARLIGHT! CRUSH!!!”

With his ultimate technique’s name, the bright blue light began to emit an intense blue radiance like the sun, and even Khan couldn’t ignore this light as he turned his head.

BOOM—!

Khan simply swung his arm as if swatting away an insect, precisely hitting the side of Jes’s spinning attack. But the blue light completely ignored such an attack and lodged exactly into Khan’s chest.

THUD—! BOOM——!!

The hammer penetrated quite deeply. Then explosion. The holy light burned the creature’s chest area, and even the flowing blood evaporated from the intense light.

WOOOOAH——!!

“Brother Jes! Finish him!”

Hearing the cheers of the Holy Incantation Unit and choir who had been in despair, Jes put more strength into his arms. As he applied so much force to end this, a creaking sound echoed from the hammer’s handle.

‘If I just push it in further, I can win. If it just goes like this!’

Though distracted by something, he thought he could win if things continued this way, as Uldur’s Hammer advanced little by little, breaking through the resistance of muscles.

But his hope didn’t last long.

“It can’t be…”

His hammer gradually began to be pushed back. Despite applying maximum force to push it in, his hammer could no longer advance. No, it was being pushed back by the resistance of muscles and the gradually regenerating flesh.

“We should also lend our strength to Sir Jes! Holy Golem!”

Zenfil commanded the Holy Incantation Unit to summon a Holy Golem to support Jes, but… it was useless.

BOOM—!

Jes, who had embedded his hammer in Khan’s chest, flew far and collided with a wall. And that wall absorbed his body like mud, and after absorbing him, it hardened again to seal his movements.

CLANG—!

Having lost his hammer upon impact with the wall, Jes was embedded in the wall with his bare body, unable to move. He tried to escape by emitting holy power, but the wall only constricted him more.

“NNNGGH—!!”

How much time had passed? For Jes, it felt like an eternity had gone by, and after continuously struggling with all his might, he finally broke free from the wall’s restraint with a shout.

But the sight that greeted him upon his release was enough to break his mind.

The head of Zenfil, Deputy Commander of the Holy Incantation Unit who had smiled with relief upon seeing him, was rolling on the ground. Even in death, he couldn’t close his eyes and was staring wide-eyed as only his head remained rolling on the floor.

Sister Parion, a choir member with a promising future as the next choir leader, had lost her lower body and was staring at the sky with empty eyes.

Until the end, she met death with the light of Lord Uldur in her eyes.

The other members of the Holy Incantation Unit and choir were no different. All had been torn apart, some with only arms or legs remaining.

Most of their eyes were looking at the sky, meeting death with the light of Lord Uldur in their eyes, but some were looking in his direction.

As if blaming him for failing to protect them, Jes unconsciously stepped back when—

Thud.

Something slightly soft yet hard touched his back. As he slowly turned his head, there stood Khan, who had torn his comrades apart.

“HAAAAAAAH!!!”

He charged at Khan with both fists filled with holy power and tears streaming down his face, but…

BOOM—

Khan simply brought down his leg wrapped in lightning, guiding Jes to his death.

The protective barrier and Holy Armor cast by his comrades should have been enough to block Khan’s attack more than once due to the sanctuary effect, but they didn’t shine, perhaps because the casters had died.

Jes, a Knight of God and one of the cult’s most powerful weapons, drew his last breath watching the final moments of those he had tried to protect.

After confirming that all cult members present had died, Khan was about to move elsewhere when—

FLASH—!!

A bright light descended from the sky, illuminating various parts of the walls.