Ch.8585. The Grand Operation to Crush Violence with a Bang (2)

“First, He has commanded to begin the ritual, Holy Maiden Lisa Raeldotir.”

“Yes, Messenger.”

The grand operation to capture the Titan began with a ritual performed by Lisa at a distant location.

[—O representative of all who seek vengeance, living incarnation of fresh blood, lord of wolves, and my great deity. Please hear the plea of this humble servant—]

On a magic circle drawn with large amounts of blood collected from believers, Lisa began a miracle-based ritual while reciting a prayer praising me.

The miracle serving as the foundation was ‘Avenge Supporter.’

This miracle, which normally allows the caster to summon more powerful minions according to their aptitude, had been greatly enhanced by the sacred yet blasphemous ritual. Not only had its limits been significantly increased, but the direction of its summoning had also been restricted to the war-machines I had recently been mass-producing.

And so, when the ritual ended.

Clank. Clank. Clank.

Grrrrrr……

Rumble rumble rumble….

The beings summoned as a result of the ritual were, quite predictably, a massive number of war-machines.

Three hundred Blood Castles—war-machines that had existed before, formerly pulled by hounds of vengeance but now drawn by Blood Wolves, with Blood Cannons mounted on dog-carts.

One hundred Blood Tanks—war-machines modified for frontline breakthrough by adding heavy armor to Blood Castles and Blood Wolves to increase defense, and equipped with shotgun capabilities to enhance close-combat effectiveness.

Two hundred Blood Shooters—war-machines that sacrificed everything for long-range bombardment, gaining firepower equivalent to level 3 magic but with nonexistent close-combat capability.

And somewhat different from these, a war-machine created with Lunifer’s help.

Four hundred Blood Machines—characterized by spider-like quadrupedal mechanical lower bodies combined with muscular golem upper bodies and Blood Cannons protruding from their chests for close combat.

These war-machines, totaling a thousand in number, began moving in formation to their predetermined positions as soon as their summoning was complete.

‘…They are staying well-hidden, right?’

Simultaneously, my main body was focusing all its effort on disrupting the magical waves generated by this ritual and concealing the presence of these war-machines.

Although we were implementing a diversionary tactic by having vampire summons cause disturbances at other Violence Cult strongholds that had been scouted in advance to draw attention away…

Still, I couldn’t shake an ominous feeling, but…

《■■■■■■■■■———!!!!》

‘Ah, it worked as expected.’

Sensing its fury directed at the low-level vampires causing havoc at the Violence Cult’s stronghold—which seemed to be going better than expected—I happily rushed to complete the bombardment preparations.

The target of the war-machines’ bombardment was, naturally, the temple serving as the Violence Cult’s main headquarters.

Normally, artillery strikes over several kilometers would be impossible due to accuracy issues, but this problem was solved through Lisa’s cooperation and my assistance.

And so, one thousand Blood Cannons aimed skyward were targeted at a single location, waiting only for my command.

“…Fire.”

KWAAAANG———!!!!

The moment I gave the order to fire, a thunderous roar shook heaven and earth.

PEEEEEEEWWWWW———.

The Blood Cannon shells—made of magic and blood—spewed from a thousand muzzles, mercilessly striking the stone temple that was at most only five or six stories tall, about the size of an electronics store.

KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAAANG—————!!!!!!!!!!!

The shells, raining down with such density that one might momentarily mistake it for a blood-red downpour, swept over the building that had neglected proper defensive measures in favor of concealment.

The impact alone made the ground around the temple tremble, and the barrage of shells literally erased the temple completely, creating an enormous crater.

Yet amidst all this, the Titan Philemon alone survived at the scene where not even debris remained.

“Y-y-you goddamn pieces of trash!!!!!!!”

Screaming toward the direction from which the shells had come, he held an unusually large wooden club in his hand.

As if demonstrating the most primal form of violence, Philemon, unable to contain his rage, seemed about to throw the club in his hand.

“Now, Apostle Bjorn.”

“Right. ——HAAP!”

KWAAAAAAANG!!!!

At the very moment Philemon’s eyes rolled with fury, Bjorn, who had been waiting, launched a surprise attack on Philemon’s flank.

Despite having a height of about 14 meters, the giant’s movements were quick, but Bjorn was several times more agile.

Therefore, Bjorn charged forward and swung with all his might, delivering a powerful blow enhanced by various skills used without reservation, like a bullet in itself, but…

“—Kugh!”

The Titan’s durability was beyond imagination.

It was a strike powerful enough to bring down a castle had that been the target, and strong enough that anyone who hadn’t reached an advanced level would not have survived unscathed… yet Titan Philemon endured it with nothing more than a momentary groan as he clutched his side.

Though he grimaced in considerable pain and rubbed the struck area, that was the extent of the damage.

His ribs weren’t broken, the impact hadn’t damaged his internal organs, and only a small wound appeared on his skin, from which a few drops of blood trickled.

“…What the.”

Although Bjorn had expected to inflict at least some significant wound if not a fatal one…

The reality was that he had only caused an injury comparable to a razor cut, leaving Bjorn staring at the Titan with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

“You insect-like vermin!!!!”

Perhaps the wounded area was quite painful after all, as Titan Philemon, his face contorted with pain, roared with fury and swung his massive wooden club directly at Bjorn.

That overwhelmingly large wooden club, which had remained intact even as the bombardment obliterated the building and the Violence Cult’s senior members without a trace, was certainly not just a club that happened to be large.

It was the very concept of violence itself, forged in its most explicit and primal form.

A divine artifact created directly by the evil god of violence.

Despite its appearance, the club, imbued with such grandiose principles, was displaying its might without reservation.

KWAAAAAAANG———!!!

‘What power…?!’

As Bjorn was astonished to see, the wooden club that could channel enough monstrous strength to cause earthquakes in the vicinity when swung showed no signs of damage whatsoever—it would be more strange if this weren’t a divine artifact.

‘He’s not as fast as I thought…’

Of course, obscured by its overwhelming presence, Titan Philemon’s movements were fast enough to defy physical laws considering his size, but not so fast that a high-level warrior like Bjorn couldn’t dodge them.

However, being able to dodge didn’t mean he was completely free from the force wielded by that massive body.

“—?!!!”

KWAAAAAAANG———!!!!

Just the movement of that giant body was enough to wreak havoc on the surrounding environment, and particularly troublesome was the tremendous air pressure generated when he swung that club.

“…Phew.”

To inflict damage on that giant body, aerial combat was essential, requiring Bjorn to kick off the air and leap about, but the resulting air pressure was more than enough to blow away the airborne Bjorn.

‘—Oh no!’

KUUUUUUU———KWAAAANG!!!

And just when the distance seemed adequately widened, the Titan would leverage his superior reach to swing the divine artifact—the giant club—as if swatting a fly.

《Focus on evasion, Bjorn.》

“—?!! Yes! 《Wing of Chaos》!”

And the moment I spoke directly to Bjorn, who had narrowly avoided that attack, he used Chaos Magic to sprout several pairs of wings from his back.

———KWAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGANG!!!

At that very moment, red blood shells from the war-machines in the distance began pounding on Titan Philemon’s naked flesh.