Demon of Humiliation, Verbaria (2)

A lukewarm wind blew.

Amidst the complete silence around, ironically, only the sound of believers chanting the demon’s name echoed.

“…What on earth is that?”

As if answering Yona’s murmur, the snake that had been hovering in the air looking down, flicked its tongues from each of its nine heads and descended to the ground.

『This body is the great demon Verbaria.』

『The one who will rule this world by defiling the hypocritical Celestial God.』

『I have come forth, advancing through your blood.』

-Thud…

With a light sound, the snake named Verbaria came down to the ground.

Constantly coiling its thick body, each of the nine heads looked around, flicking their tongues with a hiss.

“Came to crack the kidnapper’s head, but now it looks like we’re going to catch a snake. Huh.”

At James’s mutter, they all nodded slightly.

Meanwhile, Yona caressed her right arm where the holy cloth had fallen off.

Thanks to the potion that had been applied generously, the wound had healed a lot, but it still stung when touched.

However, the important thing wasn’t that pain.

The black tattoos engraved on this arm were each emitting heat as if they had their own will.

As if resonating with that demon.

“Yona, take Rubina and get away.”

Alec looked back briefly as he straightened his shield.

“What are you talking about? What are you going to do without me? Rather, Mr. James, you should take Rubina and escape.”

“Haha, telling me to escape when we might need to borrow even kobold hands in this situation, that’s not even funny. Yona, it’s better if you escape instead.”

While this lighthearted conversation was going on, Yona hugged Rubina tightly.

“Sister…”

“It’s okay, Rubina. Sister and the uncles will protect you. We came to save you this time too, right? So don’t worry, we’ll save you again.”

Will it be alright?

Even as she said it, she wasn’t confident.

She wasn’t confident they could survive against such a great demon.

“I’ll definitely protect you. So you have to stick close to sister. Understand?”

“Y-yes.”

The wide hall.

The hall that was originally underground but now had become ground level.

At the entrance of this hall, even the guards were staring at the demon in a daze.

And in the middle, Verbaria.

Yona’s group at the innermost part.

No matter how you looked at it, there was no layout that allowed for escape.

“We’ve caught bears before, how can we not catch a snake! Don’t be scared, you fools!”

Kairoc roared.

The battle cry he let out with his shark-like maw wide open had the effect of boosting the morale of his allies.

“Alec, I’m going in a bit aggressively. Is that okay?”

“You talk as if you’ve ever not been aggressive.”

“James, I’d like you to provide support fire. And it might be good to entrust Rubina to those guards over there.”

Kairoc’s judgment was rational.

Entrusting Rubina to the guards would allow her to be away from the battlefield, and James was the one who could deliver Rubina to the guards.

“…Here I go!”

Kairoc gripped his axe handle and clashed his two fists together with a clanging sound.

『Truly insignificant.』

The snake’s nine heads were watching Kairoc.

As if observing what he would do, the snake remained still, just watching. Then Kairoc’s axe plunged into one of those heads.

And Alec, preparing for Verbaria’s counterattack, also rushed in, keeping a slight distance from Kairoc, while Yona kept her distance from them, watching for any situation that might occur.

-Bang!

The axe that was thrust down forcefully couldn’t penetrate further in front of the snake’s eyes. The axe that had sunk in as if blocked by something was immediately bounced back with a recoil stronger than the force it was thrust with, and Kairoc was thrown back, unable to withstand that force.

“Ugh!”

Alec, who had been following behind Kairoc, caught him and rolled on the ground together. Seeing that there didn’t seem to be any injuries, Yona didn’t rush in immediately, but instead, as soon as she confirmed that the snake’s head was looking down at Kairoc and Alec, she shouted.

“Roll!”

At that cry, Kairoc and Alec rolled in opposite directions without hesitation. As soon as they evaded, a purple liquid was spewed all over the place they had been, and as it touched the stone floor, it made a hissing sound and emitted a foul smell.

“…Wow, what is this really?”

“What else could it be? Snake venom, I guess.”

“Don’t block it with your shield, Alec!”

“I know that much!”

It was an attack that shouldn’t be blocked with a shield. Alec firmly imprinted this fact in his mind and once again observed the enemy’s movements.

The snake’s attack pattern.

One of them would be that vomit attack, and given its size, it might engage in physical attacks. If it strikes with that long, long tail, could he block it? No. Then he’d have to deflect it, but how to deflect a striking attack?

“Don’t think about deflecting, you need to dodge. How could you deflect that?”

Alec nodded at Yona’s words, which seemed to be reading his thoughts. It’s too heavy and too long to deflect. In every way, it’s one of the worst opponents for a guard.

“It’s a bit similar to a lamia type, isn’t it? Shouldn’t we think of it as a much larger lamia? Kairoc, what do you think!?”

Kairoc and Alec were on opposite sides with Verbaria in between. It was unclear which of them would be attacked next, but someone of Kairoc’s caliber should be able to dodge one attack and aim for a counterattack. Then Alec could dive in during that time – that was the calculation.

The problem was that this was a magical beast whose true nature was completely unknown.

『You chatter so much.』

“Speaking of chatter, the sound of your tongue flicking is even louder!”

Yona snarled. It would be better if that snake looked at Alec instead. If in that moment, Kairoc could land a hit on its back, that would be really good. After all, Kairoc is a silver-rank warrior recognized in Evian. Even if it’s a great demon, a silver-rank warrior should be-

『Oh? Are you interested in my tongue?』

The snake’s head turned towards Yona. The moment its vertically slit pupils focused on Yona, she felt as if her body was freezing.

“Yona, well done!”

With Kairoc’s shout, his head was briefly visible from the other side. He must have leaped. His head was briefly visible, and above it, his axe flew up and seemed to strike down once again.

“Good-!”

『Insignificant.』

Before Alec could even move, the snake’s tail moved first. With nine heads, it seemed to have no blind spots. The snake’s tail moved slightly and-

“Aaaaargh!”

Along with Kairoc’s scream, dust rose from the direction of the altar.

What had barely maintained the form of an altar completely collapsed as Kairoc crashed into it, its shape no longer visible.

“Ugh… ack.”

Fortunately, it seemed he wasn’t injured as Kairoc could be seen shaking his head and rising. And the bright red bloodstains covering his body immediately revealed their source as Kairoc stood up and touched the ground.

Andrei’s left arm was completely burst and dangling. He was already unconscious, but it seemed that Kairoc landing on top of Andrei had at least cushioned his fall properly.

“Kairoc! Are you okay!?”

“…I’m fine!”

Kairoc stood up, using his axe to prop himself up. He answered bravely that he was fine, but in reality, it wasn’t quite so.

Kairoc was barely standing, holding onto the axe handle dripping with blood.

Alec’s shield was cracked, broken, and split in various places, looking like it could only be used a couple more times before needing repairs to function properly.

Yona’s holy power was also almost depleted. The holy power she was forcibly emitting without even the help of the holy cloth was very inefficient, and even Yona, who was praised for her excellent management of holy power, lacked the physical strength, holy power, and everything else to heal the consecutive injuries of Kairoc, Alec, and James.

Kairoc needed urgent healing, while Alec was relatively okay.

James’s condition wasn’t great either.

『Have you used all your petty tricks?』

In contrast, that demon called Verbaria hadn’t suffered even a speck of injury. What injury? The weapons didn’t even penetrate at all.

Verbaria’s gaze swept across the hall.

The guard force, which had over twenty members remaining, had mostly perished, and the believers were keeping their heads down without moving, some even being crushed to death, leaving a truly miserable sight.

Even counting those still alive, including Yona’s group, there were probably only about ten people left.

“Why… why isn’t any support coming?!”

Yona shouted.

With such chaos occurring in the middle of the city, shouldn’t someone, anyone come?

Be it the army, the guard, or even the adventurers’ guild, why is no one coming?

“…I don’t know!”

The man who seemed to be the guard captain barely answered with a pale face. Even if he didn’t know the reason, still, with all this commotion, why wasn’t anyone coming?

『Now this place shall be your end. It was a very shabby feast for my descent.』

Verbaria opened its mouth wide.

In the mouth dripping with saliva, something bright red was bubbling up, and Yona instinctively felt that this was the end of everything.

“…Sister!”

“Rubina, don’t come!”

Despite Yona’s shout, Rubina ran towards her.

“I-I’ll die by sister’s side…!”

What am I that you-

Even as she thought this, Yona stretched out her hand and hugged Rubina tightly.

She hadn’t even accomplished all she wanted to do yet.

And yet.

The fact that it was ending here was so frustrating and maddening.

Feeling Rubina’s warmth in her arms, Yona tightly closed her eyes.

Hoping, rather, that the end would come quickly.

– Whoosh.

However, the end did not come.

The sound of something cutting through the air and flying, followed by a dull explosive sound.

『…A holy spear?! You!』

“You truly are a demon trying to defile the majesty of the Celestial God!”

Yona’s eyes flew open. At the entrance to the hall stood several human shadows, and the face of the figure running towards them from the front was someone Yona knew well.

“…Ludvik!?”

“We’ll greet each other later!”

Ludvik shouted towards Alec as he ran with his momentum.

“Foothold!”

As soon as Alec heard those words, he took off his shield and gripped it tightly with both arms. Literally like a foothold, he knelt down and placed the shield on top, facing towards Ludvik. As soon as Ludvik stepped hard on the shield, he leaped up with all his might. And at the same time, the shield completely shattered into two pieces.

“In the name of the Celestial God’s majesty, I shall punish the demon!”

At Ludvik’s cry, the spear of light that had been stuck somewhere in Verbaria’s head returned to Ludvik’s hand.

What had been a relatively short lance about the height of a child immediately grew longer in Ludvik’s hand, changing into a spear as tall as an adult, emitting a dazzling light once again.

『You bastard!』

Verbaria’s tail flew towards Ludvik, cutting through the air. Seeing this, Alec instinctively tried to move, but Yona quickly threw herself to grab Alec’s ankle.

“You crazy fool! Where are you going without a shield!”

“Ah.”

“What do you mean ‘Ah’, you crazy fool!”

Alec then retreated and stood in front of Yona, blocking her.

From now on, this wasn’t their domain. At least, it wasn’t a fight that ordinary people like them could intervene in. Yona knew all too well that if they tried to help unnecessarily, they would only get in the way.

And then a shadow fell over Yona.

“…You look pathetic, healer with the strange head.”

“Ugh.”

Yona looked up with a frown and met Bigrin’s eyes. Bigrin looked down at Yona for a moment with a gaze full of contempt, then turned away.

“I earnestly pray for the Celestial God’s protection in this place. Please look down upon these pitiful and powerless young creatures.”

Matching Bigrin’s clear prayer voice as she held her rosary, a golden radiance burst forth from her body. The large hemispherical radiance firmly fixed its shape, literally illuminating the surroundings with a brilliant golden light.

That golden light began to pierce the night sky, pushing back the red clouds, and on the ground, the radiance began to burn away the darkness and push back the dense demonic energy.

‘…It seems stronger than usual?’

Even for a Celestial Realm Mantra, such an intense radiance was a first.

Even thinking it might be because she’s a saint, since she hasn’t been ordained yet, there shouldn’t be a change in the holy power she wields.

As Bigrin pondered this briefly, Ceres entered the barrier with a hardened face.

“Are you the ones who were holding back that demon?”

“Ah, y-yes… that’s right.”

Seeing her appearance that clearly gave off a noble aura at a glance, Yona stood up hesitantly and bowed her head.

“You’ve worked hard. It seems there were no… casualties.”

Thinking that the smiling face was quite charming, a thought somewhat inappropriate for the situation, Yona spoke to the woman.

“…I’m Yona. I don’t have a family name.”

“I am Ceres Alkamine. Let’s… discuss the details later.”

The woman who introduced herself as Ceres turned around again and looked up at the demon intently.

Verbaria was inwardly becoming impatient.

Even if it was just an avatar, being pushed back like this by creatures not even worth being called insects was simply unacceptable.

However, this sacred radiance overwhelming Verbaria was so pure and clear that it was constantly overpowering the demonic energy Verbaria was emitting.

And that wasn’t all-

『You bastard!』

“Just die and rot!”

The hero was also fiercely unleashing a barrage of attacks on Verbaria.

He would thrust his spear, then somehow wrap around and dive into Verbaria’s weak points.

Cleverly deflecting attacks and changing their trajectory, he would dive in between and swing his spear filled with holy power.

As if proving that his gold-rank warrior status was no exaggeration, he was pushing back the demon with a momentum far surpassing that of a silver-rank warrior.

Every time the spear was swung, fragments of light scattered. Whenever these touched the snake, they left wounds with a sizzling sound.

Then, as Ludvik thrust his spear deeply, the snake rolled on the ground to avoid it.

“Uh, uwaaa!”

“Ah!”

As Yona hugged Rubina in fright, Rubina also screamed in anticipation. The snake, almost rolling on the ground, crashed hard against the barrier Bigrin had spread and then rolled once more in the opposite direction.

Then, seeing Ceres, Bigrin, Yona, and Rubina gathered together, the snake’s gaze stayed fixed on one spot for a moment.

『You’re doing unnecessary things…!』

With its eyes fixed on them, the snake slowly retreated, moving its long body.

And then a black curtain began to fall over the snake’s nine heads.

As the curtain fell, the snake’s form slowly disappeared.

“You think I’ll let you do as you please!”

Ludvik roared and rushed in, gripping his spear tightly. The speed at which the curtain unfolded was barely faster than Ludvik’s approach, and the curtain tinged with dark energy spread with a swishing sound, causing the snake’s form to gradually disappear within it.

『That’s enough for today. There’s no need to waste unnecessary strength here. Hero. I’ve understood your power well. That level will be insufficient to block our path. I’m reassured.』

“Bullshit!”

But even as Ludvik gritted his teeth, he couldn’t rush in again. As the snake said, even if it was just an avatar, it hadn’t been easy for Ludvik to deal with. He judged that it might be better to let it retreat now.

『Our power has already overwhelmed the Celestial God. No matter how much you struggle, you cannot stop us. Moreover, it’s natural that seven are stronger than one. Everything will return to its proper order, know this.』

The snake’s voice faded away, and its form disappeared with it.

Only after its form had completely vanished did the night sky finally show its true appearance.

A night sky with the moon and stars.

“…For now, let’s clean up.”

And then Ceres’s words followed.