Preventing the Summoning Ritual (1)

Sparkling.

Beautiful and brilliant.

What was like that?

“There are so many tangled threads!”

Before Niel were children with twisted fates shining in various colors, one, two, three, four… anyway, many.

Like a commoner child who had only eaten thin porridge and hard bread all their life stepping into a luxurious noble banquet hall.

Niel’s two eyes sparkled brightly.

“Oh my! Oh my! Oh my!”

She had always craved attention.

Niel, who wanted friends in similar circumstances to herself.

That twisted desire was directed towards Ethan’s wards, including Kenny.

“You came! I’ve been waiting for you to come!”

The curly-haired one spotted Niel and shyly hid behind some man’s back.

“It’s her. The demon worshipper who invaded Rite Castle.”

Niel remembered her!

Just that fact alone made her feel like she could fly to the heavens with joy.

“It’s you from back then! Tangled thread! Did you come back to play with Niel? I’m so happy!”

She raised her arms to the sky in celebration!

And spread them wide.

The red doggies who followed Niel to greet the guests also got excited.

• Awoooooo~!!!

  “Let’s play excitedly!!”

  Niel ran forward feeling like her head was popping with excitement.

  It was her first time playing with so many friends since she was born.

“I’ll take care of her!”

“Kenny, are you sure you’ll be alright?”

“Yes! I had a feeling I’d see her again someday, so I prepared!”

Kenny tucked his hammer into his belt and.

Rummaged through his backpack, taking out various things.

After taking out this and that.

He asked Borka to use an enlargement spell, and.

• Kuoooo!

  Grown to the size of an adult man.

  White, gray, and black golems activated.

  “Come back anytime if it gets dangerous!”

  “Okay!”

  Kenny ran over and smashed his hammer on the head of Niel who was dashing towards him.

  “Uhihihi! Nice to see you!”

  “Not nice to see you!”

• Clang!

  Niel clung to Kenny while bleeding from her nose.

  No, she tried to cling.

  “Whitey! Forward!”

  “That again? Moving rocks? Don’t you have anything else?”

  “These guys are enough for you!”

  The white golem grabbed Niel.

  “Let go… Huh? Why won’t this come off.”

  The golem simply broke Niel’s arm.

  Strangely, the instrument wrapped around her body had no effect at all.

  “Urgh! What is this!”

  “It’s a holy golem blessed by Elyssia! You can’t use your power now!”

  “Hmph! My legs are still fine!”

  Using her trapped arm as a pivot, Niel.

  Spun her body and kicked, breaking the golem’s right arm.

  “Didn’t expect that either?”

  The gray golem that was waiting rushed in.

  The gray golem, designed to suck in desired targets by adjusting the output of the spatial pocket attached to its center.

  Niel’s left leg was sucked inside.

  “What the!!!”

  In anger, she blew off the golem’s head with her other leg, but nothing changed.

  Soon, Whitey, whose regeneration was complete, grabbed both of Niel’s arms.

  With that, Niel’s movements were completely sealed.

  “Let go! I can’t play fun like this!”

  “Hey.”

  The black golem.

  Kenny, who approached while riding Blackey, lowered his voice.

  “I’m not here to play with you.”

  “What?”

  “I’m here to punish you. The people you killed for fun at Rite Castle. Feel how they felt.”

  As he tapped the head with his hammer.

  Blackey reacted.

• Kuuuuung!

  The mana booster attached to the black golem’s right elbow spewed flames.

  “I prepared this specially for you. The so-called mana punch.”

  As the arm’s fixation was released.

  The fist extended at tremendous speed, propelled by the booster’s acceleration.

• Bwak!

  It struck Niel.

  “Urrrgh!!! Kuhak?!”

  Niel, who spat blood from her mouth.

  Seemed to have received quite a shock.

  “Wh-What is this…”

  Although demon worshippers’ unique regeneration ability and high defense rely on their instruments.

  The blessed golems were driving away the instruments, halving their effect.

  As a result, the high-intensity shock magic formation built into Blackey’s fist parts could mess up Niel’s internal organs.

  “You’re like this after just one hit?”

  “W-Wait! Let’s talk! Let’s talk!”

  The residents of Sergaphilt’s slums don’t mess with Kenny.

  They accept all the fights she picks, but.

  She’s a crazy woman who has no intention of ending the fight until she wins.

  That’s Kenny of the slums.

  Niel, who rushed in without knowing, now had to pay the price.

  Click! Clang! Click!

  As Kenny replaced Blackey’s mana stone.

  The booster activates again.

• Kuuuuung!

  “Clench your teeth tight.”

  At the same time, the second strike was delivered.

Starting with Kenny and Niel’s fight.

The monsters behind also rushed in.

‘Blood hounds.’

Fierce dogs raised by demons from another world.

Their bodies are made of blood, so they’re immune to physical attacks.

“What terribly ugly monsters.”

“Prepare for battle!!!”

The knights came to the front.

The soldiers and Inspection Bureau agents backed them up.

“Wait! Those monsters are dangerous!”

“What?”

• Kang!

  Just before Ethan’s shout.

  The monsters and knights collided.

  They blocked attacks with shields and swung swords, but.

  “What the!”

  “It doesn’t feel like I’m cutting them.”

  The cleanly cut cross-sections instantly stick back together.

  They cut, but couldn’t deal damage.

  And.

• Awoooooo!!!

  As they burrowed into the formation, a melee began.

  “Levi! Take care of the children!”

  “Leave it to me.”

  Levi, Hwaryon, and Ponya surrounded the children and struck down the monsters.

  But even now, the number of injured was increasing.

  “Aaargh!!”

  A soldier completely torn apart by them.

  The blood hounds gathered there, and.

  Soon, their numbers increased by two.

  “What kind of monsters are these…”

  “They can increase their numbers by drinking blood. So don’t get separated alone, we need to drive them out while staying together.”

  Ethan’s <Divine Tree Sword> was apparently effective against demon worshippers too, as blood hounds cut by his attacks melted and died.

• Kaeng!

  “You can kill them by cutting with aura. Knights who can draw out aura, step forward, the rest fall back. Hurry!”

  “Hurry up! Everyone fall back!”

  In an instant, there were three soldier and two agent casualties.

  Fortunately, there weren’t too many injured.

  ‘I could sweep them away with high-output magic, but with such a fragile passage…’

  The underworld wouldn’t have built it properly.

  If magic was used incorrectly here.

  ‘We’d all be buried alive.’

  It seemed he couldn’t ask Borka this time.

  Fortunately, after Ethan cut down two more.

  Sensing the danger, they gradually retreated.

  “Elyssia.”

  “Yes, Ethan-nim.”

  He called for Elyssia who was treating the injured.

  Blood was splattered on her white nun’s habit, but.

  Fortunately, Elyssia looked unharmed.

  “Could you bless the weapons?”

  “Blessing?”

  “That’s right. Since they’re monsters from another world, if holy power is imbued, we should be able to cut them.”

  “Yes, I’ll try.”

  First she finishes blessing the weapons of Levi, Hwaryon, and Ponya, then imbues holy power into those of the soldiers who retreated to the rear.

  Once everyone is prepared to fight, wipe them all out at once.

  While Ethan was planning so.

  Elyssia closed her eyes and clasped her hands together.

  As she knelt down and slowly bowed her head.

  Powerful holy energy spread out from Elyssia.

  But its range was wider than expected.

  “She blessed everything at once…?”

  Blessing is a task that even competent priests have to carefully pray for one by one with great effort.

  But Elyssia blessed everyone’s equipment from where she sat.

  Ethan wasn’t the only one surprised.

  “Oh my goodness.”

  “Is this the blessing we’ve only heard about?”

  “No. Usually you can only do one at a time.”

  “For a young child to do what’s impossible even for high priests of the Holy Spirit Realm…”

  Holy power was densely coated on everyone’s weapons and armor.

  “Ethan-nim, is it done?”

  “…It’s more than enough.”

  Moreover.

  Good news kept coming.

  [‘Destruction’ can’t hide its excitement at the start of full-fledged battle!]

  [‘Destruction’ offers to grant effects to the user’s armor and sword.]

  ‘Hm?’

  For a moment, red light burst from the armor and sword.

  Sharp spikes sprouted on the armor.

  The sword’s blade grew longer and turned pitch black.

  [Item name: Armor of Earth (Destruction)]

  [Effect: All stats +600]

  [Item name: Divine Tree Sword (Destruction)]

  [Effect: Attack power +50%]

  The stats increased dramatically.

  And.

  [Enemies have been exposed to the influence of the user’s passive skill, ‘One Who Destroys Slowly’.]

  ‘Destruction’s passive skill was applied to Niel and the blood hounds who were clearly recognized as enemies.

  ‘I need to finish them quickly and help Kenny.’

  “Is everyone ready?”

  “Yes!”

  “Of course!”

  ‘What? Physical attacks don’t work?’

  “Let’s sweep them all away.”

  If you plaster holy power all over the armor and weapons.

  What can you guys do?

Levi, Hwaryon, and Ponya step forward.

No matter how fast the blood hounds are.

They couldn’t be faster than the three.

As the whip, sword, and blade swept through.

Blood burst in mid-air.

• Kaeeeng…

  Although they witnessed five comrades instantly destroyed.

  The blood hounds didn’t retreat.

  Rather, this was an opportunity.

  Even the strong have openings.

  A chance to increase their numbers by targeting the weak in the rear after shaking off the three.

• Awoooooo!!!

  The leader-like blood hound gave orders with a howl.

  While a few in the front drew attention.

  The rest rushed towards the rear.

  Their targets were the royal army and agents.

  They leapt with mouths wide open towards the humans’ juicy necks.

  But.

• Tung!
• Ka, kaeng?!

  Their powerful leaps were helplessly blocked by an invisible wall.

  “It really blocked them!”

  “That little one is amazing!”

  “This is nothing…”

  It was Borka’s mana shield.

  She wove mana so densely that not even gas could pass through.

  But since it looks completely transparent, they couldn’t help but fall for it.

• Swish!

  Before they could get up and regain their senses.

  Along with the sound of wind being cut, they shattered to pieces.

• Click.

  With fountains of blood rising behind him.

  Greg sheathed his rapier.

  A few clever ones bypassed through the sewers.

  To ambush the party from behind, but.

  “Lightning.”

• Kaeeeng!!!

  They were intercepted by the magic of Tom and the other Inspection Bureau agents.

  While they hesitated briefly, they were slaughtered by the spears of the royal army that flew in.

  “…Is it over?”

  “Not yet.”

  ‘Blood hound packs are annoying bastards that enter phase 2 when their numbers drop below a certain amount.’

• Kaeng.
• Awoooooo!!!

  The surviving dozen or so gathered together.

  They bit each other’s necks and tails, forming into one lump.

  ‘Were they originally this big?’

  A blood hound colony large enough to touch the ceiling of the underground passage formed.

• Thud!

  Just then, Niel, who had been beaten up by Kenny and was in tatters, flew to the blood hound’s side.

  “It hurts! It hurts! It hurts!!!”

• Kuooooong!!!

  “You hurt too? Niel hurts too! Those who hurt others aren’t friends!!!”

  Horns grew long and.

  Wings spread wide on Niel.

  “Let’s go, doggy!”

• Awoooooo!!!

  But for some reason.

  Ethan wasn’t afraid of those two at all.

  Was it because acting tough and shouting is the behavior of the weak?

  So even before Niel and the blood hound could rush in.

  He was the one who ran forward first.

  And.

  “Ethan-nim! Let’s go together!”

  “Oppa! Me too!”

  As always.

  The children followed behind him.

• Kwakwang!

  Phase 2 was disappointingly settled in an instant.

The ceiling rumbles and old dust falls.

“That girl Niel, she hasn’t been able to play around much lately. She’s playing quite wildly?”

Keli hummed a tune while brushing her hair.

It would have been exciting to see humans being killed above.

But sadly, the mana flow in this area was blocked, so she couldn’t.

The cause was pieces of an evil tree.

• Let’s pull it out. Okay?
• No. Leave it.
• Why on earth? If you hold the ritual in a place like this, even your Rielymos will be annoyed, right?
• On the contrary. He says. He likes it.
• ?

  “Like demon, like master.”

  An object that other demons would be horrified by.

  To hold a summoning ritual with it at their feet.

  Thanks to that, she couldn’t even check how Niel was rampaging up there from here.

  Seeing how it quieted down shortly after.

  It seems Niel took care of everything.

  But then.

• Thud!

  When the door opened, what returned was.

  Not Niel.

  “Who are you guys.”

  Instead of an answer.

  Something round was thrown.

  What rolled in was.

  “…Niel?”

  It was Niel’s head.

  “Let’s settle this, demon worshipper.”