Assault (4)

Assault (4)

The Heaven God Cult’s method of drawing out human negativity is relatively simple.

Inflicting the greatest possible pain in the current situation.

This was the main approach used by the Heaven God Cult.

‘So in addition to simply torturing, they also extract negativity by torturing relatives, lovers, or acquaintances like this.’

Perhaps because of this, they kept the kidnapped humans in quite horrific confinement.

In cases where there were families, they confined them all in prison cells no bigger than boxes, and other humans were classified and placed in narrow cages reminiscent of chicken coops.

As I let out a hollow laugh at the sight that looked like a farm made using humans.

I stared blankly at the Heaven God Cult followers rushing towards me.

Then I struck the face of the first one to reach me with my mace while drawing up mana.

‘One person should be enough to kidnap.’

Thinking it would be better to kidnap a demon disguised as a human if possible.

I contested the ownership of the magic directed at me while simultaneously shooting it back.

Then I smashed the face of the person next to me with my mace, killing them instantly.

Crunch!

It seems that even those who act on the fringes of humanity have a desire to live.

Seeing their comrade’s head crushed to the point where it could be described as collapsed, some of them were greatly shaken and stopped in their tracks.

The rest cowered in fear, not even showing the will to attack.

‘So they value their own lives, do they?’

I felt a great disgust at the typical attitude of hypocrisy, laughed lightly, and quickly approached the still-living magicians using space compression magic.

To be honest, unless they were extremely powerful, other magicians’ attacks weren’t much of a threat, so they could be dealt with later.

‘If those guys decide to run away in earnest, it could become quite troublesome.’

It would be better to eliminate all of them before it becomes a headache.

I prioritized them first and cast a spell.

“Lightning Strike.”

Although less powerful than a point explosion.

Unlike a point explosion, it’s suitable for indoor use.

I watched as white electric magic manifested in front of me, striking downwards, while I wrapped myself in mana.

– Kwaaang!

As the magic struck the floor, the surrounding magicians were either electrocuted and collapsed.

Or, if they couldn’t block it with a barrier, they exploded into bloody chunks of flesh and disappeared somewhere.

I looked at what used to be magicians and turned my gaze.

Just as I was about to cast another Lightning Strike to deal with the rest.

“You’re stronger than I thought. It’s unexpected.”

A rather gentle voice was heard from outside the building.

As I looked at him, who possessed much stronger magical energy than any of the priests I had seen so far.

I inwardly smiled, realizing that quite a big shot had arrived this time.

‘Got you.’

I realized that having such powerful magical energy meant he must hold quite a high position in the Heaven God Cult.

I slowly looked at him, thinking I had found a target to kidnap.

A strange face with a smile as if something was so good, but with eyes that held no emotion at all.

Just as I was feeling extremely uncomfortable with that face that felt oddly eerie just by looking at it.

He calmly continued speaking to me.

“Having such great talent… is clear evidence of being more distinctly blessed by the Heaven God. I don’t understand why you’re rebelling against the Heaven God Cult.”

It seems that guy thinks I don’t know what the true nature of the ‘Heaven God’ is.

The moment I heard those words, I realized I was one step ahead in terms of information and spoke.

“Shut up.”

“My, what a rather aggressive person you are. But that’s fine. For someone who has received the grace of the Heaven God, it’s right to see this level of rudeness as confidence instead.”

It was amusing how he spoke as if I had become stronger by receiving the grace of the Heaven God, making it seem like all of this was a blessing from the Heaven God.

Unexpectedly, the guys around seemed to gain some resolve from those words, as they stopped hesitating and began glaring at me again.

“Still, excessive rudeness doesn’t tend to yield good results.”

The priest seemed quite pleased with this situation, smiling with satisfaction as he looked at me.

Then, taking out a book from his bosom, he spoke to me.

“Brother. Why don’t you repent now and walk the same path as us?”

As I ignored him, thinking it wasn’t even worth answering.

He continued speaking to me, still smiling brightly.

“If you join the cult, the cult will provide full support to you and your family…”

As I sneered while hearing those words.

He seemed to realize his mistake, stopping mid-sentence and changing the subject appropriately.

“Ah… Excuse me. I suppose someone from the Lercier Family might not need this.”

“It’s not a matter of not needing it. It’s meaningless. Like shedding a single tear into the ocean, nothing changes.”

“……”

Perhaps due to the disparagement of the entire cult, he wore a slightly offended expression.

Quickly composing himself, he continued speaking to me.

“You’re excessively… arrogant, to the point of hubris. If you turn the Heaven God Cult into your enemy like this, you might not fare so well.”

At those words, I sneered again and said.

“If I turn them into enemies, will you kidnap my family and force them to sign contracts, like you did with Espin?”

“Well… in an extreme situation, that could happen.”

Hearing this, I shrugged my shoulders and answered briefly.

“Go ahead and try.”

“… Pardon?”

His visibly flustered expression was quite amusing.

I responded to him once more.

“I said, go ahead and try.”

At that, he tried to say something but.

Seemingly realizing why I was so confident, he closed his mouth.

Looking at him, I thought this should be enough and tightened my grip on the mace.

‘Well then, shall we wrap this up?’

I must have caught the big fish. There’s no need to drag this out any longer.

With that thought, I threw the mace forward and activated my magic.

‘Spatial compression magic followed by lightning.’

I drew attention with the mace and then struck with lightning as a follow-up.

He blocked the mace well, but the lightning seemed difficult to defend against, causing him to stumble back a few steps while deflecting it.

The impact seemed less severe for him compared to others, but…

‘That should be enough.’

After all, the lightning was only used as a deterrent.

Thinking I had achieved my intended goal, I used spatial compression magic to instantly close the distance.

I caught the falling mace and immediately struck the man’s shin.

Crack!

The sound of bone breaking.

Judging by the fact that it only broke without shattering, it seems he managed to use a protective spell in that short time.

Thinking his reaction speed was quite fast, I called forth lightning once again.

“… Where do you think you’re going!”

As if determined not to fall for the same trick twice, he desperately tried to maintain his collapsing body while releasing magical energy to deflect my lightning.

But this was exactly what I had anticipated, so I smiled and whispered briefly.

“Magic Penetration.”

If I make it penetrate from the start, it becomes impossible to block.

My lightning pierced through the protective barrier and struck the priest’s body directly.

Though less powerful than a point-blank explosion.

While weaker than a point-blank explosion, it’s still quite powerful among spells, causing his entire body to turn red as he began to scream.

“Kueeeoook!”

A voice gradually sinking.

He began to writhe, making monstrous sounds and thrashing about.

Then, tearing his face with his bare hands, he shouted loudly.

“… You worthless human!”

As he tore his face, something black in form burst out.

I narrowed my eyes as I saw numerous small snakes falling along with pieces of skin.

‘Now it begins.’

Until now, he had maintained his form and couldn’t use his true power.

But having shed those restrictions, he could now use his true power, making him at least twice as strong as before.

As I was looking at him, he shouted at me with a voice full of rage.

“I’ll make you regret your actions for eternity! I’ll peel the flesh off your entire body while you’re still alive and make you eat-!”

Around the time he was shouting something.

Thinking there was no need to listen any further, I immediately approached him, struck his head with my mace.

Then, reaching for his open mouth, I briefly shouted.

“Point Explosion.”

At that cry, the surrounding mana stirred and began to vibrate strongly, starting to distort everything around.

As I saw pure and intense mana, mixed with sky blue and purple, gathering in front of my hand.

I drove it straight into his body, then immediately uppercutted his jaw with the mace.

Kwang!

As soon as I struck with the mace filled with mana, there was a bursting sound and his body flew backward.

I was feeling satisfied watching him unable to react properly, probably due to the space compression magic mixed into every action.

Before the demon’s body I had sent flying could even touch the wall, it burst open, splattering blue blood everywhere.

It must feel like popping a water balloon filled with blue paint.

I was looking at the flesh scattered everywhere due to the delayed explosion at the point of origin with a somewhat satisfied expression.

The bandit-like fellows I had released started screaming and running away.

“Mo-Monster!”

“R-Run away!”

If they’re talking about a monster, they must mean the guy who just exploded, right?

I was about to say it’s safe now since I dealt with the monster.

But seeing them point at me and run away, I felt a bit wronged.

‘… Well, anyway, this shouldn’t have killed him.’

Although it was damage that should have been fatal under normal circumstances.

I cast a protective spell just before he burst, so given the insanely strong regenerative abilities of high-ranking demons, he should still be alive.

As I was thinking this and looking around, I could see a blue, worm-like creature wriggling nearby.

‘Found it.’

This should be the one to take back.

Thinking I had succeeded in the abduction, I lifted the worm with mana and put it into a nearby glass bottle.

‘Now that I’ve got the gift, I just need to get the contract.’

So I decided to look for the contract inside the room, putting the glass bottle into my pocket.