Chapter 72: Judgement

‘I’ll go down alone, so you guys kill anyone who tries to run away from here!’

“Stay put and hold your ground.”

“You can surely handle those who try to flee, can’t you?”

Leivi and Ryandel nodded in unison.

Leivi clutched her bow tightly, and Ryandel raised his crystal staff.

They both looked a little scared, but their eyes were filled with determination.

Count Hind still held the unconscious Edgar in his arms.

Under the moonlight, his face was pale, with tear stains visible around his eyes.

His worry for his son was plain to see.

Looking at Edgar’s wounds, it seemed my recovery pollen hadn’t been effective enough.

‘Ah, I have the Authority of Recovery!’

A golden arrow shot out from my fingertip and struck Edgar in the chest.

His entire body began to glow with a faint light.

I could see his wounds healing.

Color gradually returned to his face.

“What is this…”

The Count murmured with astonished eyes.

I sent the same arrows toward Leivi and Ryandel.

Their bodies also momentarily shone, their fatigue seeming to wash away.

Leivi’s grip on her bow tightened, and Ryandel’s disheveled robe straightened itself.

‘Can I use it on myself?’

‘I should give it a try.’

Placing a hand on my chest, I shot a light arrow, and my whole body was instantly engulfed in light.

Wow!

A pleasure I couldn’t describe in words coursed through me.

It felt as if all emotions like fatigue, anxiety, and fear were washed away at once.

My body felt as light as a feather, and my heart filled with faith in Lord Mikel.

A surge of confidence rose within me, making me feel like I could save the entire world by myself.

‘Now, it’s really time to fight!’

Miel and Cecilia circled around me rapidly.

Tiny sparks fell from Cecilia’s three pairs of wings, and Miel’s ice-like wings shimmered in the moonlight.

Lotte was still like a blue satellite orbiting me.

‘Glecia! Glide me down!’

“Glecia, I request your escort.”

Glecia flapped her wings and flew towards me.

With her small feet, disproportionate to her size, she firmly gripped my shoulders.

Lifting me up, Glecia descended slowly into the collapsed plaza.

The flight was much more stable than when she had carried Edgar.

This kind of preferential treatment is great!

I let one arm hang comfortably, while the other fiddled with the Crimson Bind.

As we descended underground, my field of vision widened.

This was clearly the place where the ritual was held.

On the floor was a Ouroboros symbol, a snake biting its own tail, and black candlesticks lay scattered about.

And there it was—the demon.

Its form was so indistinct it looked like a walking shadow.

It would occasionally take a human shape before suddenly distorting again.

A hazy fog swirled around it.

The demon was watching me descend.

Just by looking at its status window, I could tell it was a strong one.

Glecia gently set me down on the ground.

As my feet touched the floor, the sigil drawn in blood shimmered faintly.

“Oh! The new messenger of Abraxas!”

Men in black robes suddenly began to bow to me.

They prostrated themselves on the floor in a posture of prayer.

‘Wha… what?’

‘Are they talking to me?’

I was completely confused.
‘Have they lost their minds!’

The demon’s reaction was different from its followers.

It just stared at me intently.

I couldn’t read its expression due to its formless nature, but I got the feeling it was mocking me.

Its arrogant aura spread through the air.

Just then, one of the followers shot to his feet.

He wore a more ornate robe than the others, and in his hand, he held a strangely transparent-looking knife with an eerie pattern engraved on it.

“No! I can feel the divine power of Mikel from that wench! She is not the messenger of Lord Abraxas!”

『 ☆☆☆☆【Dzak】Human LV157 』

For a human, his level was quite high.

And to even notice Lord Mikel’s divine power, he didn’t seem like an ordinary follower.

‘So you must be the leader of this group!’

“Dzak Walter! What in the world do you think you’re doing!”

Suddenly, Count Hind’s enraged voice echoed from above.

The Count stood at the edge of the collapsed plaza, looking down.

The man named Dzak slowly raised his head to look at the Count.

A cold smile spread across his lips.

“Oh, Count Hind. It has been a while. You’ve been reunited with your second son, I see?”

His voice was laced with contempt and ridicule.

“How dare you…”

The Count’s face contorted with fury.

“We are the faithful servants of the great Lord Abraxas,”

Dzak continued, spreading his arms.

“The nobles who have disappeared until now? We took them all for our sacred ritual. Especially Duke Crosby… his blood was truly magnificent.”

Dzak’s eyes shifted to Edgar.

“Lord Edgar and Duke Crosby were snooping around our business.

The Duke has already been offered to Lord Abraxas, but Lord Edgar… it seems we regrettably let him slip away.”

His words made my blood boil.

Everything he had done was now revealed.

‘Kidnapping innocent people to offer their precious blood!’

‘And not even to Lord Mikel, but to some weird, fake evil god!’

‘I will never forgive you!’

“You bastard!”

Count Hind’s furious shout roared through the air.

Thump!

Suddenly, with a loud noise, the Count leaped down from above.

‘Gasp!’

‘From that height…?’

The drop was probably about the height of a four-story building.

It was a truly dangerous height.

Amazingly, the Count landed safely.

A blue light enveloped his knees, absorbing the impact from the floor.

Even after that, his massive frame stood tall and straight.

‘Is that also a secret technique of the Hind family…?’

“Lady Lycoris, I will take care of Dzak Walter.”

‘Oh… okay…’

“Hmph.”

I was taken aback by the Count’s suddenly cold tone, but my noble persona took it stoically.

Count Hind clenched his fists and rushed towards Dzak.

Dzak raised his knife to meet him.

A shimmering energy clashed between the two men.

I had no time to worry about them.

I had a much stronger enemy in front of me.

The demon was still watching me, and its followers, panicked by Dzak’s words, began to scatter in all directions.

‘Hmph!’

“Hmph!”

As I let out a cry, dozens of black roots shot up from the floor.

The roots, like snakes, burst from the ground and pierced the fleeing followers.

Screams echoed from all around.

‘Don’t even think about escaping!’

‘All of your blood belongs to Lord Mikel!’

‘Become a proper sacrifice!’

However, the demon easily dodged my attack.

I felt a ripple in space, and though the roots seemed to pass through it, they were actually missing their mark.

‘Wh-what!’

‘How did it dodge that!’

‘Again!’

I charged towards the demon.

‘Come to think of it, among the authorities Lord Mikel gave me, there was one to judge evil beings.’

‘What was its name?’

‘I can’t remember, but I’ll try to use it based on the feeling it gives me.’

‘Sanctus something-or-other Authority!’

Instantly, a warm energy spread throughout my body.

It felt as if Lord Mikel’s power was flowing through my blood.

Even the air around me seemed to clear.

A golden aura enveloped the black roots and the Crimson Bind.

When I scattered my pollen, it too shone with a sacred light.

This was definitely a divine attribute bonus attack!

Cecilia also fired off crimson flame arrows ferociously.

Sparks flew from her three pairs of wings as they cut through the air.

Her usual lazy demeanor was gone; her combat stance was truly majestic.

But…

The space around the demon suddenly began to distort.

The air rippled like water, and all our attacks seemed to be sucked into that distorted space.

“Kekekekekeke!”

I heard the demon’s laughter.

The sound was so chilling it felt like it was being whispered directly into my ear.

‘This is insane!’

‘What is that!’

‘It’s not working at all!’

I got closer, swinging the Crimson Bind and continuously making roots sprout.

But every time the sword was about to strike the demon, space would bend, causing it to miss, and the same happened with the roots.

‘Besides, this sword is useless…’

‘I don’t even know swordsmanship, what am I doing with a sword!’

As I was about to throw the Crimson Bind away, I glanced to the side and saw Count Hind fighting Dzak with his bare hands.

A blue light emanated from the Count’s fists as he tried to break through Dzak’s defense, but a black aura flowing from Dzak’s knife blocked him.

‘Huh?’

‘Weren’t you a famous swordsmanship family…?’

‘Did you not bring a sword?’

‘You use this!’

“Take it!”

With astonishing reflexes, the Count snatched the sword from mid-air.

“Are you sure?”

The Count hesitated for a moment.

‘I don’t know swordsmanship anyway!’

“Swordsmanship is but a fraction of my talents. I have no need for it.”

‘What is this soul saying!’

‘If you knew swordsmanship, I would have felt it when you swung it earlier!’

It was then.

The demon took an offensive stance for the first time.

A strange energy began to condense in what appeared to be the demon’s hand.

The space around it distorted as if being sucked in.

‘Wh-what is that!’

‘A black hole?!’

That energy flew towards me in an instant.

Lotte quickly flew in front of me to defend, but the energy passed right through her as if she wasn’t there.

And it pierced through me.

“Kyaaaak!”

An unimaginable pain engulfed my entire body.

It was a pain that felt like my very soul was being torn apart.

The Polymorph ability was forcibly canceled, my human form vanished, and I reverted to my original flower form.

『 HP : 3,494/3,494 + (1,598,127) 』

Checking my status, my health had dropped by about 10,000.

‘Ugh… it didn’t drop by much, but why does it hurt so much.’

‘Ah, is it because without my backup battery, that would have been enough to kill me three times over?’

“Kekekekekeke!”

The demon let out that sickening laugh once more.

‘No time to think about this.’

‘This thing is much stronger than I thought.’

I had plenty of health, but I didn’t want to feel that kind of pain again.

‘Polymorph!’

I chanted the spell, but nothing happened.

It felt like something was blocked inside me.

As if the channel for my ability had been severed.

‘Is this that thing’s ability?’

Suddenly, I remembered another authority.

There was one that washed away curses and impure energy.

‘Lux something-or-other Authority!’

Again, I couldn’t remember the exact name, but I went with my gut feeling.

A golden light spread out from my body.

It felt as if all the filth within me was being cleansed.

I could feel the blocked passage inside me reopening.

Just as I was about to try Polymorph again, my Domain Control Radar, which had returned in my flower state, showed me every corner of the creature’s body.

Amazingly, parts of its body were completely empty.

They weren’t just holes, but places where space itself seemed not to exist.

And I could also see how the space around it was distorted.

It was twisted like a complex hall of mirrors.

‘So that’s why my attacks kept missing!’

‘Now I get it.’

‘I can see the direction where my attacks will land!’

It seemed more advantageous to fight in my flower state.

Now that I could see the spatial distortion, I had a grasp of how to attack.

Just then, the demon attacked again.

This time, it created several shadow-like blades and launched them at me.

Lotte once again rushed in front of me to block, but this time too, the blades passed through her and sliced off my petals.

“Aaargh!”

I felt the pain, but it was more bearable than before.

Two of my giant petals were severed, but thanks to my massive backup battery, they regenerated in an instant.

Now, it was my turn to counterattack.

‘Take this! And this!’

I launched various pollens and roots in multiple directions simultaneously.

Matching the spatial distortions I saw with my Domain Control Radar, the roots aimed for where the demon would actually be, while the pollen spread widely through the air.

The roots hadn’t made direct contact yet, but the pollen began to lightly dust the demon’s body.

Its form flickered for a moment, and its movements slowed.

‘It’s a status effect bomb of paralysis and more!’

Miel, who had been watching from high above, suddenly started flapping her wings.

She moved her blue wings rapidly, flying in a peculiar pattern.

It seemed like she was signaling something.

Cecilia abruptly changed direction and fired a fireball into an empty space.

Amazingly, the fireball scored a direct hit on the demon.

Glecia also charged towards the direction Miel indicated and plunged her poison sting into the demon’s form.

‘Ooh!’

‘But how did Miel figure out the secret of the spatial distortion?’

‘She doesn’t have a radar, so how did she find it before I did?’

‘She acts like a child usually, but I guess this is why she’s the leader of the smart butterflies!?’

“Kekekekek!”

The demon screamed in pain.

The sound was as unpleasant as metal scraping against metal, but to me, it was the most beautiful music.

The tide had turned. I checked on the Count’s side, and he too was pushing Dzak back with the Crimson Bind.

‘Alright!’

‘Die already!’

We landed more and more attacks on the demon.

The combined effects of my pollen and the attacks from my bugs were pressuring it.

Finally, the demon waved its hand in the air.

The space around it began to distort like a whirlpool.

‘Are you trying to run away!’

‘Just become a blood sacrifice for Lord Mikel!’

‘Death Mark!’

This ability’s name I remembered clearly.

‘He said they can’t escape if I use this!’

A red sigil began to appear in the space above the demon’s head.

It was a new symbol, like Lord Mikel’s emblem dripping with blood, with light spreading out in all directions.

‘Wow!’

‘That’s so cool!’

‘It’s the very essence of Lord Mikel!’

While I was admiring it, the sigil was completed.

In that instant, the world seemed to spin.

The surrounding scenery blurred and then shifted to a completely different place.

This was a circular arena, enclosed on all sides.

A temple-like space that seemed to be built of white marble, reminiscent of an ancient Roman Colosseum.

Only the demon and I were there.

Cecilia, Glecia, Lotte, Miel—none of them were in sight.

It was a space for just the two of us.

‘So “can’t escape” meant a forced one-on-one duel?!’