Chapter 74 : Escape

The dark spear flying toward Ravi’s heart was swallowed by a burst of radiance and scattered into dust.

“Alvis!”

From the wound where half of my side had vanished, a halo of light leaked out, filling the gap in place of flesh.

The lifeless woman who had been bound by chains and looked as though she were dead had completely disappeared.

The dazzling light that now lit up the entire cathedral was so intense that I could barely keep my eyes open, and the underground creatures were startled, stepping back several paces.

Countless letters filled my vision, but there was no time to pay them any mind.

I quickly pulled out my lightsaber again.

Kwaaa—!

The surge of energy, far more powerful than before, coursed through my hand.

Then, behind me, space split open, revealing a white rift.

It seemed to be an escape route created by the goddess.

“Ravi, Elfin, Lenis! Go through there now! You can escape through it!”

“Alvis, you have to come too!”

“I will! But you need to get out of here first! Lenis, take care of Elfin!”

“Y-Yes! Elfin, can you walk?”

“Don’t worry about me. But what about Alvis…”

Elfin and Lenis hurried toward the white rift, glancing back at me.

“Ravi! It’s dangerous if you stay there! Come on! Alvis won’t come unless we all go first!”

“Got it!”

Ravi, who had been hesitating in worry, finally leapt toward the white rift, and the underground creatures, enraged, began to emit a dark aura.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

“The goddess is gone! If we let them escape, who knows what’ll happen! Kill them all—no matter what, that one must not survive!”

“Get through the portal, quickly!”

I parried the sword energy Robert had sent flying and urged the three forward.

They all sprinted toward the widening white rift.

The underground creatures, more focused on me than the escaping trio, poured all their strength into trying to eliminate me.

But thanks to the lightsaber’s now overwhelming light, I could at least fend off their attacks, even if I couldn’t counter them.

I fought with everything I had to keep the escape route open.

Elfin and Lenis made it through first, and Ravi, after watching me for a moment, followed them through the rift.

As soon as the three crossed over, the portal began to tremble violently and gradually started to fade.

Sensing something was wrong, the three on the other side called out to me in panic.

“Alvis! Something’s wrong with the portal! Hurry, come through!”

“Sorry! I can’t!”

Only after confirming that they’d made it through safely did I confess the truth.

Their eyes widened, and they asked again in trembling voices.

“W-What did you say?”

“Alvis! What are you talking about?! Don’t joke like that! It’s not funny!”

“What do you think you’re doing?! Just get over here and escape!”

“The portal can only let three people through! So… I can’t go!”

As the portal continued to close, the three finally realized the situation and began to cry out in desperation.

“Alvis! No! I-I’ll come back! I’ll—”

“What are you doing?! You can’t just—”

“Are you crazy, Alvis!? Come over here, now!”

All three of them began to cry, their bodies trembling.

“I’ll find a way to escape on my own! You three get to safety and help the survivors from that church!”

“No, Alvis! You’ll die!”

“Come back, Alvis! You’re going to get yourself killed!”

“If you stay there alone, what are we supposed to do?! We… we need you!”

But before I could respond, the portal closed behind their desperate cries.

The underground creatures approached me, smirking with mocking amusement.

“Abandoning those useless three and escaping alone would’ve been way more troublesome for us, but you stayed behind willingly. Should we call it noble… or just stupid?”

“Neither. I just did what I believed was the best choice.”

I raised my middle finger at them and answered coolly.

The underground creatures gathered even more fearsome power than before, readying for battle.

“Where did the chained goddess go?”

“Beats me. And even if I knew, you think I’d tell you?”

“Fair enough. In that case, we’ll just kill you and study your power piece by piece.”

“Who said I’m going to die that easily?!”

I began to gather my strength, ready to counter their attacks—when suddenly…

“Hrk?!”

A sharp pain exploded from the side of my torso, the very spot that had been torn apart by the dark spear and sealed with light.

At the same time, a voice echoed from within me.

『You can’t win right now. While I focus my mind for a moment, just concentrate on survival.』

‘…Goddess?’

『That wound is not fully healed. If you push your power any further, the makeshift seal will tear open again. Don’t overdo it. You must not die here.』

‘You don’t need to tell me that! I wasn’t planning on dying anyway!’

I abandoned my counterattack, flinging myself out of the way of Bastol’s magic and Robert’s sword energy.

“You damn rat!”

Dantalion leapt several meters toward me, swinging a fist as thick as a grown man’s torso to crush me.

I quickly raised my lightsaber to block the attack.

Ziiing—

“Ugh… Dammit…”

The impact was so intense, the blade of light trembled violently, and the pain in my side flared again with dizzying intensity.

The unbearable agony radiating from my ribs told me the goddess was right—the wound hadn’t truly healed.

It was just barely held together by light.

At the point where Dantalion’s arm met my blade, white sparks clashed with black smoke, flaring like a miniature explosion.

Grinding his teeth, Dantalion withdrew his fist, then lunged again, this time baring multiple sets of jaws that looked like a hybrid of a beast and a dog’s head.

Being part beast, his teeth weren’t human either—they were massive, razor-sharp fangs, savage and animalistic.

He came at me with the intent to crush and chew through my lightsaber entirely, but after only a short struggle, he recoiled and stepped back.

“Damn rat… Did you absorb the goddess and amplify your power?”

She’s been chatting in my head this whole time, so yeah, kind of.

‘Hey, Goddess! How much longer?! My side’s killing me—I’m not gonna last much longer like this!’

『Almost… almost… Now!』

As soon as her signal came, I swung my lightsaber through the air once more.

But unlike last time, the space didn’t tear open, and no white portal appeared.

“?!”

When I turned my head, I saw Bastol aiming his staff directly at me.

“The other three might have been lucky enough to escape, but you—I can’t let you go that easily!”

‘Goddess! The portal isn’t opening!’

『Bastol is concentrating all his power to distort the energies around us. You must interrupt his spellcasting. With your ability, you can disrupt his focus.』

I channeled energy into my lightsaber and raised it high above my head.

As Judgment activated, spears of light rained down on the underground creatures.

The number of light spears far exceeded before, filling the cathedral with such blinding radiance that even I could barely keep my eyes open.

“Damn it all…!”

Even the underground beasts, who had previously ignored the light to focus solely on attacking, were now forced into defensive stances.

Each spear of light struck the cathedral’s floor with explosive force, and as Bastol and the rest switched to defense, the overwhelming pressure that had been crushing down on me lifted.

『Now! This time, you must open the portal yourself. Imagine the place you want to go, and swing your sword as if opening a door to it.』

Following the goddess’s instructions, I endured the pain and gathered energy into my lightsaber once more.

“You think I’ll just let you escape?!”

Even while defending, Robert unleashed a sword wave aimed to slice me clean in two.

My focus shattered, and I failed to open the portal.

‘Damn it. These bastards really aren’t going to let me leave, are they?’

『…There’s no choice. I will unleash more of my power. But it’s going to hurt—a lot. Can you bear it?』

‘Let’s do it.’

The moment I responded, a tremendous force began swirling through my body.

It was overwhelming—far more than I could handle.

It felt like my insides were being ripped apart.

It was worse than even a third-stage backlash—pure agony wrapped around every inch of me.

“Gah… AAAAGHHH!!!”

『Just a little more. You can do this. I believe in you.』

Even the light that had sealed the wound in my side began to shudder.

Blood burst forth again, and the black energy at the injury site flared up, bringing searing pain like I was being burned alive.

A wave of light swept through the cathedral, temporarily banishing all shadows.

The underground creatures panicked, and even Bastol turned fully to defense.

“Damn it, that goddess again—she’s pulling another trick!”

“This is dangerous! Everyone, defend yourselves! Channel all your strength!”

BOOOOM!

The entire cathedral trembled as a massive flood of light poured down with enough force to incinerate the underground creatures.

This time, they abandoned any pretense of offense and focused entirely on survival.

Their summoned black barriers clashed violently with the light, sending red and blue sparks flying in all directions like a welding explosion.

『Now! You only have one chance. Focus with everything you have.』

As they scrambled to block the light, the pain wracking my body suddenly vanished.

With my vision fading, I swung the lightsaber.

A portal opened—but I couldn’t even tell if it had worked correctly.

My body, battered and wracked with pain, couldn’t hold out any longer.

I hurled myself into the portal, leaving behind the enraged roars of the underground creatures.

And then—my world went white.

I woke up lying in a forest.

If I had landed properly, I should’ve seen Ravi, Elfin, or Lenis.

But none of them were around. It seemed the pain at the last moment had interfered, and I hadn’t opened the portal perfectly.

Still, since I wasn’t in that dark cathedral anymore and my vision was clear, it seemed like I had at least managed to escape.

“Ugh…!”

When I tried to sit up, pain flared in my side. I quickly checked the wound.

Where half my torso had been torn away, there was now flesh—scarred with a strange pattern, but healed.

That wasn’t something that should’ve healed in just a day or two…

“You’re awake.”

“?!”

I turned my head toward the sudden voice.

Standing there was a woman, pale white in everything—except for her hair, eyes, and eyelashes.

Her clothes looked like ragged scraps barely clinging to her form.

Her appearance was unmistakable.

“…Goddess?”