episode_0160

“Hurry! We need to escape before they catch our scent and come rushing in!”

“That damn prince…!”

“Ganagle! This way!”

With a faint buzzing sound, the gap in the wide-open rock hill revealed the entrance to the hidden sanctuary, from which the men in black robes urgently emerged.

The edges of the robes shimmered with incomprehensible crimson patterns, and the masks on their faces extended down like long tentacles, resembling an octopus.

The disciples of the Abyss Sect. Their appearance was exactly as described in the original novel.

“…They just keep coming out endlessly, like a horde of goblins.”

The procession of disciples kept coming out one after another, making it seem like there was no end to their numbers.

At least forty or more.

Most of them were just average thugs, but…some of the disciples seemed to exude a certain presence.

Even though they were just knights under the kingdom.

“So…where is Ganagle?”

I carefully observed the disciples below the hill, pulling out the spear I had strapped to my back.

As the number of disciples coming out exceeded fifty and reached sixty.

“Ugh…the hero is here again…?”

With a eerie voice, a middle-aged man who seemed twice as large as the others stumbled out of the hole in the rocks.

It was him.

Although he tried to conceal his identity like the other disciples with a hood and mask, it was still easy to recognize him.

With a nauseating and ominous aura enveloping his body like a shroud, there was no mistaking his identity.

The third finger of the Kumayokcheonho, Ganagle Feitan.

Quietly rising from the hill, I aimed the spear I held at my shoulder towards him.

– Thud.

Ice Heart, Gangwan, Manifestation of Up.

A blue glint shone in the bulging pupils, and the icy cold emitted by the Ice Heart spread through the veins.

The concentration of power that surpassed the limits of muscles. The strengthened tip of Einstein’s spear, through the manifestation of Up, was aimed at the vulnerable head of the Abyss Priest.

Einstein’s combat weapon, Valkyria’s Vision Spear Technique.

The Spear of Frost.

Swirling steel spear pierced through the air with a roar.

◆◆

Kwaaaaang!

Unlike when punching through a bandit’s head, the spear thrust with Gangwan’s power to the limit.

Before the booming sound could echo out, the Spear of Frost, extending like a beam of light, struck the enemy’s position directly.

The earth flipped over, spewing dirt and debris, and shattered steel fragments swept around like a storm.

The raging blood and flesh spread out like waves. The thunderous roar, like the wrath of a giant, drowned out the screams and cries of the disciples.

It was a power beyond imagination.

“…Could it be that it’s all over with one strike?”

Edgar and Bayne, who were about to descend the hill with their blackened weapons, looked back at me with surprised eyes.

Of course, I had no interest in whether they were surprised or not.

Now is not the time to worry about that. The situation where the outcome of this fight will be decided.

– Thud, thud…!

Activating the Shoulder Recovery spell, I looked down at the carnage spread out below the hill, recovering my twisted shoulder from the recoil of the spear.

I wondered if Ganagle was alive or dead. It would be nice if he died with this one strike…

“Uueeooeeo!”

…As expected. My life won’t be resolved so easily.

Unfortunately, it seemed like my arrow didn’t quite hit the mark of Gangel’s throat.

Though not clearly visible due to the thick dust, the fierce roar filled with anger alone was enough to indicate that the guy was still alive.

“Gangel! Are you okay?”

“Bishop Willem is in trouble!”

“Enemies! Enemies! Protect the Archbishop!”

It seemed that about half of the members of the Abyss Sect had survived. In other words, the remaining half had all crossed the Styx with just one arrow.

Anyway, since the first surprise attack had only partially failed, there was only one way left.

“Let’s go, Friede!”

“Yes!”

I leaped down the hill with Friede. Stepping on the protrusions sticking out on the hill’s surface, I slowed down the momentum of our descent.

Unlike us who were facing head-on, Edgar and Baynem had each hidden in the darkness to ambush the cultists.

The pure assassin Edgar crawled to a good position to snipe the enemy and pulled out a small crossbow, while the cultist Baynem raised shadows around him like a curtain.

“Shadow Curtain.”

A divine miracle classified as ‘unholy’ within the Goddess Sect, its effect was to wrap shadows around the body, blending into the darkness.

A subpar version of the transparency spell inscribed on the Valkyries’ helmets.

It could only be activated in darkness, and once the attack was launched like the Valkyries, the transparency would be released, making it useless after the initial ambush.

In other words, it meant that if there were multiple enemies, after killing one, you had to face the rest head-on…

“Well, I’m sure they’ll handle it well.”

Baynem probably knew the drawbacks of the Shadow Curtain better than I did, so there was no need for me to pay attention to it.

“Look! Those guys just used that magic…!”

“The cursed prince’s damn dog!”

…There didn’t seem to be any room to pay attention to them in the rapidly sinking dust.

In the torn and scattered corpses in the background, thirty-eight cultists were in battle formation, glaring at us.

Ordinary cultists turned into thirty, bishops or whatever they were, seven, and…

“Grrraaah! You, what are you-!”

A middle-aged Abyss Priest, Gangel Feitan, whose arm had exploded into pieces, shouted.

Instead of answering, I drew my sword. The faintly magical silver longsword, the Edelmoot, gleamed with a cold light.

◆◆

The clouds that covered the night sky flowed with the wind, and the moonlight that poured down clearly illuminated the figure of my enemy.

“Ugh…!”

Disgusting. I grimaced inwardly at the sight of Gangel’s true form, which was even more horrific and grotesque than I had anticipated.

A fat body with no hair and fish-like bluish skin.

The protruding eyes were abnormally large and the pupils were half-closed like a squashed yolk.

However, if that was all, he wouldn’t have been called a monster. At most, he would have been mocked as a professor-shaped fish.

The squashed eyes were nothing special compared to other parts; they were just considered unique.

“Heh, no head? Then, I’ll eat you…!”

He glared at us, his smooth head twitching. Well, should I say smooth or pointed head?

Above Ganaegle’s forehead, it was pointed like wearing a crown. Due to the wide-open skull that looked like water droplets falling on the surface.

Thanks to that, even the darkened brain was clearly visible. It was so vivid that it seemed like it would pour out if you lowered your head.

And that’s not all.

His nose was relatively intact, but below the upper lip, it was torn all the way down to the neck, with thick tentacles extending like a beard inside, instead of teeth or esophagus.

The tentacles of the abyss that gave him the nickname ‘The Brain Eater’.

The writhing tentacles, like octopus legs, oozing viscous fluids, were enough to make you shudder with physiological disgust just by looking at them.

With his head in that condition, how could his body be unharmed?

Between the elaborate robes he wore like an outer garment, his chest and abdomen were strangely translucent, filled with black fluids and numerous brains instead of organs.

In theory, that was probably where he stored the brains of the victims he had devoured, right?

It was literally brains in jars. Except for the minor difference of using magic stimulation instead of electrical stimulation.

“…Ah, I want to go back.”

Concentrating on such a monstrous sight, I began to miss Estherga’s mansion.

Why did I come to this place to engage in such monstrous and grotesque activities in pursuit of wealth and glory?

Of course, it was just a fleeting thought, but my eyes, fixed on him, were already filled with a blue glint.

“Come here, whoa!”

In the next moment, Ganaegle let out a childlike scream and reached out his remaining arm towards us.

– Shalalalalak!

His arm stretched out like rubber, turning into a dozen or so tentacles that whipped like a whip.

Ganaegle’s arms and legs were not human limbs, but a thick mass of tentacles bundled together like human limbs.

Thanks to this, even if they were cut off, they would regenerate, but…

Knowing that they would stretch out was no big deal.

I dodged to the side and swung my sword, partially cutting off his arm. Since I had anticipated the attack, my response was easy.

Of course, that didn’t mean I could let my guard down.

“Grooo….”

Rather than letting my guard down, from now on, I had to be on high alert at every moment.

His weapons were magical abilities gained from the power of the abyss, not rubbery limbs that stretched out endlessly.