episode_0237

ㅡBooaaaaaaak!!!

Eugene Schneider’s greatsword, clad in blood, split the wind.

ㅡPueooooeok!!!

“ㅡKueoooooeok!!!”

Then, a very thick-sounding wail echoed.

It was the chieftain goblin’s scream.

Five chieftain goblins were mixed in with the dozens of goblin mobs, and

Eugene Schneider’s attack split the last chieftain goblin’s head.

“Hoo-uh!”

In less than ten minutes since the battle began, Eugene Schneider had slaughtered all the goblins that had rushed out onto the neutral zone road.

Although he was a Sword Seeker, Eugene Schneider, who had plenty of stamina, couldn’t help but take a deep breath at the horrific scene he had created.

“With this many, it’s hard to believe that the goblins that were originally here came out after assessing the situation, Priscilla.”

Eugene Schneider conveyed his analysis of the situation to Priscilla, who approached him from behind.

Until recently, the monsters that have appeared on the continent are those that live in groups.

As such, they have naturally appeared in places with terrain suitable for group living.

However, the neutral zone between the empire’s territories basically lacks such terrain and space.

The area where the current battle took place was also the same, and through this, Eugene Schneider is trying to deduce the origin of the goblins.

“I agree. But that’s why it’s more surprising and shocking. How could this many goblins suddenly appear here?”

Thump! Thump!

Priscilla kicked the chieftain goblin’s corpse with her foot and nodded slowly at Eugene’s words.

If they weren’t goblins that had already settled down, it’s questionable how this many goblins could suddenly appear in this space.

“Let’s examine the surroundings a bit more. There might be more goblins hiding, and there’s a possibility that a goblin lord is present.”

“Okay, Priscilla.”

Eugene and Priscilla are in a hurry to get where they need to go, but right now, every piece of information is precious.

So, the two of them began searching the area nearby to eliminate the remaining goblins.

“ㅡKkeueeeeek!!” “ㅡKkueeeeek!!”

ㅡPueooooeok!ㅡPeooooeok!!

As expected, when they entered the small mountain next to the road, there were remaining goblins, and the two of them cleared them all out.

“What is it? The number of goblins is definitely decreasing, but the eerie energy around here doesn’t seem to be decreasing. It feels like it’s actually increasing.”

While Eugene was slaughtering the goblins, Priscilla continued to survey the surroundings.

It seemed that she continued to sense something through the elf’s sensitive mana detection ability.

Then, her expression became puzzled.

The energy situation nearby is quite unusual.

“…..”

Eugene’s expression, as he listened to Priscilla’s words, looked slightly complicated.

‘I can also feel that energy that Priscilla is talking about.’

He, too, felt the eerie energy, just like the elf Priscilla.

Of course, Eugene also senses the opponent’s energy when fighting those with a considerable amount of mana energy.

However, that is only in an extremely limited area, and he cannot specifically sense energy that has no contact with him at all.

He is not an elf or a psychic-type Awakened.

Nevertheless, he is experiencing what Priscilla is saying.

‘It’s over there!’

No, even more precisely, Eugene Schneider sensed the source of the eerie energy in more detail than the elf Priscilla.

“Eugene? Where are you going!”

Eugene Schneider moved his steps towards that direction, and since his path of movement was not the planned direction, Priscilla reacted immediately.

“Oh sh*t…!”

Thud!

Eugene Schneider, who had been walking alone as if drawn to something, stopped with wide eyes.

‘A space rift? What is this space rift in front of me???’

Saaaaaaa…! Seueueueue…! Saaaaaaaa…!

It was neither a gate nor a warp zone.

In front of Eugene Schneider’s eyes was a space rift, and the rift was spewing out black-purple energy like smoke.

“A dimensional rift!???”

Priscilla, who arrived at the scene late after following Eugene Schneider, also witnessed the space rift and shouted in a shocked voice.

“If it’s a dimensional rift, isn’t that something that connects to another world due to the distortion of the transcendental realm?? Are you talking about that legend that has been passed down, Priscilla??”

Eugene had also heard of the concept in general.

A dimensional rift,

A rift created by a change in the world itself that transcends the realm of the gods.

Through the rift created in this way, beings from that world are transferred or cross over to other worlds.

“It’s a dimensional rift. Dimensional rifts that connect to the spirit realm are sometimes created near the World Tree. So, I’ve seen it a few times.”

Dimensional rifts often occur in places with high energy concentration from another world, and a prime example is the World Tree.

This is because the World Tree is a tree, and at the same time, it is a space and dimension in itself.

“If this is a dimensional rift, then the goblins must be goblins that poured out from here.”

Eugene Schneider walked closer to the dimensional rift.

Eugene Schneider nodded slowly,

The question of why a large number of goblins suddenly poured out onto the neutral zone road has been resolved.

“That’s right. And those guys are goblins that came from the demon world. Goblins are occasionally created and come over from the spirit realm, but the appearance of that energy itself is completely different from that of the spirit realm. We should see it as the demon world.”

Priscilla, who was following, agreed with Eugene’s mutterings.

In other words, the monsters that Eugene and Priscilla had slaughtered just now were not simply monsters created in this world under the influence of demonic energy, but monsters that had come directly from the demon world.

“Of course, I don’t know if all the monsters that are appearing now came through these dimensional rifts. But what is certain is that in the case of monsters pouring out through dimensional rifts, it’s not enough to just get rid of the ones that are visible right now.”

“Are you saying that monsters will continue to pour out through this dimensional rift?”

“That’s probably right. However, in the case of this dimensional rift, it is now entering a lull. Dimensional rifts continuously consume energy each time a monster comes and goes. When it’s consumed, it enters a lull state and recharges, and then spits out monsters again. That’s why the spirit realm dimensional rifts created in the World Tree are just left alone. Then, because spirits relatively move less to other worlds, the dimensional rift naturally disappears.”

If all the monsters that have increased in the past few years are due to dimensional rifts, then a real dimensional rift would have been discovered by civilians.

Also, Victoria would have mentioned it,

In Priscilla’s view, it is speculated that dimensional rifts are not phenomena that have started to appear at this point in time.

“This is a headache. Now that we’ve discovered a dimensional rift, we have to report it to the nearby imperial garrison, but if we do, it will create a result that will tie us down.”

In conclusion, Eugene and Priscilla were in a difficult situation.

They can’t just leave the dimensional rift as it is.

At this point, troops must be stationed near the dimensional rift and continuously cut down monsters for a long time to allow the dimensional rift to naturally disappear.

However, in the process, background checks on Eugene and Priscilla will definitely be conducted, and time will be wasted.

“Hey, Priscilla. To be honest, I came this way because I felt this dimensional rift energy earlier.”

At that moment, Eugene Schneider honestly revealed his situation to Priscilla.

“Really? That’s amazing. It means that mana detection has become possible beyond the unique class, and could that be connected to your unusual change that the mage Elizabeth mentioned?”

Eugene’s detailed explanation continued, and Priscilla, who understood the situation as a result, thought that it might be related to Eugene Schneider’s recent rapid changes.

“But there’s something else that’s coming to me with a sense of déjà vu, Priscilla.”

Eugene told Priscilla about his situation because he had another purpose.

This is because he felt that another phenomenon beyond sensing the dimensional rift was being created in his body.

“What is it?”

So, Priscilla asked with a curious expression, and

Swishhhhh…!

Eugene responded not with an answer, but by raising his greatsword towards the dimensional rift.

ㅡBooaaaaaaak!!!

Then, he swung it, emitting a tremendous wind-splitting sound.

ㅡSeugeoooooeok!!!

Afterwards, Eugene’s greatsword attack split the dimensional rift.

“!!!?????????”

He really split it.

It didn’t just cut through the space of the dimensional rift, but

It split it in half as if bisecting a living being called the dimensional rift.

Priscilla’s eyes widened at the complete split.

Not only that, but

Seueueueueueueue…!!!!

The dimensional rift, split by Eugene’s greatsword, began to disappear.

**********

ㅡPueooooeok!!!

The sound of a heavy blunt weapon hitting with a clean hit

ㅡPeoseoseoseoseok!!!

“ㅡKueooooeok!!!”

That was none other than the sound of the Goddess’s Warhammer, filled with divine power, wielded by the Bishop Sister Charlotte, crushing the head of a variant orc.

ㅡPshushushushushut!!!

ㅡKudangtangtang!!!

A surge of blackish-red blood,

At the same time, the over 2m tall variant orc fell backwards like a fallen old tree.

Bishop Sister Charlotte had thus defeated the last variant orc.

“Hoo-euuuu…! Hoo-euuuu…!”

Passeusseusseusseusseus…!

Charlotte, looking at the corpse of the fallen variant orc, took a deep breath.

Charlotte’s divinity was manifested not only in the Goddess’s Warhammer but also in her body, and

In that state, Charlotte’s eyes turned murderous.

“Then, I would like to ask you, Senior Sister Carmen, to lead the situation as my representative while I and the senior priestess sisters offer prayers of repentance.”

“Yes, I will work hard to do my best, Bishop Sister Charlotte.”

Charlotte, who had returned to the Holy See’s Disaster Headquarters after the battle, was telling Sister Carmen about the situation afterwards.

Senior priestess sisters, who are Expert-level or higher, use a tremendous amount of divine power in fighting monsters.

As a result, they can unleash extraordinary destructive power, but there are also risks involved.

Namely, there is a possibility that the workings of an improper mind will be manifested due to the instability of the ego.

Therefore, from the level of senior priestess sister and above, when a certain amount of divine power or more is exerted in a considerable level of combat, they take time to organize their minds and bodies with prayers of repentance.

“Lord God…”

Chaaaaaak…!

Charlotte gave instructions to Sister Carmen and entered the prayer room next to her personal room, knelt down, and folded her hands in front of the symbol of the Church of the Goddess of Light hanging on the wall.

“By the grace of the Lord God, look down upon my sinful body and mind…”

Seueueueueue…!

Soon, a faint haze of divine power emanated from Charlotte’s body, and the prayer of repentance began.

“I have committed killing… Although it was a monster, it was a clear act of killing… I kneel before the Lord God and repent of that sin…”

She is rewinding the memories of the battle situation and her mental state with her ability, confirming her state of agitation accordingly, and carrying out a prayer of repentance to calm herself down.

But at that moment,

Twitch…! Twitch…!

The corners of Charlotte’s mouth, who was devoting herself to repentance, twitched in a strange way.

It was clearly a smile with an impure feeling.