Surrounded by aura and sword strikes, the blows surged towards Reed.
The concentrated destruction, focused on a single point to minimize collateral damage, was overwhelming.
The wind pressure alone sent Reed’s hair flying wildly, and the people nearby were pushed back.
However.
Thoom!
A hollow echo traveled through the wrists of the two aura masters.
Instead of the intruder, an unknown transparent wall absorbed the blow.
The handso man, his black hair tousled, calmly moved through the gusts and walked forward.
He muttered softly.
“Mortals’ rest, the flowers at the grave, the tears of fallen heavens.”
The black magic, Erebo-Mancer, was cast in a triple incantation. In that mont, hell unfolded before the mortals.
Thud thud thud!
“What, what is that!”
“Why is it like this... Ahh!”
It was as if the dungeon burst and the demon world itself had turned into a graveyard.
Countless skeletal hands erged from the ground, pulling the living into the earth with envy for their lives.
It was a live burial.
As each person was buried in the earth, a gravestone made of dirt rose, and red symbols blood.
The flowers, blooming rapidly after consuming the nutrients, glistened brightly.
“No, this—!”
“Ghh!”
Because the power applied to their very existence, defense was impossible.
Even Duke Hispenril and Marquis Lechandro could not resist the overwhelming force and were dragged into the ground.
While the hellish scene unfolded on the ground, the sky was no better.
Crack, snap, whoooooosh!
Sinister dark clouds squeezed out rain. The powerful acidic red rain burned the skin.
“AAAH!”
“The barrier, the barrier...!”
The horrifying rain from hell’s high mountains created pandemonium.
It was a malicious weather phenonon like the one that had occurred after the Hellkaion purge.
Finally, the holy knights recalled the mory and shouted.
“T-the Black Swordmaster!”
The wind pressure grew fiercer.
It was as if Reed had been waiting for this mont, unleashing his aura and demonic power. Now, no one could dare to stop him.
In the anti, Reed’s steps halted in front of Muriel.
“......”
“......”
They were at a rather close distance.
Thanks to this, Muriel could clearly see the features of this strikingly handso man.
“You... that face...”
It seed she recognized him. On this matter, Reed also had sothing to say.
“You, though... you don’t look like the face I rember.”
“......!”
A stranger was pretending to be Muriel Philesian.
Her bloodshot eyes narrowed briefly, but it was only for a mont.
Reed did not feel any deep curiosity about the saint in front of him.
After all, she was soone who would die soon.
“Gack!”
The cursed sword pierced through Muriel’s left breast.
“Saintess!”
“Ahhhhh!”
The churchgoers, half buried in the ground, scread.
Reed, standing in the pool of blood, picked up the holy land flag. The red-stained flag fell into his hands.
“Ah, darkness born from the light...”
Among the few survivors was Pope Benedict.
She closed her eyes as if there was nothing else to be done.
As Reed glanced at the hands of the minions who had been controlling her behind the scenes, he turned to leave.
“How dare you harm the saintess...!”
Not all of the Holy Office were cowards.
Clovis revealed his fighting spirit and charged at Reed.
The gravity that had been making the humans crawl was lifted. Clovis, who had planted himself into the ground, rapidly approached Reed.
Whoosh.
The sound of the sword swishing echoed.
Just as the sword wrapped in aura aid to strike Reed.
“......!”
The black-haired man’s face erged from the whirlwind, revealing his profile.
“You...”
His silver-gray eyes widened in disbelief.
Crash!
Reed’s left hand shattered Clovis’s sword as it collided. Amid the shattered pieces of the blade, the gazes of the two n t.
The shock was one-sided.
Reed’s face, staring at Clovis, was devoid of any expression, as though it was completely chanical.
He had severed all ties with his humanity. His sense of self had long been worn down. There was no emotional response left.
Therefore, his hand, stretched toward Clovis’s neck, was devoid of any feeling.
Fwoosh!
“Ugh, aahhh!”
From the grip on his collar, black flas erupted. The flas of hell, licking the air, engulfed Clovis’s body.
Whoosh.
The once valiant holy knight was instantly reduced to ash, and only his white uniform remained in Reed’s hand.
“......”
Reed glanced down briefly at the items left behind, then turned his back.
Five steps ahead, the gate had already opened, waiting for chaotic evil.
“...Ah, right.”
Suddenly, Reed stopped walking. He had a ssage for the surviving humans.
“Go to the Litniel plains and wait. The Demon King will erge into the mortal world from there.”
“......!”
The words, spoken casually, struck everyone’s ears more strongly than any prophecy.
An unnecessarily revealed future.
Whether it was rcy from evil or mockery of helpless humans, it was unclear.
Swish.
The gate that had received Reed vanished. What remained was the courtyard of the # Nоvеlight # ruined Holy Office.
At that mont, the illusion that they had been chosen by the gods was shattered.
The dazed survivors lingered in the Holy Office for a long ti.
"I will do it."
[ Quest 'Judicial Transaction (Difficulty: SSS)' accepted.]
With a clenched fist, I accepted the quest. The seed of the red symbol and the mark of the contract settled into my hand.
“Contract complete.”
At Infernos’s gesture, Levant Marquis stepped forward.
“Levant Marquis will assist in your infiltration. It would be wise to exchange greetings.”
“Though I find it disagreeable, I shall greet you, Executor of Sin. I am Levantia Levant, Chief Aide to His Excellency Infernos, the Demon King.”
As the white hand removed the mask, a familiar face appeared.
An intelligent, cool beauty with sky-blue cut hair, only longer at the sides.
She looked exactly like Elantia, the librarian of the Grand Library. Given the similar nas, they were likely sisters.
Elantia spoke.
“I shall help the pink hair sprout the seed of the red symbol. But first, we must arrange a flowerpot to suit Carpeos’s tastes. To the dressing room first...”
“Not necessary.”
I took two suits from my inventory, suited for the task at hand.
Both the Demon King and his aide’s red eyes glimred.
“Your taste is rather refined.”
“You should consider it an honor to be recognized by His Excellency Infernos, the Demon King, for your noble taste.”
I took the ti to leisurely pick out the clothes.
Glancing at the Pit of Solitude, I imdiately removed the holy knight’s jacket.
“Hurry up. We don’t have ti for idling.”
Chapter 40: Chaos Tomb
It was dark.
A darkness where sight did not function.
In such a space, Tesilid was vulnerable.
The horrific mories of being trapped in the ‘Pit of Atonent’ tried to consu him.
The only thing keeping him sane was the fact that sound had not yet died.
Whoosh!
Argh!
The creatures sacrificed to the black magic clashed in a battlefield, and the deafening noise was pervasive.
This wasn’t a pit.
No, this wasn’t a pit, he kept telling himself.
Just closing his eyes, he thought, that’s all.
As he repeated his self-hypnosis, he focused on his other senses.
Swish!
An unknown presence was approaching rapidly, rubbing its body against the earth.
Tesilid imdiately swung his holy sword.
Slash.
The opponent’s long body was split in two after a lengthy cut.
The thick bodily fluids splattered everywhere, emitting a foul stench.
Was it an A-class boss-level creature?
With the first kill, he announced his entry into the battle royale.
A hot sensation climbed up his right arm, still gripping the holy sword.
“This...”
Even in the black darkness, he could see what was happening on his forearm.
Unknown symbols were faintly etched, glowing with a black light.
It was the “Dark Mark,” the demon’s brand.
The Pit of Solitude had been designed to concentrate the power of all the sacrifices into a single entity.
The absorption of power occurred each ti a life was taken.
The predator grew by consuming the prey, and the stronger predators fought for dominance in the food chain.
In the end, the last surviving entity would devour all the other entities' power.
The Dark Mark was the body’s reaction to indicate that the prey’s power had been transferred to the predator.
The human body should not have been able to accept the demon’s mark.
If an ordinary human, especially one with awakened divine powers opposing the demon’s, had received the mark, their body might have shattered.
Of course, Tesilid was no ordinary human, and he had a ans to purify the Dark Mark.
The holy sword, which was like an extension of his body, had the ability to perfectly convert opposing powers.
The black symbol etched on his arm began to peel away like paint, revealing white light.
The Dark Mark had changed into the Holy Mark.
Tesilid took a deep breath.
The absorbed power seed to be an immunity to poison. He realized that breathing had beco easier.
As long as the holy sword remained as the holy blade, Tesilid would be safe from the Pit’s magic even if he killed all the sacrifices.
But what would happen if, by killing them all, the silence of the place itself was killed?
“......”
He couldn’t guarantee the condition of his fragile mind.
But he had no choice but to kill them all if he wanted to leave this place.
He had to return to Ayleth.
Tesilid slowly closed his blue eyes. The holy sword in his right hand began to carve sharp trajectories.
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