Comet (2)
The first to sense the anomaly was Shin Ah-yeon, followed by Alencia.
As the current Saintess, she could sense the concentration of immense divine authority more clearly than anyone else.
"W-what is that?!"
"It's moving, isn't it?"
The moment people thought the ground was shaking, the dark star began to move.
Those who saw it all rubbed their eyes in disbelief.
Previously, it simply looked like a black castle or a building resembling an iron tower, with a flicker of golden light.
That flickering grew deeper, eventually enveloping the entire star as if it were cocooning it.
'The amount of prayer has become excessive.'
Now, there was no longer a need to reach a specific level, nor even the need for awakening.
Even an ordinary person could witness the radiance with their own eyes.
It was as if the sun were rising from the surface.
A dazzling light—bright enough to blind—began to shine behind the Demon God.
'Jung-woo oppa is.......'
He was still inside.
Realizing that made Shin Ah-yeon's heart race with anxiety.
The image of Jung-woo reaching out for her from the rift overlapped in her mind, making her momentarily dizzy.
"...... Doesn't it bother you at all?"
Shin Ah-yeon asked, facing off against the Demon God.
She only looked calmly at Shin Ah-yeon, showing no sign of concern for the dark star.
"If you came from me, there's no way it wouldn't bother you."
Until now, Shin Ah-yeon had repeatedly tried to talk during the clash of the Demon God's divine arts and magic, but the Demon God had never responded.
'Is she composed only of the worst remnants of the soul?'
The remnants of Estella.
Would a being made of only those remnants contain nothing but resentment?
If so, why did she stand on the side of the demons she should hate the most?
"Are you not going to use it?"
At that moment, for the first time, the Demon God's lips moved.
"Or, is it that you can't?"
"What?"
Shin Ah-yeon retorted, but the other only smiled thinly.
The smile was so unpleasant that even Shin Ah-yeon, normally immune to insults, felt anger surge up to the very top of her head.
"A mere dreg like you has a lot to say."
Shin Ah-yeon pointed her staff at the Demon God.
Immediately, countless magic arrays began to appear throughout the entire area.
There were dozens—no, hundreds.
Normally, the limit for a single mage to maintain is four or five magic arrays at most.
But Shin Ah-yeon was drawing over a hundred magic arrays at once.
This wasn't simply possible because she had a lot of magic power.
Even if some spells overlapped, being able to compute and cast dozens of spells at once was something that only a genius could achieve.
At the overwhelming spectacle, the Hunters on the ground could only gape—when suddenly, they realized something.
"Wait, wouldn't we be in danger too?"
As soon as those words were spoken, a series of explosions erupted as spells poured out from the magic arrays like a bombardment.
Buildings that had been unharmed were shaken, the ground overturned, and the Demon God floating in the air was struck.
Even an S-rank monster would have been obliterated in a single blow, but the Demon God merely danced through the air.
Golden threads extended, erasing the magic arrays that flew toward her.
Some opened up space, swallowing attacks and sending them back toward Shin Ah-yeon.
Of course, Shin Ah-yeon deflected those spells as well, and many spells cut through the air, crossing paths over and over.
'As expected, simple magic won't defeat her.'
Through it all, Shin Ah-yeon gritted her teeth and stared at the Demon God.
Unlike Shin Ah-yeon, who was continuously depleting her magic power, the Demon God appeared completely at ease.
The more she, displaying a divine majesty nearly god-like, exposed herself to the world,
The more prayers gathered for her.
Perhaps even more than the number supporting Shin Ah-yeon.
She wanted to ask Alencia for the current tally, but Alencia was still out of contact.
'The Conceptualization Technique......'
Like a Goddess sent down to save the world—
The 'Demon God' Estella was an existence that no human could ever defeat.
Just as the Saintess's power was influenced by the value people gave her on Earth, Estella now was the same as she had been in life.
No—in terms of pure authority, she might be even greater, since she no longer had any constraints.
Shaa—
As Shin Ah-yeon opened her palm, countless sheets of paper formed above it and floated in the air.
Should she use the Conceptualization Technique now?
'No. Not yet.'
Jung-woo had told her.
If the enemy was trying to use them, then they should turn that around and use the enemy as well.
"If the Demon God is going to be born, focus the prayers on her instead."
"Huh? To the Demon God?"
Right before the fight began, Jung-woo had asked Shin Ah-yeon to do just that.
There was no stopping the birth of the Demon God—it would happen no matter what.
"Why?"
"Shin Ah-yeon, it's because you're not the Saintess."
"...... How is that a problem?"
"It is."
Up until now, Shin Ah-yeon had done admirably controlling the prayers she had gathered.
That alone was quite impressive, but it was only on the scale of a single 'variety show'.
Inside the demonic zone, prayers gathered from around the world—Shin Ah-yeon struggled to handle even a portion of them.
It was only natural.
Even if she possessed the Stigmata and the power of Estella, her body was still human.
"If prayers exceeding a hundred million gather, you'll never be able to handle it."
If she tried to focus those prayers into the Stigmata, it would only be a matter of time before her body broke down.
Just as when her mana hall was destroyed three years ago.
This time, it would assuredly be much worse.
"So......."
It was better to focus all the prayers on the Demon God.
Jung-woo said the enemy would probably fabricate events to gather as many prayers as possible.
And that dark star was probably one of those planned events.
Of course, if it actually fell to the ground, it would be a catastrophe—but even that was probably part of the plan.
"People of humanity."
The Demon God spoke.
Her voice was far clearer than before.
As time passed, the phantom of Estella, which had only been a remnant, gained clearer consciousness.
"If you truly seek salvation, offer your prayers to me."
It was visible.
Countless golden threads spread outward, destroying all of Shin Ah-yeon's magic arrays that had surrounded the area.
The halo on her back, and the golden star rising into the sky.
A god descending upon the earth stood here.
Shin Ah-yeon saw it more clearly than anyone.
She didn't need to ask Alencia; she knew it instinctively.
At this very moment—
The miracle had become the Demon God's.
***
Blue lights flashed and crossed the air several times.
The sound of thunder echoed, and two lightning bolts clashed repeatedly in midair.
'How many are there?'
Alencia checked the viewers of the broadcast amid the enormous energy she could feel a little distance away.
With this many people watching, even Alencia's body was starting to feel the burden.
There was no server in existence capable of handling these numbers, so she was controlling them solely with her authority.
'The number has probably long since surpassed a hundred million.'
Though still less than the world's population, this was as close to the maximum possible number of live viewers under these circumstances.
And with an uproar and issue of this scale, even those who couldn't watch would be crying out for the gods in desperation.
And those prayers—the "Demon God" would surely not miss a single one.
The role of the broadcast was over.
It was enough just to let the world know what was happening.
"So you still have spare attention to worry about other things?"
"......!!"
The moment her mind was distracted, checking numbers, a fist struck Alencia's face.
The immense speed became impact force, and Alencia was hurled to the ground before she could even steady herself.
KWAAABSHEEENG!!
The earth trembled, and torrents of electricity spread through the cracks in the ground.
As the power went out in the entire area and darkness spread, Alencia managed to leap away just before the next blow landed.
Her face was so numb it was difficult to stay alert.
No matter how sturdy the Saintess's body, her opponent was being powered by the Demon God—meaning the stronger the 'prayer', the stronger the opponent became.
'It's dangerous here.'
There were shelters in this area—if she was careless, civilians might get caught up in the fighting.
Looking around quickly, Alencia spotted an unfinished apartment complex nearby.
No one would be there.
"Your strength is impressive, but that's all there is to it."
With a blink, she could already see her opponent's fist coming at her.
Was this the sensation of those who had fought Alencia herself?
With that thought, Alencia barely deflected the fist.
Her skill was overwhelmingly lacking, but she just barely made up for it with her stats.
'Speed and strength are ultimately at my personal maximums.'
The opponent would always mirror her state exactly.
So, moving faster was meaningless, and her technique was pitiful.
So Alencia manipulated her speed and strength momentarily, disrupting her opponent's movements.
No matter how great Kang Min-gi's talent and experience, if his opponent's speed and strength kept fluctuating, openings would inevitably occur.
That ability was what allowed Alencia, with her inferior experience and skill, to survive until now.
'But even that has its limits.'
Her opponent was adapting even to this.
If this stalemate continued, eventually Alencia would lose.
If she used every bit of her authority, the outcome might be different—but that would cost many lives.
No, even so, if her opponent mirrored her full strength, it would be meaningless.
'Then.......'
If she couldn't do it herself, she needed to find someone who could.
Alencia immediately thought of the right person and sent a signal.
She would surely be able to arrive in an instant.
"The power I can use isn't limited to just trading blows, you know?"
To buy time, Alencia extended her hand.
The skeletal frames of the unfinished apartments trembled, and masses of rebar shot toward Kang Min-gi.
"Ha! It really is like magic!!"
Each piece of rebar fired like a railgun, targeting the advancing Kang Min-gi.
Not only that, with a gesture, Alencia intertwined the rebars, trying to entangle Kang Min-gi in a gigantic net.
'...... Feels like there's not enough rebar?'
Shouldn't apartments normally use more rebar than this?
As she thought that, Kang Min-gi's fist shot through a gap left by the missing rebar.
KA-KA-KA-KANG!!
Before the rebar could restrain him, his fists pulverized them as he lunged at Alencia.
'Danger......!'
There was still some distance between Kang Min-gi and Alencia.
Even if he gave chase, she had enough space to evade, but instinctively she moved aside.
In the exact path his fist flew, a large, perfect hole was punched through a nearby building—it disappeared, just like that.
"Good instincts."
"I've gotten used to fighting people who use their fists a lot!"
Indeed, Alencia had often sparred with Park Jung-woo, since she'd had no other sparring partners.
Thanks to that, fighting someone like Kang Min-gi, who fought with his fists, felt relatively familiar.
"Of course, you're still no match for my manager-nim."
"...... Oh, is that so?"
Kang Min-gi removed his half-broken sunglasses and stretched.
The manager Alencia referred to was clearly Park Jung-woo.
He was probably fighting Jin Su-hyuk inside the dark star right now.
Kang Min-gi was very aware that Park Jung-woo's greatest weapon was his fists.
"Then I'll have to step it up a little."
He had almost completely adapted to Alencia's speed and strength now.
If her pace changed again, he'd be able to adapt soon enough.
Five more minutes.
He was confident that he could defeat Alencia by then.
-------------= Clacky's Corner -------------=
8 chapters left.
【ദ്ദി(⩌ᴗ⩌)】