Chapter 114: The Blood Ball (2)
The fall of a hero.
Not only would the image he had built up until now be completely shattered, but every connection he had established with the Imperial nobility—connections that would become crucial in the third episode—would be severed.
A devastating move.
However.
‘I've made the minimum preparations.’
Suspecting that the Ring of Divinity might have been tampered with, he had lightly touched the ring beforehand using [Sacred Flame].
Of course, it wasn't perfect.
The Vatican had prepared their scheme far too meticulously for him to avoid being targeted entirely.
Still, it should buy him some time.
He had to find another solution during that window.
“Did you know? Holy Power has a unique wavelength, just like fingerprints. Even if someone used Holy Power to do something... it wouldn't take long to identify who did it.”
The Saintess smiled sweetly.
Right.
So she had already anticipated even this.
Considering she had witnessed him using Sacred Flame, it was well within expectations.
Even so, Yohan merely tilted his head without changing his expression.
“I'm not entirely sure why you're suspecting me, but I have absolutely nothing to hide.”
Perhaps it would be different later, once the Saintess had fully unlocked her unique Sacred Lance.
But at least for now...
He wasn't inferior to her when it came to controlling Holy Power.
Besides.
Far away behind a pillar, he saw Reina nodding.
If all other methods failed, they would escape along the route she had already prepared.
“It's truly unfortunate that you remain stubborn until the very end. Repenting for your sins is your only path to salvation. Why are creatures of darkness always so foolish?”
The Saintess wore a genuinely sorrowful expression.
Repent?
Coming from a fanatic who chopped people apart without hesitation.
Unless someone wanted to die in a particularly creative way, that was absolutely not an option.
However.
The moment the Saintess released the Divine Spell embedded within the Ring of Divinity—
Something happened that surpassed everyone's expectations.
Hummmmmm!
A golden status window stained with droplets of blood flickered into existence.
['Ring of Divinity' begins chanting the 'Record of Sin'!]
Normally, this should have activated the effect that incinerated anyone guilty of blasphemy or anyone who had formed contracts with evil beings.
But—
Craaack!
Space itself split open as something began crossing over.
The mana pouring through was anything but ordinary.
Through the crack, he caught sight of white fingers...
And golden sparks.
Only then did Yohan finally understand why Gracia had warned him not to attend the ball.
“Kyaaaaah!”
“W-What is that?!”
The guests at the ball screamed as they stared at the rift.
“So these vile creatures truly dared! I should've realized it the moment the two of you whispered together! Did you really believe you'd escape after committing such a heinous act?!”
Count Pedro's furious roar echoed throughout the ballroom.
“Count Pedro. What do you mean by...?”
The Saintess looked at him in complete confusion.
The moment Yohan saw her reaction, every piece of the puzzle fell into place.
“You...
You're completely insane.”
Yohan stared coldly at Pedro.
The White Flame terrorist attack.
Using the Saintess to expose heretics.
Neither had ever been his true objective.
What Pedro wanted...
Was war.
The moderates who wished to end the conflict with humanity.
The religious faction that remained hesitant because they shared the same faith.
To purge all of them...
He needed an overwhelming incident.
Something as shocking as the expedition's hero and the Vatican's Saintess carrying out a massacre during the Imperial ball.
[An Outbreak has occurred through Holy Power!]
['Nephilim' manifests!]
Hadn't she said Holy Power had fingerprints?
The Saintess, who had infused Holy Power into the Ring of Divinity—
And Yohan, who had used Holy Power trying to stop it—
Their fingerprints remained perfectly preserved.
Rumbleeeee!
Amid indescribable radiance, an angel of breathtaking beauty descended.
Although its wings had long since lost their feathers...
It still emitted brilliance intense enough to hurt the eyes.
‘This bastard isn't supposed to appear this early either.’
Yohan clicked his tongue.
A Nephilim.
The offspring of angels and humans.
They despised humanity for reducing their very existence to that of half-breeds.
They hated humans enough to slaughter every one they encountered.
“How many lowly insects have gathered here.”
The Nephilim's voice thundered throughout the ballroom.
“M-My ears!”
“Aaaah! I can't see!”
Ordinary civilians with low resistance to mental attacks collapsed while clutching their ears.
Blood poured from both their eyes and ears.
Some even burst into flames from within their eye sockets.
Slash!
A streak of light flashed.
The Nephilim's sword swept through the crowd.
A storm of blood followed.
The magnificent ballroom was repainted crimson.
Yet the worst had yet to come.
“Grrrr.”
“Groooar!”
Undead monsters appeared through the windows and corridors.
From Ghouls and Banshees...
To far higher-ranking undead.
This wasn't the Nephilim's doing.
That familiar sticky, nauseating mana.
There was no mistake.
The Requiem Cult had begun moving.
Robert...
Along with countless expedition members who had sacrificed themselves.
What exactly had they given their lives for?
Once again, Yohan was reminded just how cruel people could become in pursuit of their goals.
And just how disgusting and vile that cruelty truly was.
＊＊＊
“Count Pedro! A Nephilim?! What in the world are you doing?! Weren't you the one who summoned me here to judge the wicked?!”
“My apologies, Saintess. I bear you no personal grudge. But for the sake of the greater cause, I must ask for your sacrifice.”
Surrounded by mages and knights, Pedro answered calmly.
He had already recorded every scene he needed using magical devices.
More than enough evidence.
More than enough justification.
“So you deliberately chose this place just to increase the number of victims.”
“Hm. As expected, your perception is almost too sharp. Had you merely been talented enough, I would've gladly taken you under my wing. What a pity.”
A grand ball attended by high-ranking nobles—
Even if held on the frontier, it naturally drew tremendous attention.
Children of renowned noble houses would inevitably gather for socializing.
And if every one of them were slaughtered?
Even the Imperial Family would be forced to answer the bereaved families demanding revenge.
Everything had been nothing more than a carefully orchestrated play.
“Well then.
I'll be taking my leave.”
Blue ripples spread beneath Pedro's feet.
He was activating Spatial Transfer.
“Not so fast!”
[The Saintess activates her unique ability ‘Night of the Catacomb’!]
Rattle!
Chains shot out from the Iron Maiden toward Pedro.
But Pedro had already completed every preparation.
Clang! Clang!
Knights empowered by Aura instantly knocked the chains away.
Meanwhile, the mages chanted incantations, layering countless shields around the Spatial Transfer magic circle.
Just then—
“You don't get to turn this place into hell and leave by yourself.”
The Eyes of the Prophet analyzed the structure of the Spatial Transfer magic circle.
[Distortion Prevention]
[Multi-layer Barrier]
[Holy Resistance]
[Veil of Darkness]
A spell that had prepared for virtually every possibility.
A perfectly constructed hexagonal formation.
Yet that had been its greatest mistake.
‘Instead of worrying about Holy and Darkness attributes, you should've focused entirely on defending against another mage dismantling it.’
To a veteran, this was practically an open invitation.
The Void Devourer bit into the outer edge of the magic circle.
A gap appeared within the previously flawless runic formation.
At the same time—
“S-Stop it!”
The senior mage's face turned deathly pale.
Naturally.
Spatial Transfer was an extraordinarily delicate and complicated spell.
If even the coordinates were slightly altered—
Or foreign mana interfered—
The consequences would become irreversible.
Yet despite his desperate cries—
[Spatial Transfer Magic has been activated!]
A blue pillar of light swallowed Pedro and his entourage.
Despite Yohan's interference...
The spell had still succeeded.
The problem was—
Not every part of them had made it through.
“Gaaaah!”
“Aaaaaah!”
The knights and mages collapsed, clutching at their missing arms and legs.
The lucky ones merely lost a limb.
More than half of them had lost either their upper or lower bodies entirely.
Even amidst the carnage, Pedro alone remained completely intact.
Apparently, they hadn't forgotten their mission until the very end.
“The Imperial Court Mages...
said even they couldn't dismantle this transfer circle...
How...?”
Pedro muttered in disbelief.
This wasn't an ordinary Spatial Transfer circle.
It had been specially reinforced for high-ranking nobles.
Even dozens of mages calculating endlessly would've struggled to interfere with it...
Yet a single person had punched a hole straight through.
Yohan slowly crouched down before the stunned Pedro.
“Welcome to hell.
Lord Count.”
Now...
They weren't the only ones who had to survive the Nephilim.
＊＊＊
Their highest priority was escaping the ballroom.
The undead monsters could be dealt with somehow.
But to defeat the Nephilim, they first had to destroy the three Divine Stones and the Ark of the Covenant that served as the source of the Outbreak.
They were probably hidden somewhere deep within the fortress.
Rumbleee!
“S-Save me!”
“Where are the soldiers?! Do you even know which noble house I belong to—”
“Kyaaaaah!”
Everyone desperately struggled to survive.
Having lived lives far removed from death...
Their attachment to life was naturally stronger than anyone else's.
If Vivian intervened...
She could probably save everyone.
But that would be no different from publicly revealing that they were cooperating with a witch.
Just then—
“I shall handle this side.”
Seo Changhee stepped forward.
The wounds he had suffered during the expedition clearly hadn't fully healed.
Yet he forced himself onward.
He simply couldn't abandon those dying before his eyes.
As [Dawn] activated, countless streams of golden radiance burst forth.
“You dare...
Oppose the will of God?!”
The Nephilim roared in fury at the resistance of mere mortals.
Clang! Boom!
Sword after sword collided in the air, leaving countless dazzling trails.
He couldn't allow this fight to drag on.
That sturdy slave still had plenty of work left to do in the future.
“Vivian.”
“Yes, Lord Yohan.”
“Go immediately to the place where the Holy Power feels strongest and destroy the Ark of the Covenant. The strongest Nephilim will be guarding it, but that won't be a problem for you.”
The Outbreak opened through the Record of Sin wasn't a one-time event.
Only a handful of Nephilim had crossed over for now.
Later...
Far more horrifying creatures imprisoned in Purgatory would begin emerging.
“I shall obey the command of the Great One.”
Vivian instantly dissolved into a handful of smoke and disappeared.
That dealt with the greatest headache.
Next—
Boom!
“Ghk!”
Before he could finish thinking, a blazing white sword came crashing toward him.
A gigantic blade embedded itself exactly where he had been standing moments earlier.
“Hey! Weren't you supposed to handle that?!”
That absentminded throw nearly got the True Ancestor killed.
He had almost died.
“Perhaps I've had too much to drink.
Had I consumed one glass less...
You would've stood no chance against me.”
One glass, my ass.
No wonder he'd been pushing himself so hard.
He had already reached his limit.
Still.
At least he'd managed to evacuate most of the civilians.
“Warrior Kang. We should leave as well. Maybe it's just my imagination, but that creepy Holy Power keeps getting stronger.”
Lodbrok tightened his grip around his double-headed axe.
It wasn't his imagination.
It was the truth.
[The Heavenly Organ sings a hymn for the cursed half-bloods.]
As the very birthplace of the Outbreak...
The entire area overflowed with buffs that favored the Nephilim.
“Saintess.
Since things have come to this, you should come with us as well.
You won't survive alone.”
“……”
At Yohan's proposal, the Saintess bit her lip tightly.
She had been betrayed by the person she trusted.
And the man she believed to be evil was now extending a hand during her darkest moment.
How could her feelings not be complicated?
“I won't refuse your kindness.”
The Saintess joined them.
However—
“As for you, Lord Count...
This is where we part ways.”
Yohan shoved Pedro aside as he quietly tried to follow them.
“You're...
Leaving me behind?”
“If you have even the slightest shred of conscience, you shouldn't be trying to cling to us.”
“If you save me, you'll be richly rewarded. Keeping me alive will benefit you dozens of times more than killing me.”
Well.
That part was true.
If they captured him alive, they could extract a wealth of information.
Someone of Pedro's status would also command an enormous ransom.
But.
The world didn't revolve solely around profit and loss.
Thinking about the countless people who had died for his petty ambitions...
Even offering every Sacred Relic in existence wouldn't earn him forgiveness.
Stab!
The blade plunged deep into Pedro's thigh.
Yohan finally understood, at least a little, why Ito Ryuhei loved stabbing people in the legs so much.
“Gaaah! Y-You insane bastard! You actually stabbed me! Do you have any idea what it means to attack an Imperial Count?! You'll pay a price far beyond what happened with Baron Helaim!”
Pedro screamed at the top of his lungs.
But by then—
Yohan and his companions had already disappeared beyond the ballroom.
Stagger.
Dragging his bleeding leg behind him, Pedro struggled onward.
Even as he stumbled, he desperately forced himself to keep moving.
However—
Boom!
Those sluggish steps were never going to carry him away from the Nephilim.
The blazing White Flame began scorching away his eyebrows.
“N-Nephilim!
I-I was the one who summoned you!
I'm on your side!”
Pedro reached out with trembling hands and grabbed the Nephilim's arm.
Slash!
Both of his hands disappeared.
“M-My hands!
My haaands!”
Pedro cried like a frightened child.
But only for a moment.
“You dare blaspheme with that filthy tongue?”
The Nephilim's icy voice echoed.
Whoooosh!
Pedro's body became engulfed in Sacred Flame.
A few seconds later—
One of the highest-ranking nobles of the Hestia Empire vanished...
Leaving behind nothing but ashes.