Chapter 48: Battle Against the Golden Bone Penitents

Chapter 48: Chapter 48: Battle Against the Golden Bone Penitents

A deep silence settled over everything, as though the other participants fighting hundreds of meters away had stopped battling. In reality, however, it was Victor’s mind that had narrowed its focus entirely to the enemy standing before him.

[Children of divine blood cry out the name of condemnation], the Penitent said.

’I don’t understand a damn thing it’s saying,’ Victor thought. Well, he could understand the words, but not their meaning.

He raised the sword, gripped it firmly with both hands, and glanced at it for a moment before adopting the stiffest stance he could think of.

’I’ve never used a sword before, but I doubt it’ll be that different from using a knife. I mean, it’s a little heavier, but I can manage.’

The Golden Bone Penitent raised its hand, but it didn’t summon the sphere of energy Victor had expected to see. Instead, the dust beneath its feet began to stir as though a wind were blowing, soon swirling around the Penitent like a hurricane.

Keeping his composure, Victor took a step backward.

"Yeah, sure. Now they have more than one trick up their sleeves."

[The god "Serpent That Bites Its Own Tail" licks its lips in anticipation.]

[The god "Fisher of Opportunities" whispers a prayer.]

[An unnamed god snaps its fingers to the rhythm of the swirling dust.]

The dust gathered and transformed into a dozen needles, all pointing at Victor, who once again felt danger gnawing at his mind. Then, the Golden Bone Penitent spoke in its faint, brittle voice:

[Blood on the nails that buried divinity.]

[Blood of our children who suffered beneath its power.]

The needles shot forward. Victor ran toward the nearest wall, but one of them managed to catch up with him. Acting purely on instinct, he raised the sword in front of his face, and the needle disintegrated upon striking the metal.

The remaining needles slammed into the ground behind him, sending dust splattering against the walls.

’W-What the hell?!’

The Penitent raised its hand high as its bones glowed golden beneath its robe. The light emerging from its body gathered like a flame that burned away at its very existence, yet it showed no signs of suffering.

Wrapped in the smoke rising from its decaying body, the Penitent looked Victor straight in the eyes and said:

[Oh, Morning Star that wounds our hearts.]

[Oh, Morning Star, destroy our fears.]

"Goddammit!" Victor shouted as he realized what was happening. When the Penitent aimed the flame at him, he had no choice but to run into the first alley he came across.

Right behind him, grazing his heels, Victor could feel, smell, and see the light of the hottest white flame he had ever witnessed in his life. Its flames crawled along the ground with the sole purpose of burning everything in their path, while the Penitent held the source of the magic in its hand.

"How the hell am I supposed to kill that thing?!"

He ran through the alleys, searching for an escape route, because that bastard was following him, floating around like some damn ghost.

Victor had thought that, since they were Penitents, they would be weak against the light of the Morning Star. But then he remembered that the Elder Penitent had managed to withstand the intense light that accompanied the Morning Star’s birth for several seconds, making it clear just how resilient this variant of the Penitents of the Mist was.

Now, if he wanted to get his hands on those event items, he needed to hurry and kill as many Golden Bone Penitents as possible. But he wouldn’t get anywhere if all he did was run away with his tail between his legs.

He breathed heavily with every step and every meter he covered. That specter wouldn’t stop until it saw him dead. Its voice rang out once again.

[Let the eyes in the heavens witness the demise of their children.]

A buzzing sound rang out, and the next moment, a sphere of dark energy shot toward Victor. He glanced back with wide eyes before throwing himself to the ground, letting the sphere fly over him and crash into the wall of a nearby house.

A new passage opened through the bricks, prompting Victor to desperately rush into the house. He ran across the wooden floor and, upon reaching the other side, slammed his shoulder into the door, bursting through it and emerging onto the next street.

At the same time, amid the stench of the Golden Bone Penitents beginning to fill the scenario, Victor picked up the smell of human blood. The next moment, a child came flying from the far end of the street, crashing into one of the nearby houses.

Victor’s breath caught in his throat when he saw it. The child had died instantly, leaving nothing but a smear of blood and flesh across the shattered wall.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t afford to stand there and stare, because the Golden Bone Penitent appeared in the doorway of the house.

[Twice more, and they will destroy your minds.]

"Go to hell!" Victor shouted defiantly.

He turned around and gripped the sword again. With death looming over him once more, his survival instinct drove him to find a way to win. Meanwhile, the Penitent clenched its fist, dropping a couple of black droplets onto the dust.

The black droplets spread like puddles, and two shadows emerged from them, taking the shape of four-legged creatures with four eyes and bodies resembling those of dogs. Both were similar in size and build, and they growled at the sight of Victor.

[Slaves of midnight, may your hunger be sated], the specter whispered.

As it raised its bony hand, the dogs lunged at Victor, who let out a battle cry and charged straight at them. He swung the sword sideways, aiming to cut down the first dog, but it caught the blade between its teeth with ease.

"What—?"

The second dog leaped at him and bit into his neck, but Victor’s abilities ignited like flames in a bonfire, empowering him to his absolute limit. All his senses sharpened twofold, while his muscles hardened thanks to the additional strength and endurance.

With a tremendous effort, he held on to the sword with all his might and shoved the first dog away. The blade pierced straight through the beast’s head, killing it instantly, but the fight was far from over.

The Penitent had already charged its dust needles and was ready to fire.