Episode 407

The reason for the excessive bleeding wasn't due to the Soul Origin Dagger I had inserted into his heart. Not a drop of blood flowed from the wound caused by the dagger. Given the dark, dried traces of blood on his lips and chin, the decisive cause was likely massive internal bleeding. It was enough that it wouldn't be strange if he died.

I left Nebellik's room while feeling uneasy. Just in case, I checked the other cells as well.

Should I say it was expected? Should I say it was unexpected?

The woman, Lairin; the old man, Kiremal; and the boy, Verdan were all dead. Worse, they had died in a manner strikingly similar to Nebellik.

Did they commit suicide at the same time? I recalled my conversation with the Dark Pope and realized that I couldn't dismiss this possibility. After all, the Dark Pope was also a church member. It wouldn't be strange if he had a method to end his life in case of an emergency.

If not, he succeeded in transferring his consciousness and ran away. If this guess was correct, then Leone's Soul Origin Dagger had failed. Even so, wasn't it a big risk for the Dark Pope to abandon all four main bodies? Or maybe these four weren't the main bodies to begin with.

Questions flooded my mind as I considered the most improbable yet ideal possibility: the empire's greatest enemy, the source of all evil, the Dark Pope, was actually dead. Given the circumstances, it was, in fact, the most likely explanation. The real issue, however, was the complete lack of evidence.

In addition, my intuition insisted this couldn't be possible, and the conflict gave me a headache. Sometimes, emotions and reason clashed like this. More importantly, I didn't have time to examine the corpses in depth.

"Ohohoho..."

The moment the sinister peal of laughter echoed in the distance, I tore my gaze away from the Dark Pope's corpse and got up. Disaster was on the horizon.

***

How strong was Verita, a Colorless believer?

Frankly, it was still unknown. The feats that she had shown so far, such as the strength I had witnessed when she fought against the two Colorless believers, were certainly impressive. Even then, for some reason, it didn't feel like she had exhausted her power. Yet now, I was certain that I would finally witness the true extent of her strength.

Although her opponent was in an imperfect condition, he was a divine being, a demon king.

"Kyaack..."

Tantata appeared with a disgusting burp, looking at least twice as large as the last time I had seen him. Most of his clothes had burst apart, unable to contain his swollen frame, his skin had turned a rare shade of green, and his eyes had multiplied into two pairs. More than anything, his slick scalp looked as though someone had grabbed it and stretched it outward. The distorted flesh had taken on the rough shape of a tongue, though the resemblance was imperfect.

The sight brought back unpleasant memories.

Is he gradually regaining his original appearance?

He looked like a half-blended existence, part demon king and part the man called Gustav. Watching his appearance change in real time made me feel that the identity of Gustav was being devoured.

Thick saliva dripped from his exposed tongue as Tantata greeted Verita first. "H-hello, I came...!"

Now, how would Verita, a nun, react to meeting a god?

Verita watched Tantata and replied in a dry voice, "Hello."

Immediately after the greetings, the battle commenced.

Suddenly, Tantata opened his mouth wide and uttered a strange word. "Nabaaaang—"

Then numerous insects poured out of his mouth. More surprising than the somewhat unpleasant scene of flying insects spilling from his mouth was the unfamiliar Dark Qi that burst out as well.

Is that bastard's stomach or throat connected directly to Hell?

At any rate, the insects that emerged were as large as hornets, and their wings sounded as nasty as nails scraping against metal.

Verita's response was simple. She gripped the mace with both hands and swung before the insects even came within range. Naturally, she had no intention of striking the swarm directly. The shock wave and powerful gusts unleashed by the mace halted the flying insects' advance. Due to their large size, they collided with each other, and crashed to the ground, or veered off wildly in the wrong direction.

Then Tantata laughed and charged at Verita. His exaggerated arm swings and heavy, stomping steps were ridiculous. Yet his sheer size, large enough to make the punishment building's hallway feel cramped, combined with his grotesque, inhuman form, stirred primal fear in any living being.

Even so, the opponent was Verita, someone who seemed utterly untouched by fear.

This time, Verita swung her mace at the approaching Tantata.

At that moment, I felt something strange. Since I couldn't be sure, I held back from making any judgment.

Baam!

The mace struck the right side of Tantata's face. Under normal circumstances, even a helmet wouldn't have saved him from being crushed. Yet the mace wasn't particularly effective against Demon King Tantata's face.

Kneading dough... This was the random phrase that came to mind. It felt like kneading dough with your fists or a rolling pin. The dough's shape changed with such an act, but it hardly qualified as a blow.

Verita's attack was like that now. The mace had menacing spikes, but Tantata's face only caved in for a moment before slowly and unpleasantly returning to its original shape.

"This also... delicious...?" A tongue slid from the mouth that had been muttering incomprehensible words and coiled around the mace.

Startled, Verita instinctively tried to pull back the mace, but she seemed to be overwhelmed. She quickly adjusted. This time, she raised her left hand like a blade and struck vertically. Though it was technically a hand blade, the slash was filled with mana.

Nevertheless, Tantata's tongue wasn't severed. Instead, it stretched taut like a tense rubber band.

At that moment, I suspected that Tantata's entire body was made of a rubber-like substance.

Slurp...

The moment Verita's counterattack was nullified, Tantata's suction intensified. The tongue that swallowed the mace didn't stop there. It instantly devoured Verita's right arm as well.

Verita reacted just as quickly this time, severing her arm with her hand blade in a single motion. The cut was so fast and sharp that even her blood lagged behind her movement.

Thanks to that, Tantata only swallowed the lower part of her right arm.

Verita exhaled softly. The severed limb showed no signs of regeneration. The wound's cross-section had blackened as if contaminated. Something was evidently preventing the regeneration. Most likely, it was Dark Qi.

Crunch, crunch.

By design, an inquisitor's weapon was made to confront demons and heretics. Its durability was exceptional. Ordinary impacts couldn't even scratch it. In addition, the mace was especially famous for its toughness. Yet none of that mattered against Tantata.

"T-this... this texture is fun...!"

However, the demon king bit into the mace as if it were made of ice and seemed to enjoy it. At the same time, he steadily narrowed the distance to Verita.

So what was next?

I watched Verita silently. After losing both her weapon and her arm, she slowly closed her eyes. In that instant, the faint traces of the two energies surrounding her vanished completely.

I finally realized the source of my unease. Without hesitation, I hurled myself down into the hole and entered the battlefield.

"O-ohu?"

Tantata turned toward me with a delighted expression. Meanwhile, I thrust my palm forward, channeling energy into my attack.

Fire Wheel. It was the first time I unleashed the First Fire Technique using the Luzard form. Normally Fire Wheel would spread out in the shape of a palm, but perhaps due to my reptilian form, it surged forth like a dragon's claw toward Tantata. The shape was unstable, but its raw destructive power was higher than my normal Fire Wheel.

Of course, he wasn't an opponent I could seriously injure with this alone. I deliberately spread the Fire Wheel wide to block Tantata's line of sight, then grabbed Verita by the collar as she stood there in a daze.

"Brother...?"

Verita was startled by my sudden intrusion, and her eyes finally widened. I ignored her and hurled her toward the central hole. Then I immediately leaped in after her.

We fell down together and stopped falling after a suitable number of floors. This time, I pushed Verita onto another floor, then landed there myself.

I saw the words Sixth Floor. We had fallen farther than I had expected, but the floor number wasn't what mattered right now.

I pushed thoughts of Tantata on the nineteenth floor aside and looked at Verita. "What are you doing?"

Verita stumbled to her feet before asking with a puzzled expression, "Huh?"

"What are you doing?" I repeated.

"I'm not sure I understand what you are talking ab—"

"Why are you fighting half-heartedly?"

Verita fell silent. She looked at me with eyes full of confusion.

Before long, she asked, "Did you interrupt due to that?"

"Why? Shouldn't I have done so?"

"You were very reckless." Verita's tone was as calm as ever, but for some reason, I sensed a trace of anger beneath it.

Before I could say anything, she continued, "Brother... our plan was for me to confront the demon king and be devoured. Then, once his body started to undergo abnormal changes, you would launch your surprise attack. Wasn't that the outline?"

"Yes."

"I'm glad I didn't misunderstand the plan. If so, this makes even less sense. Why are you angry?"

An empty laugh escaped me. Strangely enough, I didn't feel the urge to suppress it.

I smiled and openly asked, "You know I am angry, but you don't know why?"

"Did my death come too soon? Should I have inflicted more damage on the demon king before being eaten? However, Brother, the current demon king is a dangerous being. It wouldn't be strange for him to awaken at any moment. I decided that it wouldn't be wise to drag it out any longer—"

"No."

Verita fell silent.

Just in time, the light on the wall flickered as if it would go out.

"I don't understand. Brother, you smiled in front of the goblin's grave in the north. You told all the heroes that his death was more valuable than anyone else's. Now the death I am going to carry out earns only anger from you. Is it because my death has no value?" she asked.

"No."

Shock rippled across Verita's face. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke again. "That too... I don't understand. Goblin Ramon only defeated a legion commander and prevented the demon king's summoning. If this plan succeeds, I can destroy a demon king by sacrificing myself."

Verita suppressed her surge of emotion and went on, "It is a demon king. No, a false god. I am killing not a disciple or priest, but the very god they worship. Yet you say that my death holds no value?"

"Hey, let me ask you one question. What do you think you are?" I asked.

"What?"

"Are you a martyr? Or bait? A disposable consumable?" I asked, but I didn't wait for an answer. "I don't know which one, but I know this. You have no regrets about your death."

"That—"

My voice came out low, almost like a threat. "That is what angers me. I tried to respect your choice. I'm sure you reached this conclusion only after agonizing over it endlessly. No matter how much you thought about it, you must've decided that sacrificing yourself was the best option. That there was simply no other choice. That is why I tried to respect your decision. However, I wasn't prepared for this.

"It is different from having no regrets or finding peace right before death. The moment the opportunity appeared, you stepped forward as if you had been waiting for it all along."

I had been able to smile in front of Ramon's grave because I respected him and his choice.

Didn't Ramon also want to live? His sacrifice to open a path for me was undoubtedly heroic. However, there was no way that the person who sacrificed himself had done so without regrets.

To cut off all regrets, one had to be resolute. To act without hesitation, one had to remain steadfast. Any choice could become a great achievement, but I believed such actions needed to be tempered with understanding in order to earn the respect of others.

I understood the choice Ramon had made in Ymir's stomach. I knew it had been the best option at the time, and I knew there had been no other way. I understood how difficult that decision had been for him. Even on the brink of death, he had felt fear and regret. Despite everything, he had never wavered in the choice he made.

Verita was different. I couldn't understand her.

"Why should I respect someone who doesn't value her own life? You don't value yourself, but you expect others to value your death?" I questioned. "If you want my respect, don't make your commitment worthless."

Verita was rendered speechless for a moment.

At last, she spoke, her voice sharp as a blade. "You said it was worthless? What do you know about me or this situation that gives you the right to say such a thing? If I value myself, will anything change? Can such thoughts change reality? You said earlier that I fought half-heartedly. That isn't true. I gave it my all. Nevertheless, he defeated me after just two exchanges."

She added in a voice filled with cold sarcasm, "Wishes alone can't change anything."

Verita had always agreed with me. She had shown me inexplicable goodwill from the moment we first met, but for the first time, she glared at me and spoke with sharp hostility.

The moment I saw this, I felt like I was having a real conversation with Verita for the first time.

"No," I said firmly. "It will change."

"How can you be sure?" she asked.

"Desperate wishes lead to a change in mindset. A change in mindset leads to the next level of strength."

"What is the next level?"

"Even if you are going to die in the end, human nature compels you to try everything possible first," I replied." From now on, fight with the determination to die."

Verita looked at me blankly.

"You are here today to fight beside me with everything you have. Be filthy, shameless, ugly, and cowardly. Do whatever it takes with all your strength. If you still can't take down that green piglet..." I said with a smile, "At that time, you can die."