Episode 631: God’s Stake (1)
Grander crouched in the center of the crater.
Holy magic, sorcery, and modern firearms rained down around her, but they could not even make a scratch, let alone pierce the red shield she had wrapped around her.
They intensified their offensive as if their lack of response was a sign of relief, but in Grandeur’s view, it was a meaningless waste of time.
But I didn’t have the energy to say anything about it.
Why?
The death I so desperately wanted was approaching, but rather than joy and satisfaction, I felt somewhat empty.
Grander seemed to know why he was like this.
It was all because of that ugly disciple.
It was because he was saddened by the fact that he was breaking up with the guy he had worked so hard to teach, but who was lying to everyone wherever he went.
If I’m not there, he’ll always be overworked.
It was the same this time too. Didn’t we fight another monster far away on an island called Isla Machina?
It’s a shame that Ludger smelled the spilled blood, pinpointed the location, and provided magic support. Otherwise, his disciple’s life would have been in danger.
It wasn’t just one such case.
Before that, there was an incident in Dreamland, and before that, he even used his own blood while he was asleep.
If he had used his own blood, which had greater power than any other reagent, the disciple would have faced a difficult enemy.
Grander suddenly had this thought.
Wouldn’t it be right to stay for the sake of my student?
‘What on earth was I thinking?’
Grander shook his head.
You can’t believe you’re worried about the living while you’re on your way to death.
That guy will figure it out on his own.
Aren’t there some colleagues around him that he personally gathered? He didn’t catch Grandeur’s eye, but it wasn’t bad since everyone had something unique about them.
Anyway, I’m leaving soon.
What is the point of leaving behind regrets?
However, just thinking about this made Grander a little irritated, so he lightly fired magic at the outside of the red curtain.
Gurgling!
With a deafening roar that split the air and space, magic unfolded.
To her, it was ordinary blood magic, but to the subjugation team, it was a catastrophic attack.
“come! “Defend!”
“Unleash the divine spell!”
“Pour everything you have into it!”
The punitive force was not just being bullied.
They were constantly preparing because they did not know when a sudden counterattack might come, and thinking that this was the time, they activated the defenses they had prepared.
A wall shining gold was created along with the prayers recited by the priests of the Holy Kingdom. Defensive magic containing the magic power of wizards was also added.
Grander’s magic fell on it.
Quaching!
The multi-layered defense line was shattered by a light strike from Grandeur.
Paladins clad in holy energy stepped forward holding shields and releasing divine power.
“Lumensis! God bless us!”
“Blessings of light!”
Divine power imbued their shields, and pure white wings spread out behind their backs.
It was the most outstanding defensive technique that could only be used by advanced Paladins.
Several paladins held up shields at the same time and received magic.
The weakened blood magic that penetrated multiple barriers could not even penetrate the Paladins’ shields.
However, the Paladins who blocked it were not in very good condition either.
The paladin who was hit the hardest fell backwards and vomited blood, and the other paladin also sat down and trembled with the arm holding the shield.
My body was strengthened twice by divine power, and the sacred laws of the church were wrapped around my body, but my arms were broken and my whole body felt weak.
The magic fired lightly had that power.
If she had shown sincerity, no matter how excellent her technique was, not even a trace of dust would have been left behind.
The subjugation team, unaware of this fact, trembled under Grander’s magic, but felt elated at the fact that they had blocked the monster’s attack.
At that moment, a signal came from far away.
Everyone’s eyes were focused on the pure white energy of divine power soaring high into the sky.
“It’s a signal from the Cardinal.”
“Are we finally using God’s stake?”
The faces of the paladins and priests brightened at the news that what they had been waiting for had finally arrived.
Wizards, mercenaries, and hunters were also upset by the news that the church’s holy relics were being used.
I was already exhausted because there was no way to know when the monster would fall.
Nevertheless, the reason I got involved in this fight was because I believed in the power of the Lumensis Church.
To be exact, the power of the special sacred item they prepared.
God’s stake.
The atmosphere changed completely upon hearing the news of using what could be considered a secret weapon.
And in the distance, along with a halo of light, something began to appear over the ridge.
“Oh oh. “Is that God’s stake?”
“Even at first glance, it looks extraordinary.”
God’s stake looks like a cross.
However, as the name suggests, the lower part was sharply forged, and it exuded a sacred feeling that is difficult to express in words.
The paladins holding the stake set it in place.
That moment when you wonder what on earth to do with that.
The pure white pile began to shine in an even more dazzling color.
Kuwaaaa!
The pure white pillar of light soaring across the night sky disappeared as if it was being sucked in beyond the clouds.
“The church’s special relic has been activated.”
The paladins and priests who were watching the scene near the crater trembled with emotion as if they had witnessed a miracle.
The clouds in the night sky that absorbed the cross began to turn white.
The amount of light gradually focused on the center of the cloud, which was colored pure white, as if daylight had arrived only around that area.
come.
Everyone thought so at the same time.
“Is it coming?”
in the crater
The same was true for Grander, who was looking up at the scene.
“That is my death.”
As soon as the mumbling ended.
A pillar of pure white light fell through the clouds as if piercing the center of the crater.
───!!!
There was a blinding soundless explosion.
The pillar of light fell precisely on the top of Grandeur’s head, which was covered in a blood-red shield.
Grander’s blood-red shield, which had blocked all attacks made so far, was easily pierced in front of the god’s stake to the point where it was so futile.
This was quite surprising.
Grander did not intentionally release his power.
If it really was his death, the defensive magic they prepared should have been easily pierced.
God’s stake was a special holy relic that the church had prepared for a long time, and it penetrated Grandeur’s defense shield and drove straight into her heart.
Phew!
“iced coffee.”
Grandeur smiled faintly at the pain he felt in his chest.
The divine stake driven into her heart injected divine power into her body.
Something white rose up and crawled around Grander’s body.
It completely surrounded Grander’s body like a silk moth’s cocoon, forming a large sphere.
As the light subsided, what lay in the center of the crater was a large white sphere about 20 meters in diameter.
People who witnessed what looked like the egg of some gigantic being trembled and trembled without realizing it.
“Is it a success?”
I can’t feel the monster’s mighty power.
God’s stake was not only activated properly, but also performed better than expected.
Priest Melvin, who was watching the scene from the top of the mountain, asked Patricio.
“Cardinal! Have we finally defeated that monster? “That immortal monster that is only told in legend?”
“yes. It is true that it was activated properly. However, saying that I defeated it may be a little different.”
Priest Melvin asked Cardinal Patrick’s strange words without realizing it.
“What do you mean by different?”
“God’s stake. A special relic prepared during the period when the religious order locked its doors. What do you think the exact effect of that is?”
“That’s right, to kill an immortal being….”
“Kill the immortal. Doesn’t something seem strange? Like an impenetrable shield and a spear that pierces everything.”
“So you’re saying you can’t actually kill an immortal?”
“Father Melvin. “What does it mean to live?”
“yes? that….”
Melvin thought about it and then answered what he thought.
“I think living is literally the entire process of seeing, hearing, feeling, breathing, and thinking.”
“That’s right. We feel and think about everything with our five senses and at the same time act as living beings. Mind and body. ‘Living’ is where it all comes together. But what if the two don’t fit together?”
“If we can’t get along….”
“For example, the body is alive and breathing and the heart is beating, but the five senses are lost and the person becomes unable to think. “Can we call it alive?”
Melvin opened his mouth.
“that…I don’t think so. “Isn’t that why it’s no different from a living corpse?”
“That’s it.”
“Could it be that the effect of God’s stake is… ….”
“The crushing of the soul. That is not just an ordinary seal that appears on the outside. “The soul of a being trapped in that pure white cocoon falls from the cycle and is completely lost to the world.”
“oh my god….”
Melvin was horrified to realize what the God’s stake was for.
A holy object that kills souls.
The loss of the soul meant that after death, the soul could not go to the afterlife without any salvation.
Dead people cannot return, but their souls or residual thoughts remain in the world as spiritual power.
This is because the god, Lumensis, created an endless cycle to guide dead souls.
But God’s stake was different.
It completely excluded the targeted soul from those ‘rules’.
It literally meant permanently kicking them out of the structured framework of the world.
“Even if it breathes, its heart beats, and its blood flows, a body without a soul is ultimately just an empty shell.”
extinction of the soul.
This was the death that Patricio had promised to give to Grander.
Of course, I didn’t bother to tell Grander this fact.
Anyway, what she truly wants is rest.
Because he wanted to end this painful life, he would not have bothered to reject it even if it meant destroying his soul itself.
That’s why they made a deal, and Patricio wasn’t worried that the subjugation of Grandeur itself would go wrong.
“Hey, Cardinal. If so, I have a question for you. “This is something that can be easily done, so what is the real goal of it being a bait?”
Patricio grinned at Melvin’s question.
“Father Melvin. “Who is the Holy Emperor now?”
“Yeah…“Isn’t he Salesin Van Bretus, who was entrusted with the right of succession by his predecessor, Benedict Van Bretus?”
Current success Salesin Van Bretus.
Benedict’s eldest son, he is a man of great standing who rose to the position of Emperor after driving out all the children of other Emperors.
“you’re right. With His Majesty Saleh taking the throne in earnest, our Holy Kingdom was finally able to open the doors that had been tightly locked. Of course, there were unwanted sacrifices along the way.”
An unwanted sacrifice.
This is probably referring to the fact that Salesin Van Bretus ousted other brothers and sisters in order to ascend to the position of Holy Emperor.
“Of course, under the guidance of the benevolent Lumensis, the enthronement was carried out peacefully by giving some bloodline people the positions they deserved and allowing all the brothers and sisters to work together in harmony. yes. “Compared to human history, it’s safe to say this is a miracle.”
“But why did you suddenly say that…” ….”
“But what would it be like if an unintended impurity were introduced here?”
“….”
Melvin swallowed without realizing it.
If Patricio had talked this far, Melvin couldn’t have known any more.
“Surely, there are still some left? “Is it the bloodline of His Majesty the Great Successor of the previous era?”
“And in a very terrible way.”
Patricio’s smiling eyes turned to the pure white cocoon at the center of the crater.
“He is a precious human resource of his home country that that monster took away and raised as he pleased, and thus he has deviated infinitely from his original purpose.”
“Does that mean his blood comes here?”
Melvin’s disbelieving gaze turned to the crater.
“To save that monster, my country’s main enemy?”
“That’s why I said bait. “It’s also a very attractive bait.”
“Even if that statement is true, does it have any meaning?”
Who are the people gathered here now?
People who have made a name for themselves from countries across the continent gathered.
From the home country’s elite troops to color wizards.
What about that number?
All troops were in perfect condition.
There were a few injuries, but overall, they were extremely minor.
Coming to a place like that?
Isn’t this essentially a request to arrest him?
“Cardinal. “If the other person had any thoughts, they wouldn’t even look at a place like this.”
“A normal person would certainly have done that. But the opponent is His Majesty Seonghwang’s bloodline. “Just looking at it with an ordinary gaze is not allowed.”
“Even so, how can a place with this many troops….”
At that moment, Melvin felt something shiver down his spine.
what?
His trembling eyes looked toward the other side of the crater, beyond the ridge below.
Barracks where people stayed.
Beyond that place, I could feel an indescribable force rushing in like an ebbing tide.
Cardinal Patrick also felt it.
“This….”
His face, which was always full of smiles, stiffened for the first time.
