77 – S2. Resentment Brushing Against the Stars -8
Venet soared about 10 meters, adjusting his posture in mid-air before landing on the ground. Evilak, staggering but unharmed, spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Kreup, Uweaek⋯⋯!”
His eyes were bloodshot, blood flowing from his nose and ears. Despite the severe damage, he didn’t die. Evilak looked up at the sky and laughed.
“Hu, hahahaha⋯⋯.”
[Clearly, I saw Beargar’s attack⋯⋯!]
“I escaped beyond space and came back. As a result, I had to endure fear in a tremendously dark space for a while⋯⋯ but thanks to that, I feel closer to Him⋯⋯.”
Whether to evade Venet’s attack or for another reason, Evilak clutched his body in pain. However, the fanaticism in his eyes deepened.
“More, a bit more⋯⋯! O Lord, take everything from me if you wish, it’s fine-! hahahaha, ahahahahaha!”
Squirming, crack.
Additional fissures appeared in space, and two more bubbles emerged from the gaps. With this, there were a total of five bubbles swirling around Evilak.
They moved in unpredictable directions, sweeping through and erasing everything around Evilak. The scene resembled a storm, a natural disaster acting upon space.
“⋯⋯Two more appeared here.”
[I’ll do my best somehow.]
“Niore⋯⋯?”
[I’ll attract their attention.]
Pralalalak.
The pages of the grimoire clenched in Niore’s grasp began flipping on their own accord. A crimson light seeped from it, and bizarre occurrences unfolded in the surroundings.
Eyeballs emerged from thin air, accompanied by a horrifying laughter, while on the ground, mouths appeared, grinding teeth. Like Niore, resonating with the malevolence, drawing even greater power from the extradimensional forces.
“Niore, why don’t you use the Goddess’s crystal⋯⋯.”
[Can we really save the world?]
Niore chuckled faintly, even as she spilled coffee. She spoke with a hesitant mouth shape. Venet could understand it.
[Thanks to Tara, we don’t have to kill too many people. It’s painful for those who have already died, but still⋯⋯ After this is over, I think I can sleep well.]
So.
[Because it’s the end, yeah. Using this unpleasant power⋯⋯ That’s why, the crystal. Venet.]
She seemed to want to compromise, now that Venet knew she was a dark sorceress and that she used magic by chipping away at her own soul.
Niore completed the silent incantation.
『Swallow』.
Thud.
Thunk. Squelch. Slurp.
Enormous mouths manifested in the air, chewing and bursting the bubbles of malevolence. Sometimes mouths were torn open, or burst from the inside. But every time, new mouths appeared, chewing through the bodies like hyenas swarming a carcass.
In this mutual entanglement of foreign magic, only one bubble remained for Isarak.
From Noble mtl dot com
[Just one last, please. Everyone.]
“⋯⋯Leave it to me.”
Venet leaped. Infusing magical power into his longsword, emitting a radiant light, he accelerated, stomping the ground with all his might. With each step, there was a clank, a sound.
“Isarak──!”
“Die, interference──!!”
Isaak shot the last bubble towards Bennett.
Bennett smiled, pretending to be agitated, spewing light, and even shouting. All for attention. Because they were a team of three.
Bennett locked eyes with Tara. Tara, taking advantage of the magical commotion that diverted her attention, approached behind Isaak.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯!”
When Isaak, sensing the sound, turned around, it was too late.
Tara clenched her fist, gathering the remaining residual divine power on the ground. Stepping forward, twisting her waist, she extended her fist.
“Abraham’s revenge-!!”
Boom!
The shining fist struck Isaak’s face. With the force of her entire body in the punch, Isaak was sent flying and crashed onto the ground. After convulsing a few times, he slumped.
The ominous power Isaak had been wielding, the bubbles cutting through space, disappeared as if they were never there.
Tara sank to the ground in that spot.
Bennett was busy dealing with the remaining fanatics. The duration of the Divine Transfer was still considerable, so he could hold the fort until the battlefield was cleared.
It was over.
Now that she had used all her power as a saint, she had to prepare for a life as a lady with nothing. She hadn’t acted very saintly many times, but still, having saved the world, she might be the most thrifty among the saints when it came to using divine power.
With such thoughts in mind,
She envisioned the future, waiting for Bennett.
—–
After the battle concluded, Tara pulled out the sealed dark sword. She needed it for a thorough inspection.
Tara had struck with the determination to kill, but Isaak was still barely alive. That’s why Tara aimed the dark sword at Isaak’s throat.
At that moment, a twitch, and Isaak opened his eyes.
Bennett wrapped his arms around Tara and stepped back, while Neore wiped the blood off his nose and once again opened the grimoire. The thought of sacrificing himself and launching a final suicidal attack crossed his mind—a moment when everyone’s vigilance was at its peak.
Isaak mumbled with unfocused eyes, “Dad, Dad, let’s go see the stars together. We⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯?”
“The stars are talking, Dad. It’s amazing, but since you’re busy, I want to be friends with the stars⋯⋯.”
“⋯⋯This is.”
[Crazy. It seems like using magic too excessively.]
It was the words of the saint serving the demon. Seeing Isaak, who spouted nonsense, Tara tightly gripped her dark sword.
“I will kill her.”
“⋯⋯Wait.”
“Why.”
Bennett recalled Abraham’s last words, entrusting his daughter. Even though Isaak was tainted by wickedness, he was still Isaak, unable to do anything as a fool. Maybe it would be okay to let him live.
“That woman is Abraham’s last descendant. If she disappears too, there will be no evidence of Abraham left in this world.”
“Are you suggesting we let her live? No, I can’t do that. Move, Bennett.”
“Letting her live might be a more painful punishment for her. You don’t want to stain your hands with blood, do you?”
“⋯⋯Enough, move aside! Hey, let go. Not letting go? Miss, your strength is disgustingly strong⋯⋯! Are you using strength because my sacred power disappeared?! Neore, say something⋯⋯.”
Tara, with her wrist held by Bennett, turned her head to pull Neore in. Neore, with a vacant expression, was gazing at the sky somewhere.
Tara, too, naturally looked up at the night sky.
“⋯⋯⋯⋯.”
The night sky was still eerie and fiery, twisting into even more horrifying forms moment by moment. The ritual undoubtedly interfered properly.
“…Why, why?! We were supposed to block it…! Benett, what happened?!”
“The axis of the magic circle is completely destroyed. It’s true that the ritual failed!”
“Then why is the sky still like this?!”
In panic, Tara grabbed Isaaq’s collar and shook him.
“Hey, come back! Pull yourself together and quickly explain what happened! Explain and then die!”
“Dad, uuuh… Dad…”
[Benett. Did we miss something…?]
“Missed something…?”
Confusion. Despite blocking the ritual, the malevolent spirit was getting closer. Was there any clue to explain this situation? Benett, lost in thoughts about the past, reached a realization based on Abraham’s research.
“Come to think of it, why did the Twilight Sect of Silver Erudition try to erase Abraham’s research?”
[Because they could repel extraterrestrials using the alpha value…]
“On the contrary, didn’t they say it could be used for summoning too? They had time to burn the mansion and kill Abraham. Just by taking the remaining research data in the mansion, they could have utilized it.”
[But they didn’t. They blindly tried to erase it without thinking of using it…]
Pursuing stability while excluding risks is only meaningful when maintaining the phenomenon alone can achieve the desired outcome. If that’s the case.
“…Even without performing the ritual, does the malevolent spirit naturally descend just with the passage of time? Why?”
In addition, one must consider the inscription written in blood at the place where the ritual took place.
“Having offered a female goat with imperfections, we express our gratitude accordingly.”
The location chosen for the ritual, the meteorite crater. Niole’s mention of the ‘black goat.’ Clearly, that existence is regarded as the consort of the vice king.
“Was it the opposite… from the beginning?”
Something that was pulling in the malevolent spirit right from the start had crash-landed on Earth before the Silver Erudition Sect could summon it.
It was continuously summoning the Vice King who floats in space, and as a result, the demonic entity, taking on the form of a giant bubble, was getting closer and closer to the Earth.
It was the opposite.
What the group should have aimed for was the opposite.
“We shouldn’t have tried to block it… We should have studied the alpha value… We should have thought about sending the demon back. We should have attacked instead of defending…!”
[…….]
Crackle──!
The sky screamed and distorted. When I looked up, the moon had suddenly become two. The starlight shone eerily.
The living beings that sensed the changes in the world cried out in fear. Dogs started barking, birds flapped their wings and urgently flew away. Frogs croaked, and insects burrowed into the ground to hide.
All sorts of cosmic monsters descended to the ground under the moonlight.
It was an overwhelming number. It was clear what would happen next. Humans would have to live for survival. The civilization, laws, and order of the city would lose their meaning in the face of violence, and that void would be filled with suffering and hatred.
But it was too late to stop all of this.
If only they had paid more attention to Abraham’s research.
If only they had protected him from Isarak.
If only they had devoted some time to the study of the alpha value.
If they had done that, could they have resolved the situation before the city collapsed?
The stars laughed. Tala trembled in fear, feeling the absence of the sacred power that no longer appeared. Nior covered his ears with both hands and crouched down.
And Venet, blaming his careless past self, muttered.
“Maybe we’ve been buttoning it wrong from the very beginning…”
God thats good cosmic horror writing.