Episode 915: What Is Madness
A holy spear flies in, having broken through the critical threshold of physically possible speed.
It cannot be avoided.
I have no intention of avoiding it.
Barcazel, having become a living meteor, thrust out his feverish arm with the sole intent of destroying every piece of land within his sight.
Kuooooh… … !
The moment it collided with the miracle of God, the light shining on Barcazel turned into countless grains. The grains became a halo of light, becoming divine power itself.As the dazzling holy light shattered, rays of light like diamond fragments scattered.
The Goddess’s Judgment
────────────────!
A giant cross of light appeared in the middle of the sky where the darkness had vanished.The light pouring from it seeped into the earth, and rays of light surged from the earth to the sky rather than from the sky to the ground, giving birth to a sacred day.
Saint… … !
The Holy Lance Granter pierced the arm and went through the space between the right shoulder and the upper chest. The right wing was also split in half.
The part in question was destroyed.
The right arm that had severed from Barcazel’s upper body fell. Likewise, Barcazel was also flung away and plummeted rapidly.
‘A human woman loved by the mysterious being known as the Goddess of Light… … The strongest among them… … Indeed, power no different from that of a god… … Truly a monster in human form… … .’
Barcazel slowed down in an instant with his remaining wings and glared.
But does that make them strong?
Neither of them died.The end was far off.Sensing instinctively that he could not ultimately block that shining spear, he discarded his right arm.
If the Saintess concludes she is dead based solely on her severed body parts and retreats, the battle ceases; but if she is not deceived and continues the pursuit… … .
The hunt begins then.
Boom!
I heard the sound of Saint Ersetia kicking off the ground a few times and leaping high into the air. As I focused my senses behind me, a sense of presence overwhelmed me.
I never gave permission to escape.
The Holy Spear surged forward, unleashing a burst of light that turned the area upside down. Barcazel, who was within the range, took a fall break and ran.Ersetia rapidly closed the distance with a speed exceeding his agility.
The wings of light faded compared to the beginning, and the accuracy of the spear throws dropped slightly. Movements also slowed down slightly.
The center of gravity of the overall stance tilted ever so slightly to the right. It wasbarely noticeable on the outside.Even Ersetia herself did not consider it very important, focusing solely on cutting off Barcasel’s breath.
However, that is a serious misjudgment.
My balance is off.
Perfection and imperfection.
The difference between the two lies in whether or not a loophole exists.
Boom!
Barcazel immediately pushed off the ground with full force and threw himself at Ersetia. He rotated, controlling his center of gravity with his wings.Since half of his right wing was missing, his movements changed erratically in an instant.
The relative speed between the two increased rapidly.They closed the distance in an instant.It was insufficient time to discern the other’s intentions from their actions.
“……!”
Tragedy.
BANG!
Ersetia belatedly blocked with the Holy Spear, but the powerful side kick pushed the shaft away and struck her right arm and torso.Ersetia, who had braked with her wings of light and two legs while flying, staggered immediately afterward.
The power… … .
It pierced through the resistance of the Holy Armor Arminel and shook even the internal organs.
Was that the last desperate struggle?
Suin lost his right wing and right arm.The outcome was decided.Ersetia, having healed herself with divine power, spun the Holy Spear. Barcazel thrust in with his straightened left arm.
With every exchange of blows, the sound of collision echoed belatedly. They, who had turned half the nearby forest into a wasteland, flashed with murderous intent.
Ersetia turned into light.
He aimed for the head and thrust, quickly returned the spear to cut diagonally, then rotated while lowering his upper body to cut diagonally once more, and suppressed the recoil to fire a beam of light towards the heart.
Barcazel, having deflected the entire series of attacks, struck the spearhead with his palm.The light flew off in an unexpected direction and landed.
Whirl.
Ersetia briefly lifted the Holy Lance into the air, following the flow of power. Then, pulling both fists to her sides, she recited a prayer.
The punches immediately turned into rays of light and poured down.
At that moment.
Barcazel’s left hand left hundreds of afterimages, allowing not a single attack. Soon, her fist was caught in his grip.
The air became stiff.
The highest miracle that had caused cracks in Barcazel’s hard, full-body carapace was destroyed without even a fingertip touching it.
“How……”“Arrogance is the privilege of the strong.”
Sharp teeth hung down.
Overconfidence is the shackles of the weak.
Whoosh───CRASH!
Barcazel pulled hard on the arm and kicked up the open abdomen with his knee. A tearing sound that transcended a simple impact struck the ears.
Ersetia’s breathing stopped for a moment.
That makes no sense.
Crack.
The armor was damaged.
The last time Arminel, one of the four sacred artifacts, was damaged was during the First Great Crusade, which broke out about six centuries ago, when it faced the Legion’s archdemon.
Naturally, being the goddess’s weapon, it could be restored at any time, and there was absolutely no possibility of it being completely destroyed no matter what happened… but this sight delivered an unbelievable shock to her.
The fact that the Holy Armor was damaged meant that the beastman’s power was on par with that of the Three Great Demons.
It seems you have not realized the truth, so I will tell you once again, especially.
As force was applied to the tip of the toes, the flat ground split open.Much wider than before.
To survive is strength.
In the midst of the miracle of recovery, an invisible kick exploded.Ersetia rolled on the floor.
Falling into the sky.
Barcazel laughed maniacally and shattered the ground into pieces with his crippled body. She, having barely managed to block it with her right arm, was buried underground.
“Did you think I was nearly dead? Did you think I used my arm as bait to escape? O Saint!!!!! You are inexperienced!!! A beast is a beast precisely because its nature is maximized when it is wounded!!!”
The wildness of life.
As Barcazel’s body approaches death, his instincts go wild, causing him to crave survival.If not killed instantly, he grows stronger until he is physically killed. Instant death. That was Barcazel’s only weakness.
The worst dwarf on earth blew off an arm of the beastman of carnage after a fierce battle filled with madness.
and.
Unable to withstand the increasingly ferocious beast of slaughter, his lower body was torn apart. Had he not risked suicide and blown away a part of the continent, the war would have ended with the defeat of the worst dwarf on earth.
“You should have been careful until the very end!!! Until you chopped my head off!”
Crunch crunch crunch!
Ersetia, grabbed by the head, was dragged around buried in the ground before being thrown.Kill.He charged at her, unleashing a barrage of attacks as she floated in the air.
The light of the holy window fell.
Bang!
Barcazel knocked the Holy Spear away before Ersetia could grab it. Barcazel had already accurately determined how much time it would take for the Holy Spear to return to its original state after turning into light.
Barcazel twisted his waist.
“Your total power has certainly surpassed mine. You have reached a level where, head-on, I—of all people—would be no match for you. Even in the era I lived in, I can confidently say that among the ‘human species,’ there was no pure powerhouse like you.”
Smack!
The wings of light that were like a shield shattered, and Ersetia vomited blood.The holy armor was stained with blood.
“But there were countless inexperienced strong people like you who were killed while intoxicated by arrogance.”
Even while being overwhelmed, Barcazel observed Ersetia, and even while overwhelming her, Ersetia cared only about herself.As their thoughts narrowed, they became engrossed solely in destroying the enemies of the Luas religion.
Although the tide has turned, the actual difference in power between the two is not significant. If Barcazell shows a weakness, the situation might change.In other words, it meant that unless the initiative is lost due to a foolish move, there is no possibility of the current state being completely overturned.
“Pay the price for your carelessness, Saint.”
He dug under the spear and struck with his right elbow. He immobilized her wrist and aimed precisely at the joint with his knee.
Zzzzzzzzzzz!
The spot where Barcazel had intentionally concentrated the impact finally broke.The arm went limp. The Holy Lance fell.
Tragedy.
The prey’s feet moved away from the ground, its slender neck subdued. The claws, digging into the inside of the armor, gradually distorted the pure white skin.
“Not trying to understand my body, and going into the hunt trusting only in my own strength. That is the reason you did not survive.”
Normally, I should have been fully savoring the thrill of the hunt, but it was not a worthy opponent. I must kill it quickly while the opportunity arises.
Instinct shouted that.
Barcazel quickly withdrew the hand gripping the neck and thrust again.The edge of his hand curved toward the distorted abdomen of the Holy Armor.
Great beheading.
Crackle crackle crackle crackle—!
Finally, it pierced through the troublesome armor and dug into the skin and muscles. Fragile organs could be felt. Even if it were completely torn apart like this, would it survive thanks to divine power?Barcazel intended to dismember her to shreds until she died.
It was then.
Ersetia grabbed Barcazel’s forearm with her unbroken arm.
* * *
Pain rushes in.
“……!”
The hand attempting to pull out the organs did not budge, as if blocked by a wall. Even bending my fingers to rummage inside the body yielded no response.
“O Luas, the believer was foolish, and only now have I come to understand your trials.”
The infinite divine power flowing from Ersetia surged like a tide, beginning to overwhelm not only the two of them but the entire area with light.
What, *cough*!
Barcazel tried to hurriedly back away.He wouldn’t move.The grip on his forearm was so strong that even with all the strength he had unleashed, he couldn’t do anything about it.
“Even though I am the Saint of Light, I was inexperienced and failed to discern that the opponent was a being capable of damaging a sacred artifact. A mere beastman, a mere beast. But that makes me glad.”
Ersetia slowly raised her head.
“Barcazel. If I condemn you, I will be able to prove to the Mother of Light that I am a saint capable of facing a great demon single-handedly.”
Even as his organs were being severed, the corners of his alluring lips curved gently before splitting wide.It was an innocent smile and laughter, like that of a child.
Creepy.
Barcazel was engulfed in a chilling sensation he had never encountered before. A madness worse than that of a deranged dwarf irritated his nerves.
Th-this… !!!!!
Recalling the moment he died from Grimmel’s self-destruction, he forcibly pulled his left arm out. The sensation of flesh being attached to it tore off completely.
As I kept as much distance as possible, a golden cross rose above the blood-gushing wound on my arm like a tattoo.
Stigmata
“Whoever rises with a trace of light shall enjoy divine radiance.”
Ersetia, having recovered from all her injuries, held a spear in both hands and prayed.
“O Luas, grant me the great divinity once again.”
The armor and spear pulsated.
Her sacred wings, which were originally four, increased to six, and her divine power exploded, overwhelming Barcazel with her mere presence.
“Luas, once again to me—”
Holy light gathered at the tip of God’s spear aimed at Barcazel.The earth shook.
A chance for judgment.
Pow!
The beam, fired leaving behind a heavy recoil, was immediately amplified. The trajectory curved along Barcazel as it deviated from its straight path.The aftermath alone destroyed or pushed back everything in the vicinity.
A blinding radiance.
Is it a sure hit and a desperate strike?
Barcazel protected the heart and head with his left wing and left arm.
If she endures, the saint is finished.
The moment he was struck directly by the beam, he was pushed back and flew all the way to a massive mountain in the distance, crashing into it. The power of the light did not stop and continued to press down on him.
Kuwagwagwagwagwa!
A scream struck my Adam’s apple.
It felt as though his entire body were being completely shattered by the brutal pressure and heat, but the more it happened, the more his wild instinct supported Barcazel’s life force.The light weakened.Eventually, the radiance vanished, and he began to see again.
He emerged from the wall flushed red all over and supported his body as if exhausted.
“Saint Ersetia…… It is now proven. You can kill me…….”
The light flickers.
The stigmata still remain.
Kugugugugugugugugugugugugu… … !
Barcazel opened his eyes wide and reflexively lifted his head toward the sky. Something resembling a huge luminous body was falling at high speed.
“It’s not the end?”“The heinous sin of opposing the light.”
Ersetia met her end.
Destroy.
Judgment: Divine Punishment
With a roar that split the world, a holy spear larger than Mount Tai fell and pierced through the area where Barcazel was standing, shattering it.
The true cross rising from the earth.A symbol of light.
At the sight of Luas’s true divine punishment descending, she closed her eyes and offered a prayer. A warm, soft light enveloped her skin.And the light of condemnation deeply permeated everything except humans.
As the goddess wills.
An intense, vast, and innocent light instantly illuminated the southern part of the central continent.
* * *
The lush canyons and mountain ranges, and the mightiest of them all, Mount Tai, had vanished without a trace, and a plain heavily scarred by destruction came into view.
The presence disappeared.
Saint Ersetia let out a deep sigh and whispered quietly.
It’s over.
Not long after, the Luas Bridge airship approached and stopped in the sky.
Cardinal Serfania and Archbishop Joseph hurriedly disembarked. Archbishop Joseph was wearing the new archbishop’s vestments for him.
“How could such a fierce battle… Yet even that monstrous beastman was ultimately defeated. As expected. Saint Ersetia…!”
The Saintess of the times is the strongest.No transcendent being will be able to withstand her.
“Saint, your body, ugh!”
I cannot approach it.It is so hot that I cannot approach it.
Archbishop Joseph was astonished to witness that sacred fervor.
“Surely not, the Saintess doesn’t have a fever again…?!”
Spirit fever
The divine beings of the Luas religion suffer from a rare, unapproachable high fever. And when the fever subsides, they draw even closer to the Goddess than before.The powerful divine beings who left their names in history have experienced this divine fever without exception.
However, it was the first time since the birth of religion that a second fever had struck a newcomer like Ersetia, who had suffered from a fever years ago.
“Ah, Mother of Light. Such great love to me…….”
Ersetia looked up at the sky with truly ecstatic eyes.Her mad faith deepened even further.
After offering a brief prayer in her heart, she soon hardened her expression.
“Let’s return to the Ruas Theocracy right now.”“You need to stabilize first!”“Returning comes first.”
Ersetia immediately walked toward the Cardinal’s airship and continued speaking.
“It seems that the beastman named Barcazel is a being from the past. Probably from a very distant… There is only one being capable of reviving such a being.”
The glory of the dead.
I do not know how the dead were brought back to life without a miracle of light, but the current situation brought to mind numerous anxieties.
“With the Pope and the Saint present, the Holy Kingdom does not need to worry, but we need to urgently discuss the movements of the Glory of the Dead. If there is one more of those prisoner-like beings, the entire continent is in danger.……”
Ping.
My vision spun.
‘ah…….’
A newcomer suffering from a fever becomes weak.To be precise, their mental strength weakens.Moreover, even though her body had recovered, her nerves were already worn out to the limit from the battle against an absolute powerhouse she had experienced for the first time in her life.
I had reached my limit.The strength drained from my body.
“S-Saint!!!”
Ersetia, the strongest member of the Luas religion, lost consciousness and collapsed.
* * *
“Phew, that’s unbelievably creepy. I’ve pretty much reached my breaking point myself, but if I had gotten close, I would have died from just a brush.”
One of the six musical instruments of Narbia, Narbia Perin.
A criminal sorcerer resurrected by Landerk of Manyeon, the third servant of the Glory of the Dead, at the time the Blood Alliance was founded in the underworld.
She recalled the moment she was executed by the Master of the Magic Tower, Zentir, for the crime of kidnapping and dissecting alive high-ranking figures of the continent, including the Tower Elders, royalty, and Chancellors.
“eww…….”
Actually, I didn’t remember it clearly.
Only the sense of death remains.
This was because Narbia Perin had been resurrected incompletely from the start. To be fully revived, the return of the old king is indispensable.
Still, it’s a relief that you didn’t get caught.
Narbia cast his gaze toward the magic-operated cart.
“Right? Mr. Monster Beastman?”“Kuh-huh…… Khahahahaha…….”
Barcazel, his entire body nearly engulfed in flames, writhed as he was loaded onto the cart. His regenerative powers were unresponsive. His body was destroyed to the point where even the wildness of life had become meaningless.
However───I am alive.
Trembling
Barcazel lifted his tattered arm high with great difficulty. A voice of jubilation escaped through his broken teeth.
“also…….”
Barcasel grasped the sky.
“Fate is on my side.”“If it is fate that you, Monster Beastman, survived, then I suppose I would be something of a guide to fate.”
Narbia smiled.
So please thank me, too. It’s a debt, so make sure to pay it back later.
Whether it was fate or whatever, Narvia had no interest in such preposterous concepts. What she focused on was the beastman’s unbelievable strength.
“To think a being can destroy the Magic Tower all by itself. That’s totally insane.”
I helped because I was told to keep watch as the Glory of the Dead commanded and to assist if a situation like this arose.Honestly, my body was unable to refuse orders, so I carried it out under duress, but that did not change the fact that I had saved a prisoner.
If you become close with Barcasel, it will be beneficial, not detrimental.
“Ahahaha.”“Khahahahahaha!”
The sorcerer and the beastman who had come back from the dead laughed for different reasons.
* * *
The massive city, Gargant… … the nearby grasslands.
“If your plan succeeds, you’ll safely obtain the fourth coordinate and be able to cross the third dimension. But if you fail, the price will be quite devastating.”
Ignacia turned halfway around with her hands clasped behind her back like a young girl.The Milky Way of the night adorned her.
“The moment you slip up even the slightest, you’ll have to handle all of my super-level magic. I’m not a transcendent being specialized in destruction like Dahit, so I won’t die, but you won’t be able to move for a while. Since only your mental realm is ruptured, you won’t be able to recover even with elixirs.”
Ignacia asks one last time.
“Are you still going to do it?”“Of course.”
Verden answered immediately.
If you’re ready, let’s start.
Two transcendent beings attempt to implement super-level magic that generates a fourth spatial coordinate.
Toward the Ruas Theocracy, which was closed off by some kind of power.
