Apostle of the Goddess of War

Chapter 60

Ch.60 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“Let go of my brother right now.”  

Whoosh.  

Sion spun his sword in a full circle, readjusting his grip. The black mist around him rose thicker, as if resonating with his fury.  

Divine power surged violently, accelerating. The rings of power gradually took clearer shape, and Sion’s strength rose sharply in tandem.  

The Death Priestess felt Sion’s killing intent but didn’t flinch at all. Instead, a grotesque smile curled at the corners of her lips.  

“I can smell blood and iron on you.”  

“You know well.”  

“I don’t care.”  

“Aren’t you afraid of the Goddess of War’s iron mace?”  

“When I’ve become one with death, what is there to fear?”  

A fitting answer from someone who worshipped death. Against one whose entire body was armored with unshakable belief, crude threats were useless.  

Besides, Sion had only been buying time to assess his opponent. He now had a sense of her strength.  

‘She’s strong.’  

A stench of death wafted heavily from the pale woman. She seemed at least on par with a Vampire Lord of the Blood Cult—meaning she was a demon who had lived for hundreds of years.  

Stronger than most newly born demon clans.  

Her pale fingers caressed Set’s cheek like a lover’s touch. At the sight, Sion nearly lost his sanity.  

“He’s a good one. Full of nutrients, perfect as an offering.”  

“What the hell are you planning?”  

Sion slowly ascended the steps as he asked. The Death Priestess explained without a hint of caution.  

“He’s my prized pet, carefully cultivated. A lovely monster. I plan to place him at the forefront of the coming holy war.”  

The Death Priestess whispered with rapture in her voice.  

“I’ve gathered enough souls. All I needed was a vessel to bind the monster’s soul into—and that was the hardest part.”  

But then—  

“Luckily, I found this child. I like him. He’s pure, and his vessel is large. Could it be the Goddess of War’s blessing?”  

An unpleasant sensation scraped at the soul and mind as she murmured. Was it a kind of magic? The surviving goblins clutched their ears and writhed in agony.  

Sion felt it too. Blood streamed from his ears. Only because he used divine power to protect his eardrums did the damage stop there.  

“It’s time to awaken the monster. Interlopers must die.”  

Tat!  

There was no more need to listen. Sion kicked off the ground and charged toward the altar.  

But the Death Priestess, as if anticipating this, flicked her finger.  

Thud! Thud!  

Rotten arms burst from the ground around the altar. Corpses with decayed flesh and exposed, bare bones moved—undead.  

“Graaah!”  

They swung their rotting arms, blocking Sion’s path.  

Sion gritted his teeth. It was unbearable. This was the necromancy he’d only heard about—forcing the resting dead to rise and tormenting them.  

Seeing it in person was even more horrifying and grotesque. No wonder the Goddesses had forbidden this dark art.  

“You use necromancy!”  

Clang!  

Sion’s sword split an undead’s bone, but the creature felt no pain. Even with its leg bone severed, it crawled forward with its arms and grabbed Sion’s ankle.  

Amid the chaos, the Death Priestess didn’t stop chanting. The soul flowing from Set’s body grew thicker.  

She was extracting his soul to create a perfect vessel.  

Uuunnng.  

A jolt pierced Sion’s crown. A holy energy stimulated the top of his head.  

[Sion! Killing her isn’t the priority! You must sever the connection between Set and the altar! Before that evil force completely devours the child’s soul!]  

The Goddess Achille cried out urgently. Sion couldn’t hear her voice.  

But her will was transmitted. Without hearing words, he somehow knew what he had to do.  

Sion accepted this as ‘guidance.’ The belief that the Goddess of War was always with him drove his actions.  

‘The altar first!’  

Sion’s sword erupted with a dazzling swirl of night’s holy light.  

Kwaaaaaah—!  

A wave of divine power swept forward, and the undead shrieked, crumbling into dust. Divine power obliterated the dead.  

In an instant, the path was cleared.  

“You’re in the way.”  

The Death Priestess quickly stepped in to block him.  

Her body was shielded by wildly rotating bone branches. A gray vortex spread around the priestess. Bones and entrails slashed in all directions at a speed that would leave not a shred of flesh on anyone who dared approach.  

However—  

“It’s you who’s in the way.”  

She wasn’t strong enough to stop Sion’s advance. Sion kicked the ground and charged straight into the vortex.  

His sword cut through with a streak of black light—a sword technique bordering on the miraculous.  

Kwaaaaang!  

Without hesitation, Sion brought his sword down on both the Death Priestess and the altar. The tower of bones collapsed like a landslide.  

“Set!”  

Sion pulled Set from among the crumbling bones. The young boy gasped for breath. To have endured this long after having his soul extracted was admirable.  

‘Unforgivable.’  

Sion’s furious eyes tracked his target for revenge.  

The Death Priestess’s corpse was nowhere to be seen. He had clearly slashed her from shoulder to waist.  

Instead, her voice came from behind him.  

“That last strike of yours opened the gate.”  

Sion quickly turned around.  

The Death Priestess now stood on the opposite side of the altar, controlling magical energy with grotesque gestures. The red patterns drawn on the altar began to glow like flashes of light.  

In response to that light, Set’s body trembled slightly.  

Snake-like, dark, ominous tattoos spread across his skin.  

The flashes of light rippled across the ground.  

Then—  

A massive hand burst from the gap in the collapsed altar.  

An arm covered in bones and dried, rotting flesh—it could only be described as that of an ancient monster.  

Kuuuuung……!  

A heavy vibration shook the swamp. Even Sion’s pupils trembled under the overwhelming pressure.  

“What…?”  

This was only the beginning.  

Kugugugu!  

The ground cracked as the monster began to reveal itself.  

Gooooo—!  

The giant hand planted itself on the ground and lifted the body. Behind it, a spine like a mountain range rose up. The skull head bore hideous horns, and from its hollow eye sockets flickered a flame-like light.  

Just this sight alone was enough to shatter the sanity of an ordinary human.  

“Yahaha! It’s awake! It’s awake!”  

The Death Priestess burst into mad laughter. Though she had deep wounds from shoulder to waist, maggots stitched the wounds shut like thread.  

‘The situation is bad.’  

Sion clenched his teeth. His strike that destroyed the altar had, paradoxically, shattered the prison that had sealed the monster.  

‘I was tricked.’  

There was no time for regret.  

The monster’s revival was still incomplete. This was the last chance to stop it completely before it fully emerged from the ground, without causing further damage.  

Sion gently set down the unconscious Set he was holding. The black tattoos on his brother’s body had faded, but he remained unconscious.  

“I have to finish this.”  

Whoosh!  

Divine power exploded from Sion’s body like a storm.  

Tat!  

As he kicked off the ground and launched forward, the Death Priestess ghost-like blocked his path.  

“Where do you think you’re going? Now it’s truly time to die.”  

From her hand, a whip made of bones flew like a snake.  

Clang!  

Sion knocked the whip aside with his sword, but the Death Priestess clung to him relentlessly.  

Her goal wasn’t to defeat Sion. She only needed a few seconds—to buy time for the monster’s complete revival.  

“Get out of my way!”  

Swish, swish, swish!  

Sion’s sword fiercely drove her back, but the Death Priestess was one with death.  

Every time she was cut, maggots filled the wounds, repairing her flesh and resurrecting her again.  

Was there even a way to kill her? She endured Sion’s attacks with the reckless tenacity of an immortal, stalling for time.  

Even if he tried to ignore her and rush past, undead immediately blocked his path, grabbing his ankles.  

She was a mage on par with a Vampire Lord.  

She couldn’t be ignored. If Sion let his guard down even slightly or turned his attention elsewhere, the stench of death would rush right into his face.  

Kwaaaaang!  

The ancient monster’s head burst from the ground. Its overwhelmingly large pupils scanned the goblins and humans.  

Time was running out.  

‘I guess I have to use that.’  

Sion clenched and opened his fist.  

‘They said if I smear the Sacred Flame on my blade, I can kill her.’  

Just as he was about to place his last hope on this—  

“Dieeeeeee!”  

With a roar, someone leapt down from the sky, straight toward the rising monster.  

***  

After a fierce battle, the Order of the War Knight had seized the watchtower and now surveyed the battlefield. Below, a scene unfolded that froze their very souls.  

“What… what in the world is that…?”  

One knight’s voice trembled with fear. The sight of the colossal monster rising from the earth surpassed every nightmare they could imagine.  

Tier was no different. It felt as if the blood in his veins had turned to ice. But he didn’t look away.  

In his eyes, the image of Sion fighting the death-worshipper was clear, and beneath them, the fading life of Set.  

“I… I was about to abandon that child.”  

He believed his cowardice, his weakness, had caused this disaster.  

If only he hadn’t hesitated from the start and tried to save Set, the monster’s summoning ritual might have been delayed even slightly.  

Then perhaps Sion could have stopped it somehow.  

“Damn it…!”  

As regretful memories flooded his mind, something greater than fear ignited in his chest.  

Guilt.  

And the will for atonement.  

“Commander, what should we do now?”  

Alt asked with a trembling voice. All eyes turned to Tier. Once again, he had to make a leader’s decision.  

Tier stood at the broken railing of the watchtower.  

Below him lay the chaotic battlefield and the colossal monster rising as if to pierce the sky.  

He pulled out the large axe strapped to his back—the weapon he had wielded with the most confidence, even before learning swordsmanship from Sion.  

“Listen to me, everyone.”  

Tier’s voice was surprisingly calm.  

“I almost abandoned Set. I disgraced the honor of a War Knight. I nearly betrayed my comrade. I am a criminal.”  

His confession silenced the unit.  

“This sin cannot be washed away, even in death. But… I will give my life to save Set and stop the monster’s revival.”  

Tier’s gaze fixed on the monster’s forehead—the core where red flashes flickered. It seemed too far, too high. But unreachable it was not.  

“I’ll buy you a little time. The rest… I leave to the Goddess Achille and all of you.”  

Tier looked back at his comrades who had fought beside him and smiled for the first time with the true smile of a leader.  

“Survive. Remember this day. Though I was a coward, in the end, I was a warrior. I entrust my younger sister to you.”  

“Commander, no!”  

“What!?”  

Only belatedly realizing his intent, Alt reached to grab Tier’s arm, but Tier had already made his decision.  

Tier took a deep breath and began his sprint. Inwardly, he offered his final prayer to the Goddess of war.  

“Goddess of War! Please turn my cowardice in this final moment into unyielding courage!”  

To the cry of a cowardly warrior, his Goddess answered.  

[My warrior. You are already forgiven.]  

The Goddess’s warm voice enveloped his soul.  

Tears welled in Tier’s eyes, but he didn’t cry. Instead, he shouted with all his strength.  

“The Goddess of War! Watches over me—!”  

Tier raised his axe high and threw himself off the watchtower.  

Freefall.  

Everything seemed to slow down. The wind brushed his cheeks. Below, Sion and the Death Priestess clashed fiercely.  

‘Sir Sion. Thank you.’  

He gripped the axe tightly with both hands and threw his entire body weight toward his target.  

The Death Priestess noticed the small human falling from above and shrieked.  

“Insect!”  

As she swung her bone whip to intercept Tier midair, Sion didn’t miss the opportunity.  

“She’s mine!”  

Sion’s sword flashed like a galaxy, severing her whip. For just a moment, the path was clear for Tier.  

Tier’s eyes met the monster’s blood-red eyes in midair.  

Facing that arrogant gaze, as if looking at a moth, Tier swung the axe with everything he had.  

The axe was imbued with the power of the Goddess of War.  

“Diiiiiiie!”  

Crack—!  

With a horrifying tearing sound, Tier’s axe blade struck the monster’s forehead dead center.  

—Graaaaaaak!  

The ancient being screamed, shaking heaven and earth. A fatal blow to the core of its seal caused the massive body, just beginning to rise, to stagger.  

And from the recoil, Tier’s body was flung into the air like a piece of paper.

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