novelraw Chapter 133 : Full-Power Throw (4)
Chapter 133 : Full-Power Throw (4)
Chapter 133: Full-Power Throw (4)
They had found an opening and delivered a decisive blow, but their opponent was the Executor of Earth, Betty Scarletwood. That level of injury wasn’t enough to bring her down.
Thus, Frederick and the others headed toward the right outer wall where she had been blown away.
It was right then that the strange scream began to echo from that direction.
Those who had faltered from the shockwave and explosion quickly regained their footing the moment the sound ceased.
As expected, the opponent was neither dead nor unconscious.
She was merely leaning against the wall, gazing toward the opposite side with a sorrowful expression.
“…Sister Karen.”
Frederick gestured for his subordinates, who had their weapons raised, to step back one pace at a time, then extended his hand toward her.
“What do you say? Shall we call it a draw here and wrap things up?”
Betty stared at the outstretched hand, then slowly closed her eyes.
“…No. It’s already too late.”
“It’s not too late yet. Most of your soldiers are losing their will to fight. If you persuade them, they’ll follow. You’ve known for a long time that this battle is meaningless.”
“Even if I wanted that… she wouldn’t.”
“…She? You mean Karen Rosefield?”
Instead of answering, Betty let out a faint sigh.
“You made a mistake. No one can stop her now. You’ve awakened a true calamity.”
“…That scream earlier… was the precursor.”
She slowly rose and began walking toward the entrance.
“Abandon the tower and evacuate. You might still live.”
“What do you—”
At that moment—
KWAAAAAAANG!!
A deafening roar far beyond anything before shook the very ground.
---
Whose memory is this?
Traniel, a small mountain village in the Niphrel region.
The villagers, who had barely survived through livestock farming, decided to develop a new industry for survival and prosperity.
An ancient ruin within the village, and the old legends surrounding it.
Based on that, they aimed to build a tourism industry, along with food and lodging services.
The change was successful, and the village entered an unprecedented boom—
Until the Ribenian Orthodox Faith labeled their legend as heresy.
Using the danger of the central altar as justification, the Orthodox Church banned tourism and began a nominal investigation.
And then, by chance, they encountered a nightmare that should never have been touched.
Nibas of Hallucination—an SS-rank Beast that had been miraculously sealed by a previous successor.
Under the pretense of research and investigation, the Orthodox Church broke the long-standing seal.
But the creature was a disaster beyond their imagination.
And the price for that forbidden choice was cruelly paid by the villagers.
The Church’s investigation team, trapped in Nibas’s hallucinations, began slaughtering the villagers indiscriminately.
Later, the situation was brought under control as the elite forces of the Church and the Imperial Household, led by the Executors of Light, were deployed.
But the Church had no intention of revealing their horrific mistake.
Those who had brought about their own sin turned the area into an even deeper hell through voluntary slaughter.
Amid that chaos, her parents—who had miraculously survived—set out of the village to reveal the truth.
Unfortunately—
Blocking their path was Heinrich Peregrine, the Head of the Dellowell Inquisition.
“I’m sorry. I’ve been ordered to kill all survivors.”
The world Karen Rosefield returned to—after finishing gathering herbs late—was utter carnage.
—When the altar is filled with blood, upon a mountain of corpses, the successor shall be born.
The final line of the legend.
Chosen as the successor, she couldn’t accept the reality placed before her and began to rampage.
After more than ten hours of chaos, she was finally subdued.
And when she opened her eyes again—
She remembered nothing.
The principle was to kill all survivors.
A talent so overwhelming that it overturned that principle.
To use her as their tool, Director Heinrich and Archbishop Dominico fed her lies.
They distorted the Church’s actions and framed innocent people.
As punishment for worshipping foreign entities, the people here were abandoned by God.
Driven mad, they devoured each other like beasts and offered corpses to monsters.
We came here to save them, but they were beyond salvation.
Except for you, Karen.
You miraculously survived.
As a survivor, you must remember this.
You must remember the sins committed by you and these people.
Use that power for us, with a heart of eternal repentance.
Erase the seeds before sinners like you can emerge again.
Offer everything to the God who saved you.
That is the best you can do, as a sinner.
This is a land drenched in blood—Rosefield.
Bear the weight of sin and live a life of atonement.
Karen Rosefield, Executor of Blood.
---
“……”
For a moment, I drifted through those memories.
I couldn’t even be certain whose memories they were…
But one thing was clear.
She already knew the truth.
But she lacked the courage to face it.
Because she had been only ten years old when the tragedy occurred.
At a similar age, Francia had witnessed the fall of her family and chose revenge.
In that sense, she had been fortunate.
Even as a fallen noble, she could receive support from the government.
Of course, that didn’t diminish her effort or determination.
But Karen had no such salvation.
Everyone in her village, including her family, had already become corpses.
And the world saw them as mad monsters and despised them.
Francia was pitied as a victim of adult power struggles—
But no one would pity fools who destroyed themselves through a calamity they had brought upon themselves.
That was why she denied everything.
What she had seen. What she had heard.
…Even her own thoughts and emotions.
To survive, she chose submission.
She placed herself beneath those who had destroyed her.
Believing it to be the duty she must bear—for failing to save anyone.
“……”
A sudden surge of anger filled me, tightening my fists.
“…I don’t like it.”
You bastards probably rationalized even this as the will of God.
You wouldn’t acknowledge it—wouldn’t even consider it wrong.
You would never turn your heads toward the possibility that you were wrong.
You would just stagnate endlessly.
I glared at Karen, who was continuously releasing shockwaves.
Her consciousness had already been completely severed—only the whites of her eyes remained visible.
Divine Possession.
One of the two abilities activated when the successor—target of Holy Descent—loses consciousness completely.
Her adaptability and combat sense disappeared entirely, but in exchange, she gained overwhelming authority.
The name of the divine entity controlling her—
Akasha, the Blood Guardian Deity, a dark mage.
That was why I had ordered all forces in the area to withdraw.
Wooooom—Wooooom—
Akasha’s basic Field Magic: Land of Pain.
It amplified the pain of all targets within the field.
Those without resistance to dark magic would feel greater pain, even fainting if it intensified.
Most here were already injured from prolonged battle. Those without resistance couldn’t endure it.
As for me, having lived long with The Incurable Curse and recently exposed to significant dark magic, the amplification effect was minimal.
Of course, this was only a fraction of Akasha’s power.
The real disaster began now.
KWA-KWA-KWA-KWAANG!
Thin, long spikes burst out of the ground like bamboo shoots.
I quickly leapt, predicting their trajectory—but in my current condition, I couldn’t avoid them all.
“Ghk!”
Intense pain pierced through my entire body.
Watching the endless spikes erupt behind me, I clenched my teeth.
Akasha’s primary offensive skill: Spikes of Pain.
A technique that generates spikes within the Land of Pain’s area, causing extreme pain even on contact.
For those unaccustomed to pain, each strike was nearly fatal.
…But Eugene Carter’s body endured even this relatively calmly.
Of course, as if expecting even that, she began unleashing another core technique.
Clatter!
As she thrust her hand forward, red chains lined with spikes shot out beneath it.
Another main technique: Chains of Screams.
If the spikes were a wide-area attack, the chains were for restraining individuals.
Like the spikes, mere contact caused pain—but the chains also bound their targets.
‘If I get caught, it’s over…!’
The moment even one arm was bound, Akasha’s finishing move—Blood Demon Crimson Bullet—would follow.
I evaded both spikes and chains while launching a slash toward her.
Her master erected a blood barrier in midair, nullifying it instantly.
All of this happened in mere seconds.
“……”
Maintaining three techniques at once, and still deploying a barrier within seconds…
Akasha must really like Karen.
—This isn’t the time to admire!
‘…I know.’
—If you keep stalling like this, you’ll get caught! Leave the battlefield now!
‘I’d love to, but…’
I couldn’t.
I was the one who provoked her into rampaging.
Which meant Akasha’s target was now fixed on me.
If I disappeared from her sight, she would become a disaster that spread pain across the entire plaza—just like in Traniel.
And in that process, she would fall into despair again, recalling those she had torn apart herself.
I couldn’t allow that.
And above all—
‘She’ll be here soon.’
KWAAAAANG!
A sudden explosion erupted in front of me, and I quickly crouched.
I barely avoided the chains, but I couldn’t block the barrage of spikes.
Thud! Thud!
“Ghh…!”
I cut them down just before they pierced through me, then stabbed my sword into the wall to lessen the impact.
Even so, I barely avoided being slammed into it.
She floated in the air, erecting barriers on all sides, looking down at me.
“…Just like before.”
Cold sweat ran down my spine.
Previously, I had barely managed to counterattack with Francia’s help.
Now, even that wasn’t possible.
In every sense, this was the most desperate situation imaginable.
‘Though it’s strange that Master Aleph is staying silent…’
Well, he was still a traditional mage. There was also the compatibility issue between dark magic and conventional magic—he likely had no means to protect me from Karen, who was wielding divine authority.
He could have helped me escape—but I had refused that option.
“……”
So I remained silent and watched my opponent.
Instead of struggling, I chose to witness.
Victory comes from conviction.
And my conviction was solely for them.
Momentarily thrown off by my unexpected behavior, she soon raised her left hand toward me.
The red mana gathering at her fingertips was so dense it made my mind reel just from its presence.
Blood Demon Crimson Bullet.
Akasha’s ultimate technique, stolen from the Blood Demon King, the Great Beast Moloch.
The condensed projectile would explode upon impact, creating a massive pillar of blood.
Her execution was swift and precise.
The bullet had already grown to the size of a fist.
This was her maximum strike.
For a moment, I was entranced by the sight—
Then I quietly closed my eyes.
All I had to do now was wait.
Just as I had saved her—
Now it was her turn to save me.
—…Foolish.
After a fleeting eternity—
The bullet shot toward my heart.
The moment it pierced me, my body would explode without leaving even a trace.
But—
That never happened.
“……”
A warm sensation enveloped me, and I opened my eyes.
A pure white aura now covered my entire body.
“I’m quite late, aren’t I?”
Following the voice, I lifted my gaze.
Amid the heavily разрушed outer wall—
Rubia Magnus stood there, pointing her staff.
Behind her confident smile, a platinum radiance shimmered.