As the courtroom began to collapse, the situation worsened.
Descending from above, Vervaria was intent on demonstrating that this arrival was of a different caliber than the last time at Kapatia Port, raising her head and letting out a roaring scream that mixed with growls toward the sky.
“Why, why, why, why—!!!”
Yona’s desperate scream echoed.
A cloud of dust rose as the building’s walls shattered into pieces, flying everywhere, colliding with the remaining structures and mercilessly toppling them.
“Saint!”
“—Gah!”
Priest Vigrind gritted her teeth and summoned divine power anew.
Forcing out nearly exhausted holy energy twisted her insides with pain, but it was not a time to consider such things.
Vervaria crushed the cathedral knights charging at her, even devouring knights and priests in her gaping maw.
With every whip of her tail, the cathedral knights were flung away like scraps of paper, their screams resounding throughout the area.
“You, you! And you call yourselves priests—!”
Yona’s angry tirade was heard.
Sweat droplets fell from Vigrind’s hand as she gripped it tightly.
Her fingers turned white from the strength of her hold, trembling uncontrollably.
Yona’s words seemed to pierce Vigrind’s heart.
That question of whether they could still consider themselves priests hit home for Vigrind, leaving her speechless.
Vigrind knew well how the Church of the Celestial God treated heretics.
She also understood that Alex had been captured in such a manner.
She couldn’t help but imagine what would happen to Alex.
And didn’t she earnestly counsel the pope about it?
To listen to Alex, just once, if only for that.
Yona wasn’t the kind of heretical nun, and as the saint who grew up with him in Evian, she could guarantee it.
But all she got in return was icy derision.
That made no difference.
And as a result, hadn’t he already become a heretic?
Because he had fallen, he was a heretic, and there was no room for circumstances—
Better to be a martyr than to allow heresy.
‘…Yona…!’
But there was nothing to be done now.
Yona’s heresy was confirmed, and she had even slain one of the cathedral knights.
On top of that, she had summoned the great demon Vervaria for an assault on the heart of the Church.
Now—
Now, Yona had truly become a heretic.
Around Vigrind, the seals of buff exploded with thunderous sounds, flickering with brilliance as she radiated her maximum divine light, granting buffs to the priests of the Church.
“The saint is with us!”
“Exterminate the filthy heretic and demon—!”
“This place will be the demon’s grave—!”
“Both the hero and the saint are with us—!”
Countless voices called out.
Hearing those cries, Ludvik gripped his spear tightly.
A fighting spirit boiling from deep within.
In this moment, courage that surpassed fear.
Boosted by Vigrind’s holy buffs.
Ludvik held his spear firmly and surveyed the battlefield.
Vervaria, as immense as the Adventurer’s Guild building in Evian, swung her massive body everywhere. The buildings near the courtroom shook with every whip of her tail, and when she let out her roar, the cathedral knights faltered and fell back. Every time she opened her mouth, people were devoured, and the agony echoed loudly, making one instinctively cover their ears.
Every time the knights of the Cathedral lose their fighting spirit and withdraw, someone’s getting gobbled up, and the horrifying screams make you want to cover your ears.
Those ominous, red-eyed, elongated pupils were scanning the surroundings, seemingly searching for their next victim.
And in the midst of it all, there’s the apostate—Yona.
The magic whipped up into a whirlwind.
In a fit of rage, with fierce orange eyes shining brightly, Yona was embracing Rubina.
Though not clearly visible, Rubina was equally snuggled up against Yona.
‘…It’s impossible to face Vervaria directly.’
“Just hold on a little longer—! Reinforcements are coming!”
Hearing the Pope’s fierce shout, Ludvik thought about it.
Based on his past experience, barely managing to fend off Vervaria’s avatar, could he really face the actual Vervaria now?
—Impossible.
He gripped his spear tightly.
‘Fear not. The Divine is just.’
The tip of the spear was aimed at Yona.
‘This must be the trial bestowed upon me by the Divine. I must not be a coward consumed by fear.’
The apostate controlling the great demon named Vervaria—Yona.
Demons arise from the darkness within humans.
The fear recedes.
Courage wells up.
The light of the spear intensifies.
Ludvik, gripping the spear firmly, felt an extreme calm wash over him.
Vervaria’s roar felt distant, and the divinity radiating from Vigrind filled his entire being.
Fear comes from within.
He has a mission, and there’s something he must protect.
Under the name of the Hero, if he does not move,
what meaning does the name of Hero hold?
‘To overcome fear. The righteous surpass the wicked.’
Ludvik tightened his grip on the spear.
The hero gripped the spear firmly.
Ludvik took a heavy step forward.
The hero finally stepped forward.
– “You, hero, should walk the path you wish to tread. No matter what lies at the end, it must be the Divine’s design.”
He finally grasped the meaning of that word.
Act upon what you believe to be right.
As you tread the path you desire, that is true heroism.
His mind cleared.
The dark fear that had engulfed his body lifted,
and he returned to a pure state of consciousness.
With emerald courage, his body brimmed with energy.
“Haah—!”
A radiant golden glow burst forth from the hero.
Each step Ludvik took towards the black demon, Vervaria, felt incredibly light.
At the spear’s tip was the apostate—Yona.
As Vervaria’s maw came crashing down, he jabbed his spear into its eye.
Black blood splattered everywhere as Vervaria let out a monstrous scream.
The hero leaped onto Vervaria’s head and charged forward.
The eyes of the bloodied Vervaria twitched as magic slithered closer, regenerating into bright, crimson orbs once more.
‘More than defeating Vervaria—’
The hero mused while sprinting across Vervaria’s body.
The emergence of a demon always requires a medium.
There was no medium, so that apostate Yona must be the very medium itself.
“Block Vervaria for me—!”
With the hero’s shout, the knights of the Cathedral regained their fighting spirit once again.
With a roar, the cathedral knights once again steeled their resolve.
– “Where do you think you’re going?”
Vervaria’s other head swooped down beside him.
In an instant, it seemed ready to chomp down on the hero’s shoulder, but in that brief moment, he ducked and dodged like a pro.
The hero shouted.
“I’m not the one to take you down—!”
– “You dare say that, you mere hero? How absurd!”
“How could you know the profound will of the Divine?”
How could a demon wielding overwhelming power know such a thing?
Humans must fight efficiently because they are human.
The reason humans, lacking overwhelming strength, size, or constant regeneration, can thrive so much.
Though Vervaria is large, it’s a snake.
Even with nine heads, it’s mainly all about the front.
If it’s curled up like this,
how could its body —
– “You must be thinking that, hero.”
Crimson magic swooped in from both sides.
The golden light radiating from the hero flickered as the magic attacked from both directions.
– “Truly pathetic.”
One of Vervaria’s heads had stealthily approached and was glaring at the hero.
The once fiery red gaze had now shifted, turning icy blue and sharp.
Swoosh.
With an unpleasant sound, the hero’s spear lodged itself deep within the middle of Vervaria’s head.
With all his might, the hero gripped the spear tighter, pushing it even deeper.
With every push, the spear glowed brighter and deeper — deeper, deeper, and deeper—
And crimson magic gushed out from the head that the spear had pierced.
Boom—!
The golden light and crimson magic clashed, erupting in a flash.
Indeed, the colossal divine and magic were clashing as they grew ever larger, each threatening to devour the other.
—Flash!
A blinding light erupted.
The radiance finally exploded, seemingly incinerating the surrounding magic, and then a powerful boom followed.
—BoomBOOM!
The very heavens shook.
The hero swiftly retrieved the spear that had been flung back and impaled it into Vervaria’s torso.
‘No matter how much of a demon you are, before such divinity…!’
As the flash subsided, the hero once again raised his spear.
If he had halted Vervaria, it was now time to slay the apostate, Yona.
– “Is this all there is, Divine Hero?”
From within the dust cloud, Vervaria’s tail swooped in.
Before the hero could react, the tail coiled around him, lifting him high into the air.
– “GoooOOOOO!!!”
Vervaria’s roar echoed.
With the hero captured, the tail lifted him triumphantly while Vervaria roared in victory.
The faces of the Pope, cathedral knights, and Priest Vigrind turned pale with horror.
“…It’s the time of divine punishment.”
The voice of the apostate Yona resonated softly.
With eyes still burning with rage, the magic Yona emitted billowed skyward, threatening to darken the heavens.
As if becoming a cloud—magic seemed to fill the sky.
Within it, something dark slowly began to take shape, and when it finally revealed itself—
It was a nail.
Exactly resembling a holy nail—one might say, a demonic nail.
One, two, three, four…
Countless magical energies began to fill the sky, so many that counting was pointless.
“Where, oh where, is your god in times like this? You’re such a wicked bunch, it seems your god has abandoned you. In their place, I’ll deliver your punishment…”
Yona twisted her lips into a clear smile, a grin that could put a hyena to shame.
“Enjoy it, will you?”
“Noooooo—!!!!”
Vigrind’s scream echoed through the chaos.
There were more than a hundred people gathered here.
If all that magical energy poured down, those people would be utterly annihilated.
At least, that catastrophe needed to be stopped.
Vigrind raised her wrist and bit down hard.
The blood vessels in her wrist tore, and the spurt of blood gradually transformed into a pure white glow.
The pure white blood surged with frightening intensity.
Vigrind’s sanctity, primed to overlay with the magical energy, erupted like a beacon of life in the form of blood.
The sanctity rising to the sky seemed ready to envelop the magical energy.
“Vigrind, just give up your futile resistance.”
“You! No, no! Yona, you should stop…!”
Vigrind shot back, conjuring evil.
There are lines that should never be crossed, even at this moment when Yona was one of them.
“Stop it—!!!!”
Vigrind’s desperate cry echoed.
Answering her anguish, a powerful shout resonated.
“Everyone, chant!!!! We will purge the wicked demon and the traitor!!!!!”
The night that felt like broad daylight flooded with bright light.
As the Holy Knight Brigade and priests arrived from the surrounding area, they joined the fray, their sanctity enveloping Yona’s magical energy.
That light was indeed sanctity, pouring forth golden brilliance to bolster Vigrind’s own.
One by one, the magical energies that touched the radiance started to fade away.
The overwhelming magical energy that once filled the sky began to burn away.
Yona glanced around.
The Holy Knight Brigade, which had started with barely a hundred excluding the priests, had more than doubled in number.
“…Vervaria, let’s pull back for now. Release the Hero.”
– Sweeping them all away will leave no repercussions, Saint.
“Not now. Release the Hero… No, let him go.”
Yona shook her head.
Vervaria stared at her intently, then swiftly tossed the captured Hero aside.
“Hero!”
As Yona watched the priests and Holy Knights check on the Hero, she turned back to Vervaria, who opened her mouth wide.
Yona stepped slowly into Vervaria’s gaping mouth while cradling Rubina.
“Traitor, Yona—!”
A voice called out to her.
Turning her head to look through the narrowing gap of Vervaria’s mouth, Yona replied.
“You’ll regret this—!”
Yona stared at the Hero.
She had plenty to say, but did she really need to?
“…I sincerely hope so.”
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