Chapter: 268
_Tariki’s_ welcome wasn’t just a one-time deal.
He kept shooting out magic, as if he wanted to fill the sky with black fireworks.
But all those projectiles were useless in front of the Divine. The Divine grace I held with _Armadi_ and _Tariki’s_ magic were just meant to counter each other.
How could a shadow wishing to hide in darkness stand before power as radiant as the sun?
Maybe _Tariki_ felt that too. After a while of shooting magic, he suddenly stopped his offensive.
Was he reluctant to waste energy on attacks that wouldn’t land? Just as I thought that…
A murky energy began to swell throughout the city.
I may still lack knowledge about magic, but now I have at least a basic understanding.
So, I could tell. That energy formed a magic circle.
The magic circle prepared for the Evil God was activated in the city.
[Is the range of the magic circle limited to this city?]
‘So it’s true. The magic circle that spread across the entire _Burrow territory_ was just a decoy.’
The magic circle _Alsatine_ revealed was purely a threat. And this was the real thing they prepared to catch and kill me, the shoddy Apostle of God.
‘Just as I expected.’
[Just as expected, huh.]
I can manage with just the planning I’ve made so far.
Now I just need the _Sloppy Fox_ to deal with this fall…
What on earth is that guy doing?! The ground is coming up fast! At this rate, I’ll hit the ground in a free fall!
As I looked nervously at the approaching ground, the _Sloppy Fox_ was leisurely inspecting it.
‘Is this really the time?!’
“_Sloppy Fox! What are you doing?!_”
“Don’t worry. I’m ready now.”
Just as the _Sloppy Fox_ finished speaking, a fog emerged and grasped our collars.
With that, our bodies, which were accelerating toward the ground, gradually slowed down, and by the time we reached near the ground, we had already stopped accelerating.
Before long, the fog dispersed, and we landed without a hitch.
“I’m sorry. Everyone.”
The _spatial magician_ seemed remorseful for putting us in danger and immediately uttered an apology upon touching the ground, but I had no time to respond.
I felt an ominous magic stirring in the distance.
[Ha. It’s been significantly stored up, huh.]
‘Indeed it is.’
I could see the dark energy spreading little by little from the _mansion_.
It was trying to obscure the heavens and swallow the sun, creating a complete darkness that even the moon and stars could not exist in.
The reason _Tariki’s_ dungeon wasn’t a big deal last time was not just that he was incomplete. It was because his real goal was reconnaissance, so he hadn’t used all his power.
Seeing the darkness covering the _Burrow territory_, I couldn’t help but chuckle. But hey, an Evil God is still an Evil God, right?
Ha. Yeah, this should be enough. Otherwise, I’d feel like I sold my dignity for nothing. If it had been truly pathetic, I’d feel wronged.
As I tilted my head to the back with a smirk, I saw _Phoebe_ and _Johan_ preparing for the ritual.
Both of them had worked in the church for a long time. There wasn’t a hint of error in their movements as they worked together seamlessly.
So, it looks like I just need to do my part. I opened my inventory and took out a sword.
A thing I received from _Isabel_ days ago.
A sword that had been blessed for a long time in the _Holy Land_.
A relic made by human hands after a long time.
This dull sword might not have the value of a weapon, but that doesn’t matter at all.
This sword was never made to be a weapon.
It was a holy sword specifically prepared to create miracles.
Gripping the end of the sword handle with both hands, I lifted it up.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes.
“Prepare yourselves. The ones captured by darkness are gathering.”
I moved the divine energy flowing within me, gradually filling the tip of the sword with it.
“Since I have been asked for this, I will handle most of it. So, your job is to focus solely on intercepting those coming nearby.”
Then, at some point, the sword began to greedily absorb my divinity.
It cried that this wasn’t enough. It needed more divine energy. As the sword cried out, I complied with its demands.
Gradually, the divinity surged along the sword, and the temperature of the sword began to rise.
The once cold handle slowly began to warm up, and now it felt as if it was releasing a fierce heat, reminiscent of the time it was forged.
As a warm, prickly pain spread from my palm, I didn’t remove my hand from the sword.
After enduring many trials, this pain was nothing to me.
How long had it been?
The sounds around me gradually faded until they disappeared.
While my senses, once wide spread, converged solely on the sword…
A resolute and trustworthy voice echoed from deep within me.
[Let’s begin now.]
In that moment, as darkness enveloped my eyelids, the form of a man reflected in my eyes.
[Create a place where darkness cannot dwell.]
‘Yes. Grandpa.’
*
Having wrapped up the preparations with _Phoebe_, _Johan_ wiped the cold sweat trickling down his forehead and lifted his head.
Even if incomplete, an Evil God is still an Evil God. Darkness was trying to swallow the sun.
As Johan looked at the darkness filling the sky over _Burrow territory_, he unleashed his own divine presence to dispel the darkness.
So that the Evil God’s magic couldn’t pull any tricks.
Tsk. The power of the Evil God is fierce.
I can’t hold on much longer.
Before this old man reaches his limit, the Young Lady must finish preparing.
“It’s pouring hard.”
The voice of the holy water that governs the entire forest called out as Johan glanced down from the sky, spotting human figures rushing like mad.
Right now, those were humans, but they were not truly human.
Unknowingly enchanted by the Evil God’s magic, they were nothing but puppets serving the Evil God.
Normally, they might not have received an opportunity for salvation. They would have turned to ashes along with the city.
But not anymore. The great Lord Jushin had sent his Apostle for them. They would regain their lives.
“Come, beasts.”
As the forest’s master observed the approaching figures, she spoke, and an opaque fog began to spread around her.
If that fog were ordinary, it would have dissipated into the atmosphere, but it was different from ordinary mist.
The fog created by the master of the forest took on distinct forms in midair.
To Johan’s eyes, they looked like colossal fox packs.
“Chase them away. But don’t kill them. Otherwise, I’ll feel I’m the one getting punished instead of receiving punishment.”
As soon as the forest master issued her command, the fox pack began to spread.
These foxes, while being fog, surpassed any speed living beings could possess as they dashed toward the human forms.
As the fox mist touched the puppets, the humans fell to the ground as if their strings had been cut.
“_Lina_! What was that?”
As _Allen’s_ knight raised a question upon witnessing it, the forest master shrugged, as if it were no big deal.
“I merely put them to sleep. I’ll wake them up once it’s all over, so don’t worry.”
Even as the forest master spoke, the foxes never stopped moving.
As the people slowly drifted into the world of dreams, the momentum of the enchanted ones began to wane.
So this is the master of the forest.
Hearing the Young Lady’s annoyed voice, I had my suspicions about her true capabilities, but it seems her caliber does not lie.
If she continues to keep watch, I need not worry about being crushed by the crowd…
Suddenly, feeling an oddly warm and almost blazing divine energy beside me, Johan turned his head.
“Hah.”
Johan recognized the sword _Lucy_ held.
The holy sword crafted in the Holy Land of the _Jushin Church_.
A sword blessed for a long time solely for the ritual.
Johan, who had risen to the position of Bishop, had countless times blessed that sword directly and even used it to carry out rituals himself.
He had seen enough rituals unfold beside him to lose count.
But even he had never seen the sword glow so fiercely in _Lucy’s_ hands.
That sword was the true embodiment of someone beloved by God.
The one chosen as His proxy.
Was everything ready? As _Lucy_ exhaled a long breath and lifted her eyelids, her red eyes revealed themselves.
Her eyes, glowing with divine energy, gazed at the sword she forged into being like the sun.
After quietly observing, _Lucy_ broke into a soft smile and reversed her grip on the sword’s handle.
The tip of the sword, once raised to the sky, now pointed toward the ground.
The moment _Lucy_ pressed her lips together and brought the sword downward.
The sword, concentrated with the Apostle’s divinity…
That dull blade, now impossible to wield as a weapon…
Easily pierced through the roads of the city, embedding itself firmly into the ground as if it were diving into a lake.
“From this moment on.”
Before _Lucy_ could finish her sentence, the divine energy concentrated in the sword began to expand outward, accompanied by the clear and beautiful voice of the great Apostle of _Lord Jushin_.
“The murky and unpleasant evil darkness will feel shame and flee.”
As it brushed past _Johan_ and _Phoebe_.
“The sloppy line shall receive less sloppiness under the care of my noble divinity.”
Embracing _Alsatine_ and _Karl_, who broke through the fog.
“_As the proxy of the shoddy God, I, _Lucy Allen_, declare this._”
The proclamation shot past the master of the forest without faltering.
“That pervert will desperately defend this place to protect what he possesses.”
Creating a realm to fend off the encroaching darkness.
The Divine Realm.
A place that expels evil while embracing goodness.
What a strange occurrence.
How could the words spat out by the Apostle be full of blasphemy while the divine filling this space holds nothing but reverence?
Without conscious thought, Johan found himself tightly gripping the cross and couldn’t help but chuckle in disbelief as he turned his head.
“_Saintess._”
_Phoebe_.
She spread the earth that had been guarding the _Holy Land_ even before it was called a holy land onto the ground.
Then, drawing a line over it with powder made from angel wings.
At the center of it all stood with an ancient saint’s staff.
She locked eyes with _Johan_ and nodded with a stern expression.
“Yes, Bishop.”
“Now it’s our turn.”
Johan nodded, pouring holy water over her.
So that the divinity of the great _Lord Jushin_ would connect with _Phoebe_ in this space filled with it.
“Are you ready?”
“Anytime.”
After confirming one last time, _Johan_ took out the orb still warm with the Lord’s warmth from his bosom.
“Then let’s begin.”
With that, he tossed the orb into the air.
Normally, it would have fallen to the ground under the influence of gravity, yet this orb settled between _Johan_ and _Phoebe_ without moving a bit.
With that, all preparations to trigger a miracle were complete.
“For the great _Lord Jushin_.”
“For the great _Lord Jushin_.”
It was time to bring forth the sun over this dark land.
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