It smells.
Yona blinked and opened her eyes at the faint, tickling scent in the air.
The smell, so vague it felt like a dream, clung to her nose even as she opened her eyes, making it impossible to ignore.
It was a smoky, unpleasant odor that felt oddly familiar.
Yona’s eyes flew wide open.
At the same time, she tossed aside her sleeping bag and sprang up like a coiled spring, gazing at Alex, who had settled nearby.
Alex was also awake, already wielding his shield and hammer, scanning their surroundings.
“Does it smell?”
Alex asked softly, lowering his voice as he looked at Yona.
Yona nodded and rushed to his side, placing a hand on his shoulder while glancing around.
Kaiyak, who was on watch, had each hand gripping an axe, also surveying the area.
The smell still tickled at their noses.
That scent they wished to forget but couldn’t.
The very same smell they had endured at Kapatia Port.
They knew what that smell was; they recognized where it originated from.
Fog began to descend around them.
There shouldn’t have been fog in this place, far from any water, yet it thickened, ready to obscure their vision while a noxious, sulfurous stink crept up from it.
“…Vervaria…”
Yona’s muttering seemed to act as a trigger.
Just before they fell asleep, the moon had shone brightly, adorned by countless stars in the night sky.
Now, a dark crimson shroud spread across the sky, seemingly blotting out the moon and stars.
Amidst that, shadows emerged, hard to believe they belonged to any human.
A serpent with nine heads.
Undoubtedly thicker than an average adult man’s body, the serpent descended, its nine heads fixated downwards as it approached.
It was angling directly downward, slowly descending toward them, looking at them as they gazed upward.
– Foolish ones.
No one could speak.
Alex swallowed hard, tightening his grip on his shield and hammer.
He had received them from the Cathedral’s armory.
The shield and hammer were given to Alex only after Yona sacrificed her share of the spoils.
These weapons were crafted to align perfectly with the date, day, and time when the Celestial God created this world.
The shield, adorned with the symbol of the Church of the Celestial God, boasted excellent defensive power. As it settled in Alex’s hand, a gentle celestial aura radiated from it.
“…You talk a lot for someone who is running away, Demon.”
– Huh.
At Kaiyak’s words, all nine heads of Vervaria tilted curiously to the side.
The sight was so bizarre and grotesque that Yona couldn’t help but grimace.
Yona’s face scrunched up involuntarily.
– “So you ran away, is that what I’m hearing?”
“Right, it’s true, isn’t it? You couldn’t defeat the hero at Kapatia Port, so you fled.”
Kaiyak tightened his grip on the axe and deliberately spat words that would rile up Vervaria.
He instinctively realized that a showdown was inevitable here.
Vervaria—he probably wasn’t the real deal but a mere clone.
The fact that he appeared here meant he had come to see this through to the end.
Then it was decided; they had to settle things here.
But in Kaiyak’s mind, the odds were low.
Not the odds of them winning, but rather the odds of them surviving.
In that case, might as well taunt them to get some satisfaction out of it.
– “Enough with the pathetic provocations, you worthless pests. Even if your words are true, there’s no hero here, so there’s no way to deny your deaths.”
“…Well, that’s anyone’s guess.”
Kaiyak glared at Vervaria.
He was still floating in midair.
He was descending slowly, but not yet, not at this moment.
While that was happening, Vervaria finally landed on the ground, twisting his scaly body into a coil.
Yet, despite the dry sand beneath him, not a speck of dust was raised.
Yona, watching intently, suddenly thought something was off.
When Vervaria had appeared at Kapatia Port, there was a heavy sound as he descended to the ground.
It wasn’t a loud noise, but there was definitely a sound. Now, however, there was none.
Silence.
And even though he was flicking his tongue like that, there were no sounds whatsoever.
Only the smell, that smell alone.
And though the snake-like figure blocking the sky looked the same as Vervaria, something felt different.
“…Alex, wait. Just hold on a second.”
At Yona’s words, Alex slightly leaned backward while keeping his eyes on the front.
Holding onto Alex’s earlobe, Yona also focused on Vervaria ahead, trying to whisper in his ear.
She wanted to tell him that Vervaria seemed like an illusion.
Not the real body, not a clone, but something that almost wasn’t even real.
But Yona couldn’t finish her thought.
Before she could speak, Vervaria’s voice came first.
– “I have come with a personal proposal for you all. It would be easier to squash you like bugs, but I shall show you my mercy.”
“…A proposal? From a demon?”
It seemed Vervaria heard Yona’s mumbling, as his gaze shifted toward her.
His eyes looked strangely different.
A gaze that felt unlike the one he had when he descended at Kapatia Port.
– “You there, white-haired girl.”
“Not a girl…! …No, that’s not it…”
Caught off guard by the sudden address, Yona glared at Vervaria.
But Vervaria didn’t seem to care, and even less so about Kaiyak and Alex, who looked ready to pounce at any second.
– “Yes, I’m talking about you. That mark on your arm. Aren’t you curious about that mark?”
How would he know?
Yona was so shocked that she found herself at a loss for words.
I was so astonished that I couldn’t find the words to continue.
My right arm, firmly bound by the Sacred Barrier, was definitely covered in tattoos.
Although the light of those tattoos had faded quite a bit, the fact that they were engraved remained true, and I had never revealed them in front of Vervaria.
Moreover, only Alebians and Ceres knew that it was a seal.
At least, Vervaria wasn’t supposed to know.
– It seems you’re curious about how I know.
Nine faces grinned all at once.
Their eyes didn’t match the smiles at all, twisted into some unpleasant semblance of laughter.
That laugh stirred only discomfort in anyone witnessing it.
– You don’t need to know yet.
– Instead, you do.
– Yes, you do.
– You only need to know one thing.
– Yes, just one thing.
– You have no choice.
– Only one, it must be forced.
– That is…
– Accept me.
“…What?!”
Yona, astonished, gaped with her mouth open, unable to speak.
The words echoed and bounced around from the nine faces, overlapping one another and becoming unintelligible.
However, the final command, to accept me, rang loud and clear.
“Shut your mouth, Demon.”
Alex straightened up while holding his shield firmly.
Although Yona naturally had her body slightly crouched and focused forward, Alex stood tall, completely blocking Yona from view.
And at Yona’s side, Kaiyak stepped closer.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Yona is a Priest. How can a Demon like you possess the Priest of the Celestial God? That’s nonsense!”
– Priest? Priest of the Celestial God? What ridiculous talk. There’s no need for a lengthy explanation. Though I called it a proposal, this is a demand. You have no other opportunity for choice.
“There may or may not be an opportunity for choice. We’ll see about that! Do you really think I’ll let you do whatever you want with Yona?”
– Is that so?
The serpent, shedding its coils, raised its upper body and roared.
The roar erupted from its mouth, shaking the very ground, and the thick fog hanging in the air began to glow an ominous yellow.
Every breath filled with a harsh odor.
“You bastard!”
Kaiyak swung his axe and charged at Vervaria.
A silver flash of divinity flew towards Vervaria.
– Ah, the energy of the Celestial God. Pathetic for a lizard.
“Try taking a hit from this pathetic creature!”
Kaiyak rushed in, swinging his axe.
As its tail swung at him, he jumped off it, dodging and gradually closing the gap to Vervaria.
With such a massive build, his muscles were well-developed, and with that development came speed.
Plus, having fought against Vervaria once already, Kaiyak had an idea of how to move in their rematch.
“Be it snake or lizard!”
Kaiyak let out a roar and leaped onto Vervaria’s torso.
It seemed like he wasn’t just a mirage, as the moment he stepped on it, a hollow sound echoed, and Kaiyak leaped into the air.
“Huah-cha!”
Kaiyak kicked off the air again, changing direction mid-jump.
His soaring momentum turned, and he charged towards Vervaria, eventually slamming an axe into one of its faces.
Crash…
The sound of shattering resonated.
Quickly retrieving the axe embedded in the center of Vervaria’s face, Kaiyak kicked off again and jumped upwards.
A tail flew towards Kaiyak once more.
Although he held axes in both hands and saw the tail coming at his waist, he didn’t even flinch.
Another shadow was heading straight for him.
Bang!
With a metallic clang, the tail switched its trajectory and soared into the air.
A brown shield with a subtle white hue deflected the tail, as Alex swung his hammer to slam down on another face.
As they leaped in opposite directions, Yona dashed towards Kaiyak’s landing spot.
“It’s okay. Yona, stay away. You’re the target after all.”
Upon hearing Kaiyak’s words, Yona shut her mouth.
It wasn’t wrong, so now wasn’t the time to be stubborn.
But wasn’t it worth a try?
She had already taken out two faces—
Just as she thought that and glanced at Vervaria, Yona closed her mouth.
The face where the axe was once lodged was unscathed, no injury whatsoever, and the face that Alex had crushed with his hammer was still perfectly fine.
“…Truly, demons are demons.”
Kaiyak’s words felt utterly hollow.
– You’re putting on quite a show, but it doesn’t even tickle. What can you possibly do with that? Truly insignificant, really insignificant.
All nine of Vervaria’s faces spoke simultaneously.
At the rumbling of their voices, both Kaiyak and Alex covered their ears.
“What, what is it? What’s going on?! Kaiyak, Alex!”
Curiously, Yona remained unfazed, while Kaiyak and Alex grimaced in pain, pinching their ears closed.
– Now, accept me. Otherwise, I will kill both of them right here.
One of Vervaria’s faces in the center stretched its neck towards Yona.
While it gazed at Yona’s startled face, it stretched its tongue out and twisted the corners of its mouth.
‘…Is it… smiling…?’
It was undoubtedly a smile.
That was what Yona felt.
– Accept me. Otherwise, I will kill these fools.
To demonstrate that it was no lie, Vervaria wrapped its neck around Kaiyak and Alex, lifting them both high into the air.
Then, shaking them upside down as if ready to slam them down.
If it slammed them headfirst into the ground, it was obvious neither Alex nor even Kaiyak would survive.
– Accept me. This is your final warning. If you refuse again, you will die too.
Glaring at the grinning face of Vervaria right before her, Yona bit her lip.
There were no choices.
She couldn’t see another path to take.
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