Chapter 244
The torn fabrics are gathering back together.
The bony limbs, once as thin as tree branches, have grown thicker and now look quite convincing.
Bifrons gazed at the bizarre scene that would be strange for humans to witness, trying to comprehend it.
‘The invisibly floating staff… That staff is sucking in a large amount of mana.’
The fact that it was still siphoning mana meant two things.
One, Vargan wasn’t dead.
The other, some kind of spell was in play.
Bifrons accurately gauged the position of the transparent staff and confirmed it.
He realized that the staff, which was absorbing mana, was supplying a unique power to Vargan.
‘It’s the power of a spirit. Moreover, it’s the Duke… Arcane, huh? It’s tangled up with some monster.’
Bifrons recognized Arcane, the ego weapon of the Staff of Gluttony.
Arcane’s attributes seemed to merge together with those of another monster.
It was quite the unusual state, indicating that it appeared to share its abilities with Vargan.
A precise understanding would take time, but it was clear that the power of the monster merged with Arcane was restoring Vargan’s body to its original state.
『You’ve got a nice item there.』
Bifrons chuckled.
It’s not unheard of for an ego weapon to lend power to its master.
However, the fact that it still responded despite suffering such damage suggested it was essentially acting as part of the human body.
In other words, he could only kill it by completely destroying that staff or obliterating Vargan’s form.
Boom—!
Having formed a hypothesis, Bifrons charged in.
He must have pushed off the ground so hard that the ground beneath him caved in, sand erupting out.
Bifrons hasn’t wrapped any elemental power around his arm.
He had already confirmed in the previous fight that manipulating magical power while making skin contact wouldn’t transform into black smoke.
It would be the same this time.
Before Vargan’s body fully returned, he would grab the guy’s body with one hand to disrupt his mana.
With the other hand, he simply needed to pierce through it.
Pure destruction by strength…!
How exhilarating and delightful that act is!
Bifrons reached out towards the forming body of Vargan.
He reached out his hand.
If he just held it and pierced with the other hand…!
“Oh dear, a bit late, aren’t we?”
Boom—!
Bargan, who had recovered with the faintest of differences.
He scattered into black smoke and appeared intact from a distance.
Bargan shrugged, saying it was a close call.
His casual demeanor completely mismatched his words. It was clearly mocking Bifrons.
Bifrons smirked, as if finding it amusing, and said, “Let’s see how long you can keep that up.”
Bifrons extended his first hand, grabbing and pulling.
Then, a powerful force of atmosphere pushed against Bargan from behind.
In contrast, Bifrons shot out like a rocket.
The two quickly closed in on each other.
Bifrons seized Bargan’s neck with one hand and swung his fist.
He planned to smash his head into bits first.
But then.
Thud—!
Bifrons’ punch, aimed at destruction, met an unforeseen barrier.
As if colliding with something extremely hard, the Archbishop’s fist could not break Bargan’s head.
“Don’t you get it? Take a good look. There will be a difference from just now.”
Not only did Bargan not get smashed, but his head didn’t even turn.
He wore a calm smile, and a transparent membrane appeared on his skin.
‘A monster with high defense. Is he wearing that monster…? And with a Protector on, he’s indeed solid.’
Since Bifrons only heard about Bargan through hearsay, he didn’t know if he could utilize such magic as Charm.
Furthermore, Charm was a unique spell used only by Helion, making it a deeply unknown type of magic.
It wasn’t surprising that Bifrons frowned in discomfort.
“Were you pretending to take it on the chin earlier?”
In response to Bifrons’ question, Bargan merely smiled.
That alone was enough of an answer, and Bifrons felt a deep sense of humiliation.
A lowly human dares to insult him, ‘God.’
A being meant to be scorned and toyed with.
Had the audacity to test his power against a god, using divine strength.
“How dare you… how dare you….”
Thick veins bulged on the Archbishop’s face.
His blood-soaked eyes turned red and a violet mana overwhelmed the surroundings.
Bifrons was engulfed in a profound rage surging from deep within.
“How dare you attempt to use a God…!!”
In an instant, ultradense mana filled Bifrons’ mouth.
He erupted with the energy, releasing it in a straight line.
A Magic Cannon primarily used by only those above the Archbishop level.
Even a standard Magic Cannon would pale in comparison to this, being 30 times its mass.
An arcane manifestation that insignificant human-like beings could never imitate…!
“……!”
In that moment.
Bifrons saw it.
In his vision piercing through the cosmos, a clear image formed.
Just as he fired the Magic Cannon at close range.
Bargan made his invisible staff visible, snatching it with his hand to cast magic.
A brilliant light radiated from a blue gemstone.
The blue ore emitting a radiant light.
What that ore shoots out is none other than….
‘Magic Cannon…!’
Zzuwaaaaang—!
Vargan’s Magic Cannon lunged forward, engulfing Bifrons’ Magic Cannon whole.
With the ease of crushing soft tofu, it obliterated Bifrons’ head.
Yet, without a hint of fatigue, it continued to soar viciously and bore a hole into a distant mountain.
“……Hmm.”
The heavy body of the Archbishop, now headless, stood steadfastly.
Flames of Corruption were raging near its neck, making regeneration impossible.
Vargan slowly nodded, as if assessing his power, and sneered as if it was exactly as expected.
『…….』
Recognizing that regeneration was not an option, Bifrons’ body, despite the absence of a head, judiciously distanced itself.
The flaming area was severed with a knife-hand.
Finally free from the gnawing fire, his body was able to regenerate, and Bifrons returned to a complete state.
『Huff…. Gack….』
No, it wasn’t a ‘complete’ state.
Bifrons’ breathing was labored.
Like someone who had just resurfaced after a long dive.
His expanded pupils moved anxiously, unable to grasp the incomprehensible situation.
‘Strange… Strange… Strange…!’
Who was he?
Wasn’t he a being that would make all tremble simply by being heard?
Not a mere priest made from the lowly human race.
Not a somewhat useful but still humble bishop.
Archbishop.
A being that should be revered and unmatched.
『What are you….』
Bifrons spoke to Vargan, his pupils dilated to an extreme degree.
His combat style.
A grotesque high-speed regeneration that was hard to consider human.
Over 30 times the density… combined with the magic of corruption, an ultra-high-density Magic Cannon.
An immense amount of mana that made it all possible.
『What gives you the right to try and follow ‘us’….』
It didn’t make sense.
He didn’t want to accept it.
Vargan. Bifrons couldn’t bear the sight of that abomination.
So Bifrons shouted.
『How can you try to follow us…!!』
…Try to follow?
That was something Bifrons had said out of pride, intending to belittle.
He simply didn’t want to acknowledge it.
He didn’t want to easily accept that a being like a human could invade the Archbishop’s authority.
‘At this rate, it feels like I’m fighting another Archbishop!’
And one with greater physical power, no less.
『……!!』
Suddenly, a figure flashed in Bifrons’ mind.
He trembled like a terrified beast.
Just recalling ‘that guy’ sent shivers through every cell of his body in terror.
Bronzed skin.
Those enormous, vacant eyes looking nowhere.
The same Archbishop as himself, yet possessing an entirely different level of power.
『Executor….』
Bifrons labeled that being the ‘Executor.’
A being with overwhelming power capable of easily punishing the other Archbishops.
As he fought Vargan, the thought that he was battling an Archbishop flickered in his mind, alongside the thorough submission he had faced in the past from the Executor.
As he thought about fighting, memories of his thorough submission to the Executor in the past came flooding back.
“…Ha.”
Bifrons wore a vacant expression, letting out a dejected laugh.
No matter how incomprehensible the current situation was, he was comparing apples to oranges.
Bifrons admitted that he felt fear of the unknown when facing Vargan.
However, that didn’t mean the situation was even remotely comparable.
The difference was vast.
That level of fear was absent here.
“You’re strong.”
Bifrons steadied his breath.
He accepted that Vargan was different from the typical students and, moreover, the Heroes.
“If you’re this capable at such a young age, you might really become a significant threat in the future. I should’ve listened more carefully when people were gossiping about you.”
Had he done so, he wouldn’t have ended up so humiliated.
With that thought, Bifrons prepared to charge in.
He was ready to unleash a desperate final blow utilizing all four elemental forces.
Even if he was an Archbishop, the backlash was enormous, and he had used it sparingly until now. But this guy was a worthy opponent.
He was worth using it against.
“Vargan, was it? I’ll remember that. Consider it an honor to be left in the God’s past.”
Bifrons drew forth his mana.
It was so thick and vast that his field of vision was almost consumed by a hue of purple.
It soared towards the sky, sending shivers down the spines of those who witnessed it.
“…”
For anyone else, this overwhelming pressure from the massive mana would have forced them to kneel a hundred times over.
However, Vargan observed the pillar of light with indifferent eyes and quietly murmured with closed eyelids.
“Is it time?”
Buraburabung—!
In truth, there wasn’t much sound.
But the phenomenon appearing on his body matched the imagined sound.
“What the… are you doing… since when…?”
The purple mana that had soared with reckless abandon lost its light.
Even the oppressive atmosphere was lifted.
Bifrons looked down at his body.
Holes opened up all around him.
It felt as if thick shells had pierced through his flesh half a dozen times.
Then, once again.
Buraburabung—!
Bifrons’s body was pierced again.
No, to be precise, it had completely vanished.
There was no pain. But it was undeniably an unusual reaction.
Bifrons urgently looked through the universe with piercing eyes to verify the phenomenon.
Regeneration was impossible. Even without the Flame of Corruption, it couldn’t happen.
It was also impossible to block. What on earth was this…?
Fortunately, this phenomenon had a formula revealed. As Bifrons read through the structure.
He soon wore a face of emptiness and had to look up.
“So that’s how it is…?”
Bifrons fully understood the situation.
Seeing his expression, Vargan smiled as if satisfied.
“I’m glad you seem to understand.”
Vargan’s first Unique Spell.
Dream of the Butterfly.
It had already manifested and was dominating the field.
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