Chapter 211

Chapter 209 – Lucifer who Leads Evil – 4

The red eyes in the sky were only there for a brief moment. By the time I checked the sky again, wondering if I had seen it wrong, it had long since vanished.

It felt uncomfortable to just brush it off as a mistake.

After all, the sky was a bright red, and there was something red floating like the sun and moon, so I wanted to believe I had seen it wrong, but there were too many nagging points to ignore.

While I was lost in thought, Lucifer hurled the wooden root spear with great force. The sound it made was like a cannon firing.

It was the opening pattern of the 2nd Phase.

A huge pillar made of intertwined wooden roots shot forward at breakneck speed. The spear pulsated with the characteristic crimson energy of a demon.

The sharp tip of the spear sliced through the nearby air at an incredible speed. I cleared my thoughts. It was time to refocus on the battle.

I clenched my left hand and prepared to cast dark magic. I felt my health draining as a black magic circle formed in my left hand. The sound of the spear cutting through the air grew closer.

Just at the right moment, I extended my left hand. The spear, soaring with the force to penetrate everything at the impact point, was sucked into the magic circle drawn on my hand, disassembled, and absorbed.

I pulled my arm back. My tightly clenched fist trembled. An ominous black energy swirled around the area below my elbow.

Lucifer, who had just created another massive spear from wooden roots, crouched down. His wings flapped vigorously behind him.

At the same time, from the boiling river of blood, an arm tangled with wooden roots suddenly appeared. The owner of that arm soon revealed itself.

It was something almost identical in size to me, as if Lucifer had been shrunk to half his size. Its entire body was covered in wooden roots, and it held a spear in its right hand.

However, unlike the main body, which had an eye sprouting on one side of its face, this guy had nothing visible on its face. It was, quite surprisingly, able to see like that.

Blood dripped from its body, and steam rose from it.

‘One down for now.’

It seemed the developers wanted to stick with the theme of the Demon King since it could summon minions, but only for this 2nd Phase.

And it wasn’t just one. Three more minions that looked similar to the first emerged stumbling along.

They blocked the path between Lucifer and me, taking turns aiming their weapons at me. Each of them wielded different weapons.

The first one to appear had a spear, the second had a longsword and shield, the third wielded a greatsword, and the last one had a gigantic bow.

‘Capturing them shouldn’t be a big problem.’

Considering my current specs, that was true. Taking them down was doable with four or five hits from the enchanted Wingless Nightmare. That hadn’t changed even in Darkest Light Mod.

The real issue was that, unlike vanilla mode, in Darkest Light Mod, they continued to replenish before the phases changed. Not just up to four, but possibly more.

Left unchecked, I could end up fighting a legion of dozens of replicas.

I changed the attribute of Wingless Nightmare. The blade returned to a grayish hue. I placed my ominous left hand on the upper part of the crossguard and brushed it upwards.

As my hand passed, black flames ignited. Thanks to the magic enhancing its power, the flames were fiercer than before.

Lucifer extended the hand holding the spear. At that signal, the three charged at once, except for the one with the bow, who remained in place, pulling back the bowstring.

‘Starting with the one in front.’

After making my calculations, I slightly repositioned myself. As the archer aimed at me, the other charging foes’ backs aligned perfectly for an attack. I twisted the bowstring just a bit in line with that action.

These guys had a habit of swinging their weapons regardless of their allies around them.

Thwip, the sound of an arrow released echoed. Good thing their intelligence was on par with the game as the arrow lodged into the back of the last minion instead of hitting me.

As the guy with the greatsword staggered after being unexpectedly attacked by his own teammate, I took a few steps forward.

And just as the sword-wielding guy prepared to swing his weapon, I quickly retreated. The tip of his sword narrowly sliced through the air. As he regained his posture, I swung Wingless Nightmare.

The black flames penetrated beside the shield, consuming the wooden roots. The severely burned roots fell to the ground in a shower.

It was time for an attack from behind. I didn’t even check and rolled to the side. Just as I did, a spear stabbed into the spot I had occupied.

Clang! The spear tip ricocheted off a poor shield. The spear-wielding minion staggered from the recoil.

A replica who had recovered was now raising a greatsword overhead right in front of me. I rolled once more to evade.

The diagonally swung greatsword struck the ribcage of the spear-wielding foe instead of me. I heard a crunching sound as the minion hit by the greatsword was sent flying into the air.

The wooden root humanoid folded over like the symbol ‘<’ and flew in the direction the greatsword had swung. Then, it collided heavily with the shield. The shield-wielding minion stumbled as a result.

As if achieving a marvelous feat of incapacitating two with a single swing, an arrow thwip’ed into the back of the greatsword wielder’s head, causing his head to jerk forward.

Thank goodness these guys had the same intelligence as in the game.

“O lambs who serve our god.”

Floretta’s voice echoed over the crowd gathered under the Radiant Sun’s light. Hundreds, if not thousands, of pairs of eyes were solely focused on the two figures.

They were the Pope of the Sun and the Pope of the Moon.

“For countless ages, we have offered our delight to the Sun and the Full Moon. We sang for our god’s joy and prayed for his grace. We praised the Radiant Sun and the cool Full Moon. We laid down all that we have and advanced solely for our god.”

Standing closest were, of course, Stella and Selene.

Stella rested the weight of her flail on the ground, positioning the handle to point upwards, while Selene held her rapier firmly with its tip aimed at the ground.

Marguerita stood a little distance from the Inquisitor and another Inquisitor, possessing a somewhat higher status than the Holy Knights but not quite on par with Stella and Selene.

The armor was slightly different. It was predominantly pure white, just like that of other Holy Knights, but three black lines were drawn across the chest area.

“We have found rest in the embrace of our god.”

As Floretta concluded her speech, the world fell silent. Despite having thousands of people gathered, not even a rustle could be heard.

While cast a glance over the crowd in the square, Floretta opened her mouth again.

“However, there are things outside this world that cloud the light.”

Her emerald-like colored eyes shone with resolute will.

“There are those who deceive humans, blaspheme faith, and mock our god. Such actions that shouldn’t even be uttered exist without a care.”

As if responding to Floretta, radiant sunlight poured down over her. It looked as though Floretta had stepped into a pillar of light.

“Today, we will enact punishment upon that vile presence.”

This time, Luna stepped forward.

Floretta naturally took a step back. When Luna spoke, even in broad daylight, a full moon appeared in the sky, shining down on her. It was a sight enough to be called a miracle.

“We will ensure that the name of our god is not sullied any longer.”

Her violet eyes swept over the thousands gathered.

“We will emerge victorious.”

Though her tone was soft, it echoed distinctly.

The Inquisitor and the other Inquisitor along with dozens of battle nuns under them. Along with several hundred battle nuns, and several hundred Holy Knights donned in pure white armor.

Lastly, thousands of believers watched with reverence as they awaited the Pope’s proclamation for holy war. No one in the square failed to hear the voice ringing out.

“Rise up, o lambs of god. With your hands, awaken true faith in the wicked and fulfill that which our god desires.”

Floretta walked back to her original position, and in her right hand, a small sun perched on the four pairs of wings began to shine.

Luna stood tall at her place. The small crescent moon upon four pairs of wings in her left hand began to radiate light.

The Sacred Relics symbolizing the sun and moon shone so brightly that even those who did not believe in god could feel it.

Floretta and Luna lifted the Sacred Relics to head height and whispered in booming voices. It was a contradictory expression, but that’s exactly how it was.

“May the benevolent sun shine brightly upon all.”

“May the merciful moon embrace all in its fold.”

With that, Floretta and Luna sealed their lips.

No roaring thunderous cheers or applause followed such a speech, only an eerie silence that sent chills down the spine.

The regular believers knelt and offered heartfelt prayers for the sun and moon and for the divine representatives who would wage a holy war from this moment on.

The battle nuns under Stella also did not shout. They simply expressed their emotions by pounding their shields gently against the ground a few times.

The battle nuns under Selene were the same. They merely raised their rapiers vertically in front of their faces, with the tips pointing to the sky.

The Holy Knights did the same. They knelt on one knee, bowing their heads toward the light shining above them.

They did not know what formidable enemy they would face. They had no idea what situation would unfold. Dozens or hundreds of demons could charge at once. They could lose their lives lightly without a second thought.

However, the fact that the Popes who had remained within the cathedral for decades had personally come out to bless them, and that they could fight alongside the Popes, lifted their spirits immensely.

Moreover, the Sacred Relics crafted by their god himself were with them.

The sun and moon atop the Sacred Relics began to shine. Light converged between the two Popes, and a massive circle opened into another world.

Those who checked the scenery within the circle felt nauseous at the horrifying sight.

The ground was lifeless and parched, the sky was a horrific blood red, rivers flowed with blood like water, and instead of a mountain made of earth, there loomed a mountain made of human skulls.

It was literally hell.

The Popes stepped forward into that hell. Their pristine high heels crushed the parched dust without a speck of dirt. Their emotionless eyes stared straight ahead.

As the sun and moon began to rise over the demons that had narrowly escaped due to not being in the paths of Kaiquilia and Delta.