< Enemies of the World (3) >
Light erupted from Heinrich’s back.
Pahak—
A beautiful swirl of light gradually shaped like a pair of wings, as if a butterfly was emerging from its cocoon.
Finally, as the completed wings fluttered gently with a shimmering glow, the dense energies surrounding him were instantly drawn in, causing the concentration of Holy Power dwelling in his body to surge sharply once again.
‘This is…’
Heinrich’s eyes widened slightly.
But now wasn’t the time to be distracted.
He could check for additional functions later.
For now…
He gripped the hilt of his sword tighter.
Wooong—
The brilliant blade of the Holy Sword emitted thick Holy Power.
It burrowed into the target’s body like a toxin, ruthlessly destroying everything that resisted in succession.
Cough…!
Considering the normally warm and gentle nature of his Holy Power, this was an excessively violent manifestation.
However, the energy reacting to the user’s will was ferociously tearing at the opposing conflicting Holiness as if to say it had never been docile.
It was hardly surprising, given wars often erupted over differences in faith.
And the victor of this war was already determined.
“Hehe… this is ridiculous.”
The head of the Buncheon Society, impaled by the blade, coughed up blood and let out a hollow laugh.
Unlike the white blood flowing from his wings, the blood streaming from his body was still a deep red.
“When did you prepare this? I never thought I’d end up like this.”
Had he given up?
Just moments ago, his face had been twisted with rage, but now it settled into a deadpan expression.
His eyes, suddenly devoid of emotion as if he had achieved enlightenment, fixed on Heinrich.
‘What trickery are you trying now?’
Heinrich didn’t answer that question.
He simply twisted the hilt of his sword tightly, pouring more Holy Power into it.
Through the tip of the blade, he felt the life force of his opponent rapidly draining away.
‘It’s better to be certain.’
Then, the attacks from other avatars and the Holy Church Order’s Holy spells erupted in succession.
Kuhahat! I guess one side isn’t enough? If you’re giving it, might as well give me the rest, buddy!
Hmmm, feels a bit uneasy in my stomach. But it’s not so bad.
With white blood and a few feathers smeared on their faces, Harley and the ghostly figure of Heinz II rushed in quickly.
Amid the holy light raining down from all directions, Harris joined in from afar with a long-range shot.
This time, the attacks poured down fiercely as if determined to end things for good.
In the swirling tide sweeping the area…
“…I can’t help it.”
A small voice barely audible to Heinrich slipped from the Buncheon Society head.
“……!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than…
Kiing—
All of those attacks.
No, the entire space itself.
Stopped as if time had frozen.
‘Time stop?’
The energy masses woven in mid-air and the fierce avatars and crowd frozen mid-action.
As if capturing a dynamic moment in a photograph, every breath and every single particle of energy was fixed in that instant.
‘No, this isn’t…’
Startled momentarily by the grand spectacle where time seemed forcibly halted, Heinrich quickly assessed the situation thanks to the rapid acceleration of his thoughts.
Yes, this wasn’t the world’s time being stopped.
[Impressive. I didn’t think you could follow me this far.]
It was merely a moment stretched infinitely, a second prolonged without end.
Of course, maintaining such a perfect state of stasis wasn’t something achievable simply by willpower alone.
[Hmm, is it due to the Holy Power connected to this sword? Though even so, it’s unusual… Well, this level of interference should be manageable.]
There were other avatars present, but only Heinrich was capable of properly perceiving this singular moment.
Thanks to the direct contact facilitated by the Holy Sword embedded in the Buncheon Society head’s chest.
[This is quite the loss. It’s been a while since I’ve failed before I even started with this level of assurance.]
As they locked eyes, the opponent’s will transmitted through their gaze.
Fortunately, it appeared the other couldn’t move in this state either; the Holy Sword remained lodged in his chest.
The life force felt through him was still scraping the bottom.
[No matter the constraints preventing full power, I can’t deny how far we’ve come. It seems this world was doomed from the start.]
Did he want to justify his defeat?
Wanting to shoot back at his one-sided ramblings, Heinrich held back, unsure if his will was being transmitted due to his unfamiliarity.
[…Is the time up? Then I’ll end it here.]
It seemed his opponent wasn’t simply wasting time, either.
Right after the final resolve was conveyed, an anomaly finally occurred in the frozen world.
‘What the…?’
One change occurred in the time-stopped atmosphere.
The subject of this change was the Buncheon Society head, who had been pierced through the chest by the Holy Sword and was now a mangled mess.
Sususu—
The life force felt at the blade began to rise slowly, and the wounds all over his body sealed up and vanished without a trace.
Like rewinding a tape, the body moved, and a once-damaged pair of wings was now perfectly intact on his back.
‘Interfering with time…? Wasn’t it simply a Unique Skill that handled space?’
Rollback.
However, Heinrich quickly caught on that this rewind was not complete.
‘It seems it can’t affect the wings Harley took or the blood Heinz collected. Perhaps it can’t influence body parts that have already been beyond control.’
For now, that was a relief.
Since losing those wings would indeed mean a significant loss of power.
Considering the energy contained within wasn’t ordinary, the loss he suffered wouldn’t be negligible either.
[I’ll remember, champion of Auterica. Next time, I won’t fall so easily.]
At that moment, the Buncheon Society head, restored to his appearance upon first arriving at the sanctuary, conveyed his last message.
Despite being momentarily pulled back, Heinrich could only guess at his opponent’s situation by the presence alone, as he could not turn his head.
‘…This is frustrating.’
And after the Buncheon Society head’s presence faded completely…
By the time he finally regained mobility, the sanctuary no longer held his opponent’s figure.
What remained were the half-eaten wings of Harley and the little blood Heinz had saved.
“The heretic has vanished! Everyone, be alert…”
“The third and fourth squads activate the detection barriers! The rest prepare for defense…!”
As the church members scanned the area suspiciously following the sudden disappearance of the target, Heinrich turned his head to one side.
Yes, he was definitely not here.
Not here.
*
With the time of his body rewinding and the surrounding scenery flashing by chaotically.
The Buncheon Society head surrendered himself to that flow and gently closed his eyes.
‘I really wanted to avoid using the power of time if I could.’
Since he had seriously overstressed himself long ago by surpassing his limits, even now amid the divine’s phase, he had to be careful using such powers.
As a result, the effects were weaker than before, and the strain even heavier…
‘But it couldn’t be helped.’
This time, there were no alternatives.
If he died once right there, not only would it cause substantial damage to his holiness, but the breach of contract with the god of the Abyss would lead to further losses.
‘This is troublesome. Is it really good to keep investing in this world?’
Though he had spoken about seeing the champion of the deity, no matter how he looked at it, wasting more time here was inefficient.
He had already messed up his first move before adjusting to the dimensional environment, and it might be better to abandon this dimension altogether and transition elsewhere.
Though breaking a contract would incur its own costs, given the existence of prophets and various difficulties in this world, it could be worth considering seriously.
‘I’d rather not want to give up… For now, I’ll keep an eye on the situation and judge.’
Regardless of the process, as long as success was achieved, he would be able to endure some kind of loss.
Just as he resolved that and pondered his future actions.
Finally, the rollback came to an end.
The Buncheon Society head realized he had arrived at the exact location where he first landed on this plane.
And as he slowly opened his eyes—
Krugh— How nostalgic it is to see you here again.
Immediately afterward.
A pair of ghostly flames locked eyes with a grinning skull.
That familiar ominous voice, which had become so familiar by now.
“…Ah, damn it…”
Before he knew it, a curse slipped from his lips in response.
Puhwaak—!
The chilling touch of death pierced through his heart, the recoil from the time control weakening his body.
With his limbs shackled by black thorns and chains sprouting from all directions, he couldn’t even react, let alone move.
‘Did he read this far ahead?’
A flurry of thoughts raced through his mind, disorienting him.
But that wasn’t what was important now.
The deathly force, having ravaged his defenses, rapidly spread throughout his entire being.
As power contrary to his own was struck directly, the holiness he had accumulated began to taint slightly.
‘This is dangerous.’
Urgent warning bells rang in his head.
This situation was entirely different from before.
If this continued, it wouldn’t just be a mere trimming away of his holiness.
At this rate, he might even twist the foundation that had taken ages to solidify…
‘No time to observe the situation, then.’
Ultimately, the task at hand was clear to minimize the damage.
He would have to relinquish what he must, despite the cost, and retreat.
“…I’m breaking the contract.”
With a grimace under the force squeezing his heart, he muttered like he was spitting.
Right after that.
Kuwooo—
A giant flash erupted once again from the northeastern mountain range where chaos had erupted.
*
After a storm had passed.
Kuh— What a violent one. By the way, this is…
Hans brushed off the swirling dust around him, powered by magical energy.
Then, recuperating his damaged body from the massive explosion, he cocked his head at the black aura gripping his hand.
He had surely been holding onto a heart, yet what he possessed now was something ominously wriggling and resisting.
Somehow, it felt oddly familiar.
Is there nothing else left? What a thorough one.
In fact, meeting the Buncheon Society head this time was purely coincidental.
After brushing off his body upon swapping with Heinrich and the other avatars, he had come to investigate the rift where the Buncheon Society head had first appeared, never expecting the latter to spring up right before him.
‘How on earth did he cross over before the remnants of the rift disappeared completely?’
Of course, Hans was a bit surprised when the guy he thought was gone suddenly appeared.
However, he wasn’t foolish enough to miss out on the opportunity at hand.
While he had been momentarily bewildered by the latter’s unhesitating self-detonation.
‘Looks like I ended up being the one who delivered the finishing blow.’
He observed Heinrich managing the situation near the sanctuary while shifting his focus back to the unsettling aura in his grip.
Frankly, having been forcibly suppressing its attempts to flail away toward the rift made it all the harder to ignore.
Even the Undead King knew he would easily lose it in a moment of distraction.
‘Indeed, this must be…’
At that point, he figured out what it was without a hitch.
‘Is it related to the god sealed in the Abyss?’
Instinctively, he felt this and Heinrich’s core “Heart of the Undying” shared a similar origin.
Perhaps for some unknown reason, it had come into the possession of the Buncheon Society head.
What was more, he could distinctly sense a mixture of the said head’s aura, suggesting he had absorbed some of the power during his self-detonation.
At this quantity, Heinrich’s accumulated holiness must have suffered substantial damage.
Well now, I feel like I’ve received an unexpected gift.
It felt like being rewarded for simply being a good guy.
He had originally prepared himself for this operation to be utterly uncompensated, yet here he was deriving benefits!
Now, without further ado…
If he kept holding onto this dangerous item, he had no idea what might happen next, so it was best to hurry up and properly manage it.
He instinctively understood the method.
Hans reached into the gaps of his robe, riddled with holes from the explosion, and shoved it into the sheltered dimension of his heart.
After all, his heart and this were of the same origin…
Thump—
His heart, which had been silent for a while, thumped wildly.
Despite the turbulent influx of energy seeming to possess some form of consciousness, the entwined essence of the Abyss could no longer be separated.
All that remained was the battle for dominance.
And that struggle was unexpectedly resolved quite simply.
Although it was indeed a robust energy, it couldn’t compare to the pure amalgamation of death.
Kuhuhuh, the Abyss is overflowing!
While he couldn’t quite fully grasp the change yet, he instinctively sensed something.
This incident had likely brought him a step closer to bridging the gap with the Buncheon Society head.
No, he must have fallen even further down, so it’s probably two steps closer.
And right after that.
『Fragment of Holy Power of the XXed XXX (20,900,000)』
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