n

n

n‘Okay, I warned her.’

nZich glanced at their surroundings. Undead creatures and monsters were all ganging up on them. He had to stay in place while protecting Lubella.

n‘Well, that’s easy.’

nZich moved as fast as the wind.

nCrash! Slice! Crash! Slice!

nZich avoided the attacks that came towards him, blocked the attacks that came towards Lubella, and twisted his sword between the undead creatures and monsters to kill them off. Zich launched a series of attacks without stopping, but the only ones that fell were the undead and monsters.

nOn the other hand, it was important to consider that Zich’s efficiency in battle was cut down by half since he also had to protect Lubella. From a glance, it seemed as if Grotim had an advantage. However, Zich’s face was still calm and peaceful while Grotim’s face began to look uglier and uglier.

n“So what are you gonna do! If you don’t quickly bring me down, the ‘Killing Machine,’ Belri Weig, is going to come and defeat you!”

n“Shut up!”

n“I’m warning you out of the goodness in my heart. If you don’t retreat right now, you might be in serious trouble.”

n“I told you to shut the ** up!”

nGrotim began to respond very emotionally. His nervousness and fear began to swallow him gradually.

n‘I guess it can’t be helped.’

nGrotim hardened his heart and took out something from his pockets. It was the book called ‘Key.’ The page that Zich had ripped was fixed, and it now looked as good as new. As soon as Grotim opened the book, an ominous aura drifted out.

nScreech! Screech! Screeeeeeeech!

nScreams echoed throughout the whole space. They sounded like a combination of cries of people being tortured, the sound of nails scratching on a chalkboard, and ghosts shrieking curses in the air.

nKwaaaaaa!

nGurgg! Gurgg!

nTatatatatak!

nMonsters and the undead began to also scream out loud. As if they were cheering for the sounds coming out of the book, it was a frightening scene to behold.

n“Okay, I admit it! You are one annoying bastard! Even more than those Karuwiman bastards! I can’t believe I’m getting so distracted by a dude who just popped out of nowhere!”

n“What? Aren’t you complimenting me too much?”

nIt was very rare for a Bellid to hate someone more than a Karuwiman.

n“Say whatever the ** you want. You won’t be able to use your mouth for long!”

nGrotim lifted his book. As if the book had its own will, the book’s pages began to flip by themselves.

n“Are you going to use that? If you use the power of the Key, won’t the ritual be delayed?”

n“By a bit! A tiny bit! It won’t matter if I use it once to kill you!”

n“Can you even properly use it? The Mayor who you also used as the ‘Key’ died in my hands. Aren’t the powers that you can control very limited?”

n“I don’t need much power to kill you!”

n“What about Lubella? Our precious Lubella might be swept by your attack.”

n“Well, it can’t be helped.”

nAs the situation worsened for him, Grotim began to half-give up on Lubella. Zich clicked his tongue.

n“Sad. I was going to keep using Lubella as the shield if he couldn’t give up on her.”

n“Please think those thoughts in your mind so I don’t hear them!” Lubella also seemed to be sick of Zich’s antics and shouted at him.

nRumbling!

nA column of water rose from the lake. It was large enough to swallow several buildings easily. As if it was a giant snake, it began to twist its body; then its head began to head towards Zich and Lubella.

nThe undead and monsters began to force themselves upon Zich and Lubella. Without caring about any of their injuries, they pushed themselves in without cooperation or connection. The whole purpose was to prevent Zich and Lubella from escaping.

n“Should I also stay still even in this situation?”

nEven though the situation was very dangerous, Lubella remained calm. She was confident that Zich would not leave her alone and run away by himself.

n“Yes, you are exactly right. However, please prepare to use your healing magic.”

n“Don’t worry. That’s my specialty.”

nZich’s sword style changed. Before, his sword style was defensive and focused on interception, but now his sword style was rough, aggressive, and focused on cutting down as many enemies as he could.

nSwish! Crush!

nZich’s menacing sword style destroyed everything in his reach. The wall, made up of undead creatures and monsters, began to loosen up and crumble at once. However, his new sword style had some drawbacks as he sacrificed defense for offense.

nPierce! Crush!

nA few attacks passed through Zich’s defense and injured his body. Even though Zich moved to avoid fatal injuries, he received a couple of pretty serious blows. Instead, he concentrated most of his defense in blocking all the attacks towards Lubella, and she did not receive a single hit. Moreover, anyone who injured Zich’s body died as soon as they made contact.

n“I’m going to heal you now!”

nAll of Zich’s injuries disappeared in a second. Even the poison in his body was gone. Lubella’s holy powers were extremely impressive. With Lubella’s support, Zich was able to push back the undead and monsters somewhat successfully.

nGrotim began shooting the water column at them.

n“Dieeeeeee!”

nBoom!

nFormidable water pressure soared above the earth and loomed closer as if it planned to crush everything. Zich stared at it and watched it come down.

nSwish!

nZich readjusted his stance in the small space he had made to separate him and Lubella from the undead creatures and monsters. He pulled his sword back and tensed all his muscles.

nZing!

nThe sword vibrated and mana began to surround it like a whirlpool. Zich’s eyes became sharper.

nA water column shot out and struck where Zich was. In the opposite direction, Zich slowly pierced the air where the column was heading.

nBurst!

nWith that clear sound, the space distorted, and intangible forces shot up. Zich continued to shoot out Piercing Space attacks at the water column. Soon, the shots swallowed up the column.

nCraaaaash!

nThe ground rumbled. The pressure that the water column hit the ground with was great enough to sweep the undead and monsters away instantly.

n“Huff!”

nGrotim breathed heavily. While scowling, he looked down at the Key.

n‘Damn it! As expected, it consumes too much energy!”

nLike Zich said, losing the Mayor had been critical.

n‘But still, with this much…!’

nIt seemed that damn Zich had done something, but Grotim thought it was all useless.

n‘But if that guy tried to save Lubella, that girl might still be alive.’

nIf that was the case, his victory was clear.

n‘If I get a hold of the Saint candidate and get Belri Weig mixed into the ritual and kill him, my position in the Church will become firmer than anyone else.’

nJust the thought of his sweet future made him glad. But it was too early to celebrate.

n“Is this all? No matter what, they are just worshipers of a fish head.”

nGrotim heard a rude and annoying voice, and his eyes became big as if they would pop out.

n“H-How?”

nAfter the water column collapsed, the whole area was flooded with water. The remains of monsters and the undead that had been swept away by the disaster floated everywhere like blocks of wood. However, his targets, Zich and Lubella, were completely fine.

nThey were soaked from the water, but that was all. They didn’t look like they were wounded or had a single scratch on their bodies.

n“My powers should have swallowed you…!”

n“Ah, that?”

nZich stopped squeezing water out of his clothes to answer.

n“An attack that uses mass and water pressure isn’t bad. But no matter how big the water column is, the surface area we come into contact with is not much. If we pierce through the area and decrease the water pressure, all we get hit by is a waterfall that shoots down from a bit higher than usual.”

nZich turned his head.

n“But there’s someone who will lose their senses over just that.”

nLubella sneezed while looking like a mouse drenched in water. She looked like someone who had just been saved from drowning.

n“Are you okay?”

n“…I don’t feel too good. This underground water stinks of Bellu’s smell.”

n“Ah, that’s too bad.” Zich expressed his regrets.

n“Don’t make me laugh! There was so much power in my attack. How could it disperse so easily?”

n“Poor you, you don’t know anything,” Zich said while clicking his tongue. “It’s called skills that make it possible, you idiot.”

nIt was also the skill that the Demon Lord had learned in a time of chaos.

n“Okay, then, what are you going to do now? Because of your great power, your underlings were all swept away.”

n“Don’t be too full of yourself because you happened to block one mass attack. The Key’s power is not just…!”

n“Ah, that’s enough.” Zich cut off Grotim’s words, “You are done.”

n“What nonsen—!”

nCrash!

nThere was the sound of an explosion, but unlike before, it was very close. Like a rusty windmill, Grotim slowly turned his head.

nHe was there in front of the Mayor’s mansion walls where the wet debris had gathered. His usual neat, white hair was in a mess, and his body was smeared with all kinds of blood, flesh, and bone fragments. His chilly gaze made him look like the grim reaper of the afterworld. No, to Grotim, he was the grim reaper. Karuwiman’s greatest fighter had arrived.

n“I told you. If you miscalculate the time to retreat, it could mean some serious trouble,” Zich flaunted.

nLubella was happy to see Weig.

n“Sir Weig!”

n“Are you alright, Lady Lubella?”

nWeig’s eyes immediately softened as if he was talking to his granddaughter. Lubella felt like she couldn’t control her emotions. After Weig’s departure, Lubella had grown innerly by experiencing so much hardship, but in front of Weig, it was hard for her to hold back her tears.

nTears trickled down from her eyes, and Weig felt his last piece of patience fly away when he saw Lubella crying. He cared for her like his own granddaughter.

n“Yoouuu baaastard!” Weig’s shout resounded throughout the area. It was filled with so much rage that even Lubella flinched, and Grotim stumbled back after receiving the anger head-on.

n‘Wow, so **ing scary,’ Zich thought inside his mind. That was how enraged Weig was.

n“B-Belri Weig!”

nGrotim had gone on and on about his army being enough to fight Weig or that he could just mix Weig into the ritual, but now he looked pale.

n“Are you that Bellid’s son of a bitch?” Harsh words came out of Weig’s mouth, “A piece of trash that serves a damn thing like Bellu tries to offer a whole city as a sacrifice? And you even bother Lubella on top of that! You damn old man!”

nAs if he was angry at the insults aimed at Bellu, Grotim tried his hardest to hold his ground.

n“Even if you are the ‘Bellid Slaughterer,’ do you think you can beat me, who has the Key?!”

n‘Wow, before he gained the nickname as Tasnia Plains’ Killing Machine, his nickname was Bellid Slaughterer.’

nIt was impressive how a Holy Knight could keep gaining bloody nicknames like that; it was a talent.

nBurst! Burst! Burst! Burst!

nThis time, four water columns shot up from the pond. Each of them was three times the size of the previous one. Lubella covered her mouth while witnessing the power they carried as the columns wiggled.

n“Diiiiiiiie!”

nLike he was in a fit of passion, Grotim shouted, and the water column headed to where Weig was. As if Grotim was trying to trap Weig, each of the columns circled in different directions. But Weig didn’t escape.

n“Ha!”

nWeig snorted and raised his sword with Karuwiman’s symbol inscribed on its body, and swung it.

nCraaaaaash!

nSoon, the water columns that had plodded their way close to Weig burst. Like how fast they had come at Weig, streams of water fluttered everywhere. It was as if rain was falling from the dry sky.

nGrotim stared at him with utter shock as Weig asked, “Is that all?”

n