n

n

n“This…bast…ard…!”

nTrislowa was so furious that he could barely let out his words. In contrast, Zich was delighted; he became happier the more Trislowa became furious.

n“Why are you getting so agitated? Am I wrong? If you hadn’t hurt that boy, all of this would have never happened. Then isn’t it right for me to say that this whole situation happened because of you?”

n“You bastaaaaard!” Trislowa couldn’t hold it in any longer. He shook his hand.

nPop!

nThe water inside the prayer room began to tremble like crazy. The water from the lake began to soar and rise above Zich.

nTap!

nZich jumped up. He shoved his fingers in a wall and hung from above.

n“Oh my! I thought you would definitely be able to understand my words because you were the one who told that boy that everything was his fault. Did that fish head Bellu tell you that you guys didn’t need to be responsible for anything? No wonder, it’s easier for that fish head. Why are you guys worshipping a god like that?”

n“Dieeeee!”

nCrash!

nThe water pillar targeted Zich, but Zich easily avoided the attack by climbing higher.

n“Hey, don’t be so agitated. What are you gonna do if something bad happens to this?”

nThe followers of Bellid running towards Zich halted. Even Trislowa, who was fiercely attacking a moment ago, hesitated.

n“I guess getting attacked by the Karuwimans was really scary. So much so that you would just leave this unattended in the middle of a prayer room.”

nTrislowa made a groan. He wasn’t scared of the Karuwimans, but it was true that he had left “that” unattended. Even though the object had to be left on top of the altar for it to become complete, he should have left a high-level defense team.

n‘In that short amount of time, I didn’t think that would get stolen.’

nHowever, he couldn’t really help it. Since the Karuwimans were right in front of him, how could he have placed a high-level defense team here?

n“I know what this is. It’s the artifact that controls monsters. Let me see, was the name Pyramid of Vengeful Souls?”

n“…How the ** do you know that?”

nZich knew the reason why the boy’s village suddenly became crowded with monsters. Before he regressed, there was a time when the Bellids completely swept the world. The Bellids were so strong that even the Karuwimans were forced to continuously retreat although they were allied with many countries. The reason for the Bellids’ relentless victory was because they had the ability to control high-level monsters. They were not just able to control common monsters like goblins and orcs, but extremely strong monsters that appeared in legends. They were able to control extremely powerful monsters all thanks to their artifact, ‘Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.’

n‘Since Trislowa had the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls, the monsters must have been drawn towards him by instinct. ‘

nSince the artifact was not complete yet, only low-level monsters were unconsciously drawn towards it, but once the artifact was finished, they would be able to cause huge destruction to the whole world.

n‘The reason why he tortured the boy was probably not only for enjoyment but also to complete this.’

nAs the name indicated, the way to make the ‘Pyramid of Vengeful Souls’ was extremely cruel and vicious. A lot of ingredients were required to make this artifact, but the most important one was the negative emotions of innocent souls. And what the Bellid usually did to bring out these types of emotions was what they did to the boy.

n“As you can tell, I know a bit about things. How about it? Are you feeling a bit threatened? If I’m not careful, I might accidentally break this item that is so precious to you guys.”

n“Hah! Do you think we won’t be able to harm you because you might break our sacred object? The Pyramid of Vengeful Souls won’t be that easy to break!”

nTrislowa only flinched because he hadn’t expected Zich to use the sacred object as a shield. Just like its world-shattering ability, the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls was an extremely tough item. Trislowas raised another water pillar, and the other followers of Bellid also changed to an attack formation.

nWith his current strength, Zich couldn’t win against them. The other followers didn’t matter, but Trislowa really was one of the strongest people in Bellid. However, Zich didn’t feel very threatened.

n“Hmmm. I’m definitely at a disadvantage with this formation.”

n“Did you just realize that! But it’s too late. I’ll give you the most brutal death in the world!”

n“Hahaha! There’s another person who has the same impossible dream. But it’s alright. I’m cheering for you. People must have a dream to live!”

nCrash!

nZich evaded another water bomb.

n“It’s foolish for me to insist on a head-to-head battle even though there’s a clear difference in strength between us. Should I try escaping?”

n“Don’t make me laugh! How are you going to escape from here!”

nBellid’s knights and high priests were surrounding him, but most of all, Trislowa himself was blocking him. The only entrance was an exit far away from Zich; in this situation, it seemed as if Zich’s escape was impossible. But it only seemed like it.

n“Where would I be running to?”

nZich made a big movement with the hands he shoved into the wall and pushed his body up. He didn’t move very far. All he did was land a bit below him to the side.

n“Hah! You talk about escape with a movement like that? Well, I guess it really fits you. A stupid choice fitting for a rat.”

n“Then should I meet your expectations and really move like a rat?” At the same time, Zich jumped and hit three walls about twice the height of a person.

nOpen!

nA door that was disguised as a wall opened.

n“!!!”

nTrislowa, as well as all the followers of Bellid, widened their eyes as if they were going to pop out of their eye sockets.

n“T-th-that..!” Trislowa was unable to finish his sentence and stuttered. He had no idea that there was something like that in a prayer room.

n“Your reactions are strange? Did you perhaps forget about this secret entrance?”

n“H-how did you know—!”

n“Ah, that’s not something for you to know.” Zich smiled brightly and then waved his hand at the followers of Bellid. “Then, this rat will escape through a rat hole.”

nZich proudly put the ‘Pyramid of Vengeful Souls’ in a magic box and shouted out to Trislowa: “Squeak! Squeak!”

n“!!!”

nAnyone could see that Zich was mocking him. While leaving the completely red-faced Trislowa behind, Zich disappeared into the secret entrance.

n“Capture himmmmmm!”

nThe fury in Trislowa’s voice completely shook the whole prayer room.

n* * *

nWhile Zich was enjoying his time inside playing cat and mouse with his enemies, the battle between Bellid and Karuwiman was going on in full force outside the temple.

nPop! Pop!

nKaruwiman’s holy attacks continued to fly across the lake. The light attacks were imbued with holy power and lit up the inside of the cave; then the attacks landed on the Bellid’s camp base. However, a strong barrier exuding Bellu’s energy protected the temple from the flying attacks.

nPop! Pop!

nCounterattacks also came from the Bellid. As the water jiggled, streams of water shot up.

nKaruwiman’s priests cast a barrier on their side.

nCrash! Craaaash!

nStreams of water hit the barrier of light and collapsed. Lights shot up again, and the skirmish continued for a while.

nThen, the first one who changed the course of battle was the Karuwimans. Weig, who was near the center of the Karuwiman camp, walked right to the front of the lake. He pulled out his sword, and a metal chime rang out. Then he lightly swung his sword.

nCraaaaaash!

nThe effect of his swing wasn’t as light as his swing. The light that came off from his blade created an incredible explosion as it crashed into the barrier. The cave shook and the barrier wobbled visibly. Karuwiman’s forces watched with high hopes while the Bellids looked at their barrier with concern. But in the end, the barrier didn’t break.

nBam! Bam Baaaam!

nWeig swung his sword a couple of more times, and the barrier wobbled every time but didn’t break in the end. The Karuwimans felt frustrated, while the Bellids felt relief.

n“This won’t end it.”

nLubella said, “It seems like they are doing some ritual inside the temple to put up the barrier. If we continue to attack like this, we are going to consume a lot more energy and resources.”

nIn response, Weig gave out an order. “Let’s move forward.”

nThe only path that led across the lake was a small, narrow path that circled around the area. One side was blocked by the cave’s walls, and the other side fell into the lake and wasn’t suitable for an army to march over it. Furthermore, the Bellid knights were standing right in front of the path. Still, Weig deployed the Karuwiman troops to the area without hesitation.

nThump! Thump! Thump!

nThe sound of footsteps filled the whole cave, and the noise was assuring to their allies but terrifying to their enemies. The Bellid knights assumed their combat positions. But Weig didn’t intend to only use that path; he knew that the more routes they had to cross the other side of the lake, the more advantageous it would be for them.

nA couple of Holy Knights came out of the lakeshore. They took out a magic box cast with a Storage Expansion spell from their clutches.

nPop!

nA huge raft popped out of the magic box. The raft was made out of hardwood that floated over water well, but instead of a normal rope, the raft was held together with chains. In addition, the Holy Knights took out giant iron stakes.

nSlam! Slam!

nThey didn’t even need hammers. The Holy Knights smashed a stake deeply into the hard lakeshore.

nClank!

nA Holy Knight took one of the loose, long chains from the raft, wrapped it around a stake, and fixed it tightly. Then, the Holy Knight plugged in a couple of other stakes onto the shore and tightly connected the stake and the raft with a chain.

nThug!

nThe Holy Knights climbed on top of the raft. When they walked to the edge of the raft, they used their magic box again.

nSplash!

nAnother raft popped out, and they connected the new one with the one they were stepping on. Then, they got another one until they built a connected bridge that stretched across the whole lake. However, the bridge of rafts wasn’t their only project in the making.

n“There!” Snoc, who had been touching the dirt floor with his eyes closed, pointed at a section in the lake. “The water is shallow there!”

nKoo!

nNowem shouted in agreement. The Holy Knights approached where Snoc pointed. Then, they took out something from their magic box. It was a stake—but it was different from the ones that the knights had stationed on the shores to fix the rafts’ positions. It was huge. It was more accurate to describe it as a pillar, and the stake was about six times taller than a person’s height. The Holy Knights hung the stake over the shoulders.

nThud!

nOne of the Holy Knights jumped over the lake. He moved the stake over his shoulder to his front and hugged it. As his body fell, he reached the lake’s surface.

nSplash!

nThe Holy Knights slammed down the stakes into the lake’s surface with great force.

nCraaaash!

nWaves of water splashed in all directions with an explosive sound. It was hard to believe that a collision between water and a stake could create such noise. The lake’s water wobbled like crazy, and the force of the impact even reached the other side of the lake. With that destructive force, the stake was successfully screwed into the bottom of the lake.

nBecause the lake’s floor was made up of sturdy rocks, the stake was firmly stationed into the ground. The head of the stake that looked above the lake’s surface was flat and circular and secured a considerable amount of surface area.

nThud!

nThe Holy Knight who stuck the stake in got on top of the stake. Then, he repeated his actions multiple times. Soon, a stepping bridge made up of the stakes he pushed in appeared across the areas he passed.

nKaruwiman’s elite forces were used to attacking over a lake or a river, because Bellid’s temples often had these geographical features around their structures. Thus, they had done these kinds of battles many times before and even underwent special training to do so. Furthermore, this time, they even had someone like Snoc who could tell them the terrain or the depth of water beneath them. Snoc didn’t yet have the power to pull up the entire floor beneath him and fill up the lake, but he could feel the structure of the lake’s terrain.

nHowever, although the Karuwimans looked like they were advancing ahead, Weig didn’t let his guard down. No matter how much training they had gone through or how experienced they were, it didn’t change the fact that an aquatic environment favored the Bellids.

n