Chapter : 110

An unforeseen variable.

The very first premise itself is flawed.

Wasn’t the one he offered as tribute ‘Theo Lisitoel’?

What on earth kind of variable is distorting reality!

Caelus fumbled for the body on the altar.

But the altar was already empty.

As if there had never been a person there in the first place.

The only proof that all his actions were not a dream was the red blood splattered on the altar.

Theo, who had bent down, picked up Albedo, who had crawled up from the floor.

Theo, who had casually wiped the blood from Albedo’s chin, faced the bewildered Caelus.

“He’s a perfect heretic, isn’t he? No need to even argue.”

“Young Master, are you really asking that now?”

Theo wasn’t foolish enough to come to such a dangerous place alone. On the contrary, he was thoroughly prepared.

“The right of summary execution exists for times like these.”

The only heretic inquisitor with the right of summary execution, Ferdiel Levian.

Surely, Ferdiel should be by Hartain’s side, healing him.

“Did you abandon Hartain?”

No way. ‘Losing something’ was never in their list of options.

They had soaked Lerwon’s panacea on Hartain’s arm. It was dangerous, but he wouldn’t be unable to use his arm for the rest of his life.

Ferdiel did not pronounce a sentence.

He just silently drew his white sword and pointed it at Caelus.

“Get me out of here, Benaya.”

Caelus whispered.

Benaya needed time to fully assimilate the demon’s power.

In any case, the annihilation magic took time.

The hero hadn’t come. Everything was still within his plan.

“You thought the hero wouldn’t come?”

Theo smirked.

Whenever Theo smiled like that, his plans went awry.

Caelus, with a trembling face, calculated the possibilities.

Wasn’t Theo Lisitoel bedridden from the aftermath of the teleportation magic?

If not, did Evan step in?

Keeping an eye on Evan’s movements was Caelus’s top priority in executing this plan.

Evan Lisitoel was briefly away from the academy.

Therefore, there was no one to bring the hero from the academy to this distant church.

“Well, I brought him myself.”

Caelus wasn’t the only one who needed time.

Theo needed time too.

Time to bring Lucian with his skill and recover to some extent.

It was a fair amount of time for everyone, and the result was so clear.

“……”

In the silence, a young man with blond hair and green eyes aimed a sword that scattered sacred power.

A sword of ice quickly rushed towards Caelus.

Two swords originating from one god rushed towards Benaya as if to swallow him.

Benaya, while deflecting the magic with the demon’s power, blocked the sword that was aimed at him.

Caelus, who was observing the situation from behind, clicked his tongue.

It was a pity that he had to abandon such a useful tool.

“Benaya Ignos, get me out of here now.”

But he himself was more important than a tool to be used and discarded.

Benaya would be discarded.

Caelus made his choice, and Benaya willingly followed it.

Caelus’s body flickered like a shadow for a moment and then disappeared in an instant.

He’s getting away this absurdly?

It was astonishing for a moment, but in any case, Benaya remained in this place.

“Let’s screw Benaya over first, then find Caelus. Deal?”

“Alright.”

“Okay.”

The two men’s answers followed.

A paladin who used demonic power, if he had to face him with just Fel, it would have been very bleak.

He was a more difficult and much harder opponent than the demon worshippers or Kardros in Belmir’s fief.

But, strangely, he didn’t feel like he would lose.

“Cover me from behind.”

At Lucian’s request, both Theo and Fel nodded.

Now, let the second round with Benaya begin.

* * *

Benaya, who had forcibly absorbed the demon, had a presence that was on the verge of crushing them mentally.

Despite the tingling pressure on his skin, Lucian boldly stood in front, raised the holy sword that shone with sacred light, and faced Benaya.

Cool, Hero-nim! I wanted to clap for him, but I was also barely able to stand and face him.

I managed to pull myself together by recalling the time I faced Lerwon’s monster.

Benaya stood tall.

The monster trapped in a human’s frame slowly tilted his head and took a step forward.

In an instant, the air tore.

Benaya’s first blow was not to cut, but to overwhelm.

The sword strike, which raged like a sound wave that shook the bones, crushed the earth and tried to swallow Cian.

I quickly created a barrier in front of Lucian with a circle of earth, but it soon crumbled.

However, Lucian endured.

He firmly planted both feet on the ground and held the holy sword diagonally to block the incoming force.

The holy sword held firm without a single tremor and took the immense pressure, to the point where the stone beneath his feet cracked.

In the meantime, Fel aimed for an opening from the side. A sacred light burst from the tip of his sword and drew a single trajectory.

A fleeting surprise attack aimed at Benaya’s side.

He would inflict a fatal wound and suppress him in one fell swoop! Fel’s purpose was clear.

However, Benaya’s body turned smoothly and deflected the sword.

Before the sword could even touch him, Fel’s body was thrown back by the recoil.

Benaya’s sword tip followed and grazed Fel’s abdomen.

It was shallow, but blood spread and flowed.

At this rate, Fel will be defeated!

「In the stagnant time, Benaya cannot move」

I complete the sentence.

It was because I was convinced that a simple binding skill would not be able to completely stop Benaya.

But who would have thought that would be a misjudgment!

His body shakes as if violently resisting.

The skill broke in an instant, and Benaya grabbed Fel’s neck and threw him.

Boom!! As Fel flew backwards with a loud roar, I felt a strange sense of unease.

Why does he keep grabbing the neck and throwing them?

As if it were a habit to subdue them in ‘that way’.

“Something’s… strange.”

Fel, who had flown far away, barely managed to get up from the debris.

Due to the fingernails that had transformed like a demon’s, blood was trickling down his neck from a scratch.

Fel, who came up to me and grabbed my shoulder, coughed lightly and agreed.

“He was about to crush my neck bone, but then he threw me far away.”

“Is that, alright?”

“As long as I’m alive, it’s fine. I think the one who was about to crush my neck bone was the demon, and the one who threw me was Benaya.”

“Not the other way around?”

“If I had been facing only the demon, I would have died.

Throwing the opponent to subdue them is Benaya’s habit.”

He certainly grabbed Hartain’s neck when he was fighting him.

Does that mean there’s a fierce battle going on inside him as well?

Well, when he had the ring, there were fewer problems because he had suppressed the demon before fusing, but now that they’re just fused—is it just a blind fight without either side having the upper hand?

“So that’s why the skill didn’t work properly.”

Benaya is in an ambiguous state right now, neither fully Benaya nor fully a demon.

Fel lightly staunched the bleeding with holy power and held his sword.

He gritted his teeth and burned his life force as fuel for his holy power.

The sacred light clung to the blade and changed its shape.

“It’s hard to assist in close combat!”

The first thing that came to mind was the protection magic my father had once cast for me.

I remembered all the mana flow and the magic circle.

Whether a novice like me could use it was a problem for later.

A firm and thick defensive magic.

That would be able to block even Benaya.

However, Benaya, who had easily outmaneuvered Fel and Lucian, tore through the magic circle and charged.

A sword aura, imbued with a scream, cut through the air and fell right on top of my head.

“Get out of the way!!”

Fel flew in and blocked Benaya’s sword.

A beat later, Lucian came in, drawing a trajectory.

A sword strike that split left and right.

I barely managed to move my body back, but my cheek was torn and blood flowed.

Benaya looked straight at me in silence.

Dangerous! Before the warning light could flash in my head, the image of a red-eyed demon broke through Lucian.

Darkness spread from Benaya’s body, and the mana that spread from his blade created red ripples.

The darkness, formless yet alive, tried to grab my neck in an instant.

《Where do you think you’re going!》

With Albedo’s shout, a transparent wall stopped Benaya’s movement.

Boom!!!

At that moment, the surroundings were cut as if by an explosion.

It was not a sword strike, but an explosion caused by mana.

Rocks, bones, and metal within a radius of several meters were twisted and sent flying.

Far away, Fel was slammed into a wall, and Lucian barely managed to avoid being sent flying by using his sword as a staff.

If it hadn’t been for the defensive magic I had completed belatedly, it would have been difficult to avoid a fatal wound.

Even with the burning pain in my shoulder, I wrote down the words.

「Sacred chains of bondage will stop the enemy’s movement」

Clang!

Chains of restraint appeared from thin air and bound Benaya’s hands and feet in an instant.

The effect of the three words ‘sacred’ that I added in front was truly dramatic.

Blood flowed from Benaya’s mouth, and a hissing sound and the stench of burning flesh filled the air.

The chains of bondage wrapped around Benaya’s limbs and began to control the demon’s power.

An unconcealable pain appeared on Benaya’s face, and he gritted his teeth and shook his body.

“Now!!”

Benaya’s pupils trembled slightly.

Two consciousnesses clashed.

A brief opening, Benaya stood still as if he had forgotten his own existence.

And Lucian and Fel, the two who had stood up with their last ounce of strength, rushed in at the same time.

One from the front, and one from the shadows behind.

Even with the pain of his mana rapidly depleting, he clenched his fist and somehow maintained the magic.

Benaya’s body is fixed.

The blades cross. As if time itself had stopped, the moment stretched out.

A bursting sound, red blood, and the sound of something breaking.

Lucian’s holy sword pierces his heart, and Fel’s blade digs into his side.

At the same time, Benaya’s sword also swings.

But it only cuts through the air, missing its mark.

Lucian had accurately predicted its trajectory and twisted his body.

The blade that grazed his neck. If it had gone just a hand’s breadth deeper…

I didn’t even want to imagine it.

“……”

The body, fused with a demon, began to collapse.

The first thing to disappear was the hand holding the sword.

Benaya’s eyes were empty. He left no words behind.

Until the very end, there was no anger, no regret in his eyes.

“Haaa….”

Fel, who had suffered the most severe injuries, checked the spot where Benaya had disappeared, as if he weren’t tired at all.

Lucian came over to me, who was lying on the floor.

“Are you okay?”

“No, I feel like I’m going to die.”

“Looks like you’re still alive.”

“Yeah, barely.”

If Albedo hadn’t blocked the attack, I might have died.

“But we survived anyway.”

And the aftermath of today will lead to many things in the future.

For now, I’ll think about that later, and close my eyes and entrust my weary body to the bed

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