The shining object was none other than a holy relic Igeon had made.
It shone from the inner pocket of Hugo's suit jacket.
"What the—!"
But before he could be startled, screams erupted from all directions.
"Waaaaah!"
"Waaaaah!"
The ones shrieking were the tree-branch things, baring their vicious teeth as they charged.
Hugo roughly shook them off.
The saints and he fired arrows at rapid speed, but the enemies wouldn't die.
"Waaaaah!"
Did that mean they needed Hugo's power to devour Igeon?
"WAAAAH!"
Even more of them latched onto Hugo with hideous faces, clinging on desperately.
It seemed they had benefited greatly from the power of the Archer Saint.
They were like a swarm of piranhas.
Their bite force was so immense it could crush stone.
As Hugo reflexively raised his bow, another string of curses burst out.
"You idiot! I told you to just let them chew on you!"
"?!"
Igeon shouted while pinning down the monster he was dealing with.
"Drop the bow!"
Damn it! That's really him!
Would anyone else spout that nonsense after seeing those teeth?
'They'd chew me to the bone!'
"Are you deaf! Even if you die, you've got no inheritance to pass on, so there's nothing to agonize over!"
"What? You...!"
About to curse him as the bastard of all bastards, Hugo hurled his bow to the ground.
Thud!
Goteu was shocked.
"Saints' Lord!"
The bow's weight cratered the ground, and the trees gleefully rushed at the defenseless Hugo.
But Hugo smiled solemnly.
"I trust him. But if my kids cry, it's all on you."
"Saints' Lord!"
The tree swarm then swarmed in as if they'd found a feast.
Hugo struck a goalkeeper's pose.
"Come on, take a bite! You'll find it tasteless, all tough meat!"
"Waaaaah!"
They latched onto his neck, easy to eat, and his thighs, easy to cling to.
"Saints' Lord! You can't! What are you doing!"
"Look after the kids!"
Bold as he was, he still seemed inwardly terrified, squeezing his eyes shut.
Just when he thought he'd follow his wife and subordinates into death—
Flash!
Another tremendous light radiated out.
It was incomparable to the earlier one.
At the same time, something astonishing happened.
"Waaah...!"
"Waaah...!"
With dying cries, the trees withered, twisted, and collapsed.
"Waaah...!"
They turned to charcoal-like husks, crumbling into fragments. The small hands and feet, even the shark-like teeth, vanished.
"...!"
While Hugo was stunned, he screamed.
"Gah!"
The object that had been shining in his chest pocket from earlier revealed itself.
It was none other than a red clay horse.
Igeon smirked as if according to plan, and Hugo's eyes rounded.
He had every reason to be, because that thing was supposedly...
'Clearly an item that gathers wealth.'
But Igeon, sensing the magic rising in his body, curved his lips.
[Abundant energy has entered.]
[Recovered magic stolen by demonic beasts.]
[Can use Super Regeneration.]
Indeed, this was why Igeon had told Hugo to stay still.
That object was a so-called magic auxiliary battery.
It drains the magic of the person touching it.
And while it originally nibbled away at Hugo's magic slowly, well...
'If it clings to Taek-su, it even steals the magic of whatever latches onto him.'
A chain reaction, so to speak.
And that wasn't all.
[An item with assigned growth data.]
[A certain amount of experience has accumulated; it has grown.]
[From A-grade, it has become S-grade.]
S-grade
- The magic of whoever touches it flows into the target written on the body (Igeon).
- Increased magic extraction rate
- Reduced loss rate
Igeon had tried embedding one of the properties he'd obtained into his item.
A special test piece, so to speak.
Until now, he'd only made weapons that broke after use, but if he could create a weapon that grew, nothing could be better.
Eventually, realizing the situation, Hugo rejoiced.
"I don't know what it is, but it was because of this!"
"That's right. You brat, you couldn't even trust a gift I made for you."
Hugo was deeply moved, as if looking at a son who'd finally grown up.
"Wow, I thought you'd pulled another scam on me. But you actually made something for me properly. Is it a protective holy relic?"
At those words, the triumphant Igeon flinched.
"Uh... yeah! That's right. A protective holy relic."
Watching him, Goteu tilted his head in suspicion.
'Strange. A moment ago, it felt like the Saints' Lord's and the demonic beasts' magic was draining away.'
Was it just his imagination...?
But Igeon played innocent. The adults were overflowing with magic anyway, so they'd never notice a bit of it being siphoned off.
They weren't sharp enough for that.
And what mattered now was—
"Buuoooo!"
Igeon's eyes turned vicious. His gaze was fixed on the toad, furious that it had interfered.
[Warning. This is a trial of strength.]
[Cannot use magic.]
[Cannot summon familiars.]
The toad locked onto Igeon as its target.
It likely sensed a power from him incomparable to Hugo's.
Igeon cracked his knuckles, heading toward the toad.
Hugo shouted urgently.
"Igeon! Not head-on! Those bastards are—"
Igeon grinned.
"Shut up, brat. You think I don't know that?"
That smile gave Hugo a bad premonition. And sure enough.
Boom!
As Igeon slammed his fist into the ground, the earth split open and countless demonic beasts emerged.
What appeared were toads of the same shape. Every tree in the vicinity had been these things.
Curiously, they seemed connected, sharing vine-like cords.
"Good. Now that we've got a basin, I'll make porridge out of them all at once."
Igeon reached out his hand.
As if waiting for that, the slime leaped onto his arm and transformed into a giant pair of scissors.
Gardening shears.
Then Igeon separated the scissor blades into both hands.
Clank!
Holding the scissor blades like twin swords, Igeon leaped into the pit.
The saints of the Archer Seat were startled and urgently grabbed Hugo.
"Saints' Lord! Sir Igeon—!"
"Now he's burying himself alive, burying—!"
The saints were on the verge of tears, so Hugo soothed them.
"It's fine, it's fine. I'm not sure, but that's probably the demonic beast Igeon was looking for."
"But!"
"Use the time you'd worry about a guy like that to close your eyes."
"Huh?"
Just as they were about to ask what that meant—
Splat!
The saints of the Archer Seat froze as something splattered onto their cheeks and heads.
That soft, doughy substance was none other than the monster's flesh!
At the same time, a bone-chilling sound echoed.
"Hahahaha!"
Squelch! Squish!
Inside the pit, a scene like a blender was unfolding.
[Windmill - Shaved Ice Making]
It was a technique resembling a windmill.
Winds rose skyward with dazzling rotational speed.
Boom!
Flesh soared into the air. Unidentifiable elongated chunks were minced to bits.
Grinding and grinding, literally turning into mush—that was the sight before them.
Things like eyes, tongues, vaguely familiar parts, swirled up in the wind.
Thanks to that, all the saints of the Archer Seat covered their mouths.
"Urgh...! Today's lunch was organ soup."
"Bleurgh!"
"My stomach...!"
Even they, a frontline battle seat with high immunity to such scenes, couldn't bear to watch.
But Hugo seemed to have already anticipated this.
Normally, Igeon would handle things quietly (?) to salvage ingredients, but well...
'If it has no value as a material, the opponent ends up like that in an instant.'
Monsters with high regeneration had to be dealt with like that; otherwise, they'd have to do the work twice, or so he'd say.
'Seems like it's just his hobby, though.'
Just the look in his eyes made it obvious whether Igeon coveted something as material or not.
But the saints, who couldn't have known that, retched.
"Bleurrrgh!"
"Hurk...! Yesterday's meat...!"
Not only was the grotesque scene horrifying, but Igeon, who was creating it, was even more terrifying.
At this point, wasn't Igeon a disaster-grade demonic beast himself?
Then it happened.
Igeon headed toward a corner. There lay the lumps of flesh he had extracted from the creatures' bodies and tossed aside before grinding them.
And Igeon swung the scissor blades at those lumps.
Squelch!
Squish!
Then something astonishing occurred.
"Hurk!"
"Gasp!"
People tumbled out, tangled together, from a sack the size of a house.
They were the garrison soldiers who had been guarding the dome until a few minutes ago.
"Cough cough!"
"Wh-what the...!"
Indeed, before grinding them in the blender, Igeon had cut off the creatures' stomach sheaths and severed them from the rest.
He had intuitively pinpointed where they were alive.
Perhaps they survived because the digestive fluids hadn't been secreted yet. Dazed, they looked around.
"What on earth..."
"Gah! Igeon?!"
The shocked people exchanged glances.
"Why is Igeon—!"
Igeon, facing them, smirked.
"The fee for saving you is 100 million per head."
"?!"
Astonished, they wailed and shouted.
"Thank you! We'll never forget this grace even in death!"
"?"
[A modest deed has been inscribed in the Bible.]
Whatever.
Igeon slung the scissors over his shoulder and headed somewhere.
"Bu-buoooo...!"
It was the very first toad he'd encountered.
Likely the leader among the others.
Compared to the rest, it still retained its form and exuded murderous intent.
"Buo!"
Its eyes seemed ready to devour Igeon any moment.
Of course, there was a reason Igeon hadn't turned only this one to mush.
[There's something inside.]
Yes, this was what had been bothering him from earlier.
Igeon activated his skill for the first time.
[13th Sense]
Instantly, his vision turned into a world split between black and white.
[An ancient something has been found.]
It was at the abdomen's location, but not the stomach.
Inside, something emitted a blue glow.
Snake-eyed, Igeon smiled.
"Good. With this, Stage 1 is over."
Finally, he thrust his hand in.
Squelch!
"Buuooooo!"
KABOOM!
The monster's body burst apart, and an immense light radiated out.
At the same time, something soared into the sky.
It was intense energy.
[The energies of life have been liberated.]
[Trial of Strength completed.]
* * *
It was an awe-inspiring sight.
"Whoa, what's that? A shooting star?"
"What? It's daytime right now!"
Issues were erupting all across the world.
First was Belgium.
There, a medical shelter filled with victims of the Bloodmist—the temporary shelter of the Third Dome.
Inside were people who had collapsed without reason and those grieving their deaths.
But—
"Hurk!"
"Elise?!"
"Hurk!!"
"Jo!"
People who hadn't been breathing suddenly sprang up.
"Heavens! This is a miracle!"
It was too soon to be amazed.
"Ah...! The beasts heading for the dome!"
The tree-shaped demonic beasts charging toward the dome also withered and collapsed, dried up.
The saints quickly understood the cause of the phenomenon.
"Their leader has been killed!"
"As expected of the Virgin Saint?"
"What are you talking about? She wasn't even seen today."
"Then who in the world...!"
* * *
Around the same time.
On a remote island near the sea.
There stood a hospital rarely visited by anyone.
It was the place where those who had collapsed during the Bloodmist incident ten years ago were hospitalized.
A place housing 4,200 people who had lain in a vegetative state for a decade, their cause unknown.
Of course, not many knew of this hospital's existence.
The Bloodmist incident itself had been silently erased from the media.
And the doctors, too, had recommended discontinuing life support, deeming it hopeless.
It was pressure.
Though most had been secretly treated under the protection of the Archer Seat.
But even so, over the span of ten years, many had given up.
But—
"Doctor! Something major is happening!"
"What?"
The hospital's interior, visited by no one, became pandemonium.
"Patients are waking up!"
"Excuse me?"
As doctors and nurses rushed about in commotion—
Someone also opened their eyes.
(To be continued)