Chapter 113
"What could a mere ruffian who's barely excited accomplish? Do you think I haven't witnessed your skills?"
"Really?"
"I heard from Luteon who fought you. He said you were barely half his match."
Half his match.
Well, that might be true.
Since the power of one's weapon inevitably becomes a measure of strength.
"Do I seem weaker than that brat?"
"You wouldn't be weak."
"What reason could you have to do so, knowing full well you'll die?"
"Even if you were to receive Lactus's full favor through apostasy."
Divine punishment is unavoidable.
'Valterus isn't some pushover either.'
Do you know why he tries so desperately to revive a dying nation?
The God of Swords.
Among all the gods, Valterus inflicts the most fatal divine punishment.
"Have you already cut off your right arm?"
"……."
Alhamtra bit his lip hard.
The spear he held was in only his left hand.
His right hand was hidden within his robe, but Kalias could guess that it was already empty.
Valterus's divine punishment was necrosis.
Moreover, the necrosis progressively spreads through frequently used body parts.
Left alone, it spreads throughout the entire body causing death, so it must be amputated.
On top of that, he was a clergyman who had trained his entire life.
Luteon, who had apostatized early on, probably only suffered necrosis of a finger or two.
But if someone like an Orc Warlord or Archbishop apostatized, they would have to forfeit at least an arm.
For one who had held weapons their entire life, losing an arm was no different from losing everything.
Alhamtra had already lost his right arm.
'This should be manageable enough.'
He would have prepared in advance.
He wouldn't have suddenly decided to apostatize.
But he wouldn't be able to show his true skills.
"Count, the Archbishop is strong."
"I know."
The bastard is strong.
He didn't become Archbishop for nothing.
So this can't drag on.
'I'll pour everything in from the start.'
Kalias immediately deflected his spear and slashed diagonally.
Clang-!
But he blocked it easily.
At the same time, Kalias's body spun as a pure white sword appeared in his other hand, slashing horizontally.
He blocked even that.
"With such pathetic skills... what?!"
His only remaining hand froze along with the spear. Startled, he gathered divine power to shake it off, making Kalias's eyebrow twitch.
The purity of his divine power was considerable.
'In terms of purity alone, between 1st and 2nd class.'
Since the purity of Masters was 1st or 2nd class, this could be considered very high.
But Kalias knew this wasn't purity accumulated purely.
The original quality of the Archbishop's divine power was probably around 2nd to 3rd class.
It became that high probably because he committed apostasy.
'It hasn't been long since the emptied vessel was completely refilled with something new.'
As expected of one who had been Archbishop.
He lived up to his title.
'I expected that much.'
Whirr.
Rumble rumble!
Throwing the Lightning Sword, it generated thunderous sounds on its own, dropping blue lightning in all directions.
The Archbishop's eyes widened as he leapt back, stepping on floating rocks to hover in the air.
Kwang!!
As lightning struck and he deflected it with the Spear of True Demon, Kalias immediately charged toward him.
Silver Flower Scattering Sword - Flower Shatter.
A cold wind of flower petals dyed in pure white cold energy rushed toward the Archbishop.
Bzzzt!
"Useless!"
He swiftly swung his spear, striking away all the petals around him.
With the sticky dark red demonic energy assisting, Flower Shatter was meaningless.
But immediately after, pure white sword energy shot mercilessly from beneath his feet.
Silver Flower Scattering Sword, White Sprout.
The Archbishop, grimacing, scattered ominous demonic energy from his spear, but realizing it wouldn't work, tucked the spear under his arm and concentrated his power.
Soon, his divine power and muscles swelled.
"Ilgoksa."
He murmured low and thrust his spear.
Fwooosh! BooOOOOM!!
The single point where the spear thrust pierced through space and encompassed the area.
Flower Shatter and White Sprout faltered as if a hole had been pierced through their side, and a faint smile appeared on the Archbishop's face.
But at that moment, Kalias was nowhere to be seen.
That was when.
Sensing something ominous, the Archbishop's head snapped upward toward the ceiling.
Immediately, Kalias's sword in the air fell.
"Ugh!"
Whoosh-!
Kalias fell, striking down with Bitan held in both hands. With a Kwang! sound, greyish-white cold energy spread in all directions.
Before the Archbishop who barely blocked his strike.
Kalias raised his left hand above his head.
Click.
"!"
The Lightning Sword thrown into the sky.
It spewed blue lightning once more.
Kwajijijik!!
He blocked the lightning with the Spear of True Demon, but couldn't block Bitan as well.
With the resolve to sacrifice flesh, he twisted his body as much as possible.
But for a moment.
The corner of Kalias's mouth rose faintly. Instantly, the Archbishop's face turned pale as he dodged, but the Bitan slightly slashed his side.
A small scratch.
But its consequence was by no means small.
Kwang!
"Keok!"
The slightly slashed wound suddenly burst with a bizarre recoil force.
The Archbishop's blood and flesh burst out in the air, taking the shape of a flower.
It was Kalias's Flower of the Other Shore.
"Damn it!"
Gripping his side that looked as if it had been mauled by a beast, the Archbishop continuously broke out in cold sweat.
"The price of apostasy is always great."
He threw Bitan at the Archbishop.
As he twisted his body to dodge, the sword embedded into the rock the bastard had been standing on.
Wondering why he would throw his sword, the Archbishop immediately fled the spot upon realizing the ground was freezing.
"Where to."
But Kalias, who had no intention of letting that happen, continuously rained down lightning.
Kwaaang-!
Between the scattering rock fragments, Kalias's sword flew in once more.
"Crazy bastard!"
He threw his sword again.
It was no different from asking to be killed.
The Archbishop, who had struck the Lightning Sword away with his spearhead, discovered another sword in Kalias's hands as he charged in.
'When did he draw a sword?'
But there was no time for questions to continue.
It continued again.
A continuous barrage of attacks with no time to gather one's wits.
Nullify the lightning, and the body freezes; shatter the ice, and lightning strikes down.
That wasn't all.
"Ugh!"
Whatever sword he used, whenever even a small scratch appeared, his body grew heavier, and at times his body wouldn't move as if someone had applied strong pressure.
When struck by his sword at such times.
Boom!
"Kuwaaaagh!"
His sword energy burst the body.
"You're quite durable. Are you wearing armor made of holy relics? Or have you trained consistently?"
The Archbishop didn't answer.
Instead, he vomited blood and threw off his torn robe.
Along with the empty right sleeve, he spread his legs and took a stance.
Then suddenly, ominous demonic energy from the Spear of True Demon swept around him and clung to his right arm.
Pu-eop!
Vomiting the blood he had been holding back once more, the Archbishop's face turned pale.
But he grabbed the spear, which he had been holding with only one hand until now, with both hands.
His dark red right arm gripped the spear shaft, resonating with a red glow.
'Spear of True Demon.'
To think he'd use it that way.
The worst weapon created from the soul and body of the fallen.
The Archbishop's body was marked with long, thin dark red lines as if tattooed all over, standing out as if flowing along his blood vessels.
"One who claims to aim for demon-slaying, yet uses the power of the True Demon so well."
"What do you know to run your mouth like that? Could you even begin to understand how I feel about bringing down Carpe!"
I know. That's why.
"I don't care."
Either way, he had to be killed.
There was no other way.
"If you use it like that, you'll be poisoned by the demonic energy and your lifespan will fly away. Aren't you afraid?"
"If I feared such a thing, I wouldn't have taken up the spear in the first place."
Does that mean he already doesn't care about his own life?
Right. To commit such crazy acts, one must be at least that resolute.
Kalias raised the Tyrant Sword and pointed it at Alhamtra.
"Splendid."
Then I'll take your life as you wish.
* * *
The powerless queen could only watch the knights' battle.
The Guardian Sword who protects the king and the Empire's Ghost Spear.
The suddenly appeared Kalias of Zerban and the former Archbishop Alhamtra.
The battle between the Guardian Sword and Ghost Spear was truly in the realm of the incomprehensible to her.
Viktor's sword pointed downward then suddenly floated in the air, and the Ghost Spear thrust downward but when she came to her senses, multiple spears emerged from a different space.
Slash from this side, and they appear from that side.
Thrust from that side, and they appear from this side to fight. It was a battle utterly impossible within the queen's common sense, so she couldn't even tell who held the upper hand.
But the battle between the Count and the Archbishop was something she could understand even at her level.
'The Count has a slight advantage.'
As the queen who knew the Archbishop's original skills, she thought the Count might be at a disadvantage, but that was an unfounded fear.
He was an apostate.
It was natural that the spear was less familiar than the sword he had held his entire life.
'Losing his right arm to divine punishment had a huge impact!'
Having one arm missing mattered more than anything. When wielding a spear rather than a sword, being one-armed had a tremendous impact.
The one taking increasing damage was the Archbishop.
Watching with sweaty palms, the battle's flow showed the Count having the upper hand.
To think the Count was that strong.
She heard he used the Holy Maiden's swordsmanship, and his fighting style was quite splendid.
He wielded blue lightning and freezing power that froze everything around.
From time to time, flower petals fluttered and shot out sword energy, and what seemed like shallow cuts would suddenly burst with blood.
At such times, the Archbishop's blood looked like the shape of flowers—it was a very beautiful yet cruel swordsmanship.
On top of that, he kept storing and drawing swords from somewhere, using all kinds of different swords, making the Archbishop struggle.
She didn't know where the swords came from, but it was easy to guess it was some kind of artifact.
At this rate, the advantage clearly seemed to be with the Count.
The queen unknowingly gripped the sword hilt at her waist tightly.
'I want to help.'
Until when must she stay fearful.
Being only protected without end made her sick to her stomach. She gripped the sword hilt as if crushing it.
But she couldn't bring herself to move her feet.
Her insufficient swordsmanship and precarious position bound her feet.
Even if she tried to help, she would only get in the way, and if she were injured, all the efforts of the Count and knights would be in vain.
So she had to endure.
Endure, endure. She had to endure again.
For that was the position of a king.
"Please……"
Please overcome this as well.
* * *
The bastard wielding the sticky, ominous demonic spear began to show his true skills once his right hand appeared.
He spun and rotated the spear, deflecting all the swords.
His rushed thrusts became sharp, and his awkward swings became enough to make one's skin turn cold.
On top of that.
"Tsk."
Slash.
Kalias clicked his tongue as he dodged the viscous liquid splattered on the ground.
It changed shape as if alive and shot out from the spear to attack him, but with no regularity to it, he couldn't recklessly approach.
Moreover, a spearman's tactics inherently involved keeping distance, maintaining it, and attacking from there.
Kalias hadn't fought many spear wielders, so when the opponent properly used two-handed spear techniques, it was difficult to approach.
"Don't worry. When I kill you, I'll certainly turn you into a spear and use you."
As if noticing that fact, a smile appeared on Alhamtra's face.
But Kalias analyzed the bastard's full power with a cold expression.
'Still, wielding the spear is awkward for him.'
Using the spear's inherent abilities didn't seem that familiar either.
Then there was a chance of winning.
"My apologies."
"What do you mean?"
"I have no intention of making you into a sword. I have no need for weak swords."
It was time to wrap this up.
It couldn't drag on any longer.
"Insolent!"
Kaang-!
The sword blade and spearhead scraped against each other as sparks flew brilliantly.
At the same time, Kalias's left hand grabbed the air and drew the Tyrant Sword.
Kuwung-!
A gravity field that spread in an instant.
The range narrowed in an instant.
Flinch.
Along with his body becoming heavier, the Bitan pierced the Archbishop's foot.
Thud!
"Keuk!"
With pure white cold energy, as his feet froze, the Archbishop's spear aimed for his head.
Whoosh-!
Cut hair fluttered as his cheek was torn by a hair's breadth.
Thump!
With a strong step forward, he twisted his body and drew the Lightning Sword.
"Where to!"
Ki-i-i-ing!
Blue lightning rang out as if tearing, but the tentacles of the Spear of True Demon targeted the Lightning Sword.
Smirk.
With a mocking smile, Kalias released the Lightning Sword and drew the Judgment Sword.
"What!"
He tried to withdraw his spear again but was too late.
The Judgment Sword had already approached close, containing dangerous sword energy.
"Torn to death you shall be."
Slash-!
Along with the slashed chest, a small explosion followed behind Kalias.
"Kuaaagh...!!"
Pit-pat.
Falling blood and the collapsing Archbishop's body created a dull noise.
The spear fell from the kneeling Archbishop's hands.
As the heavy spear shaft rolled on the ground, the black tattoos engraved on his body began to disappear.
With not even a handful of strength left and his will to fight gone, the bastard instead burst into laughter.
"Heh heh heh."
"What's so funny?"
"I lost the duel. I acknowledge that. But the battlefield is my victory."
Huuung-!
A violent energy wave swept through the area like a sharp wind.
"……!!"
A loud heartbeat sound.
An enormous killing intent like sharp needles piercing the skin.
"The Mad Prince will tear your throat out, Wolf of Zerban."
A warning bell ringing through his entire body in that instant.
Instinctive intuition moved Kalias.
Swish.
Kwaaaaaaaaaang!!
With an earth-shattering roar, marks like dragon claws scraped across the sanctuary.
Gwaaaaaaah.
Before Kalias, before he knew it.
The Mad Prince of Carpe, shedding tears of blood.
The lunatic prince was holding a sword.