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324. Childhood Friend – Eye of the Worm

Thud-!

As soon as Reb noticed, Oriax started shaking his body up and down, thumping his feet. The vibrations sent dust raining from the ceiling.

‘Is it trying to break free?’ I thought, but the 17 horns sprouting all over its body made it clear there was no chance at all.

“It’s thrashing around! Everyone, hold on tight!”

It seemed to be trying to shake off the royal guards clinging to the rope. Those who felt it thrashing held on tighter and pulled the rope with all their might…

– Squish.

“Huh?”

Catastrophe struck in an instant. Just as I heard a cracking sound, a concentric circle appeared around Oriax. Hundreds of people screamed “Aaaah!” in unison.

The floor collapsed as Oriax sank down, and the dozens of ropes binding it rippled and snapped upward.

What I saw next was horrifying yet reminiscent of a flower blooming. The royal guards suspended by the rope were like blue-clad pollen covered in gold, while Oriax’s beams combined with the yellowish thin ropes to form dark petals.

As those ropes swept by at terrifying speed, the blood of the knights caught off guard stained everything… It culminated in a spectacular explosion of blood like a fountain.

A massive hole opened in the center of the hall.

Then, the concentric circles drawn on the surrounding floor crumbled one after another, and the ceiling debris came crashing down into Reb’s view of the first-floor hall.

Moreover, Oriax, now even larger than before…

– Mooooo~

The beast looked at me and let out a cheerful cry, as if to say it wasn’t afraid of a mere human like me.

“Damn it!”

Cursing, Reb dashed towards the creature, but Oriax was one step ahead. It slammed into the first-floor wall and broke out of the palace while those on the second floor could only watch in disbelief.

Boom boom boom!

Shaking the ground, Oriax dashed across the garden. The golden thread wrapped around its body turned red, scraping across the icy ground.

The creature charged as if it could demolish the castle walls, and hanging onto the window, Reb let out an exasperated sigh.

This was a failure.

It was impossible to even track it with {Tracking Skill}, and trying to chase it would be futile. It could only grow stronger by devouring the citizens of Rutina.

This was the only chance…

The situation was far more serious than it appeared. I might think I could just learn from this experience and catch it next time, but [22/24] meant there was no rounds left. If I failed this time, there would only be rounds 23 and 24 left, both of which Minseo had already planned.

Moreover, as per Lean’s plan, he needed to be a prince by the next round (the 23rd).

If things like the civil war in the Asran Kingdom disappeared or the engagement scenario changed, it would mean the Beggar Siblings’ scenario would also change. I had considered all that while planning, but now it was all tangled up.

Of course, Reb was oblivious to all these intricacies. After all, he was merely ‘19th Leo’, and he had only received a rough verbal summary of events instead of a clear memory. Right now, it wasn’t even his round.

However, he could guess the repercussions of this failure. Even a minor slip had led to catastrophe in previous rounds, let alone outright failure…

Reb quivered.

The obsession that failure was absolutely unacceptable drove him to kick the window and prepare to jump out. Even if it meant death, he had to catch that creature at any cost.

Then, suddenly…

“What are you doing?”

Leah had come up beside him. She grabbed Reb’s collar, frowning slightly.

“I told you not to make that face. That dying expression. It’s bad luck!”

Reb let out another exasperated sigh.

Here we go again. Having already failed, it seemed he was to choose between fleeing with Leah or chasing after that creature, as per usual.

But when Reb turned his head…

“…Heh?”

He was left speechless, letting out a strange sigh.

Leah somehow looked dazzling. It was akin to seeing a Holy Woman.

[ You have learned the true name of your childhood friend, Lena. She is granted {Holy} power. ]

With {Holy Insight} in her eyes, Reb could see the divine power emanating from her heart. She resembled a bottle of creamy milk.

When he had seen the Holy Woman Maryel, he thought of it as a white waterfall. An overwhelming divine force poured down from the sky towards her.

Leah was different.

She was a spring. Its small yet pure divine energy surged continuously, and she was holding some kind of staff.

Leah smiled brightly and said,

“What’s that expression? Anyway, now I can help you. I just have to make sure it can’t escape, right?”

“Huh? Uh, yeah.”

Leah stepped into Reb’s space and stretched the staff out of the window.

“Got caught in your clothes, just a sec.” Perhaps it was heavier than it looked, as she flailed for a moment before finally breaking through the castle wall and aiming for Oriax, who was trying to escape. Then, light erupted from her staff.

– Moooorgh?!

It wasn’t just the staff glowing. The golden threads coiling around Oriax’s body began to shine… and rise. No, it was more like someone was behind the creature, grabbing the heap of golden threads and pulling.

– Moooooo!!!!

Just one more step.

One more step was all that was needed!

Through the ruined castle wall, they could see a street teeming with offerings. Oriax’s hooves scratched against the ground, producing a screech.

“Reb, go! I can’t hold it much longer. O aqua-dives humilis-maloe ionen!”

“Whoa!”

Leah fulfilled her role. Reciting the holy spell she vaguely remembered from a dream, light burst forth from the ground.

From below to above.

A healing wind flowed, and the temperature rose. The knights and soldiers, who had lost their will in the horrific scene, shouted with renewed courage.

“Let’s go!! The High Priest is here! The High Priest is behind us!”

“Let’s go!”

On the contrary, Oriax trembled, weighed down by the pull. While struggling against the tension from the pulling, it saw the humans pouring out of the castle and got furious, shaking off its minions.

How dare this lowly, inferior species…

Oriax lifted its head high and gulped, swallowing a boulder. Did it think its act would intimidate them?

“Ugh…”

Leah held on tightly to her staff. As Oriax charged, she couldn’t just pull; she ducked this way and then that way, flailing her arms by the window like she was fishing.

The tangled golden threads twisted and untangled like a game of cat’s cradle.

Meanwhile, thanks to Leah’s efforts, the battle in the garden was progressing smoothly.

With the creature hidden by debris, Reb and Bart were busy tearing into its belly. The knights were hastily taking turns chopping at its legs.

The situation had drastically changed from before.

In the spacious garden, even if wounds were inflicted, the healing could take place, and Oriax was being mercilessly slaughtered. It grew increasingly silent, no longer even making sounds of anguish.

Why was it acting so strangely? The moment that thought crossed my mind, the reason for its silence became clear. From behind came Leah’s scream, “Aaaah!! P-please stop!”

“Duke? Why is Duke Tertan…?”

Duke Rupert Tertan was trying to push the priest who stood by the window aside. From Oriax’s perspective, that was nearly its last chance.

Thanks to Eric pouring forth divine power, Oriax could control the duke, but knowing the identity of the Evil God made him unsuitable as a pawn.

He couldn’t shatter the mind like a sorcerer could, and once the divine power he had poured began to wane, he would revert to normal in an instant, so other uses came to mind.

It could be shattered, just like what had been done to Eric.

With no disciples and being attacked from all sides, turning him into shards to extend his life didn’t sound like a bad idea, but it posed the problem of how to move him to safety.

If only the sea were closer, I could have submerged the duke.

Then I could have hidden the shards from those annoying Swordmasters and possibly secured the future. But since that wasn’t the case, I resolved to use him in battle.

If I could just kill this priestess, things would get easier. Ideally, she would’ve had a sword since she was attending a wedding, but the duke had no weapons.

She was also rather uncooperative.

“Stop! Grandfather! Please don’t! I’m falling! Falling…”

“I-I’m sorry. I’m sorry…”

Leah was almost about to fall from the window.

It was just the second floor, but that was still a significant height. It wasn’t a height for an ordinary person to jump from, nor was her posture good. Reb, startled, ran like the wind, but—

Ugh!

She fell. However…

“G-Grandfather! Thank goodness!”

The one who fell was Duke Tertan. In a final moment of desperation, he swapped positions with Leah, pulling her back as he fell.

And,

“I’m sorry.”

“Are you okay?”

Duke Tertan was also unharmed. Thanks to the struggle, Reb had finally arrived. Remembering Hirie’s warning, Reb let out a sigh of relief.

– “I assure you in the name of Prince Lean, I will solve any issues regarding the duke’s safety, so trust me with it. But remember, if you fail to fulfill this promise, it will be quite troublesome. I will make it so.”

Honestly, after treating her mother, with Hirie’s marriage to Palas, it seemed there was no need for concern, but isn’t it better to keep things good?

At that moment, Reb was unaware that his destiny had shifted and reignited his determination. However…

– Rhuav tshem daim ntaub thaiv!!

“…This is a bit much.”

Just like Prince Eric had found himself in a pinch, Oriax tore a hole in the sky.

A massive eye sloshed with putrid blood.

It aimed to draw its true form into the fight. Reb thought that the true form was still blocked by the veil and without divine power, it would be useless, but Oriax made a final desperate attempt. It…

– Splatt!

Burst its own eye.

Not rain, but torrents of rotten blood poured down, and countless bull-headed monsters began to rise. Reb couldn’t help but laugh in disbelief.

Thanks to Leah’s blessing, he wasn’t marked, but the citizens pouring towards the crumbled castle walls weren’t so lucky.

People came running, dripping with pus. Yes. In the Beggar Siblings scenario, coming across the ‘Eye of the Worm’ usually meant defeat.

“Let’s go! This is the real last chance!”

– Moooooo!!!

Reb, Sir Bart, the knights, and the royal guards charged toward the final battle. Oriax was frantically defending its shards with its true form’s horns.

The battle was fierce and lengthy.

Reb’s Oblivion Blade had gone out, and Sir Bart was gasping for breath. The royal guards counted the living faster than the dead, and as Leah’s divine power ran low, the knights still holding on began to falter.

Oriax was maintaining an advantage thanks to replenishing divine power through the offerings.

Now, all that was left was to finish it. Oriax intended to quickly end this wounded battle and escape…

“So it really did exist!”

Berg the Cardinal, disheveled more than ever, was crossing over the sunlit castle wall, accompanied by Sir Galen, who had gone to retrieve him.

Reb wasn’t the only one who could feel Oriax’s cheek growing pale as if it had suffered some sort of a calamity.