Chapter 506

Belcus’s final strategy seemed like a desperate plea for his life. As always with cornered villains.

“Kuaaah…! Kuhk, huaaak…! The lineage of the Unholy Legacy is maintained through me! I can even alter the contents of the brainwashing!”

“So, you’re saying you’re the culprit.”

I shoved a dagger into his eye socket and twisted it.

“Gyaaaaah-! Keuh, kueuk…! Listen! I can erase their nightmares, the memories of the past few days, and return them to their normal lives! Only I can do this!”

“So what?”

Even with his limbs torn off and his eyes melted by the Holy Flame, Belcus stubbornly tried to negotiate.

I waited for fifteen minutes while skinning him alive. His upper body was already completely skinned, revealing the crimson flesh beneath.

“Kueueueuk…! If you want to save them, you must save their minds too! I can teach you how!”

“Nice talk. So, you want me to spare your life?”

As if. It was a tempting offer, but there was no guarantee Belcus’s claims were true.

Even if they were… nothing would change.

Belcus had to die. As long as he lived, he would never stop his evil deeds. Letting him go would only mean the same atrocities repeated elsewhere.

We don’t negotiate with hostage-takers. A soldier’s ironclad rule.

“Then go ahead. Erase their memories and restore them to normal. Right now.”

“And then you’ll kill me! Swear to your gods that you’ll let me go…!”

…Not falling for it.

I had planned to pretend to release him after he erased the city’s memories, then cut him to pieces. Too clever for his own good.

I don’t serve any gods, so oaths mean nothing to me, but with Lacey here, I couldn’t break a vow made in the name of God.

“Too bad. Can’t grant that request… How about this instead? I’ll slice off your flesh piece by piece until you feel like restoring them. Simpler, right?”

“Hah. Do you think Belcus would bow to mere physical pain…!”

Despite screaming and writhing earlier, now he’s putting on a tough act.

“Well. Let’s test that.”

I pressed the dagger I was using to skin him against his groin.

“First, this useless lump of meat.”

– Squelch.

The sensation of soft flesh being cut away as the blade dug into his groin.

“Gyaaaaaah!”

“Save your screams. You’ll lose your voice at this rate.”

I sawed the blade up and down, carefully severing Belcus’s last leg.

“Gyaaaah! Grueeeek!”

Belcus thrashed, bleeding profusely as if expelling a decade’s worth of blood. The stench of excrement filled the air. For someone who claimed not to yield to physical pain, he looked quite pathetic.

As Lacey’s Holy Flame cauterized the severed area, Belcus convulsed and screamed again.

“Kueueuk…”

“How about it? Changed your mind yet?”

“Huek… huek…! This… this is nothing…!”

Belcus, drenched in sweat, forced a smirk as if mocking us.

…Something’s off.

“Should we burn him more?”

“No, wait.”

Lacey, eyes sparkling like a child on a ride, conjured a small Holy Flame.

I stopped her, lit a cigarette, and pondered the unease gnawing at me.

Belcus. I thought he’d hide, but he came out boldly, fought me, and lost. As soon as he was subdued, he tried to negotiate by offering to erase the city’s memories.

…Come to think of it, if he could alter the brainwashing, couldn’t he turn them all into idiots or make them kill themselves?

He should’ve tried threatening us with that. The fact that he didn’t… must mean it was all a lie. Just a desperate plea.

Wait. Did he even have a reason to beg for his life?

When I cut off his groin, he must’ve realized I had no intention of sparing him.

So, his best move would be to provoke me into killing him quickly. He needed to die within ten minutes to resurrect through the Unholy Legacy.

Enduring torture like this would only reduce the time he had to use his authority.

Right. In other words, he had no reason to endure this!

I figured out the source of my unease. He was stalling for time!

But why? Enduring such pain, reducing his chances of resurrection… What would stalling achieve?

“Medien…?”

“Wait, I’m thinking. Something’s off.”

Was he hoping Eljure would come to his rescue? No way. She couldn’t beat Seilon.

Reinforcements? No. He would’ve held out in the bell tower if that were the case. That would’ve bought him more time.

Then what? Wait. The bell tower…?

Come to think of it, the cultists said Belcus had been holed up in the bell tower all day. Is there something in the bell tower? Something that mustn’t be destroyed?

I looked up at the towering bell tower. Nothing seemed unusual from the outside. Without going inside, I couldn’t know its state.

“Haha! You said you’d cut me piece by piece, but this is it? Doesn’t even hurt or itch!”

Belcus, perhaps sensing my silence, shouted with forced laughter. Earlier, I thought it was just bravado… but now, it seemed like a desperate, suspicious act.

[Hmm. Dripping with excrement yet acting like this? Truly suspicious. Don’t you think? He must be plotting something beyond our understanding.]

‘My thoughts exactly. I think I know what he’s up to.’

He must’ve hidden something in the bell tower. Stalling means it’s not ready yet.

“Is this all you call torture? Pathetic, just like a little girl! I could teach you if you want!”

“Shut up, you vile heretic!”

– Thud!

Disgusted by Belcus’s taunts, Lacey fiercely stomped on his abdomen.

“You deserve divine punishment! Filthy, despicable cult scum! How dare you wag your tongue! The only time you’ll speak is when you reunite with your mother in hell! Understood? Crawl back into the hellhole where your mother waits!”

“Keuhk! Khuk! Keuek!”

With each stomp, Belcus let out agonized groans. Lacey’s kicks, strong in Holy Power but lacking physical strength, wouldn’t kill him.

“Hold on, Lacey. I need to ask this bastard something.”

I pulled Lacey away from Belcus and pointed Durandal at him.

“Kheuh… Go ahead, ask away. If I feel like it, I might answer!”

“Oh, really? Then… can I destroy that bell tower?”

Let’s see how he responds.

“What…!”

Belcus’s mouth hung open in shock.

As expected. His reaction alone confirmed he’d hidden something in the bell tower. Whatever it is, destroying it should do the trick.

“Never mind. You don’t need to answer. Lacey, burn him. We’re done with this guy.”

I slashed Belcus’s abdomen with Durandal and gave Lacey the go-ahead for execution.

“Yes. Finally, it’s time to deliver divine retribution to this deserving sinner!”

Lacey smiled warmly at me and thrust the Holy Flame into Belcus’s abdomen.

“Keuhk, keuh, kuaaaaaaah!”

Belcus screamed in agony as flames erupted from every orifice of his body.

His organs roasted to a crisp. Lacey’s Healing Miracle descended upon him, ensuring he wouldn’t die too quickly, keeping him alive until the healing power ran out.

“Serves you right, you bastard.”

I ran toward the bell tower, kicking open the tightly shut door. Lacey followed close behind.

Then it happened.

“Gaaaaah! Kraaa! I can’t end here…! Time’s running out, but it’s better than failing…!”

Amidst the roaring flames, Belcus screamed desperately at us. Lacey and I turned to look at him.

“Kuh, kheuh…! Shed blood…! Climb the mountain of corpses we’ve piled high, and we shall finally welcome the reversed divinity!”

Like a prayer, Belcus howled.

The anomaly occurred right after.

—

– Kugung!

A tremor beneath my feet. The earth shuddered once. Like the pulse of a giant’s heart, heavy yet smooth.

An earthquake…?

I felt a vague sense of foreboding and glanced up at the bell tower.

– Creeeak!

The whitewashed brick tower shook, cracks spreading like ice on a frozen lake. Crumbling stone dust rained down.

…It’s going to collapse.

I abandoned the thought of entering and aimed Ice Blade at the cracking tower wall. Immense power surged through my left arm.

Belcus’s final act. Whatever he was trying to do, this bell tower was key. So, I intended to destroy it without delay.

“Kyaaaah!”

With a fierce shout, I unleashed a punch. The wall of the bell tower exploded like a tank shell.

The cracks deepened. The entire tower swayed like a boat in a storm. The massive bell at the top let out a deep, resonant toll.

– Kwarururung!

A thunderous roar followed. The tower, cracked like a dry field, began to crumble. A rain of boulders fell.

And then, I realized what Belcus had been doing in the tower.

The tower, which I thought would collapse entirely, only shed its outer walls. The interior remained intact. And inside was the problem.

Red and white. A familiar sight greeted me. The stench of blood. Tiny skulls. The rot of corpses. Inside the collapsing tower stood another tower.

A tower not of bricks and wood, but of skulls and red flesh!

“A tower of skulls…?”

[How grotesque. These sorcerers are all the same…]

Hersela clicked her tongue in disgust.

A tower made of skulls the size of my fist. Not adult or even child skulls. Fetuses. Just-born fetuses.

I dodged the falling debris and glared at the horrifying tower of fetal corpses.

– Kwaaaaaah!

An immense surge of dark energy rose.

“Kueueuek…! Ha, hahaha! It’s too late! With a thousand fetuses, I’ve finally opened the gate! His descent begins…! With this, I’ll etch my name in history! As His apostle, I shall be reborn…!”

Feeling the surge of dark energy, Belcus screamed in agony yet rejoiced as if victorious.

“Quiet!”

“Guek!”

As Belcus shouted, Lacey charged at him. Her Cross Spear smashed his head like a tomato.

Blood and flesh splattered, painting the ground red. The infamous Belcus met his end.

For a notorious villain, his death was pitiful, but I had no time to dwell on it.

A word dripping with ominousness had been uttered.

Descent.

My mind raced, spitting out grim possibilities. Belcus was a follower of Invidius. The one he called “Him”… there was only one in the world.

**The Evil God of Envy, Invidius.**

Only then did I understand. Why they named their organization the Reverse Ascension Society.

That name wasn’t just the cult’s usual pompous branding—it revealed their true goal!

Reverse, Ascension.

The sky turned black.