Chapter 511

It has begun.

We grabbed our weapons and stood up, trembling as we stared at the rift carved into the sky.

Finally, the precursor to the descent has begun.

– Creak…!

As if someone was forcibly pulling it apart, the rift in the void grew larger and larger. Like a giant made of black glass opening its eyes, the widening rift began to reveal its insides.

An endless, bottomless void filled with dark energy, like the deepest abyss. Inside the torn sky, there was nothing but boundless darkness.

And then, from that darkness…

– Kugugugung!

Eight fingers slowly emerged and gripped the edges of the rift.

Bone-white, thick as trees, with black veins bulging like a web—eight pillars.

What… what is that…?!

My brain refused to comprehend. Even though I was seeing it clearly with my own eyes, I couldn’t understand what I was looking at.

Fingers…?

So, are those… fingers? Invidius’ fingers?

The oppressive force crushed my lungs, stopping my breath. Just looking at it made me feel like I was suffocating. My heart pounded violently, as if it would burst.

– Kwarururung!

The tips of the evil god’s fingers touched the rift, and a storm of lightning erupted, white and blinding.

As if the world itself was rejecting his touch, thousands of lightning bolts struck the fingers gripping the rift.

The thunderous roar shook the heavens and the earth. The shockwave shattered every window in the city.

– Kadududuk!

The void gradually widened. Black flames and pure white lightning clashed and scattered.

Invidius’ fingers, using the dark energy drawn from the void, blocked the storm of lightning and slowly pried open the sky. It was a sight that made my bones tremble.

And then…

【 Fo҉̗͎͖͙͔̪͇̭̫͛̆̾͑̍̽̍́̚ͅund҉̰̰̭͖̥͚͔̙̙͎̱́̿̿̔̏.̵̗͉͙̲̜͗̓̀̎̑̆̃̓́̚̚ You҉̥̣̭̘̱̞̤͍͇̲̰̘̖̲̦̀̈̓̀̒͒̀͂̌̎.҉̬̜̭̫͉̲̪͍̩̬͉͔́́̀͒̌͐̉̚.】

The evil god’s eyes looked down at me.

They looked at me.

He is watching.

His eyes. They are watching me.

【 My҉̳̫͕͚̦͇͖͓̾͋́̎͊̈́̿̉͋̈́̾̈́̾͂͑̚ͅ power҉̞̰̞͚̞̦̦̦͇͙̬̳͖̜͒̾̈́̋̒͂̐͆͌͆̑̚.̶̟͙̬͍̤̣̤̒̽̓̿ It҈̮͍͚̣̤͕̪̯̖̦͊͌̈́̉̓̍̀̾ is҉̫̭͍̣̙̮͖͓͔͇̘̥̱͓̘̖͐̃̈̃̄́̓͒͑̒̚ mine҉̰̱͚̟̱̱̟̘͓͚͔̪̰̫̂̒̍́̎͆̊́͆̑͑̈̈́̾̈́́.̸̥̳͓̗̯̱͓̪̟̞̯̳̳̜̿̐̉̓̿̾͐̈́́̀̽̆͛ 】

Ah. At last, our god descends to the mortal world.

Prying open the rift in the world, the envious right arm, yearning for what it cannot possess, approaches.

Prepare the feast.

We are the god’s sustenance.

To the embodiment of endless desire that plunders all, carve out your heart and offer it in worship.

Endless pleasure and eternal rest await us.

Offer your soul to Him.

Quickly, quickly…!

“…Worship… offer a burnt offering… with our souls…”

As I muttered blankly and drew my dagger, pointing it at my chest, at that very moment…

– Kwagwagwagwang!

A deafening roar shook the entire world, as if the sky itself had collapsed.

—

…What was I just thinking?

My consciousness, twisted and distorted like melted mud, snapped back to reality at the sound of the roar.

The holy mark on my left chest throbbed with heat. I looked down at my chest, which was throbbing painfully.

A trickle of blood ran down my chest. The black iron dagger in my hand had slightly pierced my skin, tearing it open.

Right. I had been about to carve out my own heart and commit suicide, without a single doubt in my mind!

“Haak…! Haak…!”

As if I had been hit hard on the head, dizziness, headache, and nausea flooded my mind.

I dropped the dagger, placed my hands on the ground, and gasped for breath.

Damn, was that a mental attack?

I knew it would be dangerous, but this much…?

The mental protection miracle that Lacey had cast earlier was already gone. If it hadn’t been for the timely roar, I would have died without even resisting.

[Get a hold of yourself! Trying to kill yourself under the monster’s influence. If I hadn’t stopped your arm, you would have…!]

Hersela shouted as if she had aged ten years. Her voice, higher than usual, was a mix of worry, scolding, and relief.

‘…Right, thank you.’

I wiped the drool from the corner of my mouth and muttered.

A mental attack that induces suicide? I almost died before I could do anything. If Hersela hadn’t held me back, I would have carved out my own heart by now.

Wait, if I survived thanks to Hersela… then what about the others?

I quickly turned my head to check on the others, hoping that the worst outcome I had imagined hadn’t become reality.

“This is…!”

“What is this…!?”

Fortunately, they were in much better shape than I was.

From the looks of it, they had been under the same brainwashing as me, kneeling with their weapons reversed… but none of them had injured themselves with their own weapons.

Whether they had targeted me specifically, or if I had just reacted faster than the others, I couldn’t tell.

—

– Kwagwagwagwang!

Another deafening roar.

The entire city shook as if hundreds of meteors were striking the earth.

We, now more thoroughly prepared against mental attacks with the addition of holy water and divine power to the mental protection miracle cast by Lacey and Seilon, all looked up at the sky again.

And then, everyone’s eyes widened.

“Elpinel…!”

Lacey covered her mouth and groaned.

While we had lost our senses, Invidius’ fingers had already emerged up to the forearm.

A massive right arm swirling with dark energy. The moment that arm reached the mortal world, this city would be wiped out in an instant.

But instead of approaching the mortal world, the evil god’s arm was being pushed back.

“What is that…?”

I muttered blankly, my lips moving as if in a trance.

– Kwarururung!

Chains of light roared and swirled.

An unbelievable sight. We stared at the sky with our mouths agape, doubting our eyes.

Six-colored beams of light swirling around the rift in the void, crushing the evil god’s arm and dragging it back into the darkness.

Elpinel’s pure white. Shaulite’s crimson. Astraea’s gold. Menes’ blue-white. Keres’ navy. Imera’s pink.

It was the light of the gods.

A shiver ran down my spine. Cold sweat drenched my entire body. An overwhelming yet terrifying sight. The presence of the gods, more vivid than ever, etched shock and fear into me.

【 You҈̣͚̲̳͍̣̱̟̈͂̋͆̈́́̈́̀̇̍̀, are҉̖̖̳͓͎͔̝̞̮̌́̇͂̓͒͊̎ still҉͓͎̰͈̤̣̟̊̒̉͂, not҈̲̩͕͙͇̌̓̆͌̾̇̑͆̆̏̍́̓̀́ free҉̮̯̖̩̣̫̘̝̙̳̖̲̍̀͌̑̃́̏͊̆͂…!̴͇͈̦̜̤̭̤̖͖̤͔͕̳̞̞̠̌̅̍̌̽̈̈̔͌͒ 】

With an incomprehensible roar, Invidius’ arm began to crumble, spewing black mist.

“Elpinel…!”

“Astraea! Goddess of Justice! This humble servant offers you worship!”

Lacey and Seilon drew holy signs and offered prayers to the gods. Even Nigel and Leonor, who weren’t deeply religious, instinctively drew holy signs.

To me, it was a chilling sight, but to the others, it seemed like a majestic and sacred miracle.

—

– Kaduk! Kaduduk! Kadududuk!

With each retreat of the evil god’s arm, the rift in the sky gradually closed. Like the hand of a drowning man sinking back into the depths.

– Kwaduk!

Finally, unable to withstand the torrent of light, the evil god’s arm shattered and was torn away. Only the severed elbow remained as the arm was sucked back into the void.

【 No҈̲̲͇̞̙̦̙̤̣̱͎̤̪̈̃̒͐̉͑͐̓̐̀̚…!҈̲͙̱͔̫̰̱̲͔̜̣́̇̋̂̉̉̉̀̆̓ No҈̯̰̰̩͈̀̆͐͑̈́…!҈̬̠̟͕̝̝̫̇͗̏̂̿́̀͒̓̒҈͍̙̤̗̰̫͉͇̱̳̾̔͂͆ͅ No҈̰̟̰̝͉̱͈̣̳͈̄́̔̂̉…!̷̣̲͙̯͓͚͍̠̤̖̰̗̖͂̌͂̆̀̓̋】

A roar of fury, like that of a dragon, echoed through the world.

Following that, the six beams of divine light that had driven the arm back into the abyss began to fade, stitching the rift in the sky closed.

The rift gradually narrowed, and the sky slowly regained its blue hue.

The overwhelming sight, like a scene from a myth, faded like a dream, and the world returned to its original state.

As if nothing had happened, everything was returning to normal.

Except for the arm of the evil god, which had begun to fall toward the ground.

“Arm…?”

I stared blankly at the massive hand casting a shadow over us, then suddenly realized something and gasped in shock.

A massive chunk, roughly the size of a grand mansion, was falling toward us right now. This wasn’t the time to be leisurely praying!

“Everyone, move!”

This wasn’t the time for sentimentality. If that thing fell, this area would be devastated!

We jumped like startled cats drenched in water and ran as fast as we could away from the Skull Tower.

The arm of the evil god struck Arvil about thirty seconds later.

– Kwaaaaaang!

An impact like a meteor strike. The earth screamed and shook. The moment the evil god’s arm touched the city center, everything on the ground shattered into pieces.

Fragments of buildings scattered like a volcanic eruption, and dust surged like a tidal wave, creating a massive cloud.

The shockwave swept through the city.