Chapter 677

The overlapping and overlapping Vacuum Blades became formless hammers, carving out a corner of the royal palace.

Fragments scattered in all directions. The shattered pieces of rock, crushed by the impact, turned into shrapnel and swept through the surroundings. Ragnar, who had hastily dodged, swung his shield to deflect the fragments flying toward him.

“Not yet!”

I charged through the flying rock fragments, breaking them with my body, and launched myself toward him. Adding the acceleration of Up-hwa to my falling body.

“Monster…!”

In the blink of an eye, the distance closed to zero. Ragnar gritted his teeth and awakened the Rune Engraving. A grayish Divine Light rose like a pillar.

ᚢ ᛜ ᚱ

Strength, vitality, acceleration.

The blessings of Bølberg and the power of Rune Magic intertwined, granting his body immense power. Is this what it means to be an apostle? Even the knights at the beginning of their hero journey would be overwhelmed.

“Kyaaaah!”

A close combat battle between the swordsmen who had crossed the wall unfolded.

Durandal swung and blocked by a shield, the blade of the demon sword he thrust out swept past with an Ice Blade.

The blade aiming for my neck through my left arm. I grabbed it to stop it, but a whirlpool of blood erupted, freeing his grip.

Twisting my upper body to avoid the thrust, I kicked with my right foot. Ragnar pushed his shield forward to block my leg. My right foot stopped. The force that could tear through steel scattered in vain.

“Annoying!”

I bent my knee and flicked it, striking the edge of the shield. His left arm surged, revealing his empty flank. The intersecting killing intent. The blade swung toward the exposed gap met the blood-soaked demon sword.

– Kwaaaaang!

Unlike when it was blocked by the shield, a massive impact struck my shoulder. My body shook momentarily. The aftermath of the collision roared, tearing through the atmosphere.

“Kuh…!”

Ragnar gritted his teeth and twisted the blade, deflecting Durandal. Blood flowing between his teeth stained his beard red.

ᚦ

“Þurisaz!”

A blood-mixed shout. A single—no, nine streaks of lightning surged like snakes. A thunderbolt unleashed at close range. There was no time to block it with the Rune of Collapse.

Then.

【 Reversed Heaven 】

The world turned monochrome.

The slowed lightning, as if drawing a brush in the void. I spun like a waltz, dodging the lightning streaks, and closed in on his side.

Ragnar, who had awakened two more runes, turned his body as if chasing me and swung the blood demon sword. Two colorless slashes collided, emitting a flash, and the deflected blades changed direction, colliding repeatedly.

―!

The repeated silent collisions. The backlash of the reckless Hyper-Acceleration distorted Ragnar’s face more and more.

His body, unable to withstand the burden of acceleration, must be breaking faster than the Rune of Recovery could heal.

After seven such sword strikes, Reversed Heaven reached its limit and was released, and the world regained its color and sound.

Kwarurrung…!

The lightning streaks, having lost their target, tore through the void and collided with the kingdom’s outer wall. Neither Ragnar nor I paid any attention to the lightning.

“Kuh…!”

Ragnar vomited the blood he had been holding back and leaped backward. An obvious move to create distance. He must have been convinced that even with the power of runes, he had no chance in close combat.

With even a national treasure-level Divine Artifact offering no chance of victory, he must have planned to use the authority to multiply projectiles ninefold, just like the Eighth Apostle in the game, to unleash a long-range bombardment.

– Kwaoooo!

Sure enough, as soon as he created distance, nine Spears of War appeared behind him.

—-

“Ha… that again?”

I clicked my tongue and glared at him.

An apostle, flaunting Bølberg’s Authority like it’s nothing.

Anyone would think he’s a devout Holy Warrior, not an apostle of the Ancient Gods. He did the same in the original, but…

…Wait a minute.

Come to think of it, that’s strange.

A sudden suspicion crossed my mind.

It was so obvious that I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it until now.

How is that even possible?

I widened my eyes and glared at the Spear of War.

When I first saw it, I just brushed it off as a game technique, but now that I think about it, it makes no sense for him to use Bølberg’s Authority.

A traitor who switched gods shouldn’t be able to use the authority granted by his previous god. Did Bølberg not revoke the authority of his apostate follower? That can’t be.

It was clear that Ragnar was an apostle of the Ancient Gods. He admitted it himself.

Whether he serves Alfodr of Chaos or Belliona of Death, he must be a follower of one of them. Judging by his actions.

So, logically, the power he wields should be either Alfodr’s Authority or Belliona’s Authority.

Not the power of Bølberg, who was once part of the 11 Main Deity Religion, even if he was excommunicated!

I stared in astonishment at the storm of gray Divine Light tearing through the void.

How… no, more importantly, why hadn’t I realized such an obvious fact until now?

When I faced the Eighth Apostle in the game, I should have realized it the moment I saw the Spear of War.

No, it’s not just me. None of the players who played this game questioned why the Eighth Apostle used Bølberg’s Authority. Looking back, it was absurd.

How could no one have noticed?

…Or did they just not notice?

A strange sense of dissonance crept into my mind.

Did no one really notice such an obvious anomaly? That can’t be. It can’t…

I tried to recall my past memories, thinking of all the guides and speculation posts I had read on player community sites.

To confirm if there was even a single player who questioned why the Eighth Apostle used Bølberg’s power.

It was, after all, something that defied common sense.

– Chijijik.

Suddenly, a strange noise distorted and twisted the memories in my mind.

The lines of text on the monitor turned into incomprehensible special characters, and my vision shook as if an earthquake had occurred. The clear memories turned into something incomprehensible.

And then.

– Hwaaaaak!

The scenery of the single room in my memory shattered like glass, and a blinding light covered everything.

What is this…?

At the moment I widened my eyes in confusion, a sharp headache pierced my brain.

“Kuh…?!”

Damn, what is this…!

I clutched my forehead and staggered, groaning. The pain was unbearable, as if millions of ants were gnawing at my brain.

【 N҉̢̣̘͇͊̇̽̕ot҈͇҇̆̾́͢ y҉̧͙̞̎̿̊͡et҈̢̞͔͛̒͠■.̴̡͉̎̕ 】

As I gritted my teeth against the headache, a bizarre voice spoke to me.

Each syllable was distorted, mixed with noise, making it impossible to understand. The only thing I could tell was that it sounded more like a woman’s voice than a man’s.

As soon as the voice spoke, the Holy Mark of the Scales engraved on my left chest burned as if it would melt.

– Hwaruk…!

The heat starting from my chest flowed through my blood vessels into my brain. The heat enveloped my brain, burning away the headache that felt like it would shatter my skull.

My mind cleared. To the point where I couldn’t even remember what I had been thinking just moments ago.

…Thinking?

What was I thinking about?

For some reason, I straightened my slightly tilted posture and tilted my head in confusion.

So… right, I was thinking it was strange for an apostle of the Ancient Gods to use Bølberg’s Authority.

In a way, it was like double blasphemy.

I raised Durandal’s blade, which had been pointing toward the ground, and taunted Ragnar, who was loading the Spear of War and glaring at me with a dignified expression.

“Feeding two gods at once, huh? Is this what they call double apostasy?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, you know. Serving the Ancient Gods but not using their authority, betraying Bølberg but relying on his authority. Don’t you think that’s funny?”

An apostle of the Ancient Gods whose main skill is Bølberg’s Authority. Thinking about it, there’s no irony greater than this.

Even if he was excommunicated, a god who was once part of the 11 Main Deity Religion lending his power to the highest-ranking member of the cult opposing the Main Deity Religion? That’s just ridiculous.

It was clearly absurd, yet it happened.

Then there must be a reason. Something I didn’t know.

“Are you saying the Ancient Gods are so incompetent they can’t grant their apostles any useful authority, and Bølberg is so blind he can’t even recognize his own apostate?”

To find out, I provoked Ragnar. He seemed like the type with a loose tongue, so I figured if I hid my question in a taunt, he’d spill the answer.

—-

Bølberg, one of the Main Deities of humanity, why didn’t he revoke his authority from the apostle before me?

There are two possibilities.

Either Bølberg is so blind he can’t even recognize his own apostate follower…

“Wondering what you’re talking about. It seems Elpinel didn’t tell you everything.”

Or he was always on the side of the Ancient Gods.

“Indeed, unnecessary knowledge for a hunting dog. How pitiful. To be used without knowing anything.”

…Judging by the way he talks, it’s probably the latter.

If that’s the case, then Bølberg must have been a subordinate of the Ancient Gods. Then it would make sense for him to use Bølberg’s Authority.

If Bølberg is a subordinate of the Ancient Gods, then Bølberg’s Holy Warriors are essentially subcontractors of subcontractors from the Ancient Gods’ perspective.

But if that’s not the case…

If Bølberg, the Warrior God, is not a subordinate of the Ancient Gods.

Then there’s only one reason he can use Bølberg’s Authority.