It was a profoundly unpleasant darkness. Coming into this tunnel felt like diving into a pit of filth, like sinking into a sticky mass of tar that clung to every inch of one’s body.
There was no vision or sound. It was sothing one must neither perceive nor comprehend, and Leon instinctively understood that much without even knowing why. This was outside the world he knew of, and the darkness there wasn’t simply the absence of light.
Then, all at once, sensation returned to his body.
“Pwah!”
Leon gasped for breath. With all five senses sealed off, the suffocation he’d just endured was nothing like ordinary breath-holding. The others seed to be in similar states.
However, there was no ti for complaints. The mont they exited the tunnel, they were t by a group of enemies already arrayed in combat formation, surrounding them.
“Everyone!” Caesare shouted urgently.
The difference between those prepared and those who weren’t was massive. Fortunately, their earlier planning proved effective. Each mber of the team imdiately scattered into position and drew their weapons.
The atmosphere was tense, on the verge of eruption. One spell, one step—anything could snap the taut string of tension.
And just then, a voice rang out.
“Well, you certainly took your ti getting here!”
It was one that was completely out of place in the gravity of the mont, nothing short of flippant. It was bright and cheerful.
The man who erged from the center of the exolaw wielders laughed with infectious glee. He wasn’t mocking them, nor was he pretending. He was genuinely, helplessly delighted.
“We put quite a lot of effort into this one, but to think you’d dawdle this long! Truly, thank you!”
His exaggerated gestures made his red robe sway. The symbol embroidered on its surface shimred with a blasphemous shape that made onlookers feel dizzy—just like the darkness they’d passed through.
What he possessed was knowledge and power that should never have existed in this world.
“You... you’re a priest...!” Caesare shouted in a thunderous voice.
The man, nodding with pride, answered, “Yes! That’s right!”
Even within Evil, there was a hierarchy. There were devotees who rely used the exolaw they were given, followers who delved into the exolaw themselves and beca consud by it, and finally—priests, those who spread it and were treated as true leaders.
They were equivalent to bishops in the Holy Church. And in Evil, where personnel were few to begin with, they were elite.
“What a wonderful day this is! The ritual has succeeded, the sacrifices have given aning to their worthless lives, and now—before the narrow-minded servants of the false goddess—we shall reveal the teachings of the true god!”
The sa thought crossed every mber of the rush team, He’s mad.
The fanatic ranted and laughed while there was no reflection of the rush team in his eyes. His gaze registered them no more than pebbles on the ground or empty wind.
They spoke to him, but there was no communication. Trying to reason with him would be a waste of ti.
However, Leon latched onto one detail.
“Hey,” he called out to the exolaw priest. “You said the ritual succeeded? Doesn't look like anything’s happening.”
“Ah! How utterly foolish! You can’t see even a step ahead of you—what hope is there for your kind?” the priest rambled as his eyes rolled in a frenzy. “The great work has already begun! The sacrifices have been offered, and all that remains is the mont of fulfillnt! Now, co and witness how aningless your struggle has been!”
Abandoning all formality, the priest shrieked—and that seed to be the signal for the exolaw wielders to move.
Leon exchanged thoughts with El-Cid at once.
El-Cid, he says the ritual succeeded. So we’ve already lost?
—Not yet.
El-Cid’s voice remained calm.
—The principle behind City Swallowing is like fishing. The essence of compressed life force is used as bait to lure a monster drifting in the space outside of this dinsion. In other words, until that monster finds the bait and bites, there’s still ti.
Fishing... so we don’t know when the monster will see the bait or take it.
—Exactly.
It could be over an hour away, or it could very well co crashing down in seconds. In the end, it was a race against ti.
Grasping that truth, Leon shouted, “Bishop Caesare!”
Cesare bit his lip. There were twelve exolaw wielders surrounding them. Plenty had been lurking in the labyrinth, but these were the real deals. If the scales tipped even slightly, they’d lose everything.
Resolute, Cesare raised his left hand high and recited, “O rciful Goddess, guide us so we do not lose our way in the darkness of night. Let Your gentle light shine down upon us here.”
At the sa ti, a glowing orb, a bluish sphere of light, appeared. It flew from Cesare’s hand to the high ceiling, then began to radiate a soft glow like the moon hanging in the night sky, and the exolaw wielders all recoiled a few steps and let out twisted screams.
El-Cid let out a light murmur of appreciation and said, —A combined technique of sacred spell and Aura. Not quite as much as the Sun, but it’ll suppress the exolaw just fine.
Is that because it’s the Moon type?
—Yup. With more training, you might manage it too. Though honestly, using my light is more efficient.
In any case, they’d seized the initiative. The pale moonlight overhead clearly agitated the enemy—so twitched uncontrollably, unable to even chant spells.
That mont was the opening they needed, and Karen was the first to move. Four daggers whipped from her waist like lightning bolts. Streaks of green Aura tore through the air, and that marked the start of all-out battle.
***
The battle between the two sides erupted into a frenzy the mont it began.
Cesare’s iron ball and chain ca crashing down on one of the exolaw wielders, but the man’s body had transford into so unknown substance, tougher and harder than tal. Instead of bursting apart, he was flung away with a thunderous boom.
Despite his effort, though, he couldn’t withstand the impact. Blood spurted from every orifice, and he died shortly after. Now, eleven enemies remained.
As bizarre incantations rang out, multiple exolaws entangled, distorting reality itself. Grotesque monsters were summoned, and the very air, tainted with indescribable hues, twisted like a living thing.
There was a dog writhing with dozens of tentacles, a serpent with four heads, and lumps of flesh too alien to resemble any beast. Regardless of what they looked like, each one of these alien creatures had the power to wipe out an entire village.
“How the hell are all of these things so damn ugly?!” Khan shouted, ripping off the monster dog’s head with one hand.
Even with all the monstrosities he’d seen in the slums, these things were repulsive beyond asure. He almost hesitated to smash them with his fists. So of them even had poisonous fluids—his hand had nearly lted when he struck one without cloaking it in Aura.
Karen was struggling too, unfamiliar as she was with these enemies.
“Where the hell is their weak spot?!” she shouted, realizing they had no head or eyes.
She’d stabbed them with poisoned daggers, but there was no reaction. With her limited offensive power, figuring out their vulnerabilities was too hard. She might’ve done better using her shadow, but that would risk exposing her identity as the Keeper.
And so the stalemate dragged on.
As for Leon, he cut down the alien serpent that had been lunging at Karen from behind. After severing and stomping down its four heads, it no longer moved.
Normally, he’d have to burn it down to the last scrap of flesh, but the Holy Sword nullified its regeneration. The Sun-type Aura helped too, and as if instinctively recognizing the threat, the monsters hesitated to approach Leon.
He’s not moving yet.
Having slain another, Leon turned his gaze. The leader of the exolaw wielders—the priest—still hadn’t entered the fight. Did he think there was no need, or was he simply waiting for the right mont?
Either way, it wasn’t a favorable situation.
This is turning into a war of attrition. We don’t know when the monster summoned by City Swallowing will show up, but the longer this drags out, the more dangerous it’ll beco.
Leon’s eyes locked onto the space behind the priest. The core of the ritual activating City Swallowing—its terrifying energy spread outward from that space.
We have to take them all out and destroy the ritual before City Swallowing happens.
El-Cid had compared City Swallowing to fishing, aning that the sacrifices were bait at the end of the hook. The monster was just a fish taking the line that would devour both bait and city.
The priest had said it had already begun, and that ant it was too late to stop the ritual now. Even if they sealed the dinsional door, the scent had already gone out—the monster might still co. The best move now was to cut the line, bait and all.
“Dammit,” Leon spat a curse.
He needed to break through the situation as fast as possible, and yet, he couldn’t intervene the way he wanted. The Holy Sword he held was Evil’s natural enemy, but if he used its full power even once, the enemy would know imdiately.
Unless he could wipe everything out in one blow, the mont they realized a Hero was among them, they’d throw their lives away to pin him down. Leon was well aware of his role.
I’m here to deliver the final strike.
Leon was the secret blade that would destroy City Swallowing and crush whatever trap the priest had prepared, and he had to be saved until that mont in the very end. Just like a flipped joker card beca worthless, it only worked if it struck an unexpected blow.
Just as Leon was calming his boiling blood with sheer will, everyone in the field of battle froze.A loud thumping sound threatened to rip their ears apart. At first, they wondered where it was coming from—until they realized it was echoing under their own collarbones.
Their hearts were pounding like they might burst from their chests. It was fear.They were afraid—without knowing why or of what. It was fear for the sake of fear. Goosebumps brushed against their clothes like crawling static.
Perhaps this was how ants felt when looked down on by humans. An overwhelming gap in scale created fear by itself.
And in the midst of it all, one man laughed: the priest. Clutching his trembling body, he laughed like a madman, his face alight with ecstasy.
“It has co! Yes, it’s here! The Apostle of God has answered our call!”
Leon’s face went pale at those words. City Swallowing was coming. If they didn’t cut the line imdiately, the city was dood. The end had crept up behind him—and now shoved him forward.
El-Cid!
Sensing Leon’s desperation, El-Cid responded, —Don’t reveal the Holy Sword yet. Still, we do need a breakthrough. I’ll use half the power we’ve stored to cast a divine law.
Will that be enough?
—Barely. But that bishop kid’s moonlight gave an idea. To fully recreate the goddess’s symbol, you need both the sun and the moon.
By coincidence—or perhaps by fate—those with Sun and Moon Aura had gathered here. A bishop capable of compound divine laws, and a Hero bearing the Holy Sword. It was terribly unlucky for Evil.
—All right, repeat after .
El-Cid recited the words, and Leon opened his mouth to speak a high-tier sacred spell.
And the mont he voiced the first verse, in the underground space lit only by Cesare’s dim moonlight, a warm radiance like sunlight spilled across the entire area.
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