Chapter 280
The courthouse quickly turned into a chaotic mess.
The swarm of Altife kept rising without pause.
Keeeek—!
Self-destructing Special Entities dove towards the main officials like frogs and exploded.
The surrounding heroes drew their swords and staffs to respond, but they were outnumbered, and there were quite a few Bishops getting in the way.
“P-please…! Protect me!”
The courthouse, looking down at Vargan from the highest point, struggled to get down from its prominent seat.
But given how conspicuous his position was, it was also the easiest target to take out.
Soon, with a long tentacle shot forth by a Bishop piercing his face, the courthouse couldn’t bear the weight and went *thud* forward.
Just a moment ago, he looked quite pleased at the thought of executing Vargan, but now his lips were just spilling out brain matter along with ugly blood.
“Ugh! Aaaaah!”
“S-save me! Please save me!”
“Kyaaah!”
Regular folk, who hadn’t been properly trained in mana, had already burst open flat.
They could barely maintain their bodies, but under Cardinal Beled’s pressure, they were unable to move and fell one by one.
—Krrrurk!
—Kerrruururk!
The guards, who were heroes assigned to keep watch, desperately resisted against the constant onslaught of Altife.
Chaos and madness.
In this blood-soaked place, Frieda, with her hands tied behind her back, busily wiggled her wrists while quickly scanning the insides with her eyes.
The swarm of Altife didn’t attack Frieda and the Formist forces.
It was as if the current scene had been set up beforehand.
‘Where is he… He must be inside here somewhere.’
Frieda’s finely tuned senses were searching for someone.
The one who had an extreme hatred for Vargan.
That person from the Goddess Church who had failed to fulfill their duties and ultimately ended up spilling the beans.
—Click.
Finally, taking advantage of the chaos, Frieda loosened the chains binding her hands and feet.
She exchanged a glance with Vargan, who was being moved into the mouth of a monster while captured by a bunch of white hands, then sprang into action.
Frieda’s mission, which had begun several months ago, was still not over.
She just had one last mission to accomplish before she could finally receive the reward she had eagerly awaited.
The heroes noticed that the Formist forces, who had been captured, were starting to move freely, but their top priority was the safety of the high-ranking officials, so they couldn’t move recklessly.
Who would have guessed that a Cardinal would show up to judge a regular person, not even the Archbishop?
Even if they did set up a high-ranking archer ranked 5th among heroes to keep an eye on Vargan and increased the number of guards,
it was impossible to protect everyone safely.
It was impossible.
“There’s that guy.”
Frieda spotted the man in the crowd wearing a hood.
The man also noticed Frieda and tried to escape.
With agile movements, Frieda weaved through the throng of people and swiftly closed in on the man.
“Ugh!”
Frieda swung her fist, enhanced by mana, in a flash.
The man cried out in pain after being struck at the back of his head and collapsed.
Coughing and cursing, Frieda kicked him while hurling insults.
Without giving the man a chance to rise, she kept beating him and then grabbed him by the collar.
“Did you think I’d let you go? You pig bastard.”
As the hood covering his face was pulled away, the man’s identity was revealed.
It was Ocell Lampit Borg.
One of the Formists’ followers and a traitor who abandoned his faith due to his hatred for Vargan.
“Ugh, ack….”
“Look at this pig’s sorry state! Is a Divine Bug wriggling in your gut, huh?”
Borg had betrayed the Goddess Church.
He indirectly provided evidence and clues to Clemens to trap Vargan.
And this was the price he paid.
“Trying to judge with those barely working eyes. You scumbag Borg.”
“…Gah.”
Borg was about a quarter through the Altification process.
His skin, swollen and stiff, made Frieda frown in disgust.
The collar around his neck was a magical tool inscribed with a spell that would activate once the Altification was fully complete.
Frieda spat insults at him, then shouted.
“Was it really worth it to kill Lord Vargan? Were you that resentful? But you foolish pig, no matter how much you flail around, Lord Vargan knows everything! You’re just here to play and die beautifully!”
Frieda continued to strike Borg in the face.
Originally, Vargan’s order was not to beat Borg but to assassinate him. The goal was to kill Borg to release the Familiar trapped inside him so it could be summoned outside.
Thus, this was an outpouring of emotions she’d harbored for a long time.
She couldn’t forgive him for daring to stab Lord Vargan in the back.
Bam!
Bam—!
As Frieda kept punching, she sharpened her nails and began tearing at his flesh.
“Ahhh—!”
Borg screamed horrifically.
No one came to his aid.
“You pig who fell off a cliff, oblivious about your future! Goddammit! How happy were you to see Lord Vargan restrained! Not even realizing everything is going just as planned!”
With renewed vigor, Frieda ramped up her violence.
In truth, the mere fact of letting such a pathetic creature roam free disgusted her.
No matter how justified the plan was, she found it hard to ignore his childish glee.
—Frieda. Kill Borg and free my Familiar.
Frieda clawed at Borg’s face, making it nearly unrecognizable.
She recalled Vargan’s directive and poured her heart into it.
Feeling a desperate urgency, she showcased her loyalty and sincerity.
All for the sake of reaping the fruits of her labor.
—If you do that, I will take only you.
“Hah… hah….”
Maybe it was too much at once, but Frieda was panting heavily.
Below her lay Borg, his face torn to shreds, defeated and without any guard.
Yet even with the Altification ongoing, his flesh was sagging and his eyes were burst, he still clung to life.
He was still clinging to life.
“Frieda… you… foolish… fox…”
“What are you rambling about? Seems you still have enough strength to mutter?”
Frieda flashed a cruel smile for some reason.
It wasn’t that she wanted to show her superiority over Borg.
She just felt that without doing so, it would be hard to hold on.
Borg, with a voice on the brink of death, struggled to speak.
So soaked in noble pride that no matter how broken and pained his body was, he hated the idea of bowing to anyone.
Borg scoffed at Frieda.
“You too… will be used by me and then thrown away—”
—Thud!
Frieda pierced his neck with her elongated nails.
Moments later, Borg couldn’t finish his line and breathed his last. Slimy familiars began oozing out from his mouth.
Below the emerging familiars, the core of the reverse summoning was revealed.
And just like that, he disappeared.
“…It’s done. I’ve finally completed my mission…”
Frieda shivered for a moment as if a cold wind had brushed past the back of her neck.
Trying to calm herself, she looked around.
“Gaaah!”
“Catch that one! Don’t let them anywhere near the swordsman!”
“Kill them! Kill them!”
The area was still filled with chaos.
In the courthouse saturated with the smell of blood and entrails, Frieda looked down at her hands.
“…Don’t be anxious. It’s not the first time I’ve killed.”
Hands that had taken a life.
On those hands was a red gemstone ring, a gift from Vargan.
She had only killed under the threat in the Harajuku, not otherwise.
Even after killing monsters, she still wasn’t accustomed to such acts.
“Lord Vargan. Lord Vargan is…”
Frieda tried to regain her trembling body and mind as she searched for Vargan.
At the center of the courthouse, he was currently.
“……”
He had vanished.
The monster that was spewing out a swarm of Altife was gone too.
No more Altife would be summoned.
“It’s okay. It’s okay… He’ll come for me soon.”
Frieda’s lips quivered with anxiety.
She wrapped her body as if cold.
—Frieda… you… foolish… fox…
No, no, no.
I promised Lord Vargan.
I’m useful. I’m different from Borg. I won’t be just used and discarded.
Don’t worry. Don’t worry.
Until he comes to take me — that’s the contract.
He’s someone who keeps such things thoroughly.
“Don’t worry. It won’t take long. After all… after all… the one by his side at the end will be me, right? I know the most of his secrets…”
By Lord Vargan’s side.
The person next to him wouldn’t be Alicia or Erica.
It would be herself.
Frieda self-hypnotized.
Repeating words to soothe herself.
“It’s okay… It’s okay…”
*
“Welcome, Lord Vargan. I’m glad to see you aren’t gravely injured.”
“…Ultreman, is it?”
“Hmm? You seem a bit different… No, never mind. By the way, that outfit looks rather uncomfortable?”
Bishop Ultreman, wearing a top hat.
He pulled out a magical tool that was much too large for a small pocket and released all the bindings surrounding Vargan’s body.
“……”
With his physical freedom regained, Vargan glanced at the woman who had warped with him.
Archbishop Salecius.
He had ambushed and rescued her while she was being transported to the Central Church.
It arrived.
I heard that the seventh-ranked hero, Trecenta, is in charge of the transport, and she must be pacing around right now.
“As I said, you’ve brought her well.”
“Yes, Lady Beled doesn’t seem keen on moving other archbishops from different forces, but as Executor Vargan mentioned, it’s also an opportunity to put some burdens on the other cardinals.”
“In short, you managed to persuade Beled with your silver tongue.”
“Persuade? I merely made a proposal.”
Ultreman chuckled, slightly lifting his top hat.
Vargan scoffed and examined Salecius’s condition again, frowning.
“The condition is dreadful. Am I being too generous as a human?”
“The followers of Yggdrasil show no mercy to Altife. Torture is the least of it; they even drive rebar through the body for imprisonment.”
Thick rebar was pierced through Salecius’s neck, hands, feet, and torso.
Blood continued to flow from the gaps, but thanks to Altife’s tenacious life force, he remained alive.
“Lord Salecius, I will see to your wounds. This place is not a suitable environment for surgery.”
A long, dark cave stretching endlessly.
There was not a single bug or bat around, devoid of any life force.
『……』
Salecius gave no response.
Ultreman nodded as if accustomed to it, then turned back to Vargan and greeted him formally.
As he removed his hat, another eye, embedded in Ultreman’s forehead, appeared and flashed a broad smile.
“Honorable Vargan, it is a privilege to serve you not as an external client but as a fellow believer.”
Ultreman bowed politely and neatly.
He grinned and said, “I expect you to do great things for Lady Beled and the revival of the Goddess Church. ‘Archbishop Vargan.’”
“Is there a reason to specifically mention my title?”
“I merely wished to help the new Archbishop Vargan acclimate as quickly as possible. However, thinking about it… entering the archbishopric in a human body will surely leave your name in history.”
As Ultreman jested, Vargan began to walk with a laugh of disbelief.
Ultreman followed closely, and Salecius joined as well.
“Oh, by the way, Archbishop Vargan, what should we do about that woman?”
“That woman?”
“I’m talking about the fox demi-human female student who’s been mumbling your name in a corner of the courthouse, saying you would come to rescue her. I thought I’d ask just in case.”
“Ultreman, don’t try to test me subtly.”
Vargan sharply perceived the bishop’s intentions, like a well-honed blade.
He warned not to test him recklessly as someone already recognized by Cardinal Beled.
“Such matters, keep to yourself and handle them.”
“That means…”
“Make sure to kill her.”
His voice showed no hesitation.
With a satisfaction-filled smile, Ultreman replied, “As you command, Archbishop Vargan.”
