285th Chapter
“Ugh, Uggghhhh—!”
Tigres screamed.
The sensation of having his hand shoved into magma made his mouth contort in pain.
Thwack—!
Liam struck the side of Tigres’s head with the hilt of his sword.
Unbalanced, Tigres collapsed, and Liam stepped on him, pressing the blade of the red sword against his neck.
“Honestly, if you cooperate, the pain you’ll experience will lessen. So, let’s work together, Tigres.”
“Ugh, ughh—!”
“Was it the Formist who sent you? If not… the Formless Faction?”
“…You bastard…! My hand…! Aghhh!”
Liam stomped on the severed stump of Tigres’s arm.
Tigres cried out in pain, but Liam, seasoned by countless trials and tribulations as a Hero, didn’t even flinch.
“I’ll ask you one more time. Who sent you?”
“Ugh. Ha ha…! If I tell you… what, I’ll survive? What’s the difference between being eaten by a Divine Bug or having my throat cut by you—?!”
“I told you, I won’t kill you until you spill the information.”
“What…?”
Liam pulled out a syringe from his pocket.
Seeing the transparent substance inside, Tigres realized immediately what it was.
“That’s… no way?”
“It’s a Divine Bug inhibitor. Injecting this will put the Divine Bug’s movements on hold for a while.”
If the movements of the Divine Bug were halted, he could extract information about the Goddess Church without becoming Altife.
It was only for a few minutes, but just a few years ago, it was an unimaginable invention – a significant advancement.
“…Ah, I see. No wonder you’re so ridiculously strong for your age. Our Hero really is something else?”
Tigres recognized Liam’s identity, donning the Infinitum Mask.
The group carrying Divine Bug inhibitors was easy to guess.
A rising force within Yggdrasil.
“Followers of Saint Diphelia’s tail end! So, you using the red current must be ‘Liam,’ right?”
In confrontation with the remnants of Yggdrasil, the Heroes from Academia and Rikeion were united around Diphelia.
Among them, Liam, the fast sword user utilizing red current, was fairly well known.
Tigres smirked slyly.
“Then my question was wrong. How would I know how you’re faring, being opposite of the remnants to which your maid serves?”
“…Stop calling Alicia that.”
“Why not? I call a maid a maid, what else should I call her…? Aghhh!”
Liam, with personal emotions, stomped on Tigres’s arm.
He stomped on his arm.
No matter how much you, Alicia, were walking a slightly different path than the others, it was hard to hold back from insulting your acquaintance.
“Honestly, it’s something too precious for someone like you to have… but I’m sure Diphelia wouldn’t want that.”
Liam sent a jolt of electricity, paralyzing Tigres’ entire body except for his face.
He was trying to avoid the needle breaking while flailing about.
But just before the needle was pushed in,
Tigres laughed long and hard with an arc.
“Die, you *god*.”
Four enemies charged from all directions.
They had completely concealed their presence, but revealed themselves just before the assault.
A spell for binding activated from Tigres’ body, with countless chains reaching out to envelop Liam.
In a critical situation.
Even with the danger of his head about to be chopped off, Liam’s eyes remained calm.
“Finally made your move.”
Crackle—.
Red electricity flowed.
As if it were natural to flow from top to bottom like running water.
“Ghh…!”
“You bastard!”
In the blink of an eye, Liam moved his body and suppressed them all.
Consequently, the four believers, who hadn’t even fallen to the ground yet, plummeted down, unconscious, with a thud!
The binding spell activated by Tigres was mercilessly destroyed and scattered everywhere.
Tigres, who barely caught a glimpse of Liam’s movement, had his eyes wide open as if they might pop out.
“What the hell…!”
So strong.
Unbelievably strong.
It was unimaginable that he was of the same age.
None of his sword or surprise attack were effective at all.
“Damn…! Damn!”
Memories of the past forcibly resurfaced in Tigres.
Alicia. The sensation he felt when he fought her was similar.
A feeling of powerlessness, thinking he could never stand against it.
The humiliation and fear he felt when he woke in the emergency room, fully succumbing to the hallucinations.
That moment flashed by faster than electricity, igniting fury in his eyes.
Even if his body trembled, it ignited the will to resist.
In the midst of it all,
“Liam…!”
A woman entered Tigres’ view.
She seemed to be a member of Liam’s team. He had no memory of her face, but she was also wearing the same gear.
Wait, one woman with Liam?
If she’s someone who would hang out with him…
Ah, she must be the new Saint!
Crack—!
Tigres bit his cheek with his teeth, which was a signal. A notification for the ‘entity’ he was following.
Liam saw the blood burst from Tigres’ mouth and shouted.
“Emily! Get back!”
“…Huh?”
Emily was startled by Liam’s sudden shout.
She hesitated for a moment.
“……!”
Soon, she too sensed the ominous energy.
The overwhelming pressure that couldn’t be felt from ordinary believers or the mindless Altife.
A bishop.
Among them, clearly the apex predator.
Swoosh—.
Two long arms stretched out from behind the wall where Emily stood.
It looked like they were trying to pull Emily against the wall.
Liam wasn’t just going to sit back and watch.
“Gahhh—!”
In an instant, Liam lunged in front of Emily.
With that, he swung his swift sword and severed both arms.
The speed of his movement sent a gust of wind and noise chasing after him.
‘What a waste. Such a waste…’
As Liam created distance while rescuing Emily, sounds emerged from the wall.
The foreign voice emanating with power was very dense and poisonous, making the breath tremble.
The mana detected from the surroundings was thick and toxic, making it hard to breathe.
“I could’ve caught it. What a shame. What a shame…”
The long arm of the Bishop melted into the ground and wall.
However, the thing itself hadn’t disappeared.
Somehow, it had moved. Liam and Emily saw it ascend over a building, standing against the moonlight.
“…Is it one of the top Bishops?”
Liam took a deep breath and squinted.
He tried to ascertain its identity while examining its unique appearance.
‘A body so gaunt that bones and organs are visible. Long arms and legs, like a specter… It’s definitely one of the five top-tier ones I heard about.’
Just as the generations of heroes pass,
New Bishops are taking the top spots within the Goddess Church as the ages change.
Five years ago, the pinnacle was held by ‘Han’.
If one of the top Bishops he was compared to was ‘Pertigle Blurans’,
Then one of the current top Bishops was that one. ‘Freskona.’
A dangerous being that might become the next Archbishop.
It was earlier than expected to encounter it.
“Bishop! Please save us and punish these heretics!”
Tigres, sticking to the ground, pleaded.
Even while spitting out flesh chunks and bleeding, he was desperate.
“The Saint is right there! Please shred that wicked woman and man and offer them to the Goddess’s altar! Doing so, I’m certain the Bishop will grasp what he desires!”
‘Saint… Saint…’
Freskona muttered repeatedly.
Tigres reassured the Bishop, “Yes, it’s the Saint! We must capture them!”
Fully understanding, Freskona showed a naive smile like a newborn.
‘Can I become the Archbishop?’
Boom—!
The night city trembled as if an earthquake had occurred.
Purple mana, symbolizing Altife, erupted and sparked.
At the same time, something was happening to Freskona’s body.
“Ah, no…!”
Liam witnessed the scene.
Freskona seemed bound by the purple mana, moving its body with great difficulty, but he grounded himself, putting all his strength into his legs.
That was the release of divine power!
Even if it wasn’t complete, it would surely be at least double the strength it currently had.
This place might become devastated. He had to stop it!
“…It’s time, Liam! I’ll cast another buff spell!”
Emily, fully aware of her role, activated Holy Magic to relieve the mana pressure weighing down Liam.
Thanks to her, Liam was able to move freely again.
‘Thanks, Emily.’
He silently expressed his gratitude towards her.
He drew upon his mana in one swift motion.
It would be great if he could strike the core with one hit, but that wouldn’t be easy.
So… he would just keep thrusting his sword until he could.
And just as Liam was about to unleash all his power,
Tap—.
A sound of a water drop echoed.
As if a drop fell into a lake, the sound was clear and transparent.
Then, silence flowed as if all the noise in the world had been absorbed.
The pounding of his heart,
The rumble of the ground shaking,
Even Emily’s breathing nearby was sucked into the silence.
All the noise converged into one point.
Swish—.
Then it became a single line, drawn across the world.
The incomplete release of divine power effortlessly split the now solidified Freskona’s body in half.
With an incredibly fortified body, Freskona was split in half as gently as could be.
『Hero… the hero with the white hair.』
Just before dying from the deep cut to the core, Freskona said that.
A woman who was more engraved in their minds than even Saint Emily. Gazing at the young woman bearing the name of ‘Semi-Hero.’
『So regrettable…』
She laments the misery of meeting death without becoming an archbishop.
“…Bishop… Bishop!”
When the savior Freskona, whom Tigres trusted, suddenly perished, his complexion turned pale with shock.
To easily slice the candidate for archbishop in half.
He looked up at the woman who committed this nonsensical act.
“…Y-You… you’re…!”
Hair that sparkled as if spread out from the Milky Way.
Eyes more beautiful and precious than any jewel.
The woman Tigres once desired to possess.
“Alicia…!”
Currently ranked 9th among heroes.
The second disciple of the hero Helion.
One of the key figures among the former powers of Yggdrasil, including Holy Emperor Liovergo.
The semi-hero Alicia.
She has appeared.
*
『Kahaha! There are two rank one heroes, huh? I almost want to join the fray myself!』
The spear master laughed loudly.
Archbishop Pertigle Blurans was high in the sky over the City of Rhodes.
The enormous eagle familiar could easily carry three adult men.
They were cloaked in power, and neither their sounds nor magical energy leaked out.
『Then… would you like to go instead, Bl, Blurans?』
『What? You coward! Are you telling me to downgrade back to bishop?』
『I’m saying that because you want to fight. I’m scared. Ugh… Rank one heroes are just too strong. At this rate, I’ll die before I even get to be an archbishop!』
『Kids these days have no spine. Tsk tsk. Back in my day, a top-tier bishop had to elegantly keep quiet and maintain their majesty.』
『I know that because I’ve heard it a million times. That’s what one of my seniors would say, right? But, well… that senior also ended up becoming a judgment artifact! I didn’t want to die, so I was hiding in the dungeon! Why’d you force me to come here? Argh!』
『Shut up, you brat.』
Blurans punched the bishop on the head.
This was necessary education for a bishop who seemed out of touch, about to be deployed into the city.
『These kids today don’t have their heads on straight. And it wasn’t me who came to get you.』
『…That’s true.』
The deflated bishop cautiously peeked at the other archbishop.
The only human who brought him out of the dungeon was staring down at the ground, seemingly lost in thought.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, the archbishop called out to the bishop.
“Cyclamen, get ready to unleash your power.”
『Ah, understood!』
『This brat? I’m being considered a joke while he listens to every word?』
『B-Bishop, our standings are different, you know…! You have little influence, but that person… ugh!』
Even as the two jabbered away, the man didn’t take his eyes off the ground.
He was merely timing when to use Bishop Cyclamen.
“Soon, others will rush to Rhodes.”
He calculated coldly.
