Elqueeness [EN]: Chapter 412

412. The Last Sacrifice

Just then, a shadow flickered, and something like lightning struck down in front of Karyuhan. It was a spear of light in the form of a long staff. Looking up, I saw armed angels standing in the clouds. They continued to hurl spears, and beams of light began to encircle Karyuhan at a rapid pace. Before long, a prison made of light was completed.

“This is…”

“The Heavenly Army’s Binding Formation. It’s the most powerful spell used in the Divine Realm for capturing prisoners. I thought you wouldn’t have come to your senses yet, but you’re coping quite quickly.”

Kanos, who had looked up at the sky with me, replied leisurely. Only then, having finished regenerating his body enough to move, did Karyuhan rush towards the bars. Of course, even grabbing and shaking them wildly, the prison didn’t budge. When physical force didn’t work, he glared at the Demon God and screamed.

“You’ll have to kill me now, Demon God! When I become perfect, I’ll be the first to bring you to your knees and roll you in the mud!”

“Oh, really?”

“You’ll never die peacefully! I’ll let you know all the shame and despair the world has to offer! I’ll gouge out those unsightly eyes and melt them with lava! I’ll fill your mouth with filthy worms!”

I couldn’t listen anymore, so I made another ice spear. I was going to shut his mouth for a while, as he still didn’t know his place. However, I couldn’t bring myself to do it. Kanos stopped me with a hand. I looked at him with dissatisfaction, and he smiled softly.

“Why are you stopping me?”

“It’s just a provocation. I don’t think we need to do what that child wants here.”

“Wants…?”

At those words, Karyuhan’s expression twitched. Kanos was gazing at his surprised face with gentle eyes. Seeing the situation unfold, I frowned.

“…So there was another reason why you calmed me down from the start. Was there room for a counterattack?”

“Well, to be honest, I wasn’t sure either. But it seems I guessed right.”

“Explain in detail.”

“According to the Main God’s revelation, Evil Gods are born from curses and feed on pain. You still have a body left, but you’re already half-awakened, right? I thought you might be able to convert the pain you receive into power.”

To be able to convert the pain one receives into power meant the more pain you inflict, the stronger he becomes. If that was true, it was truly an absurd ability. Dumbfounded, I turned around, and Karyuhan was chuckling. At that moment, as if waiting for it, the surroundings vibrated, and a dark red aura began to rise from the ground. Necromantic energy reacted to him and rapidly swelled. Soon, the greatly rampaged aura crashed down on us.

It was then. Just as I was about to click my tongue and respond, a bright red flame erupted and quickly devoured the dark red auras. I looked up and saw someone floating in the air: a girl with fiery red hair as dazzling as her beautiful appearance, giving off the feeling of the sun itself.

“Ifrit.”

“Idiot, what are you doing spacing out there?”

Come to think of it, quite some time had passed since Ifrit had returned to the Main World to recover her energy. I thought it was about time she joined us, and it seemed she had been watching the situation here. Ifrit, who landed while dusting off her hands, had a slightly angry face. Even so, her eyes were constantly darting around. I seemed to know what she was looking for, so I decided to save her the trouble.

“Father isn’t here.”

“What? Why!”

“He’s injured. He went back to the Divine Realm.”

“What? Elyuen injured? Where, how much, and how did he get hurt? He was fine until the Annihilation Formation!”

“You saw that far, but you don’t know?”

“I couldn’t see anything after that because it was blocked by the barrier! Anyway, he was definitely fine until then! What on earth happened to injure a god as strong as Elyuen? It’s ridiculous that the Purification Formation failed, and the guy who’s supposed to be annihilated is still alive and well! What happened in the meantime?”

“You can guess from the situation, can’t you? You’re not stupid, so figure it out yourself.”

“Are you even saying that right now?”

“Ifrit, be quiet.”

“You, you…!”

“I’m already annoyed enough, so don’t provoke me further.”

A loud gasp was heard. Ifrit’s face, looking at me, was filled with disbelief. I ignored Ifrit, who was gaping, and looked towards Karyuhan. The place where he had been was filled with necromantic energy, turning into a black mass. It was a very similar phenomenon to when he entered awakening, so the feeling wasn’t good. Kanos, who had been relaxed, also had a slightly troubled expression this time.

“The binding won’t last long. We need to hurry.”

“Do we need to create the Annihilation Formation again?”

“We’ll have to.”

“You can start right away. I am ready.”

Perdita, who had been standing silently like a painting until then, stepped forward and said. As in the beginning, she showed no hesitation. “W-wait a minute!” Ifrit, who hurriedly shouted, spread her arms and stood in front of her. Then, she stared intently at Perdita’s surprised face.

“It’s really you. It’s really Minerva, isn’t it?”

“Ifrit.”

“Yeah, I know what’s going on. I was watching you descend to be annihilated from the Spirit Realm. I fully understood your thoughts. But this isn’t right. Why you again? Are you asking us to watch you die twice?”

“But it’s what I was originally supposed to do.”

“That’s why I don’t want you to! Is there no other way, Demon God? He’s devoured so many lives! Do you have to let him devour someone else until the very end? Just kill that guy!”

“Ifrit, calm down. The purification failed. There’s no other way…”

It was when Perdita, with a troubled expression, was trying to appease Ifrit, that Kanos, who had been staring blankly at the wriggling black mass, lightly stroked his chin.

“Hmm, what should we do…?”

“Kanos?”

“The Fire King isn’t wrong. There have been so many sacrifices, it would be a shame to sacrifice another innocent life. How about trying purification again?”

“…Is that possible?”

The one who asked was Trowell. He, who had been calm when Perdita stepped forward, was even more agitated by the hopeful words. Perdita also asked in confusion.

“Are you saying we should create the Purification Formation again? That’s difficult. The first Purification Formation was created by mobilizing all the high-ranking gods. The Four-Direction Formation that supports it also requires a significant amount of mana [magical energy]. We have an absurdly short amount of time and divine power.”

“Of course, we’ll have to do it differently this time. The success rate will be lower than the first method, and the aftereffects will be quite severe, but it’s not like there’s no way to try.”

“There’s a way to purify him?”

When I asked, Kanos raised his arm. Then, a jet-black scythe began to appear, centered around his lightly clenched fist. It was the weapon he had taken out when he broke the barrier and blocked my attack.

“The Judge.”

“That’s right.”

Kanos smiled brightly, as if pleased that I had guessed correctly.

“The Judge is imbued with the Main God’s power. If we use this, we might be able to purify Karyuhan, but we’ll lose the Judge forever.”

“That, that can’t be. That’s too reckless.”

Perdita, her face pale, quickly shook her head.

“Why?”

“We can’t even be sure if it will succeed. We can’t recklessly use a weapon imbued with the Main God’s power for such a thing…”

“Only I can wield the Judge anyway. Oh, Elyuen uses it now too, I guess. Anyway, it’s a weapon that’s rarely used.”

“But it’s the only weapon imbued with the Main God’s power.”

A strange voice interjected around that time. Surprised, I turned around and saw a person I had never seen before standing right behind me. It was a man with large glasses that almost completely covered his face and long, silver-gray hair braided down. A strong scent of mist wafted from his body, which was meticulously wrapped in clothing to the point of seeming obsessive. I had smelled a similar scent in the Underworld. I felt like I knew his identity without even asking. There was only one being who could possess such a strong aura of the Underworld.

“Shanon, the God of the Underworld.”

Trowell’s muttering was exactly as I had expected. Kanos shrugged, not at all surprised.

“The nag is here.”

“…Kanos, please don’t do this.”

The god named Shanon had a very tired voice. I couldn’t see his face well because of the glasses, but I could tell that his expression had hardened.

“Don’t do what?”

“The Judge is out of the question. The Main God fell asleep a long time ago, and now there are only a few ways to obtain his power. The Judge exists in the clearest form among them. That power is our last line of attack and defense.”

“What could be a bigger deal than an Evil God being born? It seems like we’re using it in the right way at the right time?”

“There’s no guarantee that this won’t happen again. What will you do then?”

“We’ll have to think about it then.”

“Kanos!”

At the name called out as if frustrated, Kanos looked at him with eyes that said, ‘Say what you have to say.’ Shanon also stared back at him challengingly without backing down.

“Do you have to go this far? You’re always like this. You always take the long way around, leaving the simplest method behind. This incident alone is like that. This could have been something that never happened from the start. Why bother…!”

“Shanon.”

It probably wasn’t my imagination that Kanos’s voice had lowered. Shanon’s shoulders twitched noticeably. Kanos, looking at him, was still smiling.

“You’ve been saying interesting things since earlier. The reason I don’t clash with you is also because I deliberately choose difficult methods.”

“…I know.”

Shanon, who had closed his mouth as if at a loss for words, barely managed to answer after a long time. I felt a strange sense of incongruity. The God of the Underworld, along with the Demon God Kanos, was one of the highest gods. He was probably the one who had known Kanos the longest. But Shanon seemed to find him even more difficult than Elyuen.

“Then the story is over, right?”

It was Kanos who broke the suffocatingly heavy atmosphere that flowed between the two. This time, Shanon just groaned quietly. I turned my gaze to Kanos, who seemed to be enjoying himself. I felt sorry for the God of the Underworld, who seemed to have forcibly resigned himself, but I thought it was fortunate. The fact that Perdita didn’t have to die was more important than the symbolism of the Judge, which didn’t resonate with me much right now. However, Perdita herself seemed very embarrassed.

“What do we do now?”

“The structure is similar to the existing Purification Formation. We’ll create a Four-Direction Formation centered around the Judge, and we need two yin and yang energies from this world that can guide it. The stronger the power, the better, so it would be best if the Spirit Kings could take on that role.”

Fire and air, belonging to the sky, are yang energy, and water and earth, belonging to the underground, are yin energy. Two of each meant that all four Spirit Kings were needed. Then Ifrit, who was listening to the explanation together, frowned.

“We don’t mind, but Mine [Spirit King of Water] is having a hard time. She still hasn’t woken up since being reverse-summoned. It will probably take a few more days for her to recover.”

“Hmm, then we’ll have to draw one yang energy from somewhere else. Can we mobilize the dragons?”

“Ah, that’s possible. Everyone is already sharpening their swords.”

According to Ifrit’s explanation, Anea, who was in charge of the Wind Formation, went to Diagon, the Lord [Dragon Lord], immediately after the Purification Formation collapsed and told him everything. Their clan’s pride was greatly hurt by the fact that the formation, which they had painstakingly created for days with only the strongest members of each clan, had collapsed so futilely. So everyone was grinding their teeth at Karyuhan and preparing for battle.

“However, the problem is that everyone consumed too much power when creating the first Purification Formation. Among the dragons that can be mobilized right now, only the Red Clan possesses yang energy.”

“That’s troublesome. The Spirit Kings’ energy will already be overwhelming, and if the numbers are also insufficient, the balance will be too off.”

“Then what do we do?”

“Should we just use the Spirit Kings’ power instead? Distribute the power of the two evenly in the Four-Direction Formation, and have the dragons support it from the formation positions. Which clan is the most intact on the yin energy side?”

“It’s probably the Black Clan.”

“Then let’s use those two clans in the Purification Formation, and you guys only participate with earth and fire. It will be weaker overall, but it’s better than the balance being off.”

What, am I being left out then? Since the yin and yang energies had to be balanced, it couldn’t be helped that only two were chosen, and it was natural to match the dragons that could support it with the attributes. But I felt a little down when I thought that I was frequently unable to participate in the Purification Formation. Then, as if she knew that, Kanos turned to me.

“It’s a good thing. I’ll give El another task.”

“…What is it?”

“Recover the remaining fragment of that child [Karyuhan].”

At those words, I frowned. It wasn’t because I didn’t understand the meaning, but because I had just realized it. Come to think of it, the Archduke was still left. The fact that the first Purification Formation and Annihilation Formation had failed was all because of that guy.

“He’s probably not far away since the awakening is imminent. He’ll be nearby. It would be troublesome if he interfered with the purification again, so it would be good if you could catch him before that.”

“Does that mean capture him alive?”

“That’s right. If you kill him now, the fragment will return to the main body. Then Karyuhan’s power will increase further. The Purification Formation is a bit unstable, so we can’t have the conditions changing here.”

It was a more difficult condition than I thought. Even if I didn’t kill him, the Archduke might try to kill himself, so I had to stop even that. The thought of having to protect a guy I wouldn’t even feel bad about stepping on made me frown. Kanos looked at me with a curious expression.

“Wow, time is truly scary. A pure soul who once couldn’t even cut off my arm and was always anxious is now regretting not being able to kill him? How did this happen?”

“Well, I don’t know what’s changed, but if I’ve changed, you’ve probably contributed quite a bit.”

“Look at this, look at this. Now she doesn’t even lose in words. Wow, is this what it feels like to send a daughter off to get married?”

“Do you want to get hit again?”

“I’m just kidding, kidding. Well, you should hurry. Right now, that fragment is probably looking for the last sacrifice for the awakening.”

At that moment, the dissatisfaction that had been filling my head evaporated. I paused slightly and turned to Kanos. Seeing his meaningfully smiling face, my mind gradually cooled down.

The last thing needed for the Evil God’s final awakening is the heart of a young human.

There was someone who met this condition nearby.