[Your body is not completely fine, is it?]
“No, it isn’t.”
Still, what could I do?
I could not allow a war between monsters and humans to break out.
“Should I wage war against the monsters that come rushing in?”
[That sounds like it would be fun!]
“Cut the bullshit and shut up.”
As if war could ever be fun.
“Hoo......”
Rather than let a war break out, it was better to assassinate the general first.
‘Historically, this was the cure.’
This was written on some ancient mural or whatever.
Or maybe not.
“Can you feel any divine power?”
She had definitely said she could track an apostle’s divine power.
[I do not know the exact location. Only the rough area?]
“How rough is that?”
[Enough to know it is in the monster forest?]
How useless.
‘Did I decide to use her for nothing?’
If she was this useless, then using her or not using her seemed the same.
‘She cannot fight either.’
There was no way a spirit like her could fight.
At most, her role was only to tell me how I could use blood-red divine power.
A role no different from a guide, at best.
[So, is this the monster forest?]
As always, I decided to ignore her chattering.
I searched for the traces of divine power they must have left behind.
“Hoo......”
I exhaled.
Between that breath, glittering gold and endlessly dark blood-red mixed together and leaked out.
‘Where is it?’
The golden divine power moved.
It wriggled and shot here and there.
The blood-red divine power moved together with it.
But its atmosphere was completely different.
Unlike the golden divine power that flowed quietly, the blood-red divine power moved violently.
“Grr?”
There was a small monster in the direction where the blood-red divine power moved.
‘Avoid it.’
If divine power touched a living creature, it could no longer stretch farther.
That was why my action should have been natural.
It should have been.
“Huh?”
I turned the course of the blood-red divine power to the side, but the divine power kept going straight.
In the process, a small monster that blocked its path was merely—
CRUNCH—!
The blood-red divine power opened its maw and swallowed it.
[It seems the divine power is quite excited.]
“......Can that happen?”
[My divine power instinctively desires blood. The more blood there is, the stronger the divine power becomes.]
The meaning of those words was clear.
‘There is a place with a lot of blood nearby.’
I drew back the golden divine power I had scattered together with it before.
There was no need to use them together.
The single writhing blood-red thread was enough.
‘And I do not have much divine power left.’
Seeing my hands already trembling, I would probably need to recuperate for a week once all of this was over.
“Argh!”
The quality of divine power and its total amount were different things, so there was no helping it.
“Groaaaaaar!”
As I continued straight ahead, there were also giant monsters whose attention was drawn not to the divine power, but to me.
But naturally, there was no particular problem.
“Grra?”
Because monsters, one way or another, only played within their own territories.
Even if I invaded their territory, I left it again after about three seconds.
That was why it was frightening.
The goal of those bastards was to make monsters, which normally guarded only their own territories, rampage without distinguishing boundaries.
[No matter how I look at them, these things called monsters do not seem like ordinary animals.]
Their horns, sharp teeth, and everything else were difficult to view as those of ordinary animals.
[Things like that did not exist in my time, though......?]
“They did.”
It was simply before they were given the name monster.
WOOOO—
The blood-red divine power advancing ahead moved even more violently.
‘We’re here.’
I felt divine power thickly stained with a fishy blood scent and iron scent close by.
[Apostle! So what were those things called in my time?]
I swallowed and quickly crouched behind a tree.
‘I feel it.’
Right before me, I saw wavering divine power.
Divine power where silver iron and a faint blood-red mingled together.
‘A barrier.’
It was not some high-level barrier that twisted space.
It was merely an illusion.
‘They could not find it because of this crap?’
Just how low was the level of our Holy Knight Orders......?
‘......Maybe only the Fifth Holy Knight Order is especially low.’
I filled my hand with divine power.
‘As little as possible.’
When divine power left my body once more, I felt slightly dizzy.
“Hoo......”
The blood-red divine power tore apart the barrier hiding the world.
RIIIP—!
“Who goes there!”
The sound was so loud that the moment the barrier split, several people pointed their swords at me.
“Capture him and use him as a shield too.”
Behind the bastards pointing swords at me, someone spoke in an ordering tone.
“So it is you?”
That bishop bastard.
I filled the mace I held with divine power.
“Hup!”
The one I aimed for was the apostle of War.
BANG—!
“Huh.”
So an apostle was still an apostle, at least.
“Tsk. A bastard with divine power. It would be better to simply kill him.”
After that, the bastard merely turned around and headed elsewhere.
“You apostle bastard!”
SWISH—!
The moment I called him, a sword flew past beside me with a swish.
I avoided it easily by tilting my head.
“Hah. So I have to catch all of you?”
The one who just threw it was......
‘That kid over there.’
I quickly approached the bastard who, no matter how one looked, was clearly in the posture of someone who had thrown something.
“First, one.”
CRUNCH—!
“Aaaaaagh!”
I simply crushed the bastard’s arm with the mace.
“Huh.”
If he was going to scream over only one arm being smashed, why had he become an evil god worshiper?
“Bishop......!”
Before he could run his mouth, I drove my fist into his face.
“Kgh......!”
As the bastard fell backward, I kicked him in the abdomen.
BANG—!
“Oh dear.”
Perhaps I failed to control my strength, because the bastard crashed straight into the ground and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.
“Well, does it matter?”
As long as he did not die.
“......”
The eyes of the evil god worshipers looking at me were filled with tension and various other emotions.
“Now things are finally working properly.”
How dare evil god worshiper bastards point swords at me?
“Kill him!”
The moment the bishop bastard’s order fell, about eight of them rushed at me.
“Hoo......”
I hooked one golden thread around each finger of my left hand.
Each strand began splitting into dozens of branches.
SPLASH—!
“Kgh!”
The threads bound about three of the charging bastards as they were.
Then I fired spheres made of divine power at the remaining ones and struck their heads.
“Kgh......!”
I charged at the bastard whose body tilted from the impact to his head.
“You lot wait.”
I put divine power into the mace.
At that, the sphere of the mace swelled slightly, and I saw the two bastards rushing in hesitate.
However, it was not without damage on my side either.
The area around my heart stung a little.
“Tsk......”
This was a little harsh.
‘If only I had more divine power left.’
There would have been no need to bleed while dealing with bastards like these.
[See? That is why that child Garon tried to stop you so much.]
What could I do when I could not trust them?
“Hoo......”
After taking one deep breath, I felt somewhat better.
“Let go of me!”
“For...... our god!”
“Aaaaaagh!”
The bastards bound in thread were still struggling without giving up.
[You are almost there now.]
With the mace, I carefully crushed their legs and arms one by one.
So that they would never even think of escaping.
“Guh......”
“Where did your apostle go?”
***
Just how......
“How wide did they spread the barrier?”
At this rate, not only an apostle, but even a god must have joined in.
[You think a god would go around with an apostle without dignity?]
“What dignity?”
He was a bastard who thought of war as entertainment.
‘It is incredibly close.’
The direction where the scent of iron and blood grew thick.
[What is that?]
There was something enormous there.
‘A cave?’
Since they could not build a prison outside and hide that many children, there was a good possibility they had set up inside a cave.
‘Even if they cut down the forest’s trees, there is no way those bastards could build a prison.’
That was what evil god worshipers were like.
They put in no effort, believed only in their god, and lived off that power in comfort.
“......”
But.
[Wow......]
It was not anything like a cave.
No, it would have been far easier if it were a cave instead.
“......Ah, fuck.”
It was a sight where I could not help but curse.
“Grrr......”
Because there was a single giant monster there, sleeping while even snoring.
[It seems to be asleep.]
“I know that too.”
‘Is this that monster’s territory?’
Then how could the evil god worshipers be here?
“......Ah.”
Only then did the bottles rolling on the ground enter my eyes.
“The Sun......”
The medicine bottles scattered on the ground told me how they could remain among that monster.
“Damn it.”
Just imagining that monster flowing into Rakar made me dizzy.
‘Can we stop it?’
If I were in perfect condition, I would try.
“......”
My trembling hands told me there was not much divine power left in me.
‘No.’
Maybe if Grandpa Harkan came, but with me and the Fifth Holy Knight Order, it was impossible.
‘With them that weak.’
Why had the quality of holy knights become so poor lately?
I should replace them all. All of them.
[So, how are you going to get past it?]
“It is sleeping.”
I put divine power into my feet.
A moment later, I compressed the divine power gathered in my feet and burst it from the soles.
BANG—!
I kicked off the ground and flew into the sky.
“There is no need to wake it.”
Tap.
“Let’s see......”
I was able to climb onto the giant monster’s back in no time.
“......Fuck.”
The scene I looked down upon from above.
“Move faster!”
Was utterly revolting.
GRIND—
There were still many evil god worshipers left.
And in both hands of those evil god worshipers were whips.
The ones being struck by them were children.
“Wow......”
They’re really making my lid flip open.
***
Thanks to the blessing I used by forcibly squeezing out the remaining divine power, even after I came down, the bastards had not noticed me.
At most, it was only enough to hide my presence.
“Work!”
The bastards, whose attention had been stolen by the children in front of them, did not notice me.
[You know, right? This time, you cannot rush out.]
I knew.
With the divine power I had left, rushing in would be no different from suicide.
WHIP!
“Uah......”
Still.
It was still disgusting as hell.
[Hold on just a little. Just a little.]
Kalla, perhaps because it looked as though I might jump out at any moment, held me back with her hand.
“Hoo......”
Yes. Right. I had to wait. For now.
‘I have to knock him out secretly.’
I had to aim only for the apostle of War and deal with him for certain.
So.
THUD.
“Tsk!”
The children...... even if they collapsed like that.
“Use this one as a shield. He fainted.”
“Yes, yes.”
A shield.
‘......What the bishop bastard said.’
Deal with me and use me as a shield.
......A terrible possibility entered my head.
One evil god worshiper dragged away the collapsed child.
Where he dragged the child, I saw about six wooden boards.
“Tie him.”
“......”
Children.
[......Even to me, this is a bit much.]
Children were tied to the wooden boards.
Shields. They.
Had decided to place children at the vanguard of war.
“Fuck.”
There was no way to express it except with curses.
“What the fuck are they doing? Fuck. These truly insane fanatic bastards.”
I should not have spared those believers earlier.
Instead of merely breaking all their limbs, I should have torn their heads off.
Deep regret remained.
To think I had even considered.
‘Letting these bastards live.’
It seemed I was still far too soft.
“Huh? What are you......!”
CRUNCH—!
The head of the bastard who had been trying to tie up the child split apart just like that.
“Who are you!”
I gently held the child the bastard had been dragging and laid him on the ground.
“Kill him!”
“You bastards.”
Even if you die and are reborn once, and even if you die and are reborn once more in that life.
Even if you die and are reborn dozens of times and apologize to the world.
“Do not think you can ever repent.”