Chapter 62

Ch.62 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“What…?”

Rakian repeated, his face dazed.

Kindly, the woman with white eyes calmly explained.

“This place is a barrier I crafted from my mental realm. The warmth of your Goddess cannot reach here. I researched it specifically, and trained to gain the power necessary to manifest this magic.”

“What nonsense―!”

One of the believers screamed in terror, but the Death Priestess didn’t even spare him a glance.

To her, the annoying Flame Cult members had now fallen to the status of mere insects, squashed beneath a finger.

The heretic’s lips curled into a crescent moon.

“Shall we enjoy the hunt?”

With a gesture of her hand, skeletons began bursting from the ground.

Inside this barrier, perfectly optimized for controlling the undead.

‘Probably, no matter how many I cut down, there will be no end. Unlike outside, where there was a clear limit.’

The situation had reached its worst possible state.

The Flame Cult had been rendered powerless, and the enemy wielded near-infinite strength on a battlefield most favorable to her.

Sion slashed through charging skeletons with his sword, lost in thought.

‘The sacred flame has gone out. Is it really because the Goddess of Fire’s power has been completely blocked?’

Rakian’s Sacred Flame originated from the Goddess of Fire, Agnia. It was only natural that, with the connection severed, his power had vanished.

‘Then, what about my divine power?’

His strength came from the Goddess of War Achille.

But if this space created by the Death Priestess blocked the power of all Goddesses, his divine power should not be unscathed either.

Sion looked down at his sword.

Faint but clearly, a divine power like starlight in the night sky swirled around the blade like a spirit.

‘…The power of Goddess Achille hasn’t disappeared.’

Why?

The answer was easy to guess.

The clue was in the words spoken by the Death Priestess.

‘A barrier researched specifically to kill Flame Cult believers.’

Agnia’s sacred flame and the mental realm.

The Flame Cult and the Death Cult had been long-standing enemies. Their centuries of research and preparation to counter each other had led to this outcome.

“Ghk! Damn it! Turn around and block their backs!”

The Flame Cult members were surrounded. They were in a dire, life-or-death crisis.

Without burning away the death sorcery that bound them with the sacred flame, any resistance was futile.

Eventually, their strength to hold a sword would vanish, and they would drown in a sea of bones—this would be their fate.

Sion continued to swing his blade endlessly, but he knew his own future wasn’t different.

‘Something has to be done.’

Now that the Goddess of Fire couldn’t interfere, the only hope left was none other than Sion himself.

He wasn’t a Flame Cult believer, nor had he been the subject of the Death Priestess’s long research.

There was one path.

‘I have to ignite the Sacred Flame of Goddess Achille.’

Sion prayed as he swept away the surging undead.

He desperately needed the Goddess’s power. Even if it had no tangible effect, he sought strength and courage through prayer.

[My child. I am always watching over you.]

Goddess Achille had no intention of merely watching.

The moment Sion exerted his power, she would freely bestow her divine protection upon him.

Sion and the Goddess of War alike waited for the turning point, like predators preparing for a hunt.

Kakang! Kwajik!

Rakian swung his spear, shattering the rushing skeletons. The others fought with their weapons, but it was not enough.

Then, a massive wave of energy exploded, and fireballs burst in all directions.

Kwa-kang! Kwa-kwa-kang!

“Ni-roen! Can you ignite the Sacred Flame?”

“I have some stored in the scripture!”

Whoosh!

She stretched out her arm, unleashing a pillar of fire. The undead turned to dust and evaporated.

They had bought time. But only temporarily.

“So we can’t gain new power, but we can use stored Sacred Flame. Damn it.”

“But it’ll be over soon!”

She was right. The firepower quickly diminished. Soon, the flames completely died out.

Ghhhh…

The undead cautiously tested the waters, then began charging again.

Without Agnia’s blessing, a Flame Cult believer holding a scripture was no different from an ordinary person.

―Gaaaaa!

For every one destroyed, two appeared. For every two, four. An endless horde of the dead.

They now felt the terror of those who had transcended death on their very skin.

“Damn it! Damn it!”

The female believer wielding the chain scythe swung her weapon in fury.

“There’s no end to this! We retreat!”

“Where to?!”

“Just run blindly for now!”

Rakian screamed like a shriek. His voice was laced with anxiety.

They understood too. This was a meaningless war of attrition. Inside this realm of death, the side to tire first was clearly them.

That was when it happened.

Their anxious gazes suddenly turned to a single point.

Sion. The young knight of the War Cult.

Hwah!

He was still enveloped in divine power, cutting down the dead more efficiently than they ever could.

“Sir Sion’s divine power is still intact!”

Rakian shouted loudly.

Hwa-ah!

“Yes!”

Sion replied as he split dozens of skeletons apart.

“So it truly only blocks the sacred power of fire! What a vile magic!”

“Yes! Come to me for now!”

Sion urged them to join him.

It was better to group together, even slightly.

Cutting through waves of bone, the Flame Cult believers and Sion met.

They stood back-to-back, fending off the skeletons.

Sion shouted in that moment.

“Buy me time!”

“Do you have a plan!?”

“Yes! I must destroy this barrier!”

“That’s obvious, but by what means!?”

Rakian added urgently.

“This is the death barrier. In the end, we need the Sacred Flame—the fire that burns death itself!”

On the Flame Cult members’ faces, doubt outweighed hope.

‘His divine power is still alive… but that’s all.’

Simply wielding divine power couldn’t completely stop the undead’s movements.

‘In the end, he’ll just tire and collapse. Unless he burns the entire barrier with Sacred Flame.’

Rakian acknowledged Sion’s courage and brilliance, but believed the only way to overcome this situation was the Sacred Flame.

The anchor of the soul could only be burned by sacred flame.

Then, Sion calmly spoke.

“Yes! Buy me time to ignite the Sacred Flame!”

“What do you mean?”

Rakian violently swung his spear shaft, driving back a group of skeletons, while urgently explaining to Sion.

“Only those who have long trained in faith of the Goddess of Fire can wield the Sacred Flame. A War Cult believer cannot possibly wield the purifying fire!”

It was only a matter of time. Rakian already sensed the bitter taste of defeat.

“But you gave it to me earlier.”

“What…? Ah!”

Only then did Rakian remember he had gifted Sion a portion of his sacred flame.

The joy was short-lived.

It was barely enough to light a path.

“But with such a small flame, you can’t possibly defeat the Death Priestess or tear apart the barrier!”

Regardless, Sion didn’t want to waste another second.

“I have a way. Buy me time. It won’t take long.”

He stopped fighting the incoming skeletons and stood still, closing his eyes—as if he had given up completely.

“What is he doing, Sir Sion! Has he lost his mind!”

Rakian cried out in desperation. If he stopped now, he’d be swept away by the wave of bones.

The Death Priestess also saw this and clicked her tongue.

“Hmph, so he finally gives up and starts begging his Goddess for salvation? How boring.”

A twitch appeared beneath the Death Priestess’s eye. That was the signal. Even more skeletons charged toward the War Cult believers.

Rakian screamed like a last cry.

“Damn it! Block them! Protect him! Protect Sir Sion!”

It was already too late. Since defeat was inevitable anyway, they had no choice but to believe.

A desperate battle began.

While the Flame Cult believers fought to the death around him, Sion, their last hope, turned inward.

Separated from the chaotic battlefield as if a barrier surrounded him, he listened to the voice within his heart.

In the darkness, the beating of his heart echoed like a war drum.

Matching that rhythm, an incomplete loop appeared. The scattered paths of holiness, drawn by his will, slowly interlocked and began to turn.

‘Endless circulation. Not a single drop of divine power wasted.’

Thanks to his concentration pushed to the extreme, Sion felt one second stretch like a year.

The holy loop, which should have taken ages to build—this circle slowly, precisely took root throughout Sion’s body.

The stream of holiness began to flow without resistance.

Unimpeded, like a falcon tearing through clouds, like a swordfish piercing water.

The accelerated power instantly strengthened Sion’s body. Speed, strength, resistance—nothing was lacking.

[Sion! At last…]

The voice of Achille, watching from her throne, was filled with joy.

At that moment, the loop was complete. A ring of light crossed his inner being, driving away the darkness.

Whiiiooo…!

Sion opened his eyes.

Wuuuuuung!

The incomplete holy loop responded to his enlightenment, forming a perfect circle. His soul and body merged with divine power, becoming a vast furnace.

Black holy energy settled onto the sword in his grip.

The quality was entirely different.

It was a mighty force so powerful that even a Demon Lord’s servants would tremble at the mere sight of it.

Though it was only a sacred flame capable of lighting a single palm, when mixed with Sion’s loop, it became something else.

Outside, the situation had already reached its limit.

“Kghaaak!”

Rakian staggered, his shoulder struck by a skeleton’s attack.

“Sir Sion! We’re at our limit!”

Rakian screamed in despair. And at that exact moment—

Hwaaaaaaahhhhh―!

A pressure wave erupted from Sion’s body.

The Flame Cult believers were stunned. His aura was completely different from moments ago. It was as if the man had changed in an instant.

‘Dangerous.’

Even the Death Priestess instinctively felt a threat from this alien energy and unleashed her ultimate power.

Just as a gray tidal wave, truly meant to end everything, surged toward Sion—

Sion slowly coated his blade with Sacred Flame.

Hwaaarrrk!

Flames as black as if devouring all light began to cling to the blade.

Burning like a fire pulled from the abyss, the black flames were eerily calm. At the same time, they distorted the surrounding space as if sucking everything in.

At its core, pure particles sparkled like stars in the night sky, flowing like a galaxy.

Born from the power of the Goddess of War Achille, Sion’s enlightenment, and the completion of the holy loop—

It was the Black Flame, the pure symbol of destruction.

“……!”

Rakian gazed at the black flames, forgetting even to breathe. His faith and common sense refused to comprehend the scene before him.

‘The Sacred Flame’s power is…!’

It was far too immense.

What was visible was only the tip of the iceberg.

The Sacred Flame on the blade was just a fraction. The fire burning within was like molten lava deep inside a massive volcano.

As if to prove Rakian’s prediction, Sion slowly raised his sword.

The pitch-black sacred fire danced along the blade like it was alive, responding to his will.

And then—

Hwaaarrrk!

A pillar of black fire shot skyward, higher than anyone could imagine.

The Black Flame reached the ceiling of the barrier, beginning to burn away the aura of death.

The barrier melted. Through the cracks in the ashen sky of the mental realm, the damp night sky of the swamp became visible.

The Death Priestess felt fear.

She couldn’t understand how this was possible. The Flame Cult believers felt the same.

How could that tiny sacred flame have been ignited to such magnitude?

No one could understand. And Sion didn’t wish to be understood.

The Goddess of War’s knight simply declared:

“Death Priestess. Once I destroy this barrier, how long can you fight?”

Hwaaaahhh!

Sion swung the starry flames.

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