Chapter 77

Ch.77 Apostle of the Goddess of War

It rose up, stepping on soft mud and chunks of flesh, a nightmare crawling straight out of hell itself.

Its height was easily over three meters. It awkwardly imitated the human form, but not a single part of its body was intact.

Decayed, blackened mud formed its skeletal frame, and rotten livestock flesh and entrails were crudely stitched and stuck all over it like patches.

A twisted pig’s skull, a cow’s skull with broken horns, and sharply shattered horse ribs jutted out randomly, wrapping around its body like a horrifying suit of armor.

From its dragging entrails rose a sharp stench of decay, and each time it moved, sticky bodily fluids dripped steadily onto the ground, producing green fumes.

Creeeak—!

The sound of the corrosive liquid eating into the earth echoed creepily.

Sion frowned.

‘Its face?’

Even this horrifying creature had one perfectly preserved part.

Namely, its head.

Its face.

It had the ordinary facial features of a human being, as if only the unspoiled flesh from a corpse had been stitched together.

Just by looking at its face, one might not even realize it was a monster—it was that clean.

But.

“That… that thing…?”

Kegan’s face turned deathly pale upon recognizing the monster’s face. He froze stiff, like someone who had seen something unbearable, his mouth opening and closing wordlessly.

“Senior Kegan?”

“No, no! Fuck!”

Kegan grabbed his head and screamed, tightly shutting his eyes and trembling violently.

It was an action as if he were trying to deny reality.

Sion signaled to Jena.

“Take the commander away. I’ll handle this.”

“Ah, got it!”

Jena leaped over like a cat and pulled Kegan back. Jena and the rest of the Black Banner Unit retreated.

Somehow, Sion had already taken command of the Black Banner Unit. No one objected. It wasn’t even the kind of atmosphere where objections could be made.

The monster born from the swamp and Sion stood facing each other.

“Graaaaaaaaah!”

Suddenly, it roared.

A deafening sound, a mixture of bones grinding and flesh tearing, filled the air.

The sound waves alone seemed to pollute the atmosphere, making it murky.

“What the hell is that thing?”

“Rot—everyone hold your breath as long as possible! Your lungs might rot too!”

“Fuck. This is insane!”

The mercenaries of the Black Banner Unit instinctively took a step back. The monster exuded an overwhelming presence so intense that even veteran mercenaries were gripped by instinctive fear.

They had faced countless monsters before.

But this was on a different level. It wasn’t just some ordinary fiend. It felt like a pressure that overwhelmed even their souls.

“…An apostle.”

Sion murmured quietly.

The swamp monster grotesquely laughed. Its ordinary face perfectly mimicked an expression.

“To remain unshaken after seeing this form… Indeed, you exceed my expectations.”

The swamp monster spoke with its perfectly intact face, but its voice was horribly unnatural—a sound as if several animal vocal cords had been grafted together and pumped full of air.

It was a negative, ominous voice, one that made you want to gouge out your eardrums.

Sion showed no reaction and stood his ground boldly.

“Apostle of Decay. Not cowardly?”

“What’s cowardly about it?”

The swamp monster—the actual apostle of decay—curled its lips into a slimy smile.

It seemed to find the conversation interesting.

“You’re not even appearing in your true form. Showing up like this—does that mean you’re afraid?”

Sion provoked.

He felt no fear toward an apostle of an Evil God.

Because he could feel the pulsation of the Goddess of War from the top of his head, throughout his body, and deep within his chest.

The black courage supported Sion’s will.

“Knight of the Goddess of War. Such a shallow provocation. I simply didn’t want the trouble of dragging my body all the way here.”

“Then? Why appear at all?”

The Apostle of Decay said,

“I came to make you an offer.”

“I refuse.”

Sion cut him off sharply, drawing his cursed blade and assuming a stance as if he would strike immediately.

“Why?”

“You’re an Evil God. I don’t want any dealings with trash like you.”

“Interesting. It’s your naive belief that the Goddess of the Round Table is inherently good that makes me laugh. They’re the most hypocritical of all, don’t you know? Doesn’t the Goddess of War understand that well?”

The Apostle of Decay spoke with supreme confidence. Sion struggled with the urge to rush in immediately.

Yet, the monster wouldn’t easily give him an opening.

Even while talking nonsense, the entire area remained thick with demonic energy, and the oppressive pressure was immense.

‘I can’t move carelessly.’

Sion could repel miasma and poison with sacred energy, but the mercenaries couldn’t.

A single mistake could get someone killed.

Now wasn’t the time for a full-scale fight.

‘You’re not even in your true form.’

Sion said,

“That’s not something your Evil Gods should be saying.”

“Hahahaha!”

The monster laughed, acidic foam spewing from its mouth.

Fssst—

The ground where the foam landed melted away, and the Apostle of Decay opened his mouth again.

“You truly are a knight of the War God.”

“What do you mean?”

“I came to confirm you. Recently, there’s been a certain knight gaining fame among ‘us.’”

Sion’s eyes narrowed.

“There are rumors that another apostle of the ‘Goddess of War’ will be born.”

The Apostle of Decay raised his fist. As filthy sludge dripped from his clenched hand, he tightened his grip.

“I grew afraid. The thought that the Goddess of War might regain her strength again.”

Long ago, the Goddess of War ruled among the Evil Gods as a figure of terror.

She personally hunted down Evil Gods, sealed them, and led the Divine War to a victory for the Round Table.

During that process, the Evil Gods and their followers witnessed it all.

How Achille transformed on the battlefield.

What kind of power she wielded, what kind of destructive force she unleashed.

“She was the embodiment of the concept of overwhelming violence. A power even the Goddesses of Darkness, Death, and Chaos found difficult to oppose.”

Sion’s breath grew still.

Hearing Achille’s reputation from an Apostle of an Evil God—this evaluation was far more overwhelming than anything he had known.

Indeed, an enemy’s assessment was always more accurate and impactful than that of an ally.

“Before the coming great upheaval, it would be troublesome if the Goddess of War regains her strength. Extremely troublesome.”

The Apostle of Decay pointed a finger.

“And we must also prevent her apostle successor from growing stronger and becoming a complete apostle.”

That—

“That is why I stand before you.”

“You came to kill me?”

“Of course.”

It was the Goddess’s role to oppose and defeat Evil Gods, and it was only natural for her followers to carry out this duty.

For an Evil God to target a Goddess’s knight was only natural.

But singling out a specific individual like this was rare.

“Garfenn, that wretched wolf, finally succumbed to old age and weakness after all these years. We began moving, waiting for that moment—but then, a successor appeared.”

A successor, raised by the Goddess of Light despite her previous ban.

“I don’t know what kind of deal was made between the Goddess of Light and the Goddess of War…”

The Apostle of Decay lowered his voice.

He glared at Sion as if genuinely disgusted.

“But dangerous sprouts must be pulled out early.”

Whoosh—!

An immense wave of toxic miasma surged forth.

The power to rot and decay everything.

Against this backdrop, the Apostle of Decay issued his warning.

“Come to my courtyard. I’ll leave the path open. This is your invitation.”

“What’s your trick?”

“Isn’t that exactly what you came to do—kill me?”

“That’s right.”

“Then let’s not waste each other’s time. Let’s finish this quickly.”

He meant he wouldn’t bother with traps or hiding subordinates.

“A duel. That’s what you War Knights love most! What do you say? This is my offer.”

“Agreeing outright would be foolish…”

Sion thought.

But it was a place he’d have to go anyway.

He didn’t know what schemes awaited him there.

“But I’m going there regardless. It’s not even a real offer.”

“There’s a subtle difference.”

“Why?”

“Because there’s a difference between what I said and what I didn’t say.”

Was this a demon race custom? It was slightly hard to understand. The demon race and elves believed that ‘words’ held great power.

Sion tilted his head slightly.

“Well, fine. That’s what I wanted.”

“Excellent. Just as I expected from a War Knight—no unnecessary calculations.”

Whether it was praise or sarcasm, he couldn’t tell. It didn’t matter. Either way, he’d go there and kill him.

“Fine. I accept your offer.”

As Sion nodded, the Apostle of Decay smiled in satisfaction.

It was a human-like expression on a human-like face, yet the emotion behind it felt utterly alien and repulsive.

“Wise. Then I shall wait. Don’t keep me waiting too long. I’m rather short on patience.”

With those words, the corpse and mud forming the apostle’s body began to boil violently.

Gurgle!

The apostle’s chest, a tangled mass of various animal ribs, swelled enormously, then split open with a crack.

From within, thick black miasma swirled violently. A revolting stench spread as the surrounding air rotted and decayed.

Kwaaaaaaah!

A mass of miasma shot from the apostle’s split chest straight toward Sion, as if it would infect and rot everything it brushed against.

The target was clearly Sion, but if he dodged, the mercenaries of the Black Banner Unit standing behind him would rot away into nothingness.

An attack he couldn’t dodge—and shouldn’t dodge.

But Sion had never intended to dodge in the first place.

“What a disgusting invitation.”

Sion’s gaze turned cold and sharp. He adjusted his grip on the cursed blade and rapidly drew sacred energy from the ring.

Keeeeeeeeeeeng—!

The cursed blade shrieked as if screaming.

Over the blade’s body, already radiating a murderous aura, blinding sacred light flared.

The cursed blade’s killing intent and the Goddess’s blessing—two opposing forces formed a strange harmony within Sion.

Paaaaaaah—!

A blade aura exploded from the tip of the sword.

The Goddess of War’s sacred energy, purifying darkness, shot forth as a beam of light.

It was instantaneous.

Sion’s beam pierced through the apostle’s barrage of miasma as easily as paper, swallowing it whole. The miasma vanished without even a scream upon contact with the purifying light.

The light’s momentum didn’t stop there.

It struck the Apostle of Decay’s body head-on.

“Guh, ah…!?”

For the first time, bewilderment flickered across the apostle’s otherwise perfect face. He hadn’t expected his power to be defeated so easily.

“Hahahaha! Haha! This will be fun! Come quickly…!”

Krrrrrrr!

Fzzzt!

The monster’s body, struck directly by the holy light, shattered into pieces.

Rotten flesh and bones turned to ash and scattered, while the mud-formed body melted away, steaming and bubbling.

Like a snowman thrown into a blazing sun, it lost its form and seeped back into the swamp of decay.

The stench and demonic energy that had risen with a thunderous roar vanished as if it had never existed.

Sion lowered his sword and stared at the empty center of the swamp.

‘The Evil Gods have started targeting me…’

The Apostle of Blood must have first spoken of it, and the news spread through the Evil Gods’ communication channels.

‘There’s a new apostle of the Goddess of War.’

‘He must be eliminated before he grows stronger.’

He had finally encountered the real threat for the first time.

Sion had now officially begun facing the vast evil force.

The path Garfenn had endured and fought for so long—Sion was now walking it too.

And this moment marked its beginning.

The battle with the Apostle of Decay.

‘He’s probably trying to lure me into his domain under the guise of a duel.’

He would likely wield greater power in his own territory.

Perhaps the very word ‘duel’ carried some kind of magical contract.

By accepting the offer, Sion had effectively walked into a completed trap.

But it didn’t matter. It was a path he had to take anyway, an enemy he had to confront head-on.

‘Whatever comes, I’ll destroy it until there’s nothing left.’

Sion turned away without hesitation from the now perfectly clean swamp.

His gaze settled on Kegan, who was still being supported by Jena, standing there dazed and lost.

The conversation with the Apostle of Decay or the disappearance of the swamp seemed not to have registered in his eyes. His face remained deathly pale.

Sion approached him and quietly asked,

“Senior, are you alright?”

Kegan stared blankly into space for a long time.

His lips trembled, as if struggling to recall something—or as if fighting against a memory he didn’t want to remember.

After a long silence, he finally managed to utter one trembling sentence.

“…That face.”

His voice was heavy and damp, like a piece of cloth soaked in water.

“Strangely familiar.”

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