Chapter 126

Ch.126 Apostle of the Goddess of War

“Guhh…! Senior Garfenn! Please, kill me quickly! My mind is going mad…!”

Lagan bit down hard on the inside of his mouth, trying to cling to his sanity. Blood streamed profusely from the corners of his lips.

He was exerting every ounce of his strength just to hold on. Yet even that wouldn’t last much longer.

“…”

Lagan’s resistance ceased. With hollow, vacant eyes, he pointed his sword toward Garfenn.

“What have you done?” Garfenn asked the Apostle of Darkness. The writhing shadows of darkness swelled even larger, dancing violently—clearly rejoicing.

“It has unfolded as we intended.”

Garfenn stared into the empty air. The absence of the Goddess’s divine presence, which he’d felt since earlier, grated on him.

It felt distinctly as if an oppressive, suffocating veil had been drawn tightly across the entire sky.

“You’ve severed the Goddess’s power.”

“It was always destined to be this way.”

No matter how mighty a Commander of the Order of the Holy Sword he might be, without the Goddess’s grace, he was merely a slightly stronger human.

Within the corrupted bowels of this place, maintaining one’s sanity without divine power or the Goddess’s blessing was impossible.

Except for the disciples of the War Cult, no one could avoid corruption within this corrupted barrier.

It was corruption beyond resistance.

In the heart of the Round Table, humans plummeted into perdition.

Only two remained whole.

‘Sion.’

Garfenn blinked once. In that fleeting instant, he steeled his resolve.

‘I entrust the rest to you.’

Garfenn gripped his greatsword.

“I, Garfenn, Apostle of the Goddess of War,” he declared, “shall complete my vengeance here today and annihilate the forces of evil.”

Darkness mocked Garfenn, waiting patiently until he finished speaking—confident it had already secured victory, displaying an air of leisurely arrogance.

“Graaah! Kyyyaaaah! Kill meee!”

Lagan screamed out, intermittently struggling to regain his senses. Even that effort wouldn’t last much longer.

Now he faced his most troublesome adversary. Garfenn agonized over how to allocate his strength in this battle.

‘I must knock Lagan unconscious without killing him. And pour all my remaining strength…’

…into the darkness.

It was mutual annihilation.

‘I’m sorry, Anna. And…’

My precious child, like a gem.

Keeeeeeng!

A tidal wave of divine power surged into Garfenn’s greatsword. He steadied his breath.

Likely, his long path through hell would end right here.

‘A fitting battlefield indeed.’

He assumed his stance and reflected upon his life.

Born as the son of a poor farmer.

Grew up in poverty.

Married his childhood sweetheart from the same village, building a modest yet emotionally rich home.

He embraced those around him with love, and eventually an angel came to him. Watching his child grow each year, he forgot what hardship even meant in this cruel world.

One day, the sky was swallowed by darkness. Returning from the fields, he found no living soul left in his village.

Clutching his child, whose heart had been pierced, he let out a wail of utter despair.

Far off, he saw the retreating silhouette of darkness.

He chased after it.

But he could never catch up.

He kept stumbling as he ran.

As if mocking his pitiful state, the entity of darkness moved slowly—yet at a speed impossible for Garfenn to match.

…Only rage remained. Pure, unadulterated hatred.

He ran for seven days but never caught it. He walked another seven days back to the village to collect the bodies of his people.

The moment he saw his wife’s severed neck remained an unforgettable nightmare, even now as death approached.

He buried the bodies and built many graves. The red earth still clung beneath his fingernails.

He wept for another seven days, and just as exhaustion finally drove him to end his life, he encountered hope.

“O one stained with hatred, do you desire vengeance?”

“Yes.”

“Then become my apostle.”

“I shall grant you power.”

“Sharpen your blade of vengeance.”

“Serve me, and I shall gather your soul along with those of your wife and children, granting you eternal life in my garden.”

Thus began his path through hell.

It was a road lined entirely with thorns, a punishment of fire, swimming through endless darkness with no horizon in sight.

When he finally grasped the light, he arrived here.

‘Damn it all.’

His hollowed-out emotions surged uncontrollably. Tears welled in his eyes and rolled down his cheeks.

He wept—but did not falter.

For these were not tears of regret or sorrow, but tears of joy.

‘Now I shall go meet you, Riley, Anne.’

He felt sorry for his remaining family, but he would go ahead and wait for them.

Garfenn opened his eyes.

“That’s impossible.”

Darkness flinched in surprise, muttering under its breath.

The world had turned upside down. There stood a madman manifesting his inner domain even within the corrupted bowels—a sight so unbelievable that even witnessing it felt unreal.

Even if the Goddess of War walked the earth, her power surely couldn’t be this immense!

To the followers of the Evil God, this human was the most fearsome, the most vile, the strongest…

Even the mightiest Apostle of Darkness trembled at the sheer, terrifying power emanating from him.

It even felt as if the Goddess of War herself had manifested within his body.

Right now, Garfenn was the very incarnation of war.

The ordinary man once mocked and toyed with by the Apostle of Darkness had, after a long and winding journey, finally arrived here.

“Let’s go.”

Garfenn vanished as he spoke.

WHOOSH—!

A slash so powerful it could split mountains tore through the shadows enveloping Darkness. The movement was so swift that even the Apostle of Darkness couldn’t react in time. For an instant, the Apostle’s physical form was exposed.

‘…!’

Had he not been wrapped in shadows, his upper body would have been severed instantly, killing him on the spot.

Instead, his arm flew through the air. Yet he remained calm. The Apostle of Darkness consumed shadows to regenerate his lost limb.

WHOOSH!

CLANG!

Corrupted Lagan charged at Garfenn, unleashing furious sword strikes to block him.

The blade of the noblest Commander of the Order of the Holy Sword was never easy to contend with. Lagan, having abandoned all human reason, was now a monstrous force of sheer brute strength.

‘I’m sorry.’

Garfenn and Lagan’s swords clashed rapidly—exchanging blows at a realm so distant it was invisible to the eye, their metallic clashes erupting in dissonant bursts.

CLANG!

CRUNCH!

THUD!

Lagan’s body flew far away, crashing into a building. Every muscle in his body ruptured, bones shattered, and his left arm was severed.

He had to subdue Lagan without killing him—it couldn’t be helped. Had he held back even slightly, he would have been overwhelmed.

Fortunately, that last strike had knocked Lagan unconscious. That was a bargain indeed.

Garfenn turned his gaze once more toward the Apostle of Darkness.

“Stop hiding cowardly in your shadows and show yourself! Reveal your face! Let me see the visage of the one who murdered my family!”

The incarnation of war roared in fury. The Apostle of Darkness let out a mocking “Heh!” and summoned forth his power.

CRACK.

Shadows pierced through his flesh and entered his body. The Apostle was blessed with the Evil God’s most dreadful power.

BOOM! CRASH!

They collided.

At the moment of impact, Garfenn felt something in his arm break. This was a body directly empowered by the Evil God—no human could withstand such strength.

His body began breaking apart piece by piece. Garfenn gritted his teeth and unleashed every ounce of skill he possessed.

THUD!

The hand of darkness pierced Garfenn’s heart. Garfenn coughed up blood violently and nearly collapsed to his knees, his consciousness fading.

“RAAAAAGH!”

But instead, Garfenn roared even louder. He tore through the shadows, broke through the Evil God’s power, and finally seized the Apostle of Darkness by the throat. Blisters formed instantly on his gripping hand, oozing pus.

Yet he did not loosen his grip—not even for a moment. He poured every last bit of strength he had left.

CRUNCH!

He crushed it. He ripped out the throat itself.

“Kraaah! Kyyyaaah!”

Darkness screamed in agony. Even as it tried to consume shadows to regenerate, Achille’s divine power blocked it.

The Apostle of Darkness shoved Garfenn away. In the process, the arm that had gripped his throat was torn off. Garfenn didn’t care.

This fight—

If he lost an arm, he’d fight with his legs. If he lost his legs, he’d fight with his teeth until the end.

Garfenn charged again.

His inner domain began to move.

Weapons that had been pinned to the ground by the Apostle’s power started rising into the air—an unmistakable sign that Darkness was weakening.

Garfenn seized this fleeting advantage. Clinging to his fading consciousness with iron will, he pressed his assault.

The endless sky of the wasteland was covered in hues of iron.

All the spoils he had taken from those he’d slain and defeated merged into a rain of iron.

WHOOSH—! KAKAKAKAKA!

Darkness stretched out its shadows to block. At first, several blades bounced off—it seemed impenetrable.

But the path through hell that this man had walked was unimaginable to an Apostle of Darkness like him.

The road he had traveled was a horizon darker than darkness itself.

Block after block after block—

The iron downpour never ceased.

“What in the—!”

…Finally.

The shadows enveloping the Apostle of Darkness were completely stripped away.

KEEEENG!

A long, black trajectory was drawn across the horizon.

Moments later, a Milky Way shimmered along that black trail.

THUD.

The Apostle of Darkness’s upper body fell to the ground.

A woman’s beloved husband.

A little girl’s father.

A man who walked the path through hell.

…The Apostle of the Goddess of War.

Had fulfilled his duty.

* * *

—!

His sixth sense flared sharply. Sion lifted his head, which had been bowed before the Goddess.

“Just now…?”

The Goddess, too, stared in the direction Sion was looking. Her expression… grew coldly grim.

[Sion, there is no time. Move.]

“W-what was that just now?”

Sion dared to ask, despite the impropriety. The Goddess pursed her lips, conflicted.

[Garfenn has slain the Apostle of Darkness.]

“Is—is he still alive?”

[…]

“…”

Sion lowered his head. His nose stung. The tears flowing down were scalding hot.

He rubbed his face with his arm.

Then, with renewed strength, he declared,

“I shall cut down the Heavenly Gate.”

[Go forth, my warrior.]

Sion began to run. A golden streak of light cut across the Holy Kingdom.

Accompanied by the Goddess, he leaped across vast distances in an instant, clearing spaces teeming with enemies.

It didn’t take long to reach the Grand Cathedral.

He lifted his head.

BOOM! BOOM!

From the cathedral’s peak, golden sword energy erupted endlessly.

“Apostle of Light…!”

Undoubtedly, they were desperately fighting with all their might to prevent the Evil God’s forces from passing through the Heavenly Gate.

Those gathered there weren’t ordinary monsters.

They were undoubtedly powerful fiends, demons, and apostles directly dispatched by the Evil God.

‘Even the Apostle of Light, Naru must be reaching her limits.’

Reinforcements were few. The Evil God’s forces were overwhelming, and everyone was stretched too thin to spare any strength.

In fact, survivors seemed extremely rare.

Surviving in places beyond the Goddess’s reach was nearly impossible.

Now, only Sion could stop this.

As Achille, the Goddess, willed—he must cut down the Heavenly Gate.

[The halo shining in the sky of the Holy Kingdom is fake. The true one lies in Naru’s garden.]

Sion sprinted forward. As he wrapped himself in sword energy, golden radiance transformed into black lightning, piercing through the ranks of monsters.

BOOM—!

The Evil God’s minions were bewildered by the sudden explosion. Such divine power still existed within the corrupted bowels?

“W-who’s there?”

A demon asked, peering through the dust at the emerging figure.

WHOOSH.

Cutting through the dust, Sion answered,

“Apostle of the Goddess of War.”

Sion lowered his sword.

WHOOSH!

The sword energy imbued in the blade sliced across the ground. The demon that had opened its mouth never even registered what happened before its head fell off.

Monsters and demons began panicking.

“The Apostle of the Goddess of War?”

“He can still wield the Goddess’s power?”

“Didn’t she kill Garfenn herself?”

“Who the hell is that guy?”

All worthless, nauseating questions. Sion opened his eyes—trash not worth answering.

Sion vanished.

CRUNCH!

In the next instant, everything empowered by the Evil God lay fallen at Sion’s feet.

None here could stand against Sion, who received the Goddess of War’s power directly.

Sion began moving again.

Upward.

Toward the Heavenly Gate.

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