Chapter 310 - The Great Expedition (12)
Having become a Complete Sword Master, Herarion had also honed La’s divine power, and that was exactly what Henry had expected out of him.
Although Herarion’s divine power wasn’t as great as his father’s, the amount he possessed was still remarkable, given that he had amplified it tremendously within the short period of a month.
Of course, Henry hadn’t measured his divine power, but given that Herarion had managed to control the sun created by him and Valhald to instantly decimate Cann, Henry assumed that his divine power was equivalent to at least five rings.
And now, Herarion had managed to stop Gluttony with his divine power at a crucial moment.
“Hurry!”
At his shouting, everyone came to their senses and jumped into action, including Valhald, Allen, Walker, and the Sages who were preparing for their next magic attack.
After their combined attacks hit Gluttony, who was trapped in the sand, the apostle let out a bone-chilling cry.
“KIAAA!”
His cries were no longer human. Rather, they sounded more like the anguished cries of a wounded animal. This was a stark reminder that despite being an apostle and inheriting Arthus’ divine power, Gluttony was not invincible.
“You... damn... bastards!!”
The swirling sands continued to rise, not like a destructive whirlpool or wave, but like a colossal sand castle, just as Herarion had intended.
This wasn’t some construction spell. In order to erect a sand castle somewhere outside the desert, Herarion had to infuse the sand with his divine power and have it consume everything in its path to use as materials for the castle itself.
The attacks persisted.
Since only Herarion’s sand was infused with divine power, the most effective power against the apostles, the others had to attack with all their might in order to make a dent. Slowly but surely, they managed to inflict some damage on Gluttony with their unrelenting attacks.
Gluttony finally let out a piercing scream as though he couldn’t handle the pain anymore and suddenly opened his maw wide.
“...!”
“Wh-what?”
Herarion’s sand imbued with divine power had become hotter than boiling oil, and yet Gluttony started swallowing it.
Seeing this, Allen couldn’t help but mutter under his breath, “That crazy bastard...!” He knew how difficult it was to handle something that hot. It was incredibly dangerous just to be near that sand, so he couldn’t even imagine the pain Gluttony was feeling.
However, the apostle was devouring the sand voraciously, withstanding the mind-numbing pain for the sake of survival. He was afraid of dying under a mass of sand, but most of all, he was afraid of disappointing Arthus.
Gluttony kept swallowing the sand, hoping that he could eat enough of it to allow him to escape. He was determined to scorch his insides if it meant surviving.
Shocked by his resolve, everyone else halted their attacks. But suddenly, a voice shouted at them from behind, “Everyone, move!”
Before they even registered the shout, an enormous gust of wind swept past Herarion and the Sages.
Bang!
The tremendous wind struck the mass of sand with a thunderous bang. It was McDowell who had launched it from behind.
“Die, you damn monster!”
As expected of Sonic McDowell, he had swiftly paid Gluttony back for that airborne attack, which had left him out of breath, by stabbing him in the maw with his sword.
“KIAAA!!!”
Gluttony let out another agonizing cry. He had been using an incredible amount of divine power in order to withstand the scorching pain inflicted by the sand he was devouring. However, having been stabbed in the mouth by McDowell, who possessed four divine rings, he simply couldn’t get any divine power to his mouth to assuage the pain.
Gluttony was in a dire situation, his beastly cry, filled with rage and frustration, echoing throughout the area. His rage stemmed not from the pain itself, but from the fact that things weren’t going his way at all.
McDowell firmly held his sword in a reverse grip and held Gluttony’s maw open with his feet. He then concentrated all of his Aura at the tip of his sword and viciously detonated it inside Gluttony.
Bang!
With an eerie sound, McDowell’s Aura exploded all at once, releasing a tremendous amount of energy inside Gluttony, causing him to swell like an angry pufferfish. It was actually impressive that his body hadn’t exploded altogether. It was just the sand surrounding him that had been blasted away.
“This is the end of you...!”
McDowell could feel Gluttony losing his strength through his foot he had on his maw, but he didn’t let his guard down. He maintained his focus and gripped his sword properly. He then quickly glanced at Gluttony’s lifeless eyes with a scornful expression and went straight for his neck.
Shing!
He severed Gluttony’s head with ease, not a single drop of blood gushing out. That was because the scorching sand and the Aura explosion had completely evaporated all the blood inside him.
McDowell triumphantly lifted Gluttony's severed head, marking this victory as redemption for the humiliating scar the apostle had left on his back.
This was also the first victory the expedition team had achieved without Henry.
***
Following Palo’s words, Irenae, Logger, and Ananda found themselves in an unfamiliar plain, on a different part of the continent.
Ananda was the one to break the silence.
“I guess... We’re the only ones who have been moved.”
Nobody else was with them, not even the Twelve Apostles that always followed Irenae, which meant that only the three of them had been moved as a group.
Even though the Twelve Apostles weren’t with her, Irenae felt relieved that Ananda and Logger were by her side.
After scanning their surroundings, Logger noted, “The ground is frozen. Judging by that and the cold climate, it’s safe to say we’re somewhere in the northern parts of the continent.”
“The north... He’s sent us so far away.”
Even though they had been transported very far away from Lizark Hill, their final destination, the three of them weren’t discouraged. They each had a Log Stone, an artifact that shared their current location with their pairs.
Logger took out his Log Stone and said, “No wonder they call him the Grand Archmage. Without him, we would’ve been lost here.”
“Fortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the Log Stone. The Sages should come to get us in a little while, so I think it’s best to stay alert and be cautious until then,” Irenae proposed firmly.
Following the large-scale war and the Pope’s treason and death, Irenae had gained the confidence to step up and lead others.
Evidently, this was a good development. Logger and Ananda thought it was great that Irenae had developed some leadership skills. With the greedy turncoat dead, Irenae had to step up and become the new leader of the Church of Peace.
At that moment, they were suddenly interrupted by another voice.
“Hihi, stay alert and cautious...? Well, aren’t you awfully optimistic?”
All three jerked their heads toward the unfamiliar voice. Well, it wasn’t exactly unfamiliar as they had heard it not a long time ago.
The one who had called out to them was Palo, dressed in rather neat clothes. He was staring at them intently.
Logger quickly looked around Palo and demanded, “Are you by yourself?”
“Of course.”
“How come?”
“That’s a rather strange question to ask, wouldn’t you say? I’m all by myself because I wanted this.”
“Because you wanted this?”
“Yes. That’s also why I chose the three of you specifically to be sent all the way in the north... Because I wanted this.”
“What in the...”
With that, Logger was done listening to Palo’s nonsense, so he activated his divine power, which radiated around him. Ananda followed suit and positioned himself so that he could shield Saint Irenae at all times.
Seeing how swiftly they took formation, Palo burst into laughter. “Phahaha! I have to say, you folks are terribly predictable!”
“Huh?”
“Aren’t you curious why I specifically chose you out of all the other members of your expedition?”
With that, Palo rose in the air. He kept ascending, but strangely enough, his voice didn’t get quieter, and it wasn’t like he was trying to speak louder either.
“The Church of Peace... I didn’t know how prestigious it was. In fact, it’s so prestigious that everyone on this continent believes in Saint Irenae. But now, things have changed.”
Thud!
Palo stomped the air with tremendous force, the sound of the impact echoing in the skies.
“But now, half of the continent believes in almighty Sir Arthus.”
Rumble, rumble...
Once Palo was done talking, the ground began to shake. At this, Logger and Ananda looked around, alarmed, and furrowed their brows.
“That’s...?”
They spotted black ripples in the horizon, looking like a wave of ink. Logger had seen something like this before, and once the black wave fully came into view, he had chills running down his spine.
“That can’t be...!”
“No, you’re seeing it right.”
Seeing Logger’s distressed expression, Palo covered his mouth with one hand, trying to suppress his laughter.
The figures in the distance were none other than Arthus’ blind believers, the people who had been converted by the apostles all across the continent.
Noticing what was coming their way, Ananda shouted, “Sa-Saint, you must go hide!”
However, he instantly realized that it was useless. As he turned around to lead the Saint to safety, he spotted a massive horde of blind believers coming from behind her as well.
“Goddess Irene, help us...” Ananda muttered in despair.
Palo had been holding back his laughter, but now he finally burst.
“Haha! If you’d kept Pope Ross, none of this would’ve happened!”
“You bastard!”
Logger snapped at Palo’s mockery and summoned his Paladin Armor, a pure white divine energy enveloping him completely.
Seeing how the sacred armor materialized on Logger, Palo said wryly, “Oh, so that’s the famous Paladin Armor! But no matter how skilled you are as a Holy Knight, there are only three of you. Surely you don’t think you can handle an entire army of Sir Arthus’ followers, do you?”
As he turned away, Palo wore a wicked grin and made one last horrifying comment.
“Oh, and just so you know, these minions had once been the followers of the Church of Peace.”
“Wh... What?!”
- KIAAA!!!
With that, Palo soared high in the sky until he disappeared from sight. He had turned into a dot, but Arthus’ followers were getting closer and closer, their silhouettes visible as they charged at the Saint and the two Holy Knights.
The blind believers had vacant eyes and they were drooling as though they were driven solely by their primal instincts. They looked like famished demonic beasts from that accursed forest.
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