Chapter 157
A giant altar with stairs facing the four cardinal directions.
The altar, which was as tall as a fair-sized castle, was covered in moss here and there, giving it the appearance of an ancient relic.
It was unknown who exactly had built such a thing or for what purpose.
Their objective simply lay at the end of this altar, so they moved toward it.
“The woman should be up here.”
Franz said so as he looked around at the women who had come with him.
Yuna was already gripping the holy sword in her hand, and Hera was holding the bow gifted to her by the World Tree.
Arian was also holding a short staff embedded with a jewel.
Since she didn’t usually use a staff, it was her own way of strengthening her resolve.
Finally, Franz’s gaze turned to Yustia.
“Th-That is…!”
Yustia, who had turned her head to look around, widened her eyes in panic.
It was because everyone else was holding something that could be called a weapon, while she alone had nothing.
Then, she soon nodded and raised both of her fists.
Whoosh-! Whoosh-!
“I’m ready too…!”
Come to think of it, she had mentioned she was learning martial arts.
He didn’t know exactly how good Yustia’s skills were yet, but there wouldn’t be any particular need for her help.
Because it was unlikely that this fighting force would be unable to handle a single member of the Seven Great Evils.
Still, the fact that her movements had become more agile than before was helpful enough.
The effort spent worrying about protecting her would have decreased a little.
“Then let’s go.”
Franz said so and snapped his fingers.
A magic circle was drawn beneath the feet of Franz, Yustia, and Arian, and soon the bodies of the three floated into the air.
“E-Eh? Magic Tower Master?”
“Franz, are we going like this?”
Arian and Yustia expressed their doubts at the same time.
“I’m not planning to use spatial movement magic. Or do you want to walk all the way to the top?”
Using spatial movement magic inevitably generates a flow of magic power.
If the one at the top was skilled enough to read that momentary flow and react, spatial movement could actually become a poison.
“…”
“…”
Looking up at the towering peak of the altar, Yustia and Arian slowly shook their heads.
Since it was about the size of a fair-sized castle, just climbing up would be a burden for them, given their lack of stamina.
It was Franz’s consideration not to explicitly mention that part.
“Yuna, Hera. You two can manage on your own, right?”
“I could probably reach the top with a single jump.”
“I’m not at Yuna’s level, but stairs like these are nothing.”
He wasn’t particularly discriminating against them.
It was simply because magic that restricted movement would only be a hindrance to them, who fought directly with their bodies.
Anyway, with this, the preparations were all finished.
“Then let’s go.”
Yuna and Hera began to advance up the stairs at a rapid pace, and Franz, Yustia, and Arian followed behind.
Yustia and Arian, who had come wearing short skirts, were holding their hemlines with their hands, but Franz was completely unaware of this.
Not long after that, Franz and the group arrived at the top of the altar.
It was a place that created the illusion of being right in the middle of the blue sky.
And in the center of that altar, a golden shield taller than an average person was planted.
'Is that the sealed holy relic?'
Seemingly as old as the altar, the aura felt from the moss-covered shield was the same as that of the previous items.
Though he had no idea who on earth would have used such a massive shield.
However, that wasn’t what was important right now.
“Those blessed by God have come.”
A woman slowly walked out from behind the shield and spoke.
As if she had suffered burns, half of the woman’s face was melted away, and she wore a sickening smile.
The member of the Seven Great Evils that Franz had seen with his mana detection was none other than her.
“Every single one of you is beautiful. How were you able to receive such blessings?”
“That’s…”
Yuna, who was about to say something, closed her mouth.
Seeing her wretched state, she judged that any words would be meaningless.
“There was a time when I was beautiful like you too. That is, until some crazy woman who was jealous of my looks set fire to my house. After that incident, my life was ruined. Everyone refused to look at me, ignored me, and tormented me.”
“That’s a pity.”
Franz did not deny her thoughts.
Because appearance plays an important role not just for humans, but for all living creatures.
Even though the essence lies within a person’s inner self, there must be many cases where they cannot show that inner self simply because of a poor appearance.
Moreover, since she had lost what she had overnight, her sense of loss must have been immense.
“But I have no intention of playing along with your emotional plea.”
If all criminal acts were permitted simply because one was hurt and in pain, the world would need neither law nor order.
It was also an insult to those who overcame their pain and lived on steadfastly.
Didn’t Yuna, Yustia, and Hera, who were present here, all have their own pains at one time?
If it was her fault, it was simply that she hadn’t met someone to set her straight before she fell into corruption.
“In the end, you’re all the same…!”
The woman spat out words filled with hatred and slit her own wrist with a short dagger.
Drip, drop-.
The red blood falling from her wrist didn’t seep into the floor but pooled together, growing in size to form a puddle.
It seemed to be a type of sorcery that used blood as a medium.
The swollen puddle suddenly surged upward, soon forming a massive wave that began to crash down on them.
Franz immediately snapped his fingers and deployed a shield.
A transparent sphere made of magic power enveloped Franz and the group, and the wave of fresh blood split as if it had met a rock, flowing down below the altar.
However, that wasn’t the end of it.
The red liquid pooled on the floor clumped together in various places and began to take on human forms.
“Th-This is weird?!”
Yuna swung her sword and slashed them down, but they returned to their original forms as if nothing had happened.
It was like trying to cut water with a sword.
Even so, the fact that they hardened when attacking was truly malicious.
Clang-!
One of them, having turned its hand into a sharp awl, lunged at Yuna.
'Is taking out the caster herself the fastest way.'
It was when Franz came to that conclusion.
Hera must have reached the same conclusion, as she was already drawing her bowstring.
Soon, an arrow imbued with the power of spirits shot toward the sorceress, emitting a brilliant light.
Splat-!
The advancing arrow smashed not only the sorceress’s head but the entirety of her upper body.
It was powerful enough that an onlooker would mistakenly think she had been hit by a cannon rather than an arrow.
But why on earth was it? The lower half, having lost its upper body, stood there as if nothing was wrong.
Soon, one of the blood masses that had formed a human shape merged with the sorceress herself, and the missing portion was restored exactly as it was.
Since it was his first time seeing sorcery that used blood as a medium, he couldn’t erase the thought that it was both bizarre and fascinating.
'Well, that just gave me an idea for a countermeasure.'
Franz spoke to Arian, who was dealing with the blood masses next to him.
“Arian, freeze everything with ice magic. I’ll take care of blocking it. Let’s finish this in one shot.”
“Ah, yes…!”
As Arian drew up her magic power, the blue jewel attached to the end of her staff began to glow softly.
The magic circles drawn at the tip of her staff stacked in layers, increasing their power.
The magic that was soon completed was the 7th-circle ice-attribute magic, Ice Age.
Like an avalanche, pure white cold air spewed forth from her body.
Centered around her, everything was dyed pure white and began to freeze.
Because it was a magic that dealt damage to everyone indiscriminately, friend or foe, it wasn’t something to be used in such a chaotic situation.
However, since Franz had said he would block it himself, she trusted that single statement.
And sure enough, Franz rewarded her trust.
Thanks to him casting a shield as she deployed the magic, there was no damage at all.
Whoosh-.
The wind blew, and the pure white cold air that had thickly covered the area disappeared.
What remained in its place was a completely frozen world.
Not only the blood masses on the altar, but also the blood masses coming up from below the altar, and even a part of the forest surrounding the altar were frozen.
Although she didn’t receive much attention because she was overshadowed by Franz, Arian was also practically a genius who would define an era.
Anyway, if the movements of the blood masses were stopped, there would be no means to use regeneration on her body.
“Yuna.”
“Yeah, I’m on it.”
As Yuna swung the holy sword, a slanted line was drawn across the frozen sorceress’s neck.
Sliding off, the head separated from the body and fell to the floor.
It was then that an anomaly occurred.
Rumble-!
The altar shook violently as if an earthquake had struck.
To be exact, the island itself was shaking, and waves were rising at the shore.
“Wh-What’s going on?”
“Franz, something is wrong.”
Franz immediately used mana detection to check the surrounding situation.
And he realized.
That this island they were stepping on was not land, but the body of a monster.
It seemed they had awakened a sleeping sea dragon.