CH 351

'T-the altar! The altar dedicated to our Lord Demon King! H-how dare youuuu! I'll kill you, I'll kill you no matter what!!'

Gushara screamed seeing the altar broken to pieces.

Then he turned to look at Allen's party, since they had been responsible for that.

It was so ridiculous that it was hard to believe this was the same person who had created a cult with millions of followers.

"I'll have to transform!!"

His face seemed to become more grotesque with anger and hatred, and then his robes swelled and began to change shape too.

After decades of charismatic speeches and fishing for followers, Gushara Serbilor finally showed his true appearance.

His robes were torn apart, revealing countless sorrowful and tortured faces underneath.

It was like the suffering of his followers had been imprinted on his body.

'I'll make you repay with your lives for destroying the altar! Now taste the anguish of hell as you die! Evil Gardens!!'

'''Wraaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!'''

Gushara announced the death of Allen's party.

He took a different pose compared to those from his earlier magic attacks.

Countless dead spirits emerged from his tattered clothes.

Since this was Allen's first time seeing that spell, he summoned even more Stone A summons, increasing his defenses.

The dead spirits were caught one by one by the Stone A summons and defeated.

(I guess it's not a telegraphed attack, but self-targeting.)

"I see, he did get more powerful by transforming, though it's still not as big of a difference as the altar did."

"It seems so."

Cecile agreed with Allen's guess.

Gushara had been nearly invincible with the power of the black flame.

Back then he would take next to no damage no matter what, and the Skeleton Pope constantly healed him with the endless supply of mana.

His current power was only enough to take down a Stone A summon under Militarization.

(Alright, now we just have to hold out until he runs out of mana.)

The way to defeat a magician was to either seal away their spells, or leave them without mana.

At least that was all Allen knew.

Even after transforming, Gushara's methods to attack had not changed.

All he did was unleash a spell after another.

They just had to hold out for long enough and they would win. Allen turned to look at the Spirit God.

'Hahah, I don't think the Spirit King's Blessing effect will last that long.'

(Yeah, I guessed as much.)

Quite some time had passed since the start of the fight, when the spell was activated.

The 30% bonus to all stats from the Spirit King's Blessing would fade soon.

"Well, I guess we don't have much time then. Let's fight together, I might have an idea."

Allen began explaining to the rest what their roles would be to overturn the situation.

"Okay, got it.

"I see."

"Understood."

"Guess we have no other option."

Allen had been training the party to understand short commands exactly for a day like this.

His ideal was to reach a point when eye contact was enough to relay information, and communicate any strategy in the midst of battle.

Everyone quickly understood what he was trying to accomplish.

"Merus, I want to get as close to Gushara as I can. Try to defend me."

'Hm? Alright.'

Everyone waited as Allen began to run towards Gushara.

'Hohohoh, you finally come out from your little hole. Hmm?!'

Gushara saw Allen rushing forward and launched a spell, and Allen changed the direction he ran to.

Merus flew past Allen and took the hit head on, protecting Allen.

Allen's hand stretched out towards a greatsword.

It was the orichalcum greatsword Basque had left behind when using the Divine Artifact.

Basque had left three items behind when he escaped.

First was the orichalcum greatsword that had been cut in half by Dogora and the Divine Artifact Kagutsuchi.

Then was Luvanka's Sacred Bead, attached to his severed arm.

The last one was his second orichalcum greatsword, which he left behind when he began to use the Divine Artifact Falmberge.

Basque usually fought with two orichalcum greatswords.

One of them had been abandoned not too far from the altar.

Allen wanted to obtain it, so he rushed in while using Merus as a shield.

(This belongs to me too.)

Equipment existed solely for him to steal.

Dogora had been the one to defeat Basque, but there was only one person in the party that could use it.

"Kurena! It's the greatsword!!"

Allen ran back towards Kurena, throwing the greatsword towards her.

"Got it!"

Kurena dashed to the frontline.

It was her, Allen, and Merus, in charge of keeping the frontline.

Kurena was equipped with Luvanka's Sacred Bead and an orichalcum greatsword now, so her Strength and Endurance were high enough that she would be able to resist an attack without dying instantly.

"Shining Banish!!"

"Turn Undead!"

"Gale, a little help!!"

'Yes, Mama.'

Allen had used Command on three Stone A summons, behind which hid two pairs formed by Cecile and Kiel, and the other by Sophie and Formar.

The three summons protecting them kept vanishing and reappearing to defend and attack back.

Gushara and Cecile's magic, Kiel's Purification Skills, and Sophie's spirits all took different times to cast.

Their cooldowns were distinct as well.

Especially Cecile, depending on the level of the magic she used, the cooldown and time to cast varied greatly.

Allen knew how long the enemy and his three allies took to cast magic, so he matched the apparition and vanishing of the Stone A summons with them.

Now it was just a fight against time.

They had to defeat Gushara before the Spirit King's Blessing ran out.

They also had to watch their own health.

'Huff?! Fghaga!!'

The Skeleton Pope took an attack, and apparently it could feel pain as an unexpected voice was heard.

The Skeleton Pope was also the first enemy they had to take down.

Even with the altar destroyed and the black flame gone, he could still use his healing spells.

Everyone knew that taking down the healers was the first step of any strategy.

Everyone aimed at the Skeleton Pope, even though they had never seen his face when he was still alive.

He used to be the Pope, the top priest in Elmea's Church, but no one hesitated attacking him.

In a way, they also wanted to defeat him quickly so his soul could rest in peace sooner.

Behind the Stone A summon under Kinghsip, Dogora was still asleep on the floor, next to the body of Lud who had given his life to save Princess Shea.

"S-shouldn't we fight too…"

"...We should."

The first time Shea fought a Demon General, in Clebeur, she felt no fear.

Allen's plan had worked flawlessly from beginning to end.

She barely had a role defeating the next two Demon Generals, mostly watching from the sidelines.

But here in the temple she had seen multiple Demon Generals gathered, and even a Higher God had stood against them.

Merus had barely been able to hold his ground against that foe, and Lud had been killed.

He had taken care of her since she was small, and when Shea turned 10 and wanted to form her own army, he happily agreed to be her main commander.

The eldest Beast Prince was Bek, he was already more than thirty years old.

Next came Zew, who was in the middle of his twenties.

There were many nobles and ministers who were allied with those two, since they were older and more capable.

Even portions of the army were on their side.

But Lud had been with Shea for as long as she could remember, irrelevant of her future prospects.

Her very first vassal was no longer breathing.

Hundreds of soldiers died when they captured Gushara the first time.

Many of them were still young, hopeful of the princess' future.

She looked at Dogora sleeping nearby.

He was breathing softly, deep asleep.

He had spent all his mental energy, but he did not seem dissatisfied.

It was like he slept knowing he had done everything he had to.

He had never wavered in his duty.

His fight against Basque was ripe to be passed down in history books.

Now he trusted his friends whole-heartedly, knowing they would achieve victory on time.

"W-well, I'll be going then."

Kam, the leader of Shea's archers, headed to the frontlines.

So far Shea had done like before, remaining in the safety of her allies until the fight was over.

But Kam would work hard in her stead.

Even if he had little impact in the fight, he hoped that would lessen the blight on Shea's name in the future.

"Shall we too?"

"Let's do it."

Gonoo and Sera, who were in charge of support and healing, also agreed with Kam.

They could assist in battle behind Kiel and Cecile as well.

Without waiting for Shea's answer, they moved out.

She could only take deep breaths, unable to say anything.

She questioned why she had been fighting all this time.

Her dream was to reunite the many fragmented beastmen countries, ruling over them as their first emperor.

"Wh-why? Why won't you grant me strength, Lord Garm? Am I not good enough?"

The Beast King Skill was available to everyone in Albahar's royal bloodline.

Prince Zew had used that power to conquer the S Rank Dungeon.

Shea knew this was the time when she needed that power the most.

The Beast King had given Shea a task, to defeat the leader of the Evil Cult. A group of heroes were fighting him in front of her.

Was there anything she could do to join the fight herself?

'...'

"Do you truly believe I'm not suitable enough?"

She could always feel him next to her.

Apparently only those in the royal family had that sensation.

And it was said it was the presence of the Beast God Garm.

'Is power truly so important to you? Yet I don't want you to fight those Demon Generals.'

He spoke to her, directly from the Divine Realm.

This was the first time she had heard a voice so clearly.

The voice of the God that had always been next to her, even when she could not see him.

The one God that cared only for beastmen.

"T-this voice, is that you Lord Garm! Please, give me strength!!"

Since she could hear him so clearly, she pleaded for power again.

'But why fight here? Aren't Demon Generals the lackeys of the Demon King's Army?'

Albahar's royal family had always told her not to fight against the Demon King's Army.

The reason why Albahar had never been part of the Five Continent's Alliance, or sent soldiers to fight against the Demon King's Army, was because of Garm's orders.

He only granted power depending on who one's opponent was.

The final boss of the S Rank Dungeon was an approved opponent, a Demon Great General was not.

"Why does it matter whether they're from the Demon King's Army or not? Peace can only be achieved with power!!"

She would insist until he approved of the fight.

'So after Zew you also plan on throwing yourself down the spiral of death then? Once in there, no one can escape their fated death. I only want beastmen to remain outside that endless cycle…'

Even though he had finally managed to keep the beastmen safe, now they wanted to throw themselves into the conflict on their own.

Garm just wanted them to continue thriving in the center of the continent.

"Huh? Spiral? What are…nghn…guh?!"

Shea wanted to ask what Garm referred to, but she was unable to finish her question.

It was like her bloodstream had been reversed, her primal instincts awakening again.

Shea's body began to change into that of a beast.

'Grraaaaaaaaaaaaaawrrrrrrrr!!'

'This world, and its fate, are truly cruel…'

The Beast God Garm muttered to Shea, like he was letting go of a wish and entrusting it to her.