Chapter 352: Crush the Mad Cult! 8

Chapter 352: Crush the Mad Cult! 8 Crush the Mad Cult! 8

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“Dark Believer.”

Death Pope, the ‘Pope’ of the cult ‘Purple Dual Rings’, muttered in a daze.

Dark Believer is embedded in the wall, dead.

“Murder Monk.”

Murder Monk is next to him.

Dead in the same way as Dark Believer.

Death Pope’s voice trembled.

“Fire Pastor.”

Lying motionless in a corner of the plaza.

“Hell Savior.”

The same goes for her.

“...Where’s Bloody Saint?”

Asked that, Church Bell silently shook his head.

She died in the explosion with the Blood Grail of Carnage.

“Oh... oh... How could this be... They were all wonderful comrades, wonderful believers...”

Death Pope muttered in a trembling voice, slumped his shoulders, wiped his tears with his fist, and then made a sign in front of his chest.

“Oh, our noble god Alogoros-sama... We offer you new sacrifices. Please accept them...”

“Please accept them...”

Church Bell followed Death Pope, who had begun praying to their god, ringing his bell and praying as well.

Ring, ring, ring...

The sound of the ‘Ability Sealing Bell’ echoed through the Second Plaza like a requiem.

Emi, crawling on the ground, glared at them.

This ‘pressure’ that’s been weighing down her entire body from above ever since that giant old man appeared.

It’s most likely the work of that Pope.

If so, the current situation is not good.

Judging from his title and Church Bell’s attitude, this Pope is probably the boss of those guys.

Emi’s enemy.

And right now, in front of her enemy, Emi.

Couldn’t move, crawling on the ground.

If she could just use 【Body Strengthening】, she could continue fighting, but it’s sealed by the sound of the bell.

This is really bad.

“...Rrrgh!!”

But her fighting spirit still burned!

Emi scooped up a pebble from the cobblestones and threw it at Death Pope.

It’s 【Stone Throw】!

...But.

The pebble, which should have flown straight towards Death Pope, the moment it left Emi’s hand... fell towards the ground.

And then, it hit the cobblestones and stuck there.

“............”

Seeing that, Emi had an idea about the true nature of the mysterious force pressing down on her.

She has memories of her past life.

Even though she wasn’t particularly good at studying, she knew the name of that force as common knowledge.

In other words, the true nature of the force pressing down on Emi.

What that Pope is manipulating is.

“Now... Tell me what happened, Church Bell.”

“Yes!”

Here, Death Pope, finishing his prayer, leisurely started a conversation, right in front of Emi, who was watching for an opportunity to turn the tables.

“When I arrived, Dark Believer, Murder Monk, and Bloody Saint were already dead. And the Blood Grail of Carnage was destroyed.”

Church Bell continued his report while ringing his bell.

“And soon after, Fire Pastor and Hell Savior followed them. It’s all... because of that monster!”

Church Bell glared at Emi with hatred!

Death Pope then turned his attention to Emi, who was on all fours.

Their eyes met.

Burning in Emi’s eyes was a fierce, flame-like fighting spirit, killing intent, malice.

So she thought she could use that ability to her advantage.

Normally, Emi’s body is small and light.

But not now.

Her body must be heavy enough to be pressed down by her monstrous strength.

Then, why not crush him with that weight?

...He’ll be flattened and die!!

But, unfortunately, things don’t always go as planned.

“!?”

Suddenly, the “pressure” on Emi disappeared.

And at the same time.

“Hmph!!”

A sharp blow to her stomach.

Death Pope had punched Emi, who was falling towards him.

“Gah... ha!”

Bouncing off the cobblestones a few times, Emi rolled back to her previous position.

The intense “pressure” returned.

The force pressing her down felt even stronger than before.

“...I’m surprised.”

Death Pope, catching his breath, looked down at Emi and expressed his astonishment.

“My special ability, 【Trials and Tribulations】... allows me to manipulate ‘weight’. You not only saw through it immediately, but also used it in your attack. You’re truly... a terrifying girl.”

And then, he smiled.

“But, it was a bit naive. If I can make things ‘heavy’, I can also make them ‘light’. Didn’t you think of that?”

“Guh...”

Emi groaned, lying on her back and glaring at Death Pope.

“Well then, I think this is enough. I don’t know what you’ll do if I keep you alive... It’s time for your farewell.”

Ignoring Emi’s glare, Death Pope took out a metal cylinder-like object from his chest.

Emi was surprised and her eyes widened.

Because it was the first time she had seen one since she was reborn into this world... a handgun.

Guns are not currently manufactured in this world.

The method was lost with the collapse of the ancient magical civilization.

And at the same time, the gods also forbid humans from researching and manufacturing this weapon.

The reason for this is the power struggle among the gods.

The Gun God, defeated in a conflict, lost his power and fell into slumber, and currently, in the divine realm, the Sword God, Spear God, and others are in power.

They wouldn’t allow a weapon like a gun, which has the potential to steal faith from them.

But there are exceptions to everything.

One of them is dungeon artifacts.

In dungeons, treasures are sometimes given as rewards to challengers.

These are artifacts.

These artifacts sometimes include weapons and magic tools created by the gods for amusement.

These are ‘Divine Artifacts’.

For example, the magic armor ‘Shining’ that Arcus owned.

Church Bell’s ‘Ability Sealing Bell’.

The ‘Blood Grail of Carnage’.

And Death Pope’s handgun, ‘Ghost Rate’.

All of them are Divine Artifacts.

And the use of Divine Artifacts is not subject to the gods’ regulations.

“Now, depart.”

Death Pope pointed the muzzle of the gun at Emi’s forehead, who couldn’t move.

“Oh, our noble god Alogoros-sama... We offer you a new sacrifice. Please accept her...”

“Please accept her...”

Ring, ring, ring...

The prayers of Death Pope and Church Bell.

And the sound of the ‘Ability Sealing Bell’.

Those were the only sounds that could be heard in the night Second Plaza.

BANG.

...A gunshot rang out.