This man was the source of it all. Defeating him was the only way to end this. Simon surged forward, riding a wave of Jet-Black as he charged Aloken. Just as Simon lunged to throw a punch, a shimmering red droplet of blood floated into his path. "Ugh!"
He twisted his body, wrenching his ankle as he threw himself aside. ‘BOOOOOM!’
As the sand-like droplet erupted into a massive explosion of blood, Simon broke out in a cold sweat. "Still an amateur, are we?" Aloken chuckled, swinging his right arm and sending three more droplets flying. "Every move you make gives you away."
A chain of explosions rocked the cabin. This was Aloken’s power, the reason the car was in ruins. ‘If Metin hadn’t warned me, I would’ve been caught for sure.’
Simon activated the Bone Armor Handgun on his right arm. Weaving through the blood droplets that filled the confined space, he aimed the muzzle at Aloken’s head and fired. But Aloken simply flicked a single droplet in front of him and detonated it. The blood explosion wasn’t a single blast. The condensed blood erupted, its mass lingering in the air like a viscous, temporary wall. All of Simon’s bone bullets were either deflected or fell uselessly to the floor. ‘Damn, he’s tricky. Is he a specialist? The type who’s honed a single form of magic to its absolute peak?’
Kizen trained its elite necromancers in a wide range of disciplines, but out in the field, it was common to find those who had mastered only one type of black magic. As Simon dodged another volley of explosions, his vision was momentarily obscured. In that instant, a red whip lashed out from the smoke, grazing his shoulder. The wound was deep, and blood sprayed from the cut. "Allow me to offer a piece of advice, from a senior in the business," Aloken purred, his tongue flicking out. In the blink of an eye, a magic circle flared to life on Simon’s shoulder. "Against a master of blood magic, a single scratch means defeat."
He pressed his index and middle fingers together, and a fountain of blood erupted from Simon’s wound. ‘Hemorrhage magic!’
Simon frantically clamped his left hand over his shoulder, but the blood continued to pour out. "It’s useless. Just wither and die."
"Heal."
"...What?"
Divinity flowed from Simon’s left hand, sealing the wound in seconds. Aloken’s face contorted in disbelief. "You! You’re a necromancer, I’m sure of it...!"
Ignoring him, Simon raised his index finger. In the brief moment Aloken was stunned, four blades erupted from the floor, snagging him and launching him upward through the train’s ceiling. "Huh!"
Simon stepped onto another Overlord blade as it rose, following him out. ‘Clank! Clank!’
On the roof of the train, with the wind howling around them, the two men faced each other. "Interesting," Aloken sneered, looking around. "Did you think you could dodge my attacks in the open?"
As he opened his palm, four shimmering droplets formed between his fingers. "Let’s see if your theory holds true."
Simon calmly assessed the situation. A direct magic duel was out of the question. The Overlord had just landed a solid hit, but Aloken seemed completely unharmed. Skeletons and zombies were too vulnerable to his wide-area attacks. Simon had to admit it. This enemy was far stronger than he was, an opponent he couldn’t defeat as he was now. And time was running out. Passengers were still being injured, even killed. If the train reached its destination, some new horror would surely unfold. ‘I’ve made my decision.’
Simon retrieved the golden crown from his Subspace. Holding it in both hands, he raised it above his head. ‘I’m using it now.’
He widened his stance, sinking low, and slowly placed the crown on his head. Sensing a dangerous aura emanating from the artifact, Aloken braced himself, but nothing happened. Simon just stood there. ‘What? Was that a bluff?’
Thinking he’d tensed up for nothing, Aloken shifted to the offensive, summoning blood droplets to his hand. [ARRRGGRAWRRGRAAAAHHH!!!]
An inhuman, primordial roar tore from Simon’s throat. The sound washed over the entire train, reaching every passenger, every cultist, and even the zombies still swarming from the fields. A chilling tingle ran down Aloken’s spine. The hair on his body stood on end. ‘What in the world is happening?’
Just then, blood zombies began clambering onto the roof around Simon. Aloken assumed they were surrounding him, but he was wrong. The zombies began to transform. Their eyes blazed with a golden light, and a dark blue Jet-Black began to bleed from their bodies like smoke. The blackened undead suddenly turned and charged at Aloken. Aloken hastily flung a volley of blood droplets. The explosions blew the first wave of zombies to bits, but another horde immediately swarmed in to take their place. ‘He’s stolen control of the zombies!’
Aloken looked up. Simon stood with his arm outstretched, his eyes glowing with the same golden light. ‘Is this the power of that crown?’
Simon exhaled lightly, gripping the crown with his right hand. [Follow me.]
From every car in the train, the undead answered his call. To Aloken, the sight of the train being swallowed by a writhing, black mass of zombies was a vision from a nightmare. The zombies behind Simon surged together, forming a grotesque, living hill that lifted the crowned necromancer high into the air. ‘Damn it! What the hell is going on?!’
--- Lethe blinked, bewildered. The zombies that had been fighting alongside the cultists only moments ago had responded to a strange cry, and now every last one of them was pouring out the windows and climbing to the roof. It was happening all over the train. ‘Fine by me. Now I only have to deal with the cultists. But what’s going on?’
The sound of urgent footsteps echoed from the cabin ahead. Lethe froze, on guard. A moment later, a woman in her thirties wearing an inquisitor’s uniform and glasses appeared. It was the same inquisitor who had conducted Lethe’s physical exam. "Jeez, you scared me."
Lethe relaxed her stance in relief. The inquisitor recognized her and cried out. "Priestess! You’re safe!"
"Of course I am. But with things this bad, what have the inquisitors been doing?"
The woman bowed her head. "My apologies. We are doing everything we can to fight them from within."
"I’ve cleared everything from that direction. Let’s head to the front car together. We need to find the ringleader and take him down."
"Yes, this way."
Lethe strode forward, following the woman’s lead. Just then, the inquisitor’s eyes, which had been downcast and subservient, glinted with a cold light.
The moment Lethe passed, she chopped at the nape of her neck. As if expecting it, Lethe threw up an arm to block, then twisted her waist and launched a kick. The inquisitor raised her own arm to guard. ‘CLAAAAANG!’
The impact alone sent a gale-force wind whipping through the cabin. Curtains billowed, and glasses tumbled from shelves, shattering on the floor. The inquisitor was thrown backward. "Just as I thought," Lethe said with a grin. "There was no way those Blood Heaven bastards could pull off an attack of this scale on their own. You’re the traitor, aren’t you?"
In an instant, Divinity erupted from the inquisitor’s body like a shockwave, slamming into Lethe. The woman’s palm struck her squarely in the abdomen. <’Holy Combat Arts - Divine Flow Palm’>
Lethe’s body bent into a C-shape as she flew backward, crashing into the opposite wall. The shock was so immense that her mind went blank. ‘Gah! Shit! This woman is damn strong!’
In a single fluid motion, the inquisitor swung her arm. A divine magic circle, which she had drawn on the wall beforehand, flared to life. <’Heretic Inquisition Style - Cross Seal’>
’Clank!’
’Clang!’
The wall rippled and morphed into shackles, instantly binding Lethe’s arms and legs. "Wha—what is this?"
Lethe thrashed, trying to break free, but she couldn’t budge. "Damn it! What is this?! Get it off me!"
"Hehe."
Finally revealing her true colors, the inquisitor crossed her arms and sauntered toward Lethe. "A freshman at Efnel, weren’t you? How cute."
She caressed Lethe’s cheek, her tongue darting out to wet her lips. A murderous intent flared in Lethe’s eyes, but she managed to suppress her rage. "Why are you doing this?" she bit out. The woman’s expression was unreadable. "You’re a Heretic Inquisitor. What could you possibly gain from betraying the Goddess to side with a pathetic cult like Blood Heaven?"
The woman smiled seductively and hooked a finger under the collar of Lethe’s uniform, pulling it down slightly to expose her skin. "Do you remember your physical examination?"
"What?" Lethe scowled, confused by the non sequitur. "You were so adorable, blushing with shame as you stood naked before me."
"Ahaha. Well, I’ll be." Lethe let out a hollow laugh, a look of dawning comprehension on her face. "You’re into women."
"Correct."
The Dark Alliance, with its relatively liberal atmosphere, had at least some protections for sexual minorities. But the Holy Federation, a nation built on religion, had none. It was strictly forbidden, a crime subject to brutal oppression. Lethe clicked her tongue. "You have my pity. Trying to live a life of faith while hiding that must be hell."
"Yes, a great deal has happened," the woman said wistfully. For a common farmer, it might be possible to live in secret. But for a priest of the Divine Hall, a mere rumor could end a career. If the truth came out, execution was unavoidable. It was no different for her, an inquisitor. Though she hadn’t made it into Efnel, she had been raised by priest parents and had followed an elite path. Her assignment to the dirty work of the Inquisition was, in fact, a demotion. Recently, things had escalated to a formal trial. The star witness was the young female devotee she had assaulted. If she lost, she would be branded a homosexual and sentenced to death. "So you sided with heretics and orchestrated this whole mess?"
"I’m simply ensuring my own survival." The inquisitor lifted Lethe’s chin. "Even so, you’ve crossed the line," Lethe said, her voice cold as ice. "Do you not fear the Goddess’s wrath?"
"I do. But isn’t it strange?" The inquisitor opened her other palm, and a soft glow of Divinity emanated from it. "The Pope and Efnel use the scriptures to condemn homosexuality. They call it an unforgivable evil. And yet, my power hasn’t diminished in the slightest. In fact, it grew stronger when I was finally honest with my heart. What do you suppose that means?"
Lethe said nothing. "That’s right! The Goddess hasn’t abandoned me! She is still with me! So, couldn’t one argue..." The inquisitor’s expression twisted into a bizarre, fanatical grin. "That it is the Pope and Efnel who distort and manipulate the Goddess’s will?"
Lethe remained silent. "I will use any means necessary—heretic or not—to bring down Efnel. And I will create a paradise of my own!"
Lethe sighed, looking utterly unimpressed. The woman’s speech hadn’t shocked her in the least. ‘I know a guy who uses Divinity without even believing in the Goddess, so this is nothing.’
Lethe slowly raised her head. "Just because you haven’t lost your Divinity, it doesn’t mean you’re right. That’s just pathetic self-righteousness."
"What?"
"You’re twisting faith to justify your own desires. Why do you assume that keeping your power is a sign of the Goddess’s approval? By that logic, why haven’t the priests who condemn homosexuality lost their Divinity? Your reasoning is disgustingly convenient and self-serving."
Interpreting the will of a god from a human perspective, with logic unsupported by theology, was nothing short of blasphemy. "And yet, you..." the inquisitor purred. "You’re awfully composed, even after hearing what kind of person I am."
Her hand moved to the hem of Lethe’s skirt. When Lethe’s expression remained a cold mask, the inquisitor giggled and began to unbutton her shirt. The thought of shattering that icy composure made the woman’s cheeks flush. "You talk big for a prisoner. Aren’t you afraid?"
"Hah. Why should I be?" Lethe sneered. "Thanks for the information."
The inquisitor’s eyes widened. A jet of pure white flame shot through the window, blasting the inquisitor. "Ugh!"
She threw up a divine shield at the last second, but the force of the blast still sent her flying back dozens of meters. Peeking its head through the broken window was Lethe’s divine beast, Ran. ‘A-a divine beast? Since when!’
’<Lethe Original - La Venue>’
Lethe’s body, which had seemed hopelessly bound, was enveloped in a radiant blessing. As she flexed, the shackles on the wall shattered. "I let you have your fun for a moment, and you get delusions of grandeur."
Ran flew to her, coiling around her right arm. A moment later, a divine sword of prismatic light emerged from the baby white dragon’s mouth. "And you keep deflecting. I don’t care about your sexuality. What matters is that you’re a heinous criminal responsible for countless deaths."
The inquisitor broke into a cold sweat, faced with a purity of Divinity she had never before witnessed. Lethe raised her sword and grinned. "Are you ready to die, heretic?"

Comments

Loading...