Since Trislowa said it was difficult to crush the sacred object, Zich poured a great amount of mana into his sword. The sword’s tip swerved with his mana and displayed its sharp force. At first, he felt a formidable force repel against him, but Zich pushed on forcefully and poured in more mana.
Push!
The sword penetrated the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls.
“Nooooo!” Trislowa screamed. Retrieving the sacred object had been his reason for everything: it was why he hadn’t joined the battlefield even while the temple was under attack, risked the deaths of all the priests in the ritual room, and continued their futile fight against Belri Weig. But now, everything had become pointless.
Craaaaash!
Many cracks formed on the surface of the sacred object, and Bellu’s energy began to seep out. Lubella watched the destruction of the sacred object with curiosity. Then, she scowled and distanced herself away from the item.
Swipe!
Zich pulled out his sword, and energy poured out explosively. But soon, as if the item had poured out all the energy it possessed, the amount lessened.
Shaaa!
With the disappearance of Bellu’s energy, the sacred object turned to dust. What had been the Pyramid of Vengeful Souls slipped between Zich’s fingers, and as if it was exemplifying Trislowa’s pointless desire, it turned to dust and disappeared from view.
Bellid knights and Trislowa watched the scene in front of them blankly as if they couldn’t comprehend the scene before them. They didn’t even bother to be on guard even while Belri Weig was in front of them. They simply stared at the remains of what had been their holy relic, piled near Zich’s feet. If someone were unaware of the situation, they would have pitied them. However, their opponents were Lubella and Weig, who felt no compassion for the Bellids,and Zich who was emotionless in the first place.
Slice! Slice!
Like harvesting a well-grown mill on a field, Weig sliced the heads of the senseless Bellid knights. The Bellids only began to move again after many of their comrades died in quick succession. However, they no longer seemed to have the eagerness of accomplishing a goal even in an unfavorable situation, and it seemed like all their hope had been reduced to ashes.
“Lady Lubella.”
“What is it, Mr. Zich?”
“I have something that I need to take care of, so I have to leave this place. Let’s meet each other again a bit later.”
“Sorry? What do you mean—!”
Zich’s words were unexpected. The battle was moving far ahead in Karuwiman’s favor. If Weig annihilated Trislowa and his forces, the battle would come to an end.
So, how could he have something to take care of right now?
“Mr. Zich? Mr. Zich!” Even though Lubella called for him, Zich didn’t give her a proper answer and left the room while waving his hands.
‘He’s just like the wind.’ Lubella raised her staff and focused on her holy power.
Whoosh!
A semi-transparent barrier formed near her.
‘Even Mr. Zich is gone. I have to protect myself.’
In the worst-case scenario—if one of the Bellid knights escaped from Weig—there was a high chance that they could take her captive. Lubella realized her value as the Karuwiman Saint Candidate in Porti through and through. And now, she was just a step away from becoming the Saint now and was the only candidate left.
‘We are so close to annihilating the Bellids. I can’t bring our effort to ruins at the last moment.’
As soon as Lubella set up a barrier, a couple of Bellid knights and Trislowa’s gaze changed to disappointment.
Claang!
Weig swung his sword. Although it was an excellent sword, it was nothing different from the weapons the Bellid knights were holding. Yet, from the way Weig swung it, the sword seemed as if it had enough power to uproot the temple’s pillars. Bellid followers blocked Weig’s attacks desperately—no, they weren’t even blocking it. They were basically exchanging a knight’s life for each of Weig’s attacks.
“Your Holiness!” the knights next to Trislowa shouted. “At least Your Holiness has to escape!”
There was nothing to protect in this place now. All hope was gone, and the knights thought that they had to send at least one person out alive.
“Hey! Do you think I will let him go?”
Push!
Streams of light shot out of the ends of Weig’s sword. The head of the knight who was warning Trislowa disappeared. Blood spurted out like a fountain from his neck, and the knight collapsed. But the Bellid knights weren’t shaken; they had already given up on living.
“Your Holiness! You must escape!”
“Please avenge us!”
Every single one of them pleaded to Trislowa, and Trislowa clenched his teeth. “I won’t forget your sacrifices!”
“Like I said, I won’t let him go! I have to finish you guys as soon as I spot one of you, insect bastards! If I don’t do that, you will give birth to more offspring in a dreary place again!”
Hwaaaa!
Light surrounded Weig’s sword. The contorting lights almost looked like fireworks. It was evident that Weig would soon make an attack that was on a different level from all previous attacks.
“Stick cloooooose!” The knights nearest to Weig ran towards Weig and shouted. A couple of other knights followed his example and did the same. They looked like they were planning to stop Weig’s attacks with their bodies.
Craaash!
Weig’s attack struck all of them. But the knights positioned their swords upwards and raised their holy powers to the maximum; they tried to resist the attack as much as they could. Their swords crumpled, their armor was crushed, their skin and bones were shattered, and even as their fellow knights disintegrated into pieces, they relentlessly endured.
Like that, they were literally able to buy a bit more time by paying with their lives.
“Urgh!”
“Kuh!”
The remaining knights’ mouths foamed and they fell to the ground. Blue light seeped out of their bodies and permeated into Trislowa.
“How useless!” Weig swung his sword.
Crash!
Surprisingly, the barrier Trislowa made successfully blocked Weig’s attack.
Lubella murmured, “He absorbed the energy and life force of the Bellid knights.”
However, Trislowa’s condition didn’t seem too good. His complexion was pale and blood was running down his mouth. His body wasn’t able to control the energy and life force he absorbed from the knights, and his body was breaking down every moment. He needed to release the energy and life force he absorbed as soon as possible.
Trislowa stretched out his hand. Strong energy began to gather in his fingertips. His hand reached towards the area Lubella was at. Even though Lubella was holding up a barrier, she was still inexperienced. Her barrier was not yet strong enough to block the combined energy of the Bellids.
“Tch!” Weig quickly moved to stand between Lubella and Trislowa.
Crashhhh!
A large amount of water streamed out from Trislowa’s hand. As if they were whips, all the streams of water twisted and turned towards Lubella. Weig took a few steps back and moved closer to Lubella.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!
The streams of water slowly began attacking them one by one. However, before they could pierce through Lubella, Weig struck them with his sword. Since the attack used the life force and energy of the dead knights, even Weig felt a great strain striking against the streams of water.
But Trislowa used this as an opportunity to make his move. He didn’t even think about heading towards the door. He moved straight towards the nearest wall—he was planning to destroy the wall and make his escape.
‘I’m not gonna let that happen.’ While Weig continued to fight back the streams of water, Weig turned his sword towards Trislowa.
Slice!
With a chillingly sharp sound, Weig blasted light from his sword.
“Ugh!”
Trislowa formed a barrier, and the light attack collided against it.
Crack!
With an ominous sound, the barrier immediately broke, and the light swallowed Trislowa whole.
“Aghhhhhhh!”
He felt a dreadful amount of pain. Before the light faded from his sight, Trislowa screamed at the awful pain from his elbows. Below his elbows, he couldn’t feel anything. His arm had been sliced. Even though he momentarily lost his eyesight from the bright light, he could feel that the lower part of his arm was no longer attached to his body.
“Damn it!” While swearing, Trislowa felt relieved that only one of his arms was cut off from Weig’s attack thanks to his barrier. With a sigh of relief, Trislowa began punching the wall.
Crash!
Trislowa strengthened his body with holy power, so he was able significantly damage the wall next to him. The wall began to crumble. His eyesight also slowly came back to him. While clutching his sliced elbow, Trislowa made his escape.
Thud!
Weig finally finished blocking the last stream of water, and he quickly followed Trislowa. As soon as he stepped out of the room, he swung his sword and raised it high. However, Trislowa was already turning a corner.
Crash!
Weig’s attack crushed the corner, but Trislowa was already long gone. Weig hurriedly chased after Trislowa and turned around the same corner. A long hallway appeared in front of him, but there was no trace of Trislowa.
‘…Even his presence is gone.’
He probably used the life force and energy he absorbed to hide his presence. Weig thought about searching for Trislowa around the temple, but to do that, he didn’t know much about the temple’s infrastructure.
‘I lost him.’
He had no choice but to finally accept this.
“Sir Weig!” Lubella ran towards him moments later.
“Where is Trislowa?”
“I lost him.”
Lubella’s expression darkened. “I’m sorry. It’s because of me—”
“No, it’s not your fault at all, Lady Lubella. If you want to blame someone, it’s my fault because I’m the one who brought you there.”
Weig didn’t just say this to comfort Lubella; he really believed this. “Since I sliced one of his arms off, he might have been caught by one of our people while running away. And even if we really did lose him, this expedition is not a failure because we were able to exterminate the northern branch. So don’t feel down. I will say this again, but this was my mistake.”
“Yes.”
Weig comforted Lubella and Weig looked around his surroundings. Zich, who had been next to Lubella, was nowhere to be found. “…To think about it, Mr. Zich said that he had something to take care of.”
“Yes. When I asked him where he was going, he didn’t even properly answer and just left.”
Lubella pouted her lips. Weig laughed while he comforted Lubella.
“Don’t be angry. He’s always been like that. Who knows? Maybe Mr. Zich left to capture Trislowa…” Weig closed his mouth. He put his hand on his chin and fell into thought.
“What’s the matter, Sir Weig?”
“Mr. Zich’s foremost goal was to kill Cullun Trislowa, right?”
“Yes, that’s what he told us.”
“Then don’t you think it’s strange that Mr. Zich would just leave when Trislowa was right in front of him to solve a different matter?”
“…Yes, that’s definitely strange. Then what is exactly the matter he has to solve?”
Weig said, “Why don’t we try thinking in a different direction?”
“Let’s say that the matter Mr. Zich has to solve is to exterminate Trislowa.”
“Then wouldn’t there be no reason for him to run out saying that he has another matter to solve? You were fighting Trislowa.”
“And I lost him.”
Then Lubella was finally able to figure out what Weig was trying to say. “…No way. Did Mr. Zich predict that this would happen and he went out early to wait where Trislowa might have escaped to…”
“Mr. Zich holds severe hatred towards Trislowa. And from what we know about him, he would definitely try to exact revenge by his own hands.”
“And he planned all this beforehand?”
“This is all just my prediction. But if this prediction is correct…” Weig said with a certain amount of emptiness in his voice. “We shouldn’t have been worried about losing sight of Trislowa at all.”