Chapter 765

Chapter 765
A second high-ranking cleric materialized next to Grondal, dark energy swirling within his palm. As the priest prepared to strike at the dwarf—
“Fwaaah!”
A colossal fire spirit erupted, unleashing a torrent of flames to intercept him. The searing heat engulfed the cleric, who was forced to circulate his internal energy to withstand the inferno. Before anyone could react, Ereneth arrived on the scene, a confident smirk on her face as she commanded her spirits.
“I’ll be your opponent,” she declared.
Lionel quickly followed, positioning himself at her side with his shield raised, his expression taut with concentration. Rahamod’s brow twitched in irritation. These high-ranking priests were a strategic reserve he had intended to use only if the duel with Grondal was interrupted. He hadn’t expected the Julien Mercenary Corps to have such an effective counter already in place.
‘That man… he truly understands the flow of war.’
He had suspected it before, but Astion was clearly more than just a powerful sorcerer. He carried the unmistakable aura of a veteran who had survived a thousand battlefields. With these new arrivals, the violence reached a brief, tense plateau.
Rahamod took a step back, his voice cold. “You’ve come prepared, it seems. But do you honestly believe this level of power can save you?”
The reinforcements from the Salvation Order possessed superhuman capabilities. By comparison, Julien, Ereneth, and Lionel were still below that transcendent threshold. No matter their talent, there were fundamental limits to what they could achieve. The disparity in strength was undeniable.
Ghislain was well aware of this reality. In truth, survival would only be guaranteed once Kyle arrived, but their ally had yet to appear. Nevertheless, Ghislain possessed a secret weapon of his own.
“The rules of this engagement are about to shift,” he said calmly.
Deneb, positioned at the very rear of their formation, sank to her knees. With eyes closed and hands clasped in prayer, she began a soft incantation.
“…Give breath to the dying, vigor to the weary, and let your radiance guide those who fight.”
“Fwaaah!”
A subtle glow began to emanate from Deneb’s form. This light rippled outward like a tide, washing over every member of their party. To an observer, the blessing might have seemed weak—a trivial display of divine influence. But Ghislain remained unperturbed.
Deneb’s specific divine frequency was the ultimate antithesis to the Salvation Order. Predictably, the faces of Rahamod and Tagmah went pale.
‘That energy… it’s lethal.’
It was a holy force that effectively neutralized their shadows upon contact. Now that this power was shielding their enemies, the two leaders realized the battle had become significantly more precarious.
“Boom!”
Grondal slammed his massive halberd down, letting out a boisterous roar of laughter. “Kehahaha! Look at your faces! Is that fear I see?”
Ignoring the mockery, Rahamod issued a chilling command. “…Eliminate them with everything you have.”
“Boom!”
The fresh priests surged toward Julien, Ereneth, and Lionel. Simultaneously, Rahamod abandoned his duel with Ghislain and lunged toward Deneb. His logic was simple: kill the source of the divine light to restore their advantage.
However, Ghislain moved with impossible speed, intercepting the path with a sweep of his blade.
“Clang!”
“Sssssss!”
Dark smoke hissed violently from Rahamod’s hand as it met the steel. It looked as though his skin were being dissolved by acid.
“Kh…”
For the first time, Rahamod’s eyes betrayed a flicker of genuine shock. He knew divine energy was their natural enemy, but this was unprecedented. How could he, a superhuman, suffer such damage from a light that appeared so faint? Snarling, he struck out at Ghislain.
“Boom!”
Ghislain parried the blow but was pushed back. His internal organs felt bruised and his muscles screamed, but unlike their previous exchange, he wasn’t sent tumbling through the air.
The reason was Deneb’s blessing. That subtle light was actively eroding Rahamod’s overwhelming dark aura. While the enemy was still strong enough to cause pain, Ghislain could now stand his ground. He wiped a streak of blood from his lip and smirked.
“What did I tell you? Things are different now.”
“…”
Rahamod glanced across the field.
“Boom! Boom! Boooom!”
Tagmah was being forced back by Grondal, who was now wreathed in a shimmering holy aura. The Dwarf King’s presence, already massive, now felt as immovable as a mountain. It was the same elsewhere; the Julien Mercenary Corps members were holding their own against the elite priests. They were still technically outmatched, but they were no longer being crushed.
A sense of frustration washed over Rahamod.
‘…Did I miscalculate again?’
He had focused on the dwarves first, believing them to be the primary threat, and left the mercenaries to his subordinates. He thought stalling them would suffice until the dwarves were eradicated. It had been a grave error.
‘I should have annihilated these pests from the start.’
He glared at the praying Deneb. ‘As long as she draws breath, a clean victory is impossible.’
She had to die. If this momentum continued, the tide of the war would turn irrevocably, all because of a seemingly fragile priestess. Tagmah tried to veer toward her as well, but Grondal blocked him at every turn. If the Dwarf King managed to overwhelm Tagmah, their entire operation would fall apart.
Rahamod ground his teeth together. Once more, he gathered his full strength and made a desperate charge for Deneb. Ghislain, however, committed every ounce of his soul to the defense.
“Boom! Boom! Boom!”
Rahamod still held the advantage in raw output. Because Ghislain was focused on protection rather than evasion, he was forced to absorb several heavy impacts.
‘I can take this!’
It was manageable. Ghislain parried the killing blows and braced for the rest.
“Sssssss!”
Every time their powers collided, Rahamod’s energy caught fire against the divine barrier. The pain was more than physical; it was a soul-deep exhaustion. Rahamod could feel himself being whittled away.
Munareff and another high-ranking priest also attempted to flank Deneb, having identified her as the linchpin.
“Boom!”
Munareff delivered a punishing blow that sent Julien reeling. Julien, barely staying upright thanks to the blessing, was thrown across the dirt.
“You insignificant worm, you dare…”
Munareff wanted to finish him, but he knew the priority.
Whoosh!
He spun away and sprinted toward Deneb. Julien scrambled up to give chase, but he couldn’t match the speed of a superhuman. Instead, it was Ghislain who disengaged from Rahamod just long enough to cut off Munareff’s path.
“Boom!”
“Ghhhk!”
Munareff recoiled in agony. As the fight wore on, the divine power’s sting only grew more potent. He tried to flush it out with his own energy, but his spirit was wavering. In that moment of hesitation, Julien caught up and re-engaged him.
Another priest managed to slip past Ereneth and Lionel, reaching the space directly in front of Deneb. But out of nowhere, Grondal’s halberd swept through the air.
“Boooom!”
“Guh-heok!”
The priest was sent hurtling away with a single, devastating strike.
With the minor threats kept at bay, Rahamod and Tagmah launched a synchronized assault on the priestess.
“Boooom!”
“Guhk!”
Ghislain threw himself in front of Rahamod, coughing up blood as his posture broke. Rahamod sensed an opening to finally shatter the defense. Yet, even with his balance gone, Ghislain’s sword moved with surgical intent.
“Ka-ga-ga-gak!”
“Ssssss!”
“Grrrgh!”
Rahamod let out a strangled cry and retreated. Dark smoke poured from a jagged wound carved across his throat.
“Ruuuumble!”
Grondal took a direct hit from Tagmah and spat a mouthful of crimson. He didn’t budge. He immediately swung his halberd in a wide arc.
“Boooom!”
“Guh!”
Tagmah recoiled, his body scorched and smoking in several places.
Grondal showed his bloody teeth in a feral grin. “Kuhahahaha! What’s the matter? Losing your spark? You bastards are finally feeling it, aren’t you? Even when you hit us, the divine light burns you from the inside out! It must be torture!”
“……”
The leaders of the Salvation Order remained silent. Every movement cost them more energy than the last, and the pain was becoming unbearable. Their strength was being wasted, evaporating into nothingness upon contact with that “faint” light. Only their status as masters allowed them to keep standing; anyone weaker would have been ash by now.
Even the two superhuman-level priests were being held in check by warriors who hadn’t even reached their level. Rahamod looked at Deneb with weary, hateful eyes.
‘…She is too far away.’
In the chaotic ebb and flow of the melee, the distance between them had grown again. To a normal man, it was a considerable gap, but for him, it should have been covered in a heartbeat. And yet, it felt like an infinite chasm.
“Haaah…”
When he set out from the sanctuary, he never envisioned this. He had studied his enemies for years and prepared every detail. On paper, the elves and dwarves were manageable. But one variable had ruined everything.
‘The Julien Mercenary Corps.’
A small group of sellswords was sabotaging the Church’s divine mission. Now, his choices were limited. He could retreat and preserve his strength… or he could sacrifice everything to remove this tumor. He didn’t hesitate. For the grand design, there was only one path.
Rahamod spoke with a low, resonant gravity. “Prophet, Tagmah.”
“I await your command,” Tagmah replied.
“Do you understand what must be done for our cause?”
“I do. We are the vessels of the covenant.”
“This is the path ordained by God.”
“Everything will follow the promise.”
“Boooom!”
Their auras exploded with a demonic intensity, their faces contorting into masks of madness. They had decided to incinerate their very life force for one final push. Ghislain tightened his grip on his sword, his eyes narrowing. Their energy was terrifying; he would have to gamble his life to stop what was coming.
Grondal’s laughter died away, replaced by a grim resolve. He adjusted his stance on the halberd.
‘O Goddess…’
Deneb’s face was deathly pale, but her voice never wavered as she continued her prayer. Her divine reservoir was essentially empty, yet the blessing persisted. It was as if the presence of the darkness itself acted as fuel for the light to continue existing.
Julien, gasping for air, remained locked in combat with Munareff. His armor was in tatters and his hand was slick with blood, but his gaze remained sharp. Ereneth and Lionel were in similar states of exhaustion, yet their spirits remained unbroken. Even the enemy priests were beginning to look at them with a sense of creeping dread, though they too were committed to the end.
As both sides reached the absolute limit of their endurance—
“Boooom!”
The battlefield ignited once more. Deneb’s power continued to eat away at the Salvation Order’s essence, allowing Ghislain’s group to endure the unendurable. The enemy ignored the sensation of their flesh burning, launching a relentless, suicidal barrage.
They had one singular focus. Just one opening. If they could bridge the gap just once, they could end the woman and her curse.
“Boom! Boom! Boooom!”
Under the weight of the endless assault, the defenders began to flag. They were only alive because of Deneb; in a fair fight, they would have been dead long ago. But if they could just keep her safe for a few more minutes, the attrition would favor them.
Ghislain, however, saw the look in the enemy’s eyes. He knew they were preparing their final, most desperate technique—a move that usually killed the user but leveled everything in its path.
He gauged the remaining strength of his allies.
‘We can survive this.’
If he and Grondal took the brunt of it, Deneb would stay standing. And that would mean victory. Ghislain focused entirely on Rahamod, waiting for the tell-tale sign of the final strike.
“Boom! Boom! Boooom!”
The two clashed in a blur of steel and shadow. Ghislain continued to probe Rahamod’s defenses, chipping away at his remaining power. He saw an opening and lunged, aiming his blade at Rahamod’s midsection.
“Stab!”
The sword sank into Rahamod’s stomach with startling ease. Ghislain’s heart went cold. His instincts screamed a warning. This wasn’t because Rahamod was too weak to dodge.
‘A trap!’
Ghislain tried to wrench his blade back and retreat, but Rahamod was faster.
Grab!
Rahamod’s hand clamped down on Ghislain’s wrist with bone-crushing force.