How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 103

Chapter 103: Pudicitia Catacomb (3)

The method of mixing each other’s willpower and determining victory or defeat carries a considerable risk for the caster. This is because it’s a battle that takes place in a mental space, where each person’s spirit is at stake, not just their magical power.

This is the reason why even highly skilled mages are reluctant to do it.

Defeat means the annihilation of one’s control over magical power. In other words, death as a mage.

Simply put, it’s a duel that takes place on the edge of a cliff with no way back, like a jousting match. The loser loses everything.

And Arvelthusa knew that fact better than anyone.

When the flames, as if they were going to burn everything, began to devour her red fog greedily.

She realized something was terribly wrong, but it was already too late.

Their mental powers were already intertwined in the mental world, and there was no way to end it.

No. There was one way.

The death of the loser.

“……!”

As her vision reversed, Arvelthusa’s body was flung backward as if struck by something.

A rather shocking sight for the High Priest who rules a Catacomb.

“Ugh─!”

The blood that erupted from her mouth was already blackened and dead.

It didn’t take long for her to realize that the fight she had entered, without ever thinking she would lose, was an act of excessive audacity.

The opponent’s ability, which she had thought was achieved by stealing the summoning circle with the help of many assistant mages, was beyond what she had imagined.

An overwhelming gap.

Growl.

It was difficult to tell whether this faint sound was due to the loss of the dominance battle in the mental world, or if it was coming from the outside where the magical beasts were rampaging.

Perhaps it was both.

“……”

Arvelthusa, sensing her own demise, placed her trembling hand on the statue in front of her.

The High Priest’s blood dripped and flowed onto the statue shaped like a giant beast standing on two legs.

However.

Despite the High Priest’s desperate will, the Great Demon’s symbol remained silent.

It wasn’t due to the exhaustion from the loss of the dominance battle. This symbol, representing the connection between the Demon of Kindness and the earth, had shown no response even when her abilities were at their peak.

Kwaaah!

The noise from outside was getting louder. It seemed that most of the Catacomb’s defenses had collapsed.

Arvelthusa struggled to get up to face the opponent who would soon reach this deepest place, her nest.

Kwaang!

Not long after, with a loud roar, the antique stone door blocking the entrance to the nest was blown away.

*Krrrlll …… *

A low growl was heard simultaneously.

Judging from the sharp cry mixed with air and the terrible stench, it seemed to be a Viennueroglove.

Damn it. That arrogant magical beast, which didn’t even respond when she had called out to it so desperately.

“……”

Arvelthusa slowly raised her hand, which was losing strength, and laboriously wiped away the sticky blood that was obscuring her vision.

It wasn’t to see the magical beast, which had been one of her long-standing goals.

Of course, that was partly the reason, but her cloudy eyes were searching for something else.

The person who had twisted the Catacomb’s summoning circle, created based on the single Hellstone, and summoned nearly half of the ninety-nine magical beasts considered the most dangerous.

The black mage who had looked down on her from the emptiness of the mental world.

Arvelthusa raised her head to face that monster.

“There haven’t been any guys who dared to challenge me so arrogantly before.”

Such a young voice and appearance.

It wasn’t difficult for those who had entered the path of magic to deceive time, but it was quite different from what she had expected.

“It was an amusing trick.”

The words she had heard in the mental world.

Realizing that the opponent was the one responsible, Arvelthusa asked in a trembling voice,

“Just who… are you?”

A question filled with many doubts.

However, the opponent didn’t answer her question and just looked around for a moment.

“Ah, this is it.”

Having found what he was looking for, he slowly drew the sword hanging from his waist. Only then did Arvelthusa’s expression show belated shock as she noticed the energy surrounding the sword.

The powerful energy residing in the crude body, bursting forth brilliantly as it was drawn from its scabbard. The cursed sacred object of the fanatics located on the opposite side of the Catacomb.

The Holy Sword of Hesterica.

At the same time, she saw the opponent’s attire, which she hadn’t noticed until now.

Separate from her confused mind, a scream like a blood-coughing cry erupted from the High Priest’s mouth.

“Inquisitor!”

The opponent, smiling slightly as he looked at her, thrust the sword downward, holding it in a reverse grip.

“─!”

The shock that erupted from the pierced statue.

With that tremendous wave, the High Priest’s vision was dyed black.

🔹🔹🔹

The air changed. Although it looked the same as before, I could instinctively feel that this wasn’t reality.

A space artificially created by someone. A space of illusion overlaid on the material world.

It was a little different from the dominance battle I had with the High Priest here. It wasn’t difficult to guess the being that had summoned me to this place.

「Truly an unpleasant object.」

A low voice was heard. A voice I’ve heard before.

Not recently, of course. To be precise, about five hundred years ago.

But it was a being I could never forget.

“I didn’t expect you to drag your heavy backside all the way here.”

The Demon of Kindness, Pudicitia. I slowly turned to face that mighty primordial being.

Inside the nest. A huge being, half-swallowed by darkness, was looking down at me.

「I couldn’t just ignore it.」

The Great Demon smiled faintly and pointed at something with its long tail.

A broken piece.

The Great Demon’s symbol that I had just smashed with the Holy Sword.

At the Great Demon’s words, I looked down at the Holy Sword. The Holy Sword, known to be blessed by the four Archangels, remained in my hand even in the mental world created by the Great Demon.

It seemed to be an object that even the Great Demon’s will couldn’t manipulate easily. I tilted my head slightly and asked him,

“So, how did it feel to be pierced by the Holy Sword?”

Kurrrrung.

A strange resonance spread through the space. It was the Great Demon’s laughter.

I guess I’ll be out of luck for at least a few days.

「It wasn’t a particularly pleasant sensation.」

I burst out laughing and looked at the shadow of the Great Demon answering. It was a rather unpleasant encounter that I hadn’t wished for, but it was also an opportunity to ask a question that I had been wondering about.

Of course, I didn’t know if he would answer honestly.

“Why are the Archangels and Great Demons silent?”

There was no need to question God’s indifference. Hesterica is just a being that exists. At least as far as I know, there’s no history of him expressing his own will.

But it was strange that even the Archangels were silent in this chaotic era.

That arrogant warmonger, who loves to interfere, is just watching the rise of the demon worshippers. It felt incredibly suspicious, even though I had become an Inquisitor.

Especially since I would eventually have to confront the Sanctuaries as well.

Of course, the fact that the followers of each god still wield holy power and demonic energy, even if not as much as before, means that the connection isn’t completely severed.

But there must be a reason why the Great Demons and Archangels are silent at the same time.

“Don’t tell me you’re scheming something with my soul?”

I asked the question with a bit of hesitation. Silence fell over the spacious nest for a moment.

And then.

「Hahahaha!」

The Great Demon’s laughter, like a storm, came with a strong wind that made it difficult to keep my balance.

A reaction as if he had heard a very funny joke. A voice like thunder echoed in my ears.

「You’re giving too much meaning to your own existence. Well, it’s not that I don’t understand. After all, there has never been a mortal who has reached that far.」

I remained silent at the Great Demon’s amused reply.

So it’s not that. How embarrassing.

I turned my head with a sour expression and spat on the ground. To hear the Great Demon’s genuine laughter twice.

I guess I’ll be out of luck for at least a month.

Well, if it’s not, it’s fortunate for me anyway.

Perhaps as a reward for bringing him amusement, Pudicitia spoke in a subtle tone.

「Charity is very angry.」

The Demon of Charity, Caridad. The master of the second Catacomb I destroyed. Was the name of the High Priest with snake eyes Benesus?

Unlike the first Great Demon, with whom I had a relatively normal conversation, he didn’t even show his form until the moment the connection was completely severed. He must not have been in a state to have a proper conversation.

Well, considering his personality, it was only natural.

“Then tell him I’d appreciate it if he’d crawled out and smashed me to pieces, even if it meant the eternal annihilation of his main body.”

Not that he would have the guts to do that anyway.

「There’s no need to go that far.」

The Great Demon’s words contained an unpleasant truth. Realizing the meaning, I replied with a bitter smile.

“Right, tell him he’ll pay the price to his satisfaction when he goes to hell.”

After I’ve finished everything, of course.

Calmly swallowing the rest of my words, I looked at the Great Demon. I could feel his last connection slowly coming to an end.

「Yes. I too shall eagerly await that time. I cannot interfere with the earth until the wager is concluded.」

The scattering shadows. I looked at the Great Demon’s massive body, slowly beginning to disappear, and asked a curious question.

“Wager?”

But there was no answer to my question.

「It was a pleasant conversation, mighty mortal. Haha……」

Pudicitia’s last words. Soon, the nest began to shake slowly.

As my vision reversed, reality unfolded before my eyes once more. The Great Demon’s laughter, uttered as he finally disappeared, seemed to linger in my ears.

“……”

I glanced once at the shattered statue of the Great Demon, the High Priest’s corpse, and the Holy Sword radiating a brilliant light, then turned my head and spat on the ground.

🔹🔹🔹

The surroundings were silent. The remaining magical beasts had also disappeared.

Proof that the Great Demon’s connection had been completely severed. The summoning circle in the cave created by the High Priest would probably have disappeared as well.

I had closed another Catacomb, but there was no time to hesitate.

The Stone Mountain is vast. There would still be remnants scattered throughout, including Beastmen who hadn’t been completely eradicated.

Now that they had lost their center, they wouldn’t be able to reorganize and threaten the Great Forest, so there was no need to search this vast Stone Mountain and painstakingly deal with them one by one.

Therefore, the wise decision at the moment was to leave immediately before being discovered by the beasts and causing trouble.

Now that the summoning circle and its supporting elements had disappeared, there was nothing to gain in this beast’s nest.

Ah.

Of course, it wasn’t entirely empty. In this silent nest, the most valuable reward from the Catacomb was scattered on the ground.

Sweep.

I slowly moved my steps and reached out towards the High Priest’s corpse.

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