How a Reincarnated Warlock Lives – Chapter 196

Chapter 196: The Fifth Sanctuary (3)

Facing the one who beheaded me wasn’t a bad experience. Perhaps even better than I thought.

Of course, it was far from the exhilaration of encountering a sworn enemy again.

In the first place, my death was according to my own plan. In fact, he was nothing more than an assistant in that plan.

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that the Paladin in front of me was the one who struck my neck.

With the very sword that’s now hanging from my waist.

Crackle. The demonic energy emanating from the orb and the holy light flowing from him intertwined in the air, scattering sparks and flames.

A tense standoff.

Considering the monks of the Cradle who were blown away without any resistance, his power was at a level that no one in the current Church could possibly contend with.

Right. A figure from five hundred years ago reappeared before my eyes. It would be stranger if he were in the same state as he was back then, when I underestimated him.

Whoosh.

The white flames blazing on both sides, with us in between, swayed wildly due to the turbulent air currents.

“Do you know how much time has passed?”

In the midst of the tense confrontation of energy, I lightly spoke. It was a short question, but one that could reveal a lot.

Hiss. He, who was warily watching the thick shadows gathering around me and the crown flashing with red light, opened his mouth.

“I don’t know. But it doesn’t matter.”

I smiled faintly at the Paladin’s answer. That indifferent answer meant a lot. Unlike me, who was completely resurrected by going back in time, he had been staying here all along.

Of course, that didn’t change the fact that his power was at a level that couldn’t be underestimated.

“Well, then.”

The Paladin who couldn’t ascend to heaven, bound to the last sanctuary, becoming a being solely for its protection.

Whether it was by his own will or by someone else’s, I didn’t know yet, but I looked at him and whispered.

“I will remind you of the meaning of your existence.”

As the last words were uttered, several high-level spells unfolded simultaneously from my hand, and the light emanating from behind him grew even larger.

And a huge explosion, caused by the collision of two powerful forces, swept through the square.

🔹🔹🔹

Not everyone immediately noticed the massive explosion.

The square, crowded with tens of thousands of people, was huge, and the people there were cheering loudly enough to shake the ground.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Wh, what is that!”

But it didn’t take long for them to realize that the sound coming from afar wasn’t a cheer at the sight of the wicked black mage’s head finally falling to the ground, but a scream of terror at something that had suddenly happened.

From side to side. Fear spread quickly. In the end, people far away were even pushed by the fleeing crowd without even realizing what was happening in the back.

And where the incident first occurred. Near where the man in the old-fashioned attire stood, it was pure chaos.

Blood and flesh. Corpses in shapes that were hard to even guess how they ended up that way were scattered all over the square.

As if something huge had grasped the invisible air and torn apart the space itself.

“……”

But the face of the man who displayed this great cruelty was stiff.

His target wasn’t the insignificant lives around him. The explosion was just an aftereffect of the magic, a small part of it.

The place where the spell, created by the twisting of the Great Demon’s six fingers, was directed was the sky.

The clear shield of light, formed where the Great Demon’s invisible but fiercely tearing hand reached, was half-crumpled as it blocked the blow.

Rumble─

The trembling atmosphere. The ground began to shake due to the collision of immense power. Soon, fear began to spread throughout the vast square.

“Kyaaaak!”

“Ru, run!”

Serikarad Square, which until just a moment ago had been a festive scene celebrating the execution of the enemy, was now a scene of pandemonium, filled with screams and shouts.

The Church’s leadership was equally bewildered.

The center of the square. The number of people gathered on the platform behind the execution stand was considerable.

Numerous Holy Knights, priests, cardinals, and knightly orders.

The forces gathered to prepare for any possible contingency in the execution of the Church’s greatest enemy, the wicked black mage Astrid Elliger, were substantial.

A preparation that could be seen as paranoid. But no one argued that it was a waste.

Astrid Elliger, the most powerful black mage in history, had repeatedly done things that shattered the Church’s common sense.

Five shining bell towers had crumbled at his hands, and the number of Holy Knights and Divine Knights who had fallen at his hands was countless.

The vastness of the Holy Land defiled by his hand was immeasurable, and the Samarkand subjugation, which ended in a disastrous failure, where they were engulfed by unimaginable nightmares, was an event that was forbidden to even mention.

And finally. The moment they thought everything was over, when they had captured the vicious mage and forced him to kneel under the shining execution stand.

Something happened that mocked their poor imagination, shaking the entire square.

“Th, that wicked villain must have used some trickery!”

An old man, startled by the ominous tremor, jumped up and shouted with a pale face.

The explosion that occurred on one side of the square and the sudden tremor. Seeing the lower part of the platform, which had become a scene of pandemonium with people’s screams and escapes, he shouted to the surrounding Holy Knights.

“We, we must escape from here immediately! Escort me quickly!”

As the Holy Knights, who should have been the first to understand the cause and consider the safety of tens of thousands of citizens, hesitated, other high-ranking priests began to shout.

“What are you doing!”

“Sir Laothir, secure the escape route immediately!”

Hearing the words addressed to him, the Paladin, Sir Laothir, scanned his surroundings with a hardened face.

The black mage Astrid hadn’t done anything as he died.

Of course, he knew that he couldn’t carelessly judge the limits of his magic. But around the execution stand, several layers of holy magic circles, along with a considerable number of holy relics, were shining.

If he had tried to cause a commotion here to take others in the square as his companions, he would have noticed immediately.

“……”

No, in the first place, the sensation he felt in his hand wasn’t a lie. The Holy Sword had struck his neck, and the black mage’s breath had definitely been cut off.

‘Then.’

What in the world was happening here?

“But the evacuation of the citizens─”

“Don’t you realize that the Church will only survive if we are here!”

“Get out of the way, you useless fools! The noble ones gathered here are the ones who should be the first─”

Behind them, the selfish and pointless arguments continued.

The moment a high-ranking priest, unable to overcome his anxiety in the growing tremor, pushed aside a Holy Knight who was trying to control the people escaping in order,

“No, no.”

A strange voice echoed near the platform. It wasn’t a loud voice, but strangely, it clearly reached everyone’s ears.

A man with an extremely pale complexion was standing next to the execution stand, as if he had appeared out of nowhere.

Even in such a chaotic situation, if he had arrived here ignoring the numerous crowd and escort troops, there should have been at least a minimal presence.

But no one here noticed the man’s approach.

Not even Paladin Laothir, who possessed the strongest power.

The holy magic circles and holy relics prepared for the black mage began to tremble pathetically.

“I’m sorry, but my thoughts are a little different.”

The man in the plain black clothes muttered incomprehensible words and approached the high-ranking priests.

“Wh, wh, what is this……!”

“Well, let’s see.”

Snap.

The next moment. As the pale-faced man snapped his fingers, the neck of one of the high-ranking priests, who had pushed aside the Holy Knight and asserted his nobility, completely turned around.

Crack. With a chilling sound, the corpse of the priest, who had died instantly, rolled down the platform.

“……!”

Something no one expected. Shock and horror appeared on everyone’s faces.

“See? Doesn’t look that noble, does it?”

The man chuckled softly, looking at the corpse of the priest who had collapsed in a miserable state, dead in an instant.

The next moment.

Clang. Dozens of Holy Knights drew their swords simultaneously.

“Wh, wh, what is this!”

“Kill him, kill him!”

The terrified priests, the Holy Knights gathering their holy power, the priests preparing their spells.

The atmosphere changed from confusion to hostility. The man with the pale complexion, Pachiencia of Patience, had a twisted smile on his lips as he watched.

“You insolent wretch! God’s wrath will be upon you!”

Perhaps regaining some composure as he saw the Holy Knights blocking his way, another high-ranking priest shouted at the man.

The man, taking his eyes off the ceremonial staff, lavishly decorated with gold and jewels, which he was tightly gripping, glanced up at the sky and shrugged.

“Hmm. Doesn’t seem like He’s particularly angry. Maybe the hypocrites below Him, though.”

“You insolent……! Behead him at once!”

“Be patient, my friends.”

An unknown opponent. As the Holy Knights, their faces hardened with tension, approached the man with their swords drawn,

“Ugh. This place is definitely burdensome.”

Another voice came from the side. Everyone’s eyes turned to the source. A beautiful woman, her face pale with fright, was looking at the high pile of holy relics, as if she had appeared out of nowhere.

An extremely sensual appearance that would tempt any man.

“You’re late, Purity.”

“I have more patience than you.”

The woman in the seductive attire answered with an elegant gesture of greeting, looking at the man who had twisted the neck of the high priest and was confronting the Holy Knights.

Chuckle. The pale-faced man chuckled softly at her playful reply.

Then he turned his gaze to one side of the square, where explosions and commotion were taking place, and said,

“Oh. Industriousness is already here and making a scene?”

Carefully avoiding the holy relics scattered on the floor as if they were filthy dirt, she walked to the edge of the execution stand.

There lay the corpse of the black mage.

“……”

After staring silently for a moment at the body lying sprawled on the floor of the execution stand with its neck severed, she lifted her bare white foot and nudged it.

“……He’s really dead?”

Slide. The already lifeless body tilted to the side with that light push.

Paladin Laothir watched the scene, his breath caught in his throat. He could sense it. Perhaps he was the first to do so.

Fizzle─! Several holy relics near her quickly lost their light, rusting and crumbling.

The phenomenon before his eyes. Their conversation. And an intuition that was almost instinctual.

The identities of those who appeared in this most sacred and glorious place were none other than.

The Seven Saviors of Hell. The Seven Great Demons who gaze upward from the lowest depths of the fiery hell.

Thanks to their conversation, which made no effort to conceal themselves, Laothir even knew the names of these beings.

Pachiencia of Patience.

Amadrid of Purity.

And Industriousness of Industriousness, located far away among the spectators.

“What…… is this……”

A half-bewildered murmur. Even he, who possessed an extremely strong mind, found it difficult to easily accept the situation before him.

Flash─!

But naturally, the Great Demons weren’t the only ones who revealed themselves on earth.

The Lords of Hell weren’t the only ones interested in the death of the greatest black mage, who had reached the farthest point, and soon the scales were balanced.

Without any warning, a beam of light poured down like a waterfall.

“Sloth─!”

A woman’s ear-splitting scream. And with that, the clouds began to part.

That immense power, almost like a pillar, instantly descended upon the two Great Demons on the execution stand.

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