Chapter 140: The Final Battle (4)
Gillingham, the Holy Knight of Sky and Thunder, thought this was not a good situation.
There were four Archdemons, in addition, there were hundreds more demons that had invaded in human skin.
‘All high-level demons.’
They had come here for one reason: to steal or sabotage the essence currently being extracted by the Sages of the Forest.
“High Priestess Isabelle.”
“What?”
“Give up your life.”
“Fine.”
Like Gillingham, Isabel was thinking the same thing.
They must be stopped here.
“Lord Gillingham?”
“Lady Isabel, what the…!”
Pushing the two panicked people aside, the two bet their lives without hesitation.
Advent──
Advent──
Thunder rumbles in the night sky.
The moon’s brilliance shines down on the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods.
King of Thunder
Moon Hunter
Divinity descends in human form. In front of the brilliance, the Fallen Archduke frowned.
“Guards, head to the temple.”
“Archduke?”
The demons of Pleasure and Corruption were puzzled by Quai’s words.
“This is no battlefield for your kind.”
“I will follow …….”
Hundreds of high-ranking demons, excluding the Archdemons, ran to the Temple as they were and Isabel shouted.
“Han Soo-ho and Chun So-yeon are there, you guys help them too!”
“Yes!”
Ha-ri and Jae-hyuk hurriedly chased after the demons.
All that was left was the Fallen Archduke and the four Archdemons.
Quai chuckled.
“One of you doesn’t seem to be in one piece, do you think you can take on us?”
“Oh~ I can crush you with one finger, so don’t worry about it.”
“I see.”
“Kikikik…You god’s minions are always so full of yourselves, but you will pay for you arrogance.”
Quai stretched out his arms and in response, the Archdemons charged toward them.
* * * * *
“Ugh…!”
Soo-ho groaned as he blocked the sudden onslaught of demons.
The shield he had inherited from Isabelle had skillfully blocked the demons’ ferocious attacks, but his own ability to use it had diminished.
“So, So-Yeon, what about you?!”
“Don’t talk to me!”
Together with the priests and soldiers residing at the Temple of the Ten Thousand Gods, they were able to hold off the demons from all sides, but even Chun So-yeon was overwhelmed by their strength.
Eventually, one of the gates was breached, and the demons rushed through.
“Wait, wait! Someone stop them!”
No way. The breach leads straight to the Sages and the High Priestess, who are refining their essence. We must defend this place at all costs.
“Chihihihi…! Die, lowly creature!”
A high ranking demon was about to slash at the gaping guardian with his sharp nails when──
“Who touched my brother!!!”
A flame whipped out from nowhere and burned the demon alive.
“Sister!”
Ha-ri and Jae-hyuk wielded their merciless Holy Laws to annihilate the demons, especially in a small room, where Ha-ri’s Holy Laws boasted absolute firepower.
“Soo-ho, are you okay?”
“Ugh… but the demons have turned inward…….”
“Ugh… Let’s hurry!”
The four of them hurriedly headed inward in the direction of the demons, and the moment they arrived, a dazzling light poured out from the Great Hall.
“Ugh…!”
A blinding light passed through the Great Hall and reached the sky. It was enough to make everyone turn around and look away.
“Ugh, what the hell?”
The four of them staggered under the influence of the light and barely managed to make their way to the center of it, where the Holy Mother Anak and the Sages would be.
“This, this?”
Once inside, Soo-ho saw the traces of the demons.
Demons turned to stone, held captive by thousands of roots. Demons impaled on branches stretched out by the sages of the forest.
-Cut them down!
-Cut them down!
There were sounds of battle from within and by the time the four arrived, the battle between the invading demons and the Sages was in full swing.
“Lord Gunnar!”
“Heh…!”
Gunnar’s massive body slammed into the approaching demons. Wielding his enormity with such violence, the Sage of the Forest is more like a rampaging beast than anything else in this place.
“I’ll join you!”
The four join the fray and defend the sages from the demonic onslaught.
With most of the sages having their essence inscribed in the Lunar Grail, they are the only ones who can protect them.
Holy Art <Wave Strike>
Holy Law <Fire Blessing>
The harmony of Ha-ri’s Holy Laws in indoor combat is absolute as the demons burn and drown with no way to escape.
It was a combination of holy laws they can’t even think of a way to counter but even then, there are monsters that break through from the front.
“Cocky.”
“……?!”
Ha-ri was no match for the iron ball that broke through the waves of fire.
The iron ball was veined as if it were alive, but a shield of light saved her.
-Bam!
A dizzying impact was felt even beyond the shield and Ha-ri’s lips twitched at the barrier-like shield that didn’t go back in the slightest.
“The power of the holy object?”
“Yep. It’s quite powerful…….”
The owner of the shield is Soo-ho and the Light Knight’s shield, which he had inherited from Isabelle, had grown to be huge enough to block the corridor, protecting the entire alliance.
“But…I don’t think I can block it twice…….”
Beyond the barrier of light, there was an Archdemon who threw an iron ball at them.
A huge monster that could never be compared to Gunnar and it reminded Ha-ri of Androzin, the Archdemon she saw in another gate.
“Humans are annoying.”
The hulking Archdemon had burns all over his body, thanks to Ha-ri’s holy law.
“What will destroy you──?!”
It was then that a black flash engulfed the Archdemon.
Unexpectedly, Chun So-yeon swooped down from her hiding place where she had been swept away by the waves.
She aimed for the Archdemon throat with her two star iron swords, but failed.
-Thwack!
The arm of the Archdemon that defended his neck from being blown off was severed and Chen So-yeon clicked her tongue, but the surprise didn’t end there.
They were in a room where thunder can’t pour down. However, a javelin with a tremendous thunder power of its own was thrown.
Jae-hyuk threw the spear, and it pierced through the Archdemon chest.
“Aaahhh…! You rat bastards!”
“Still alive?!”
The Archdemon, whose arm was cut off by the Holy Sword and whose chest was pierced by the Holy Spear, was still alive.
Chun So-yeon shouted.
“What are you doing, why aren’t you killing it?”
“Uh, uh, uh!”
“Soo-ho, let’s go!”
The two rushed out at Chun So-yeon urging and attacked the Archdemon.
“Damn it…!”
The Archdemon panicked and swung his iron ball with his remaining hand, but he was against four knights at the rank of master and was unable to withstand their combined attack.
“Hmph…!”
Ha-ri leaped towards the Archdemon that had been crushed by the pincer attack. The fierce, flaming Star Iron Sword immediately struck the Archdemon in the neck.
-Kaaaah!
“Big…!”
Hardness like cutting through thick steel is transmitted to the hand holding the hilt but it’s not enough to cut through.
“Die!”
Ha-ri gritted her teeth and swung with all the strength she could muster. Finally, the fiery sword sliced through the Archdemon throat, and a gush of blood soaked the ceiling.
“Hmph…!”
“We got him!”
“We’ve got the Archdemon!”
So-yeon and Jae-hyuk’s exquisite ambush, the guardian shield protecting their allies…and Ha-ri’s absolute offensive power.
The four of them managed to deal with an Archdemon, even if it was a Archdemon that was severely injured by a surprise attack it was nothing short of a feat.
But…….
“Huh?”
Across the hall the severed neck of an Archdemon gurgled, drawing attention to itself.
The shadows of countless demons and two hulks of terrifying presence approached.
“Archdemon…!”
“Two of them…….”
There were more Archdemons? Just how many Archdemons were there?
The four of them stumbled back in horror.
[Come inside]
The familiar voice caused the four to turn inward as if running away.
“Holy Mother…?!”
The voice belonged to the High Priestess Anak who was kneeling in prayer, surrounded by countless forest sages.
“Come inside…!”
Gunnar, the outermost of the forest sages, led the four into the nest of sages.
As if inviting them to enter, the roots parted to form an entrance, but as soon as they were inside, Gunnar closed the entrance and formed a nest of tree men.
“Damn Treemen!”
The Archdemons and demons rushed after the four, hacking at the forest sages with axes and burning them in hellfire.
However, they silently withstood the attack and protected the Last Grail inside.
Inside the nest, which looked like it might shatter at any moment, Ha-ri encountered a brown-haired saint.
“Great, Great Sister…….”
The brunette saint greets them with a compassionate smile. In her hand is a Grail with a faint silver glow.
“It is ready.”
The shards of the moon that Isabel, the High Priestess of the Moon and Purity, had risked her life to separate,
The vessel of the Grail, forged by the Holy Knight Antoine.
The Grail contains the essence perfected by Mother Anak and the Sages of the Forest.
“This Grail contains the essence of all the wisdom and knowledge of the forest sages.”
Gasping, Ha-ri marvels at the Moon Grail held by Anak.
The power emanating from the Grail was immense and it was instantly recognizable as a holy object of a different class.
“Holy Mother…….”
“Now we will combine it with the essence created by the Sages of the Forest, and this will be a holy object that must be called…the Last Grail.”
Anak did not discuss the power of this holy object, or the mighty vessel needed to handle it, she simply demonstrated it in action.
“Hurry…up!”
Gunnar’s voice urged and the four suddenly realized that they could sense no source of life from the forest sages.
Their leaves, once lush with seemingly infinite vitality, had lost all their color, and their bark, once thick and vibrant, was as dull as a parched old tree.
“Ah…….”
They had been sacrificed to extract the essence that would be inscribed in the Last Grail.
“Goddess of Light and Justice, your humble servant prays.”
Holding the Grail containing the sum total of the essence, she began to recite the prayer.
“Holy Mother?”
Before Ha-ri can even finish her question, the brown-haired saint finishes with a smile.
“Your absolute justice, your light.
Right here, right now.
Divine Descent──
The next moment, a brilliant light descends upon the Great Hall. The light pierces the ceiling of the Great Hall, and the next moment──
-Kaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
A huge wave of light spread out across the entire city.
It was a truly overwhelming light that could turn all the demons in the area into dust.
“Whoa…….”
Inside the crumbling temple Anak barely broke her stance as the four of them made it safely through the passageway she’d been holding open with her intense light power.
Falling backward, she was embraced by the cracked roots of Gunnar.
“Thank you.”
Anak looked at the parched sages. They had scraped their strength, their holy power, their life force, all into one essence. Now they would never open their eyes.
With all their life force drained from them, the sages are no different than dead branches, and so is Gunnar.
Truly, it was the end of the Tree Men in this world.
“Why would His Majesty change his mind?”
Originally, these powers, these essences, were to be given to the Lionheart King, to focus all their power into the demigod but Leon had changed his plans and Gunnar knew what that meant.
“Proof that the Lionheart has not given up on the future.”
The life force embedded in that essence…that’s what it means. If Leon was going to use the essence as a source of life, not power, it would be for the future.
“I’m glad His Majesty…didn’t give up.”
“He never would have given up in the first place, that’s the kind of man he is.”
Hugged by the withering branches, the High Priestess closed her eyes. Surely, she would never open them again.
But she left behind hope.
A seed for the future would be hatched by the Lionheart King.
That alone made Anak smile.
In the 85th year of King Leon reign Anak Protecia, High Priestess of Light and Justice, Gunnar the Tree Giant and the Sages of the Forest ascended.
