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Chapter 247: The Blooming Flower of Evil (4)

A few days before Ketal met the Mercenary King, as he was preparing to move towards Frederica’s holy sanctuary, there was a sacred place of another god.

The god of harmony, Lupeciana.

Located in a remote region of the continent, Lupeciana\'s temple was very peaceful.

It neither attracted much attention nor caused any trouble.

In the chaotic world, it maintained its influence by cooperating with various factions.

The temple was generally well-regarded.

One day, an old man appeared there.

He was a small and frail old man.

He walked towards Lupeciana\'s holy sanctuarys.

A holy knight guarding the entrance greeted him warmly,

"Greetings. What brings you to our sacred place?"

“…Is this Lupeciana’s holy sanctuary?"

“Yes, it is,”

“Hmm. Looks like I’ve come to the right place. It was a tough journey,” the old man said, patting his bent back.

"Hand it over."

“What?”

The holy knight asked, bewildered by the sudden request.

At that moment, the old man raised his hand.

A powerful demonic energy began to surge from it.

The holy knight\'s eyes widened in shock.

“Evil…”

He couldn\'t finish his sentence.

The demonic energy burst forth, engulfing and obliterating the holy knight.

BOOM!

The entrance to the holy sanctuary shattered into pieces.

The old man leisurely stepped inside.

In an instant, the once peaceful holy sanctuary turned into chaos.

Worshippers screamed and fled, and the holy knights scrambled to take action.

Hearing the commotion, the saint, who had been resting inside the church, rushed out in panic.

“This can’t be! How?”

He felt the demonic energy invading the holy sanctuary.

It meant a demon was attacking.

‘The god hasn’t given any revelations!’

There had been no warnings or prophecies—nothing.

It was a perfect ambush.

Thump.

The saint spotted the demon and gasped.

It was powerful.

The demonic energy surrounding it was overwhelmingly thick.

The demon appeared as a frail old man with small brown horns on his head.

“…The Demon of Design!”

A formidable demon who had made a name for himself during the Holy Demon War.

The saint\'s head spun with anxiety.

This was an opponent they couldn’t defeat even with all their strength.

But the saint gritted his teeth and shouted defiantly,

“How dare a demon invade our holy sanctuary! You will regret this!”

His words were not out of arrogance.

The demon had entered the holy sanctuary with blatant disregard.

In the gods\' domain, the believers\' strength was amplified, while the power of demons was diminished.

It was like a human trying to fight a mermaid underwater.

‘Even if it’s the Demon of Design!’

The Demon of Design was on par with the demon Rubitra.

The Church of Kalrosia had managed to fend off Rubitra, the demon of dark magic.

If they could do it, so could they.

“Everyone! Surround the demon!”

“Yes!”

The holy knights and clerics responded, encircling the demon.

The demon merely watched them indifferently.

“Everyone, pray!”

“Lupeciana!”

“The strength of unity is greater than anything!”

A resonant hum filled the air as the power of the clerics and holy knights synchronized.

The god of harmony.

Lupeciana’s power allowed her followers to harmonize their strengths and reach greater heights.

All the worshippers within the holy sanctuary synchronized their power with the saint, who even used the sacred scripture to amplify it.

“Whew!”

A tremendous power surged through the saint’s body.

The saint felt exalted by the immense strength he had gained within the holy sanctuary, wielding both divine power and the sacred scripture.

“Evil one! Return to your world!”

He shouted as he charged toward the demon, full of confidence.

But there was something he didn’t know.

The Church of Kalrosia hadn’t defeated Rubitra with their own power.

“You’re trying so hard,”

The demon said, almost playfully, extending his hand.

A tear in the air appeared, revealing what looked like a massive cannon.

Then, the cannon fired.

A powerful dark projectile shot toward the saint.

He tried to push it away with his divine power.

Crunch.

But it was impossible.

The divine power was literally crushed.

The projectile of demonic energy pierced through the saint\'s body.

He staggered, his body riddled with holes, and then collapsed.

With that, the battle was over.

The worshippers stood in stunned silence.

At first, they couldn\'t comprehend what had just happened, but soon they realized.

The saint had been defeated.

In a single blow.

“Ah…”

“Aaaahhh!”

The worshippers screamed, descending into panic.

One of the elders stammered and desperately shouted,

"Everyone! Kill the demon! Avenge the saint!"

“Waaaahhh!”

The holy knights charged forward with desperate cries.

The demon chuckled softly and waved his hand.

Dozens of long rods formed around him.

Bzzzzt!

Dark beams shot out from the rods, piercing through everything in their path.

The earth was obliterated, and the holy sanctuarys crumbled.

“Lupe…”

The elder who had called for the fight was erased the moment the light touched him.

The demon stepped forward, and as his foot touched the ground, a black hammer materialized beneath him.

The hammer shot up into the sky and then crashed down.

BOOOOM!

The earth erupted, and debris scattered everywhere.

The holy knights were buried in the rubble, losing their lives.

It was truly a scene from hell.

But the gods merely watched them with pity.

In a twisted world, it was difficult for gods to intervene directly on Earth.

They could if they wanted to, but those who did were either broken or loved the world more than themselves.

Unfortunately for the worshippers, Lupeciana was not one of those gods.

“Aaaahhh!”

“We can\'t win!”

The worshippers screamed as they fled.

The old man paid no attention to those escaping as he walked towards the center of the holy sanctuarys.

“Everything went smoothly. I was worried that some strange barbarian, like with Rubitra, would show up and interfere, but thankfully, that didn\'t happen.”

He muttered to himself as he carefully pulled something out of his coat.

It was a pink seed.

The old man carefully planted the seed in the ground as if it were a priceless gem.

And then he whispered softly.

“Bloom.”

Fwoooom!

A massive flower bud sprouted forth.

It was large enough to engulf the entire holy sanctuary and more.

Worshippers who touched the flower as they fled were instantly erased.

As the flower bud rose, the earth and the area began to change.

The divine nature of the holy sanctuary, once protected by divine grace, slowly became distorted.

The land began to be tainted by evil.

In an instant, the space turned black.

Lupeciana\'s holy sanctuary transformed into a demon\'s territory.

And so, the temple of the god of harmony, Lupeciana, was destroyed.

The flower bud slowly began to close.

The old man knelt and spoke in a low voice.

“I pray that you will bloom fully and trample this world. You will reveal yourself on this earth when the flower blooms completely.”

The old man was among the most powerful of the named demons.

At least, among all the demons that had shown themselves on Earth, none were stronger than the old man.

Yet his attitude towards the flower was extremely humble.

He treated it as if he were a servant before his master.

“I will protect you from the filth of this world until you bloom.”

Rumble.

The power of Karvaraks, the Demon of Design, activated.

A black wall rose from the ground, surrounding and protecting the closed flower bud.

Above it, weapons began to form.

Black magicians, who had been hiding in the shadows, also appeared.

An evil fortress was taking shape.

* * *

A few days later.

Ketal told the Mercenary King that he would accompany him to the fallen holy sanctuary of Lupeciana.

The Mercenary King was taken aback.

“Are… Are you sure? It’s quite a long distance.”

“Of course. A god’s holy sanctuary has been invaded and occupied. Isn’t this a situation where help is needed?”

“Well… That’s true…”

The Mercenary King hesitated.

Ketal\'s words were logically sound, but hearing them from him somehow felt odd.

But it wasn’t a major issue.

The Mercenary King quickly gathered his thoughts and said,

“If you help, we’d be incredibly grateful!”

There was no denying that Ketal was on their side.

He had helped them and protected Kalosia\'s holy sanctuary and aided the elves.

Ketal was a strong hero.

He possessed the power to survive against gods.

He was also the contractor of Piego, a being of equal strength.

With someone like him on their side, victory would be much easier.

Ketal smiled faintly.

“Good! Shall we head out immediately?”

"Let\'s rest for a day before we proceed."

The Mercenary King had come straight from the Mercenary Guild without resting.

He needed to take a break for at least a day.

Ketal nodded in understanding.

"Then let\'s depart tomorrow morning. I\'m counting on you once again."

"Yes."

The Mercenary King nodded.

After that, Ketal went to find Liltara.

"It seems we\'ll be leaving tomorrow."

"Where are you going?"

"I heard that demons have occupied a holy sanctuary of a god. We\'ve decided to go help."

"Is that so..."

Liltara gave a bitter smile.

"…No. I should be grateful for the opportunity. I’ll do my best."

"Do your best. I hope we\'ll meet again someday."

"I would prefer not to."

Ketal bid Liltara a final farewell.

And the next day.

They departed for the holy sanctuary of Lupeciana.

The holy sanctuary of Lupeciana was located on the outskirts of the continent.

It was a considerable distance away.

Since it had been several days since the demons had invaded, there was no time to waste.

They moved without rest.

To the extent that in half a day, they had covered about half the distance.

It was a journey that was not easy even for the Mercenary King.

"…Can we take a short break?"

The Mercenary King spoke, sounding exhausted.

Ketal, who was running ahead, stopped.

"Understood."

"Phew, phew."

The Mercenary King exhaled heavily.

Sweat was beading on his cheeks.

He was of superhuman caliber, at the highest level.

He possessed the stamina to run nonstop for a week without getting tired, and he could fight all day long.

Yet he had run nonstop at such a pace that he was exhausted after only half a day.

Even so, Ketal was perfectly fine.

He wasn\'t even sweating, and his breathing wasn’t labored.

In fact, he looked at the Mercenary King with concern.

"You\'re lacking in stamina. You should train a bit more."

"It\'s not that I\'m lacking, you\'re just a monster..."

The Mercenary King let out a hollow laugh.

‘This is what it means to be in the Hero Class.’

He was once again reminded of the gap between himself and a Hero Class warrior.

‘…Someday, I too will reach that level.’

Determination sparked in his eyes.

The Mercenary King gathered his strength and stood up.

They continued their journey.

The Mercenary King pushed himself to his limits to keep up with Ketal, and as a result, they soon approached their destination.

Finally, they arrived.

At the holy sanctuary of Lupeciana, which had been destroyed by evil.

"Oh."

"…A flower."

Ketal showed a look of interest.

The Mercenary King let out a groan.

"A flower… is there."

There was an enormous flower bud at the site that used to be sacred.

Even though it was closed, its size was large enough to devour the entire holy sanctuary.

If it were to bloom, it would literally fill the plains.

And there were thick walls, mechanisms, and weapons protecting that flower.

Monsters, black magicians, and demons could be seen.

It was a perfect stronghold of evil.

A little distance away from this stronghold of evil, there was a small outpost.

"That\'s it."

It was a place where the forces of the continent had gathered to confront the stronghold of evil.

"Let’s go."

"Understood."

Ketal smiled brightly as they moved.

As they approached the outpost, a priest came forward.

"Who are you… Oh?"

The priest widened his eyes when he saw the Mercenary King.

"Mercenary King?"

"Archbishop of the Earth Mother. It\'s been a while."

The Mercenary King responded.

The priest before him was the Archbishop of the Earth Mother.

The Archbishop greeted the Mercenary King warmly.

"It\'s been a long time! Mercenary King! You’ve joined us!"

"With the continent in crisis, I couldn\'t just stand by."

"You make us feel much more secure. With you here, there shouldn’t be any major problems!"

The Archbishop was genuinely delighted.

It was a natural reaction.

Someone of superhuman caliber, at the highest level, was rare even on the continent.

If such a person joined, it could change the entire course of the battle.

The Archbishop glanced slightly at the Mercenary King\'s side as he rejoiced.

"And that… person beside you is?"

He looked at Ketal.

The Mercenary King replied.

"A Barbarian. Ketal."

"Ketal?"

The Archbishop pondered the name momentarily, and then his eyes widened.

"…Could it be? Hold on. Is it the person I’m thinking of?"

"Yes."

"My goodness."

The Archbishop swallowed hard.

It was clear that he knew exactly who Ketal was.

He quickly regained his composure and bowed respectfully.

This was an extremely high position for an Archbishop of the Earth Mother’s Church. Combined with the church’s influence, even the king of a nation would have to show utmost respect before the Archbishop.

To put it simply, even the King of Denian, Barbosa, would lower himself before the Archbishop.

The Archbishop had that level of power and authority.

But here he was, lowering himself before Ketal.

As if he had met someone even greater. T

he Archbishop spoke humbly.

"Ketal, sir. Your reputation precedes you. It is an honor to meet you."