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Chapter 261: The Descent of the Holy Sword (1)

Two Days Later.

They finally managed to resolve the situation.

All the flowers were cleared, and the damage was contained.

Even the land tainted by evil was restored.

It was the result of staying up for two days straight without sleep.

However, it wasn\'t perfect.

They ultimately failed to restore the sanctuary.

The domain of the God of Harmony had vanished from the earth.

But it was something they had to accept.

In fact, they were fortunate that it ended with only one holy sanctuary being destroyed.

If Floris had taken a step toward the world, at least five holy sanctuaries would have been lost.

After some cleanup, Ketal spoke with the Archbishop.

"How did Materia descend to the earth?"

Ketal responded to the Archbishop\'s question, explaining that she had descended by using Floris\'s body as an incarnation.

"Is that so?"

There was a look of doubt on the Archbishop\'s face.

"No matter how powerful Floris is as a demon, it should be impossible to summon Materia with just that body..."

"Hmm."

Ketal knew the reason.

It was the rift created when Federica opened the heavenly passage.

That rift allowed Materia to descend to the earth.

However, due to a promise with the Mercenary King, he was hesitant to mention it directly. The Archbishop drew his own conclusion.

"Has the world\'s rift grown that large... My God. What is happening?"

"Materia is one of the Four Lords of Hell, right?"

"Yes, that\'s correct."

"What exactly are they?"

Ketal asked, his eyes gleaming.

The Archbishop, calming himself, began to explain.

"They are the Lords of Hell. The true rulers of Hell, and it wouldn\'t be wrong to say they are the proxies of the Demon King."

The four strongest demons.

Those closest to the Demon King.

Those were the Four Lords.

"Their power... is immense."

In this world, the number of gods was not small.

Including minor churches, there are dozens.

But there were far more during the War of the Gods and Demons.

Enough to reach triple digits.

Against those countless gods, the Four Lords of Hell succeeded in holding them off until the Demon King descended.

Ketal\'s eyes widened.

"Four of them held off over a hundred gods? Are they really that powerful?"

"No, the situation at the time was different."

The War of the Gods and Demons was a situation where the gods intervened to punish the demons that had taken over the earth.

It was the exact opposite of now.

Since the earth was demon territory, the demons could act freely, but the gods couldn\'t easily intervene.

That\'s why they succeeded in holding them off.

"But even so..."

They were certainly stronger than most ordinary gods.

With a look of curiosity, Ketal asked,

"What kind of demons are the Four Lords?"

"There isn\'t much information."

These demons had been active during the War of the Gods and Demons.

Extremely ancient beings.

And ordinary people went mad the moment they faced them.

Even those who reached the level of superhumans weren\'t much different.

That\'s the level of beings they were.

As a result, the records were like ramblings left by madmen, making them difficult to interpret.

But by piecing together the information, the power of the four demons was as follows:

"The Crawling Abomination. Necronovix."

The creator of black magic.

"A demon in the form of a withered man. Caliste."

A maniac who only wields a sword.

He was a weak demon without even a name but rose to the rank of Lord through mastery of the sword.

The Sword Demon.

"A demon in the form of a device. Abyss."

The Demon King\'s first tool, a demon capable of wielding the Demon King\'s power.

"And, the Mother of All Demons. Materia."

The only demon capable of conceiving and giving birth to other demons.

"Oh."

Ketal stroked his chin with interest.

"So, the Lord I fought has the ability to give birth to demons."

\'Is that why she wanted my seed?\'

"Floris is likely Materia\'s child as well. Given enough time and the right seed, she could even give birth to demons of hero-class strength."

Hence, her title, the Mother of All Demons.

Such a being had descended to this world, even if only as an incarnation.

The implications were immense.

The Archbishop groaned.

"...I must report this."

Though the Earth Mother Goddess may have already noticed, he needed to return to the church immediately to convey this information.

About Materia.

And about Ketal.

The Archbishop bowed his head deeply.

"Thank you so much. If it weren\'t for you, we would have met a terrible end there, and a dreadful evil would have advanced toward the earth. You are a benefactor of the Earth Mother Goddess and the world."

"I only did what was necessary."

"You\'re modest as well... If you ever need to visit the Church of the Earth Mother Goddess, just mention my name. You will be treated generously."

"Thank you."

Ketal smiled warmly.

The Archbishop hurriedly departed.

He would head straight to the Earth Mother Goddess\'s sanctuary.

Ketal spoke with the remaining people.

The Mercenary King was staring at the rift in space.

"What do you plan to do now?"

"I\'ll return to the guild."

He was the only mercenary who survived.

He needed to return to the guild to explain what had happened.

"It\'s going to get busy."

"The Lord of Hell has descended. This is no small matter."

The world would be shaken.

And Ketal had won against that Lord.

"...This."

The Mercenary King opened his mouth.

"This must be your doing, right?"

Before the Mercenary King\'s eyes was a rift in space, split in two.

A strike infused with the essence of a mystical beast.

The severance of space caused by that strike remained, still leaving scars on the world even after two days.

Ketal nodded.

"Yes. I don\'t know why it ended up like that, though."

"Hah."

The Mercenary King let out a bitter laugh.

He had no intention of stopping at the peak of the superhuman class.

He firmly believed that one day he would reach the realm of heroes.

But seeing Ketal\'s power made that belief not just falter but shatter completely.

‘…No. No, it can’t be.’

This wasn\'t just at the level of a hero class.

It was a power beyond that.

After a moment of silence, the Mercenary King spoke.

“Thank you. Thanks to you, I was able to survive.”

“It’s nothing.”

“Then, if we meet again, I’ll make sure to repay you for saving me.”

“That sounds good.”

Ketal laughed cheerfully.

The Mercenary King left.

Ketal then went to find Cain.

“Master. Are you feeling better?”

“…I’m fine.”

“By the way, what happened to the other disciple?”

“Fortunately, he’s alive. His mind is half gone, though.”

“I’m glad Senior Brother is alive.”

Ketal sighed in relief.

Cain chuckled.

In the past, hearing such words from Ketal would have twisted his heart.

But now, he felt no particular emotion.

Too much had happened for such things to still cause pain.

“…Thank you, Ketal. Thanks to you, I can continue this pitiful existence.”

“Protecting one’s master is also a disciple’s duty. It’s no big deal.”

“That’s a very fortunate duty for me.”

Cain laughed heartily.

Ketal had saved his life.

He had no thoughts about being called “Master” anymore.

“I’m returning to the kingdom now.”

“I should head back too. Someone’s been waiting for me with bated breath.”

“Is that so? Then, let’s meet again sometime.”

“That sounds good.”

Ketal replied cheerfully.

* * *

The survivors were all returning to where they belonged.

Some felt sorrow, some relief at surviving, and others felt emptiness.

“Phew.”

The archbishop was among them.

As he walked briskly, he paused momentarily to rest and wet his throat.

He rubbed his eyes.

‘…For Materia to descend.’

The Lord of Hell had descended.

It was terrifying just to think about.

If things had gone wrong, the entire continent might have had to be redrawn on the map.

But Ketal had successfully reverse-summoned Materia.

It was an immense relief.

‘He defeated it alone, without anyone’s help.’

Though it was only an avatar, the opponent was one of the Four Lords of Hell.

Its power surely surpassed that of an ordinary hero class.

‘…How strong is he?’

The archbishop swallowed hard.

He wasn’t just a simple hero class.

He was something beyond that.

How powerful was he?

Where did someone like him come from?

“Phew.”

The archbishop shook his head as he pondered.

Ketal’s identity was important, but something else was even more pressing.

‘The rift has grown so large that even the Lords of Hell are descending.’

The world was deteriorating further.

If this continued, the gods would move more actively than ever before.

The abode of the gods.

They would intervene in the mortal world from the Pantheon.

“…The Holy Sword might even descend.”

The archbishop muttered.

* * *

A day later.

Ketal returned to the Kingdom of Denian.

Milena held her breath at the sight of him returning unscathed.

“K-Ketal! You’re back!”

“Sorry I’m late. I had one more thing to take care of.”

“No! As long as you’re back safely, that’s all that matters!”

Milena fussed over Ketal, welcoming him.

She dropped everything she was doing and led Ketal to the reception room.

Milena cautiously asked.

“…Did you resolve everything?”

“Of course. I took care of it without any issues. It was fun.”

Ketal smiled.

Milena hesitated for a moment at his words.

“I see…”

After Ketal left, she had deployed informants to gather information on what was happening.

That’s how she knew the current state of the Holy Land of Federica.

The Holy Land was completely destroyed, reduced to ruins.

Federica had opened the Gates of Heaven and intervened on earth, and after an overwhelming force had passed, the Holy Land had been obliterated.

She knew this better than anyone.

“Then, that’s a relief.”

But she buried her doubts deep within.

In this world, some things were better left unexamined.

Instead, Milena asked something else.

“You said you had one more thing to take care of? What was it?”

When she asked, Milena wasn’t expecting anything in particular.

What had happened in the Holy Land of Federica had shocked her too deeply.

She thought nothing could surprise her after that.

Ketal explained lightly.

Hearing his explanation, Milena’s breath caught in her throat.

* * *

Milena was so shocked that she was half out of her mind.

It was only much later that she managed to tell him in a dazed voice to rest.

Ketal took her advice.

He left the capital and headed for the forest outside.

“Hmph.”

There was something he needed to check.

He focused his mind and manipulated the mystical beast within.

Grrr…

The mystical beast let out a dissatisfied growl.

It resisted his control as if it didn’t want to be used by Ketal.

It starkly contrasted to when it willingly responded during the battle against Materia.

‘As I thought.’

Ketal narrowed his eyes.

Now he understood how to handle the mystical beast properly.

A celestial being.

The God of Hunger, Federica.

One of the Four Lords of Hell.

Materia, the Mother of All Demons.

The strongest beings he had ever encountered.

They were formidable opponents even when he faced them with all his strength.

He could only properly control the mystical beast when facing such powerful enemies.