Chapter 625
Simon, who had secretly prepared a holiness magic circle in the park restroom, stepped outside.
He strolled leisurely as if on a walk, then, when no one was looking, he naturally spread holiness magic across the park floor.
Feigning nonchalance, he kept walking, maintaining some distance from the spot while quietly observing the people around.
‘The moment people react is what matters most.’
Ten seconds left.
Simon’s heart pounded violently.
‘Focus.’
Fwoooosh!
From the ground, the magic circle erupted in a dazzling radiance, letters of light rising into the air.
Since it was midday, the effect wasn’t that dramatic. Some ordinary citizens who caught sight of it assumed it was just another event hosted in Keyzen and didn’t think much of it.
“…….”
But someone’s reaction was different.
Simon fixed his gaze on a person in the park. The hood was pulled low enough to obscure their face, but the trembling shoulders and stiffened movements betrayed unmistakable shock.
The words Simon had inscribed were none other than:
[You have been detected by a necromancer. Run away immediately.]
That person didn’t panic or dart their eyes around. Instead, they simply pulled the hood lower and rose to leave the area.
But to Simon’s eyes, that only looked more suspicious.
“Excuse me.”
Simon boldly stepped forward and called out. The figure froze mid-step.
“I’m from the student council.”
Simon revealed his student council armband. Slowly, the person turned to face him.
“What is this about?”
A young woman’s voice.
It was none other than Ever Kire, the female cultist suspect rumored to have infiltrated Keyzen. Simon spoke tensely.
“A report regarding explosives has been filed to the Keyzen authorities. I’ll need your cooperation to verify.”
“……Explosives?”
“Yes. It won’t take long. I ask you to accompany me as a witness.”
“There seems to be some kind of misunderstanding.”
She answered softly, then spread open her robe.
“I am Anna Shalmont, daughter of the Shalmont household. Here is my identification—”
Simon waited for her to pull out her ID, but a moment too late, he realized what poured forth from her robe.
A blinding flash of light.
<Holy Light>
Fwoooooosh—!
“Khk!”
It felt as if his entire body was being seared under the blazing sun.
While Simon flinched and tried to shield his face with his arm, a new sphere of white light blasted into his chest.
<Holy Buster>
Babababababang!
Simon’s body was flung several meters before tumbling across the ground. The woman who claimed to be Shalmont immediately spun around and bolted. Startled by the sudden explosion, the bystanders screamed and fled.
‘That was definitely…!’
Grimacing hard, Simon raised his head.
‘White magic!’
And she had attacked first, despite him identifying himself as a student council member.
There was no need to hesitate.
“Kajan!!”
At Simon’s call, Kajan, who had been waiting in the trees, leapt down. He rushed in with the ferocity of a wild beast, swinging his arm from behind.
Whoosh!
But the woman dodged it with a mere tilt of her head.
‘She avoided Kajan’s ambush that easily?’
She stretched out her arm again, unleashing another volley of Holy Busters. Horrified, Kajan leapt back to create distance.
A necromancer struck directly by white magic could suffer lethal injuries.
“Kajan! Keep after her!”
The woman fled, and Kajan gave chase. Simon kicked off a wall, sprinting to close the distance in an instant.
He caught a glimpse of her face, glistening with cold sweat as she glanced back at him. Her expression read: ‘How is a necromancer still moving?’
“Stop right there!”
Simon raised his index finger, and bones floated into the air before shooting forward like arrows.
Fwoooosh!
But with a single flicker of light from her arm, the bones spun out of control, crashing to the ground beyond his command.
‘As expected.’
Inherently, battles against priests placed necromancers at a disadvantage. Simon judged that this chase wouldn’t end quickly and began preparing Chaos Magic.
“This is K-1! Pursuing a fugitive suspected to be Ever Kire!”
Kajan shouted into the communication crystal, his voice urgent.
“Requesting immediate backup! Priority is cutting off escape routes!”
—Confirmed.
Meanwhile, the cultist sprinted past the park and dove into the alleyways between buildings. Simon and Kajan pursued at full tilt, trampling Darkness beneath their feet.
‘!’
The alley she entered began to writhe as if alive. Bricks rose from the walls, twisting into slender, long-fingered “women’s hands” that lunged toward Simon and Kajan.
Simon gasped and leapt high, while Kajan ducked low to the ground, narrowly slipping past.
Rumble!
Rumble rumble rumble!
When they raised their heads, more than twenty brick-formed arms now filled the alley. Each hand bizarrely wore rings and bore long nails, shapes far too ornamental to be efficient.
“An ability, then.”
Kajan muttered, brushing dirt from his cheek with a sleeve.
“Material manipulation. One of the possible repertoires of Ever Kire’s ability.”
“Let’s go!”
The two of them kicked off the ground and surged forward, the ringed hands swarming to crush them.
“Hrrgh!”
Simon cast Cloud on the wall, vaulting into the air, then rebounded once more, the wall denting as he shot upward at high speed.
Serpentine fingers writhed in from all directions, aiming to ensnare him.
<Hongpeng’s Original – Impalement>
Slaaash!
Simon’s right hand slashed down, neatly severing the incoming arms. He slipped through the gap.
“Kajan!”
Thud!
Kwoooom!
Shockingly, Kajan didn’t dodge into the air but charged straight ahead. His body darted like a paper doll fluttering in the wind, twisting unnaturally at the joints to slip through impossible gaps.
Whoosh!
His feet skimmed the ground as he vaulted, hanging momentarily in midair, his body aligned perfectly upright.
“!!”
Two arms swept by the space he had just occupied, and Kajan unfolded again, darting agilely onward.
‘As expected of Kajan! He’s not someone I need to worry about!’
Simon pushed harder, resuming the chase. Both landed simultaneously beyond the flood of hands, bursting out of the alley.
Straight ahead, the fanatic sprinted, stretching her arm to the right.
“!”
And to that right side—set against the backdrop of the distant sea—civilians were seated under shade umbrellas, peacefully enjoying teatime.
Thoom!
Thooom!
From the ground erupted countless clawed arms of women, their nails long and sharp.
“What the hell?!”
“Kyaaaaaaah!”
Screams erupted from every direction.
“The civilians!”
“Simon! There’s more on the other side!”
Crack!
The arms rising from the building walls tore an entire roof off and hurled it toward the tables crowded with people.
Exchanging glances, the two of them shot forward like lightning, neither one waiting for the other.
“Ah.”
A black shadow covered the surroundings, and the people froze, mouths agape, staring blankly at the falling roof.
Grinding his teeth, Kajan leapt into the air and thrust his fist at the roof.
<Hongpeng’s Original – Boxer>
Boooom!!
The instant his fist struck, the entire roof shattered into countless fragments. Following behind, Simon stretched out his arm, swinging it roughly as though shaking out laundry.
<Bone Armor>
Clack! Clack!
Clack! Clack! Clack! Clack!
Bone armor formed around the civilians’ bodies, and they were lifted into the air, whisked away to safety. The arms clawing from the ground swiped uselessly at the empty space, and the shattered debris of the roof crashed harmlessly to the earth.
“Run! Everyone, run!”
Simon shouted as he withdrew the Bone Armor. By then, Kajan had already surged far ahead, chasing down the fanatic. Simon rushed to catch up.
—This is Crows’ Alastair.
From the communication crystal in Kajan’s possession came a voice.
—We’ve set up a barrier. The net is tightening to capture the fanatic.
—This is Team D. We’ve spotted the fugitive. Moving to engage!
From the chatter, Simon realized that Crows were covering the rear and Kajan’s fellow operatives were joining in. Relief briefly washed over him.
“?!”
But something tremendous was happening.
Ahead lay a rocky zone. From it, colossal women’s hands emerged in succession, their fingers tracing O-shapes, intersecting, crossing into strange formations.
And above them floated a gigantic holiness magic circle, as vast as a plaza.
It was a large-scale white magic—an area attack exposing every necromancer inside to holiness. The arriving agents were helplessly blasted away by the unidentified holy spell.
Meanwhile, the fanatic was escaping.
“Damn it!”
Simon surged forward, Darkness rising within him.
“Kajan! Go around the side! I’ll send a signal through the crystal!”
“You’re reckless, Simon! Wait for reinforcements!”
Ignoring him, Simon dashed straight into the blazing holy zone.
‘If the holiness is this dense, it’ll cover my own holiness!’
The corners of Simon’s mouth curved upward. As his whole body prickled from the searing light, he flipped the switch.
‘I can do anything!’
The Darkness inside him dissipated, replaced by a new surge of power. Now in priest form, Simon plunged into the radiant barrier.
“?!”
Inside, the fanatic, preparing a teleportation circle with holiness, turned in shock.
“Impossible! How can a necromancer be inside a sanctuary spell…?!”
“This much is nothing!”
Simon thrust his fist down into his open palm.
“Too lukewarm!”
From above, a blazing light speared down, striking the teleportation circle. The incomplete formula destabilized, collapsing and unraveling as its elements fell into chaos.
“…What kind of monster are you?!”
Panicked, the priest spun around to flee.
When holiness failed to work, she conjured hands with her ability, swinging them violently—but Simon nimbly dodged, pursuing relentlessly.
[Khahahaha!]
Feer’s clone, watching nearby, burst into raucous laughter.
[To priests, this boy must be a living nightmare!]
The cultist stumbled out of her own magic’s domain, Simon on her heels. Chasing madly, he suddenly found himself surrounded by thick trees and dense underbrush—the Forbidden Forest.
“Kajan! It’s the Forbidden Forest! You’re tracking me, right?”
—Confirmed. I’ll move in first.
Simon kept just enough distance from her, having already begun to analyze her ability. Her power of generating arms slowed the farther they extended.
A rabbit hunt.
Now, time was on their side.
All across Roke Island, Keyzen’s necromancers were closing in. No matter how long she ran, she’d eventually collide with a barrier personally controlled by a Crow-class operative.
‘We’ll catch her, no matter what!’
The Festival of Darkness belonged to everyone.
Anyone who dared not only to disrupt it, but also to commit terrorism, taking lives, could never be forgiven.
Thud!
A loud collision echoed ahead.
‘Kajan!’
Kwoooom!
Boooom!
Trees split, fists and limbs clashed in rapid succession. Simon pushed through the brush and emerged outside.
Smack!
Crack!
Kajan and the fanatic traded blows, locked in a fierce melee. Each punch shook the air, each kick smashed the ground into craters.
A duel of Magical Combat versus Holy Combat.
Thud!
The fugitive suddenly seized Kajan’s arm mid-strike and twisted it aside.
Crack!
Then stomped down on his heel. His ankle twisted grotesquely in the wrong direction, slamming into the ground.
“Guaaaahhh!!”
Kajan screamed in agony. Her knee followed, smashing up into his chin, then she seized his hair midair and slammed him down.
Booom!
A massive crater formed, dirt clouds billowing as the ground collapsed a full level around them.
‘No way!’
Simon’s jaw dropped.
‘She… she beat Kajan in hand-to-hand combat?!’
“I…”
Her pupils gleamed with a dazzling white light.
Ruuumble…!
Ruuumble…!
“Do I look… laughable to you?”
Around them, a hundred colossal arms rose, forming circles, intersecting, twisting into spell formations. Cold sweat trickled down Simon’s face.
Too late, the words of the Saint of Harvest echoed in his head.
—But here’s the fundamental question. Do you really think you can defeat Ever Kire?
Simon forced a pale smile through his dripping sweat.
“…Of course we can!”
Snap!
Crack!
At that moment, Kajan’s body twisted grotesquely at the joints, his limbs wrapping around the fanatic like a serpent.
“Urgh!”
The arm and leg she thought broken were moving flawlessly. Blood dripped from his lips as Kajan roared:
“Now, Simon!”
Flaaash!
Veins bulged in Simon’s arm. He seized the violet spear that burst from his waist and hurled it forward, his stance firmly grounded.
<Simon’s Original – Chaos Spear>
The magic of chaos roared, lancing straight toward the cultist.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters