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Chapter 70

“Do it.”

The priest might have been whispering, but he wasn’t quiet enough.

He must be up to something since he didn’t angrily shout that out loud.

Perhaps following his order, the mages that were standing behind the priest suspiciously disappear behind a crowd of people and then unleashed a magic spell at me.

They totally waited to pounce! But then instantly...

“Damn you!”

Celes entered a fit of rage as soon as our duel was interrupted. She scowled at the priest before turning to me.

“Cohgray, watch out!”

I began evading the sudden magical barrage downpour.

Hmm. It was easy to predict the trajectory.

I dodge out of the way as the spells caused many explosions.

However...

‘Stay focused!’

The hidden mages missed me the first time but following the priest’s command, they continued to fire area of attack spells at me.

Just as I was contemplating how to avoid getting hit this time... Celes rushed in front of me and sliced the magical attack with her sword.

“Haah!”

Whoa! That was totally amazing.

‘‘tis a skill by the name of Magic Parry. It is most certainly a difficult one to master, but... fitting for the head of the dragonslayers. She is powerful... for a human.’

Then she pointed her sword at the priest as her anger emanates from every part of her.

“How dare you insult this sacred duel?! There is no contest whether you or Cohgray is the righteous one and anyone would feel the same!”

She kept her sword up and continued to speak.

“You have sent so many to their deaths without a single problem. I had wondered what was troubling you. But now, I see very clearly why you are intent on eliminating Cohgray—for he is able to lift your curse!”

“You are deranged! You wish for a sacred duel with something like him? How absurd!”

“How is that absurd?! Cohgray was originally a Ranger and a powerful one at that. It is only because of our meddling he has needed to master the use of poison! Yet, during our duel, he held back his poison and was still able to match my every move. How else am I to respond to his honor?!”

She lifted her sword above her and pointed it at the priest once again.

“Sir Elfé, representative of the Teachings of the Sacred Yggdrasil of Saint Yggdra! I, Celes Arnold, leader of the Dragonslayer Corps, demand an answer from you! Do you admit to having committed the evil deed of cursing the families of fellow followers of the Teachings?! Answer at once!”

“How dare you accuse me of such preposterousness?! You lowly, despicable human!”

‘Hmm... judging by his words, he seems to be of another race.’

A haughty people? That sounded familiar...

The poison in my system was very tough on my body.

Ugh... my body had adjusted to Veno’s poison and it has been recovering, but my heightened abilities were waning.

My wounds have healed but my fatigue was yet to have fully recovered.

It was rough, even with the passive recovery granted by my leather armor.

“This is unforgiveable! With my authority, I strip you, Celes Arnold, of all title! Now... kill the dragon sympathizers!”

The rest of the dragonslayers had been confused and wavering from the beginning. Now with how the situation had unfolded, they all stared daggers at the priest.

“What is the meaning of this?! Do you lot also resent the truth?!”

“Right now and here, which side do you guys think is righteous? It’s a very clear answer, if you ask me.”

Celes’ comrade, the one whose mother I had helped, spoke to his fellow dragonslayers.

“Ignoring the current situation, who seems more bothered by the truth? I don’t think Cohgray’s party has said anything untrue so far. But more importantly, after watching him and Miss Celes duel, it’s obvious why he fights and what he’s trying to escape!”

“We must protect the one who can save our families.”

“Once he gets captured, there will be no way for us to save him. We must protect Cohgray.”

The whole squad of dragonslayers spoke out one by one, unanimously agreeing to defend us and to stand up to the priest.

“Sir Elfé, if you must arrest Cohgray no matter what, at least first show us proof that he is lying about what you had done to our families.”

“Surely, you can tell that forcing things like this would only grow distrust amongst us.”

“Now is not the time to capture Cohgray and his party.”

“We’re not here for a witch hunt.”

At the end of our duel, the dragonslayers all felt the same way.

Their identical desire to save their loved ones was incredible.

Meanwhile, I considered how to convince them to let me go or how to escape.

One possible escape route was jumping through the hole caused by their magic and to head into the sewers.

“That man is the dragon! Dragonslayers! Do not be fooled by him!”

“Hmpf... even if Cohgray is the dragon...”

Celes swung her sword around and then held it up high.

“... I trust his concern for my family! And that... that is human!”

Then, she swings down and releases a shockwave at the priest.

‘Hmm... the dragonslayers are not all fools. I would have expected them to double down on their religion. I see them in a new light now.’

Celes is an upright person.

‘I cannot deny that. But morals can be corrupted too. Well, she is already being used by the enemies.’

The priest erects a barrier to defend against the force from Celes’ blade.

“You fool! Your foolishness makes my blood boil! Know your place, you lowly humans!”

I could almost see the smoke rise out of his head as he roars out in rage... but then, his trembling ceased, and he looked away.

“Enough... you shall get your just deserts for making such a foolish choice. The heavens shall punish every single one of you. The citizens of Lif’el will know that you brought destruction upon them!”

A large sphere suddenly appeared in the sky, seemingly rolling in place.

I wondered what the hell that was. I couldn’t shake the feeling that there’s a countdown ‘til the thing activated or something...

“Wha—?!”

Then, a blinding light emitted from the sphere... and body parts start to assemble into some sort of monster.

It had the heads and tails of snakes, dragons, and wyverns and a body of what seems to be a dinosaur, altogether about 10 meters in length. The indescribable and mysterious monster stood in front of us.

Bio Corpse Hydra

Veno’s analysis gave a name to what was in front of me.

“What on earth?! No way...”

Celes and the dragonslayers looked at the beast in fear as it horrifically screeches.

‘Hmpf... ‘tis an absolutely ludicrous amalgamation of many fearsome monsters. How preposterous.’

Veno matter-of-factly muttered aloud. His calmness thinly veiled the anger and loathing within him.

“Perhaps you recognize it! Yes, indeed, these creatures are the very ones you have slain, now combined to form a singular weapon! With this living weapon, I need not dragonslayers! How the tables have turned on you lot! Now, perish for me.”

“Talk about letting the cat out of the bag...”

There simply was no way the priest could justify his actions now.

“No one will remember that this happened. That is to say, nothing had happened here.”

At the same time, the towering Bio Corpse Hydra spat out something.

What the hell was that? It looked to be the same thing as the sphere from which it came.

As soon as I could assess what it was, it began to unleash its powers.

Miasma Bomb.

‘Hmm?! Is this the same thing recorded in the memoir of the lass’ ancestor?!’

The airburst miasma bomb detonated in a great flash of light.

But when it came in contact with me... it felt rather soothing.

“Arghhhh...”

“Gaaaaaaah!”

“Hyaaaaa?!”

“Muuuu!”

“Muu-Muu!”

Though I was unaffected, everyone else—including Celes and Arleaf—began to hurt.

Muu had even tried to protect Arleaf with his large helmet.

“Arleaf! You alright?!”

The glow from Karma Blaze was pulsing as it faintly blipped out loud, protecting a small area around Arleaf.

“I-I’ll be—cough—I’ll be fine...”

Everybody in the immediate area was turning paler by the moment.

‘‘tis a Miasma Bomb. It will taint Lif’el and turn it into a wasteland, killing all life within the area.’

“You’re kidding!”

“Elfé, you bastard...”

Celes pierced the priest with her gaze.

“Do you seriously think Saint Yggdra—let alone the whole world—would let you get away with this?!”

“Hmpf. No one will believe whatever you lowly dragonslayers have to say. Not that there will be anyone left alive in the first place...”

“You would wipe out a whole town just to silence them...”

The cool, composed priest scowled in his magic barrier.

Not only did he intend on killing all witnesses, but the whole town.

“You lowly humans still have not learned your place!”

The priest began to explain himself.

“Our duty to restore the world tree remains unchanged. But the monsters and their king that live in the miasma are obstacles to our goal. If we do not exterminate them, how will we ever be able to restore the world tree?”

“Don’t you think that’s a little backwards?”

I worked in at exploitative sweatshop, y’know?

The bosses were always incompetent slave drivers who thought only of themselves, leaving all the work to us subordinates. They didn’t get the big picture.

If the restoration of the world tree is their goal, then do that as you fend off attacking monsters.

Why did they bother going on crusades?

‘Ah. But with that hideous beast, they must be intending to subjugate the world with its might.’

They pretend to want to save the world, but their true intentions are selfish after all.

“Humans are weak creatures... which is why these terrible monsters must be controlled and used as weapons of war. It is more efficient than any sort of possession summoning. And, it never misses.”

He’s not wrong in that Forced Possession Summoning is a pain in the ass.

They barely missed Veno since he is simply too powerful.

‘Utter fools... they know not that their priorities are backwards. How can they claim to protect people by hurting them...’

“cough... even so, we will never give up!”

Celes raised her voice to inspire all those around her.

“Cohgray, you seem unaffected.”

“Uh, yeah... but your comrades...”

“Worry not. This is the path they chose... though they would have never imagined that it would lead to this. Still, I wish to save the townsfolk. Cohgray, do you know of any way to protect one against the miasma?”

I wondered if Veno had any ideas.

‘It shall take time, but it is not impossible.’

“It’s extremely difficult, but yes.”

“I see... then we will do our best here. Please, in the meantime, save as many people as you can!”

“But your friends...”

“...”

Celes kept quiet and stared down the priest.

It seemed as though she never thought of helping them in the first place.

“Cohgray, do me another favor. If you are able to escape, head to Niez in Saint Yggdra... see if you cannot save my sister.”