Chapter 61: Chapter 61: A Sudden Turn (3)

Over 2 meters tall with shimmering black scales and vertically slitted pupils.

I locked eyes with a creature that seemed half human, half snake.

Interestingly, a messy tattoo of tooth marks was drawn on its body.

The moment I saw that mark, which looked like a giant beast had taken a bite, I felt as if someone hit me in the back of the head with a hammer.

Wasn’t that the mark of the God of Tainted Unity?

Originally, I was planning to attack them during the entrance exam, but instead, I killed bishop Pietro, making me their target.

…Did they really sharpen their knives just for me?

No, I probably overthinking it.

An evil God was an evil God because of its evil nature and thoughts.

Of course, there were more than one or two people they had designated as targets.

Those who interfered with their cult were all considered targets, and surely they ran around…

“Shiiik? Found it. Target.”

“Damn it! Everyone, prepare for battle!”

Helena leaned forward, ready to spring into action at any moment, while Vincent drew his sword and pointed it at the creature.

The snake creature, upon seeing this, tossed aside the students it had captured and opened its mouth wide towards me.

Its jaw split apart, widening to an eerie extent beyond what seemed possible for a joint.

“Watch out! It’s spitting poison!”

“You can tell from the pale faces of those who’ve been hit! But the poison isn’t something you can just avoid by…”

Pwat!

Before Vincent could finish, the creature spat a purple liquid from its wide-open mouth. Somehow, the poison spread out in a fan shape in mid-air, heading right for us.

But then,

“Haah!”

“Ugh!”

Helena charged forward with all the divine power she possessed, while Vincent threw himself to the side, rolling to avoid it.

And I…

Swish.

Just got hit.

However, I quickly took out and drank a top-grade antidote potion from my inventory.

Although poison damage would last for a while, as long as I counteracted it quickly, I could withstand it.

Even though the area where I got hit stung a bit, I didn’t feel any symptoms of poisoning.

The stinging sensation was also gradually fading.

“Sh… Shhhhhh?”

Perhaps it didn’t expect me to respond this way. The creature hesitated for a moment, making a hissing noise. But it soon regained its focus, preparing to spit more poison. However, Helena was faster.

“Don’t you know it’s rude to spit at others? Or did you not have any parents to teach you manners?”

While taunting, Helena delivered a body blow to the creature’s belly.

Crack!

“Shaaat!”

The sound of its hard scales cracking and the creature’s scream of pain blended.

Vincent took this opportunity and charged.

“Heup!”

He still seemed to hesitate about going for the kill, so he aimed for the creature’s arm instead of a vital spot.

Normally, this would be a stupid move… but this time, it saved Vincent.

“Shaaat!”

The creature, bent like a bow from the hit, suddenly snapped its neck flexibly and tried to snap its jaws at Vincent.

“Heeek!”

Vincent, having seen the interior structure of the creature’s mouth, was terrified, but luckily, the creature’s head merely grazed past Vincent’s ear.

If he hadn’t aimed for its arm but its head and stood directly in front, he would have been swallowed whole.

It was a monster that continually lunged at the completely frozen Vincent.

“Close your mouth! Don’t you smell the rotten odor from your mouth?”

Helena strongly grabbed the creature’s upper and lower jaws, stopping it in its tracks.

The monster, now with only one arm, desperately tried to shake Helena off, but… could it do so with just one arm?

The righteous divine power specialized in combat elevated Helena’s physical abilities to the extreme.

The incredible strength she exhibited with those slender arms, no matter how many times I saw it, was still astonishing.

Of course, being surprised didn’t mean her magic would be interrupted.

“…I command solid things, sharp things, rotating things to be in my hand. Rock Blast!”

Through her enhanced spirit blade, a larger and sharper rock, spinning, was hurled towards the monster.

Squish… Bang!

With a sound reminiscent of a bursting water pouch, the creature’s elongated waist was cut in two.

Its upper and lower halves were now completely separated. The creature made a faint hissing sound, which ironically hastened its end.

Helena realized the creature was still alive.

She tore the jaws she was holding apart, ending the creature’s life completely.

“Repent!”

Sizzle!

That was terrifying.

But everyone was safe, and one corrupt being had been vanquished.

To be honest, I let out an involuntary sigh of relief.

“Sigh…”

Then, I caught the gaze of a shaken student with an unfamiliar face. Judging by the priest’s robes, he was from the Divinity Department.

Only after seeing that priest, who was part of the ambushed party, did I remember there was one more thing to do.

From my inventory, I took out two more top-tier antidote potions and moved towards him.

“Pop… Pop…”

“Gurgle…”

The two who fell seemed to be severely poisoned as they struggled for breath, but… as long as they didn’t die, it was fine.

As soon as I poured the potion into their mouths, their complexions brightened almost immediately.

Expensive potions were sure worth their price. Money was always right.

Though they were still dazed, at least their lives were saved.

“Th-thank you. The poison was too strong for my divine powers…”

“No worries. Just pay me for the antidote potion later. More importantly, can you explain what happened?”

“Oh, yes. We were hunting Evil Rabbits, and then…”

According to his account, they were ambushed while battling.

Looking closely, I didn’t recognize any of their faces.

Which meant that even if they were Class A students, they were not prominently featured in H&A.

Considering their relatively lower skills and their poisoned state, they were on the brink of annihilation.

“So, you didn’t sense anything unusual beforehand?”

“Yes? Yes… We were too focused on the Evil Rabbits… I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize.”

As he bowed his head apologetically, I waved it off and stood up.

“Are you leaving right away, Brother Yandel?”

“There’s something I need to check first.”

My magic separated its upper and lower body, and Helena split its head… but the creature’s corpse was still fairly intact. Then I examined it.

I only needed to check three things.

Its facial features. The state of its internal organs. And the location of any tattoos.

After roughly aligning the torn head and gathering the scattered remnants from the ground, I was certain.

“It’s an avatar of the vomiting Edmerek.”

“Edmerek? You don’t mean Archbishop Edmerek of the Tainted Unity, do you, Brother?”

Helena said with eyes wide in surprise.

He nodded at her and responded vaguely.

“Yes, we had a slight involvement in the past. That’s when I got to know him.”

Of course, this wasn’t a story from reality but from H&A… Anyway, I wasn’t lying.

Edmerek, who always vomitted.

He devoured every creature whole, but couldn’t digest them properly, so he would end up vomiting them back out, earning him such a name.

Some say it was a curse that he had since he was a regular human, while others say it was a price for becoming a tainted archbishop…

The important thing was that it wasn’t normal vomit.

Unlike Pietro, who was skipped without a chance to show his abilities, all clergymen above the bishop level possessed unique abilities.

In Edmerek’s case, it was creating avatars.

The method he used to create these avatars was truly bizarre, fitting for an evil God.

He would swallow a living creature whole, then vomit it out, producing an avatar that was a hybrid of the original creature and himself.

It was no wonder he got the nickname “Vomiting Edmerek.”

Anyway, this corpse possessed all the characteristics of Edmerek’s avatar.

“First, look at the face. It looks like a chimera mixed with a plain snake and a human, not a snake humanoid. It’s because Edmerek himself is a blend of a snake and a human.”

“Yes. Just by looking at it, you can see the twisted sensibility of the archbishop.”

“Next, the digestive system. Because Edmerek always swallows things whole, his digestive organs have mutated uniquely. The small and large intestines have degenerated, and the stomach has significantly enlarged to store food. The same goes for his avatars.”

“Heh… Now that you mention it, it looks less like an organ and more like a torn balloon.”

Helena, who reacted strongly to anything related to evil God followers, was intently listening to every word I said.

She reacted so positively that I felt like telling her more, but time is of the essence right now.

“Lastly, the mark’s location. These are not independent marks, but they are avatars of Edmerek. Essentially, they are the same.”

“…The mark of the evil God is a trace of the connection between the God and its apostle. It’s only natural that the mark on the main body and the avatar are in the same place.”

She understood me quickly, perhaps due to her basic knowledge.

Seeing Helena’s serious expression, I smiled and pulled out a potion from my inventory.

“What is this…?”

“It’s an odor-removing potion. Edmerek creates avatars that resemble the creatures he consumes by half. If he consumes a human, there’s not much difference, so for combat avatars, he usually consumes animals.”

“And most beasts have a keen sense of smell. I get it. Entrusting the command to Yandel was indeed the right decision. Thank you. I will drink it gratefully.”

“Oh, you don’t drink it, you spray it.”

“…….”

Helena blushed, seemingly embarrassed.

In fact, most potions were meant to be drunk. The odor-removing potion I used when I was with Carla in the dungeon also had to be drunk.

However, having experienced the limitations of disguises firsthand with the overly full Carla, I couldn’t make the same mistake.

This was a spray-on version I had Faye make for me.

There was no need to drink it to be effective, but its duration was short… Well, she could always apply more if needed.

I also threw two bottles at Vincent, who was gagging in the corner since it seemed like he also needed it.

“You spray it twice!”

“Gah… Why do I get two?”

Well, you smell of vomit, don’t you?