Chapter 347: Crush the Mad Cult! 3

Crush the Mad Cult! 3

* * *

Emi, who had suddenly interrupted the cult ‘Purple Dual Rings’ ritual of slaughter, using her terrifying, extending and contracting 【Black Arms】 to instantly punch and kill the cultist, Dark Believer.

“How dare you…… How dare you, to our comrade, Dark Believer!!”

‘Purple Dual Rings’ wouldn’t just stand there and watch such an outrage.

Immediately, one of the cultists, enraged, jumped in front of Emi!

“He was an excellent believer who had killed many people and was going to kill many more! He should never have died here!”

Shouting that, he ripped off his robe, revealing his well-trained upper body. His name is Murder Monk.

He was a giant, easily over 2 meters tall!

“Hey brat, prepare yourself! This is revenge for Dark Believer! I’ll deliver your soul to our noble god right now! Uwaaaaah, Muscle, Muscle!!”

Murder Monk raised both arms towards the sky and then struck a pose, slightly bending his knees and flexing his biceps.

And then, what happened next was!

BOKO-BOKO-BOKOHHH!!

With such a sound, his already bulging muscles rapidly pumped up!

His body instantly swelled to almost twice its size!

Like a muscle balloon!

“GUHAHAHAHAHーーー!! This is my special ability, 【Super Body Strengthening】!!”

Murder Monk laughed triumphantly, looking down at the petite Emi!

“My muscles are now as strong as a dragon, as fast as a dragon, and as hard as a dragon! Now, scream, despair! I’ll tear off your limbs, trample you endlessly, crush you, and kill youーーー!!”

What a terrifying threat!

Murder Monk, after shouting that, his expression twisted into a crazed grin filled with anticipation for the joy of killing, leaped towards Emi with great force!!

“…………”

Emi, with an expressionless face, used her right 【Black Arm】 fist, which she had floating in the air, to punch Murder Monk.

“Go”

Murder Monk couldn’t react to the speed of 【Black Arm】. He let out a single scream, his body crushed into a grotesque shape, and was blown away.

He crashed into the stone wall next to Dark Believer, and died.

“…So noisy, all that jumble of muscles and only all talk.”

That was Emi’s impression of Murder Monk.

“Haa…… Seriously, what a naughty girl you are.”

“…………”

Click, click, click. With the sound of heels echoing on the cobblestones, the beautiful female cultist Bloody Saint stepped forward.

Her languid eyes flickered as she brushed her hair back, and she faced Emi.

“But, you’re being a little too rough. Why don’t you be a little more ladylike?”

And then, she spread her palms towards Emi.

The next moment!

“!?”

A translucent membrane-like object formed around Emi!

Emi knew what this membrane-like object was.

Because she had seen something similar before.

“Is this…… a 【Barrier】?”

“Oh my, you know about it? I used to work for the Holy Maiden Consortium on the Fantasy Continent. I’m a 【Barrier】 user, you see.”

When Emi lightly tapped the translucent membrane with her back fist, it made a solid sound.

Contrary to its bubble-like appearance, this 【Barrier】 seems to be quite hard.

“Ufufu, you’re a caged bird now. My 【Barrier】 has a proven track record of withstanding a stampede of tens of thousands of monsters! It will never break, so give up your futile resistance.”

Bloody Saint approached Emi through the 【Barrier】, crouched down to meet her gaze, and smiled sweetly.

“Oh, well done, Bloody Saint!”

“Pope-sama will be here soon! We’ll leave this brat’s disposal to Pope-sama!”

“Yes, that’s a good idea…… But, I really wanted to release some monsters inside the 【Barrier】 and enjoy watching them fight to the death, as usual……”

“That’s a no-go. Remember what happened when the monsters went on a rampage on the way here and almost destroyed the Blood Grail of Carnage? And this is in the middle of town, you know? Where are you going to get monsters from? Hahaha.”

Having sealed the dangerous monster that suddenly appeared with a 【Barrier】, they let their guard down, and the cultists began to banter and laugh.

But.

Bam!!

Bam, bam, bam!!

Hearing the sudden sound coming from the 【Barrier】, they all turned their heads!

There they saw Emi, punching the membrane of the 【Barrier】.

Over and over again, relentlessly.

She kept punching!

“Oh my, oh my, oh my! I told you it was useless! How unsightly! Ufufu!”

Bloody Saint looked lovingly at Emi, who was frantically punching the 【Barrier】.

She’s always loved watching humans desperately fight.

Especially adventurers who fight to protect towns from surging monster stampedes, and then die, are her favorites.

Deliberately excluding adventurers who are exhausted and trying to retreat back into town from the 【Barrier】, throwing them into the hordes of monsters, making them despair and die.

That was her greatest pleasure during her time at the Holy Maiden Consortium.

“Come on, keep going, keep going!”

Emi punched the 【Barrier】, punched, punched, punched!

Bloody Saint cheered her on with a beautiful smile.

“You’re almost there! A little more and you’ll be able to get out!”

And she encouraged Emi.

Even though she thought it was impossible.

(Oh, more, more! Struggle more! Thrash around pathetically! And finally, that beautiful face of yours…… distorted in despair……!!)

Bloody Saint, her cheeks flushed, watched Emi’s struggle with an ecstatic expression.

It was truly a blissful moment!

But…… however!

Crack!!

With that sound, her happy time came to an end.

She looked.

At the 【Barrier】 that Emi had been punching.

At the 【Barrier】 that had withstood the attacks of tens of thousands of monsters.

……There was a crack.

“RAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

Emi didn’t stop punching the 【Barrier】!

She kept punching at the same pace, gradually widening the crack!

“Haaaaaaaah!?”

Bloody Saint’s eyes and mouth widened in shock!

Her 【Barrier】, which had never been broken before, is now!

About to be destroyed!?

“N-No, no, no! Noーーー!!”

Bloody Saint hurriedly pointed both palms towards Emi again, pouring mana into the 【Barrier】!

The crack in the 【Barrier】 quickly repaired itself, returning to its original appearance.

“…………”

Seeing that, Emi stopped punching the 【Barrier】.

“U-Ufufu! Ahahahaha! Too…… baaad! Did you think you could get out? Did you think you could get out!? There’s no way I’d let you out, you idiotーーー!!”

Bloody Saint, wiping sweat from her forehead, burst into laughter, mocking Emi!

“…………”

Emi.

Silently watched her, with an expressionless face.

……And once again, she slightly lowered her hips and assumed a fighting stance.

“Haaaaaaaah? Again? You’re still going at itーーー? Don’t you understand it’s uselessーーー? You’re really an idiot, aren’t youーーー? Are those crickets over there smarter than youーーー?”

Provoke, provoke!

Chuckling, Bloody Saint continued to provoke the monster inside the 【Barrier】!

After all, this monster is expressionless!

She wants to see a more frustrated face!

She wants to make her despair!

From her safe zone, with the mentality of tormenting a beast in a cage, she continued to provoke Emi with a broad smile!

But!

Her composure didn’t last long.

Because Emi, once again, began punching the 【Barrier】.

And this time.

At a speed several times faster than before.

……At a blinding speed!!

“RAAAAAAAAAAH!!”

And that’s not all!

Unlike before, this time Emi was also using the deformed 【Black Arms】 extending from her shoulders, attacking the 【Barrier】 with a number of blows that was incomparable to before!

Crack!

Crack, crack, crack!!

Moreover, the power of each blow was not inferior to before, but rather, increasing!

Therefore, cracks quickly began to appear in the 【Barrier】!

“No way!? You’re kidding meーーー!?”

Bloody Saint desperately poured mana into the 【Barrier】, but it was a futile effort!

The crack in the 【Barrier】 quickly widened, and finally!

BAKIIIIIIII!!

With such a high-pitched sound, it shattered and vanished into thin air!

“Ah, a-hiii……”

Bloody Saint, petrified with fear, fell on her butt and scrambled backwards.

The monster was slowly approaching her.

“Th-This isn’t right! This is wrong! I, I was threatened……!”

Bloody Saint, with tears welling up in her eyes, pleaded for her life even at this point.

But, however, she.

Made eye contact with the monster and realized that her efforts were meaningless.

Because the monster’s dark, jet-black eyes.

Were the same as theirs.

They didn’t care about taking lives.

That’s the kind of cold eyes they were.

And then, the next moment.

Thump.

Bloody Saint felt an impact throughout her body.

It was the impact of Emi extending her 【Black Arm】 and punching her with a trajectory like a hook.

“Ah……”

But unlike the two idiots who were killed before her, Bloody Saint was still alive at this point.

She instinctively deployed a 【Barrier】 and successfully defended herself.

But, however.

The direction she was blown away in was bad.

Crash!!

With that sound, Bloody Saint hit something and stopped moving.

“Ugh, u……?”

Wiping the blood from her forehead and opening her eyes.

What she saw scattered around her were shards of something like pottery.

Looking closely, the shards were decorated with.

A grotesque design of suffering skeletons.

In other words, this is.

What she had just crashed into and broken was.

The ‘Purple Dual Rings’ Holy Grail.

……The Blood Grail of Carnage!!

“W-Wait……!!”

Looking around, she could see the merchant, who had been on the guillotine platform until a moment ago, desperately rolling and escaping.

She has to escape too.

Because this Blood Grail of Carnage, which feels like it’s made of pottery, is actually a magic tool.

In other words, it’s like a precision machine that needs to be handled with care.

And if you apply enough force to break it.

“No!!”

The next moment!

The Blood Grail of Carnage started shaking!

Crackling, emitting something like lightning, it glowed, and then!

“Run”

Bloody Saint, trying to escape, was caught in the blast, and for some reason, was launched high into the air!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

It exploded, obliterating them both!!!

“…So noisy, all talk and no action.”

That was Emi’s impression of Bloody Saint.

【Holy Maiden Consortium】

The name appeared in Arc 10. (Chapter 163)

For a full-fledged description, please wait for Part 2.