Chapter 31: Death | Part 1

*Boom!

With a thunderous sound, the double door opened wide, revealing inside a majestic room made of white marble.

In the center of it stood a huge round table, which was surrounded by people who had been greatly startled by the deafening sound.

As expected of the best bishops, with an order from the Pope also present, each of them began to chant their spells towards the door, which was covered by a curtain of dust that clouded the view.

They could only glimpse the dark silhouette of three people next to a pair of rabbit ears. Beyond that, they couldn't recognize their blurry faces behind the slowly settling dust.

"Hey, old man, have you enjoyed your life so far? Since today will be the last day of your life in this world." A mocking voice was followed by a gust of wind that blew away the surrounding dust, revealing the figure of the three silhouettes, or four silhouettes?

When the Pope saw the figure of Nader, his first thought was, "Impossible!", his eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he took a few steps backward.

"Begin the attack, quickly!" shouted the Pope as he also recited magic spells, causing the tip of his staff in his hand to glow with a golden light.

It was a bit surprising that the Pope could act rather quickly, considering he was in a state of panic. He was aware that by standing still and not acting, the outcome of this situation would not be good at all.

Too bad that, try as he might, from the moment he had confronted Nader, he had already chosen the path that led to his doom.

Nader, along with his three companions, watched the various brightly colored elemental magics streaking toward them like shooting stars in the twilight.

Shizuku's gaze held nothing but calm, which showed the confidence she had in Nader's strength, plus she had the necklace he had given her, so she guessed they must have something just like it.

"Wow, the Pope doesn't seem to have a shred of hospitality, Right?". Said Nader loudly, and even then, when the rustling and whistling of the wind was the only thing that permeated the room, the bishops, and the Pope could hear him clearly.

When the spells were within a few feet of them, he, along with the others, disappeared from their positions.

*Boom!

The spells impacted against the floor where they were before, causing the floor of the room to open up, revealing huge craters formed by the powerful combined attack.

"He's dead!?" shouted one bishop as he prepared to cast another spell.

The other bishop standing near him looked at him as if he were a fool, "You don't think with that combined attack he really survived, do you?"

"But, somehow that face looks familiar..." another bishop muttered.

"Indeed-".

"Shut up and focus! That guy was the heretic who slaughtered our brothers! Besides, he should have died by now, although I don't know how he managed to survive." Said the Pope in a deep, trembling voice.

'I hope Apostle Noint will be back this way soon...' He thought to himself as he looked around the surroundings with his guard up.

The initial panic that twisted inside him faded as he thought that Noint would come to his aid, as there was no way she would let him die... right?

As the bishops screamed in surprise and panic, they increased their guards.

They all knew that Nader was someone very powerful, someone, who was beyond their reach. They were aware that if they did not give their all, they would be no different from the poor sheep in a flock of lambs locked up next to a ferocious and terrifying wolf.

However, they had made a mistake in limiting themselves to furiously searching the ground, without considering looking up, where Nader and his companions had long ago appeared in the air, floating.

Claiming Nader for grabbing Shizuku's slender, firm waist, Yue bit him on the neck; something she always did.....

Shizuku had a slight blush on her cheek from Nader's closeness and embrace. As for Yuki, since she wasn't comfortable on top of Yue's head, who was squirming non-stop, she had switched heads and was now snuggled comfortably on top of Shizuku's head.

Without a word, Nader created a platform in the air with his energy and released Shizuku's waist, but not before squeezing her gently, which caused her to let out a small squeak.

"What was that for...?" She muttered as she looked with apparent blush at Nader's smiling face.

He especially liked watching Shizuku's serious face melt in embarrassment.

"Hm? What are you talking about?" Nader played dumb and also pulled an indisposed Yue up onto the platform.

"Wait for me here. I'll be back in a little while." With those words, Nader disappeared from his position, leaving the two girls behind.

As if they were competing, they looked at each other for a few moments, when Yue broke her gaze with Shizuku and turned her head to where Nader appeared.

...

"Well then, it's time for the exile to begin!".

"Ahhh!" The bishops were startled as Nader's sudden shout entered their ears from behind their backs.

"Get in position to cast the spell [Hymn of Ruin]!".

Pope's shout quickly snapped them out of their stupefaction. They pulled themselves together and turned as they pointed their batons at Nader.

Pope's magic spell, [Hymn of Ruin], was a powerful formation that could greatly weaken the enemy within the circle. However, unlike the spells that needed magic circles, this spell only worked when several bishops chanted together.

But as always, the chanting of a magic spell, no matter how strong one was in this world, was a situation that needed quite a bit of time, therefore, it was the fatal weakness of mages. Of course, unless that being was like Yue, who didn't need chants or magic circles to cast her spell...

On the other hand, there was the fact that Nader was not one to stand idly by and wait patiently for his opponents to finish chanting their attacks, so he decided to get it over with once and for all.

"Mmm... It would be annoying to proceed to finish each of them off. So..." Nader muttered, and a black miasma surrounded his body, countering his hair that glowed pure white.

Pointing forward with his hand surrounded by the same darkness, which made him look like the devil's hands, round, dark portals the size of a human appeared above each of the bishops.

The terrifying scene of the dark space opening above them, along with the dark tentacle-like chains protruding from within them as they writhed, frightened them greatly.

At that moment, they had no choice but to break the chant of the spell they were trying to execute to run for their lives. However, to their despair, as if they had a conscience of their own, wherever the bishops tried to run, the portals with the tentacles chased them.

The Pope, who always remained serene and calm, could not help but curse aloud.

However, when he saw Nader's defenseless back, his eyes flashed with cruelty, and he showed not a shred of mercy as he intoned his most powerful spell made of fire to hurl it towards Nader.

With a mighty roar, a fireball tens of meters long was hurled at incredible speed towards Nader. The Pope did not care in the least about his allies who were close to Nader.

In his eyes, the bishops were a mere pawn that he could replace at any time with other pieces that would be useful to him. The only thing going through the Pope's mind at that moment was to finish off the enemy in front of him, no matter how many lives of his allies he sacrificed.

Mistakenly believing that Nader did not have enough time to react and dodge his attack, the Pope's face distorted into a smile of pleasure and joy.

*Booooom!

When the fireball hit Nader's back, the room shook and trembled fiercely, as if a hammer weighing several tens of tons had struck the floor.

On the floating platform, where the girls stood, Yue stared with a stoic expression at Shizuku, who had her hand tightly clenched into a fist to the point that her palms paled from the lack of circulation of her blood.

"... Do you have that little confidence in him?".

"Huh? Ah, no. I know he's extremely strong, but...", Shizuku replied instinctively and looked at Yue's face before questioning, "Do you think he'll be alright after receiving that powerful attack?".

Even she, who was about twenty meters above the attack, could clearly feel the embracing heat of the fireball launched by the Pope. Just imagining how Nader would feel at the center of the attack made her heart clench. However, with her weak strength, she would not be able to contribute anything in the battle.

Yue, as always, stood proud of Nader and puffed out her small chest proudly as she pointed with her stoic face, "Mmm... Even if the previous attack turned out to be hundreds of times more powerful, Nader could easily solve it..."

"Kyu..."