Chapter 150 : Sin of Greed Cult Leader (4)
Sin of Greed Cult Leader (4)
'That startled me.'
Ian focused his eyes in the direction from which the ray had come.
'If not for the necklace Yuria gave me, my temple would have been pierced.'
The necklace he received from Yuria.
The artifact Corgadin that protects its wearer.
It was a keepsake from Yuria's biological mother, left behind for her, and also a gift Yuria gave Ian out of concern for him.
Its performance was strong enough to block a Grandmaster's strike and even withstand a dragon's breath, but since it wore out and broke with use, it was a consumable artifact difficult to use recklessly in real combat.
Ian didn't want to destroy the keepsake left by Yuria's mother.
But its performance was too good not to use at all.
And he couldn't ignore Yuria's feelings in telling him to use it whenever needed.
So, Ian copied Corgadin with the Authority of Projection.
About five times.
He left the genuine artifact in his subspace, and fully armed himself with the copies on his arms, legs, neck, and body.
Thanks to that, his temple wasn't pierced.
'A brutal spell.'
Two Korgadins had just broken from that ray attack.
'But thanks to that, I found his location.'
Ian had been wandering the snowy field, searching for the Sin of Greed Cult Leader.
He could definitely sense demonic energy in the area, but it was so faint, and with the storm of mana around, it was hard to pinpoint the exact location.
If the guy had just moved or taken any action, it would have been so much easier to find him, but Mobius had done absolutely nothing in this area for over five minutes.
There was also the possibility he could warp away, so he couldn't call his companions who were in charge of other areas.
Thus, Ian walked as slowly as possible, extending his ki sense in search of Mobius.
That's when the destructive ray shot at him.
― Paaaah!
At that moment, another destructive ray flew toward him.
― Swaaaaash!
This time, the ray was much thicker, containing even more condensed magic power.
Not just one, but several.
The guy understood that his position had been exposed, so now that he'd been found, he unleashed his magic power without restraint.
― Kwaaaaaa!!!
A single destructive ray grazed Ian by a hair, leaving a deep wound in the ground.
The force was enough to carve a small cliff into the bare earth in an instant.
― Sizzle...!
― Kwaaaaaaang!!
Soon, the ground scraped by the ray glowed red and, with a tremendous updraft, exploded into a massive blast.
― Chuk!
Ian retreated quickly to avoid the shockwave.
'As expected, even if you know his location, a mage at this distance is dangerous.'
Besides, the Sin of Greed Cult Leader is no ordinary mid-level mage.
He's a great mage who's reached the ultimate state of the 8th circle.
― Whirr! Whirr! Whirr!
Multiple dazzling destructive rays twisted and danced upward like tentacles swaying in the sky—an utterly terrifying sight.
But—
'He's not an opponent I can't catch.'
Ian himself was a peak-stage Grandmaster, at the ultimate state.
On top of that, the guy had fled here in a hurry and hadn't properly equipped himself, but Ian had come fully armed, determined to catch him.
'I'm well equipped to take him down.'
He could devour the guy's magic with the Gluttonous Demon Sword, Vladiark.
He could butcher his body with the Sun Holy Sword, Heliodin.
He could raise his speed to lightning with the Thunder Emperor's Sword, Astrape.
And, with the Emperor of Thousand Swords, Arkazenon, he could handle these three famous swords at once.
― Paak!
Ian kicked off the ground and surged forward.
― Paaang!!!
He broke the sound barrier in just two steps.
'D-dammit! He's coming!'
Mobius responded instantly to Ian's dash.
The distance between them was already less than 200 meters.
'C-crazy! He's fast! Way too fast!'
The distance was close enough to be caught in the blink of an eye.
'If I'm caught, it's over! I must never be caught!'
They say that in a battle between swordsman and mage, distance is everything.
Judging by that speed, Ian was by no means a swordsman of low caliber.
If caught, it would mean certain death or at least critical injury.
'I have to block him first!'
― Whiik!
Mobius powerfully swung his one remaining left arm.
Then—
― Wooooong!
― Swaeeeeek!
The destructive rays, writhing like plasma tentacles, all swung sharply at Ian at once.
― Kwaaaaang!!
It was like the power of a giant wielding a whip.
The thunderous sound ripped the snow field apart, sending snow and dirt flying high.
And simultaneously—
'I must widen the distance as much as possible!'
― Paaaht!!
Mobius leaped vertically, soaring high into the sky.
― Gooooo!!
He tore through the searing air and in an instant reached high above where clouds floated.
'Where is he... Huh, huh?!'
Looking down to locate Ian, Mobius was appalled.
'Wh-what is that!?'
In the middle of the snowy field.
― Shuaaaaaak!!
Vladiark was winding up the destructive ray tentacles like spaghetti and devouring them.
'C-crazy...! What the...! Ha, haha!'
Mobius gave a dry chuckle.
So this was a [Myth++] grade artifact.
He'd read in the description that the sword could absorb magic power, but he never imagined it could do so that intensely and over such a wide area.
'Madness!'
Even Mobius, who had handled all sorts of divine relics in the dimensional shop, had never seen a weapon with such insane performance.
How had such an ultimate divine relic remained hidden until now, only to finally appear before him?
'I must obtain that, no matter what!'
The situation had gotten much worse, but Mobius had absolutely no intention of giving up.
His eyes were practically glazed over by now.
When Mobius got like this, even all the unit leaders combined couldn't stop him.
'Catching him with magic will be impossible.'
If that sword could absorb magic so ravenously, any spell would simply be devoured.
'Then I'll just have to use an appropriate tool.'
― Paat!
Mobius brought up the window of the dimensional shop before his eyes.
― Tik! Tik! Tik! Tik!
― Chrrrrrk!
He quickly operated the search filters, and a variety of legendary treasures were listed before him.
A red spear wielded by a hero from another world... This one, if thrown at the enemy, would twist causality so it would unfailingly pierce their heart.
An arrow used by a legendary marksman from another world... This one would pursue its target until death, capable of penetrating almost anything.
A colossal bomb developed by a scholar from another world... This one would literally vaporize everything within a 2km radius, a true incarnation of destruction.
'The most cost-effective and reliable one!'
Mobius chose the red spear that guaranteed to pierce the opponent's heart.
― Patstsut!
Instantly, the red spear was summoned to his left hand.
― Kwaak!
Mobius was just about to hurl the red spear with all his might when—
― Flash!
"Hmm?"
Something shot up from below toward Mobius.
Incredibly fast.
"Wha—huh!"
― Swaeeeeek!
― Kwajangchang!!!
― Chyaaah!
"K-kkkkyaaaagh!!?"
Something tore harshly past Mobius.
The artifact's auto-shield was shattered in a blink, and a deep slash ran from his chest to his cheek.
"Ah! Aaaagh!!"
If he hadn't twisted his body at the last second at that flash of light, he would've been split in two.
"Ghh... ugh!"
Fortunately, he hadn't dropped the red spear, but the wound burned terribly.
Not just a hot feeling from blood loss.
It was as if his flesh was seared straight to its roots by red-hot metal.
"Ghhhhhh...!"
What did that guy throw at him? What hit him!?
What kind of thing could shatter his shield in a single blow, and even sever all the demonic energy circuits in his wound?
'Grrrr... Still, I survived, lost ten years off my life there.'
Whatever it was, that guy had now lost one weapon.
'Now it's my turn.'
Just as Mobius raised his left arm high, ready to throw the red spear—
― Chyaaaaack!!!
"Wh-what the hell!!!!"
Something that should have flown far away behind, came boomeranging back and severed Mobius's left arm along with the red spear.
"Kyaaaaaagh!!!"
In the end, Mobius lost both arms.
― Swaeeeeek!
But the thing that struck Mobius, the holy sword Heliodin, didn't stop there.
― Sasasasasak!
As if magnetized, the sword curved midair and charged once more at Mobius.
"Ku—kuh! Ugh! Ack!"
It spun like a saw, slicing his shin, lopping off his thigh—completely severing his right leg—and ripped his side, pulling out his innards, and even clubbed the back of his head with its hilt...
"Ghhk...!"
After this unrelenting barrage, Mobius half-lost consciousness and began to fall.
― Whiiiii...
― Flap! Flap! Flap!
His robe billowed endlessly as Mobius plummeted to the ground.
― Paht!
Ian leapt up and snatched Mobius from the air.
"K-kuhk! Ghghhk... ugh..."
On landing, Mobius's state was a complete wreck.
Blood vomited out, entrails spilled in a mess, one eyeball half out, the back of his head crushed and caved in...
"Well cut."
Ian smiled in satisfaction.
For an ordinary human, these wounds would be fatal, but this guy was a demonic human and couldn't die that easily.
As long as he stopped the bleeding, Mobius would last without trouble until they reached the containment facility.
'And especially, his head is just smashed to the right degree.'
It wasn't life-threatening, but his cognitive abilities had been entirely shattered.
'Now I can just take him to the facility, extract his magic power, and pull out his memories.'
The Sin of Greed Cult Leader, Mobius.
This was the moment his life became nothing more than a bag of magic power and intelligence.
* * *
The goal of the expedition, the capture of the Sin of Greed Cult Leader, had been achieved.
After everything ended, the expedition party gathered at Mobius's vault.
It was to distribute the spoils.
"So many artifacts... Just where and how did the Sin of Greed Cult Leader collect all this?"
"Huh. I've never seen a style like this. I can't even tell which culture these relics are from."
Aris, Preben, the Sword Fiend, Roxy, Scarlet, Judy...
The six browsed the vault for a long time as if shopping, picking out or trading any loot that caught their eye.
It was quite a tormenting stretch of time for Ian, who only wanted to grab what he needed and leave.
After they'd finished dividing the spoils, everyone returned with satisfied faces.
"Ian."
"We'll be splitting off here."
Judy and Scarlet said their goodbyes, needing to join the rescue of their blood kin as quickly as possible.
"See you again, Ian."
"Thanks to you, I could get my revenge! Thank you!"
As much as he wanted to go help them, Ian would have to spend time reading Mobius's memories, so he couldn't go with them.
The two left, and the five remaining expedition members arrived at Aris's palace before a full day had passed.
As soon as they arrived, Aris spoke.
"After accomplishing something so big together, isn't it a pity to part ways just like this? I'll prepare some drinks and snacks. How about a simple afterparty?"
― Swish.
― Whiiik.
"...?"
At her words, everyone's eyes turned to Ian for some reason.
As if waiting for him to decide. Why...?
"... Sorry, but I'll pass."
Ian declined the afterparty.
He had to dig into the Sin of Greed Cult Leader's mind right away; there was no time for a party.
"Really...? That's a shame. Aunt, what about you?"
"I'll also pass. I want to rest. Plenty to do tomorrow."
"... Then what about Lord Silence?"
"I'll take my leave as well. I believe I've fulfilled my role."
"..."
Aris pouted her lips.
"When the young master isn't joining, everyone else backs out too."
"Why is that my fault."
"Hmph."
"...?"
"So I guess in the end, the afterparty's just me and Roxy."
― Flinch!
At those words, Roxy's ears shot straight up as she stood quietly in the back.
"M-me...? Just the two of us?"
"Why? Don't tell me Roxy's busy too?"
"N-no, no way I'm busy! It's just... then, maybe today..."
Roxy glanced nervously at Aris.
Aris tilted her head as if feigning innocence.
"...?"
"Y-you know!"
"In that case, please prepare some drinks and snacks if you're in the mood. Go by your preferences... and if you need anything else, bring it. You know what I mean, right?"
"Wha—uh! Okay!"
Roxy quickly bowed and ran off somewhere.
"..."
It felt like a conversation with a hidden meaning had just happened.
Ian wondered what that exchange meant, then gave up.
He had a hunch that knowing would do him no good.
'Let's just focus on the information the Sin of Greed Cult Leader holds.'
Now, it was time to check what was in that guy's head.