Chapter 164: EX 164. Takedown
Shadows bled from the floor like spilled ink, writhing and stretching under Valeria’s will. Her talent bent the darkness itself, shaping it as if it were a living beast, changing its form, hardening it until the air itself seemed weighed down by the pressure. The cultists could feel it.
Weapons flashed into the hands of the demon worshippers as Henry, their leader, raised his voice above the unnatural whisper of moving shadows.
"Do not falter! It is only one heretic against us, the true followers of the true Lord! We won’t fail, no, we will succeed! This heretic will be used as a sacrifice to our Lord!"
The chamber rumbled with shouted affirmations.
"Yes! Our Lord will not let us fail!"
"This heretic dares desecrate our Lord’s sanctuary, blasphemy!"
Their morale swelled, until the floor beneath Henry ruptured.
A black spike shot upward with lethal precision, driving through his groin and bursting from his mouth. His body hung there, twitching grotesquely, a macabre parody of some obscene act. The chamber froze in collective horror. The fierce shouts from moments ago withered into stunned silence.
Valeria’s voice cut through the air, cool and mocking.
"What happened to your puny lord?"
The truth hit them all at once, they were already dead, they just hadn’t stopped breathing yet.
The shadows moved again. Spikes and tendrils erupted in a lethal storm, the chamber filling with wails of agony and screams soaked in dread. For five long minutes, the noise clawed at the walls, until, abruptly, it ended.
Linda, still crouched inside the protective shadow dome, had heard every cry. It was as if Valeria had chosen not to block the sound, letting the terror seep into her bones. When the screaming stopped, relief washed over her. The dome melted away, shadows scattering, and she found herself back on the street. A blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
The street was alive with movement, Federation soldiers from the Defense Branch flooding into the building she’d just escaped. Then she saw Valeria, speaking with an older soldier, her presence like a shard of night in the daylight. When their discussion ended, Valeria walked over.
"How are you doing?" she asked.
Linda blinked, startled. "I’m... okay."
"Good. The demon worshippers have paid for what they’ve done. You don’t have to be afraid anymore."
Linda hesitated, then asked, "What about Henry?" Her voice carried no sympathy, only the desire to know if justice had been dealt.
Valeria’s stoic mask shifted, a rare grin curving her lips.
"Since he wanted to see his lord so badly, I sent him to it."
Linda understood instantly. Gratitude spilled out of her in a flurry of thanks as Valeria turned away. She still had other worshippers to hunt.
As she walked, her thoughts drifted.
’I wonder how Leon is doing.’
With that, she stepped into the nearest shadow and vanished, leaving the Defense Branch soldiers to clean up the ruin she’d left behind.
****
Today, the Federation was steeped in the cries of the damned. From the smallest hovels to the grandest hidden halls, the demon worshippers’ strongholds fell like brittle glass. Idols were smashed into splinters, blackened altars burned until only ash remained, and followers, weak and powerful alike, were struck down without mercy.
Betrayal of one’s own kind left no room for pardon. From trembling novices to the cult’s highest echelons, all were hunted. All were dealt with.
In one of the remaining hideouts, an abandoned throne room stripped of splendor, an old, sickly man sat alone upon a dust-coated throne. His long gray hair spilled across a crimson-violet robe, once befitting royalty. One elbow rested against the throne’s arm, his hand cupping his cheek in an idle, almost wistful pose, as though musing on life’s absurdities.
Yet for all his frailty, an oppressive aura bled from him, an undistinguished might that marked him as something far beyond mortal measure, SSS-rank.
The silence cracked without warning. Two figures appeared before him, materializing like memories dragged into the present: an old man and an old woman, eyes hard as steel.
The man’s voice carried the weight of years.
"We have finally found you, Asmodeus."
Slowly, the old figure stirred, his eyes opening, sharp, and predatory. He regarded the man first.
"Abraham."
Then the woman.
"Sarah."
A faint chuckle escaped him. "You should have told me you were coming. I could have prepared... treats."
Abraham’s lip curled. "Cut the bull crap, Asmodeus."
Sarah’s voice was colder, sharper than the man’s. "You’re going to pay for what you did to our child."
The mirth drained from Asmodeus’ face, his gaze hardening. "Pay for what I did?" He leaned forward, eyes burning. "I sent your son to the true Lord. You should thank me, not condemn me. Do not swallow the lies of the heretics, you are the ones being deceived."
Abraham’s patience broke. "Enough of this. You’re going to die today, and I will make sure of it."
From his inventory, he drew a crystalline seal and hurled it to the floor. The air shuddered as the artifact shattered, forming a barrier that locked the throne room in an unbreakable cage for an hour, one even an SSS-rank could not escape.
Asmodeus’ eyes narrowed. "Is this how you treat an old friend?"
"That man died two hundred years ago," Abraham replied. "You, I do not know."
A dangerous smile ghosted across Asmodeus’ lips. "Fine. If it’s a fight to the death,"
Sarah cut in, her voice a dagger. "It’s only you who will be dying today."
The world blinked. In the same instant, all three vanished from where they stood. A cataclysmic clash erupted, shattering the silence, shaking the earth itself.
****
The clash between SSS-ranks was nothing short of catastrophic. Every movement was a calculated death sentence, every strike heavy enough to level fortresses. And these weren’t just any SSS-ranks, each of them was an Extraordinary talent bearer, their abilities refined to the edge of impossibility.
Abraham moved first, his spear blurring into motion at a speed the eye could barely track. The air cracked from the force, yet Asmodeus met it without flinching, one of his curved daggers snapping up to deflect the thrust in a shower of sparks. In the same breath, he slipped into Abraham’s guard, his other blade darting toward exposed flesh, not to kill outright, but to graze. A single scratch would be enough; his talent.[Deadly Poison] didn’t forgive mistakes.
But Abraham had fought this devil before. His form shimmered, vanishing into nothingness as his [Blink] talent activated. In an instant, he reappeared several meters away, boots skidding across the chamber floor.
That was when Sarah struck. She appeared like a phantom behind Asmodeus, her rapier glowing with a fierce, golden brilliance. Her voice rang out, sharp and unwavering.
"Let there be light."
A searing beam erupted from the rapier’s tip, compressed into a single devastating shot. It slammed into Asmodeus’s back, the impact hurling him forward into the chamber wall. The barrier groaned under the force but held, cracks of light rippling across its surface.
Asmodeus staggered, but there was no time to recover. Abraham was already moving again, spear whistling through the air, while Sarah’s golden radiance surged brighter. The two pressed forward in relentless coordination, their combined assault giving the demon worshipper no space to breathe, and no moment to strike back.
It was a battle where a single heartbeat’s hesitation meant death, and none of them were hesitating.