How the Cult Saves the World-Chapter 155

After the short break ended, the intermediate-rank monsters that poured out from the rifts numbered well over ten different types.

'Still, thanks to the knights of Holden and our senior members, it's relatively easy to handle.'

At times, the appearance of some particularly large monsters caused parts of the territory to collapse.

The only fortunate thing was that the damage was smaller than expected.

Whoosh- Bam!

I swung my mace and took down the intermediate-level monsters charging at me.

Sweat streamed down my forehead. Although the weather was still chilly, I was sweating, from all the moving around for several hours.

Before I knew it, the sun was high in the sky. Several hours had passed since I began fighting the intermediate-level monsters without rest, and there were only six hours left until the territory's defense battle would be over.

'If this ends smoothly just like this...'

I sincerely hoped so, but no one knew what might happen in the remaining time.

"Phew."

After eliminating all the nearby intermediate-level monsters, I brushed aside my messy hair.

According to the message I got from the senior members a while ago, it seemed like they had also defeated all the intermediate-level monsters that had appeared in each area.

'Seeing as no more intermediate-level monsters are coming out of the rifts...'

Could it be that one of the Demon God's Children is going to appear again, like earlier?

As I thought this and looked up at the sky, the rift that had formed in the center split even wider with a loud sound.

'What, again? Haven't all the monsters come out already?'

I anxiously stared at the rift. Sweat was running down my palms.

Then, finally, something sprang out from the rift.

'That's...?'

What emerged from the rift was a man, nearly two meters tall, completely black, yet his snow-white hair fluttered at his waist.

He had a black, whip-like tail split into five parts, and a black sword was strapped to his waist.

'That guy is...!'

It was a familiar figure. And I knew very well that this kind of appearance should never be seen here.

The 10th offspring of the Demon God, Keren.

It was definitely him.

'Damn it.'

I cursed quietly to myself. I finally realized why everyone, including myself, had died in the future the Administrator had shown me.

The Demon God's Children had a huge power gap according to their rank. Among them, the ones in the single digits were overwhelmingly strong.

'Of course, Keren is ranked tenth, but...' 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

He was the most powerful after the ones in the single digit ranks. Not only that, but he wasn't as weak as the other ones ranked in the tens, almost as if he wanted to be considered on the same level as the single-digit ones.

He was the tenth offspring, an ambiguous position, but he was as strong as his high rank suggested.

"...That's why the Administrator gave me a buff."

If it weren't for the Administrator's buff, no one would be able to face Keren right now.

Meanwhile, Keren, having stepped out of the rift, looked around as if searching for something. In the meantime, I could see the knights of Holden nearby, looking confused.

[Master! A Child of the Demon God has appeared!]

Plus, even the voices of the senior members coming through the communication channel were also filled with fluster.

"It's fine. I'll handle that guy."

After saying that, I looked at Keren. At that moment, my eyes met Keren's, who was floating in the air.

The creepy gaze, as if drilling, pierced through my entire body. This was because the distance between me and him wasn't very far. Keren smiled as if he had been looking for me. The smile on his pitch-black face was so frightening that it made me flinch for a moment.

At the same time, a dark energy emanated from Keren's hand. The energy immediately charged toward me, and I tried to dodge it.

However, the energy wasn't trying to attack me. The dark energy surrounded me and the area around me.

As a result, I was quickly trapped in a box-shaped black space.

'This is...?'

The black space, which was quite large, also cut off the sounds coming from the outside. The knights of Holden and the senior members nearby were startled and ran toward me, but I couldn't hear their voices.

All I could see was them pounding on the translucent black walls and shouting something.

'Damn it.'

Eventually, the black space I was trapped in began to rise into the sky. Slowly, Keren entered the floating space.

I know very well what technique Keren is using. Although I had only seen it a couple of times in the original storyline, it left such an impression that I remembered it.

'A space where you can't leave until one of you dies.'

I had never seen it in the future the Administrator showed me. If I had seen this, I would've known who invaded the territory.

Could it be that we easily defeated the Demon God's Children, and that's why the future changed?

'No, I shouldn't think negatively. It might actually be a blessing.'

While I'm dealing with this guy, Keren won't be attacking the others.

"So it's you, the one who made my Father angry."

A low, heavy, yet simultaneously cold voice pierced my ears. Even though Keren wasn't from the single-digit ranks, just hearing his voice filled me with a sense of fear.

'It's fine. I've gotten strong enough. And I have the Administrator's buff too.'

I clenched my trembling hands tightly and glared at Keren. He was definitely looking down on me. His black eyes appeared completely relaxed.

"Are you scared? Yeah, you must be scared. You've probably been feeling all high and mighty, dealing with nothing but rat-like opponents up until now, but you've never faced a high-ranking senior officer like me."

Keren looked at me with indifferent eyes and then stretched his hand upward toward the sky.

It was then. Except for the central rift where Keren emerged, the other four rifts began to release the Demon God's Children.

"What on earth...?!"

Surprised, I widened my eyes and looked up at the sky. The Demon God's Children that appeared from the four places totalled ten.

The only fortunate thing was that most of them were ranked in the 60s to 70s.

'There are ten of them, but this should be manageable.'

It was our senior officers who had dealt with the ones whose ranks were in the tens. Plus, with my grandmother here, it shouldn't take long to take those guys out.

As I was thinking that, Keren's low and heavy voice reached my ears.

"Are you seriously worrying about the others while I'm right in front of you?"

He spoke as if he were more concerned about my safety.

-Child, don't be afraid.

After being trapped in Keren's space, I thought I had lost connection with Kyros, but his voice reached me. I responded with a faint smile.

'Yes. I'll do that. Don't worry.'

Then, I saw Keren's lips curl up slightly. The muscles of his mouth seemed to twist as if he were forcing a smile.

"Seeing as you're smiling like that, I guess I must look like an easy opponent to you."

Ignoring his taunts, I tightly gripped the mace I was holding and looked around. Fortunately, the Demon God's Children that had appeared were being handled by the senior officers of the Church.

'They might end their fights before I do.'

Then I looked at Keren. The sense of intimidation coming from Keren, who was at least a head taller than me, was immense.

'...I can do this.'

I steeled myself. Then in an instant, Keren disappeared from my sight. I quickly used the breathing technique through the holy energy in my body.

For a moment, I felt Keren's breath right above my head. I immediately twisted my body.

Thud-!

Keren's sharp hand struck the floor of the space. If I hadn't moved quickly, it would have been me getting hit by him.

"Cheeky rascal, looks like you've got good instincts, huh?"

Keren's voice, laced with laughter, echoed. Then his tail, split into five parts, stretched out.

Whoosh-!

I immediately raised my mace as I watched the tail fly toward me.

Crash!

I barely blocked the attack with my mace, but my body was inevitably pushed backward.

'He's strong.'

Of course, my strength had increased tenfold due to the Administrator's buff, but Keren's power was so impressive that it made me nod in acknowledgment of the help I'd gotten.

Tap-

I forcefully pushed Keren's tail away and immediately released holy energy with my left hand.

The holy energy blast, three times the size of my palm, was released quickly and powerfully, grazing the side of Keren's face.

It was a disaster.

'Damn it, I aimed too high.'

It was supposed to be a surprise attack I planned to deal a decisive blow with, but it didn't achieve the results I had hoped for. All I managed to do was pierce a small part of his left ear at best.

Keren, looking slightly surprised, touched his ear where it had disappeared.

"You're stronger than I thought."

The next moment, Keren's figure disappeared again. I didn't let my guard down. Then, I detected Keren's movement.

Even within the black space, the air was clearly flowing, and because of that, I could feel the breeze from Keren's movement.

Behind me.

Whoosh-!

Keren, using his hand like a sword, clashed again with my mace. But this time, I was holding the mace with one hand.

I was slowly being pushed back, but I was gathering holy energy into my empty left hand.

Then, I released it toward his waist in one swift motion. Since my surprise attack had already failed, he was surely expecting a holy energy release. From now on, every strike was crucial.

Boom-!

"Kuhk-!"

Keren spat blood and collapsed to the ground. But I knew very well that this was just part of the show he was putting on.

The next moment, Keren's body twisted while his entire waist was blown off. Watching his distorted body, I stepped back.

Then, black energy began to flow out from the rift in the sky. And that energy began to repair Keren's twisted body on their own.

'This is the real reason this guy is so terrifying.'

I looked at my left hand, the one I had used to release the holy energy earlier. It seemed that the amount of holy energy I had gathered was insufficient.

Keren had the ability to self-repair his body even just before death, so I had to cut his breath off in an instant.

However, I couldn't attack Keren now, as he was drawing on the power of the Demonic realm.

'I know it's an unspoken rule not to attack during a transformation, but who cares about that?'

But even if I were to attack him now, it would be ineffective. It was like this in the original storyline.

I tried releasing a light burst of holy energy just in case, but as expected, it was just deflected.

'An invincible transformation, how despicably underhanded.'

I had that thought for a moment.

Grrrk- Fwoosh-

It seemed that the absorption of the dark energy was complete, as Keren, now back to his original state, adjusted his neck and looked at me. His eyes remained indifferent, but for some reason, I felt a chill down my spine.

"You're quite strong. This is turning out to be more enjoyable than I thought."

Then, Keren ran his tongue over his lips. At the same time, his five-stranded tail split into ten.

"Now, let's have fun."

Keren's mouth stretched up to his ears. The sight was grotesque, but I wasn't afraid.

I gripped my club tightly and faced Keren. The Demon God's energy I felt from him was stronger than before.

'But it's fine.'

According to my calculations, it's okay as long as I defeated Keren completely before he could regenerate for the fifth time.

Of course, if I couldn't kill him within five times, he would become even stronger and could transform like the future the Administrator showed me...

'But I won't lose to him now.'

With that confidence, I charged at Keren.