Chapter 198 : Chapter 198

Chapter 198: Evil Eradication Squad (1)

[Then. I will be waiting.]

With that voice as the last, the angel, Uriel, turned into light and disappeared.

Before one knew it, the sky, which had split into two, was restored to its original state.

It felt like having a dream.

The miracle witnessed just moments ago vanished completely, the night sky was silent, and the crescent moon hanging on the clouds was brightly illuminating the world as if nothing had happened.

However, Gerard was still dazed.

Because he had never expected Uriel to manifest here personally.

‘At most, I expected to be rejected or have an unreasonable price demanded.’

But Uriel broke all those expectations and gave Gerard power.

……He felt it.

Not mana, nor aura, and definitely not divine power, but a power difficult to explain was swirling inside his body.

[Ah. Aaaaaah…….]

And when he looked at Lilith.

Gerard could witness her true appearance with his two eyes.

The thing struggling while bound by the chains of light no longer had the appearance of the beautiful Reina.

Bright yellow eyes. Crimson skin similar to that of a flayed beast, and where hair should be, it was full of bumps and horns.

That was the true form of Lilith hiding inside Reina’s body.

‘Is it thanks to Uriel’s power?’

It was.

They made a deal.

Because what Gerard demanded from her was a way to save Reina.

Gerard’s eyes, having received Uriel’s power, pierced accurately through to Lilith’s main body parasitic within the human flesh.

Others couldn’t see it.

No. To be more precise, except for Gerard and Lilith, even the fact that they witnessed Uriel just a moment ago was erased from the minds of the remaining people.

That was the result of facing a transcendent existence far beyond understanding.

Only Professor Ilai, who possessed high divine power, and Dayle, who had received a demon’s body transplant, vaguely sensed that some miracle had occurred.

Before anyone knew it, the battles that sporadically filled the plaza had all ended.

Because as Uriel descended to the mortal world, all of Lilith’s power running wild nearby disappeared completely.

Among them was Lilith’s seduction, and people’s minds had returned before they knew it.

Like that, everyone in the plaza at this moment is looking up at Gerard and Lilith.

Gerard inhaled slowly.

It was the end.

Now was the turn to decorate the finale.

As he moved the holy sword, Lilith, bound by the chains of light, was dragged in front of Gerard with a clattering sound.

[N, no!]

She tried to struggle to escape, but it was useless.

Because the more she did, the tighter the chains of light constricted the demon.

Before long, the look in Lilith’s eyes looking at Gerard had completely changed from before.

Fear and terror.

With the very look she had while peeking at Uriel just moments ago, Lilith was looking at Gerard.

At that moment.

Fwoosh!

Bright yellow flames soared on the blade of the holy sword, Devil Slayer.

The Flame of Judgment, Uriel’s authority.

Lilith, sensing its energy, screamed and begged.

[N, no! Save me! Save meeee! Pleaaase!]

Gerard ignored her and raised the holy sword.

[Sister! Sister! Where are you! Please save me!]

Gerard’s head tilted to the side.

Aha. Was it a misunderstanding?

She wasn’t begging me, but the other side.

Gerard turned his eyes downward, and there, where his gaze lowered, was Rachel embraced in Dayle’s arms.

Rather than embraced, it was more accurate to say Dayle was holding her using his whole body.

Because if not for him, Rachel would have run straight toward this place.

“Reinaaa! Sob!”

Rachel had been out of her mind since the chains of light wrapped around her sister tightly.

[Sister! Please! This man is trying to kill me! Save me! Save me, I said! Again. Are you abandoning me again!?]

Rachel’s face crumbled in misery.

“What are you saying…… I will go. I will go, so wait!”

She pushed and hit Dayle with all her might to push away the man holding her.

But Dayle, who couldn’t disobey Gerard’s order this time either, was blocking her persistently, when Gerard’s [Whisper] was heard.

[Let her go.]

Dayle opened his eyes wide and looked at Gerard.

As if asking if he was serious.

To that, Gerard nodded.

“Reinaaa!”

As soon as Dayle let go, Rachel started sprinting without hesitation.

Dadadak!

Passing through the countless crowd, crossing the plaza.

Just before reaching where her sister and Gerard were like that.

Gerard’s arm moved.

From top to bottom.

Slash!

At the same time.

Whoosh!

Following the path the holy sword passed, an immense amount of flames surged from Reina’s body.

In that state, Reina fell below the plaza.

And Rachel, screaming in agony, ran toward where she fell.

“……Ah. Aaaaaah! Reina! Reina!”

Rachel hurriedly embraced her.

She didn’t care even though the flames transferred to her. Perhaps due to the anger and sorrow encroaching on her mind, she didn’t feel the heat or the burning pain.

“Aaaaaah!”

Ivan and Yuria. People gathering one by one watch the scene with devastated eyes.

At that moment, Rachel’s eyes flashed with murderous intent.

“You……!”

Rachel, drawing her Black Sword, immediately lunged at someone.

Toward him who walked forward, Gerard.

Clang!

Thud!

But her attack was blocked in vain, and the Black Sword that flew away circled in the sky before plunging into the ground behind.

“Promise…… Hic. You, you made it. My sister…… save. You said you would! Sob!”

Rachel pounded Gerard’s chest with her fists instead of a sword.

“I trusted you…… Sob. I trusted you……! How. How could you…….”

With a face messy with tears and snot, Rachel looks up at Gerard.

“I. What should I do?”

“…….”

“Huh? Answer me. Sob. I. What should I do now?”

His blunt face is hidden by the welling tears.

Until now, the goal was one.

Revenge for her sister.

In the meantime, she met Skull Mask, and she thought he was the only hope for her revenge.

──But.

Before she knew it, he had become someone indispensable in her life.

Since when was it?

She denied it at first, but.

“Why are you crying? Rachel.”

Now…….

She had no choice but to admit it.

“I thought you would like it.”

“……What?”

A hand wiping away the moisture flowing from her eyes unexpectedly.

Rachel looked up at him blankly.

“Your request has been perfectly accomplished.”

In the following words, she doubted her own ears.

“Look behind.”

Rachel looked at Reina.

“What! She’s alive!?”

“Re, really?”

“Yeah! Hey, Rachel! Your sister is alive! She is alive!”

Ivan and the 890th Class peers screamed while examining Reina’s condition.

Rachel ran to that place again.

“Ah…….”

It was true.

A chest rising and falling faintly but surely.

Breaths exhaled regularly.

The flames that were burning her body fiercely had disappeared completely, and there were no burn marks or charring either.

Reina was fine.

“…….”

As soon as she knew that fact, Rachel collapsed backward like a puppet with its strings cut.

“Uh uh?”

“Ra, Rachel!”

Fortunately, Gerard, who was following behind, caught her safely.

Thanks to that, the 890th Class cadets ended up in an awkward posture.

“……Is Rachel. Okay?”

Ivan asked.

“As you can see. She lost consciousness because the fatigue that piled up rushed in all at once as the tension was released. She will be fine after resting.”

It wasn’t just fatigue.

The wounds received from Reina and Loki hadn’t healed yet, so her clothes were damp with leaked blood.

Also, after arriving here in Icata and being kidnapped, she hadn’t even eaten properly until now, so losing consciousness wasn’t strange.

“I can recover her. Please leave Ms. Rachel to me.”

The Raid Group, now all gathered in one place as the situation ended. Among them, Professor Ilai, whose condition was the most intact, said so and stepped forward.

“It is fine.”

But for some reason, Gerard firmly rejected her goodwill.

And handing Rachel over to Dayle, who was standing behind wearing an eyepatch at some point, he walked somewhere with steady steps.

Past the professors and cadets, toward Reina.

Afterward, Gerard promptly slung Reina over his shoulder.

“Huh? Wa, wait a minute!”

“What are you doing right now? She is still a patient!”

The professors and cadets, who inadvertently made way for Gerard, approached in surprise, but Clatter, who appeared before they knew it, blocked them.

“What…….”

“No need to think it's strange. She said with her own mouth that she would give me everything if I saved her sister. Her body. And even her life.”

The eyes of the people who heard the words all widened roundly.

Gerard continued without caring.

“Since I accomplished the request, I am taking the payment. Therefore, Shadow is taking these two.”

“What kind of bullshit is that! Do you think i will just watch that happen!?”

Karina hurriedly raised her staff and tried to stop Gerard.

It wasn’t just her.

Ivan and Gwyn.

And other professors also noticed the situation turning and surrounded Gerard and Dayle to block them from escaping.

But as if he already expected it, Gerard sent a signal with his eyes.

Two iron balls that appeared with a ping sound rolled between people’s legs.

Right after.

Hisss!

Iron balls spinning at tremendous speed and spraying black gas in all directions.

“What!”

“Blow it away quickly…… Cough! Cough!”

It was truly in an instant that the black gas formed a thick fog.

It was the magitech tool ‘Shadowless Bomb’ created by Dayle supplementing and improving the soot bomb, a weapon of the Darkness Council.

Thrown secretly by Dayle as soon as he received Gerard’s signal.

The toxic gas spewed by the Shadowless Bomb made minds dizzy, and the thick fog that rose at a rapid speed completely blocked people’s vision.

Because they were gathered together until just a moment ago, the confusion aggravated, and in the meantime, they didn’t even notice Gerard and Dayle escaping.

“Cough! Someone clear this away!”

Cadets and professors who learned wind attribute magic hurriedly blew away the fog.

But even that took time. Because the wind attribute magic they learned was at most the 2nd Circle [Gust], which lacked power.

Eventually, the fog of the Shadowless Bomb could be completely suppressed only after Allen Desico stepped forward.

“Damn it…….”

Allen Desico, who blew away the fog, wiped the blood flowing down his nose with an exhausted expression and spat out a curse.

It was the aftereffect of using [Spatial Leap] like crazy in continuous battles.

A headache surged as if his brain was being squeezed due to the overheated mana circuits.

However, what made him angrier than such pain was the situation in front of his eyes.

“They ran away as expected.”

It was as expected.

He blew away the fog as fast as he could, but as expected, the thieves of Shadow had disappeared taking advantage of that short confusion.

“Damn.”

He couldn’t even think of chasing them.

Because the elusive tracks and dazzling performances Shadow had shown so far made them passive.

“You look like drowned rats.”

However, the situation changed rapidly with the appearance of a totally unexpected group.

They were wearing red robes as a uniform.

On their chests, a mark in the shape of a staff wrapped in flames was embroidered in gold, and seeing that outfit and mark, the professors couldn’t say anything even at the mockery of being drowned rats.

The crest of a staff wrapped in flames.

That was exactly the symbol of the Zain Family.

“How are you here?”

Among them, a young man with a cold impression standing out.

Allen Desico, seeing him, opened his eyes wide.

“I came into Icata yesterday.”

The young man, who answered in a blunt tone like his impression, passed him and stood tall in front of one person.

It was Karina.

“Have you been well, Karina?”

“……Zairo.”

The eldest son of the Zain Family.

Zairo Zain smiled faintly looking at Karina.