Chapter 284 : The Place I Go is the Path

The sound of thumping from the ceiling.

It was the sound of knocking.

When there was no response, he made a hole and fell.

Archbishop Holio's face was filled with shock.

"Y-you...!"

The man with eyes as red as blood, who had been pretending to be a paladin.

Holio had watched him rampage through the royal palace through a crystal ball.

He couldn't not know.

"How did you get here...!"

It was a space that had been hidden in two or three layers for security.

How on earth did he find it, and how did he get here!

Archbishop Holio quickly stepped back and ordered the Saint of Pure White.

"Saint! Attack that man!"

Although she was a saint who was focused on support, it wasn't as if she had no combat skills at all.

Besides, she was a former member of the Sherwood Mercenary Corps, a Platinum-rank.

It was a calculation that she could easily handle a fake who was pretending to be a paladin.

However, the Saint of Pure White, who had received the order, was just staring blankly at the man who had suddenly appeared.

"What are you doing! I told you to attack! Can't you hear me!"

Even at Holio's angry command, the saint did not move.

She was just capturing the man in front of her with her pure white eyes.

Her pupils were shaking violently.

Soon, the man's gaze also naturally rested on her.

The snow-white eyes and the blood-red eyes looked at each other.

A moment was split into many branches.

For a moment, time stopped, and everything in the world became distant.

Only the two of them existed here.

Soon, a trembling voice came from the saint's lips.

"...Big Brother?"

It was a voice that seemed to be cutting through a ghost.

Ashuban, who had been looking at her for a moment, grinned.

"Hello, Siri. It's hard to see your face."

"...!"

Sirila's eyes widened.

She froze as if she had become an ice statue.

Archbishop Holio's shout flew at her.

"Saint! What are you doing! I told you to attack! Can't you hear me!"

Holio slowly stepped back toward the door and shouted.

And his head was spinning rapidly.

'Why aren't the soldiers coming? With this much commotion, it must have been heard outside...'

Something was strange about the situation.

At this rate, his head would be gone before the Hero arrived.

That red devil clearly had murderous intent towards him.

His gaze was incomparably vicious, and his hands were trembling from the explosive murderous intent.

It was like seeing a rakshasa who had come up from hell.

Holio quickly looked at the saint.

She was still frozen, with her gaze fixed on him.

Don't tell me the saint was also overwhelmed by his momentum.

Holio's heart became urgent.

"Saint! Can't you hear me! Attack, attack!"

Still, when the saint was silent, Holio gritted his teeth.

"Do you really not want 'Resurrection'!"

At those words, the saint stopped.

Archbishop Holio quickly studied her expression.

When she heard the word 'Resurrection', the saint's face became blank, and the focus in her eyes disappeared.

'Good, that's right.'

A satisfied smile bloomed on Archbishop Holio's lips.

"That's right. Now, slowly turn around."

The saint did as he said.

"Hehehe."

Resurrection.

It was a word that meant resurrection, written in the holy scripture, and it was a fake spell and a kind of trigger word that Holio had created to lure the saint.

Archbishop Holio was a cautious man.

Since he had met the saint, he had been instilling the spell into her subconscious, little by little, without a single day's rest.

In case she ever disobeyed his words.

The mental curse that he had built up, stitch by stitch.

The keyword was 'Resurrection'.

It was a word taken from the holy scripture, and ironically, the spell that was used as a catalyst for it was a black magic that was forbidden by the Hope Cult.

Archbishop Holio pointed at the red-eyed man and gave a sinister smile.

"Hehe... if you want Resurrection, then destroy that man right now."

Ashuban, who had been watching with his arms crossed, had a fierce expression.

"You bastard. What did you do to our Siri?"

"Hehe... I put a lot of effort into it. This foolish saint can never disobey my words. She's no different from my puppet."

Archbishop Holio gave a triumphant smile to the red-eyed man who was staring at him.

"It's a kind of mental curse. This foolish saint can't harm me, no matter what, and she can't refuse my orders. This is a mental curse placed on her sense of loss, so it doesn't matter how strong her divine power is! Hahahaha! Do you understand now! Despair, you worthless worms that only eat darkness!"

Ashuban asked in a quiet tone.

"...And the cure?"

"The cure? The cure?! Kehahaha! There's no such thing!"

Archbishop Holio burst into a mad laugh.

"Didn't I tell you that I placed a curse on this woman's sense of loss, you ignorant fool! The thing this woman has lost is the death of a precious person! Unless that guy suddenly comes back to life! This is an absolute spell that will never end! Hahahaha! I'm a genius! Hahahahat! Hahaha...?"

Archbishop Holio's laughter gradually stopped.

It was not for any other reason.

Because the expression of the guy looking at him was strange.

He should be despairing...

But he was grinning.

"What. Why are you laughing?"

"You said it's a curse that can only be broken if the dead come back to life?"

"That's right! It's absolute!"

The red-eyed man grinned.

"I think that curse is broken now."

"...What?"

Archbishop Holio frowned.

'What nonsense.'

There was no way that could be.

It wasn't just anywhere, but he had fallen from a misty cliff, hadn't he?

It was definitely impossible. It was absolutely impossible.

But looking at his smile, a strange ominous feeling rose.

Archbishop Holio shouted, as if to deny it.

"Shut up! What are you doing, Saint! That guy right now—"

"Don't yell at my big brother!"

KWAAAAAAAANG!!

At the saint's fist, which flew in an instant, Archbishop Holio broke the door and flew away.

It was a refreshing blow.

"Whew—"

Ashuban whistled.

He clapped and admired.

"Clean. That's our Siri."

"Big Brother!"

Sirila ran and hugged him.

Ashuban chuckled and lifted her up with a familiar skill.

"Siri. What are you doing here? It's been a while since your big brother came back."

"When did you come back?"

"It's been a while."

"I didn't even know..."

"It's fine. We've met now, so it's fine."

Sirila buried her face in Ashuban's shoulder and began to sob.

Her tearful voice seeped into Ashuban's ear.

"This... isn't a dream, right?"

"Would you like it to be a dream?"

"No. If it's a dream... I hope I never wake up."

Sirila hugged Ashuban even tighter, afraid that this was a dream.

And Ashuban gently stroked her back.

Her crying gradually began to subside.

Sniff, sniff.

"Big Brother."

"Yes?"

"You smell like Ketel."

"What, you can smell that too?"

"Yes."

"That's our saint who doesn't believe. What does it smell like?"

"Should I say it's similar to the smell of burnt ashes? There's something like that."

"Aha."

"Did Ketel save you?"

"Well, something like that."

"I-I'll be a follower of Ketel from now on."

"Suit yourself."

The two looked at each other and laughed.

"Big Brother. Why are your eyes red?"

"I know, right. Aren't they cool?"

Siri smiled brightly with her tear-filled eyes.

"They're cool."

Just then, a loud noise as if a wall was collapsing was heard from outside.

And a familiar face peeked out from the broken door.

"Huh? It seems the situation is already over here?"

It was the black-haired debauched knight, Lyle.

"Big Brother Lyle!"

When Ashuban put her down, Sirila ran and hugged him.

Lyle lowered his posture and hugged her.

"Oh my, our Siri. You troublemaker. I was wondering where you were, and you're causing trouble all the way here. If something happened, you should have told us first."

"I'm sorry..."

"It's alright now. Your big brothers have solved everything."

Ashuban snorted.

"If you had taken care of her in the first place, would this have happened? You were busy chasing after women's tails as soon as we disbanded, and now you're talking big."

"Shut up."

Ashuban asked with his arms crossed.

"Is everything taken care of outside?"

Lyle lifted Sirila up and answered.

"Yes. After defeating the corrupt holy knight and winning, these guys tried to pull a fast one. So I broke everything and was about to rescue Siri, but. I was a step too late."

Ashuban nodded.

"No wonder it was so quiet. They had all flocked over there."

Although it was not intended, the pincer movement was successful.

"Then let's go."

"Where's the exit?"

"Where do you think?”

Ashuban instantly gathered his energy, and then, he created a blue and white energy with his two hands.

Since he had realized the Snow Branch Blue Flame, he was able to handle the two energies much more freely.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

"Huh? Huh, huh?"

At the ferocious energy that was felt from there, Lyle sent Sirila behind him.

Sirila, on Lyle's back, peeked her head out from behind his shoulder with curious eyes.

Tzzzz—

The blue and white light that formed in Ashuban's two hands was no longer a round sphere.

It was an elongated oval.

It was a much more stable form than before, and it was rotating at a tremendous speed.

Ashuban threw the completed oval-shaped Reverse Heavenly Light forward.

KWAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!

A passage was created with a tremendous roar.

It seemed to have pierced through dozens of bulkheads at once.

"...!"

At the unbelievable power, Lyle and Sirila's mouths fell open.

Ashuban, with his hand outstretched, muttered solemnly.

"The place I go is the path."

"..."

Lyle muttered.

"That crazy bastard.”

(End of Chapter)