Chapter 688: Descent

“Huh?”

The first sound was a dazed exclamation.

An exclamation of disbelief at what had just unfolded before her eyes.

“Huh-huh… what?”

The second sound came when comprehension dawned.

She couldn’t believe it, but she had seen it, so she started to accept it.

“Huh-huh-huh… AAAAAAAHH!!”

As the dread fully set in, Sister Delra clasped her broken arm and screamed.

As if her voice could express the belated and unbearable agony.

This was easy to understand.

After all, her arm hadn’t just snapped; it had bent backward at the elbow.

It seemed malevolent hands had intentionally twisted it.

“Aaaaa…”

Sister Delra, with a hint of realization, now looked around, not in pain but in abject terror.

And then she saw it.

The nuns whom she had revived no longer under her control, were praying.

“…yeosijibeoariuhanrukeoaeinjaeha”

The mingled corpses of dozens of nuns knelt with many legs, clasping hands with multiple arms, lifting their numerous mouths in prayers.

That wasn’t all.

Though the nuns had been frozen in ice moments ago, they were now free. Kneeling, clasping their hands, and murmuring prayers through their lips.

“…daeinadeulmanreoldandaeideuldaelgeo, myeosiwulgiwiguarisoeyeongmugiruotidebu”

However, something was definitely off.

All 55 of the nuns were looking to the side.

It seemed as if there was something beside them.

But that wasn’t the only strange thing.

Their trembling hands, their unmoving lips – the nuns gave off an awkward impression, as if their actions weren’t their own.

And it wasn’t just the impression.

“Huh…”

Slowly, it became visible to Sister Delra.

Beside each nun knelt a shadowy silhouette, forcing the nuns to clasp their hands together and whisper prayers into their ears.

These shadows were in human form, but were made of darkness.

They kept whispering prayers into the nuns’ ears.

“…Seosojureonawayirioridasaedageu”

The nuns echoed those prayers, reciting them robotically.

“Aaah…”

Witnessing this, Delra let out an even more miserable whimper than before.

Because she knew exactly what was about to happen.

She knew what decision The Duchess had made.

She had decided to change the sacrifice.

From the girl to the nuns, and to use them as the vessels for the entity descending upon this world.

BOOM!!

As the truth dawned upon her, icy boulders erupted from the ground where the nuns knelt.

It was a familiar shape.

Surprisingly, the ice, formed with the power of the spirits, took the exact shape of the altar Kevin had just destroyed.

It even replicated the inscriptions and cracks engraved on the nuns’ tombstones.

Hisssss….

A shiver ran down Delra’s spine, and instinctively, she turned to Kevin.

She clung to the hope of a miracle.

But that hope shattered just like all the other hopes she’d harbored in her life.

The Red Ones’ wizard was wearing an expression of utter confusion and terror, showing that he too was at a loss.

He had not created this.

Control of the ice covering the underground chamber had long since left his hands.

As if in evidence of this, the ice around the altar engraved symbols of its own accord, without any prompting from Kevin.

The symbols of a crown, placed upside down, within a precise circle.

Kevin was so astonished he just stared.

Huh? Something was off.

Kevin’s gaze wasn’t quite focused on the altar. He was looking slightly to the side… right beside Delra.

Reading his gaze, Delra stiffly turned her head to the side like a broken wooden figurine and she saw it.

The shadowy human figures surrounding her.

“…Niosahaeosaenggwisayireansoiinokyoridu”

The shadowy figures, with human-like forms, continued to murmur prayers with their darkened mouths as they reached out toward Delra.

Just as Delra was about to say something to them,

Crack-!!

They snapped Delra’s neck.

***

Crack-!!

The sound of something breaking echoed.

As if it were really nothing. As if it was utterly trivial.

But those who witnessed it were all horrified.

They saw Delra’s neck being snapped by the shadows. Delra, who didn’t die immediately, began to choke.

The nuns, who were being held by the shadowy figures while reciting prayers, couldn’t scream. But they wept, grieving for Delra’s death.

Or perhaps they were terrified of the fate that awaited them.

Nevertheless, Delra’s death left them all in shock. But it was not only the nuns who were stunned.

Kevin and Joanna, who had been facing off against Delra, were also in shock.

“….”

“….”

The two of them stared in silence at Delra, overwhelmed by what they saw.

She was still alive, even with her broken neck.

“Cough… Cough…”

Though she couldn’t cry out, the bloodstained tears flowing down her face proved she was still alive.

It was a pitiful sight.

Yet, the darkness surrounding her pitilessly continued to break her body.

Snap!

Starting with her other arm, bent the same way.

Crack!

They forced her leg joints to buckle.

Crunch!!

Then they snapped her shoulder and hip bones.

Compressing Sister Delra as if she was a toy.

But what stood out the most was Sister Delra’s face.

Delra’s face twisted hideously in pain, terror, and regret, but the darkness smoothed her features back to those of a gentle nun.

Yet despite the change, the nuns, Joanna, and Kevin could feel only an inexplicable repulsion, disgust, and terror.

Because it was such an unnatural and grotesque horror.

How could this be described? Maybe it was like facing benevolence tainted with malice.

Even though her entire body had been broken and compressed, Delra’s face, now peaceful, emanated that twisted sentiment.

Benevolence filled with malice. It was-like….

Whoosh!

All the torches that had been lighting the underground chamber suddenly flickered.

At the same time, the nuns abruptly stopped their prayers and stood up.

The corpses and skeletons of the nuns who had lain dormant for centuries, now circled the living nuns, praying in unison with them.

“…seosohangaerotseon, goshihaemyreonageuinmoduseosaegilosaemalseosomyeoreonayae.”

Though the living nuns had stopped their prayers, the sound of prayers intensified rather than decreased.

Out of the darkness, where the torchlight could not reach, new figures emerged, reciting prayers.

Riiip!

The sound of something tearing echoed.

The nuns had somehow shed their black habits, symbols of their vocation, and were now completely naked.

Just as they were at birth.

It was an indecent and repugnant scene, but no one reacted.

Not Kevin, not Joanna, nor even the nuns themselves.

For they were ensnared by terror far more profound than shame.

The dead nuns then resumed the prayers with their shadowy forms, surrounding the living.

“…naesohaeosaseonsaensonhaewirogeusaengilhawonryusesogariranosoinok”

According to the prayers, the nuns moved toward the altar, regardless of their own will.

Naked as the day they were born, each nun clung to one another in terror. In that state,

Split—tear! Crkk…

Crack! Crunch!

Crrruck!

Their bones snapped.

Their flesh tore.

Their exposed muscles fused together.

Bones connected with bones.

Torn skin and torn skin intertwined.

Burst flesh meshed with burst flesh.

Ruptured blood vessels connected.

Blood and blood mixed together.

The nuns became one.

Not one or two, but all 56 nuns, including Delra, embraced each other as they merged into one.

It was a grotesque and terrifying scene, yet there was a warped beauty to it.

As blood and flesh sprayed in all directions, the nuns transformed into a massive lump of clay, their flesh and hair slowly turning crimson.

Scrunch! Rip! Crack!!

The unified mass of 56 nuns began shifting into a new form, bones snapping and flesh tearing in the process, while the prayers continued unabated.

“…danioriseongganseongeosaengiljulgonareuldosaesaseongjuerejuneunmalyeoniapgeronaseoyaegilobeun”

BOOM-!!

A massive explosion echoed amid the calm yet grand echo of the prayers.

Kevin, regaining his senses, unleashed his magic to attack the dead nuns’ remains encircling him.

The centuries-old corpses shattered helplessly against Kevin’s ice pillars, clearing a path.

As soon as the path opened, Kevin dashed forward with Joanna slung over his shoulder, he didn’t need her opinion.

Though unsure, Merlin had taught him enough for him to guess what was going on.

Delra’s ritual might have failed, but the larger ritual had not.

It was absurd, but it was the truth.

For the Demon Summoning Ritual was merely ceremonial.

The core of the ritual lay in the demon’s own will.

Even if every step of the ritual was followed perfectly, it would all be meaningless if the demon didn’t respond.

Conversely, even if the ritual’s form was somewhat distorted, the will of the demon alone could ensure its success.

The ritual’s master had shifted from Delra to the demon itself.

It was utterly absurd, yet this was reality.

And by the looks of this grotesque reality, the demon had decided of its own will to descend upon this world.

Using Delra and the nuns, instead of the sacrificial girls as its vessels.

The fleeing spirit that had vanished was proof.

This was far beyond Kevin’s—no, beyond the realm of mere humans.

At this point, nothing anyone did would matter.

Thus, Kevin chose to flee. Maybe it was pointless, but standing still and waiting to die was worse.

They had to escape. Before the demon fully descended and took over this place—

—[Would you stop there?]

Freeze.

An unexpected voice echoed. The air suddenly froze, and Kevin’s body went completely rigid, as if he’d been bound in place.

It wasn’t just that he’d reacted to the sound instinctively.

It was a deeper, absolute force that had locked him in place, alongside the very air.

This was authority.

Unlike human magic or even Dark Magic, this was a power unto itself.

A power wielded by beings other than humans.

Proof was that, even as Kevin strained with all his might, veins bulging, his body refused to obey him.

His flesh prioritized this command over his own will.

Kevin was only allowed to turn back and return to where he had been standing. Seeing no other options, he decided to comply.

With no other choices, he could only go to where he was being drawn. It was better to face the threat head-on.

A lesson he had learned as a child.

After setting Joanna down on the ground, Kevin spun around to face the altar, where the nuns were gathered.

There stood a naked woman.

Riding on a camel made up of the 56 nuns…. It was an unbelievably bizarre sight.

The camel’s legs were formed by the many arms and legs of the nuns.

Its abdomen was composed of their bellies and breasts.

Its tail was woven from their hair.

Its flanks were crafted from the upper bodies of praying nuns.

Its hump was made from the backs of the nuns.

Its head was formed by the faces of the nuns.

The camel made up of nuns was such a blasphemous, grotesque abomination, yet it held an undeniable allure.

Thus, it was even more disturbing.

But the creature’s strangeness paled next to the woman riding it.

Built around a grotesquely bent Delra, the naked woman was composed of the intertwined bodies of the nuns. With blood-soaked hair flowing loose, she looked down at Kevin and Joanna.

Through Delra’s eyes.

Her expression was both loving and chilling.

As if the affection behind that look was like a human watching a cute puppy. Yes, it was this. Malice wrapped in benevolence.

So out of reach and incapable of understanding, one-sided, and merciless.

Like how a human might treat a dog.

Yet neither Kevin nor Joanna felt humiliated by this.

They understood that the merciless benevolence coming from the woman wasn’t arrogance, it was based on cold, hard facts.

What they could do was resist the fear crushing them and refrain from kneeling while staying vigilant.

At the very least, they could preserve their dignity and resolve.

The woman, seemingly understanding this, smiled faintly at Kevin and Joanna before entwining the fingers that made up her many arms to place them against her lips.

As if suggesting she meant no harm.

Then the woman riding the camel placed one of her many hands on her chest, feigning shyness.

[Oh my… I’m embarrassed. It’s been so long since I’ve been in the mortal world, I forgot my manners.]

The woman riding the camel spoke through a voice that echoed in their minds.

In response, the ice covering the underground chamber suddenly shattered, and the convent’s underground returned to its original state.

The shattered ice shards immediately swirled like a whirlpool above the camel-riding woman’s head.

With the ice gone, the gold threads, pure white lace, and spilled scented oil reappeared in their original forms and piled up before her, along with the torn vestments.

[I must be properly dressed if I’m to meet Him.]

At her words, the black habits that the nuns had shed merged to form a massive dress.

An archaic gown fit for royalty.

The dress naturally draped itself over the camel-riding woman’s form as if it had been part of her all along, and the golden threads on it sparkled like stars.

It was an unbelievable sight.

As the golden threads interconnected, the dress shifted from black to a dazzling gold, with white lace adorning its hemlines.

The dress was complete.

Scented oil gently spread across the dress as the finishing touch.

With the final touches in place, the woman riding the camel adorned herself.

She took the frozen shards swirling above and placed them upon her head.

The ice scattered around her, transforming into a coronet.

The crown made of ice.

From the crown’s sides, the nuns’ arms rose like horns, forming intricate hand gestures, completing the crown’s design.

Kevin and Joanna instinctively understood, though no one told them.

The demon had fully descended upon the human world.

[It’s cramped in here, isn’t it?]

The woman who had fully descended into the human world spoke.

At the same time, she raised a single finger upward, and at that moment, the underground tomb where the nuns resided was lifted into the air, breaking through the surface and destroying the convent above.

A massive cloud of dust erupted above ground, swallowing everything nearby in wreckage. And in the midst of it all, the woman riding the camel spoke.

[Ah, how refreshing.]