Surviving as a Barbarian in a Fantasy World

Chapter 143: Advent of the Great Evil (3)

Boom!

With the eruption of darkness, Rakza’s body rolled across the ground.

Shadrenes gasped.

“Rakza!”

“Ughhhh!”

Rakza let out a groan of pain.

Part of his arm was turning black.

The darkness began to spread from his arm, infecting his body.

Shadrenes hastily suppressed the darkness with light.

The darkness started to burn away and disappear.

Rakza, enduring the pain, looked at the sword in his hand.

“The… the sword…”

The sword, reinforced by the holy scripture, was broken in half.

It couldn’t withstand the exploding demonic energy and snapped.

Having barely healed his wounds, Rakza looked at Rubitra.

Their enemy had not a single scratch.

He stood there with the same serene expression as before.

“To think you could use the holy scripture to such an extent. You must have been very diligent in serving your god and pleasing them. It feels so good to know that your devotion will crumble in my hands.”

Rubitra raised his hand.

Threads of demonic energy flowed out from there, starting to whip like a lash.

Rakza and Shadrenes hurriedly responded.

Boom!

“Grrrr!”

Shadrenes gritted her teeth against the pouring demonic lines.

The quantity and quality of the attacks were on a completely different level, as if they had been playing around until now.

Crack!

The demonic lines intentionally bypassed Shadrenes’ body and headed behind her.

For a moment, Shadrenes’ eyes widened in confusion.

The demonic lines were blocking her retreat and rushed to ensnare her like a net.

Shadrenes screamed in desperation.

“Book of Bruhora, Chapter 3, Verse 22! The giant of Kalosia protects the sanctuary from external foes!”

Boom!

A giant of light descended to protect Shadrenes’ body.

The flying demonic lines wrapped around the giant’s body.

The demonic lines pressed hard against the giant.

The giant emitted a fierce light to burn the demonic lines, but the very fine threads of demonic energy neither burned nor snapped.

Instead, they tightened even more as if annoyed by the giant’s resistance.

Crack!

The giant’s body began to break slowly.

Shadrenes was in shock.

Could the giant, summoned to protect the sanctuary through the holy scripture, be broken so easily?

The giant struggled desperately but ultimately failed.

Its body shattered into pieces.

The demonic lines quickly flew to grab Shadrenes.

“Eek!”

Rakza drew his spare sword and swung it swiftly.

Although his intention was to cut the demonic lines, he only managed to push them back a little.

Thanks to his effort, Shadrenes barely escaped from the net and created some distance.

“T-thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Sweat beaded on Shadrenes’ forehead.

There was no time to rest.

Rubitra leisurely flicked his fingers.

The demonic lines straightened into a stiff line.

He then flicked his fingers a few more times.

Boom!

The ground shattered and crumbled like cubes.

Rakza, who barely dodged, had disbelief written all over his face.

“This is impossible!”

When Rubitra started to take them seriously, they could do nothing but dodge.

They were like small animals before a giant, only able to leap away to avoid being crushed.

Rakza could not accept this reality.

“No matter how strong, we’re both in the superhuman class!”

Rubitra’s strength was at the top level of the superhuman class, not at the heroic level.

Even if he was stronger, they were all in the superhuman class.

And they were priests serving God.

Divine power has an absolute advantage against evil.

Additionally, they were continuously using the holy scripture, which directly wielded the power of God in battle, yet they were being so overwhelmingly pushed back?

“This is impossible!”

In response to Rakza’s cry of denial, Rubitra spoke calmly.

“Indeed, you are not weak.”

A saintess wielding the holy scripture.

A superhuman-level holy knight.

If the two of them fought together, they could easily handle a demon of ordinary renown.

“But I am Rubitra, the Demon of Demonic Lines.”

Two hundred years ago, a prominent church of God emerged.

That church also had a saintess and a superhuman-level holy knight.

The church’s power was several times stronger than the current Church of Kalosia.

And that church was destroyed by Rubitra alone.

Top level of the superhuman class.

The realm right below heroism.

A realm evaluated as the last attainable peak by normal means.

Even within the superhuman class, there was a world of difference.

No matter how much they used the holy scripture or claimed an absolute advantage with divine power, an insurmountable gap existed.

“We indeed lost to your God.”

A long time ago.

The battle between demons and gods.

The victor was the gods.

Subsequently, demons were driven out of the earth and banished to hell.

“But the ones who defeated us were the gods themselves.”

Not you, who merely parasitize on that power.

Rubitra muttered quietly as he swung his hand.

Threads intertwined like twisted ropes, forming a giant spear.

“Try to block this.”

Initially, Shadrenes and Rakza tried to dodge, but their faces hardened.

Behind them was the holy sanctuary of their god.

If they dodged, the giant spear would pierce the sanctuary’s barrier and sweep through the interior.

“…Rakza!”

“Yes!”

Rakza planted his sword into the ground.

Shadrenes, gathering her last bit of strength, shouted out.

“Book of Kudun, Chapter 13, Verse 24! Kalosia spoke as he halted his journey: ‘This land shall henceforth be my domain, and you who serve me shall stay here and build your home! Thus, this place shall become your refuge!'”

Buzzing!

A golden barrier descended.

It was the great divine barrier left by Kalosia before departing.

Through the scripture, it was manifested in the world.

Rubitra smiled and flicked his fingers.

“A divine barrier, huh. Very well.”

The demonic spear shot out.

The air burst with its force.

The demonic spear quickly struck the barrier.

Crash!

Light and darkness collided with a harsh sound.

Shadrenes’ face turned pale.

The barrier was slowly cracking under the spear’s pressure.

“Ugh!”

Shadrenes gritted her teeth and drew out all her divine power to the limit.

Rakza did the same.

The light barrier became more solid.

Unable to withstand the continued clash of forces, it eventually burst in all directions.

Boom!

The barrier shattered into pieces.

The demonic spear also exploded from the excessive force.

The collision between the barrier and the spear.

The result was a draw.

But the actual battle was not.

“Ah…”

Shadrenes collapsed onto the ground.

She had exhausted all her strength and couldn’t even stand.

Rakza was in a slightly better state, but he, too, was barely sitting, leaning heavily on his sword like an old man.

In contrast, Rubitra looked utterly serene.

He even clapped his hands in admiration.

“Impressive. You managed to block my full-powered spear with just the two of you. Truly commendable.”

“Y-you…”

“I commend your struggle. Although it will end up being meaningless.”

Rubitra swung his hand.

Demonic lines flowed out, wrapping around the sanctuary’s barrier like snakes.

The sanctuary was not small.

Even though the barrier encompassed an entire small city, the demonic threads surrounded it completely.

Rubitra clenched his fist.

The demonic threads tightened around the barrier.

Cracks spread rapidly across the barrier.

Finally, under the immense pressure, the sanctuary’s barrier shattered like a broken glass.

Crash!

Fragments of light slowly fell to the ground.

The barrier that had existed since the sanctuary’s inception was mercilessly destroyed.

Believers praying within the sanctuary let out cries of despair.

“Aaaaaah!”

They realized they had been defeated.

Despair and fear quickly spread within the sanctuary.

“No…”

Shadrenes muttered.

She had to protect the sanctuary.

That was her duty as a saintess.

But even standing was impossible.

Rubitra spoke softly.

“I will ensure your lives end last. Watching the land you sought to protect transform—this is my mercy to you.”

Rumble!

Darkness erupted from the plain.

The ritual to transform the divine sanctuary into a sanctuary of evil was reaching its climax.

Rubitra spoke quietly.

[Hear me, humans.]

The voice of evil echoed within the sanctuary.

The believers screamed and collapsed in fear.

[The divine sanctuary, abandoned by the god who rejected you and the world, will become our first cornerstone.]

It was a revelation given to the dark sorcerers.

A command from a great being to invade the earth.

[Create the cornerstone of darkness. Offer yourselves to create a passage to the surface. My minions will descend upon the earth. Then, our first pillar will be complete.]

This was the revelation given by the demon king to the dark sorcerers.

“All is as the revelation foretold.”

Rubitra looked up at the sky with satisfaction.

The thickening darkness now completely obscured the sunlight.

Soon, this land would become a sanctuary of darkness.

“It’s going well. At this rate, I might receive a promotion.”

Rubitra smiled, waiting for the transformation into an evil sanctuary.

But then, the darkness covering the sky began to fade.

Sunlight, hidden by the darkness, began to illuminate the earth again.

“…Hmm?”

Rubitra was puzzled.

The darkness was suddenly thinning.

Just as Rubitra was trying to grasp the situation, there was a thunderous crash in the distance.

A massive wave of energy so powerful that it could be felt even from here.

Rubitra quickly began to sense the source, and his eyes widened.

“What?”

The altar conducting the ritual to transform the sanctuary into an evil sanctuary was destroyed.

“…What is this?”

Rubitra found it hard to understand.

He had killed all the holy knights.

The saintess and the superhuman holy knight had been defeated before his eyes.

The forces of the Kalosia order were in ruins.

Moreover, to his knowledge, a superhuman dark sorcerer was guarding the ritual altar.

There was no reason for the altar to be destroyed now.

As he tried to understand the situation in his confusion, a wind blew.

A chill ran down Rubitra’s spine.

His senses warned him that something was approaching.

Instinctively, he raised his hand, and threads of demonic energy flowed out to protect him.

At that moment, an impact occurred.

Boom!

“Ugh!”

Rubitra’s body slid back.

Although he managed to regain his stance quickly by successfully blocking the attack, his eyes were filled with shock.

‘Was I pushed back?’

Rubitra had easily blocked even the attacks from the holy scripture.

This meant that the recent attack contained a power stronger than that of the holy scripture.

Rubitra narrowed his eyes.

“Oh. It’s my first time seeing someone block my attack after stepping outside.”

A curious voice echoed.

Rubitra identified the owner of the voice and spoke in a startled tone.

“Barbarian?”

The barbarian was there.

Ketal smiled.

“Nice to meet you, demon.”