Underground in the ruins.
Bishop No. 9 and No. 10 looked at the tower-like device before them with immense regret. It was clearly just half a bar away from being full, but because of that small half-bar, they couldn't make the Goddess descend! The energy provided by those two Demon Gods was very strong; without the sacrifice of those two Demon Gods, the previous ritual might have been stuck at the fifth stage and unable to progress. Now they only needed two more sacrifices of this level to meet the conditions for summoning the Goddess! But the Archangel of Judgment was actually being suppressed by the Sword Saint alone; this outcome was not within their expectations. They had originally thought that the moment the Archangel descended in its complete form, they would have already won this battle, but why was the Sword Saint so strong?!
'No. 1, what should we do now? Even if we sacrifice ourselves, we can't gather enough sacrifices.'
'Don't worry, this is all within my expectations. As for sacrifices, aren't there still more?' Princess Lakyus smiled as she opened the communication. A man on the other side said excitedly: 'It seems it's finally my turn to appear!'
'No. 5, can you do it?'
'Of course. After that monster captain left, this big lizard hasn't taken us seriously at all. And since he's already going all out just to maintain the barrier, it's impossible for him to stop me. After all, my Gospel is the power closest to a god!'
'Then I'll leave it to you.'
Lakyus said to the two Bishops: 'Then our next task is to block that group of ferocious intruders. Now with the ritual's reinforcement, you can be strengthened to a level not weaker than theirs. I will continue to preside over the ritual here; I'll leave the outside to you.'
No. 10 nodded silently.
Although he didn't like participating in combat, now that the ritual had reached this stage, he felt that even sacrificing himself at this time was no big deal. His figure quickly vanished as he headed to the upper floor to meet the invading enemies without any complaint.
'Are we just pawns...?'
No. 9 was somewhat unhappy with No. 1's approach, but didn't say much. After all, No. 1 was now very likely to complete the ritual, so he had nothing to complain about. However, he always felt that No. 1 seemed to be hiding something from them; he hoped it was just his imagination... When Suzuki Satoru and the others entered the underground level, they discovered it was actually a Misplaced Labyrinth below. This was a design to avoid being bombed by the enemy from the outside, because the true Leyline Node was located even deeper. Furthermore, after detecting with magic, they found that the Goddess Cult had actually used magic to change the surrounding terrain.
World Change?
No, it shouldn't be that kind of magic.
Suzuki Satoru no longer looked at this evil cult with his past common sense. Although besides World Change, there was no other magic that could affect the life of the planet—the 'Ley Line'—it was no longer an incredible thing for the Goddess Cult to have abilities with similar effects. Their Gospel could even reproduce the effect of the 'Delete Entry Spear,' let alone a single spell.
Just as Suzuki Satoru found the correct direction and was about to call Zesshi Zetsumei to go together, he saw Zesshi Zetsumei staring in one direction with a grave expression.
"An enemy?!"
Number 10's figure appeared in the clearing, asking with some confusion, "To actually be able to discover my presence, it seems the Guardian of the Theocracy is not just a name."
Hearing his words, Zesshi Zetsumei said with great bewilderment, "You're emitting such a massive killing intent, how could I not discover you? Or are you joking?"
"Killing intent?"
Number 10 closed his eyes.
"Truly incredible, to think I still have something like killing intent. The Undead over there didn't notice me; is it because he's relatively dull?"
Suzuki Satoru: "..."
Zesshi Zetsumei took out her Divine Spear.
"Because your killing intent was aimed at me."
Suzuki Satoru felt that this matter was a bit troublesome.
He said unhappily, "We don't have time to stall here with this guy, and I've already found the location of the ritual. There's no need to leave him alive."
Although the combat power shown by the Goddess Cult was enough to make him take them seriously, a mere Bishop wasn't enough to play tricks in front of him. He didn't believe a second trump card like the one before would appear. If there really were a second one, they should have used it long ago instead of wasting words here, just like before.
Just as Suzuki Satoru intended to use instant death magic, Number 10's presence vanished again. The magic failed to cast as he couldn't lock onto the target; even sure-hit type magic didn't take effect. Suzuki Satoru's heart sank—another incredibly troublesome ability had appeared!
While Suzuki Satoru was warily scanning the surroundings, Zesshi Zetsumei's body was suddenly sent flying backward, blood spraying in the air. He looked at the fallen Zesshi Zetsumei in shock—you've got to be kidding me?
The strongest Guardian of the Theocracy was defeated without even touching the enemy's shadow? And didn't you say you could sense that guy's killing intent? Why couldn't you block it? A Bishop of the Evil God Cult should only be a level 40-ish mob!
Albedo activated her master-protection mode beside him. This was also why the opponent didn't choose Suzuki Satoru as a target; Albedo's class happened to be the natural enemy of the opponent. A tank with thorns-style armor is an absolute nemesis for any assassin.
Zesshi Zetsumei "played dead" for a moment before standing up. A large wound could be seen on her neck; the opponent had just launched a fatal strike, but the wound was too shallow for her. Only the amount of blood lost was somewhat terrifying, but the wound was already beginning to heal. Zesshi Zetsumei is a half-elf, so having this level of healing Skill is not surprising.
"Truly amazing sword technique."
Zesshi Zetsumei praised.
Suzuki Satoru's guess was wrong.
It wasn't that she failed to react just now, but that she reacted yet couldn't dodge. The opponent wasn't a level 40 mob, but a master near level 80, with swordsmanship even superior to Zesshi Zetsumei's at that moment, which is why she was hit.
"..."
Number 10 remained silent.
No trace of him could be seen in the surroundings.
There wasn't a hint of presence, as if he didn't exist at all. Even sure-hit magic couldn't lock on; this ability was practically the natural enemy of mages.
Zesshi Zetsumei said, "Commander, go destroy the ritual. Leave this place to me."
"...Then I'll leave it to you."
Although Suzuki Satoru felt the enemy was troublesome, he knew better than anyone that this was not the time for hesitation.
"Albedo, let's go."
[Spatial Transfer]!
Knowing there might be others intercepting them below, Suzuki Satoru locked onto the target directly and used spatial movement to teleport. Although Number 10 immediately tried to interrupt his magic, this time he was blocked by Zesshi Zetsumei, and a muffled grunt echoed in the air.
"I told you, didn't I? I can sense your killing intent. What happened just now won't happen a second time." Zesshi Zetsumei's aura suddenly became completely different. The strand of white hair in front of her forehead had turned red at some point, making her look like a different person compared to before.
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