I Became the Martial God's Youngest Disciple

Episode 300

As everyone stood there frozen, the one who grasped the situation the most accurately was Sister Razbet, the inquisitor.

More accurately, it was Verita, the Colorless believer, who was best able to understand the general development.

First, as Verita guessed, the priest had indeed been nearby beyond the ceiling of the cave.

Second, the priest had already been half-dead. She could only chant spells in that grotesque form where only her lower jaw moved.

Third, the moment the ceiling broke and the priest stopped moving, the legion commander revealed himself.

The instant all those pieces clicked in Verita's mind, she reached a chilling conclusion.

Double control!

In other words, the priest who controlled the demons was actually being controlled by the legion commander. It was an incredibly difficult task, like a puppeteer controlling a puppet that was also controlling another puppet. The few remaining masters of dark magic on the continent couldn't pull off such a feat, but the being who just revealed himself seemed to find it effortless.

That was because it wasn't a mortal in the first place. If it had this much presence and Dark Qi, it had to be one of the legion commanders under the direct command of the Golden Horned Demon King, Kingarodtus. It was a being appointed by the demon king as his Horn.

Which Horn was it? If it was one of the first three, then death was almost unavoidable no matter what they did. After all, an S-class hero had already died.

Heavenly Wind Knight Feed had managed to respond just before his death. His brain questioned the overwhelming presence that suddenly appeared, but his long-trained body reacted instinctively. A fierce wind blew around him and he thrust his spear upward.

However, it was useless. The legion commander had instantly grown into a huge being, as if its size had multiplied by dozens of times. It blocked the spear with ease, stood firm against the raging wind, and attacked, crushing Feed beneath it with immense strength.

As a result, Feed had turned into a bloody mess and died.

"Captain! Uwaaaah!" The adjutant hero screamed and attacked the legion commander.

Losing one's sense of reason at the death of a colleague wasn't an attitude that a hero would show. Perhaps this person had a special relationship with Feed, who was already dead.

In any case, Verita had a clear idea of what was going to happen next.

Thump!

The moment the legion commander slammed its staff into the ground, the adjutant rushing forward was completely crushed. It was as if some gigantic being had grabbed him by the head and legs, wringing him like a rag.

Crunch.

There was a chilling sound as the adjutant collapsed to the ground as a mangled mass of flesh. The heroes nearly flinched in shock.

"What was that just now?"

"Alexa was killed in an instant?"

"Dammit!"

Some heroes muttered, but fortunately, no one acted rashly. The heroes held their ground and resisted the terrible Dark Qi. They decided they had to wait and observe the situation.

However, that alone seemed too much for the legion commander to tolerate. Suddenly, massive gravestones fell from the sky and crushed the three heroes who had just spoken.

Their grim visages were engraved on the stones, with words visible underneath.

Guell Donter.

Liara Fawkes.

Gin Wiseman.

The surrounding heroes realized that they were the names of the three who had been crushed beneath the gravestones.

Then a strangely elongated, discolored finger emerged from below the legion commander's sleeve. The index finger, withered like a twisted old tree, moved near the legion commander's face.

—Shhhh...

It was telling them to shut up.

Verita quietly raised the risk evaluation of the demon legion commander by another level.

Demons who didn't speak were particularly dangerous. It wasn't that they lacked intelligence and couldn't speak. Given their level of strength, it was highly likely that their intelligence was much higher than that of humans.

There were only two reasons why they remained silent: They either used a language system that humans couldn't understand, or they didn't wish to converse with humans at all.

Either way, it was dangerous.

For the first time in a long time, Verita felt nervous. Normally, she never worried about dying. However, the current situation was bad in many ways. She really thought that she could die.

She wondered what the legion commander's objective was, however. It had already taken control of this place. The only one who had the potential to kill the demon was the Heavenly Wind Knight, but Feed had just been killed. Clearing out the rest of the group wouldn't be too difficult for this being.

At that moment, the legion commander struck his staff against the ground once more. The heroes' faces turned pale at the heavy thud, but no one died this time. Instead, the scattered chunks of flesh around them started to gather together in the air. They wriggled like meat being kneaded before eventually forming a human face.

It was a woman with sharp features, but her face was expressionless as if cast in ice.

"Gasp, keok, cough..."

Suddenly, the woman gasped for air. She seemed to be urgently trying to breathe as if she had just been choking. Verita couldn't guess why a being with only a face would need to breathe.

"I-I-I-I—"

Eventually, the stuttering mouth managed to form words.

"My name is Elan. I am the priest who serves the god of disaster, Golden Savior Kingarodtus. I have something to say to all those gathered here."

The priest, Elan, smiled.

"You did a good job."

It was unclear whether her expression was really a smile, though. She wasn't smiling out of genuine joy. It also couldn't be called a sneer of ridicule. It was as if some invisible force had grabbed the corners of the woman's mouth and her cheeks, forcing her to smile.

It was more than unpleasant. It was eerie.

"You did a really good job. I, I salute you all."

Elan's voice trembled slightly.

Verita finally realized the priest's condition. She's an agent.

Such was the fate of most of those who gave their souls to demons. Priest Elan was already dead, but she wasn't able to rest. Her soul had been bound by the legion commander, and she had become a mere puppet that followed its will.

"Tributes, I will explain your role now," Elan said.

The onlookers listened silently.

"Fight. You can fight each other or attack the legion commander over here. However, I won't allow anyone to harm themselves or end their own lives.

"Fight with anger, regret, or tears. The struggle of the living will be the glorious sacrifice that hastens the return of the great Golden Horn. So, only the last one standing will be able to leave this place alive."

Now Verita understood what was going on. In this terrible situation, she managed to find their only hope.

Kingarodtus hadn't descended yet. That was also the reason why the legion commander hadn't killed everyone here.

"I-I have conveyed your opinion to them. My role is over now, right?" Elan looked at the demon commander with a pitiful expression.

The commander stood motionless and just turned his head to look at the priest.

"Then can I die now?"

A gravestone fell from the sky and slammed straight onto Priest Elan. The face etched into this gravestone was different from the previous ones. It showed her smiling joyfully just before her death. The smile even seemed to carry a sense of liberation.

The heroes were absurdly envious of her, the one who had escaped fear through death.

Only one person, Verita, was disgusted by Elan's ignorance. Could someone bearing the title of priest really not know what awaited her at the end? Even after death, the soul of a fanatic remained eternally bound to the demon.

At that moment, as everyone was frozen in fear, an angry voice exclaimed, "You! Do you know where you are standing right now?"

The surge of emotion was so intense that it shocked the others out of their daze.

It was Mir Giant. She had been nearly exhausted after throwing the hammer with all her strength. Now she came to her senses and glared at the legion commander.

"Get out of the way," she growled.

Had she thrown away her judgment along with her hammer? Zach, the vice-captain of the Heavenly Wind Knight and leader of the large Frostel clan, thought so.

Then, as he listened to the voice trembling with fury, he realized it wasn't Mir who had lost her mind. It was him.

Ah. Why was he scared instead of angry at the death of his colleagues? The veteran hero trembled at the sudden realization.

Meanwhile, Mir let out a roar and charged at the legion commander.

The commander quietly watched her. Then he slammed his staff against the ground once more. A gravestone fell from the air and crushed Mir beneath it.

It was a scene the onlookers had seen many times before.

"Ah."

Mir was dead. The heroes lamented; this was different from the previous deaths of their colleagues. This was a young hero who hadn't blossomed yet. The person they should've protected was dead.

What should I do? Zach thought desperately, but he couldn't think of a way to overcome the current situation.

The only viable-sounding method was for them to scatter and run away. Even so, their end would be death, because everyone in this cave had been cursed with marks.

Then, should they all join forces to fight this legion commander? Indeed, that was the correct answer. It was better to swing their weapons to the very end than to be a demon's plaything and offered up as a sacrifice for the demon king's descent.

Zach finally understood that fact. At that moment, he was ready to lay down his life. But what about the others?

Zach saw the heroes who were still frozen. His colleagues were consumed by fear. He wondered: Did he have the charisma to rally them now? Could he pass on the heat building in his chest to them?

He had to give a cruel command. He had to order them to charge to their deaths, like moths throwing themselves into the flame.

Zach didn't have that much control. Even he was like this despite being the leader of a large clan.

There was only one person who had that much determination. Coincidentally, that person had been crushed to death the moment the legion commander appeared.

It would be horrifying if all of that was part of the demon's calculations.

As Zach was thinking about various things, Verita's eyes were on the gravestone that had crushed Mir. It was a bit strange. Why didn't this gravestone have a death mask or a name?

"Hea, vvvvvvy!"

At that moment, the gravestone went flying, revealing Mir.

Both Zach and Verita stared at Mir with wide eyes. Astonishingly, she was bleeding a bit, but she had no major wounds.

Even the legion commander seemed to be staring. Its flames flickered before it slammed its staff down again. This time, multiple gravestones appeared in the air.

Araxad saw this and threw one of the weapons on his back to Mir, calling out, "Take this!"

"Thank you!" Mir replied as she grabbed the flying two-handed axe and swung it at the gravestone that was falling toward her.

The stone was shattered.

Zach finally realized what was going on. The gravestone was immune to supernatural powers, whether it was mana, blessings, magic, or spiritual energy. It weighed at least a few hundred kilograms, or even more, so few heroes could withstand something that heavy with their bare bodies.

However, Mir Giant had the blood of giants and could do so. That could only mean one thing.

"Take a formation!" Zach shouted a command loudly. Feed had fallen, so he naturally had to take over as acting commander. He only just realized this obvious fact.

Finally, there was hope and a chance of winning. It was a weak possibility, less than 1%, but it was enough.

"Protect the giant girl! Protect Mir Giant!"

Heroes were accustomed to such harsh odds.

***

Right after exiting Ymir's stomach and its eternal winter, I felt a sudden surge of heat.

At first, I thought my body was failing. I had walked for over ten hours in a state of blurred consciousness. It wouldn't be strange if I felt a burning sensation from my overworked muscles.

However, that wasn't the case. I couldn't make sense of the scene in front of me. Suddenly, molten lava appeared, its boiling flow slowly melting anything it touched.

Just moments ago, I had almost frozen to death. Now there was suddenly lava.

Did I finally go crazy? That thought briefly crossed my mind. In my dazed state, I even had another thought.

It would be perfect if I soaked my body a bit before moving on.