Chapter 122: Double Crisis (3)

The magic circle was etched into the capital of Paladia. There were only two people capable of activating the magic circle within the Zero Class. This was also true for the entirety of Lihazeta. It was the pope and the priestess.

This was probably the product of the contract made by the predecessor hero. Even if Aria possessed the Assimilation ability, there was no way she could easily circumvent the safety measures. There was no way she should have had such an easy time assimilating with the magic circle. On top of that, she had been placed within the magic circle as a sacrifice to activate black magic. It made what happened all the more unlikely.

If so, what was the only possibility that explained this situation?

That's right. If Aria was a holy priestess, it would easily explain the current situation.

[Aria Kuar Serieta]

[Level : 36]

[Holy Priestess]

[Innate Ability : Assimilation]

"Y...you realized this, so you ordered me to······."

"Of course. There are two heroes, and there is no rule stating that there can't be two holy priestesses."

He was speaking in this manner, but he was also taken aback when he realized his prediction had been correct.

Why?

There were two heroes and two holy priestesses.

It meant it wouldn't be strange if there were two Demon Kings!

"How can this be······."

On the other hand, Vadinet had appointed the new holy priestess with her own hands. She was looking at Aria, and Vadinet clearly looked agitated.

Was it because another girl occupied the same position of the holy priestess that she had considered it to be solely hers?

Or was it anxiousness that arose from the possibility of having another rival in her pursuit for love?

Or was she feeling sympathy for the girl, who shared the same fate as her?

Maybe, all of them were the correct answers or it might all be the wrong answers.

However, she was sure about one thing. The rule, which she had considered to be absolute, was completely broken into pieces.

"Aria, are you ok!?"

"Ah. I can't.... I'm not able to completely control the magic circle!"

After earning her Class, she was going through the process of leveling up after absorbing the Record of the magic circle. Even with the change, she couldn't completely control the magic circle.

When Jeriet gave up his control of the magic circle, the energy of the black magic had run amok. If Aria relaxed even a little bit, her body would be swallowed up by the runaway magic circle. Even if she had become a holy priestess, the benefit brought on by the change was extremely limited.

"E...even if there are two holy priestesses, it changes nothing! I'll kill both holy priestesses, and it'll just raise the fear and despair felt by the humans!"

The appearance of the second holy priestess made Jeriet feel very flustered. However, he still acted brave. In truth, he hadn't received much damage from Maetel's attacks, and he was also attempting counterattacks now. It was clear that he still had power to spare.

However, the mere presence of a holy priestess weakened a Demon's energy. With one holy priestess, the heroes were able to compete with him even with the huge level difference. When there was only Vadinet, Jariet could push them back using the advantage of having a higherlevel. However, when Aria perfectly transitioned into being a holy priestess, her presence suppressed the power of Demons. Even if Jeriet was a level 340 Four Heavenly King of the Demon King's army, he couldn't help, but feel burdened!

If things continue along this path, there was a chance that he would die before he could accomplish anything. This thought made him break out into cold sweat.

'This is embarrassing to do as a Four Heavenly King, but.... It would be stupid to drag this out any further. The initiative was completely seized by the heroes. For now, I have to······!'

"Hoo-ohhhhhhhhh!"

"Kyahhhhk!?"

His eyes shone in the next moment, and the black demonic energy roiling near his heart started to manifest in an instant. The overwhelming amount of Demonic energy pushed back Artpe's Mana with brute force!

"Koohk!? You are all brawn and no brain. As expected of the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly King.......!"

"Evil Fist!"

Demonic energy settled around his thick fist, and it turned into the shape of a hammer. At once, he brought it down towards Maetel. It was called a fist yet it wasn't a fist! This was the gist of the skill!

"Eeek!?"

Maetel had anticipated Jeriet's fist, but instead of his fist, her vision was filled with the fast approaching Demonic hammer. Maetel knew her party members would be hurt if she avoided this blow, so she raised her bastard sword to face the attack head on.

"Koo-ha-ha! You are quick like a little mouse, but it seems you can't run away with your comrades in danger!"

An enormous shockwave was created when the two clashed.

"Kyahhk!"

"Maetel!"

She wasn't even in a proper defensive stance, and she was inferior in terms of level.

Will she able to block a strike that contained the entire might of Jeriet? The shock was felt all over Maetel's body, and she was sent flying backwards.

Artpe had been ready to attack Jariet with all the Mana Strings he had manifested. He clicked his tongue, and he turned his Mana Strings into the shape of a soft barrier. He caught Maetel.

Moreover, this was what Jariet had been waiting for. In a flash, he shot into the air, and he flew towards the hole in the ceiling. He shot into the sky.

"Jeez. I never expected someone that's higher level than us to run away, so you are catching me off guard. That bastard is a more cowardly and cheap loser than I thought!"

"You can talk all you want! Your attempts to provoke me will no longer work!"

After catching Maetel, Artpe desperately sent his Mana String towards Jeriet. However, the Four Heavenly King had already gained distance from the two holy priestesses, so he had regained his strength. He could easily resist against the Mana Strings!

"I'll retreat for now, but I will surely take one of the two lives of the heroes next time! Holy priestesses! It'll be the same for you two bitches! Hear me all humans! His majesty the Demon King's shadow had fallen over the holy nation of Paladia! You should all tremble in fear! Ooh-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

It seemed he knew about the image transmission Artifact! Or he was late in realizing it, so he was probably putting on an act! He was trying his best to act naturally!

Jeriet was about to exit the scene using his teleportation spell, but a figure suddenly appeared above him.

"You forgot about me, you son of a bitch!"

"Koohk!"

It was none other than Silpennon. He had just been healed by Vadinet, so there wasn't much strength left within body. Still, he had activated the Blink Boots, which had been loaned out to him by Artpe. Silpennon was successful in getting behind Jariet!

"Ha!"

He concentrated all his Mana into a Unique skill of a thief. It was called the Lucky Strike. He planted his dagger in the back of Jariet's head. There was such a big level difference, so the damage caused wasn't that big. However, Jariet lost a little bit of his balance. He slightly dipped towards the ground, and that was enough....

"Now, Artpe-nim!"

Jariet had entered into the sphere of influence of the two holy priestess, and his body weakened in an instant. He was letting out black smoke. She didn't want to lose this opportunity, so Vadinet used the spell called God's Chain. Her spell restricted the movement of Jariet, and it applied a debuff that decreased his immunity.

Even if Vadinet was outstanding, she couldn't overcome the wide gap in level with the Four Heavenly King. She could only restrain Jariet for couple seconds, but that was enough!

"Good job, Vadinet!"

"Koo-hahk!?"

Afterwards, Artpe shot out couple thousand strands of Mana String. It took the form of an enormous spear, and it embedded itself in Jariet's stomach!

"Ggoo-rooooooohk!"

The large spear had embedded itself when Jariet was defenseless. In the next moment, the Mana Strings came undone inside his body, and Hyper Rubbing was used through the several thousand strands of Mana Strings.

The Hyper Rubbing spell had already reached level 70. When the output of the spell was maximized, the friction was capable of causing the Demon's blood to boil! The spell was being used simultaneously through the several thousand strands of Mana String. Of course, even a Four Heavenly King would be damaged by it.

"Maetel."

"Hoo-ooooooh······."

The next person up was Maetel.

The golden wing unfurled behind her shoulder as it let out a light. Maetel withdrew deeply within herself as she gripped the bastard sword hard. Artpe had used Reinforcement on her sword, so if one of talking about the sword's ability to amplify magical energy, the bastard sword performed similar to the holy sword of legends. The bastard sword had developed to that extent!

"Since you attacked me with all you got····· I'll return the favor by attacking you with all I got!"

She transferred all her reserve power to her bastard sword. The sword let out a brilliant golden aura. She leapt towards Jeriet, and she shoved the sword into his stomach.

That was painful enough, yet in the next moment, Artpe retracted the Mana, which had been supplying the Hyper Rubbing spell. He rerouted his Mana to Maetel's Aura. It allowed her to do additional damage!

"Kya-hahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhk!"

The pain had already went past the threshold that Jeriet could endure, so the sound of his scream reached the heavens. However, Artpe wasn't done with his maneuvering.

It was still immature, but he had his Materialization spell. It was a spell that could change his magic into Mana, and his Mana into magic! It allowed him to freely change back and forth!

Artpe and Maetel were sharing Mana through Maetel's Record Master Skill. He combined all his Mana with Maetel's Mana, and he kept cycling through the Hero Mana, Mana String, Hyper Rubbing spell and Blaze spell. Jeriet was continually attacked.

"Koo-hoohk! Ggooh-ahhhhhhhk!?"

"When the second holy priestess showed up, when you exposed your back to Silpennon, and when your stomach was pierced by me, you had already forfeited your life!"

"Amazing······ Hero-nim didn't even need to terminate his spell······!"

There were two processes in which Mana was consumed when manifesting a spell. The first was the consumption of Mana in the process of shaping the spell. The second was the consumption of Mana as one maintained the spell as one attacked one's enemies.

Artpe had to take a hit as he consumed Mana to manifest this spell. However, his Materialization spell didn't require Mana consumption to maintain it, and he could continuously change the shape of the Mana according his will. Unless one was an extraordinary monster, their enemies would be killed before Artpe and Maetel's Mana ran out!

"Goohk, ggoo-roo-roo-roohk······!"

Jeriet was one of the Four Heavenly Kings, yet he wasn't an extraordinary monster. As he tried to resist against Artpe and Maetel's attacks, he tried to somehow activate his Mana. He wanted to use a spell. However, he couldn't withstand the attack, so he fell to the floor.

"Kah-hoohk!"

When he opened his mouth, a massive amount of black blood spilled out. Jeriet squeezed out his last bit of strength to get out the words that seemed to be engraved in his DNA.

"Y...you...,.shouldn't breath a sigh of relief..... I am.....I am merely the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings......"

"Yes. You really lived up to the name of the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly Kings. You were really weak. In fact, I'm not even afraid of the next one that'll show up!"

The next one up was the 3rd ranked Four Heavenly King. She was so strong that she couldn't even be compared to this bum. It was the Fire Witch Etna. He knew this information, so at this moment, he decided to make fun of his enemy. After he was armed with this determination, Artpe belittled Jeriet! It was super effective!

"You bastard...kuh-huhk!"

His last words were supposed to leave behind fear and despair. When Jeriet heard Artpe's words, his blood pressure rose, so he could no longer speak. He bled out before he could say anything. Jeriet had taken Artpe's place as the weakest amongst the Four Heavenly King. The weakest Four Heavenly King died at the hands of the former weakest Four Heavenly King.

"Koohk!"

The fact that Jeriet had died was confirmed when a splitting headache assaulted Artpe and Maetel. It had truly been a while since they've felt this.

Why didn't Artpe attack Jeriet as soon as possible?

Why did he wait until Jeriet regained his true form?

He wanted Jeriet to shed all the penalties that would be incurred by killing him in his pope form. Artpe wanted the full EXP that would come with killing his real level 340 body.

"You did that for such a selfish reason!?"

"Of course!"

One thing was for sure. If they could endure the pain, Artpe and Maetel would easily surpass level 300!

"Ahh-ooh! Hurts!"

"Ah-ooooooooooh!"

However, the dance of pain included two more members this time. The root cause of why they were able to go toe to toe with the Four Heavenly King was the power imbued to them by the holy priestess Vadinet. Then there was the thief Silpennon, who had prevented Jeriet from running away in a crucial moment.

Their level was especially low compared to Artpe's party. For Artpe and Maetel, they had gained EXP that they could have gained in a month. This was why Silpennon and Vadinet suffered pain that couldn't be compared to what was being felt by Artpe and Maetel.

"Head. My head······!"

"Hero-nim, it hurts so much. I think I need the touch of hero-nim's hands.....!

"It is growing pain, so stop being a baby! That isn't important right now······!"

After confirming the death of the Four Heavenly King, he immediately turned his head away. He caught sight of Aria, who remained in the magic circle. She was desperately using her Innate ability to keep the rampaging magic circle in check.

"We have save her right now. Ah, Silpennon. This is secret information from now on, so I want you to end the transmission."

"Secret? I've already ended transmission of the images....."

"You want to save her? How? Ah, wait a moment. I think I got it."

The Demonic energy had caused the Mana to run amok. Aria was being tormented, because she was accepting this Mana. Even if Maetel wasn't great at studying, she was able to discern a pattern!

"You are going to create a new race again!"

"Bzzt. Wrong."

Artpe dismissed that idea as he took out a thick book.

"What's the point of making a new new race when she is the holy priestess. This time I'll let her keep her human form."

In the past, Artpe had rewritten this magical tome. The magical tome had deviated from its original purpose. At that moment, a miracle opened its eyes through Artpe's hands.