Chapter 353: Crush the Mad Cult! 9
* * *
BANG.
A single bullet fired with that sound.
It flew straight towards Emi's forehead with tremendous force, spinning...
Hitting her forehead.
Blowing her head off, creating a mangled corpse...
That didn't happen.
It didn't happen.
Because.
...The bullet couldn't penetrate her tough skin and skull.
With a sound like "bachiin".
The moment it hit her forehead, it bounced off and disappeared.
Emi,
When she was shot in the forehead with a bullet.
"Ouch."
That's what she said.
Looking closely, her forehead, where the bullet hit, is a little red.
It certainly looks painful.
"............"
Death Pope, silently watching that scene.
BANG, BANG.
Fired a second and third shot.
The second one, again at her forehead.
And the third one hit her temple.
Emi,
"Ouch, ouch."
Shaking her head from the impact of the gunshots, she said.
"...Church Bell."
"Yes!"
"If you're shot with this gun, a human's head... explodes and they die... That's what I thought."
"Yes! That understanding is, correct."
"...But she."
"Yes!"
"Isn't dead..."
"In other words, she is a monster."
"I see..."
After being stunned for a while, Death Pope put the handgun back in his pocket.
And instead, he took out a thick book with a metal-coated cover.
This is his special-order, custom-made bible, the magic book 'Steel Face'.
When mana flows through it, it can cast magic... well, not really, it just becomes hard.
In other words, it's a blunt weapon for close combat.
When reinforced with his abundant mana... a single blow from this book far exceeds the power of a handgun.
"Now, depart."
Death Pope pointed the corner of the magic book at Emi's forehead, who couldn't move.
...A fresh start.
"Oh, our noble god, Alogoros-sama... We offer you a new sacrifice. Please accept her..."
"Please accept her..."
Ring, ring, ring...
As the sound of the 'Ability Sealing Bell' rang, Death Pope slowly walked towards Emi... stood next to her face, and silently looked down at her.
And then, he slowly raised the magic book 'Steel Face' high above his head.
He's going to hit Emi with the corner of this book... destroy her head and kill her.
That's what he intends to do.
But however.
This girl, Emi.
Even in this situation, still!
Never gives up!
"...Gah!?"
Before the bible, which had transformed into a blunt weapon, could slam into her skull!
Emi, mustering all her strength, rolled over!
And then... she bit hard on Death Pope's right foot!
"Ah!? GAAAAAH!?"
Death Pope, screaming in pain, hurriedly kicked Emi away!
Checking his right foot after lifting the hem of his robe, it was covered in blood.
And the damage wasn't limited to where she bit him!
The skin where Emi's saliva touched was scorched... emitting white smoke!
"AAAAAAAAGH!! You truly are a monster, aren't you, YOUUU BASTAAAARD!!"
Death Pope, finally enraged, swung the magic book up high, leaped high into the air... and slammed it down towards Emi's head with all his might!
A tremendous blow, combined with his gravity-manipulating special ability, [Trials and Tribulations]!
Emi rolled over and narrowly dodged it, but...
ZUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
The impact created a small crater in the cobblestones, sending shattered stone fragments flying into the air, and those fragments, pulled by intense gravity, rained down on Emi!
She can't escape unscathed!
"DIE! DIE!! DIEEEEEEEE!!! How long are you going to make our noble god wait, BASTAAAAARD!!"
ZUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
ZUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
ZUGAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!
Death Pope, smashing the cobblestones of the Second Plaza one after another with the corner of the magic book!
Emi, desperately dodging, rolling around!
It was a comical battle scene, like trying to crush a bug that got into the house, but Emi was already covered in blood, gasping for air!
A desperate crisis!
And in the midst of it all.
ZGAAAAANG!!
Once again, blown away by the wind pressure from a swing of the magic book.
In front of her were the craters that had formed from the repeated blows.
Emi fell into one of them!
"......!!"
"Now, the time has come!!"
Death Pope, seeing Emi unable to escape from the crater, partly due to the effect of [Trials and Tribulations], gave an evil grin!
"Oh, noble god, Alogoros-sama!"
Death Pope, holding the magic book.
"We offer you a new sacrifice!!"
He raised it high in the air.
"Please... ACCEPT HEEEEEEEERーーー!!!"
And then... with all his might, he swung it down!!
"GYAAAAAAAAAAAHーーー!!!"
A death throe echoed through the Second Plaza, which had become silent at some point.
Whose?
...Church Bell's.
"......Huh?"
...At that moment, two things happened simultaneously.
Even Death Pope, unable to grasp the situation, let out a dumbfounded voice.
First, in front of him.
The monster named Emi, who should have been crushed by the magic book and turned into a mangled mess of flesh, in a short amount of time... created something like a jet-black cocoon and wrapped her body in it.
The magic book's blow was blocked by that cocoon.
"What's this... a special ability!?"
Realizing that fact, Death Pope turned to look at the owner of the death throe.
And what he saw was Church Bell, no longer ringing the 'Ability Sealing Bell', blood flowing from his mouth and chest...
...Collapsing.
To be precise, it was an illusion of Church Bell, projected there by his special ability, [Phantom Doppelganger].
Church Bell's phantom collapsed on the spot, convulsed a few times, and then... like smoke, vanished into thin air.
In other words, what this means is the death of Church Bell's main body.
"What in the world... !?"
Death Pope muttered involuntarily, but he wasn't given time to analyze the cause.
Because the next moment.
From the jet-black cocoon in front of him.
An intense [Intimidation], so strong that even he couldn't help but feel intimidated, was released!
"!!"
Instinctively sensing danger, Death Pope hurriedly moved away from the jet-black cocoon and braced himself.
And then, the jet-black cocoon bounced in place with a 'pong'.
It burst in midair, turning into a jet-black haze and disappearing.
And what emerged from it, landing silently on the ground, was...
...The black-haired, black-eyed girl, Emi Rune, clad in a jet-black, ominous armor-like garment, occasionally emitting jet-black haze from the joints of her armor like steam, and with two giant, menacing, third and fourth arms protruding from her shoulders!
"Monster... No."
Death Pope, wiping sweat from his forehead, held the magic book 'Steel Face' in his right hand and the handgun 'Ghost Rate' in his left.
"An enemy of god...!!"
Emi, without a word, assumed a stance with her four arms.
She repeatedly clenched and unclenched her fists a few times.
...And then, enveloped in intense killing intent, she charged towards Death Pope!!
* * *
Now, Death Pope was dumbfounded, unable to comprehend the situation, and Emi, not caring about the details, started another fight.
But what exactly happened?
Why did Church Bell die?
To tell that story, let's go back in time for a bit.