Chapter 721

Ranked fifth out of the Twelve Malicious Spirits, Anger Bull Antares symbolized ignorance. Still, its physical prowess was formidable. It was even frequently considered the strongest among them, possessing the strength to crush mountains with its bare hands.

However, Antares met the wrong opponent. While Antares had an honest and straightforward fighting style, Davey never hesitated to use underhanded tactics. But such trickery wouldn't have made a difference if only Antares was overwhelmingly stronger. Unfortunately for Antares, Davey was the type of person who would get the help of divine power just as a child would ask an adult for a helping hand in order to weaken his opponents and strengthen himself to turn battles in his favor.

On top of this, Antares was already suffering from injuries due to the unexpected large-scale explosion during its summoning.

Antares also didn't like the way Davey fought.

Initially, it liked how Davey seemed to be a human who was willing to fight head-to-head with just brute strength. And because Davey was a mere mortal without the protection of gods, Antares didn't even give much thought to the fact that Davey had attacked the moment it appeared, even though it was something Antares didn't appreciate.

That was why Antares was determined to fight him like a man, but instead, Davey deceived it with his talk over and over again.

"No one told you to get tricked," Davey said.

Antares knew Davey was stating the obvious. However, that didn't make its anger go away.

"I... I will most definitely kill you!" Antares shouted.

Then it discharged its rage as a giant form of energy, which pierced Olga's massive body and made a gaping hole. Its powerful attack went soaring up into the sky, and its aftermath distorted gravity, creating anti-gravity.

"I will kill you by crushing your bones!" Antares roared, slamming its hand on the ground.

Bang!

Its anger fueled its strength, and Olga's huge body trembled violently with Antares's slam.

"Woah, we got a strong one here," Davey remarked.

Antares couldn't help but notice how Davey remained composed, unlike the terrified human female nearby.

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" Antares shouted, launching itself like a cannonball.

Davey reflexively put up a protective barrier, but Antares broke through it with just brute strength. Then Antares snatched Davey and hurled him into the gaping hole, sending him flying high in the sky. And Antares quickly followed right after.

But Davey remained calm despite the chaos and said with a steady voice, "Perserque! Wrap things up and bring her back with you!"

He then turned his flying, defenseless body and grabbed Antares's fist, smirking. "Haha, I didn't think you would die at once anyway."

Antares flinched when it saw Davey's faint smile and its own reflection in his eyes.

The person in front of Antares, despite being sly, was frighteningly strong. Its instincts warned that it shouldn't mess around with Davey, but it didn't realize that it was already playing by his rules.

***

It was only natural that Davey found it difficult to assess his first battle with a high-ranking Malicious Spirit. After all, he had no prior experience to compare it to. If the Malicious Spirit was stronger than expected, he knew he'd be in danger. But if it was weaker, he knew that his preparations would go to waste.

That was why Davey repeatedly deduced information from ancient sources, like Kain's information and the ruin of Rinne. He didn't have any accurate information, but one thing seemed certain: high-ranking Malicious Spirits couldn't fully utilize their ancient power, though this one was still alarmingly dangerous.

The bright blue sky surrounded them.

"I am Antares, the fifth descendant born under the will of the great ancient god! State your name!! Show respect to the strong!" Antares yelled.

Davey kicked Antares while in mid-air, creating distance between them before continuing their conversation. "Is that really necessary? I'm the dog of the Goddess Freyja, whom you hold a grudge against. This should be enough, wouldn't you say?"

"Hmph!" Antares snorted.

Davey already knew from the very beginning that it was impossible to talk to Malicious Spirits, given that their existence was entirely dependent on Neltarid's side of destruction.

Antares, the massive Minotaur-type beast, attacked Davey with the intent to kill.

As Davey dodged its punch, the atmosphere tore and broke. The blow's sheer force distorted the blue sky, exposing a dark void, causing Davey to break out in a cold sweat.

"This crazy bastard's strength would even make Urd silent," Davey muttered.

Urd's main power was usurpation—the ability to take over others. Her physical abilities were secondary to her main power, but they were still apocalyptic. However, Antares' strength overwhelmed even hers.

The angrier Antares became, the stronger it got.

Realizing that one wrong move could be fatal, Davey decided to stop joking around.

Despite its mortal wounds, Antares moved quickly, putting immense pressure on Davey. Antares shattered the air with its immense power, using it as a foundation to chase Davey, who bounced into the sky to widen the distance between them.

Davey saw Prince Al Hajat, along with several Awakened, watching him with their eyes wide open. He figured that he had distanced himself enough from Antares. Although he knew it would be difficult to be as strong as he was in the Hall of Heroes, he had gained several strengthening elements through various methods.

There was no limit to becoming stronger. If there was another way, he could simply do that and fill in his gaps. As long as he had divine power, he wouldn't be significantly weaker compared to how he was in the Hall of Heroes.

Davey charged while looking straight into one of Antares' eyes. "Alright, this is good enough."

"I will throw you to the bottom! Die!" Antares roared, its body surging with great power.

Davey felt like his arms were about to turn into pieces, although Antares was only able to grab them for a brief moment. Gritting his teeth as he endured the arm-breaking pain, he kicked Antares in the solar plexus.

"Hmph! Are you trying to stop me with that weak kick of yours?"

Davey's only response was to kick Antares again and again.

"Wait... Huh?!"

Davey finally heard what he wanted to hear. He then asked, "Does it hurt?"

Antares's expression was marred with confusion.

"I knew it would. Then let's wrap things up."

Davey slapped Antares's hand away and forcibly regenerated his shattered arm using divine power. Then he grabbed Antares by its neck, pinned it in place, and said, "Doruma... No, this is for the ones spreading smallpox. Anyway, I came to make a deal."

The stigmata of Neltarid on his wrist and of Goddess Freyja on his back flared brightly.

[Tenth Level Transcendent Sacred Magic]

[Proclamation of Holy War]

Then a massive cross, symbolizing the Goddess Freyja, appeared high in the sky. Pure white feathers began to flutter, transforming the area into a sanctuary. Spells distinguished friends from foes by buffing allies while debuffing enemies.

But the sanctuary itself was Davey's main goal, not the buffs or debuffs.

The sanctuary expanded right after the proclamation of a holy war, leaving Antares bewildered.

"Y-you!!!" Antares shouted furiously.

But Davey only ignored Antares. He bent his middle finger and pressed it against the pad of his thumb, seemingly about to snap. Then, with his back facing the sky, he placed his hand between Antares's eyes and recited a pious prayer.

"Pray. Apostate."

Despite Davey's own numerous acts of apostasy, he deluded himself into believing that the goddess was to blame.

"Do you think you can kill me with this puny hex?" Antares roared.

"Prove your innocence here and now," Davey said.

Flap!!

As soon as Davey finished his sentence, pure white feathers fluttered around both sides of the stigmata on his back. While he had witnessed the first saintess, Daphne, use the Tenth Level Transcendent Sacred Magic back then, this was actually Davey's first time because he didn't have a stigmata before.

The requirement for using it was simple: permanent consumption of divine power. It was indeed an absurd penalty, but Davey had long since begun preparing to use his spiritual power to recover.

"This one hit will cost me a lot too. I never do anything that doesn't do me good."

Davey figured he had to treat strong beings accordingly. Although Antares, who had already incurred fatal injuries, was an enemy, it was not a sly one.

Antares looked at Davey blankly and then said in a heavy voice, "Tell me. What is your essence?"

"A crazy hobbyist."

Right then and there, numerous feathers in the air began revolving around the two of them, forming a huge circle.

[Transcendental Level Sacred Magic]

[God's Gate]

The massive, circle-shaped whirlwind of feathers gathered in Davey's hand. Then he imbued the entire sanctuary's power into a spear, which he used to stab Antares.

Davey had used a lot of divine power, but it was better than permanently losing his fundamental holy power.

Among the Malicious Spirits, Antares probably had the strongest vitality. That was why, if this had been done on the ground, the aftermath would have affected everyone in the vicinity. Doing it while in the sky, however, was different.

Thud!!

Davey's spear was actually a key. And so, a white, neatly engraved door opened in the air between Antares' back and the ground.

"Go join god first. Your friends are waiting for you," Davey said.

With that as his farewell remark, he pierced Antares with his spear. Then he threw it through the door.

***

A huge aftereffect of the divine power spread out from the sky.

Kouna, who was trembling in fear, suddenly realized that her body was fine. The realization caused her expression to be tinted with confusion, despite its impassiveness.

"Since Davey declared a sanctuary here, this place has essentially become a sanctuary. So the disease will soon go away," Perserque explained. Then she muttered softly to herself, "So this is what you had in mind from the beginning."

Picking up her pace, she went ahead of Kouna, who had been following her like a shadow, and headed further down Olga's corpse.

"Uh, where are you going? The exit is up there," Kouna said.

"My only duty here is to get these things here," Perserque answered.

Ever since Olga was in Alf Online, it had been consuming underground minerals. In other words, her body was full of rare minerals.

"While Davey is keeping them distracted, it is my job to take what's useful for us."

'That's what cooperation is,' she said to herself.

As Perserque flashed an alluring and charming smile, Kouna just stared blankly at her.

If the objectives of the Malicious Spirits were to destroy the humans on Earth and fight Davey, he had no intention of missing a single opportunity to acquire everything he needed while he was at it.

They probably didn't know what Davey would do with the large amount of mithril, orichalcum, and adamantium that laid here.

With five Malicious Spirits remaining, the fight between them was turning into a rather one-sided fight at an incredible speed.