Apostle of the Void

Chapter 34: The Second Request: To Aurelinople (1)

“I’ll carry this. Let’s head to Euphoria first. If we’re going to rest, I’d much rather sleep in a bed than camp out here.”

With his hulking, muscular arms, Jerome hoisted both Sia and the Executioner’s Sword onto his shoulders. In one hand, he even held his Gatling gun. Even though he couldn’t use magic, his sheer physical strength embodied the perfect image of a Dwarf.

Yuz bit her lip and shook her head.

“No, the power of the Void attracts monsters and can drive them into a frenzy. The forbidden area is stabilized by the seal, but... we don’t know about the goblins outside of it.”

“Goblins? You’re worried about goblins?”

The one dismissing Yuz’s concern with a chuckle was none other than Arzen.

“With me here, you don’t need to worry about lowly goblins. Not at all!”

Arzen placed a hand on his forehead and let out a loud laugh.

The way he appeared now was... completely different from the boy who had once shed tears, worrying about the safety of the townspeople.

Yes, he had become something akin to a madman!

“Kaz tu Arcturas! Worker Bee, full Void Squadron deployment!”

The boy was in an extreme state of excitement, to the point where he forgot he had been putting on a whole act to increase his favorability and contributions.

‘Second-stage release of Kaz tu Arcturas! That number just doubled right at this moment!’

Arzen had used it.

The King Goblin’s universal key!

Without a second thought, not to unlock a new technique, but to strengthen his Void Creature summoning.

Buuuuuuuuung…!

As a result, the Void Creatures began pouring out, gnawing at the dimensional rift.

This was different from usual.

Usually, after summoning 25 units, the strain on his power would slow down the process. But this time, it was different.

‘Thirty? Forty? Fifty? Still going strong at fifty-five!’

Fifty-six, fifty-seven, fifty-eight, fifty-nine… sixty!

‘Perfect! Sixty units, the maximum operational number!’

Double the usual amount.

‘I thank you, King Goblin! You’ve certainly become a stepping stone for me, Arzen!’

How much had he regretted unlocking Barolus last time?

‘The number of Void Creatures equals power, stamina, and energy... I have to pump up this number as much as I can.’

Chasing after fanciful dreams nearly got him killed, so this time, he made a practical choice.

Buuuuuuuuung…!

The collective sound of the Void Creatures’ wings rubbing against one another was so loud it became painful to the ears.

‘Now the power of La Tsui Kua has been at least doubled! What a splendid growth this is!’

And it doesn’t end there.

This increase in Void Creatures also naturally unlocked miracles that had them as prerequisites.

It was truly a two-for-one deal.

Gaining new insights is always a result of something fitting the right moment.

Long for divine wisdom.

Ebakta, through an intense understanding of the Void’s nature, attain new enlightenment.

Without needing the universal key to unlock a new technique, Arzen could now enjoy a ‘happy new technique time.’

‘I’ll save this technique for later! To enjoy secretly in a room where no one can see! Hahaha!’

As Arzen burst into maniacal laughter, Yuz covered her mouth with both hands.

Kitan shook his head.

“Arzen is like that normally. Sia says he seems to be feeling a bit unwell.”

***

The Void Spike had the trait of drawing monsters from all corners, just as Yuz feared.

It was fine until they exited the forbidden area.

The Elder Goblins that emerged from the other realm were all swept away without a trace when the seal was broken.

“Goblins keep coming…!”

Not just goblins.

Various monsters dwelling in the forest charged in with their eyes gleaming darkly.

“To rush against me, how fearless! Worker Bee, it\'s a perfect opportunity to form the best squadron!”

While he thought this… they were just insignificant monsters, so there was no need to use fusion entities.

‘Against these trash, it would be a loss to use fusion entities that have special abilities but are limited in mobility and active time.’

Just deploying them broadly around would prevent the monsters from surpassing that greenish-black wave of annihilation.

‘But those monsters seem odd. Are they enthralled by the Void?’

It was as if they completely lacked sensation.

Some were even rushing in while having more than half their bodies gnawed away by Void Insects.

However, in their weakened state from the Void Insects, they couldn’t pass through Yuz’s barrier, so there was no problem.

“Arzen, I can feel an incredible energy from behind! At least E-rank! That’s a RoachCat!”

RoachCat.

A grotesque mix of feline and cockroach features.

It had eleven eyes, and the drool from its antennae contained a venom that paralyzed the limbs of its prey.

“E-rank, primarily hunted by top-tier bronze and lower-tier silver rank monsters!”

It could be considered on par with this grade-9 request.

Also, that RoachCat is notorious for brutally slaughtering adventurers.

“Let it come, Worker Bee.”

He was hungry… Arzen’s Happy Happy New Technique Time!

“Arzen, you look like a magic monkey! Why are you gathering bugs? It’s charging at us!”

As the Void Insects deployed in the back split to the sides, Jerome shouted, and Kitan asked.

“Arzen, are we going to lose?”

Chwaaaaaa…! In response, Arzen dramatically opened the holy book.

It was important.

In moments like this, looking good also mattered.

“Bobting, do you think I, the future gold rank, would lose to such a pathetic monster!”

While replying to Kitan, he flipped the pages too far back and had to awkwardly return them.

Realizing something is always an act deserving of a particular occasion.

Long for divine wisdom.

Ebakta, through an intense understanding of the Void’s nature, attain new enlightenment.

The Void is the same as miracles and the principles of use.

If one memorizes all the explanations of that incantation, it becomes possible to skip the casting by just uttering one activation word.

‘But I haven’t memorized it yet…!’

He quickly read that phrase as if praying, then shouted the activation word.

‘But there’s a different part from miracles.’

It must be shouted with a commanding attitude rather than a desperate one for the power to manifest.

“Ebakta!”

In an instant, a dark green crack spread through the dimension, and from that gap, a massive tentacle—no, a root—shot up.

‘Is this a plant of the Void…?’

It was something that resembled either a vine or a root.

It charged forward!

It entwined the body of the RoachCat, a monster that had penetrated deep into the rear of the formation.

“KeWooooooooooooo!”

The RoachCat, ensnared by the vine, began to writhe in pain.

The aberration of the Void had already begun.

Starting from the RoachCat’s fur, its body was being dragged into another dimension, on the verge of annihilation.

‘Oh, this is a binding-type miracle!’

It had captured the RoachCat, which was at least 1.5 times the size of a bear, and lifted it into the air.

It wasn\'t just a simple binding; it could easily crush the lowest-tier monsters.

“ShyaaaaKKKKKKKK!”

However, the RoachCat did not give in easily.

It tried to gnaw at the Void plant with its venomous fangs to gradually escape the binding.

‘Is it because of the rampage of the Void, or is my power still weak… It’s impossible to handle E-rank solely with Ebakta!’

And although it was longer than Barolus, the manifestation time wasn’t as long as that of the Void Insects.

The Void’s vines began to dissipate.

‘Still, it’s not a problem at all!’

There were more than enough troops to reinforce the RoachCat raid. A whopping 60 Void Insects could be summoned.

“Su Ja Kunia, three mid-tier. Su Ja Heros, two front-tier. Assemble.”

The Void Insects paired up two or three at a time, instantly merging into entities that lined up before Arzen.

“Worker Bee, the target is the brain.”

They would penetrate the skull with the mid-tier and finish it off with the front-tier.

Buuuuuuuuuuuuum…!

Cooking the RoachCat still caught in Ebakta’s vines was easier than picking one’s nose while lying on a bed.

“Finish it off!”

With the mid-tier’s venom saturation, part of the RoachCat’s thick fur and skull vanished into another dimension.

Through that gap rushed the front-tier!

As Ebakta finally dissipated, the RoachCat fell to the ground.

It convulsed all over, soon frothing at the mouth and slumping down.

This was because the front-tier had torn apart its brain and organs.

‘In just one week, what a perfect power-up!’

Now, it was almost toying with this rampaging RoachCat, which could be compared to a Giant Slime.

‘Power, volume, speed! Nothing lags behind! The Void is undoubtedly the strongest attribute! Hah hah hah hah… ha, huh?’

Huh…?

Why…?

Was the horizon vertical instead of horizontal…?

‘Now that I think about it… I was definitely… exhausted, but how did I summon 60… Was there a recovery effect in the sealing formation…?’

The strain hit his body hard.

Blood was pouring from his nose, enough to block his prayers.

“……Arzen has collapsed!”

“……I’ll carry him!”

“……I’ll check his condition! If we get past there, our village will be out! Your cart is over there!”

With Arzen fainted, the entire fighting force was effectively unarmed.

Now, the fate of their situation rested on Kitan.

Kitan led the group while trying to conceal his presence as much as possible.

The monsters could sense that "there was an Void nearby," but they seemed unsure of the exact location.

“I’ll turn the goblins’ traps against them!”

Since there were many goblins from other areas, they wouldn’t know the trap locations, and given their current frenzied state, they likely lacked reason.

“How?”

Yuz, who had healed Arzen\'s internal bleeding with healing magic, interrupted.

“Goblins mark traps with a stench, so we just need to eliminate that odor. We can change it to something else.”

Kitan used the animal dung he had collected nearby.

He repeatedly made the goblins fall into their own traps.

He also strung wires throughout the forest at goblin height.

Goblins that charged in blindly had their necks cleanly severed by the wires.

Thanks to these efforts, the group safely arrived at Yuz’s village.

At the edge of the village was the cart Jerome had left behind.

“There’s enough iron pellets here to max load five times. Priestess, you can use telekinesis, right?”

As Jerome loaded the executioner\'s sword onto the cart, he started to load bullets into the Gatling gun with a clank.

“What are you planning?”

“I’ll stand on this cart and fire the gun wildly. Kitan, make sure to guide us downhill as much as possible. Since I suggested this plan, I’ll take responsibility.”

The three climbed onto the cart.

Tu-da-da-da-da-da-da…!

The cart began to rush forward at full speed, with Jerome’s Gatling gun spewing steam like a maniac.

“Kiiee!”

“Kiieeek!”

There was no way G-rank monsters like goblins could withstand this barrage of bullets.

The iron pellets sweeping through the forest turned the goblins into chunks of meat in an instant.

“Wait, a rock ahead!”

Kitan’s shout echoed, and in the next moment—

Clunk…!

The cart soared high, and everyone was suddenly in a state of weightlessness, as if in midair.

“Wow, we’re flying! Look at that, that’s Euphoria!”

“What a sight to see just before dying.”

“I’m not dead yet! Don’t underestimate me just because I became a witch at twenty-three! O great forces of nature that flow with the currents of reversal, gather here now at my command, Yuz!”

Yuz’s spell quickly transformed into a translucent veil that enveloped the cart.

The veil itself had mass.

Composed of ethereal energy lighter than air, it allowed the cart to float into the sky.

“From here… ugh, I’ll land us inside the walls of Euphoria…!”

“Are you pushing yourself too hard? You’re coughing up blood.”

“I’m a witch, after all. I’m the one who urged us to hurry… I have to pull off something like this…!”