The Undying King is one of the pinnacle undead monsters, along with the vampires.

However, unlike the vampires, who have a commonality as a species, the Undying King is a general term for those who have reached a certain level of power as undead creatures.

Therefore, their origins and circumstances vary greatly.

Some are phantoms that were naturally born in the aftermath of a battlefield, and gained self-awareness after absorbing a vast amount of miasma over a long period of time, becoming Undying Kings. Some are priests of a heretical cult who obtained the blessing of a demon and ascended to the status of Undying Kings.

And some are high-ranking magicians who reached out to the forbidden erosion magic, and became something other than human, eventually being called Undying Kings.

As their origins vary, so do their actions and goals. Not all Undying Kings are harmful to humans, and some of them isolate themselves in their domains, devoting themselves to research without paying attention to the world.

However, it is also true that such cases are very rare, and most Undying Kings are hostile to humans.

And the ones who have been fighting against such Undying Kings are the Temple forces of the world. Especially the Temple of Law, which focuses on eradicating the heretics who worship demons and the undead monsters. In the past, they have destroyed many Undying Kings.

And so, the targets began to take measures to defend themselves. Specifically, they formed alliances with other immortal kings and opposed the Temple of Law.

Night Meeting.

This unremarkable name was the name of a gathering of fearsome immortals――

『Eli Eli Uru Eli Uru, flocking ones, greedy wings, come hither insect king』

It was an organization that wished for the death of Pope Noah, who had slain three immortal kings in the past.

Sharamon’s chanting was incomprehensible to ordinary people. It was a combination of super-fast chanting, made possible by his exceptional skill as a magician, and compressed chanting, made possible by his outstanding knowledge as a researcher. His ability to construct magic formulas was beyond human reach.

『The ceaseless wing sound is the roar of hunger――Beginning Locust Emperor』

As the chanting ended, countless locusts sprang forth. Of course, they were not real locusts, but all high-density magic bodies.

Miroslav’s magic from earlier, for example, might have been offset by a few, or even one, of these locusts.

That’s how much magic power was rushing in like a raging wave.

There was no way they could defend against it, and Miroslav and Lunamaria felt the touch of death’s scythe on their necks.

――In their ears, a clear voice contrasted with the monster’s hoarse voice.

「『God, protect us』」

A wall of light appeared in front of Miroslav and his companions. The wall quickly surrounded Miroslav and the entire advance party. If they looked closely, they would see that countless fine patterns were drawn on the wall surface.

One of the sacred magics that the Law God bestows on his believers, the Holy Spirit Wall.

The girl who Sharamon called the Pope had deployed the Holy Spirit Wall in an instant. And that was the highest level of magic that normally required a long prayer, which she had achieved with just a short prayer.

Immediately after, the undead’s magic and the Pope’s miracle collided.

With each contact of a locust with the wall, an ear-splitting explosion echoed through the Titis Forest. Explosions that could take dozens of lives each, occurred tens, hundreds, or even thousands of times in succession.

The immense firepower that would have reduced even the royal capital’s walls to ashes burned away the surrounding vegetation with its aftermath. The scenery of the forest changed from green to black in an instant.

The soil was gouged out, the flames rose up, and the wind caused by the flames blew violently as a gust. There was not a single piece of flesh left of the Alghouls that had been there.

The magic that Sharamon chanted was a divine deed that could burn a hundred thousand troops. Even a magic of the ninth circle, which was considered the pinnacle of magicians, would not have such power – at least, that’s what Miroslav thought.

If he could activate such magic with such a short chant, he could easily conquer a country. She had heard many times how terrifying the immortal kings were, but she couldn’t help being astonished that they were such monsters.

And then――

“Are you both all right?”

They couldn’t help but feel an equal amount of astonishment at the girl in front of them who had perfectly blocked the monster’s magic.

――But at this time, there was astonishment in Miroslav’s mind, but no fear. This was the same for Lunamaria.

Perhaps, if they had been half a year ago, they would have felt fear for the Immortal King and awe for the Pope. But now, their emotions were numbed by various experiences.

Therefore, they felt no awe for the Pope, only surprise, and seeing their reactions, the Pope slightly widened her eyes.

At this time, Sharamon’s voice echoed from behind the Holy Spirit Wall.

“I brought out my treasured Philosopher’s Stone to increase the power of my technique, and you blocked it so easily. Pope Noah. I see, you are not to be underestimated.”

The Immortal King reappeared from behind the rising dust. Seeing this, the members of the advance team moved to protect the Pope, but the Pope raised her hand lightly and stopped them.

And then she opened her mouth quietly.

“I have been given by God the strongest shield. No matter how great your magic power is, you cannot pierce it.”

“Do you dare to speak with the authority of God, when you have mastered the magic with your own study? How insolent.”

“There is no need to be courteous to those who have fallen and been enchanted by the magic. Sharamon, I remember your name was third in the night party, but are you the same person?”

“Indeed.”

As soon as he answered, Sharamon’s magic power swelled up at once. His already immense magic power swelled up more than twice as much. Groans of pain escaped from the mouths of the advance team.

Even the Pope frowned slightly. Seeing this, Sharamon continued.

“Don’t lump me together with the inexperienced ones you’ve destroyed so far. Especially here, outside the holy city, there is no hateful barrier that cuts off our power.”

“We do not fight by relying on the barrier, but by fighting with God’s grace. And God’s grace is given equally to the believers, regardless of whether they are inside or outside the holy city.”

“Then, show me how splendidly you can destroy us with that grace.”

As he said this, Sharamon took out a huge jewel from his bosom. One, two, three, and still more.

They shone in rainbow colors, each one a magic stone containing a huge amount of magic power, but they were different in purity from the ones Miroslav had used in Skim Mountain before. If you were to compare them, they would be like muddy water and melted snow.

Philosopher’s Stone. Six of these highest-purity magic stones, called by that name, floated in the air by Sharamon’s magic power. Simply put, the power of the next magic attack would be six times that of before.

Furthermore, when they saw the magic stones form a hexagram in the air, tension ran across the Pope’s face for the first time.

“Since ancient times, the strongest shield has been broken by the strongest spear. And vice versa. Let me test whether your shield, given by God, is truly worthy of being called the strongest – Magic Release Discharge.”

With that word, Sharamon unleashed his own and the Philosopher’s Stone’s enormous magic power.

“Guh!?”

The raging magic power turned into a huge spear of light and collided with the Holy Spirit Wall. The Pope’s pained voice struck Miroslav and the others’ ears. And there was something else they heard.

It was the sound of the wall creaking. The wall that had not shaken at all in the previous magic attack was shaking. It continued to shake.

In front of Miroslav and the others’ eyes, cracks ran across the wall surface with a sound like crystal breaking. The Pope held out both hands in front of her and repaired part of the wall surface, but that was only for a short while, and soon the wall surface began to break faster than before under the onslaught of the light attack.

The Pope’s face twisted in agony, and several streaks of sweat ran down from her forehead to her cheeks.

During this time, Miroslav and the others, as well as the members of the advance team, were not standing still in astonishment. They were desperately thinking of something they could do.

But at this level of offense and defense, if they interfered poorly, they would only get in the way. Especially for Miroslav and Lunamaria, holy magic was not their specialty. In a situation where the advance team couldn’t move, there was no way they could come up with any more wisdom.

Even if they tried to restrain Sharamon, stepping even a single foot outside the Holy Spirit Barrier would cause them to evaporate, leaving not even a trace of bone behind. There was nothing they could do. All they could do was pray that Sharamon’s magic would be exhausted while the barrier held.

However, that hope was washed away by the increasingly powerful torrent of light. It was more than evident that Sharamon still had plenty of strength left.

On the other hand, the Pope clenched her teeth, her face drained of blood. There was no part of the Holy Spirit Barrier that didn’t have cracks.

The end was rapidly approaching.

“Do not lament. You will die by my hand, Sharamon. It is an honorable thing. Be proud and fall.”

As if waiting for Sharamon’s words to end, the Holy Spirit Barrier crumbled with a scream-like sound.

Only a few seconds remained.

Convinced of this, Sharamon attempted to increase his magical power to deliver the final blow––

“Who’s the fool now?”

Using the continuous sound of magical destruction to locate the scene, Sora struck Sharamon down, splitting him in two from the top of his head.