The Villains I Taught Became Heroes - Chapter 94



93 – Religious War – 5

—

It has been several days since we entered the abandoned land.

During that time, the Asura Church used the power of other cults to attack us, but we were able to overcome those assaults with relative ease.

“…Is this the place?”

The abandoned land was a desolate wasteland where not even a blade of grass could grow. But this place was different.

Grass and flowers were blooming.

One could say it was a beautiful sight at first glance.

But perhaps it was because of that sense of alienation?

“…It’s a, a terrible place…”

Rena, sensitive to magical energy, trembled as she murmured. She was right.

It was dreadful.

The magic seemed to surge, revealing that this was not of this world.

“Uwaaah!!”

One of the paladins finally began to vomit.

Another paladin even fainted.

It was that alien and unsettling a space.

“Let’s go in.”

It was true that I felt uneasy, but I couldn’t stop here.

I took a step forward, and my disciples and the paladins followed behind me.

“Welcome.”

At the sound of a low voice, I halted my steps.

A man rising from the grass had a large scar across his face.

I recognized him.

The Pope of the Asura Church. Leonardo.

“Welcome to the holy land.”

“…This, this place cannot possibly be called that…”

“Why would it not? This is a holy land. We have dedicated ourselves to creating a place where Asura can descend.”

“…The smell of blood is overwhelming.”

Sowol murmured softly as she swung her Moonlight Blade.

As the blade’s aura dug into the ground, hidden corpses began to emerge.

Ariasha’s face turned pale at the sight.

Yes. These grasses. Everything here was growing by feeding on those corpses.

“It is for Lord Asura. They all willingly sacrificed their lives.”

Leonardo wore a smile devoid of any shadow.

As he spoke, Asura Church members clad in black robes began to reveal themselves beside him.

“And you will become like them.”

“What a joke.”

It would be too much of a waste to die in a place like this after everything I’ve done.

I aimed my sword at the grinning Leonardo.

“Anyway, if I take you down, Asura won’t descend upon this world.”

“Hohoho. Why do you wish to prevent Lord Asura’s descent?”

“When the Asura descends, do you not know what will happen to this world that you speak such words?”

With a grinding of her teeth, Sowol spoke. Having been in the church for a long time, she must have at least a rough idea of what occurs when the Asura descends.

Thus, she spoke with a voice as cold as ice, swinging her sword.

“It is a joyous occasion. The world falling into the hands of the Asura.”

Leonardo, who deflected the blade she sent flying with a mere gesture, spread his arms wide.

He was so utterly deranged that the term fanatic could barely encapsulate him as he grinned broadly.

“So, everyone.”

“…..”

“Let us welcome the Asura with reverent hearts….”

“Hey, guys! Attack!!”

At my shout, the disciples and paladins sprang into action.

Leonardo, who was watching them rush forward with delight, lightly waved his hand, and the black robes around him began to move.

“Ugh!!”

– Chaeng!!

Blocking the sword with the back of his hand, he stared at me.

The malice in his eyes was unmistakable.

“I know that you have killed my brothers, Lee Hyun.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll send you to your brothers too.”

– Chang! Chang! Chang!!

“Ugh?!”

The one who had been blocking well stumbled back in surprise.

Smiling at him, I lightly shook my sword.

“You cowardly b*stard…”

Black blood was flowing from a small wound on the back of his hand.

How does it feel? Your hand must be tingling.

I went through all sorts of trouble to get that poison.

“Is it the sage’s technique?”

“It’s the special poison from the Sage’s Tower.”

Leonardo possessed power nearly at the level of a final boss.

Capturing him through ordinary means was by no means an easy task.

However, that didn’t mean there were no tricks.

The poison obtainable from the Sage’s Tower was a way to easily subdue him.

The sage’s poison, which could be obtained after completing over 300 missions in the Sage’s Tower, ignored all defenses.

Even someone with a body as tough as steel and overflowing with stamina could be subdued easily if the poison drained their health in percentage units.

I could feel the rewards of playing the game hard here.

“Brothers!! Protect me…”

The moment he realized that the poison contained in my sword was fatal to him, he seemed to call out to others to take over the fight.

But it was too late.

Sowol, Lena, Arisha, and the paladins were already blocking the black robes.

“Why? Call for more, why don’t you?!”

– Chae-aeng!!

“Keu-eu-uk…!!”

It seemed that enduring the poison, even while blocking, was not an easy task for him.

In the end, Leonardo chose to evade instead of block and unleashed a swirl of dark energy towards me.

– Wooong…!!

“…Magic…!!”

The protective magic easily repelled Leonardo’s dark energy.

Leonardo’s attack patterns were divided into physical strikes and magical attacks utilizing dark energy.

To avoid damage, one must accurately judge and defend against those attacks.

For those unfamiliar with the attack patterns, it would be easy to fall victim, but while I may not be a veteran, I had experienced this world countless times.

There was no reason for me to fall to such trivial attacks.

“Ne-noo-om…!!”

“Haha! You don’t even have the luxury to speak formally?!”

As I pressured the increasingly pale Leonardo, who was becoming more and more intoxicated, I scanned my surroundings.

Everyone was fighting well.

Good. If it continues like this, we can finish the first phase without much difficulty.

“Die!!”

– Seark!!

I ensnared the body of the evading foe with a spider web.

Normally, this magic would bind him for at least a minute, but he possessed strength nearly on par with a final boss.

The time he was bound by the spider web was but a fleeting moment.

But that moment was enough.

It was at least a chance to strike once.

My blow pierced through Leonardo’s chest, and the sage’s poison I had packed inside surged in.

“Ku-er-uk!!”

Coughing up black blood, Leonardo finally knelt.

As I gazed at him, I spun my sword around and gripped it in reverse, while Leonardo, kneeling and looking up at me, closed his eyes.

“Asura…”

– Thunk!!

I plunged the sword into Leonardo’s neck, which had tilted down.

As I swung the slowly drawn sword, his head rolled across the ground.

At that moment, the black robes began to lose their strength and slowly started to dissipate.

While my disciples, who had been fighting them for a while, looked confused, the grass in the plains began to wither.

“Teacher?! Is it over?”

“It’s just the beginning. If anyone is hurt, come here.”

From noble mtl dot com

Arisha, Sowol, and Lena approached me.

No matter how I looked at them, they didn’t seem to have any injuries.

After casting a healing spell on the smiling kids, I checked on the paladins.

There were indeed some injured among the paladins, but they were healing themselves as they could also cast healing spells.

“…S-Sifu.”

As they thought everything was over and they could finally breathe a sigh of relief, Soo-wol gazed up at the sky with a bewildered voice.

The sky was darkening.

“Something’s wrong. Something… something.”

“It’s coming.”

I soothed Soo-wol’s murmurs, which sounded like she was on the verge of a panic attack, and pointed to the sky.

Something fell from the dark, murky sky like a drop of viscous liquid. It was a black shadow, like a piece of dark matter.

“…Be careful!!”

Was it because of the eerie atmosphere emanating from that black shadow?

Even the usually fearless Saint Knights trembled with fear.

Ari stepped behind me, trembling with fear, and clung to my back, refusing to let go. Lena grabbed my arm and wouldn’t let go.

“Teacher… teacher. I’m scared… I’m so scared…”

Even Ari, who was always smiling and charming, was crying.

That black shadow was so alien.

It made everyone here tremble with fear.

The shape of the black shadow began to change, twisting and contorting. Six arms. Three heads.

Slowly growing, the massive body.

Asura. The shadow of Asura.

It wasn’t really Asura, but just a fragment of his shadow that had descended upon us, and yet it seemed to extinguish the morale of everyone here.

It seemed like our recent victory was nothing but a lie.

“Master…”

Even Soo-wol, with her strong sense of self, was trembling with fear.

That’s why I took a step forward.

“Teacher! Don’t go! Don’t go!!”

A wet, despairing cry echoed through the air.

I was crying.

Ari was wailing like a child, unable to figure out what to do.

But even so…

“I can’t just stand still!!”

My hands were shaking. The primal fear was consuming me. Yet I charged towards the shadow.

-Kreeeeee!

I ignored Asura’s roar and swung my sword at it.

-Ah, you insignificant human. Don’t you know I’m not afraid of you?

“I’m not afraid.”

I’m human, after all.

Just being in front of you makes me want to collapse from exhaustion.

But.

“We have to show off our skills in front of our friends, don’t we?”

And so, the final battle of the religious war event began.