"It doesn't change everything, you know?"
I dipped the tip of the heavy machine gun into it.
Black liquid crept up the barrel, slithering along.
"I don't know the exact principle, but it only reacts to holy weapons. Well, for us, this is enough anyway. Besides—"
Elia scooped up some of the liquid.
"It stopped multiplying at some point. So it's not infinite self-replication."
That's a bit disappointing.
I could have made a fortune with an infinite power generator.
Still, there's enough here to trade what we have.
I took various holy weapons out of my inventory and dipped them in.
I'd been putting it off because the timing never felt right, but it actually worked out well.
After the heavy machine gun finished transforming, Kancho nodded.
"You did well today, old hag. I'll praise you for this."
"That doesn't make me happy at all. Use that to kill monsters, got it?"
"Of course! Those angel bastards are as good as dust now!"
Kancho puffed out his chest with a proud posture.
Seeing him like that brought a satisfied smile to my face.
Explosion Specialist Kancho.
He's very reliable.
At least one direction is now completely swept clean.
After dipping the last sword in and pulling it out, the black liquid vanished without a trace.
If there's more on the next floor, I'll have to bring a bunch back and multiply it.
After the Siege of Saintra, holy weapons have generally dropped in price domestically.
If I buy a ton of them, turn them into dark weapons, and sell them, the profit would be enormous.
Anyway, I'm ready to fight without the inverted cross!
"Phew."
Camilla walked out from inside, wiping her sweat.
"Chubby has nimble hands. The preparations are done quickly."
I hadn't seen her for a while, but it seems she finished setting up the ritual.
Let's see, weapons are ready, ritual is ready.
I think we can leave now.
But where did our dear teacher go?
*Kiiiiik!!*
A harsh screech of brakes rang out.
The Great Mother Locust came charging in, snorting roughly.
I swallowed hard at her imposing figure.
No way!?
"I worked without a single break and finished the scales as my master requested! What do you think of Momo?!"
"Don't lie! You were playing games, swimming, and sleeping with me— *Guhk!*"
Momo slammed a chubby fist into his gut for a body blow and shoved him away.
Kancho crumpled and rolled away weakly.
Momo, acting as if nothing happened, pulled a large barrel out of her bag.
Then she tipped it over, and the scales of the Black Dragon Dracan poured out in a cascade.
"What do you think!?"
I gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up and picked up one of the scales.
The edge of the scale was sharpened to a razor's edge, gleaming with a fierce light.
In the neatly cut center, there was melted iron firmly embedded.
There's no reason to delay any longer.
Let's do it now.
I summoned the Doll Troop I'd been making whenever I had time.
Then, holding a scale with tongs, I unsummoned it and used the Iron Brand.
"Ha."
"Ohh?!"
Elia and Camilla let out gasps of admiration.
Tens of thousands of scales rose into the air.
With a light wave of my hand, the scales began to rotate in response.
"Master, what is this?"
"The scales of the Black Dragon Dracan."
Seira approached and examined a scale.
It was eerily sharp.
Unless something was exceptionally tough, it would be torn apart in an instant.
"You've made another dangerous thing."
Dark, who was nearby, let out a whistle.
Even as an immortal, I'd absolutely want to avoid it.
Being swallowed by a storm of scales like that.
"Momo made them! From now on, Momo is the Chief of Scales!"
"Excellent."
My friends vigorously patted Momo's chubby cheeks.
After making a full round of the praise circuit, Momo held out the bag she was carrying.
"What do you think of the Dragon Bag?!"
As I mentioned before, it's the Infinite Warehouse bag wrapped in scales.
Call it a bag, but it could easily be used for bulletproofing or even as a weapon.
I picked up the rolled-away Kancho and put him on my shoulder.
Then I looked around at my friends.
Even Nia, dangling from one of Renya's hands.
Perfect.
"Then let's go."
[Entering the final floor of the reinforced section of the Tower of Despair: 'The Radiant Light of Tyranny, Azrael's Resurrection'.]
* * *
In the distance, I could see the ruins and the statues and murals densely surrounding them.
The location itself was the same island I'd visited on the 86th floor.
But—
*Kwaaaaaaah!!*
The energy surrounding this place now was incomparably stronger than last time.
"Has it already started?"
Camilla shook her head.
"Not yet. But the preparations seem to be complete. All the veins that were sleeping in this land have been opened."
I slowly looked around.
Hundreds of light pillars were rising from the ground, shooting high into the sky.
Though each pillar was thin, they all contained an immense amount of divine power.
"So this is truly a place where a divine being slumbers."
Kancho, who had finished scouting, climbed onto my shoulder.
"There are tons of those pillars! Can't we just throw that Jambalaya thing over there?!"
"That would be woefully insufficient. It wouldn't even stir."
Camilla stared at Nia, who was held in Renya's hand.
"Don't underestimate her just because she's small. There's an unimaginably vast space inside her. You'd need thousands, tens of thousands of those pillars to fill it."
"Is that so? The shaman hag says it won't work."
I patted Kancho's perked-up ears.
"That's a shame. If it had worked, we could have finished this without waking up the so-called divine being."
"No! I have to blast Jubiel with explosive clay!"
Azrael, who had become Jubiel.
Whatever. It doesn't matter what I call him. I'm only going to see him today anyway.
"Old lady! Where do I put this?!"
"Right here."
"The blood is all melted!"
"Then pour it here."
With the help of the Great Mother Locust, Camilla quickly continued setting up the ritual.
I surveyed the terrain.
The rear and both sides were surrounded by cliffs, making it perfect for defense.
"Camilla, isn't the distance too far?"
From the ruins to here was at least five kilometers.
It was too far to even check the situation with the naked eye.
Camilla blew out a puff of smoke and smiled leisurely.
"If we didn't have the ritual tools, we'd need to be closer, but this is enough now."
The ritual tools were arranged around the cliffs.
I wonder if this will be the first and last time.
Conducting a ritual surrounded by this much divine power.
'I have to do this right.'
If I fail after all this preparation, there would be no excuse.
"Do it properly! Got it?! If you fail, I'm confiscating your pipe for life!"
That little Satan would raise hell again.
Even just to avoid seeing that, I was determined to succeed.
"*Grrrrrrrrr!!!*"
At the sudden sound of straining, I turned my head.
Momo was trembling in a squatting position, trying to lift something.
"She looks like she's about to poop."
We're about to have a long battle, and she's talking about pooping.
I quickly went over to help the grunting Momo.
'It's incredibly long, even seeing it again.'
The cleaver looked to be at least three hundred meters long.
It was a ritual tool that executes the will of heaven, named Cheonmyeongdan.
Online, Cheonmyeongdan was described like this:
It was made by the greatest ritual tool artisan of Joseon, but no shaman had ever ridden Cheonmyeongdan to the end.
However, if one could ride it, it was said to be the ultimate ritual tool, granting an immense amplification of divine power.
Even Camilla, after seeing a picture, said she absolutely had to have it, proving just how absurdly excellent it was.
'The master artisan would have been thrilled if he'd heard that.'
I helped Momo position Cheonmyeongdan in the exact center of the ritual site.
The reason no shaman had ever succeeded was simple.
The Great Shaman Camilla had never tried it.
So, one would soon be born.
The first shaman to ride Cheonmyeongdan.
"What is this? How do you walk on top of this? Isn't this a total scam? The blade isn't even properly— *Eep.*"
*Pshushik.*
A thin line of blood spurted from her plump finger.
*Kanchoooo!*
She got a sting as the price for her doubt.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Foolish one."
Camilla shook her head and placed Nia, wrapped in a barrier scroll, at the end of Cheonmyeongdan.
From the perspective of the pilgrims, Nia was a being they couldn't even imagine reuniting with.
They had to hide Nia until Azrael awakened.
Otherwise, they might stop the ritual to protect their god.
"Master. Open your spiritual sight. Then you'll know immediately. When the gate opens."
"Okay. I'll signal you as soon as it opens."
I nodded and looked back at my friends.
"Seira and Renya, Dark and Elia, guard this place."
Except for the minimum number needed to go in and stir things up, I stationed everyone here.
Ultimately, clearing this floor depended on Nia.
It was a race between Azrael fully resurrecting and destroying the ritual, or Nia waking up first and devouring Azrael.
Since I was 100% confident it would be the latter, I didn't even consider bringing my hand to the escape button.
"Don't worry, Master. I'll protect it with my life."
Seira, holding the demon sword Tarkan, spoke with a solemn face.
And as if she had been waiting—
"Kek. Giving your life for something like that."
A characteristic, mocking sneer was heard.
Seira turned to look at Dark.
"Wait a little longer, immortal. Once the climb is over, I'll smash your face in."
"If possible, I'd like to join in. Forget the god or whatever, I want to beat that arrogant bastard."
"It wouldn't be bad for you insufficient fools to attack me at the same time."
Seeing them getting along so well, a warm smile crept onto my lips.
This is Azrael, a being called a divine entity, one that every religion is extremely wary of.
And we're about to face him, yet instead of being nervous, they're only thinking about beating each other up.
It's just like always, and I love it.
"Master."
Elia handed me a small vial, the size of a palm.
"If you can just get this mixed in somehow, he'll be dying from pleasure, you know?"
I took the bottle and gave her a thumbs-up.
I'll have to let Azrael taste it too.
The taste of hell made by our alchemist.
"Let's go, Kancho."
"Got it!"
I put Kancho on my shoulder and used Stealth.
By capturing Teharam, I could participate from the very beginning of the ritual.
I couldn't just waste this time.
Let's go.
To make the battle situation as favorable as possible when Azrael awakens.
* * *
The Altar of Holiness.
Beria Blackwell, having finished preparing the ritual, stood up.
The light pillars stretching across the entire region told her.
That the false apostle was coming here.
'I don't know what scheme you're planning.'
Beria turned her gaze to the hundreds of surging light pillars.
Then she curled the corners of her mouth into a long smile.
'You're too late.'
The land had already finished preparing to welcome the god.
And yet, here he comes, crawling along sluggishly.
'It's truly laughable. To think that just because you can handle the power of that paltry apostate, you'd be so arrogant.'
Soon, the false apostle would witness and realize.
Just how weak and feeble his power was before the radiant light.
"Pilgrims. Prepare yourselves."
The believers, including Beria Blackwell, clasped their hands together.
A light pattern spread out with a rumbling sound that shook the space.
As the pattern was completed, a blinding light burst forth from the temple like an explosion.
It had begun.
The resurrection ritual to awaken the Radiant Light of Tyranny, Azrael.
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T/N:
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