Chapter 246: The Final Act: The Holy Sword — Incomplete

This rusted blade, its tip split into two prongs like a scimitar, appeared at once.

Gulation, still mired in the mist of Messe’s waters, was suddenly startled—it sensed a tremendous threat, this feeling… this feeling… eerily familiar…

An angel?!

Its bloated black-green belly quivered, and its orange-yellow eyes flickered with a moment of fear.

Demons who never lived through that era could hardly comprehend what an angel was—a terrifying age when angelic legions and demonic legions clashed in mortal combat.

Angels too had ranks: ordinary angels who could hold their own against common demons and great demons; high-ranking angels who could stand against demon lords and pseudo-kings; and those who could match even the Mowang or high- and low-tier archangels.

Before the current Pride Mowang appeared—before Lucifer led one-third of the angels to fall—the Underworld was utterly crushed by Heaven; demons and great demons were purged by angelic legions at regular intervals, and even the so-called demon lords were merely failures who fled to the Underworld; back then, the Underworld was practically an angel-run colony.

Angels came and went as they pleased; demons were completely suppressed in every way.

At that time, it had not yet become a familiar of Gluttony Mowang Beelzebub, merely an ordinary demon; it narrowly escaped death several times during angelic hunts, until Lucifer’s fall, when the Seven Sins Mowang were assembled and the Underworld’s power gradually matched Heaven’s.

Even so, those unbearable days remained vivid in its memory—angels were absolute archenemies!

Especially since the power it sensed didn’t seem to be that of an ordinary angel—ordinary angels could never instill such profound dread.

That made things even worse.

A high-ranking angel? Or some special holy relic?

After all, this world still held many remnants left behind by God; perhaps something capable of rivaling an angel’s power had surfaced.

No, I must retreat immediately.

Its bloated belly writhed, and its entire flesh began sloughing off like a snake; with a sharp crack, a figure shot out violently.

Looked upon.

A flesh-raw, skinless monster burst forth, and in an instant its flesh turned into countless green flies, swarming the sky in a dense cloud.

What remained in the mist was a creature whose chest had been torn open by a large hole, its skin writhing and decaying, lacking bone support, gradually sagging into a slime-like mass of flesh!

The Bureau personnel watching the sudden turn of events, the man in the black suit holding the sword, showed no hesitation—he blew a whistle.

Hoo!!

Boom boom boom!!

Troops surrounding the area fired several special shells into the sky, and the drizzle that had been falling began to intensify.

As these raindrops fell, Gulation, now transformed into a vast swarm of flies attempting to break out, suddenly froze.

One after another, flies dropped to the ground, reconstituting into clumps of flesh that merged back together.

“Gluttony Mowang ’s familiar detected: flesh aggregation, fly swarm transformation, intangible attack; threat level assessed as high; authorization granted to deploy second prohibited item for elimination.”

The man in the black suit murmured to himself, his eyes cold as a machine.

Then—

Pthssst!

He reversed the “Double Moon Scimitar” and plunged it straight into his own thigh.

The gushing blood had barely emerged when it was drawn onto the blade’s surface; as the blood soaked in, the dull yellow rust began slowly peeling away, revealing a bright gleam, even a faint white glow—strong holiness was awakening within.

At this moment, the blade had been utterly transformed, no longer resembling the rusted weapon it had been moments before.

Amid the rain curtain—

Gulation, now reformed, ceased fleeing; it had realized clearly that unless it defeated or shattered this group’s blockade, it could not escape this place.

They truly underestimated these modern humans.

Of course—back then, the Church had tied down much of their strength; now it seemed modern humanity had risen anew. But… still, they were merely humans, slime-like creatures—how could they escape the Seven Sins…

If you wish to oppose me, then try. Good—perhaps I can do this. Either way, I lose nothing…

“Noble-blooded human, it seems you are controlled. Do you wish to escape this predicament? If you are willing, I can help you.”

“You need not pay any price. You understand.”

Gulation spoke.

With its voice—

The sword-wielding man in black froze, falling silent.

At that moment, the other Bureau personnel behind him turned pale. “Quick! Kill it!”

Like a machine, the sword-wielding man instinctively swung his blade.

As the blade slashed—

Three enormous white, blade-shaped slashes shot forward at incredible speed; the earth split open, forming a massive fissure, and steel-and-concrete buildings were effortlessly sliced apart like tofu dregs.

It was like the ki blasts or laser attacks from fantasy tales.

Facing this attack, Gulation’s entire body stiffened—this sword… was definitely not ordinary!!

It couldn’t dodge. Though the speed was fast, it wasn’t beyond its ability to evade—but it simply couldn’t dodge; it was locked in place.

This was at least the ability of a high-ranking angel.

Shit!

Gulation’s orange-yellow pupils dilated violently; terrifying power surged within it. “Angel! Die!!”

A colossal phantom fly, over twenty meters tall, appeared—its body bristled with fleshy tentacles; most horrifying were the ends of those tentacles, each protruding a rotating eyeball, and the “eyelids and eyebrows” were rows of sharp teeth!

Were these eyes—or mouths?!

This terrifying fleshy fly phantom was rendered in every minute detail, lifelike—but still, it was only an illusion, merely terrifying in appearance. Yet in the next instant, Gulation’s body dissolved into a swarm of flies, flooding into the phantom.

All this seemed to take long—but it happened in a single instant.

As the flies solidified, the three white blade-rays arrived.

Swoosh swoosh swoosh!!!

In an instant—

Fleshy tentacles extended, striking the white blades; the flies split into three as the blades struck.

Boom!!

The collision of energies triggered a massive explosion.

Violent winds pushed people outward; some couldn’t withstand the residual force and were blown away, while every building on the base was utterly destroyed without resistance.

Louis, who had been hidden in the sky, observing the spectacle, sensed a strange disturbance.

“Something’s off—the impact from this sword and the demon seems to have affected something… this fluctuation…”

Using his acute senses, Louis traced the source of the disturbance—and finally fixed his gaze on the center of the base, the very spot where the summoning had occurred.

Now, the place was gone, obliterated by the storm—but the odd sensation was stronger there than ever.

“…Space?”

Louis deduced. After all, this place had just witnessed a tear in space, summoning a demon from Hell—it was hard not to make the connection.

What did this fluctuation mean?

Louis’s gaze grew deep.

Something would surely happen here next—but he couldn’t intervene. Right now, he only wished to play the opportunistic bird and properly organize what he’d witnessed.

The Bureau had revealed too much this time, especially that sword… later…

…

When the violent winds and explosive energies finally ceased—

Many human soldiers had been thrown out of formation, buried under sand, rubble, and debris; had they been closer, their fate would have been even worse.

More terrifying was the base—except for its outermost perimeter, every single building had vanished.

A blank white expanse.

Plik!

The sword-wielding man in black suddenly collapsed to his knees, his body going limp; the sword instantly reverted to its rusted state, and the rust seemed even thicker than before…

The other Bureau personnel hiding behind him now stepped forward—some rushed to assess the battlefield, others began checking the sword-wielder’s condition.

“Prohibited Item·Zulfiqar Sword: blood loss 10%. Immediate maintenance and upkeep required. Dispatch pre-prepared ambulance.”

Yes.

“Prohibited Item·Zulfiqar Sword” referred not only to the blade—but also to the man wielding it.

The sound of an ambulance sirens rose.

The sword-wielding man in black was loaded onto it.

“Target not eliminated! Warning! Target not eliminated!”

A sudden shout rang out—the personnel who had gone forward to observe issued the warning.

“Ssshh—”

“If I hadn’t just eaten a full meal, you’d have almost killed me.”

Gurgly gurgly… gurgly gurgly…

A miniature sphere of flesh bounced on the ground, covered in veins and a toothy maw, looking grotesque.

Blood remnants on the ground began converging, and the three people Gulation had tossed aside—Director Jack, the supervisor, and the female manager—were now being forced forward.

“Sorry, but as food, you must accept the duty of sacrifice,” Gulation said.

“Great Gulation! You—you can’t do this!”

“No! I, I—”

Jack and the supervisor immediately vomited—out popped a disgusting green fly, no bigger than a palm.

At that moment—

Salt pellets struck from all sides—pap pap pap!!

The Bureau and military personnel weren’t fools—they wouldn’t let Gulation recover; they launched immediate attacks to annihilate it completely.

Yet, the female manager who had not vomited—and thus had not been granted the “Blessing”—was now controlled and shoved to the front.

At that moment.

The flaws of salt bullets and other weapons were laid bare!

These weapons were designed solely for supernatural beings like evil spirits and demons—they had no effect on ordinary life forms like humans!

“Damn it! Where’s the Mass Water? Keep deploying it—kill it completely!”

“Only the last batch of Mass Water remains. Confirm usage?”

High-concentration holy water, once only producible by medieval bishops, was not easily made in this era when the Church had just regained its powers.

This was already half the total reserve of Mass Water in the northern states of America.

“Confirmed. Use it!”

Boom! Boom! Boom!!

One after another, holy water bombs were launched.

“Aaaahhhhh!!!”

A piercing scream pierced everyone’s eardrums.

Jack and the manager, drained of the granted power, collapsed helplessly, watching in fury as Gula rolled in the holy water like a creature dropped into sulfuric acid—and they couldn’t help but laugh.

“Hahahaha!”

“Damn demon.”

Jack spat out a hateful curse.

But a tentacle suddenly pierced his throat; his eyes widened in utter disbelief.

He was of the Chosen Race of God!

He was a capitalist!

He still had so much beautiful life to enjoy—wealth, beauties, power…

He hadn’t even enjoyed it enough… How could this… how…

His vision darkened gradually.

Glug glug—

The tentacle, like a throat, sucked and swallowed his flesh and blood, devouring him clean in an instant—leaving only his clothes behind.

“No, no, please no…”

The terrified manager stumbled backward.

Pachki pachki—

A small meatball bounced on the ground, its tiny tentacles propelling it faster and faster.

Just as it was about to pierce the manager—

A salt bullet struck the meatball.

Paa!

A silver-crafted square box precisely sealed the meatball—now reduced to the size of an eyeball.

After aligning the password lock—

“Gluttony Demon Gula apprehended.”

“Clean the site. Prepare for evacuation.”

Behind them.

Warren and his wife, along with Smith and others who had watched everything in silence, remained quiet for a moment before someone finally spoke: “The Bureau… is quite formidable.”

“With military support and holy relics in use, how could it not be?” said Ed.

“Holy relic? Ed, do you know what that sword was?” Smith asked.

“Hmm.” Ed’s eyes flickered. As a demon expert, he was well-versed in mythology—and he’d caught a fragment of the sword’s name when the man in the black suit spoke.

But Ed said nothing.

He knew what to say and what not to say. Moreover, due to his ties with the Church, he understood the Bureau well—it was a dark, ruthless American special unit, and such cruelty was merely standard procedure.

It possessed traits of a covert intelligence organization.

So caution was best.

Seeing Ed remain silent, Smith’s eyes flickered, and he did not press further.

“What do you think will happen to us next?”

“Don’t worry. Though this department is… well, you know… everyone has backbones. At worst, we’ll sign an NDA and pay a fine to walk away.”

Ed gave Smith a long, meaningful look.

He had already glimpsed part of Smith’s origins.

Smith nodded, troubled inside—he wasn’t sure if W Corporation would abandon them.

At that moment.

Several soldiers approached, beginning to organize them; their attitude was decent, slightly easing Smith and the others’ nerves.

The group began packing up, preparing for evacuation.

But—

Just then.

The unstable, slowly fluctuating center of the base finally gave way.

Creak… creak… creak—

Crack!

Like a shattered mirror.

A massive fissure burst open—lava, minor demons, the River of Decay…

It was the exact scene of the previously opened Hell Rift!

But this time, countless demons filled it—some with fanged maws, others grotesquely shaped, some animal-like—utterly bizarre!

These were demons—not the minor ones. They had clearly been drawn by the opening of the Hell Rift.

And among this horde of demons—

A colossal, indistinct black shadow sat at the center, so immense it defied recognition. Even Gula, the original body of the Gluttony Demon and a subordinate of the Gluttony King—himself a Greater Demon of higher rank than ordinary Greater Demons—stood respectfully to the side.

(End of Chapter)