## Chapter 942 – How Long Has It Been?

Two days later, we descended to the deepest part again.

We had spent the last two days establishing a plan of action and training accordingly.

In the first place, everyone was constantly training anyway, so there weren’t any major problems. That’s what the Church’s combatants do, after all.

We assumed various situations and trained for them. Actually, it was more like reviewing combat behaviors and strategies rather than actual training.

These guys had been doing this kind of thing their whole lives, so they understood each other perfectly. As soon as we entered, we agreed on how to act if the enemy had a certain pattern and adjusted our actions accordingly.

Of course, that would be enough.

—Clunk.
—Clunk.

We brought all sorts of supplies from above. Holy water and other spare equipment. We placed them appropriately in the passage so they could be used flexibly.

Today, the paladins were doped up on holy water, so they were in top condition. The light emanating from their eyes was like LEDs, and it felt like lightning breath would come out of their mouths.

The rage I had injected before coming down here would have added to their frenzy.

“Saint! I’m worried, but at the same time, I’m looking forward to it!”

Elysee, now an adult, was also excited like a child, her eyes shining. She had grown taller, her hair longer, and her face had become more feminine, but only her appearance had changed.

Elysee was still the true berserker of the Order.

“This boiling emotion…! At this moment, I strongly desire to unleash violence on the evil beings!!! I can’t think of anything else!”

She’s getting more violent…!

“I agree, Elysee!! I’m also feeling a surge of violence right now…! I will soak my sword in the blood of evil beings!!!”
“Hooray, and hooray again, Saint!! A true holy war has begun!!!”

—Whoosh!
—Oooooooooh!

The fact that the young nun was showing such great enthusiasm seemed to be a positive factor, and the paladins’ morale seemed to soar through the sky.

“Infinite glory to Ijzermart!!! We will build the world He desires with our own hands!!”

—Whoosh!
—Whoosh!!!
—Whoosh!

The ascetic warriors, their faces covered with bizarre helmets, were sweating all over their bodies, which quickly evaporated, creating steam.

“The same goes for the Verdant God!!!”
“For the balance of the scales!!!”

Our paladins also shouted and scattered their radiant eyes. In addition, the paladins of the Salvation Paradise Assembly also shouted loudly.

“In order to defeat heretics, we need strength after all! I was greatly stimulated by seeing you, Saint! I realize that my training is insufficient! But with today’s holy war! I will be reborn as an even stronger warrior!!!”
“That’s a very good mindset, Elysee!! But don’t forget the safety rules!”
“Of course!!!”
“After winning, we’ll sing Divine Friend!”

At that, Elysee said with a serious expression.

“Saint. I will decide that based on the atmosphere.”

Why did she immediately calm down her excitement?

“Everyone is full of enthusiasm?”

Claudie also drew her curved sword.

“Katt. Then what about Mama…”
“Just do what you always do. I’ll trust you.”
“Okay. I will.”

As long as Claudie is there, there’s no need to worry too much. In other words, we have a very powerful, single-use missile.

“If there’s only one, it’ll be easier to find an opening.”
“We have to hope so.”

Risha also said.

“With this much power… I don’t think we’ll lose.”
“Who do you think we are? We won’t lose, so don’t worry.”

We can’t lose with this much power.

“But Risha. You know, right?”
“…”

Risha nodded.

When the battle starts, Risha will retreat to the back. It’s not good to show black magic, and it would be troublesome if the high-ranking demon over there recognized that she was a demon.

“Open the door quickly, Commander!!”
“We are ready!!!”
“Krrr…”

The holy warriors stomped their feet, spewing out their desire to assault and murder the demons. “Kaaaaaah!!” Some of them were already clinging to the ceiling and screaming.

They had a portion of their reason removed, but in return, they gained enormous combat power and fighting spirit.

“Today, I will build an immortal out of my joints!!”
“It reminds me of the old days! Do you remember Demon King Zetamono!!!”
“Oooooooooh!!”
“Khaaaaaaaaah!!”

Well, it will be a glorious battle.

They’re grandpas who have killed demon kings before.

But damn, we still don’t know what’s inside. Risha said that there might be a monster from the Demon World, but we don’t know for sure.

“Then… I will open the door!!!”

Soon, the commander made a decision.

—Dada.

Those who received the mission stuck to the door. At the same time, the other paladins formed ranks in an orderly manner, and preparations for battle were carried out very quickly. —Patzut. The paladins in formation each cast Holy Enchant, strengthening their weapons.

—Kugugugugugugugugu.

The huge door moves.
Making an overwhelming sound as heavy as it is.

—Flash!

As soon as the door opened, we quickly entered inside in formation. Thanks to the paladins’ radiant eyes, Holy Enchant, and the artifacts we brought, the fairly large cavity was brightly lit.

It’s a large room.

But it wasn’t empty.

“Th, that is…!”

In front of us, or rather, in the very center of the cavity.

—A huge crystal was erected.

A crystal larger than a cyclops was located right there.

“U, uhhhhhhhhh!!!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!”
“Oooooooooooooh!!!”
“Whoooooooooosh!!”

However, if there was only a crystal, the paladins wouldn’t have screamed like crazy!!!

The crystal wasn’t the only thing in the room!!!

Inside the crystal, there was a monster bigger than a cyclops!!!

—A sheep’s head!!

A giant with a sheep’s head that looked extremely evil was sealed inside!!! Its face was more ferocious than a minotaur, and its body, filled with destructive muscles, was more overwhelming than a cyclops!!!

Its arms were also those of a true warrior, and the thickness of its wrists was the same as its forearms! How thick-boned is it!!

Above all, that lower body!!!

The lower half of the monster looked exactly like the two legs of a sheep!!! Seeing it covered in fur like that, it doesn’t need pants!!! Even its feet are hooves!!!

I can’t stand it!!!

Still, I wasn’t as scared as when I saw the cyclops!!!
There’s no unfounded fear, and no fatal delusions come to mind!

“Demon King!!! It’s a Demon King!!!! A Demon King is sealed!!!”
“It could be a Great Demon!!!!”
“Fortunately, the seal doesn’t seem to be broken yet…!!!”

The paladins were shocked.

But they didn’t rush in.
The monster was still trapped inside the crystal.

Since it seems to be still sealed, attacking it won’t work.

“The seal hasn’t been broken yet! We’re very lucky!!”
“If it’s sealed, we can handle it enough!!”
“Don’t doubt our victory!!”

I realized what it was.

After Risha returned, she diligently explained about the demons of the Demon World.

That is Baphomet.

A top-tier species proficient in close combat and black magic, a great warrior and a powerful magician.

To be precise, it can be said to be the general who leads the minotaurs.

That’s what Risha explained.

I heard it was very dangerous… If it’s sealed, it should be okay.

“Saint! I never thought it would be sealed!”
“Me neither!”
“But in this state, we will be at an advantage!”

Elysee, completely excited, shouted restlessly. Her eyes and body were all trembling. Elysee trembled, holding her flail tightly.

“That’s right!!”

Of course, even if it had woken up and was recovering its strength, we would still be able to extract and kill it if it was still trapped like that.

If it’s been sealed for a long time, its power will inevitably decrease.

This was good luck.

“Everyone! From now on, we will perform a siege operation and a liberation ritual! We must aim for the moment the seal is released! Do you understand!”

When the commander shouted loudly, the paladins shouted.

“Oooooooooh!!”
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaah!!”
“Understood!!”

As expected of veteran paladins, they seemed to know how to release the seal. They skillfully began to surround the crystal, and I approached as well.

That’s when it happened.

—Oooooooooooong.

The crystal began to vibrate and made a strange sound…!

“I, is this a sign of liberation!!”
“Prepare for battle!!!”
“The opening of the holy war!!!”

But the paladins didn’t care about such things and exploded with fighting spirit. I also gripped Vygale tightly and planned how to attack it. First of all, there’s only one of it, and it’s been sealed for a long time… No.

But that’s not the case.

The minotaur and cyclops also fought well. There’s no need to `purposely` think that it’s weakened. Just like usual. Just think of it like when you catch and kill a strong enemy.

While the paladins push forward with numbers, cut off its body with a surprise sword flame to reduce its combat power and crush it with accumulated gang-beating.

That’s all we have to do!!!

“Kieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeek!!!”

Anyway, I let out a battle cry.

—Sparkle!!!

At that moment, a silver flash burst out from the eyes of Baphomet trapped inside the crystal.

This is a 100% pure sign of liberation, no lie!!!

“However, liberation is just death!!!! As soon as you are liberated, your soul will be liberated from that body!!!!!!!”

I shouted bravely.

—Oooooooooooong.

From that point on, a strange sound began to be heard.

“…!”
“Th, this sound is!”
“What the!!”

I grabbed my ears for a moment.

“No, damn it!”

Along with the strange vibration, the sound of something being spoken began to be heard…!!!

It was clearly a foreign language!!
A type of foreign language that I couldn’t understand!!

Everyone else seemed to be hearing it too!
Could it be that some kind of curse attack has begun!!

“Do not listen to the evil voice!!!”

It was at that moment that Elysee shouted frantically.

“That evil being is launching an unacceptable mental attack on us!!! It must be a vile howl accompanied by terrible curses and brainwashing!!! Never listen to it and arm your minds with the thought of punishing it!!!! The light of justice always exists in our hearts, and with that alone, such mental attacks will be useless!!”

Now, I can only think that Elysee would be good at being a general or something. If she became a paladin of the Holy Light Cross Society and participated in the holy war as a commander, she would raise the morale of the army in just that way.

That would be pretty cool.

“No one can attack my mind, jyaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!!”

I also raised my sword and roared.

—Oooooooooh!!

Then the paladins began to recite their respective prayers to counter the mental attack. But is this really a mental attack? I don’t feel anything. It’s frustrating because I can’t ask Risha since she’s retreated to the back.

“Should we destroy the crystal!!!”
“Wait!!”

It was just as the paladins were about to rush in.

—Oong.

The strange sound stopped.

—Crack!!!

Cracks began to appear in the crystal.

And.

“…Humans, are you.”

A heavy, turbid, and cold voice echoed from inside the crystal… Could it be that Baphomet himself spoke!!!

“Y, you speak our language!!! That, that evil being speaks the language of humans!!!”
“Is this really reality!!!”

Everyone, including me and the paladins, was shocked by the sight!!

“Such!!! Such an existence has no right to speak the words of humans!!!”
“It’s clearly illegal!!!”

As Elysee said, this should never happen!
How dare a demon of the Demon World use human language!!!!

“How did you get all the way here?”

Baphomet continued.

“Did our demon race finally lose?”

Demon race.

“How did the war go? Did you humans win? No, how long has it been since then? Was the evil god Gothsmote defeated? What about the apostles of Ezath? What happened to the dragons?”

Baphomet spewed out silver radiant eyes from inside the crystal and rambled on like that.

“All the evil beings have been slaughtered, Demon King!!! The world you want will never exist!!!”
“Just as humans have won, you will also be defeated!!!”
“Do not speak the language of humans—!!!”

The paladins roared almost like they were emitting lightning.

“I see… So humans have won.”

Baphomet replied in a flat tone.

“But it doesn’t matter.”

This bastard… is giving off an increasingly dangerous scent.
When will the crystal break?

Should I attack first now?

“Lord Pelazer’s arrangement must have been perfectly activated.”

…Demon King Pelazer?

“I will build a fortress on this land and welcome my brethren.”

—Crack!
—Kugung.
—Koejijik!
—Crack!

With those words, the crystal cracked wildly.

—Kwaaaaaaaaaaaaaang!!!

It exploded like a grenade, scattering its fragments.

“Come, humans.”

From within the wreckage.

“I will build a fortress with your bones and flesh.”

Baphomet walked out.