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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 241: Sanctuary of Federica (4)
“Ah, ah…”
Liltara collapsed to her knees.
Realizing what was about to happen, she instinctively clasped her hands together.
She was about to pray but then froze.
To whom should she pray?
She had just lost the object of her prayers.
Liltara let out a hollow laugh.
“You!”
The saint, who had been staring in shock at the shattered altar, ground his teeth.
“You’ve revealed your true nature!”
The saint signaled with his eyes.
The believers, receiving the signal, hurriedly fled.
The non-combatants withdrew, and holy knights and priests filled the space.
A swift encirclement was formed around Ketal.
Ketal whistled.
“Quick. It’s as if they predicted this would happen.”
No, they probably did.
They didn’t know the full extent of Ketal’s power, but they knew he had first-rate strength.
First-rate strength wasn’t insignificant on a global scale.
Even Aquaz, who was once considered a genius, had been First-rate when they first met.
And yet, they hadn’t sealed Ketal’s power.
They had bound him with a flimsy chain that could be broken at any moment, as if they were waiting for him to break free and escape.
“Are you afraid of receiving the world’s hostility? Do you want it to appear as if I chose to oppose you of my own free will?”
“…Nonsense.”
The saint dismissed it, but his eyes wavered slightly.
Ketal’s words were spot on.
The saint had thought that if they subdued Ketal half-heartedly, he would resist somehow.
And then they would have a perfect excuse to offer the defiant heretic to their god forcefully.
What better justification could there be?
But who would have thought this barbarian would see through even that?
‘No.’
Even if he did, it didn’t matter.
In any case, they now had a solid pretext.
The saint issued an order.
“Everyone! The great offering to our god is resisting! Restrain that heretic!”
“Waaaa!”
“For Federica!”
The holy knights charged all at once.
They brandished shields and spears, rushing to crush him.
Ketal smiled and raised his hand.
“Gah!”
The holy knight who arrived first thrust his spear.
Ketal caught the spearhead.
He applied pressure with his arm.
“Aaaaargh!”
The holy knight’s body soared through the air.
He flew across the sanctuary, crashing through a building and landing inside it.
The other holy knights took advantage of the gap, thrusting their spears in unison.
It was a flawless, coordinated attack.
Ketal didn’t dodge.
He simply stood there.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
And with just that, the spearheads were deflected.
The holy knights, unable to withstand the recoil, were thrown back.
“Oh, oh…”
“You all are, in truth, innocent.”
They were merely being used by Federica, victims forced by their leaders to uphold false values.
“So sleep.”
Ketal lightly tapped the forehead of the holy knight who had collapsed before him.
With that simple touch, the knight’s brain was shaken, and he fell unconscious.
As he advanced, he flicked his fingers lightly.
One by one, the holy knights fell like flies.
The saint shouted loudly.
“Everyone! Push him back by force! Crush him!”
“Gah!”
The holy knights formed up and tried to crush Ketal with sheer force.
The combined weight of dozens of holy knights, along with divine power, pressed down on Ketal.
Ketal cheerfully took another step forward.
He leaned in with his shoulder and pushed ahead.
The holy knights were knocked away like bowling pins.
Then, in that moment, Chief Inquisitor Kostia charged.
He thrust a sharp sword at Ketal’s back.
Ketal casually turned and caught the sword’s tip with his fingers.
“Oops.”
Ketal twisted his fingers.
Kostia’s body flipped over.
He tried desperately to regain his posture, but a fist struck his chest before he could.
Crunch.
The sound of armor crumpling accompanied Kostia’s body as it was hurled away.
He crashed into the wall at the sanctuary's edge, twitching but unable to get up.
In just a few minutes, all the holy knights were annihilated.
The saint narrowed his eyes.
“…You were hiding your power.”
The aura Ketal emitted seemed to be at the First rate level.
But he had just subdued Kostia, a superhuman powerhouse, with a single blow.
This meant he hadn’t shown his true power.
“Well, fine. I suspected that the sinner personally summoned by Lady Federica wouldn’t be ordinary. This must be another trial.”
Step by step, the saint moved forward.
There was no fear on his face.
“It can’t be helped. I have no choice but to step in myself.”
Slowly, a dense, dark divine power enveloped the saint.
The Federica Church had committed countless atrocities.
The number of territories and kingdoms that had suffered directly from their actions was immense.
Yet, none of them could formally protest against the Federica Church.
While the power of the divine church was formidable, it wasn’t so overwhelming that complaints couldn’t be lodged.
They could have demanded justice for the harm done to them.
But they didn’t.
The reason was simple.
It was because of the Saint of Federica.
He was a top-tier superhuman, one of the strongest in the world, second only to the heroes.
No one could dare speak out against the Federica Church as long as he existed.
The saint swung his arm.
A powerful wave of divine energy surged toward Ketal as if it was about to engulf him.
The force within it was truly that of a top-tier superhuman.
Even the Mercenary King, Seraphina, or the Spellweaver would have had to respond seriously.
No matter how strong that barbarian was, he couldn’t be at the level of a top-tier superhuman.
The saint was certain.
“Impressive!”
But Ketal simply swung his fist.
The divine energy that had surged like a tidal wave burst apart as if it were nothing.
The saint’s eyes widened.
“What?”
In an instant, Ketal was in front of the saint.
The saint hastily tried to protect himself, but the punch went right through his defenses.
Crunch.
With the sound of ribs shattering, the saint’s body was hurled across the ground, gouging the earth as he tumbled.
“Cough, cough.”
What just happened?
The saint barely managed to heal himself with divine power and staggered to his feet.
What he saw was Ketal looking at him with an expression of curiosity.
“Oh. I did hold back a bit, but I didn’t expect you to stand up so easily.”
The saint was strong.
Among the humans Ketal had encountered, he was one of the strongest.
“In that case, I guess I can use a bit more force.”
Ketal muttered with a smile.
The saint felt a chill down his spine.
The fear of death overwhelmed him.
He quickly shouted,
“Latteja, Chapter 8, Verse 12! Crush the enemies that threaten you!”
A black divine energy took shape, rushing toward Ketal to crush him.
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Ketal spread his arms as if delighted.
“The Holy Scriptures of Federica! That’s nice!”
Crack!
Ketal's punches smashed and shattered the divine power formed from the scriptures.
The divine power wielded by a top-tier superhuman was destroyed like a child’s toy.
The saint screamed as he shouted,
“Latteja, Chapter 12, Verse 14! No abundance shall reach you!”
The power of the Great Scriptures burst forth.
The power that the god once wielded on this earth tried to crush and overpower Ketal through its agent.
But it all broke apart.
The scriptures that refused abundance and forcibly caused desolation.
The scriptures that consumed space and nullified all value.
The scriptures that carried the footsteps of the great Federica who once walked this earth—Ketal’s power destroyed all.
The saint was on the verge of madness.
‘Even the Chief Inquisitor of the renowned Sun God couldn’t overwhelm me!’
Yet this barbarian was shattering the scriptures he wielded as if dealing with a child.
It was utterly incomprehensible.
Boom!
“Cough!”
The saint was slammed into the wall.
Though he barely managed to defend against Ketal’s attack, the impact caused his body to slide back.
Beads of sweat formed on his forehead.
‘I can’t win.’
He was barely holding on, but that was all.
There was no chance of victory.
Ketal was completely overwhelming the saint.
The saint felt a profound sense of helplessness.
“Hmmm.”
Yet Ketal’s expression was one of dissatisfaction.
It was only natural.
The one he wanted to fight wasn’t merely the saint.
He raised his head and looked up at the heavens.
“Are you still not going to come down?”
“What are you talking about…?”
“Well, fine. Let’s see how long you’ll just watch.”
With a flick, Ketal unleashed his aura.
The saint’s face turned pale in an instant.
“Ah, ah.”
It was something beyond his comprehension.
A vast, dense aura pressed down on the world.
‘This, this is…’
The saint had experienced something like this once before.
A long time ago, when he had just become a saint, he briefly encountered Federica.
In that fleeting moment, the saint had sensed death.
He realized that he was nothing more than dust.
He had encountered something beyond human perception, something unattainable and incomprehensible.
And now, he was feeling something similar to that sensation.
The unleashed aura of Ketal weighed down on the sanctuary.
The earth groaned in pain, and the space around them began to warp.
The worshippers struggled to breathe.
Ketal lifted his foot, filled with aura.
Then, he stomped on the ground.
Crash!
The entire sanctuary shook.
Cracks formed everywhere as the earth began to fracture.
The saint's eyes widened in shock.
With just a single stomp, a human had caused an earthquake.
Ketal lifted his foot again and stomped.
Boom!
The ground started to sink.
The foundation crumbled, and buildings collapsed into the earth.
The ground split apart, revealing the rocks beneath.
The sanctuary itself was being destroyed, with Ketal at the center.
“Impossible!”
Liltara hurriedly protected the unconscious holy knights.
Ketal hadn't targeted her when he unleashed his aura, so she could move without difficulty.
Otherwise, she would have been lying on the ground, unable to do anything.
“Ah, ah…”
The saint gaped in disbelief.
A single individual was destroying the sacred sanctuary of a god.
What was this?
Was this truly a human?
Was this really happening?
The sanctuary was becoming something that could no longer be called holy ground.
Ketal lifted his foot once more.
If he stomped again, this place would cease to be a sanctuary.
It would become nothing more than a ruined wasteland.
“S-stop…”
The saint desperately shouted, but there was no power behind his words.
Just as Ketal was about to stomp down again, a beam of light descended from the sky.
It touched the saint's head.
“Huh?”
The saint opened his mouth in a daze.
Something immense began to take over him.
It erased his existence and filled the void with something else.
[I will borrow you.]
The immense being spoke.
“N-no…”
The saint tried to resist, but it was futile.
His body went limp.
Ketal stopped his foot mid-stomp.
He retracted the aura that had been crushing the sanctuary.
“Finally, you’ve arrived.”
Ketal bared his teeth in a grin.
And then, after a brief moment.
The saint opened his eyes.
They were filled with a gloomy black light.
His gaze turned to Ketal.
[I reject you.]
The will of the entity descended upon Ketal.
It was a power that erased existence and left only emptiness.
It enveloped Ketal, trying to bind and twist him.
Ketal smiled faintly.
“No.”
Screech!
The word of refusal echoed, clashing with the word of rejection.
The sound of shattering filled the air as the two forces canceled each other out.
[…….]
The being that had taken over the saint’s body frowned in displeasure.
“A bit aggressive for a first meeting, isn’t it?”
Ketal chuckled, genuinely amused, and politely greeted the entity with proper courtesy.
“Nice to meet you, Federica, the great celestial being.”
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