CHAPTER 98
With Lululio’s dramatic entrance, Cain, whose Dimension Eaters had all been utterly destroyed, was left with nothing.
Lululio spun her spear and aimed it at him.
“Too bad for you-ssumda, Black Dawn. We figured out your terror plot a little faster-ssumda.”
With the Regular Army deployed thanks to Lululio’s report, Black Dawn members would soon be subdued all over the city.
You could say Cain was unlucky.
He probably never expected to run into us while chasing Arshel.
To be precise, he would have been fine if he hadn't done something so stupid.
Cain stared at us blankly with his half-lidded eyes.
Then, he let out a short, hollow laugh and spoke.
“What could you possibly have figured out, you who know nothing?”
In that instant, Lululio moved first.
Her spear dissolved into light, left her hand, and shot towards Cain’s neck.
Cain, seemingly not expecting this, was slow to react.
Just before the spear could pierce his neck—
KAAAAAANG!
With a sound like metal striking metal, the spear bounced off Cain’s neck.
Lululio’s eyes widened, and I too realized what had happened.
Scales had sprouted on Cain’s neck, visible through his robes.
This bastard had already become a Modified Body long ago.
“Your destiny is to be nothing but a sacrifice! A sacrifice for His birth!”
Cain clutched his neck and roared as his entire face became covered in scales.
“Get back-ssumda!”
Lululio shouted and gripped her spear tightly.
KAAAAANG!
Lululio’s spear clashed with a claw that shot out from Cain.
Cain’s body had swelled to a grotesque size, and two more pairs of arms had sprouted from his body.
The very image of a monster.
A Modified Body.
We had already experienced a Modified Body during the No-Named Killer incident.
Without a thought of getting in Lululio’s way, we quickly vacated the area.
“Lululio!”
“I’m fine-ssumda! I’ll wrap this up in a jiffy-ssumda!”
“No, leave one of his fingers!”
“Aha!”
I had no doubt Lululio would lose.
I believed in her strength and in the trust Rapha Hastel had placed in her.
“Harua.”
“It’s okay, Aranseol. Trust Lululio.”
“No, it’s not that I don’t trust Miss Lululio. Look over there.”
In the direction Aranseol was pointing, space was tearing open.
From it emerged the Dimension Eater that had been killed earlier, now a jumbled, grotesque mess.
Oh, for god’s sake.
It seemed that as Cain became a Modified Body, his Dimension Eater had also grown stronger.
It was a zombie Dimension Eater.
Civilians screamed and fled.
The Dimension Eater charged at them without hesitation.
It seemed intent on harming every living thing in sight.
“Babiyen!”
“I know!”
Babiyen finished her casting and launched a fire spell.
A phoenix of flame shot out in an instant, leaving fierce claw marks on the creature’s back.
“GIIIIIIK!”
The Dimension Eater roared from the burn on its back and turned its head. It was a bizarre creature, with the heads of the previously killed Dimension Eaters messily attached to its body.
He really has one hell of a broken Ability.
“Aranseol, can you fight it?”
“Of course.”
This Dimension Eater was much larger than the last one.
I was worried for Aranseol, but I decided to trust in the training she had put in.
I clapped my hands together and invoked my holy magic.
Immediately, buffs that increased stamina and strength were cast upon Aranseol and Babiyen.
“I’m going.”
Aranseol kicked off the ground and drew her sword.
A red current of electricity shot from the blade and struck the Dimension Eater.
A murderous intent filled the sword.
The Dimension Eater couldn't ignore it and focused its attention on Aranseol.
It swung its massive body, clashing with her.
But Aranseol skillfully deflected its attacks while swinging her own sword.
KWAAAAANG!
A barrage of Babiyen’s magic rained down, hammering the Dimension Eater.
At the same time, I could hear a commotion from the other side of the building. It was clear that the Regular Army was clashing with Black Dawn’s forces.
“U-Ugh, what in the world is going on?”
Arshel’s eyes trembled, her face a mask of panic.
The state of the country was certainly a mess.
The whole world was filled with terror.

Aranseol and Babiyen were steadily pushing the Dimension Eater back.
Behind them, Lululio was also overwhelming Cain.
The transformed Cain had far surpassed human limits, but his opponent was Lululio.
Every time her light flashed, Cain was sent tumbling to the ground.
There was a clear difference in their class.
At this rate, it would be over soon.
Just as I thought that—
My Order, which had returned to my coat at some point, suddenly flew out.
It darted back and forth.
It was as if it was trying to tell me something.
Just as I raised an eyebrow, unable to understand its actions—
RUUUUUUUUUUUMBLE!
The ground beneath my feet began to shake so violently that I couldn't keep my balance.
I quickly identified the source of the shaking.
An earthquake.
A massive one at that.
“Kyaaaaaaah!?”
Arshel lost her balance in the sudden earthquake and tumbled to the ground.
Windows shattered, and buildings with weak foundations collapsed.
The aftermath also affected Aranseol and Babiyen’s fight.
“Ugh?!”
Aranseol was pushed back by the quake and rolled across the ground.
“Kyaa!”
Babiyen also let out a shrill scream and collapsed, unable to stand properly.
The Dimension Eater, however, was different.
It floated in the air, escaping the earthquake’s effects.
Then, it targeted the most disruptive presence in this battle.
The mage, Babiyen.
The Dimension Eater stomped on the air and began to run towards her.
“Babiyen!”
Belatedly realizing the situation, Aranseol shouted, but Babiyen was in no condition to move on her own.
Seeing the creature charging at her, Babiyen swallowed a scream and tried to cast a spell.
But the Dimension Eater was faster.
It was also at that moment that I poured strength into my legs.
I can't be late.
With that single thought, I kicked off the ground with enough force to shatter it and leaped towards Babiyen.
In an instant, I closed the distance, took her in my arms, and shot backward.
KWAAAAAAAANG!
The Dimension Eater’s foreleg, arriving a moment too late, slammed into the ground.
If we had been there, Babiyen would have been flattened into a pancake.
Of course, having barely escaped, we couldn't manage a graceful landing either.
With the earthquake still raging, it was impossible to keep our balance.
So, holding Babiyen tightly, I used my body as a cushion and rolled across the ground.
“Ugh…”
“Haa, Ha-Harua!”
As I swallowed a groan, Babiyen, finally pushing herself up from my arms, cried out.
I signaled to her that I was okay and applied holy magic to my twisted arm and body.
In the meantime, the earthquake somehow ended.
I could see several collapsed buildings, a testament to how powerful the tremor had been.
Moreover, I could see civilians among the rubble who hadn't managed to escape.
A single earthquake had effectively devastated the capital.
“W-What in the world just happened? Don’t tell me this was Black Dawn’s doing too.”
Babiyen expressed her bewilderment.
If those bastards could cause earthquakes, we were in for a real headache.
More importantly, the surface of the capital was in this state.
I had no idea what had happened to Nox, the underground city.
Horizon, is she okay?
I didn't know exactly where she had gone on her errand, but since Nox was her hometown, the thought suddenly crossed my mind.
“Harua, Babiyen!”
Aranseol shouted our names as she stood in front of the Dimension Eater, blocking its path.
My mind had wandered for a moment, but the battle was still ongoing.
“Babiyen, you can still cast magic, right?”
“Huu, what an absolute mess of a day.”
Babiyen raised her wand and aimed it at the Dimension Eater.
Having almost been killed by it just moments before, her eyes were overflowing with murderous intent.
“I’m going to tear you to shreds.”
This was the former noble lady Babiyen, who had long since tossed her elegance aside.
Her mana began to condense fiercely.
A flow of powerful mana, visible to the naked eye, gathered around her.
It seemed that spending all that time at the Mage Tower had allowed her to grow more than I had expected.
But the Dimension Eater noticed it too.
Due to the ground being weakened by the earthquake, Aranseol was unable to fully deflect the Dimension Eater’s attacks.
And in that opening, the creature spotted us.
Babiyen was concentrating so hard that she had even closed her eyes to gather mana.
THUD!

In that instant, the Dimension Eater forcefully pushed Aranseol aside and turned its body.

He knew that a direct hit from Babiyen’s attack would be dangerous.
The Dimension Eater smashed through the ground and began to charge toward us.
The resulting shockwave caused the ground to collapse, preventing Aranseol from getting a hold on the creature.
“Harua!”
As soon as I heard her cry, I drew upon my Holy Magic with all my might.
Even I couldn’t face a Dimension Eater in a head-on clash.
So, I poured the maximum amount of power into my legs. With a sound like tearing muscle, I stomped on the ground.
CRRAAAAAAAACK!
The ground beneath the Dimension Eater shattered completely, sending earth and debris flying upwards. The monster’s body was swept up in the landslide and launched into the air.
But the damn thing could fly.
Even while caught in the torrent of earth, it righted itself in mid-air and flew at us.
However, this was more than enough time.
Enough time for Babiyen to complete her spell.
“Give it everything you’ve got.”
“You don’t have to tell me twice!”
With Babiyen’s spirited reply, she aimed her wand at the sky.
Her mana transformed into crimson flames, overflowing with searing heat.
The Dimension Eater, still airborne as it rushed us, tried to pull back, but it was too late.
Even if it could fly, it wasn’t immune to the effects of gravity.
A beast of that size would need to make a large movement to evade.
And so, without hesitation, Babiyen fired her spell at maximum output.
A high-temperature beam at maximum output erupted in the sky, incinerating the Dimension Eater whole.
The overwhelming power was enough to melt parts of the surrounding buildings. But thanks to that, the Dimension Eater was also thoroughly melted away.
“Aahh.”

Arshel let out a choked scream and ducked down as embers rained from the sky. Getting caught in that would mean getting burned.
“It was nothing special.”
Meanwhile, Babiyen, having poured out all her mana, staggered and gave a pale smile.
That feeling of exhaustion after expending all your mana can be pretty satisfying.
I caught her and looked up.
Just in time to see Cain’s head soaring high into the sky.
He had finally lost his battle with Lululio.
Just as I’d told her, she had secured one of his fingers.
A sudden, massive earthquake in the capital…

It was time to find out what this was the beginning of.