Chapter 357

Chapter 357: Chapter 357

"Divine Judgment? A flame that represents both judgment and salvation? That really is the perfect Magic for you, Jeanne."

Ryuu couldn’t help expressing her admiration after hearing the explanation.

"It’s amazing," Ais added quietly.

"Magic that attacks the soul directly? Interesting."

Esdeath, on the other hand, was practically itching to experience it herself.

She grabbed Jeanne’s hand and immediately tried to drag her outside.

"Come on. Let’s have a little sparring match."

"Absolutely not!"

Jeanne was so startled that she hurriedly waved her hands.

"I’ve never used this Magic before, so I don’t know exactly how powerful it is or what effects it might have. What if I accidentally cause irreversible damage to your soul? I’d never forgive myself!"

"Oh?"

Esdeath stopped and turned toward her with an amused smile.

"Are you saying you consider me some irredeemable sinner?"

"Of course not!"

Jeanne immediately shook her head.

It was true that the two women held fundamentally different beliefs.

Esdeath was an extreme believer in the survival of the fittest, while Jeanne believed in the goodness of the human heart and maintained that every soul possessed the potential for redemption.

However, their differences in philosophy did not mean Jeanne disliked Esdeath as a person.

Jeanne understood the environment in which Esdeath had grown up and the teachings her father had instilled in her.

In a world as twisted and brutal as her homeland, it was hardly surprising that she had developed such an extreme worldview.

Besides, before meeting Kiriya, Esdeath had spent most of her time hunting in the wilderness.

After they became acquainted, Kiriya had effectively become the chain restraining her worst impulses, leaving her with little opportunity to put her cruel philosophy of the strong dominating the weak into practice.

Consequently, Jeanne regarded her as a battle-crazed woman rather than someone genuinely evil.

Of course, matters would have been very different if she had encountered the Esdeath who served alongside Prime Minister Honest as an Imperial general, or the version of her who inflicted suffering on others purely for the pleasure of it.

Had they met under those circumstances, their conflict might well have ended in a battle to the death.

After hearing Jeanne’s explanation, Esdeath slapped her thigh.

"Well, there you go! If I’m not some irredeemable sinner, there’s nothing to worry about. Let’s give it a try. I’m genuinely curious about what an attack that damages the soul feels like."

"I’d still rather not."

Jeanne remained firm.

"Even if the Magic doesn’t kill you, we’re talking about injuries to the soul. We don’t currently have any reliable way to treat that kind of damage. What if it leaves behind some permanent complication?"

"...Fair enough."

Esdeath considered the argument and reluctantly abandoned the idea.

She was disappointed, though.

"What a shame. I really wanted to see how powerful that Magic is."

"Honestly, why are you so stubborn?"

Kiriya chuckled helplessly.

"If you want to test the spell, why insist on using yourself as the target? We’re in the Dungeon. There are more than enough monsters around here for Jeanne to experiment on."

"Oh! You’re right."

Esdeath suddenly realized that she had been so fixated on experiencing the attack personally that she had overlooked the obvious solution.

Her disappointment immediately vanished.

"Come on, then! Hurry up and eat! Once we’ve finished breakfast, we’ll head down and try it out!"

She sounded even more excited than Jeanne, who was the one who had actually awakened the new Magic.

Ais, Jeanne, Ryuu, and Kiriya could only exchange amused looks.

With Esdeath urging them along, they quickly prepared breakfast, finished eating, and resumed their expedition into the deeper floors.

...

58th Floor — Dragon’s Urn

"ROOOOAR—!"

A large group of Valgang Dragons unleashed thunderous roars as they spotted the approaching party.

Even from a considerable distance, the dragons opened their jaws and began bombarding the group with enormous blasts of dragonfire.

Unfortunately for them, their targets were riding on the back of a fire dragon summoned by Kiriya.

The creature soared through the air with remarkable speed and agility, easily maneuvering around the incoming bombardment.

Despite their tremendous destructive power, the attacks couldn’t even graze the riders.

"These things have pretty tough hides. They should make excellent targets."

Esdeath studied the dragons below with considerable interest.

"Agreed."

Jeanne nodded and parted her lips, beginning her first invocation of Divine Judgment.

Her voice rang out across the battlefield, ethereal yet filled with solemn authority.

"O distant throne of the highest heavens, bear witness to the judgment delivered here.

"O flames of purity, answer my summons and descend upon this place!

"Let eternity be my fuel and divine law my blade. Pierce the empty shell of falsehood and gaze upon the soul’s true nature!

"Behold the form of sin!

"Burn, for this shall be the final Chapter of wickedness!

"Within the sacred flames, let the soul behold its true self. Through destruction, let it discover salvation!"

"Divine Judgment!"

The moment Jeanne completed her chant, an enormous pillar of white light descended from the distant heavens and struck the largest Valgang Dragon directly.

The dragon instinctively released a terrified roar.

After all, the enormous pillar of heavenly light looked absolutely horrifying.

Judging by its appearance alone, the attack seemed powerful enough to reduce the creature to ashes.

Yet when the light struck its body...

Nothing happened.

The dragon blinked.

It hadn’t suffered so much as a scratch.

Was that it?

Had these humans seriously tried to frighten it with a flashy attack that didn’t actually do anything?

Enraged at apparently being made a fool of, the Valgang Dragon immediately opened its jaws and resumed bombarding them.

"What’s going on?"

Ais tilted her head in confusion.

The others also turned toward Jeanne, who was frowning thoughtfully.

After considering the problem for quite some time, she finally offered an uncertain explanation.

"These monsters... don’t have any sins."

The concept of sin that governed Divine Judgment was primarily associated with slaughtering the innocent, inflicting suffering upon others, threatening the world, and trampling upon morality and human dignity.

Such offenses had virtually nothing to do with the creatures currently attacking them.

These monsters had only been born within the past few days.

They hadn’t even killed a human being, so how could they possibly have accumulated the kind of sins her Magic was designed to punish?

"Ah? So that’s how it works."

Esdeath immediately looked disappointed after hearing Jeanne’s explanation.

Didn’t that mean they wouldn’t get to witness Divine Judgment’s true power after all?

Perhaps she really would have to volunteer as the test subject.

Just as that thought crossed the sadistic general’s mind, Kiriya suddenly exclaimed in surprise.

"Huh? Hey, look over there. I think those are adventurers."

The girls paused and followed the direction of his pointing finger.

Sure enough, several blood-soaked adventurers were desperately fleeing across the battlefield, pursued by an enormous horde of monsters.

"ROOOOAR—!"

The creatures charged after them with ferocious expressions, claws extended and jaws snapping.

Their relentless pursuit had apparently terrified the fleeing adventurers so thoroughly that they could think of nothing beyond running for their lives.

None showed the slightest intention of turning around to fight.

Under ordinary circumstances, seeing fellow adventurers being hunted by monsters would naturally have stirred concern.

This time, however, Kiriya and his companions felt that something about the situation was distinctly suspicious.

Very few Familias possessed the strength necessary to reach the Dragon’s Urn.

Apart from the Freya, Loki, and Ganesha Familias, only a handful of others could reasonably operate at such depths.

Yet none of the fleeing adventurers looked familiar.

They appeared to be complete unknowns.

How had a group of seemingly unremarkable adventurers managed to reach the 58th Floor in the first place?

"Should we help them?"

Ryuu looked toward Kiriya.

Ais also turned her clear golden eyes in his direction. Judging by her expression, she was inclined to intervene.

"Of course."

Kiriya’s lips curved into a faint smile.

"We’re good people, after all."

With that, he leaped from the back of the soaring fire dragon.

As he descended, his voice carried back toward the girls.

"Jeanne, prepare your Magic!"

The Dragon Fang Sword flashed as Kiriya landed amid the pursuing horde.

Brilliant sword arcs swept outward, tearing through monsters and scattering blood and flesh across the battlefield.

He forced his way through the enormous swarm, carving open a path until he finally reached the fleeing adventurers.

"Are you all right? Can you still move?"

Kiriya approached them with an expression of genuine concern.

"Y-Yes!"

The previously despairing adventurers immediately brightened. Their expressions were so overwhelmed with relief that they looked ready to burst into tears.

"Thank you! Thank you so much!"

"Don’t mention it. Follow me!"

Kiriya spoke with the confidence and righteousness of a hero coming to their rescue.

He immediately turned around, raised his sword, and unleashed another Afterglow toward the monsters converging upon their position.

And at the exact moment he exposed his back to them, everything changed.

The adventurers who had been practically weeping with gratitude suddenly revealed murderous expressions.

Without exchanging a single word, they drew their weapons and launched a coordinated surprise attack against Kiriya’s unprotected back.

Their movements were viciously precise, their attacks astonishingly swift.

Every last one of them possessed combat ability comparable to a Level 6 adventurer!

SHHK—!

Kiriya’s body abruptly went rigid.

Several sword blades protruded from his chest.

He slowly lowered his head, staring at the weapons that had pierced straight through his body.

His face was filled with utter disbelief.

"W-Why...?"

"Hehehe... Finally!"

The muscular man leading the group twisted his face into a hideous grin, his expression overflowing with excitement and barely restrained madness.

"We finally killed you!"

He could hardly contain his delight.

"That great lord is going to reward us handsomely for this!"

The mysterious adventurers were already imagining the rewards awaiting them when an enraged voice suddenly thundered through the sky.

"DIVINE JUDGMENT!"

Jeanne’s furious declaration rang across the battlefield.

WHOOSH—!

Several brilliant pillars of white light descended from above, each striking one of the mysterious adventurers with unerring precision.

"AAAAAAAH—!"

Their triumphant laughter instantly transformed into agonized screams.

Milky-white flames erupted from their eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouths, pouring out of every opening in their faces as the sacred fire consumed them from within.

In the blink of an eye, each attacker had become a living torch.

Their screams were so horrific that they seemed to tear through the entire battlefield, but the flames showed no mercy.

Within only a breath or two, their bodies were completely reduced to ashes, leaving behind nothing but a handful of magic stones as the sole evidence that they had ever existed.