Chapter 363

Chapter 363: Chapter 363

The moment Zouken heard that voice—one that might as well have been a death sentence—he whipped around.

Kiriya was standing behind him, wearing a smile so cold it sent a chill through the room.

Medusa reacted on instinct and swung her weapon, but Kiriya simply repeated what he had done before.

He vanished, reappeared directly in front of her, and struck her hard enough to leave her severely injured before Forest of All Things erupted around her and bound her completely.

In the blink of an eye, the strongest fighter in the room had been neutralized.

That left Zouken alone against four enemies who looked more than capable of tearing him apart.

Even a man as arrogant as Zouken understood when the situation had turned against him.

Faced with opponents this overwhelmingly powerful, he forced down his anger and tried to keep his voice steady.

"Young man... might there be some misunderstanding between us?"

"Hey, don’t get familiar with me."

Kiriya glanced casually at the insects crawling around the chamber.

"I don’t call bugs my brothers. Especially not filthy sewer vermin. I’d be worried about catching something."

"Enough!"

Zouken finally snapped.

"You think a little strength gives you the right to run wild inside the Matou residence? Insolent brat, you haven’t earned that privilege!"

He raised one hand.

An enormous tide of insects immediately converged on the four intruders.

Shinji saw the swarm coming and opened his mouth to scream, only for a mass of writhing insects to pour straight into it, leaving him incapable of producing anything beyond muffled noises.

"This again?"

Esdeath yawned.

"You really don’t learn."

Freezing air erupted from her body, sweeping through the chamber.

A large portion of the swarm froze instantly, and Shinji, still trapped in the corner, was caught in the same wave before both insects and boy crumbled into frozen dust.

The cold was about to continue spreading when Jeanne suddenly spoke.

"Wait, Esdeath."

"Hm?"

Esdeath turned toward her.

Jeanne’s expression had become unusually grim as she pointed toward the worm pit.

"There’s someone in there."

"What?"

Both Esdeath and Ryuu froze before looking toward the pit.

Sure enough, beneath layer upon layer of crawling bodies, they caught sight of a few strands of blue-purple hair.

"You actually... fed a person to those insects?"

Ryuu’s sense of justice ignited instantly.

The Stardust Sword cleared its sheath in a flash, and the elf became a streak of light.

She crossed the chamber in an instant and severed Zouken’s head with a single strike.

Bzzzzzz—!

To her surprise, the old man did not die.

Instead, his entire body collapsed into a thick cloud of black mist.

No.

Not mist.

Countless minuscule insects.

"His entire body was made of bugs?"

Disgust spread across Ryuu’s face.

"Hehehe... Young lady, it seems all of you care quite a bit about this useless girl."

Zouken’s rotten, elderly voice came from inside the cloud of insects, making Ryuu’s expression darken even further.

"If you leave now, I can pretend none of this ever happened. I’ll even give the girl to you. How does that sound?"

His tone remained disturbingly casual.

"Don’t let her appearance fool you. Her talent for Magecraft is excellent. I’m sure she’d provide you with plenty of research material."

He spoke about Sakura as though she were nothing more than an object being traded across a table.

Ryuu’s fingers tightened around the Stardust Sword until her knuckles turned white.

She wanted nothing more than to erase the creature with Luminous Wind, but this slippery old monster clearly wouldn’t be destroyed by a single blast.

If he managed to escape, the thought alone would leave her sick with disgust.

"Ryuu, leave him to me."

Jeanne’s gentle voice interrupted her.

Then came a familiar chant.

"Flames, consume my flesh. Even should this body turn to ash, my will shall never be taken. Let my bones become fuel and my blood become oil. Burn away every sin and corruption in this world. Wherever the sacred flame reaches shall become purified ground—"

"What are you doing?"

The instant Jeanne began chanting, every instinct Zouken possessed started screaming danger.

He immediately manipulated the insects beneath Sakura and lifted her body into the air, exposing her pale, beautiful face.

"You wouldn’t want anything to happen to this girl, would you?"

None of the four answered.

Jeanne simply continued chanting.

"Flame of Salvation!"

A small white flame appeared beneath her feet.

Then it spread.

The densely packed insects had nowhere to escape.

The moment the sacred fire touched them, it passed from one body to the next with terrifying speed.

BOOOOM—!

It was like dropping a spark into a barrel of oil.

White fire erupted across the entire underground nest and swallowed everything.

Screeeee—!

The insects shrieked in piercing unison, but their cries lasted only moments before they were reduced to ash.

Flame of Salvation possessed overwhelming effectiveness against corruption and negative energy.

And Zouken’s insects were among the foulest creatures imaginable.

Against Jeanne’s sacred flames, they had encountered a natural predator.

"AAAAAAAH—!"

The large insects crawling across the ground were not the only things being consumed.

The tiny flying insects that made up Zouken’s body also caught fire in enormous numbers, burning away until nothing remained.

Ryuu watched with grim satisfaction, though a trace of disappointment lingered in her eyes.

"What a shame. Someone that disgusting deserved worse than such a quick death."

"Grandpa’s dead? Grandpa’s dead?"

Shinji, who had survived because the Flame of Salvation burned away the insects inside him, suddenly began laughing and crying at the same time.

"Hahaha... hahahahaha!"

With the creatures inside his body gone and the monstrous grandfather who had dominated his life seemingly dead, the accumulated pressure inside him snapped all at once.

He laughed like a madman.

Esdeath found the noise irritating.

One punch later, Shinji became physically incapable of continuing his laugh.

Without the insects supporting her, Sakura began falling toward the bottom of the pit.

Jeanne moved instantly and caught her in a warm embrace.

"Are you all right?"

Her voice was extraordinarily gentle.

The sacred flames of Flame of Salvation continued to lick across Sakura’s body, yet they caused her no pain whatsoever. Instead, they surrounded her with a warmth reminiscent of sunlight.

Jeanne’s pure kindness seemed to reach somewhere that had been closed off for years.

A faint spark gradually returned to Sakura’s empty eyes.

"Who... are you?"

"It’s all right now. You’re safe."

Jeanne gently stroked Sakura’s hair, comforting her with the tenderness of a mother soothing a frightened child.

"That man won’t hurt you anymore."

"I’m... safe?"

Sakura whispered the words as though she had forgotten what they meant.

A crystalline tear slid down the corner of her eye.

Was this nightmare—

the nightmare that had lasted eleven years... finally over?

...

Hidden inside Sakura’s heart, Zouken naturally heard part of their conversation.

He laughed silently.

’How naive.’

’Do you honestly think those were all the tricks I had?’

’The body you destroyed was nothing more than a shell constructed from insects. As long as this true body survives, I am immortal.’

He admitted that he had underestimated the intruders.

He should never have allowed them to advance so deeply without retreating immediately.

That single mistake had cost him dearly.

More than eighty percent of the insect swarm he had cultivated over centuries had been destroyed, and the carefully prepared host body he had finally found had been lost as well.

But none of that truly mattered.

As long as the core survived, he could rebuild everything.

Better yet, the apparent death of his visible body would lower their guard.

Once he returned to the shadows, opportunities would eventually present themselves.

Then he could capture these people one by one.

They would make excellent research specimens.

As for Sakura?

He wasn’t worried in the slightest.

Crest Worms were spread throughout her body. Every movement she made remained under his influence.

He could hide behind the scenes and continue controlling everything remotely.

Perfect.

Zouken silently congratulated himself on his foresight.

Then the conversation outside made his thoughts freeze.

"That’s a little premature."

Kiriya walked closer and guided Jeanne’s hand toward Sakura’s chest.

"Jeanne, use that spell."

Jeanne blinked when she felt the warmth of Kiriya’s hand over hers, but quickly understood and nodded.

"All right."

Then she began chanting.

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

’Wait. What are they doing?’

’A chant?’

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

’Healing?’

’Did they notice the problem inside Sakura’s body?’

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

Zouken’s panic grew with every line.

’No.’

’That’s not healing.’

’That sounds like... offensive Magecraft!’

He immediately attempted to abandon Sakura and escape.

Too late.

Jeanne’s voice rang through the chamber.

"Divine Judgment!"