I Became the Youngest Disciple of the Martial God - Chapter 306
## The Youngest Disciple of the Martial God – Chapter 306
**Chapter 306**
[SCREEEEEEEEECH-!]
The moment the Legion Commander’s skull shattered, an earsplitting scream, unlike anything I had ever heard before, echoed throughout the cavern.
It wasn’t just the evil energy, the voice itself was horrifying and unsettling. It sounded like invisible, elongated fingers were scraping against the inside of a skull.
Resisting the urge to claw at my eardrums, I looked over at Mir.
After his grand entrance and swinging Mjolnir, he seemed to have lost consciousness, plummeting towards the ground as if that had been his final act.
Considering the height, I thought he would be seriously injured if he crashed onto the floor… but just then, Arakshad rushed forward and caught the falling Mir.
And at that moment…
*Fwoosh!*
Something small shot out from the shattered skull, vanishing instantly through the broken ceiling.
It was so fast that I couldn’t even make out its shape, even though I saw it with my own two eyes.
“What was…?”
“…”
While Jake was bewildered, I first looked around.
Everyone was completely spent.
Most of them seemed on the verge of death, let alone being able to move.
It was only natural, considering how intense and brutal the fight had been.
Swallowing a curse, I forced myself to stand up.
My body, which had long since reached its limit, screamed for rest… but…
‘Just one more time. This is really the last one.’
I comforted my body with the kind of lies a liar would tell… and then I realized that there was one monster who could withstand this situation without collapsing.
However, coincidentally, that guy had been out of sight throughout the entire fight with the Legion Commander.
Is he dead? No way.
I looked at Jake and asked,
“By any chance, did you see an Inquisitor dressed as a nun?”
“If you mean Sister Razbet, she went down below. I don’t know if she’s alive or-”
At that moment, the ground bulged upwards, and Veritas emerged from beneath a pile of dirt.
Jake blinked at his sudden appearance, and I thought Veritas, covered in blood, looked like a ghost.
“Ah… brother, you’re safe.”
Veritas smiled faintly as he saw me.
‘Safe’ he says…
Of course, it wasn’t a strange thing for Veritas to say after our long-awaited reunion, but somehow, I sensed a deep feeling of relief in his tone.
Roughly speaking, it felt like he knew I was in mortal danger?
Did he hear about my situation from the other Cultists?
Anyway, Veritas, who had risen from the ground, looked incredibly exhausted.
Seeing him like that, I had the obvious realization that he too gets tired…
“What were you doing down there?”
“I fought the priests and other undead.”
The priests.
So he heard it from them.
“How many?”
“Well… I don’t know how long it took, but I think I killed about a thousand.”
Did he single-handedly slay a thousand corpses? He wasn’t the type to lie about this kind of thing, so I had no choice but to believe him.
‘No wonder he was moving a bit slowly…’
The reason the Legion Commander had hit me so many times was probably because he had been focusing a significant amount of attention on eliminating Veritas down below.
In other words, Veritas was the unseen hero who contributed the most to the defeat of the Legion Commander.
“The staff was its main body. Mir smashed its skull, and at that moment, something popped out from inside and escaped through the ceiling. I don’t know what it is, but I think we need to kill it.”
“It must be a parasitic demon. It may not have any power on its own, but if it possesses the body of another Cultist who is still alive, it could cause trouble. We don’t know what’s beyond that ceiling, so let’s hurry.”
*Thud.*
At that moment, Veritas collapsed on the spot.
“What are you doing?”
“Uh.”
Veritas, who had a blank expression on his face, frowned slightly.
“…I can’t feel any strength in my body.”
Veritas seemed most surprised by his own condition.
Did it feel like he was experiencing this situation for the first time in his life?
I stared blankly at Veritas as he writhed, and suddenly, I took another look at the blood that covered his entire body.
I didn’t think that blood was Veritas’s.
There was too much of it, and even
if he had bled, I thought it would only be a small amount, with the rest being the blood of his enemies.
But then I realized that Veritas’s enemies were the undead.
As expected, most rotten corpses don’t bleed. Not to mention skeletons.
This means that all of that blood must have been shed by Veritas…
“Why aren’t you using your divine power?”
Veritas’s regenerative abilities are monstrous.
He can regenerate his flesh at a speed that would make even a troll look cute. He even instantly restored his gouged-out eyeball.
It’s strange that he’s bleeding this much. Normally, his wounds would have closed up before the blood even started flowing.
Is it possible that he’s used up all his divine power, like my internal energy?
“That’s…”
Veritas had a slightly troubled expression on his face, but seeing my steady gaze, he reluctantly opened his mouth.
“Judg… ment…”
After saying that, Veritas’s head slowly drooped down.
“What? Hey. Ver, no. Sister Razbet?”
“…”
I could hear the sound of his gentle breathing.
“I think he fainted.”
I know.
I said to Jake inwardly as I observed the situation.
It was absurd, but Veritas had lost consciousness due to exhaustion.
I couldn’t help but sigh.
The one reliable force we had was in this state, and we couldn’t afford to waste any more time.
“Please take care of Sister Razbet.”
“What about you?”
“I need to track it down.”
“Can you reach the ceiling in your condition?”
Jake asked, knowing that my body was not in good shape.
I chuckled and used the power of Crow Taker.
I couldn’t fly without internal energy, but levitation was possible.
“Be careful. You’re the hero of this incident. I wouldn’t want to lose you in a place like this.”
“Of course. I’m the one who values my life the most.”
Jake gave a hollow laugh at my reply. It seemed he took it as a joke.
But it was the truth.
* * *
Stepping through the ceiling, I soon realized that this was a familiar place.
The place where the ritual we secretly observed with Ramon took place… In other words, the location of Ymir’s heart.
This was where I was swept away by that damn blizzard and fell all the way down to Ymir’s stomach, which ultimately led to Ramon’s death.
It was a place that made me uncomfortable and irritated.
The aftermath of the blizzard was still evident everywhere. The ground was frozen like an ice rink, and the bodies meant to be sacrifices were frozen solid as well.
In the center, I saw Ymir’s heart, also frozen solid.
“…”
I didn’t sense any human presence, but the strangely eerie atmosphere made me tense.
Could it be hiding inside one of these corpses?
I cautiously approached the heart, wary of the corpses, especially the Cultists’ bodies.
And then a thought suddenly occurred to me.
‘…The heart.’
The heart is the core of the human body, its power source.
The reason the Cultists occupied this place and made it their altar was simple.
If they could claim Ymir’s heart, they could control the massive Frost Giant’s body as they pleased.
That means it’s dangerous.
The thought crossed my mind that the Legion Commander, possessing that heart, could manipulate Ymir at will.
Of course, that wouldn’t be their original purpose.
Ymir’s body was also meant to be a sacrifice to the Golden Horns.
But what if the rampaging Legion Commander desperately possessed Ymir and moved the giant’s body as a last resort?
Even if it couldn’t fully possess it, just the movement of a being as large as Ymir would be catastrophic.
‘Or it could go berserk…’
If that happened, the Cult would achieve their goal regardless of the High Priest’s death, the annihilation of the Cultists, or the Legion Commander’s demise.
Was it because of my negative thoughts?
My pace quickened.
I almost ran, closing the distance to the heart with my creaking body.
And at that moment…
Something pitch black attacked me from the right.
I reflexively drew Seven Deadly Sins and swung it. *Clang!* With a sound like striking liquid,
whatever it was that had been hit by my sword fell to the ground.
“…!”
What kind of creature was this?
It looked like a centipede.
It had a long body and a ridiculous number of legs. But its face was a grotesquely distorted old man’s, with demonic horns sprouting from its head, and to make matters worse, it had no eyeballs.
*Click click click click click click click click.*
The demonic centipede clicked its teeth together.
Its teeth were a sight to behold.
Hundreds of sharp, saw-like teeth were crammed into its mouth.
The thought of those teeth tearing into flesh and burrowing in, taking control of the body, sent shivers down my spine.
[You.]
The old man suddenly grinned.
[You were scared just now, weren’t you?]
“Bullshit.”
I swung Seven Deadly Sins down.
The clinging centipede flipped onto its back with surprising agility, dodging my attack.
It then wriggled its hundreds of legs in that position, which was not a pleasant sight.
“Ugh. That look is a bit scary.”
*Click click click click click click click click.*
The sound of teeth clicking together again.
Only then did I realize that the sound was the centipede’s laughter.
I didn’t want to hear it anymore, so I gripped the hilt with both hands and thrust the sword down.
Whether it’s a demon or a centipede, if I pierce its head with this, it’ll die.
At that moment, the centipede rolled its body, dodging my attack with astonishing agility.
[I can’t believe… the plan I prepared for so long… is going to be thwarted…]
“…”
[But… it’s alright. This situation… can still be reversed…]
“How?”
[That is…]
At that moment, as if falling from the sky, the centipede revealed itself.
[It’s youuuuuuu-!]
I parried the incoming centipede with Seven Deadly Sins again.
Instead of being knocked away, it wrapped itself around my sword like a snake slithering up a tree, instantly clinging to my arm.
[What a splendid body…! Perfect for my next host…!]
“You crazy bastard?”
It was aiming to possess my body instead of Ymir’s? Then its escape through the ceiling was a feint to lure me in.
Shivers ran down my spine as I shook my arm violently, but I couldn’t shake it off. Its hundreds of legs were hooked onto my forearm like barbs.
[I’ll enjoy this-!]
The moment the centipede’s teeth sunk into my forearm with a chilling voice…
[…Gah?!]
It suddenly spat out blood and widened its eyes. Not that it made much of a difference, since it had no eyeballs, making it even more grotesque…
*Shwing!*
In that instant, I drew Yin Yang Blade with my left hand and plunged it into the creature’s forehead.
With a piercing scream, the centipede detached from my arm and vanished back into the darkness.
A voice, as if echoing from all directions, sounded repeatedly.
[What… is this…?]
[To think it still possesses this much resistance…]
[Indeed… They are certainly… worthy of their attention…]
“…”
I thought it was quite remarkable that such a talkative creature had been keeping quiet until now.
Silence is golden, especially when trying to appear intimidating.
I gripped Yin Yang Blade and Seven Deadly Sins, scanning my surroundings.
There was no way for me to attack the creature while it was hiding in the darkness. I couldn’t use my Eye of Insight in this situation.
It would be troublesome if it took advantage of the darkness to escape…
But strangely, I didn’t think it would.
If this demon was a parasite, it wouldn’t be able to survive for long without a host.
In the end, it would have to possess a host, even if it meant forcing the issue, and it had chosen me as its target.
‘Is this the final battle?’
Perfect.
Now, with no internal energy and a body that wouldn’t obey me, I could have a good fight against the weakened Legion Commander’s main body.
*Cackle cackle cackle-!*
Just then, with a spine-chilling laugh, numerous beings emerged from the ceiling.
They were quite diverse.
There were those who stood on two legs, those who
crawled on all fours, and even those with over ten or dozens of legs.
But they had two things in common.
The sinister evil energy that enveloped their entire bodies.
And the horns that sprouted from their heads, regardless of the number.
‘…Demons.’
And quite a few fully summoned demons at that.
They weren’t even small fry.
Judging by their evil energy, most of them were intermediate-level demons. Each one was strong enough to require a B-rank or higher hero to risk their lives fighting them.
It was ridiculous.
To think there were still so many of them alive?
[The energy of struggle we gathered from you… I used it as an offering to summon demons…]
“What?”
[It pains me to use the energy we painstakingly gathered… to summon such low-level beings… but there’s no other way… Killing you is the priority…]
“…”
I wanted to bluster, but my mouth wouldn’t open easily.
Even I didn’t have the strength to fight dozens of demons in my current state.
At best, I could take down two or three of them in a mutual destruction.
“Huh…”
To think I would die in a place like this.
But at least I had stopped the Demon King summoning, so I could consider the worst-case scenario averted, right?
‘That’s bullshit.’
I laughed bitterly.
Dying here meant nothing.
Ramon didn’t save me for me to die in a place like this.
So, I had to survive somehow.
I had to survive even if it meant facing certain death.
If I died here, who knows what that damn thing would do with my body.
‘At the very least, even that centipede bastard-’
At that moment…
*Thud.*
A solitary footstep echoed from somewhere.
The thought that there were still more of them flashed through my mind…
And then I saw him, beyond the horde of demons, a bizarre figure holding an umbrella.
*Thud.*
How could such a sound be made on ice?
The umbrella-wielding figure walked slowly, as if treading on pitch-black darkness instead of ice.
The demons, sensing something was amiss, finally turned around.
Thanks to that, I caught a glimpse of the pale face beneath the umbrella, like a full moon emerging from behind dark clouds.
The man’s expressionless face, as if coated with a thin layer of white and solidified, exuded a peculiar aura.
“Huh…”
Was it relief, or despair?
An indiscernible sound escaped my throat.
Then, I met the man’s gaze.
“Are you alright?”
“…Yes.”
“Where is Arakshad?”
“He’s below. With Mir and Sister Razbet.”
“What about Ramon?”
“…”
I closed my mouth.
At that moment, I felt cowardly for avoiding the answer and tried to speak again.
But the man
, observing my expression, slowly nodded.
“I see.”
*Click.*
The umbrella closed.
The Clan Leader of Corrupted – Lanfero Nosferatu – was fully revealed.
He briefly closed his eyes, looking at the horde of demons.
When he opened them again, his eyes had transformed into a deep crimson, as if infused with blood.
His chilling gaze swept across the battlefield in an instant.
[A vampire.]
The centipede’s voice rang out.
[A lowly race abandoned by magic… Your fangs cannot harm us. Have you chosen the wrong opponent to bare your teeth at?]
The demons erupted in laughter.
Evil energy exploded outwards, and an oppressive aura dominated the area, weighing down on everything.
[Behold the being before you! The third horn of Kingarod Tooth, the one who will destroy the north! You surely don’t intend to face all these demons alone, do you?]
“Is that so? But I’m curious about one thing.”
Lanfero spoke.
His fangs, as if honed by moonlight, gleamed palely, creating a strange impression that was both a smile and a beast’s growl.
“Don’t demons bleed?”