No human can survive a bullet between the eyes.
Of course, there are exceptions—like someone whose forehead is outright impervious to bullets or possesses regeneration beyond even the priests of the Church of Morte—but generally speaking, that's how it goes.
In any case, the priest I had been fighting was not one of those exceptions. Blood sprayed from the wound in his forehead as he collapsed.
"Priest!"
"Ahh, why must we endure such trials…?"
As soon as the priest fell, the remaining followers charged at me like a horde possessed by collective madness.
"Eliminate the unbeliever!"
"In the name of the Great Will!"
However, no matter how miraculous the Serpent's Blessing might be, it was useless in the face of overwhelming firepower.
Heads were obliterated in an instant by the A-985 explosive rounds and grenades launched from my Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle and NO-13 Grenade Launcher. Their so-called regenerative abilities were meaningless when there was nothing left to regenerate.
Boom—!
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!
Those who had been on the outer edges of the blast, however, kept charging at me, indifferent to the explosions—like beasts or monsters.
["Wow, that's seriously disgusting."]
Even Esther clicked her tongue at their grotesque, inhuman resilience.
'Well, not that it matters.'
Whether they were monsters or humans acting like monsters, the method to deal with them remained the same.
Firepower. And more firepower.
Fortunately, I had plenty.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
"How… How could an unbeliever…?"
"Oh, Great Will! Why have you forsaken us?!"
Even as they were engulfed in the thick smoke of the explosion, the followers of the Church of Morte did not stop.
Both my Ark-15 Automatic Conversion Rifle and NO-13 Grenade Launcher were now significantly overheated.
I could still fire if I wanted to, but I had other options.
'Esther.'
["I really don't want to deal with them. I have standards, you know."]
'Just do it.'
["Ugh, fine."]
Her voice carried the petulance of a child whining, but the result was anything but trivial.
["BEGONE—!"]
A massive etheric wave erupted from around me, expanding outward.
RUMMMMMMBLE—!!!
Like a cataclysm, the sheer force overturned the ground and swept through the charging cultists.
But I didn't stop there.
I knew better than to assume the cockroach-like followers of Church of Morte would die from being merely thrown around.
'Janus.'
[Giiik!]
With its brief rest over, Janus extended its grotesque bone tendrils once more.
The cultists, their formation shattered, could do nothing to resist.
Shlck!
Shlck! Shlck! Shlck!
The writhing tendrils impaled them one by one, and Janus began its ravenous feast.
Slllurp, schlk—
"Aaaargh!"
"Curse you… unbeliever…"
Even as their bodies shriveled like husks, the cultists did not cease their curses.
Not that it mattered.
[Giiik!]
With the priest—the only real threat—eliminated, there was nothing left that could challenge Janus.
Which meant only one thing:
It was now feeding time.
"P-please… no more…"
"Spare us! Please—"
Even the zealots, so devoted to their faith, were gripped by fear at the sight of Janus.
Understandable.
Who wouldn't be terrified upon witnessing a beast-like creature impaling humans with bone tendrils and sucking them dry like a grotesque, living straw?
And then—
With the last of the screams fading into silence, the battlefield grew eerily still.
The Church of Morte's mobilized unit, led by their priest—defeated without leaving so much as a scratch on me.
'That should do it.'
Unfortunately, even if Janus devoured Church of Morte's followers and priests, it didn't grant me any special abilities.
Despite their monster-like tendencies, the followers of the Church of Morte were, at their core, still human.
'Which also proves that the so-called "blessing" of the Church of Morte doesn't physically alter their bodies.'
This topic had been debated in user communities for a while.
Some argued it was truly divine grace, while others claimed it was the result of a deal with demons. Wild theories floated around, but no hypothesis seemed convincing.
That was how little was actually known about the Church of Morte.
'A bit of a shame, but at least I got something out of this.'
I gathered the firearms and heavy weapons used by the cultists.
Many had been damaged by explosions, but a handful remained in salvageable condition.
'The Sandstorm Caravan will fix them up and sell them for a good price.'
In contrast to Ark, where damaged firearms were little more than scrap metal, the Sandstorm Caravan paid handsomely for weapons, making it a lucrative side business.
'And that's not all.'
To an Ark citizen, the robes and equipment of Church of Morte followers were utterly repulsive.
However, to the Sandstorm Caravan, they were valuable trade goods.
With that in mind, I called out:
"Horus!"
The bird-like creature, which had been circling overhead, swooped down at my call.
I had initially summoned Horus as backup in case things went south, but since that wasn't necessary, its new role was…
A pack mule.
[Kiheheh.]
Horus nuzzled against me affectionately.
Ignoring it, I had both Janus and Horus gather the collected goods and load them onto Horus's back.
"Make sure to hold onto everything."
[Kiheeek…]
Horus's bone tendrils emerged from its back, securing the supplies tightly in place.
A strange creature, no doubt.
As I was double-checking the bodies for anything I might have missed—
'Hm?'
Something shimmered.
Given the circumstances, it was likely a metallic accessory.
Which meant…
A Church of Morte emblem.
'No way…'
It wasn't unheard of for priests to carry them.
But twice in a row?
That was too lucky.
Not that I was complaining.
'Not sure yet. I should check first.'
Even if it wasn't a Church of Morte emblem, precious metals were valuable.
No reason not to investigate.
'Let's see…'
I stepped closer to examine it.
And then—I saw it.
What I found was nothing like the Church of Morte emblems I had seen before.
Instead, it was a small, obsidian-like orb.
I had no idea what it was.
But one thing was certain.
'This isn't a Church of Morte emblem—'
At that moment.
[Hehehe…]
A sudden whispering laughter echoed in my mind.
["…Master? Master!"]
And then—
I lost consciousness.
* * *
"······Huh?"
As the fierce battle finally came to an end and Iris caught her breath, she lifted her head.
Hildegard, who had been wrapping a bandage around Iris's arm, asked,
"What's wrong?"
"I don't know... I just suddenly got a strange feeling."
"What kind of strange feeling?"
Hildegard couldn't just brush off Iris's reaction.
The intuition of an ether adept was rarely just a hunch.
And if her premonition was correct, ignoring it was not an option.
The team had already sustained injuries, both major and minor, from the battle. More than that, they had used up a significant amount of ammunition.
If another fight broke out now, casualties would be unavoidable.
"I'm not sure… but I have a really bad feeling…"
At those words, Iris's gaze swiftly turned, and naturally, Hildegard's followed.
"What the—?!"
Hildegard couldn't hide her shock.
From beyond the sky, an unnatural mass of dark clouds was rolling in—so dense and sudden that it defied all logic.
"…What's going on?"
Hearing the commotion, Kalakin and Dmitri, who had also been tending to their wounds, looked up.
"Hildegard, can you make sense of the situation?"
"…No. I can't see anything."
Kalakin furrowed his brows at that response.
If this had been an ordinary weather phenomenon, Hildegard would have identified it instantly.
But even with her Insight, she was completely unable to grasp what was happening.
No—more than that.
Even Kalakin himself could sense that the approaching dark clouds were anything but normal.
'What in the world is happening?'
Just then, Iris cautiously spoke.
"But that direction…"
"What about it? What's wrong with that direction?"
"…That's where Carl Marcus went."
"What?"
Not only Hildegard and Dmitri, but even Kalakin couldn't hide their shock.
"Carl Marcus went that way?"
"…Nothing is ever simple when he's involved."
"No kidding."
Kalakin was certain.
He had no idea what was happening over there.
But whatever this strange phenomenon was, Carl Marcus had something to do with it.
"…Should we go check it out?" Hildegard asked hesitantly.
"Are you insane? It obviously looks dangerous—why would we go?" Dmitri immediately retorted.
And he wasn't wrong.
They had no idea what was unfolding over there, and blindly rushing in would be a terrible decision.
"He's right."
Even Kalakin, for once, agreed with Dmitri.
At this moment, there was only one thing the investigation team could do—
Watch.
"…Just what in the world is happening?"
Iris's trembling gaze remained fixed on the approaching mass of dark clouds.
* * *
"…What?"
A sudden flash—then, as I opened my eyes, I found myself in an utterly unfamiliar place.
This must have happened right after I saw that…
'Esther.'
I called out to Esther to assess the situation, but only silence followed.
Tsk.
No response from Esther.
For a brief moment, I wondered if she had been erased, but our connection was still intact.
That fact alone made one thing abundantly clear.
This place wasn't reality.
A mental world.
One could call it a dream, but the scene before me was far too eerie to be dismissed as such.
'This isn't… my own inner world, is it? There's no way my subconscious is this chaotic.'
Though, if Esther were here, I wasn't sure whether she'd agree with that or not.
Countless stars stretched across the vast expanse above me.
So many that they filled the entire night sky—so many that counting them was impossible.
And I was standing in the middle of a desolate wasteland beneath them.
How should I describe this place?
The middle of space? A remote planet?
'No… that's not what matters right now.'
What mattered was why I was here in the first place.
If my assumption was correct, then this place was—
At that moment.
[Hehehe…]
A familiar yet utterly foreign laughter echoed.
And then, the countless stars that I had assumed to be celestial bodies…
Their centers slowly parted, one by one.
That's when I realized.
The stars weren't stars at all.
Slither—
They were eyes.
Not just one.
Countless, enormous eyes.
Like stars in the night sky, they all turned to gaze down at me.