Episode 1041
Chapter 249: The First Strike of the Underworld Clan (8)
“Yes, Twin Warriors.”
Fzzzt—!
The moment the order was given, the Twin Kings vanished in afterimages, darting off in all directions. The cultists who first spotted the Underworld Clan were instantly engulfed by blue lightning, leaving not even a shred of their white priestly robes behind—they were reduced to ashes.
The Underworld Clan had crossed through a dimensional gate and arrived in the pocket dimension housing the Sun God Cult’s first Sun Temple.
In other words, they had struck at the very heart of the Sun God Cult’s headquarters.
The Sun God Cult had to use “fragments” to harness Nirgan, and to supply the realm of the Black Sea’s Five Kings where Nirgan resided, the power of the largest temple was essential. The dimensional gate that opened at this temple—the very place where the Sun God Cult first encountered Nirgan—had never once closed.
That was why the Underworld Clan launched a direct assault on the cult’s headquarters all at once.
“Aaaah!”
“Ugh…!”
The Twin Kings showed no trace of the frivolous laughter or foolish banter they’d displayed moments before, as if they were some kind of jesters. Their attacks on the nearby cultists were merciless, utterly devoid of compassion. Their fierce murderous intent was clear: to kill every living thing within the temple.
Taking down the Sun God Cult was not only a mission for Jin but also a matter of the Underworld Clan’s honor. After all, this was the very group their ancient Twin Warrior, Luke, had once joined.
Every time Baba and Baltrok’s greatswords flashed or Kaio’s massive bow twanged, a cultist’s body would collapse to the ground.
Screams were met with lightning strikes, and fleeing footsteps never lasted more than three steps.
Blood evaporated in the heat before it could even touch the ground, and hastily drawn firearms and artifacts crumbled like dry twigs.
Among the cultists were many who had some degree of martial skill, but before the Underworld Clan, they were nothing more than ants.
It was, quite literally, a massacre.
Within ten seconds of the Underworld Clan passing through the dimensional gate, over a hundred cultists had lost their lives.
That accounted for nearly 30% of the cultists in the First Temple. Since only the most devout members of the Sun God Cult could enter this temple, the number of residents was never very large to begin with.
“A temple far too pitiful to satisfy one who once ruled Laprarosa, Luke. And to think it’s hidden away in a pocket dimension like some filthy rat’s nest… I’m almost ashamed.”
Thud, thud…!
With every step Ban took, cracks spiderwebbed across the temple floor, sending tremors throughout the entire structure.
She did not hurry. From the moment she passed through the dimensional gate, she was certain that no matter how many troops the temple could muster, they could not stop them.
After all, this was a pocket dimension. The only way to escape was through the dimensional gate, which was impossible to use now.
The entire temple lay within Ban’s range. She already knew the exact number of people inside, their breathing rhythms, and even the flow of various energies—including the solar energy—being manipulated.
If she detected any suspicious energy indicating an attempt to open the dimensional gate, she would simply strike it down with thunder.
Distant screams echoed. They were the cries of cultists being finished off by the scattered brothers trying to find and close the passage.
“Kellic! You and Tigron hold the west sector! I’ll head to the east gate…!”
“South side, we need support!”
“Where is the High Priestess…?”
The three Twin Kings were ruthlessly crushing the cultists flooding into their respective zones.
Occasionally, an exceptionally skilled cultist would put up a fight against the Twin Kings—surviving a dozen or so strikes instead of dying instantly. Those who endured were legendary figures, their names etched in the history of Inse’s martial world.
Ban entered the temple’s central hall and began walking down the main avenue stretching northward. The cultists called this path the “Sacred Way,” and at its end stood the statue of the Sun God.
“Ah, no…! The Sacred Way… How dare they defile the holy path to the Sun God—ugh!”
A cultist’s cry was cut short as Ban’s lightning energy suffocated him to death. The Sacred Way, shining brilliantly like midday sunlight, was being corroded by her energy, crumbling as if it were nothing more than a pile of worthless stones.
Because it was a sacred path, the largest number of cultists had gathered here to stop Ban—the most devout and courageous among them.
Yet, like those who had gone to confront the Twin Kings, they dared not draw their weapons or shout recklessly.
Fear.
The first emotion the cultists felt upon seeing Ban was pure terror, as was always the case for the vast majority of her enemies.
After the fear passed, a strange desire to worship her surged within them.
They were caught in an illusion. They wondered if the one mercilessly trampling the Sacred Way was perhaps the Sun God himself, come to chastise them.
If not, how else could anyone possess such power? The cultists fell into this delusion.
Most died before the illusion faded—choked by lightning energy or burned alive, like those who had fallen before.
Black smoke billowed from all corners of the temple. No one in the Sun God Cult had ever imagined the First Temple could be destroyed so utterly and so quickly.
The buildings that had shone pure white just moments ago were nowhere to be seen; only ashes and corpses remained.
The gleaming Sacred Way was now only a few dozen steps away. No more screams echoed. Only five cultists remained alive and moving within the temple.
One was Luke; the other four were priests who knew nothing of combat. Luke stood beyond the closed door of the sanctuary, while the priests knelt in prayer before it.
“Ki… Kinzello will punish you.”
“The Lord will protect us… Our great Lord will…”
Ban did not take the lives of the trembling priests. They held information she needed. This was not the only temple. If possible, she intended to extract all the information from them today and destroy every Sun God Cult temple, annihilating the entire order.
“Brother Kaio.”
Kaio approached Ban and bowed his head.
“We’ll spare them. Soon, we’ll face the traitor. Take them back and retreat.”
“Yes.”
Kaio gathered the priests and withdrew to the rear. Baba and Baltrok naturally followed him.
Ban had no intention of asking for help from her brothers when dealing with Luke—not because they wouldn’t be useful, but because she wanted Luke to meet a more miserable end.
The sanctuary towered high, piercing the sky of the pocket dimension. Ban grasped the firmly shut great door. With two light swipes of her hand, as if brushing aside bushes, the massive iron gates tore apart to either side and crashed to the floor.
Boom, kuung—!
The vast interior of the sanctuary was the only area untouched by Ban and the Twin Kings’ lightning energy. Until now, Luke’s energy had been blocking all the lightning directed at him.
Ban alternated her gaze between Luke, who knelt in prayer, and the enormous statue before him.
Unlike the statue in the Second Temple, the First Temple’s statue depicted a baby with an aged face, cradling the Sun God’s body, which glowed softly like a golden orb.
“Luke, you have already possessed everything a living person could enjoy. Once, as the King of Light, you roamed the world at will, and all things bowed before you. So what more do you want to forsake that glory?”
Immortality, or to reunite with someone lost.
In Luke’s era, these were the only two things the Underworld Clan’s Twin Warriors could not achieve. But Luke gave an answer Ban had never expected.
“More power.”
“…Power? That’s surprising. In your time, you were the absolute being with the greatest power.”
“No matter how much I conquered, the land was endless. The fight continued day and night, eternal and unceasing. Infinite struggle and victory—that is the right and destiny the Underworld Clan should claim.”
Luke rose from his knees.
Though his face was expressionless, an unfathomable madness writhed within his dry eyes.
“I chose to serve the Sun God to create such a world, Ban. One where petty gods and special mortals cannot stand in our way, and where even after eons pass, nothing will change… a world where the true Underworld Clan can exist.”
Ban was momentarily speechless, staring at Luke. The light from the Sun God’s body gathered toward him.
“So, in other words, you fell into delusion, forcing a world where only the Underworld Clan eternally triumphs and shines… is that a fair understanding?”
Luke shrugged.
“How disappointing. I thought you, who command more brothers and lands than I, and who even dared to challenge the gods themselves in endless struggle, might understand me better.”
“I’m the one who’s disappointed, Luke. I wonder what kind of face our ancestors had, recognizing scum like you as a Twin Warrior…”
“I have not forgotten our essence; you have simply forgotten, Ban. We were born to do whatever it takes to grow stronger. Killing countless brothers, surviving with the help of one of the gods we hated, mingling with that god’s plaything—a special mortal—our Underworld blood inevitably grew diluted.”
The Sun God’s body began to seep into Luke faster.
Unlike Nirganth, that power didn’t strengthen Luke. Luke was simply steeling himself to bear the burden of the god he had chosen and fight with resolve.
“In that sense, Ban, you don’t deserve to be called a Warlord. Being a Warlord isn’t just about being the strongest among us. It’s a title given to the one who can lead us most true to ourselves.”
After a long silence, Ban shook his head with a bitter smile.
“You’ve listened to enough whining. Come, it’s time for your name to be recorded as the most disgraceful Lord of the Underworld in history.”