CHAPTER 70

Disclaimer! This chapter contains extremely violent content! You can start reading from the end.

Standing in front of the Church of the Star—the place where he was once chased with bare swords to its doors—those doors were no longer closed to him. With the news of Percival's crushing defeat and the truth of Lamorak's warnings spreading, the people of the realm clenched their fists in defiance of the current rule, and the church doors opened for Lamorak.

Lamorak gripped his sword tighter than before, even though no blood had yet stained it, for they had brought forth a chained man before him—the recently appointed lord of the city, a man who had also taken control of the Church of the Star, whose corruption had become evident to all within his short reign.

Lamorak, the man who had lost his right hand after the fall of the capital and now wore tattered clothes, pointed the tip of his sword at the fat man sprawled on the ground, his face bloodied."Loth's dogs run wild here and in the land of Pellinore! Where are the other filthy kin and brothers of this pig?"

Upon his command, the cardinal—his old friend—who had been unable to shelter Lamorak in the church due to Loth's enforcers, finally took action. Seeing the uprising in the city and hearing of Percival's defeat, he incited the paladins to rebel, and the Loth enforcers, left without Percival's support, were easily subdued.

"They are all gathering in the main square, awaiting your judgment!"

With that, Lamorak approached Hamon Loth, the temporary lord of the city, with the intent of execution. He raised his blade, preparing to sever the man's head.

Perhaps, if we went back a month, his reasons would be more apparent to all. Lamorak had secretly entered his own city and witnessed a burned corpse hanging at the main gate, a sign around its neck bearing his name."I, Fossard, a disciple of the Devil, have been punished for my sins!"

And it wasn't just him. Hundreds more had been tortured the same way, turning the castle's outer wall into a place of horror.

"D-Don't kill me...!"

Lamorak swung his sword and severed both of the man's hands at the wrists, a surge of blood following.

"Was it not enough to squander the people's wealth for your luxury? To violate women before their husbands and families to satisfy your vile lust?! You burned righteous men and women after torturing them and then displayed their corpses with no respect! Do not beg for mercy, for I have spent this month contemplating a punishment that will truly befit you filthy, depraved bastards!"

With that, he cut off the man's foot at the ankle and turned to the cardinal.

"By nightfall, cut off all these pigs' hands at the wrists and pull out their teeth! Then throw them, naked, into the pigsties where they belong! Only after the pigs have satisfied their daily lust upon them shall they be given food!"

Hear this! A punishment so severe that even the families of the victims trembled at its cruelty. The mere thought of enduring such torment was a nightmare.

And yet, the people roared in praise of Lamorak, while Hamon and his chained followers screamed in despair."No! You can't do this!""You are the devil! You are the true evil!""Loth will come for your head!"

Lamorak ignored their curses and quickly made his way to the castle. Someone was there—someone whose fate filled him with unease.

In just ten minutes, he reached a room he had never used before—a chamber with a double bed meant for the lord's matrimonial union. Checking the empty quarters of his wife and sensing faint breaths from within this room, he pushed the doors open and trembled at what he saw.

The sight before him became infamous as the moment when Lamorak's humanity died—when his faith in his god was buried, and the holy light in his eyes was lost to darkness.

He rushed to his wife—a woman known for her doll-like beauty. Even without true love between them, she was still his wife, and he blamed himself for the fate that had befallen her. Her bruised body was bound to a filthy bed, evidence of her resistance against Hamon and his men's wicked intentions.

Lamorak knelt beside her, releasing her wrists, which were bruised from her struggles. He summoned his sacred aura and healing magic, but they did not work—his faith-based magic had abandoned him.

"You only watched! You only watched her pain, and now you have abandoned me as well?! Do you still call yourself a righteous god?! If there is a devil, it is you!"

He screamed toward the heavens, cradling his unconscious wife. Carrying her to the castle's balcony high above, he roared:"Heal her! Why does your light not work?! Why have you forsaken me?! I devoted my entire life to you!"

His cries, drowned in the chaos of the city, went unheard by the people. But one being did hear him—a high entity whose noble soul trembled and wept upon hearing his plea.

Lamorak's shattered faith, his belief that he had been abandoned, was not the truth. In reality, it was his own faith that had wavered, yet he placed the blame upon that divine entity.

And in that final moment, his desperate prayer broke through the barrier of the World-Destroying God, a force that had sealed this world from the eyes of other deities. It reached the ears of the God of the Stars.

In the very next second, the world trembled, and the sorrowful cry of a woman echoed across the entire realm. The God of the Stars had finally broken free, seeing the world for what it truly was and reading the memories of her devout follower in his last moment of faith.

The tremor ceased after just a minute, but the consequences of that moment were far-reaching. Beyond the sudden terror that gripped the hearts of all people worldwide, a violet portal opened in the upper atmosphere of the planet, and a message was sent to all demon kings of this world.

{Warning! Warning! The Star God, Hawa, has detected your presence! The World-Destroying God has sealed the world, but can only delay the arrival of the Star's followers for one year! Only demigods will be safe! Fight for the dominion of destruction!}