Chapter 79

Temple of Luck 14 - Chapter 5

However, someone in the shadows was watching him clearly.

It was Noe.

Squish, squish. Squish, squish.

The small, plump buttocks that rose up swayed from side to side. The short front paws were completely pressed against the ground.

It was the posture of the greatest hunter of the Underworld, the First Beast,

'a scientifically, beautifully, and perfectly designed hunting stance! Meow!'

"..."

The crow couldn't detect Noe's presence hidden in the darkness.

He was an excellent expert, but he wasn't at the level to detect the hiding ability of the great First Beast of the Underworld.

Swish.

The crow ascended to the landing of the third floor.

The third floor was where Isabelle's room was.

'Soon.'

The crow imagined.

The sight of Grid perishing by his dagger.

At that moment,

"Meow!"

Noe, who had been stealthily following the crow, made a sudden jump. The sharp fangs that pierced through the darkness were small but sharp.

"......!"

The crow was astonished.

He never thought he would be ambushed by a mere cat?

'Did I not notice that I was being followed by a cat?'

The greatest humiliation and bewilderment he had ever felt in his life washed over him.

But it was only for a moment.

He quickly regained his composure.

The crow was a pro among pros.

He had experienced countless crises and survived while assassinating 89 humans.

There was a truth he had realized through this process.

Remain calm in any situation.

The crow's experience was too profound to be flustered by a mere cat's ambush.

Bang!

The crow deflected the front paw of the cat, which flew with its belly jiggling, with his dagger.

The crow, who was about to counterattack, hesitated.

Throb, throb.

His wrist was numb and couldn't move properly just from engaging in a single exchange.

'What kind of cat has this much strength?'

This guy isn't an ordinary cat.

The crow noticed Noe's peculiarities.

The small horn protruding from the forehead and the short wings on the back.

Clearly, it was a demon.

'How did a demon get here?'

This place is the Vatican.

The Vatican is filled with holy power. Most monsters and demons couldn't even approach the Vatican. If they set foot in the Vatican, they would die from the holy power.

That was the problem.

Currently, Noe couldn't fully utilize her abilities.

'Oh no, meow.'

Her master had given her an order.

To be on guard against any possible enemy ambush while she was focused. If an enemy invaded, she was to immediately run to her master and report.

But the problem was...

'I attacked without realizing it, meow.'

Noe considered herself a rational being, but reality was different.

The young Noe was still driven by instinct.

When a dark figure appeared and moved quietly in the darkness, Noe instinctively focused on it and pounced.

It was an unintentional act, and the result was the current situation.

It was a defeat.

Her body wasn't responding well.

Rebecca's holy power was acting very strongly.

But could the body of the First Beast of the Underworld not even kill a mere human?

"Meow!"

Noe swung her front paw again.

Snap!

Her sharp claws tore the crow's earlobe.

The crow's spine shivered as he narrowly avoided a fatal wound.

'So fast...! A top-tier demon!'

A demon in the form of a cat.

Despite its strange and shabby appearance, this thing was undoubtedly a monstrous creature.

It seemed to have the strength of a mid-level demon.

Otherwise, it couldn't have shown such movement in the Vatican, which was filled with holy power.

'I'm going to take this seriously.'

Why the demon was here didn't matter.

It was just one more target to kill.

Click.

The crow, who had been fighting with only a single dagger, drew a katana.

Katana in his right hand, dagger in his left.

Just by holding an additional weapon, his aura changed completely.

This was the crow's true form.

"Meow!"

'Brute force won't work.'

The crow, who didn't defend against Noe's continuous scratches but dodged them, drew a diagonal line with his katana. He then thrust with his dagger.

A shallow wound appeared on Noe's chest. The katana had only grazed it, and the dagger had been dodged.

The crow's face contorted.

'He dodged that?'

Noe, with her eyes narrowed, bared her fangs.

"Meow!"

Snap! Snap snap!

"Grunt."

Noe's scratches became even faster and stronger.

The crow, who found it difficult to dodge, focused on defense with his katana and dagger. In the process, he realized Noe's true strength.

'Higher than a mid-level demon!'

Is this even possible?

Aren't demons supposed to be a lower concept than devils?

The astonished crow brought out his secret technique that he had been saving.

Squish, squish.

All the shadows on the walls, floor, and ceiling began to move at once.

The shadow technique was activated.

Noe's eyes widened in shock, and the crow smiled with satisfaction.

"Go to hell."

The crow, who was confident of victory, spoke for the first time.

At the same time, the shadows around him moved like thorns, changing their shape.

Paf paf paf paf paf!

Six thorns flew from different trajectories and pierced Noe's body.

Judging it dangerous, Noe used liquefaction.

<Liquefaction>

A skill that prevents physical force from affecting the user's body.

But due to the influence of holy power, Noe couldn't fully utilize her abilities. She couldn't even use soul absorption.

Coincidentally, liquefaction didn't activate, and Noe was injured.

Pierce!

"Ouch!"

One of the six thorns pierced Noe's small body.

Noe, who let out a heart-wrenching scream, fell to the ground.

'Unfair, meow.'

The biggest problem was that she couldn't use the soul absorption skill.

Noe hated this place, the Vatican.

The crow stomped hard on Noe's protruding belly with his foot.

A hissing sound came from Noe's S-shaped mouth.

The crow mocked her appearance.

"The end of a demon is so disgraceful."

Click.

The crow aimed his katana at Noe's face.

"Die."

"Stop there."

"......!"

A voice suddenly sounded.

The startled crow quickly turned his head, but he saw no one. The only things that had settled around him were darkness and silence.

'Am I hearing things?'

It was so quiet that he couldn't help but doubt. There was no presence at all. It was a hiding ability that surpassed human limits.

"Huh?"

The crow's eyes widened in shock and tension.

The shadows were slipping out of his control.

Whoosh!

The shadows rose like waves.

The crow tried to dodge, but it was impossible. The speed of the shadows flying like a net was too fast.

Crack!

The crow's body was squeezed by the shadows.

"Ugh!"

The crow, who was lifted into the air by the shadows, turned pale.

'The speed at which the shadows are controlled is absurd...!'

Could the shadow technique evolve to this extent?

It was hard to believe.

While he was in confusion, the shadows were squeezing his body even tighter. The crow struggled, but the pain only worsened.

Who could subdue me so easily?

As the crow's doubts deepened, a man appeared from the darkness.

"Y-You...!"

A man with black skin. He was very thin, and his arms were abnormally long.

Considering his characteristics and skills, there was only one person who came to mind.

The crow let out a scream.

"Kashim!"

A being who had surpassed the simple application of shadow techniques for attack and defense.

He was said to create soldiers from shadows and control them like limbs.

The assassin who led an army,

His nickname was...

"The King of Shadows!"

Why is this monster here?

The confusion on the crow's face deepened. But what came to him was not an answer, but death.

As the shadows squeezed him even tighter, he turned into mush without even being able to scream.

Kashim completely disposed of the crow's corpse. The shadows swept away even the bloodstains.

"That guy, the more I see him, the cuter he gets."

After confirming Noe, who was lying with her mouth open, Kashim disappeared back into the shadows.

***

Chirp chirp! Chirp!

The birds were chirping.

Warm sunlight enveloped the body.

"Hmm, meow."

Noe, who had been sound asleep, slowly opened her eyes. She looked around and then recoiled in disgust.

"Hey! What's going on! Meow!"

It was still before dawn.

I was fighting a primitive human. Then I was hit by a strange and despicable technique and fainted...

As her thoughts reached this point, Noe was flabbergasted.

The body of the First Beast of the Underworld being defeated by a mere human?

"This is a disgrace! Meow!"

No matter how this place is the Vatican, it's an unacceptable result.

Why should the great body that can suppress mere humans with just its front paws suffer such humiliation!

Noe, trembling with anger, suddenly had a question.

"Why am I still alive? Meow?"

Why did that human not kill her after subduing her?

After some thought, Noe easily came to a conclusion.

"It was a dream! Meow!"

That's right.

What happened last night wasn't real.

"Meow hahaha! That's it! The body of the First Beast of the Underworld couldn't have been defeated by a human! Meow hahaha!!"

Noe was convinced.

She had to think that way.

Otherwise, she couldn't explain why she was still alive.

Her wounds from the previous day had completely healed due to her incredible recovery ability, so Noe's delusion became a fact.

Ding~

Noe's state changed from despair to self-indulgence.

But Grid didn't care about Noe. He was too busy struggling with Raphael's spear to even look at the pet window.

***

'It's a failure.'

Grid was feeling anxious.

He had been observing Raphael's spear for two days, but he couldn't even figure out the manufacturing method, let alone the sealing method.

'Did I think it was too easy?'

Was he overconfident because of his recent success?

'The part where the spearhead and the shaft meet doesn't make sense no matter how many times I look at it.'

The joint is too clean. I can't even guess what technique was used.

'It's impossible to do this with forging alone. And it's not a one-piece... '

If I could use <Disassemble> and <Assemble>, I could uncover the secret of the joint. But I can't do that because of Isabelle.

Grid continued to observe the spear, logically analyzing its structure.

The next day, an unwelcome guest visited him.

It was Pascal.

"I want to give you a gift."

The box Pascal handed over contained a huge sum of 1 million gold.

It was about twice the 530,000 gold given by Damian. The cash value was 1.2 billion.

[Do you want to accept Pascal's gift?]

[If you accept the gift, you must fulfill one of Pascal's wishes.]

"Are you kidding me? Trying to bribe me with just this amount of money? Get lost."

The current Grid isn't so simple as to be swayed by immediate gain. He always looked ahead.

He didn't let the empire swallow the Rebecca religion just because of 1 million gold.

Two more days passed.

Grid, who had chased away Pascal, who had come again today, changed his perspective while observing Raphael's spear.

'Is the secret of the joint not in the technique but in the material?'

The main material of Raphael's spear is adamantium.

Adamantium is a silver-colored mineral, but the joint is blue.

'It's not made of a different mineral besides adamantium. It seems something else has been mixed with the adamantium...'

What could that something be?

'Could it be... '

An idea flashed through Grid's mind.