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The book-like object that had suddenly appeared in Merem's hand was small, only palm-sized, but its writhing, dark-red outer skin and strange, fleshy texture continuously exuded a nauseatingly sour odor.
"El-Nahat?!" Altrouge frowned, hastily lifting her fair, slender arms, covering her delicate nose with one hand while continuously fanning the air with the other, looking disgusted at the book in Merem's hand.
The moment the book appeared, a dark green gas continuously diffused from its surface, the sour smell quickly permeating the surroundings—it was the smell of stomach acid.
"Correct! It's the Scripture of the Stomach World!" Merem's face showed a dark smile. He rubbed the surface of the Scripture of the Stomach World with both hands, speaking teasingly.
The Twenty-fourth of the Twenty-seven Dead Apostle Ancestors—El-Nahat, alias 'Scripture of the Stomach World.'
The reason for this alias was that this Ancestor of Dead Apostles possessed a special ability to almost certainly and completely obliterate an enemy in a one-on-one situation.
However, this Ancestor of Dead Apostles had been hunted down by the Burial Agency centuries ago. Due to his special ability, the Burial Agency used him as research material, eventually extracting his stomach while he was alive and using it to create the single-target annihilation scripture, the 'Scripture of the Stomach World.'
Because of his tragic encounter and his special ability, this Twenty-fourth Ancestor was exceptionally famous in the Magus world—unfortunately, not for a good reputation.
Originally, this scripture should have been managed by Narbareck, the Director of the Burial Agency, and El-Nahat, the second-in-command.
Depending on the situation, they would bring it to the battlefield. Merem had only obtained permission to use it from Narbareck after paying a great price.
Thanks to this, Merem, the great tycoon of the Burial Agency, was now so poor that only the clothes on his back remained. Judging by his empty ten fingers, even the standard ten gold rings no longer belonged to him.
"When was it planted?" Sensing the invisible connection between the Scripture of the Stomach World and herself, how could Altrouge not understand that she had already been locked onto by the scripture?
Crack! Crack!
The sound of an object breaking suddenly echoed.
The Lady Windup demon, its body covered in blood rust from suffering blood attacks, began to disintegrate from its feet upwards.
"Oh? Conceptualizing the scripture and hiding it within the Lady Windup demon's body as cover, waiting for an opportunity to establish a connection with me?" Altrouge raised an eyebrow, her crimson eyes filled with indifference.
Her attacks were not enough to completely destroy the Lady Windup demon. And in the previous battle, the only one who had engaged her in close combat was the Lady Windup demon. Therefore, she immediately guessed Merem's intention.
"Hehe!" Merem smiled, then immediately lifted his left hand and forcefully slapped the Scripture of the Stomach World.
Thump—!
Struck by immense force, the Scripture of the Stomach World immediately writhed like a living creature. A deep green, ink-like gas suddenly emanated from it. Strange blood-colored patterns appeared on the scripture's surface, forming the image of a basement.
That was El-Nahat's figure.
When the Scripture of the Stomach World was activated, he, as the main body, would perish together with the enemy through a strange connection.
However, since his stomach had long been removed by secret arts, with the immortality of a Dead Apostle, he could revive again after several decades.
It was precisely because of the decades-long cooldown period that the Scripture of the Stomach World was basically kept as a last-resort deterrent.
If Altrouge hadn't seemingly recovered her peak strength, the Burial Agency probably wouldn't have allowed this scripture to be activated, let alone allow Merem to use it.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
Like a working stomach, the Scripture of the Stomach World continuously expanded and contracted. The image of El-Nahat on the scripture's surface also began to gradually disappear from the feet upwards.
Altrouge's face changed slightly.
As if her blood were being sucked, her originally rosy little face gradually paled. However, more severe than blood-sucking was that her life force was now being forcibly nullified.
Looking at that incredibly pale, delicate face and that aura as fragile~ as an infant's, Merem raised an eyebrow, showing an extremely disgusted expression.
"Cunning woman! You, having recovered your strength, will at most only be weakened significantly by the Scripture of the Stomach World, right? Why bother feigning such a state? Truly disgusting acting."
Her pale face instantly recovered its rosy hue, even appearing more vibrant than before.
Altrouge narrowed her red eyes, speaking teasingly, "Such an unromantic man. Shouldn't you be stepping forward to offer your services at a time like this?"
"And then be torn to shreds by you?" Merem stated mockingly.
"Uninteresting fellow. No wonder my sister doesn't even pay attention to you—" Altrouge said sarcastically, yet her gaze was filled with vigilance.
If her body hadn't stored a large amount of Haru's blood, directly using that vast life force to counteract the Scripture of the Stomach World's curse, she would have been weakened by at least forty percent by now.
If one added the two layers of power suppressed by Trhvmn using a nation's ley lines since the battle began, she truly might have been killed by Merem and Gransurg.
'Well then, the trump card is probably Gransurg's Bounded Field, right? I can make some preparations.' Altrouge narrowed her eyes slightly, the idea of turning the tables appearing in her mind.
"None of your business, old hag!" Hearing the words 'doesn't even pay attention,' Merem immediately jumped up.
The fact that he had spoken no more than 50 sentences with Arcueid in eight hundred years, and all 50 of those sentences occurred during his previous attempts to dissuade her, was an eternal pain in his heart.
"Ha!!!" Merem shouted loudly.
The King of Sky, floating in the sky, swooped down, crashing towards Fou, who was currently engaged with Gransurg...
A mushroom cloud of mixed gray and black immediately rose from the ground. A street hundreds of meters long instantly collapsed.
The shockwave spread out in the next instant.
Altrouge lightly tapped the ground with her toes, leaped several times, distancing herself from the explosion's center. Subsequently, she condensed a crimson magic cannon in her palm and abruptly blasted it backward!
"Indeed, the power has weakened considerably." Pitch-black feathers stained with crimson blood slowly drifted to the ground. Gransurg clutched his blasted abdomen, looking teasingly at Altrouge. "Well then, checkmate!"
"Bounded Field—Nevermore!!!"
A pitch-black curtain enveloped the entire sky, instantly shrouding Altrouge within. The space within a radius of several hundred meters was temporarily stripped from the world, forming a black sphere of air controlled by Gransurg.
"Be careful. My birds only show disrespect to the dead!" Gransurg stated indifferently.
Her crimson eyes instantly turned into golden pupils. At the same time, a blood-colored moon radiating crimson light appeared in the sky of the Bounded Field.
The corners of her mouth lifted slightly.
Crimson light instantly condensed in Altrouge's palm. Due to the immense energy convergence, space began to slowly shatter. "Checkmate!"
"You weren't injured at all!!!" Watching Altrouge's aura abruptly surge several times, Gransurg's face changed drastically.
Crimson light flashed past.
The Bounded Field abruptly shattered! A scene like a nuclear explosion was instantly suppressed by the Counter Force the moment it erupted.
Gransurg, missing his left arm and right wing, and the unharmed Altrouge abruptly reappeared in reality.
"Oh? Self-destruction? Quite a grand gesture, Gransurg," Altrouge lifted her small head, looking contemptuously at Gransurg, who was half-kneeling on the ground. Simultaneously, a cannon blast carrying an aura of destruction blasted towards Gransurg.
"Transfer!!" X2
Merem and Gransurg, seeing Gransurg's miserable state, immediately roared.
Crimson sigil patterns abruptly appeared. The figures of the two immediately vanished without a trace.
"Not pursuing? Your Highness." Fou, its fur somewhat blackened, flashed to Altrouge's side, speaking indifferently.
"No need. If we were to force a kill, no one would benefit from a desperate last blow." A flicker of temptation crossed Altrouge's crimson eyes. The next instant, she helplessly gave up this option. "Compared to these, finding Strout and Blood is more important. Their auras are already on the verge of death."
——
Haru chewed on a blade of grass, strolling leisurely through the gardens of Château de Villandry. Crimson sigil patterns slowly emerged not far in front of him.
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