As soon as I burrowed underground, the oppressive sensation unique to the earth engulfed me.
However, at the same time, the lightning that had been striking down toward me ceased.
Whether or not the earth becomes a conductor depends on the composition of the soil, but what's important is that this alone was enough to provide concealment.
In other words, if I hide beneath the ground, even that so-called Thunderbolt's Blessing can't touch me.
Of course, hiding underground against the Bishop of Earth might not have been the wisest choice, but I was confident in that regard.
'Let's give it a try.'
Although it was my first time operating Horus underground, Horus had already completed a nutrient exchange with Janus.
Which meant that whatever Janus could do, Horus could now manage to a certain extent as well.
At that moment—
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu-gu───!
The instant Horus and I dove into the ground, it was as if the earth had been waiting—rumbling immediately.
It signaled that the long-silent Bishop of Earth was finally taking action.
'Even better.'
If the Bishop of Earth had remained hidden like before, it would've been difficult to locate him. But now that he was exerting his power, tracking him wouldn't be hard.
I only needed to find the source of the tremors tearing through the ground.
'It would've been easier if Esther were here… but, well, can't be helped.'
Esther was still asleep.
It seemed unlikely she would awaken anytime soon, not until her strength had recovered.
The violent tremors still rippled through the earth, but for Janus and Horus—who could now freely swim through the soil—it didn't mean much.
It was like… lying atop a calm ocean, basking in the sunlight.
'Janus.'
[Kigit!]
'Horus.'
[Kihek!]
'Find him.'
With that, Janus and Horus moved in unison, extending their bony tendrils in all directions.
Thin as needles, their bone tendrils spread throughout the underground like a neural network.
Ssssss...!
Trembling, the now needle-sensitive tendrils of Janus and Horus searched for the source of the incoming tremors.
And it didn't take long before I located the origin.
Gul-lung, gul-lung, gul-lung....
A strange sense of dissonance pulsed from the distance.
That had to be where the Bishop of Earth was.
'There.'
No need to hesitate.
Gripping Horus's bony reins tightly, I headed straight toward the location of the disturbance without pause.
Ku-gu-gu──!
Meanwhile, above ground, the rampant destruction caused by Ouroboros hadn't ceased, and powerful tremors continued to resound.
Kwoong!
Ku-gu-gu-gu-goong───!
Earth kept pouring down from the underground tunnel I had carved, but I was long past the point of worrying about being buried.
How far had I gone?
Eventually, I arrived at the origin of the violent tremors.
Goooooo...
A menacing presence emanated just beyond a shallow wall of soil.
On the other side—was the Bishop of Earth.
Click─
I switched my Ark-34 into Automatic Mode.
Loaded with Armor-Piercing Rounds.
Using A-985 Explosive Rounds in a place like this could lead to an extremely unpleasant outcome.
Even so, using firearms underground wasn't exactly ideal, but I didn't hesitate.
As I said earlier, this wasn't the time to worry about trivial things.
TAAANG!───
The rifle roared.
I pulled the trigger repeatedly without pause.
Tadadadadang!
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
Flashes burst from the barrel of the Ark-34, shredding the soil wall before me into hundreds of honeycomb-like holes.
Naturally, the flimsy soil wall that had been shielding the Bishop of Earth collapsed pathetically.
And there he stood—his body shielded by walls of earth.
'Knew he couldn't completely block it.'
The proof lay in the muddy, blood-stained ground beneath him.
He hadn't reacted in time to the first shot and had bled.
"Un… believer!"
The Bishop of Earth glared at me with hatred, reaching out his hand.
Ku-gu-gu-gu!
The ground around me stirred, and hardened earthen spikes—seemingly made from mineral-rich soil—shot toward me.
But they were no match for Janus and Horus's bone armor.
Kang!
Kakang!
The spikes clattered and bounced uselessly off Horus's bone plating.
"What the…!"
The Bishop of Earth's blessing was indeed formidable, capable of altering terrain and causing large-scale phenomena. But in direct combat, it wasn't very helpful.
More accurately, the moment his strengths were countered by Janus and Horus, the battle's outcome had already been decided.
'Glad I devoured the Sand Devourer.'
If I hadn't, I wouldn't have gained the upper hand so easily against the one who reigned underground.
Still, the Bishop of Earth clearly had no intention of surrendering and quickly turned to flee.
"Going somewhere?"
Of course, that wasn't going to work on me. Janus's bone tendrils extended naturally and pierced the Bishop's leg.
He didn't scream.
He simply fell, unleashing more earthen spikes in my direction.
Ku-gu-gu-gu-gu!
"Told you—it's useless."
I didn't even need to act.
The bone armor I wore from Janus rendered the spikes completely ineffective.
At this point, the density and durability of Janus and Horus's armor was beyond being scratched by ordinary minerals.
Only something like a plasma sword could do any real damage now.
Naturally, no matter how many mineral spikes he summoned, they'd never pierce Janus's defense.
"Janus."
At my call, Janus dragged the impaled Bishop of Earth before me.
Upside down, he tried to summon another blessing toward me—but the moment Janus's tendrils thrashed violently within his body, he had no choice but to stop.
Fanatical as these Church of Morte Bishops were, that didn't mean they were immune to pain.
"Guh… You godless heretic, what madness are you attempting? Why have you committed such sins?"
"That's none of your concern."
"Oh… godless. So godless."
I hadn't gone through the trouble of capturing him for idle chatter.
"Where's the Cardinal?"
The Cardinal of the Church of Morte was wrapped in mystery.
I'd encountered him a few times, but he was so elusive that it was nearly impossible to guess his whereabouts.
"Kh, khahaha! You ask me that, heretic?"
"Didn't think you'd answer anyway."
Unfortunately, I had no means of forcing the Bishop to talk.
In fact, no one in Ark did.
There's a reason fanatics are called fanatics.
"Then, be gone."
I switched the Ark-34 to shotgun mode and aimed at his head.
Click─
As I prepared to pull the trigger—
The Bishop's eyes—filled until now with fanaticism—suddenly widened.
"…Wait, could it be… why would the Great Will choose a heretic…!"
"Now you're just saying whatever to survive."
"Oh, why… Fragment of the Great Will… why do you forsake us?"
"What does that mean?"
The Bishop didn't answer.
He merely stared blankly into space, eyes hollow.
"Oh… Great Will…"
"Lunatic."
Honestly, something about his words stuck with me—but I couldn't press further.
Grainy sand began to spill from his mouth and eyes.
'Suicide, huh.'
It wasn't the first time a Bishop of Earth had killed himself this way.
In fact, they often did when they judged the situation hopeless.
Even knowing this, I hadn't been able to stop it.
'How do you stop someone from turning their internal organs into dirt?'
At that moment—
[You have slain Church of Morte Bishop, 'Bishop of Earth—Geb'!]
[Acquired trait: 'Master of Earth.']
───────────────
[Master of Earth]
— When touching the ground or underground, all stats increase by 10%.
"View Details"
───────────────
[You have defeated a high-ranking member of the Church of Morte!]
[Honor stat has increased.]
[8 → 11]
[Ether Sensitivity has increased.]
[39 → 42]
[Since Ether Sensitivity exceeded 40, the level of your ether-related abilities has increased.]
A flood of long-missed notifications.
Seeing the new trait and increased stats made defeating a bishop of Church of Morte feel worth it.
'Let's take a look.'
I checked my status for the first time in a while.
───────────────
Name: Carl Marcus
Rank: ─
Position: ─
Strength: 20 (+18) (+20%)
Endurance: 21 (+18) (+20%)
Dexterity: 11 (+18) (+20%)
Luck: 14 (+18) (+20%)
Tenacity: 11 (+18) (+20%)
Leadership: 7 (+18) (+20%)
Ether Sensitivity: 42 (+18) (+20%)
Honor: 11
Traits: [Sturdy Constitution], [Insomnia], [Agile Reflexes], [Superhuman Willpower], [Hand Tremors], [Nearsightedness], [Sudden Deafness], [One-Hit Kill], [Firepower Specialist], [Heavy Rounds], [Possession], [Sniper's Time], [Beast Hunter], [Pacifism], [Blade Rounds], [Fear Rounds], [Path of the Hero], [Ruler of the Skies], [Relentless Tenacity], [Will of Stone], [Indomitable], [Poison Resistance], [Hunter's Nemesis], [Master of Earth]
Abilities: [Steel Body (Lv.5)], [Emission (Lv.3)], [Ignition (Lv.2)], [Ether Imbuement (Lv.2)], [Overdrive (Lv.1)]
*Enhancement Serum Applied
*Current Serum Type: Alpha, Sigma, Psi, Omega
───────────────
'Not bad at all.'
Still, I kept mulling over what the Bishop had said.
'The Great Will…'
Depending on how you heard it, it sounded eerily similar to the Great Spirit.
Perhaps they were one and the same.
Different names for the same being weren't uncommon in religion.
'I'll investigate that later… for now, I need to clean this place up.'
I turned to Janus.
Before leaving, there was one last thing to do.
"Janus, devour him."
There was no question who the target was.
[Kigit!]
Crunch, crunch──
The moment I gave the order; Janus wasted no time in devouring the Bishop of Earth.