Chapter 31
Title: Then That
-Basils POV-
I followed Varek's party into the church, and in front of all the wooden pews in the middle row, bowed beneath a statue of what seemed to be Raphelos, the King of Hell, was the floor general—mumbling to himself as he rocked back and forth, praying to a statue. Above him, his name read:
'GENERAL ZA PRIES OF THE 60TH (A+)'
I sat in one of the far-back pews as Varek and his party got closer and closer to Za Pries. Right when they were close enough to hear him clearly, Za Pries started laughing hysterically. He rose to his feet and pulled out a book. Without moving his hands or saying anything, the book floated above his palm, and the pages began to flip. I sat up in my seat, ready to move at any moment.
This can't be good. I didn't think there were any demons below the 70th floor that could use mana…
Guess things really have changed since I was last out here.
The demon turned to face the party. He was dressed in red and black priest robes, torn all over. His face was half peeled off the bone, and his hair was mostly gone. One of his hands was bare bone, while the other was covered by a tattered glove.
"It seems we have guests!" he said, wearing a welcoming smile—for an undead. "Have you come to worship the Immortal King of Hell with me?"
"No," Varek responded bluntly, raising his sword.
"Hmm?"
Za Pries snapped his fingers. "AHH! So you came here to commit yourselves as followers of the Great King of HELL! RAPHELOS!" he said, raising both hands to the sky, his voice glowing with deluded warmth.
"No." Varek said bluntly again.
Za Pries lowered his hands, and his expression turned dark. In a raspy, demonic voice, he growled, "So you came here to die then? Is that it?"
Varek smiled and chuckled softly. "Nope."
Before Za Pries could react, Lisa cast a barrier in front of the group—and a fiery meteor crashed through the ceiling of the church, slamming into Za Pries.
From Varek's POV, all he could probably see was the smoke crashing against the barrier, flowing around them like a cloud against a mountain. But from my POV?
Za didn't even get hit.
He had a barrier around him that completely nullified James's attack.
Must be an anti-magic barrier. So it looks like magic won't work.
I smiled.
Varek had already figured that out.
Before the smoke could fully clear, he jumped through the barrier and attacked Za.
Za chanted quickly, forming a red sphere in his hand. He launched it instantly—
—hitting Varek square in the chest and sending him flying into the pews, breaking several and pushing others aside.
"I AM the PRIEST of this holy church that worships the GREAT ONE! And you—you—you insects have RUINED IT! LOOK!" he screamed, pointing to the gaping hole in the roof. "There's a fucking HOLE in my roof!" He yanked a few strands of hair from his scalp and began chewing on them. "What do you think the GREAT ONE will say if he ever visits again now?!"
"Just tell the bastard I remodeled it for him—and that I'm on my way to his puny castle to do the same," Varek replied, standing up and wiping the blood from his mouth.
Za tore a chunk of flesh off the side of his face and hurled it to the ground.
"Don't you dareee- think I'll let you get away with talking about him like that," he growled, voice sliding off his tongue like a serpent.
He formed three red spheres in his hand this time and hurled them at Varek, and the others.
"SHIELD!" yelled Lisa.
A blue translucent wall, as tall as Juno, formed in front of Varek. It blocked the first orb, cracked under the second, and let the third through. Varek was ready, though—he blocked with his sword, skidding back a few feet.
Without waiting, Juno and Bill charged forward and attacked from both flanks, leaving Za's front completely exposed. James launched another fireball, drawing Za's attention. Though the fireball was blocked by his anti-magic barrier, the distraction gave Juno and Bill the opening they needed.
Bill struck first with his short sword, aiming a downward slash—but Za dodged it perfectly.
Juno smiled. Za had dodged straight into his attack, back turned. He raised both axes for a vertical slash.
Za bent over backward with unnatural flexibility, grinning wildly.
"Too slow!" he sang.
From his floating book, a black spike shot out, impaling Juno's chest and sending him flying into the church wall.
"Juno!" Lisa screamed while healing Varek's cracked rib.
"HHAHAHAHAHA!" Za cackled.
It wasn't looking good.
Juno's HP had dropped to 45%. Varek's was barely above 80%. If he hadn't blocked that last attack, I'd have already failed them as soon as Juno went down.
"Liz, hurry and heal me—then help Juno!" Varek shouted.
He turned to the others. "If one more of us gets hit like that, we fail—got it? And I won't let that happen! James, keep him occupied with fireballs. Bill, attack in between with hit-and-run!"
No response was needed. They moved without hesitation, launching into their coordinated barrage.
Lisa had Varek back up to 95% before he rushed to rejoin the fight. She immediately ran to Juno's side and began healing him too.
An S-rank healer is just too overpowered.
Thank the goddesses she chose my legion.
Varek joined Bill in the onslaught—but it wasn't working. Za either dodged every physical strike with unnatural movement or ignored magic completely, relying on that damn barrier.
"Tch! We're getting nowhere!" Varek gritted. "James, start prepping to use THAT! Bill, you and I will keep him busy while he casts it!"
He stepped back. "Call to arms!" he shouted.
Yellow light swirled around their feet, while their blades glowed a faint red.
They began moving faster and hitting harder.
Must be Varek's Call to Arms skill—boosting physical strength, speed, and—
"Oh Goddess of Life, grant me the power to reduce my enemies to ash. FALLING STAR!" James bellowed.
—magic power.
James held a miniature sun in his hand, illuminating the church like a second dawn. It shrank to the size of a pebble—
—and fired.
Varek and Bill shielded their eyes.
The attack made contact, shattered Za's barrier, and exploded—launching him into the statue behind him.
"NOW!" Varek yelled.
He and Bill charged forward, driving their blades into Za's chest simultaneously.
"ARGHHH!" Za screamed, reaching toward the statue above him.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
Two massive war axes flew between Varek and Bill, smashing Za's head into pulp.
Lisa's honestly amazing. Took a guy who was below 50% and brought him back over 80% in minutes—and didn't even break a sweat.
"Good work, guys. Leave his mana crystal. Take the others and let's move," Varek said, yanking his sword free from Za's corpse.
The group rushed over to James, giving him high-fives and praise.
He'd tried using that spell once during Gate 50 but was interrupted mid-cast, which tanked their score that day. That's why I only gave them a 7.
"Good job, James. I'm not sure we could've pulled that one off without you," Lisa said, joining the rest.
"No, I wouldn't have broken the shield without Varek's buff—and the distraction from him and Bill. So you should thank them, not me," James replied.
Idiots.
They didn't even check to see if he was all the way dead—
Za started laughing again, his shattered face slowly piecing back together. "Oh Great One! Watch and see what your creation is capable of!"
His body began glowing red.
Lisa was the first to react. She was just outside the group's radius.
"BARRIER! SHIELD!" she yelled, layering a magic and physical defense just in time.
Before anyone else could even turn—
BOOM!
Shit! Lisa isn't protected.
"Phantom Step! Body Reinforcement!" I yelled, leaping in front of her to shield her with my body.
Za had self-destructed.
The explosion leveled the entire church, leaving a crater where he'd once stood.
Varek and his party were blasted forward. The blast pierced through Lisa's barrier and ignored the shield.
"Ouch. That hurt."
I looked down. "Lisa, are you alright?"
Ding!
## Skill Rank Up! ##
Body Reinforcement (D) → (C)
Ratio changed from 1/100 MP per second to 1/50 VIT and STR boosts remain unchanged
Damn. That hit hard.
Even with 800 HP from reinforcement, I dropped to 100 HP—real HP. For an A-rank floor general? Not bad. And I got a skill rank-up out of it.
A win's a win, I guess.
"Yes, I'm fine—but Commander, your back is ripped open!" she said, panicked.
"Ah, it's just a scratch. Nothing you can't heal, right?"
"Y-Yeah… I guess," she muttered, sheepishly. "Thanks for that. I really thought I was a goner."
Yeah, you would've been. But there's no way in hell I'm losing my S-rank healer that easy.
Besides… what would Bella think if I let her bloodline end here?
I rubbed her head. "Don't worry. That's what I'm here for. This is still just training, remember that."
I quickly scanned the others as they got up off the ground.
Each one had dropped below 50% HP.
If Lisa hadn't reacted… they'd be dead.
Even I couldn't have saved all of them in that time frame.
I pulled a few low-grade HP potions from my bag and handed them out before downing one myself. Restored about 20 HP.
"Drink these, then have Lisa top you off. As your commander, I'm disappointed. You were too caught up in the moment—and left one of your own exposed."
I sighed.
"Even without the explosion, you all relied way too heavily on Lisa. Throwing yourselves carelessly into danger just because she could heal you. On the battlefield, she won't always be there to bail you out. You need to fight smarter—conservatively."
I handed Lisa an MP potion.
"As punishment for your recklessness—you're on horse cleaning duty when we return to the capital. For the next month."
I crossed my arms.
"Therefore, I declare this raid a failure.
Group Two's final score remains: 27 points."
No one said a word.
They just hung their heads while Lisa healed them and gathered crystals. She patched up my back too, and once the clean-up was done…
We headed out.