Chapter 370: Noble Phantasm: Sword, Famine, Death, Beast
Noble Phantasm: Sword, Famine, Death, Beast.
Its ability: Within his own bounded field, he can materialize numerous entities that bring death to others and wield their power as a skill.
If the conditions are fully met, he can even recreate the mythological demise of his target within the limits of his magical energy, thereby achieving the goal of killing them.
This is what Renji was currently doing.
And the mythological books he had just been reading were materials related to Melqart.
The data appears to have approximately 85% similarity with the mythology from his side, specifically Rias's mythology.
As for the other side, the similarity is roughly around 70%.
He is reenacting the death scenes from the opposing mythology to kill Melqart.
Currently, it seems highly effective.
Before their eyes, Melqart is being torn apart by Mot, the God of Death from Canaanite mythology.
However, in the subsequent mythology, he is resurrected, but he only needs to halt the process here.
Yet, this alone is insufficient—
"Is he dead already?"
Erica, witnessing Melqart's body being crushed, murmured in a daze.
This ability of the Plague Knight is somewhat unfair—did he just kill this Divine King?
No, Melqart isn't dead yet. The shattered body trembled, then transformed into countless locusts, gathering together and beginning to restore itself.
"In the development of human culture, Canaanite culture was also influenced and consumed by other powerful cultures, so its compiled mythology was similarly devoured."
The Plague Knight continued narrating, and Erica's vision shifted, revealing the clash of two cultures.
It was the impact of Christian culture on Canaanite culture.
"Thus, after its defeat, Canaanite culture's compiled mythology was affected. The ancient Phoenician Divine King—Melqart—became the Gluttony Satan in Christian mythology, one of the Seven Deadly Sins; in Milton's Paradise Lost, he is depicted as a Satan rivaling God; he is also the Demon King Beelzebub; and the Dark Emperor Bael, the leader of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods."
As he spoke, Melqart, who should have been transforming into a burly giant, was forcibly shifting into a demonic form?
The locusts eerily turned into flies.
Facing this transformation, Melqart roared in fury, shaking the very space around them.
He was forcibly trying to revert the flies back into locusts!
He was resisting!
"And as Bael of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods, he is also connected to King Solomon, the Son of God. Solomon, the King of Israel, obtained the Book of Raziel written by angels, granting him the ability to freely summon and control demonic spirits, thus dominating the Seventy-Two Demon Gods."
At this point, Erica glanced sideways and noticed that the book he had been carrying had returned to its original form, and he was flipping through it in his hand.
It seemed as though, with his narration, the blank pages were recording these events.
Suddenly, the book glowed, and another book emerged from its pages.
Could that be—the Book of Raziel?
The Plague Knight picked up this book, and the moment he opened it, a giant, open book appeared beneath Melqart's feet.
Then, something surged from the book and attached itself to Melqart's body, causing his struggling to gradually cease.
His once furious gaze now turned vacant, like a puppet under control.
"Demon God Bael, offer me your head!"
Upon this command, Melqart—no, Demon God Bael—unhesitatingly placed his hands on his own head, twisted sharply, and tore it off.
Then, his body collapsed with a thunderous crash, his flesh beginning to crumble into sand—truly slain.
As for the Plague Knight who had given the order, Erica noticed his figure had grown slightly faint, clearly drained from the exertion.
Still, at least Meca had been killed—
Hmm? Not dead!
The body that had originally turned to sand suddenly transformed into countless locusts, buzzing and flapping their wings as they surged toward Erica in a overwhelming swarm, causing her face to pale.
How could she defend against this?
In the next instant, a deathly mist spread from behind her, covering the locusts...
"What other related myths are there about Melqart in this world?"
"Huh?"
Erica was momentarily stunned by the question from the person behind her.
Then, being quick-witted, she immediately understood.
To completely erase Melqart, it was necessary to reenact the death scenes of corresponding roles in the associated myths, right?
So, there was indeed another related myth, one that few people knew about.
This was information ordinary people couldn't find—only those like her could know such things.
"Melqart's myth later spread to Greece and became the prototype for the hero Heracles,"
Erica said immediately, but just this one sentence wasn't enough—more specific details were needed.
However, the current situation didn't seem to give her the chance to explain the connection fully, as a large number of suicidal locusts were breaking through the deathly mist and closing in.
"Eh? It's not working"
Erica used an ability called [Professor], a magic that could impart her own knowledge to others.
But it had no effect on this person.
Was it because he was a Heretic God?
"What? Nothing else?"
"No, that's not it. It's just that there's a lot of content, and verbal explanation is too slow. I just tried using [Professor] to directly convey the related knowledge to you, but it didn't work either."
This was troubling. What should she do?
Suddenly, Erica thought of another method she had heard might work, though she wasn't sure if it would be effective on a Heretic God.
But this [Professor] method made her hesitate.
"Say as much as you can."
"W-well, actually, there's another way to let you know quickly."
After saying this, the Plague Knight didn't respond, seemingly exasperated by her hesitation in such a situation.
"Then I apologize for the intrusion!"
Gathering her courage, Erica turned completely around and embraced him, pressing her lips to his.
This was another way of imparting knowledge.
Hmm? It seemed like it might actually work.
So, Erica was conveying the related knowledge to him!