The Protagonists of the Novel Escaped

The bomber Gael, harboring deep resentment toward the priest who refused to heal him, fell into the abyss of a vengeful spirit, disbelieving the goddess and hating the seekers.

In a bid to insult the goddess, he burned numerous cathedrals.
To trample on faith, he gruesomely murdered countless seekers.

And then he began to attack Beatrice, the saintess known as the incarnation of the Earth Mother. Although Gael failed in his terror, he left an indelible trauma on Beatrice by collapsing the grand cathedral of the Savoia Duchy and blowing up many priests.

“I knew you would target the cathedral in the end. The bomber Gael is nothing but a trash that endlessly curses faith and seekers, right?”

With a pistol in his left hand and a violet holy sword in his right, he threatened the bomber with his trademark sharp gaze.

As Edanant approached, Gael instinctively retreated. Repeatedly stepping back, he seemed aghast, as the figure of the ‘monster’ who had brutally slaughtered his subordinates overlapped with the man before him.

“Who the hell are you! Why are you…!”

A resounding shout filled the cathedral.

Accompanied by the sharp sound of gunfire, the true beginning was announced.

Bang-! Bang-!!

With the trigger pulled, bullets flew.
Gael grimaced and threw a bomb.

Boom!!!

The collision of the bomb and bullet resulted in an explosion.
Fierce flames ignited the ceiling, and a strong aftershock swept through the cathedral.

‘Fortunately, it seems that a mere explosion won’t trigger the explosives set outside the cathedral. But if the bomber suddenly goes all out, it could become dangerous.’

Edanant furrowed his brows and swung Aldebaran.
Swish-.
Clearing the surrounding smoke in an instant, he gained visibility.
He aimed at Gael, who was trying to pull out a new bomb, and pulled the trigger.

Thud!

A bullet pierced through Gael’s shoulder.
Blood and flesh splattered everywhere.
Gael glared viciously at Edanant, his face twisted in rage.

However, the wound quickly began to heal. Witnessing the monstrous regenerative ability, Edanant frowned as magical energy poured out from the healing injury.

“Kill that bastard immediately! Leave no bones behind… burn them all!!”

As heart-wrenching screams echoed, the thugs waiting in the back were deployed.

The Bomber Squad.
A mercenary group armed with bombs and gunpowder weapons.
Villains clad in dark rags surrounded Edanant, clutching bombs.

Wooosh—!!!

The thugs aimed their gun barrels connected to fuel tanks on their backs.
At that moment, scorching flames were unleashed.

A flamethrower made from a mixture of oil and tar. It was the weapon that horrifically burned fleeing citizens during the explosion. The mass of flames released all at once enveloped Edanant.

Garggh!!

“Surely, he would have turned to charcoal.”
As the thugs who used the flamethrower gazed at the crimson fire, a flash shot out.
It was a sword strike initiated from the violet blade.

The flaming attack sliced through the air, decapitating the surrounding thugs. Blood gushed forth as heads that had lost their owners rolled on the ground.

“Wha, what the hell…!”

The flames halted mid-air, suspended in time.
This was no metaphor.
As if time had stopped the instant they met Aldebaran’s blade.

In an extraordinarily bizarre phenomenon that defied explanation, Gael and his subordinates froze in place. The sight of a colossal fireball paused in mid-air felt like something out of a dream. The suspended flames extinguished as soon as Edanant moved away.

“Gah, aaah!”
“He’s a monster! That bastard is a monster!!”

Edanant charged.
The thugs, losing their resolve, screamed in terror.
Aldebaran’s blade glimmered.
With each dazzling flash, shrieks of despair accompanied by spurts of blood erupted.
His merciless slaughter, devoid of any emotion, was as precise as a sharpened blade.

As he repeated his merciless killing spree, turning the area into a bloodbath, Gael recalled the name of the monster that had remained a figure of fear all these years.

“Y-you bastard! Maximilian…! What the hell is your relationship with Maximilian?”

“…….”

The bomber screamed in despair.
In response, Edanant raised his head, the holy sword smeared in blood and flesh.
A heavy silence descended.
It felt as if he was facing Maximilian, who had repeatedly appeared in his nightmares.
Even drenched in blood, his appearance mirrored that of Maximilian. Especially the emotionless gaze triggered fear. Clearly, he was connected to Maximilian. Otherwise, how could he look so similar?

“…….”

Gael’s desperate outcry went unanswered.
Instead, Edanant pulled out a murky substance resembling black powder, just as he did when hunting monsters.
The swirling mist morphed into the shape of a musket. Soon, the barrels were aimed at the demoralized enemies. The musket, which had rebelled against the tacks, marked the doom of the traitors as it finished its aim without a tremor.

‘What is that… Is it the power of a blessing? No way! Such a cursed thing cannot be a blessing! I’ve faced countless blessings, but I’ve never seen anything like that!’
The power inherited from the beings of myth, either passed down by birth or gained through astonishing feats, is precisely what is called ‘blessing.’
Numerous owners of blessings, including Princess Ludmilla who received her blessing from the red dragon, fell under this category.

But that was a blessing that was not a blessing.
Gael screamed as he witnessed a power that bore no sense of sanctity.

“No way…! You’re serving heresy! That must be the erased god’s blessing!!”

Having spent his life hating faith and despising seekers, Gael possessed extensive knowledge about blessings known as God’s Grace.
It was a power derived from heresy.
The cursed blessing from the forbidden cult that the Holy Kingdom thoroughly prohibited and concealed was evident.
Accepting such a heretical blessing was nothing short of a grave sin that could never be tolerated under any circumstances.

“That’s why it’s hard to use. It must be completely concealed to avoid detection.”
The murky muskets spat fire.

Bang-!!
Over forty muskets fired simultaneously.
As the gunfire concluded, the thugs occupying the cathedral fell like a hive. Gael, who faced Edanant head-on, was no exception. He turned into a grotesque rag bearing dozens of gunshot wounds all over his body.

Cough…! Cough, cough…!!
The horrifyingly disfigured man vomited blood as he thrashed about.
It wasn’t over yet.
He couldn’t die until he erased all sanctity existing in the world.
With eyes bloodshot with rage, he glared at Edanant, revealing his desperate and vicious killing intent.

“We’re going to have round two now, bomber Gael.”

Thud-thud-thud-thud—.
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud!!!

Was it a desperate struggle to achieve revenge?
Gael’s battered body rapidly healed.
Even grotesque appendages began bubbling up like froth, commencing their growth.
Once a shabby and tiny hunchback, Gael transformed into a giant. His entire body was cloaked in bulging muscles, and the monster opened its mouth wide in a fierce roar, exuding an unnerving aura of magical energy that filled the cathedral.

“Graaaaah!!!”
What a fierce presence it was.
The booming shout emitted from a physique the size of five yards was truly staggering.
What a repulsive sight.
No wonder he survived stubbornly like a cockroach.
Edanant momentarily stuck out his tongue at the continually writhing muscles.

“Maximilian!! Maximiliiiiaaan!!!”

Swallowed by his fearsome regenerative ability, Gael unleashed a brutal killing intent towards Edanant, calling him Maximilian. His fiery gaze, blazing like sulfur, looked ready to pounce at any moment.
Massive shoulder muscles overshadowed his neck.
His arms, surrounded by muscles, were like maces.
And his torso boasted the robust musculature of a heavy infantryman clad in full armor.

How many bullets would it take to kill that thing?
Damn it.
There was no choice but to give it a shot.
The firepower was unmatched by the Saintess Party.

As Edanant gestured, the force of muskets increased from about forty to over a hundred. The aligned muskets in the air simultaneously aimed at the mass of muscle before them.

“You bastard…! Don’t call me that cursed name!”
“Guooooooo!!!”

He aimed the tip of the holy sword. Then the muskets started their baptism of bullets.
In response, the massive beast lunged forward, leaping off the ground.

Crack-crack-crack-crack!!!

Will the bullets pierce him?
Or will they be devoured by his muscles?
Ultimately, that would determine the outcome of the fight.

Despite the giant’s charge advancing like a tank, Edanant stood still. As if he expected the hideous monster to be blocked by the rain of bullets. The monster, shrouded in muscles, aimed to crush such arrogance with a fist swung like a mace.