Those who had been hiding to kill Iron revealed themselves. Iron let out a curse without realizing it. They were wearing white robes engraved with the title ‘Heretic Inquisitor’, and were armed with distinctive weapons such as maces, flails, and special whips. However, what surprised Iron upon seeing them was something else. Their eyeballs had no black pupils, consisting only of the whites, and within them were drawn special magic circles. Additionally, special gems were embedded throughout their bodies, including their foreheads. And from those parts, divine power was flowing out. “They channel descent ? Ha! These fucking sons of bitches...” -It is a noble sacrifice. Iron’s face twisted in disgust at the words of the one who appeared to be the leader among the Inquisitors. None of those clad in white robes were sane. All had only the whites of their eyes exposed, and magic circles were engraved at the center. But the biggest problem was that there were no souls where they should be inside their bodies. The divine power radiating from them belonged entirely to a god. Any human would at least have their own thoughts, but these people had none. ‘Did they forcibly bind their souls in the subconscious?’ Thinking this, Iron gripped his sword tightly. At first, he thought they were dead. But with his eyes as a Grand Master, Iron could tell that they were truly ‘living beings’. In other words! In order for a god to descend while avoiding restrictions, a living being was required, not a sacrifice or holy object. And to fully unleash its power, the god forcibly bound the soul of the chosen host deep in the subconscious. That alone was enough to show how the gods viewed humans. With a tremendous explosion, the Inquisitors began attacking Iron. From spears of light, white ice, flames, lightning, to lava, everything imaginable flew toward Iron to kill him. All those forces carried their mental images, and thus even Iron’s White Sword could not easily erase them. However, that did not mean Iron was at a disadvantage. Unlike when he fought the God of War, Iron was not alone with just the Baepsae. The three Divine Beasts began to roam the skies, pouring out their power. Flames, lightning, and light intertwined and began to tear through the forest. What was fascinating was that even the Divine Beasts' attacks emitted divine power. A few Inquisitors who had assumed it was merely natural power suffered fatal injuries from the Divine Beasts’ attacks, causing those who had only been targeting Iron to take formation. They realized that the power of the Divine Beasts was not to be underestimated. The illusionary beasts Phoenix and Thunderbird had not only regained their original strength but had even evolved beyond it, and Two Moons also acquired power comparable to that of illusionary beasts. As a result, their powers naturally carried mental images akin to a Grand Master’s, thus imbued with divine power. Yet, even as they poured out such massive power without exhaustion and showed overwhelming might, it was entirely due to the power of the Baepsae. “Well done. Shall I praise you?” When Iron reached up to stroke the Baepsae perched above his head with his finger, the Baepsae firmly slapped it away with a tiny wing. As the Inquisitors shifted into a defensive stance due to the Divine Beasts’ efforts, Iron gained some breathing room and went on the offensive. When the Inquisitors formed a defensive formation centered around the rising black pillar, Iron smirked and said mockingly, “Forming up just to block one mortal you looked down on, isn’t that too much?” -If it is for the grand plan, a moment of disgrace is a price we can always endure. -If by enduring disgrace, we can kill the Apostle of the Lord God... -We would even kneel. As the Inquisitors said this, they fortified their defenses. Iron’s brow furrowed. It was because his plan to draw out their forces and allow the knights to infiltrate had collapsed. Iron grimaced and drew out his full power. It was because he realized the reason they had entered a defensive posture was due to the black pillar behind them. ‘It’s gotten bigger. Moreover... divine power has started to emanate from it.’ The moment Iron aimed his White Sword at the Inquisitors with that thought in mind, the Divine Beasts also began to move. Was it because Iron was attacking with full power, without a hint of playfulness? Some of the Inquisitors could not withstand the attacks and began to die off. ‘They’re not God of War level. Weaker than Zodiac.’ Even if the gods had descended by bypassing restrictions, they were inevitably weaker without a direct descent. Power wielded through a human body, not the god's true form, was bound to be weaker. Even if their power allowed them to display incarnation-level or even stronger force, it was not enough to withstand the power of Iron, a Grand Master, and the Divine Beasts. And the gods knew this very well. That was why they had prepared another weapon. Statues mimicking the appearance of gods emerged. As he saw the divinity imbued in the statues, Iron’s expression hardened. Gargoyles were already categorized as powerful monsters, but now the gods had directly imbued them with divinity to enhance them. Above all, there were simply too many of them. Thousands of enhanced gargoyles spread their wings and soared into the sky. It seemed all of them possessed the power of the god who had descended into the Inquisitors, and the moment they appeared, their presence resonated with the Inquisitors’ power and amplified it. From the gods’ perspective, it was humiliating to have to resort to such measures just to catch a mere mortal, but they endured everything to capture the Apostle of the Lord God. And this wasn’t the only thing they had prepared. -Kill the Apostle of the Lord God. With the command of the Inquisitors, knights clad in white armor appeared. They were Holy Knights, once the core force defending the former Holy Nation. They too had marks engraved on their foreheads proving their contracts with outer gods, and naturally, they could wield the power of those gods. In addition, High Priests had gathered to support them, and they also bore markings indicating contracts with outer gods. Iron muttered as he looked at the Inquisitors. This was a military force powerful enough to make even the advancing Imperial Army hesitate. Such a force had been assembled just to catch Iron alone. As the saying goes, nothing can beat overwhelming numbers. A military force equipped with divine weapons that could even nullify divine power had appeared, and even the mighty Iron couldn’t help but feel tension. Just then, with a shout, knights appeared, cutting down the Holy Knights attempting to surround Iron. These were the knights who had been ordered to stay at the outskirts, but they appeared when they realized the situation was deteriorating. “As promised, leave the small fry to us.” The knight commander who had fought his way to Iron’s side spoke while panting, and Iron sighed and nodded. It was possible that they might have to lay down their lives here. “I can’t protect you any longer.” At Iron’s words, all the knights bowed their heads and answered as if they were fully resolved. When the knights, prepared to die, formed a battle formation, the Inquisitors, who had been focused on defense, moved forward to capture Iron. Following behind them, the Holy Knights and High Priests began their assault. Normally, the Divine Beasts would have attacked to block the Holy Knights and Priests’ advance, but due to the gargoyles swarming the skies, it became difficult. “Block the Holy Knights!” “Hold the line so the Commander can focus solely on them!” The knights blocked the charging Holy Knights to allow Iron to concentrate only on the Inquisitors. Fortunately, the large-scale divine magic of the High Priests was being blocked by the Baepsae. But the difference in numbers was simply too much. They weren’t an army, but just a detached unit of knights, it was difficult to stop the overwhelming number of Holy Knights. If their martial prowess had been overwhelmingly superior, they might have been able to hold out, but that wasn’t the case either. “Fill the gap! Do not let them break through!” As one knight fell, another hurried to fill the gap. But even that had its limits. With every knight who died or was injured, the formation continued to shrink, and the more it shrank, the more disadvantaged they became. And it wasn’t like Iron was overwhelming the Inquisitors either. It was impossible to dominate them without the help of the Divine Beasts. Just as Iron was about to use his final remaining move, seeing the situation turning against him, a massive beam of light streaked across the sky and obliterated the gargoyles blocking the path of the Divine Beasts. With a tremendous explosion, fragments of stone rained down from the sky, and soon after, an enormous barrage of shells fell in the vicinity of the black pillar. The High Priests, who had been forcing the Baepsae to remain on defense, hurriedly activated barrier magic, and even the Holy Knights were forced into a defensive formation. If they had been ordinary shells, a few priests setting up barriers would have been enough. But the shells used by the Mobile Field Army were far from ordinary. Each shell was engraved with magic, and some were special rounds made using giant magic stones blessed by Iron’s immense Divine Power. “Deputy Commander Ariel Favrice! As of this moment, I return command authority to the Commander!” Ariel jumped down from the flagship and approached Iron to return the temporary command authority she had held. At her action, Iron gave a gentle smile and nodded. “What’s the troop count?” "I brought the direct Knights of the headquarters, the Assault Unit, and the 23rd Corps.” At Ariel’s reply, Iron nodded. That would be enough. The enemy’s numbers didn’t exceed the scale of a corps, so they could manage with the 23rd Corps. “From now on, we commence the operation to strike the northern central axis of the Holy Alliance.” At Iron’s command, Ariel bowed her head in response. The Mobile Field Army had arrived at a truly impeccable moment. Though a prior request for assistance had been made, they couldn’t be sure if it would arrive in time, but fortunately, they had arrived before the reconnaissance unit was wiped out. Updates are released by nοvelfire.net With the arrival of reinforcements, the momentum shifted, and the offensive resumed. Freed from the gargoyles, the Divine Beasts began to assist Iron once again, and the massive onslaught aimed at him was blocked thanks to the knights of the reconnaissance unit and the Mobile Field Army. In such a situation, the Inquisitors alone were not enough to stop Iron. -So you’re using that in the end? The leader of the Inquisitors pulled a small holy relic from his robe with a displeased look. And the moment he crushed it in his hand, a tremendous power began to be absorbed into his body. By absorbing the divine power contained in the holy relic, he gained overwhelming power in an instant. The problem was the body. No matter how much it had been enhanced, it was still ultimately a human body. Thus, it was impossible to completely handle the god’s power. “You’ve become a monster.” -Tch! I spent so much time preparing that vessel... What a shame. Clicking his tongue in regret, the grotesquely transformed monster spoke. He had prepared by embedding a portion of his divinity into the relic just in case, but in the end, he was forced to use it. As long as the relic was intact, the divinity could be retrieved later. But now that it was destroyed, retrieval was impossible. Just losing a piece of his divinity was a significant blow, and now even the carefully cultivated vessel had been completely ruined. -He must… be stopped. The Inquisitors, whose divine nature had been diminished and who were now about to lose even the vessels through which they could act on the continent, all charged at Iron at once. But even then, they were only divine descent forms. Their power could never reach Iron, who had destroyed even the descended Zodiac. The Inquisitors began to die one by one, overwhelmed by the sheer firepower, especially with the Divine Beasts joining in. Still, as they died, they clung to Iron. Even if they died, it only chipped away a bit of divinity, it was not true annihilation. So they used their monstrous bodies to block Iron until the very end. -Kugh! You’re a monster yourself… Watching the Inquisitor leader cough up blood and speak, Iron chuckled. “You’re the real monsters.” With those words, Iron sliced off his head. Yet even as his head fell, the Inquisitor leader smiled brightly. -The objective… has been achieved. Seeing the head on the ground grin and speak its final words, Iron grimaced and promptly crushed it. Just then, the black pillar began to ripple. At Hræsvelgr’s urgent words, Iron immediately closed his eyes and focused his mind. At that moment, a massive storm formed within the rippling black pillar. 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