Looking Forward to Another World Chapter 745: Divine Light, Crawling Flesh (300 PS BONUS)

As the entirety of Knossos reeled from the shockwaves and extraordinary tremors caused by Thanatos's demise and the subsequent light pillar, Riezel, situated within a temple-like hall, confronted a peril of unprecedented magnitude. The phenomenon materialized scarcely a hundred meters before his very eyes.

Consequently, Riezel became a direct witness to the light pillar's eruption. He observed the beam, a bridge between earth and sky, surge from a lower level, shattering the floor beneath, then obliterating the ceiling, before transforming into an incandescent torrent that violently speared upwards towards the surface.

It must be understood that the destructive force of this celestial beacon dwarfed the breath attack unleashed by the Valgang Dragons from the 58th Floor, which had once assaulted the 52nd Floor. This was, without question, the apex of energy in this realm, its existence defying the logic of the Lower World and manifesting as a divine spectacle achievable only by gods.

Confronting this luminous column, all materials, irrespective of their composition—even adamantite or orichalcum—were reduced to the fragility of mere paper.

Anything situated in the path of this radiant assault was utterly consumed, pulverized into ethereal dust within the dazzling cascade, vanishing without the slightest trace.

Riezel, positioned closest to the radiant phenomenon, was violently propelled backward by the blinding flash and the ensuing shockwave. This concussive force mutated into a colossal atmospheric tsunami, wielding immense destructive power that scoured the hall, precipitating its instantaneous collapse.

"Tch!"

Having finally regained his bodily equilibrium, Riezel surveyed the devastation. Disregarding the groaning protests of his frame against the gale's ferocious onslaught, he instinctively moved to invoke teleportation magic, seeking immediate egress.

A profound premonition warned him that even if he expended his full potential, restoring himself to Level 8, contact with that light pillar would still reduce him to nothingness.

Riezel hesitated even to consider employing time magic. His intuition screamed that even if he froze temporal flow, it would be utterly futile against the light pillar's inexorable ascent towards the heavens.

This was a divine miracle.

This was the might of the gods.

In the face of such celestial power, any cultivation system of the Lower World was as feeble as a mere child's.

Grasping this stark reality, Riezel wasted no further time, resolutely preparing to initiate his teleportation spell.

"Wait!"

At that critical juncture, a voice halted his desperate bid for escape.

"Pray tell, valiant warrior, do you intend to watch us goddesses perish without lending aid?"

It was, unequivocally, Kali who had called out to Riezel.

At this very moment, the Goddess of War, mistress of blood and slaughter, supported the unconscious Ishtar with one arm while desperately clinging to a stone pillar with the other, buffeted like a tattered remnant within the tempest of shockwaves.

"Hoo! Is this another denizen of the Lower World's peculiarities? Heh, for the first time, I perceive the chilling embrace of death so vividly!"

Kali exerted her utmost to shield both herself and Ishtar, yet despite her dire state, an inexplicable sense of exhilaration seemed to pervade her demeanor.

"...Are you quite well, goddess?"

Riezel couldn't refrain from a sharp retort.

"Ho there, such flagrant disrespect," Kali responded, before urging, "Quickly now, salvage this burdensome goddess and myself. I have no desire to follow that ill-fated demon back to the heavens immediately!"

Upon hearing this, Riezel felt a powerful reluctance to involve himself with this goddess, let alone Ishtar.

After all, they stood as adversaries, not allies.

Since confronting gods directly was beyond his capabilities, he’d have preferred to let them face their fate alone.

However, contemplating the sheer terror of the solitary light pillar, he realized that should two more such phenomena manifest, not only his familia companions, likely still navigating the labyrinth's treacherous depths, but even he himself might not survive the cataclysm.

"Tch, very well..."

Perhaps transporting these two goddesses would prove advantageous, allowing Loki and the Guild to manage them appropriately.

With that strategic consideration, Riezel surged forward, appearing before Kali and Ishtar. Bracing against the gale of shockwaves, he seized one goddess in each hand, lifting the pair who were clinging precariously to the pillar.

Ishtar, already rendered unconscious, offered no resistance to being carried thus.

Kali, however, displayed a hint of displeasure at being held in such an unceremonious fashion by Riezel. Nevertheless, she refrained from voicing her complaint, instead posing a question.

"Your designation is Riezel Brynhart, is it not? Shall I address you by your given name, or perhaps by your covert title, Liberator?"

Remarkably, Kali retained the composure to engage in such discourse.

"As you wish."

Ignoring Kali completely, Riezel sidestepped the edge of the shockwave storm, offering a dismissive reply.

"Then, Liberator, I have a question for you."

Kali disregarded Riezel's lack of attention and gestured towards a specific direction as she spoke.

"What is that repulsive entity?"

Upon hearing this, Riezel, who was on the verge of activating teleportation magic to depart, abruptly halted.

He slowly turned his head, directing his gaze towards the area Kali indicated.

There, within a fractured passageway, verdant flesh contorted like a colossal growth, advancing towards them as it ruptured and disintegrated the corridor.

===

Knossos, 10th Floor.

This particular floor contained six highly unique sites where grand altars served to house malevolent artifacts and replicate spiritual miracles of the past.

Upon these six altars rested the Demi Spirits, which were manifestations of beings that had once been divine. When the luminous pillar manifested, these six Demi Spirits appeared to receive a celestial decree and sequentially opened their eyes.

In the subsequent moment, the Demi Spirits commenced a harmonious chorus, their song possessing extreme pleasure, profound beauty, and an ethereal quality, yet tinged with a potent sense of corruption.

Positioned in disparate locations, the Demi Spirits resonated as they sang, their six voices intertwining.

Immediately, with these Demi Spirits as the focal point, the six altars began projecting conduits of magical energy that radiated outwards in all directions. These energy lines soon extended beyond the confines of the six altars, traversing corridors and interlinking with one another.

The passage of time became irrelevant as the magical energy circuits coalesced perfectly, ultimately forming an immense circular structure.

At the instant this ring materialized, the Demi Spirits' forms began to distend, subsequently fracturing to expel verdant flesh, while monstrous growths started to erupt from their bodies.

Accompanied by a writhing, unsettling noise that induced both physical and mental distress, the rapidly expanding green mass overflowed, commencing to corrode the entirety of Knossos with alarming swiftness.

Consequently, the verdant flesh spewed forth from the 10th Floor of Knossos and swiftly advanced upon the other levels, engulfing each subsequent floor, passage, and chamber.

Visually, the scene was undeniably abominable.

===

The sound was not of an explosion or a magical detonation, but of flesh rupturing.

At this juncture, the green flesh consuming every recess of Knossos transformed into a furious deluge, propelled by a succession of explosive reports.

It consumed the walls.

It submerged the floors.

It blanketed the ceilings.

It devoured the debris.

Resembling a rampaging green mudslide, the flesh aggressively consumed all in its path, pressing relentlessly towards Riezel, who held a goddess in each hand.

Without hesitation, Riezel invoked magic, unleashing a torrent of flaming lightning bolts that streaked like bolts from the heavens, impacting the oncoming wave of green flesh.

Now, it was undeniably the sound of a magical eruption.

Upon contact with the verdant mass, the flaming lightning detonated it, incinerating it to ash and obliterating it.

The onslaught of green flesh was momentarily repelled by the flaming lightning; however, it soon reanimated, writhing like predatory creatures sensing prey, moving in unison as it surged towards Riezel.

Witnessing the ceaseless waves of flesh advancing from every direction, Riezel ceased holding back and directly employed high-tier magic.

As the incantation echoed, Riezel's form began to radiate, then—

As if a nuclear warhead had detonated, a colossal explosion rent the hall asunder, not only obliterating the chamber but also leveling all adjacent terrain. Catastrophic detonations and structural collapses ensued sequentially, causing the entire vicinity to descend and fracture, continuously crumbling downwards.

Before such immense devastation, all distinctions vanished.

Whether pulverized stone debris or the encroaching green flesh, everything was reduced to formless fragments.

Only then did Riezel activate flight magic, ascending from the decimated, surging tide of verdant flesh.

"Magnificent! Just as I anticipated from the warrior I selected! To think you could wield magic of such catastrophic power so casually!"

"And moments ago, you didn't even utter an incantation, did you?"

"It appears you possess numerous latent capabilities. My intrigue in you deepens with every passing moment!"

Observing this spectacle of destruction, Kali's bloodthirsty fervor was fully ignited, prompting exclamations of excitement and even hearty laughter as she slapped her thigh.

"Silence!"

Riezel, however, was far from sharing the goddess's exhilaration.

Witnessing Kali's continued laughter even in their dire predicament, Riezel promptly issued a stern threat.

"If you persist in making noise, I shall cast you down there to be consumed by those repulsive masses of flesh."

Upon hearing this dire warning, Kali's laughter ceased instantly, and she wisely chose to remain silent without a second thought.

Even the usually carefree Kali experienced both physical revulsion and psychological distress when gazing upon the abhorrent green flesh. The very idea of being thrown into that grotesque substance was something she found worse than immediately ending her own life and returning to the Heavens.

"Hmph!"

Observing Kali's newfound quietude, Riezel's expression softened slightly. He let out a snort before turning his gaze back towards the ceaselessly emerging green flesh below.

A chilling glint appeared in his eyes in that instant.

'So, you have finally awakened, Enyo...'

Riezel, possessing intimate knowledge of the original narrative, was well aware of the entity's identity.

Naturally, that particular revelation was not the truly significant aspect.

What genuinely demanded one's focus was not the revolting green mass before them, but rather the source from which it originated.

A translucent shimmer manifested in Riezel's gaze, as if granting him sight of the six altars.

He could already perceive it faintly.

The exquisite singing that permeated the very air reached his ears.

After his eyes flickered several times, Riezel, with a decisive action, activated his teleportation magic and vanished from the dreadful location.