Holy Precincts

Jayr POV - Tortus, Demon Kingdom Garland - 2013

After purging and destroying Alva's soul, effectively killing him once and for all, while at the same time preserving Dienleed's body, Yue's uncle, in a block of absolute zero ice so that she can mourn for him and give his body an honorable burial.

I take a look at my surroundings and see the still laying on the ground and barely alive Apostles, and without hesitation, I start to heal them while at the same time sealing their 6th sense and their sense of touch so that we can safely imprison them without worrying about them retailing and escaping, after all, all the Apostles are way stronger than the anyone else in this world, they were created to be so, and in fact, only very few individuals in this world can defeat them.

After doing that, I expand my perceptions until I sense Eri's familiar magic power, then I use my Telephaty to tell her, 'Eri, I have just killed Ehit's retainer Alva, and about Yue's uncle I froze his body to keep it safe, unfortunately, I couldn't save him as his soul was already consumed by Alva when he took possession of his body... Anyway, tell Freid to come here with the other Demons to take control of the situation and take to a secure place the Apostles laying here...'

Then I look at the strange altar in this room, and realizing something, I continue, 'Another thing, be sure to tell Yue and Kouki to stay away from this place for now... As there is an altar that, from what I sense, can be used by Ehit to take someone into his realm, and as those two are the best host body for his soul, it is better to not tempt fate... Moreover, as said before, it is possible that Ehit will start his attack on the people of Tortus in response to my invasion, if not to wipe them out, at least to take Yue or Kouki's body, so be careful and prepare everyone for it...'

And after saying that, I leave one last message, 'Well, I'm going to kick Ehit's ass now... Love you, Ciao!

After that, I bring out the Compass of Eternal Paths and use it to sense the location of Ehit's realm, the Holy Precincts, and once I'm able to sense its position thanks to the Compass, I no longer hesitate and teleport to it.

Jayr POV - Tortus, Holy Precincts - 2013

A world that is richly colored, This is the scenery that leaps into my eyes as soon as I appear into the Holy Precincts.

It is an immensely expansive space so much that I can't see the end of it with my eyes, various colors mix in this space, it is as if I'm lost inside a world within a bubble.

In this mysteriously colorful space, there is a chalk-white path stretching straight forward, no, rather than calling it a path, it is like the top of a dam wall, it is more correct to express their location as above a huge straight wall.

I was taken aback for a moment as I couldn't see any monster or Apostle in my immediate surroundings, it seems that Ehit still didn't realize that I'm invading, but I'm sure that he will do it soon, after all, Holy Precincts is his realm, he does have quite the home advantage in this place.

Then curious, I walk to the edge of this path and look down and see that the ground or the bottom of the wall is unclearly being swallowed by the extremely colorful space, then look up and see that even the path straight ahead, after a certain distance, becomes swallowed by the colorful space and this make it hard to confirm the distance and mutter, "Why it is never something normal in these divine realms...?" then I start to run while staying vigilant of the surrounding.

I'm traveling at high speed following the chalk-white path in the atmosphere that is filled with an uneasy silence, from time to time, I check the Compass of Eternal Paths to confirm Ehit's position, and it tells me that his whereabouts are just ahead of the chalk-white path.

Therefore I continue to dash believing that, although there isn't a single thing in my surroundings that I could use to confirm the distance I traveled, both the Compass and my sense tell me that I'm going in the right direction and that I'm getting closer to my target.

I advance uninterrupted in peace for several minutes, when I finally sense a change, in fact, the Crateris Cloth sense it before me thanks to its ability to see into the future and gave me a warning of the oncoming attack.

Right after that, silver radiant flashes come at me from all directions, it is a meteor shower of death without a single gap, conveying clearly how no place of escape is left behind, it is a deadly assault, but not for me, as I easily start to move around my hands to parry and deflect the countless Disintegration Beam attacking me.

While still parrying the beam bombardment even those beams that came from my blind spots, I let out a yawn and say, "Aaah... For the love of Athena can they use something different for once? I have already proved that this light show won't be able to harm me... Just come out and let's end this quickly..." and soon the all-out bombardment of the Apostoles stops.

Right after that, the Apostles show their figure as though they are oozing out from the colorful space while making ripples, and see that all of the Apostles are clad in silver magic power, showing their seriousness right from the beginning.

They narrow their eyes gazing at me who easily endured their all-out bombardment, and in an instant, the curb stomping being, I move at the speed of light and before they could react, I knock out and seal the 6th Sense of 10 Apostles in an instant with a single hit, making the remaining Apostles gulp audibly, probably because they were unable to follow my movement even though they in their full power state as they are all clad in silver light.

After that, I continue to look at them and see that about 40 of them remains, so, I make another move and quickly knock down another 10 of them, at the same time, one of the Apostles finally snaps out of her confused state and commands, "Kuh, three people are to chant. The rest continue on the assault!" and looking at her, I notice that she is grinding her teeth and the usual expressionless face of the Apostles is finally crumbling.

The remaining Apostles obey her instruction and move all at once, three of them remain back and start a long chant, while all the others start to rush toward me, with the one that gave the command, the leader of this group, at the lead.

Soon, the Apostles start to fly all around me at a very fast speed, leaving behind countless confusing afterimages, trying to find an opening to attack me.

But, I have grown bored of this fight, and so to quickly finish it, I cross my arms, at the same time, I ignite my mixed energy, which gathers around my body and transforms into a water-like aura that envelopes my body, then while yelling, "Pouring Rain!!"

I quickly spread my arm wide, and release a massive amount of clear blue energy droplets in every direction at once, almost like heavy rain, hitting everyone around me.

Some of the Apostles were able to barely react to it and raise their swords and use them as a shield at the last moment to try to protect themselves, some even used their own wings enchanted with Disintegration Magic, but it was all useless, as my attack easily breaks through their defenses breaking their weapons and wings in many little pieces, and showering them in a torrent of blows.

After releasing my technique, I look as all the remaining Apostles start to fall from the sky, then with a little bit of Telekinesis, I stop their bodies from falling into the colorful abyss and lay all of them on the chalk-white path I'm standing on.

Then I look at the remaining three Apostles that escaped from the range of my attack because they remained back to cast their trump card, some kind of ultimate magic.

The Magic is about to be unleashed, as a big silver sun enchanted with disintegration magic appears above them as the three apostles have their huge swords piled into one.

Seeing that, I snort and say, "Is that your trump card? It is just the same old trick... Very well, let me show you guys what true power really is..."

And at the same time, I make the energy within my body explode, and as a Gold Aura envelopes my body, my fist starts shining and a clear blue orb of water-like energy gathers around it.

Then the three remaining Apostles yell at the same time, ""Vanish without any trace behind! Irregular!""

And with a swing of their swords, the sun-like ball of disintegration falls toward me at a very fast speed, but at the same time, I yell back, "Time to end this. Tidal Wave Punch!!" and with a punching motion, I shoot the small ball of water-like energy straight towards the silver sun.

Soon the two attack clash against one other, but it seems that the silver sun is slowly pushing back my small water-like orb, but before the Apostles could say anything, I smirk and do the thing that I didn't know I missed so much until this moment, I whisper the start of the real attack, "...Boom"

And the next moment, from the water-like orb clashing against the silver sun hundreds of delayed strong impacts, came one after another, that slowly push it back, and as the impacts grows stronger and stronger, the silver sun shows signs that it is breaking apart.

And when the last delayed impact happens, the shockwave generated by the last impact is so strong that the silver sun powerlessly disperses, and at the same time, the shockwave hits the remaining Apostles knocking them out and making them fall into the colorful abyss, but of course, before they could be swallowed by it, I once again use my telekinesis to pick them up and save them.

Once I lay them together with the other fainted Apostles, the leader of the Apostles regains her sense and asks with a clear hint of confusion in her tone, "I-irregular, wh-why are y-you sparing us?" I look at her and reply, "Because even if right now you all are only puppets of Ehit... You guys have the potential to be so much more. I can clearly sense that you all can have your own soul, will, and emotions, the spark is there but it is chained down and sealed by Ehit's evil will so that you can be his perfect tool..."

Then I stop for a moment and take a look at all the Apostles laying on the ground, before focusing back on the leader and continuing with a small smile on my face, "I'm sparing you in the hope that after you are freed from Ehit's control, you can truly become your own person, free to live however you desire... And if you still desire to fight for something instead of living a peaceful life, be a force of good, fight to protect, not to oppress or kill."

And after saying that, I make sure to quickly seal the 6th sense of everyone, then I explain to the leader what I have done and then turn back to continue my advance, but just as I'm about to move, the leader yells, "W-wait! What is your name?"

Looking back at the Apostle, I reply, "My name is Jayr Pucci... Nice to meet you...?" and understanding what I'm about to ask she says, "I'm Zweit... the second Apostle created by Ehit-sama..."

I nod and say, "A pleasure to meet you Zweit... I'll make sure to give you and your sisters a chance to chose how to live your life..."

After saying that, I'm about to move once more, but stop when I remember a little detail, 'Could this place be like the Underworld? If so, that means that after I kill Ehit, the whole Holy Precincts will collapse, killing these Apostles before they have the chance to become something more...'

And realizing that, I quickly look at the Apostles on the ground and say, "It is better if you don't stay in this place... Sorry, it seems that I have to seal your movement too..."

After saying that, I quickly seal their movement, and then throw them into the swirling black portal leading to my Soulbound Territory to keep them safe, then I continue my advance.

After dashing forward for a while, I finally run into a richly colored rippling wall, and looking at it I realize, 'This looks like a teleport gate... Just like the ones in the Labyrinths...' and touching it with my hand, I see that my hand easily sinks into the other side confirming my hunch, then without hesitation, I leap into the other side.

The first thing I do, once I'm on the other side, is to check my surroundings, and what greets my sight is the scenery of a devasted city, "For the love of my pretty Athena... This looks like something out of an apocalyptic movie..."

Indeed, just as I came out from that rich colored space, I find myself in a modern city that looks nearly similar to Earth's style with its maintained street and high-rise buildings crowding together, however, it is as though several hundred, or maybe even several thousand years had passed, everywhere I look there are only decaying ruins.

There are buildings that look like they could crumble anytime, and there are also buildings that are barely standing by leaning on the neighboring building.

All the spots that seems to have glass attached had been smashed thoroughly, with the remains scattered everywhere.

On the ground, there is rough and hard material like asphalt blanketing the ground, but there are countless cracks and undulations and also caved-in spots.

But from how the faintly remaining words on the signboards scattered everywhere on the building wall or ground, I notice that there aren't Earth or Tortus letters, and I can't find any traffic light at all on the street, furthermore from how the material of the building isn't reinforced concrete, I realize that this isn't an imitation of Earth's city, but maybe the remains of another civilization.

Looking around, I let out a sigh and mutter, "Perhaps, this is a memento of Ehit's homeworld. I remember reading somewhere that before becoming the shitty bastard he is, he fled from the destruction of his world..." then I start to move, using the Compass of Eternal Paths to find the right direction.

Before long, by the time I passed who knows how many intersections following the Compass, a clock tower that looks just like London's Big Ben enters my sight from between the gaps of buildings, and sensing the feeling that the Compass gives me I mutter, "It looks like that clock tower is the entrance to go to the next area..."

And putting the Compass back into my Soulbound Territory, I head toward the clock tower through a huge intersection.

But, right after that, my eyes quietly narrow and my foot that was about to step forward return back, all because I sense the presence of many monsters appearing all around me, there is still quite a distance between me and them, but they have me surrounded, as I sense that I'm in the middle of their encirclement, then I notice that most of them are hidden in the various building, and so I quickly decide how to deal with them.

Urging the energy inside my body, I focus and say, "This is the first time that I'll lose a little control over my technique so that I can destroy the environment around me... It is... liberating in a sense..."

At the same time, a Gold Aura envelopes my body, my fist starts shining and a clear blue orb of water-like energy gathers around it.

Then without wasting any more time, I yell, "Tidal Wave Punch!!" and send a strong punch into the ground, then as a huge crater forms around the point of impact, I use the rebounding force to jump high in the sky and then use the special magic of the Kick Rabbit, Aerodynamic, to create a small barrier-like plate of compressed air under my feet, to use as firm foothold so that I can stand on air and look at the spectacle that is about to begin.

On the crater created by my punch, the clear blue orb of water-like energy starts its second phase, and soon from it, hundreds of delayed strong impacts came one after another that enlarge the crater even more causing a strong earthquake, causing the already group of ruined buildings who are only barely standing even in the best of times to crumble all at once with a rumbling sound.

And soon I sense the presence lurking in the ruined buildings being crushed by it, and those that are trying to get away being sent back into it by the shockwaves generated by my technique that also rips them apart, while those on the streets are quickly getting killed by the fragments of crumbling buildings that rains down from above like heavy rain.

And so I look at the spectacle of the whole city crumbling over the might of my single technique, I let out a sigh and say, "And that is what usually happens when a Silver Saint fights without caring about his surroundings... That is why we all learn to focus the power of our attack only on our enemies... well, that, and the fact that if we disperse the power to cause destruction to our surroundings, then we could be unable to bypass our enemy's defense, and the same is true for our enemies, that is why all the fights that took place until now didn't already destroy my world..."

Dust rises up grandly, as I look down at the ruined city that instantly looks like it went through a natural disaster, I try to sense the presence of my enemies, but soon, I realize that all of them ended up being killed by the city's destruction, then look back at the clock tower and see that it is still standing because it is reinforced by magic, and because I carefully controlled the strength of my technique so that it wouldn't crumble simply because it is the gate that leads to the next zone.

Seeing that I'm done here, I quickly leap toward the clock tower, and without hesitation, I jump into the dial moving toward another zone.

Jayr POV - Tortus, Holy Precincts - 2013

"Nivis Casus!!", I cast an ice attack spell which instantaneously creates and launches a large-volume avalanche of snow at the targets, and soon the avalanche of ice and snow sweeps away every monster in its path, then falls into the ocean below slowly freezing it, while at the same time, killing anything hidden below.

I look at the scene below while using Gravity Magic to float above the ocean that is slowly turning into an ice tundra, then I complain, "This is getting ridiculous, I already conquered more than 5 zones! Is Ehit hoping to tire me!? Or killing me through boredom?"

Then sensing that all the monsters around me are dead, I take out the Compass of Eternal Paths and check the distance between me and my objective.

Sensing my and its position, I mutter, "Comparing it to the starting point at the first space…we have gone through around four-fifths of the distance. I guess it might be the next space or the space after that", then I once more look at my surroundings.

Currently, I'm in a zone in the middle of the ocean that is still slowly freezing as a result of my spell, as far as the eye can see there isn't a single island, it is a space of sea.

Sometimes, sea monsters leap out from the sea and bird monsters fly from the sky, but they were dealt with without any particular problem, the first by freezing them to death, and the former by shooting them down with a few Sagitta Magica.

Then I think back at some of the zones I passed through, 'After I passed through the clock tower of the ruined city, I traveled through a zone where the ground and sky were reversed, a zone where countless white blocks were floating, a zone where there were only large mountains like the Divine Mountain towering over and a zone that was like a giant library where countless bookshelves were clustered together... All full of monsters as strong as those in the Orcus Labyrinth or Ambushed by other Apostles...'.

After thinking that, I continue to advance straight ahead for a few minutes in this zone of the large ocean with really good visibility that shows me nothing but water, but soon, a change happens, I look up and mutter "Dark clouds?"

Indeed, the sky that was supposed to be clear is beginning to be covered by dark clouds rapidly like seeing a video that is fast-forwarded.

Furthermore, even the calm sea that still isn't frozen is beginning to be stormy due to the strong wind, it appears that a large storm is suddenly coming, and at the same time, I sense the thing lurking below, it is a monster that is in a different league compared to all the monsters encountered until now, not only for its massive size but also for its strength.

I focus my gaze on its position and see a giant whirlpool that begins to form on the sea, it is obviously not something natural, but it is caused by the monster's movement.

From the shadow projected on the water surface of the stormy sea, I can see that the whole length of it might be more than three hundred meters, the diameter of its body is so thick that it can't be so easily measured by sight, and the whole body is covered by metallic scales, on its back there are also fins attached that possess hard shine as they glint just like a blade.

Then the enormous sea snake gets out of the whirlpool and shows its face, it has a head that looks like a dragon with a long neck that is longer than fifty meters, with scales that are as large as a human child, a pair of eyes emitting reddish black light and the two layers of sharp fangs that line up smoothly, and also something like fin at both sides.

The fins are similar to the torso, they possess the metallic shine and sharpness of a blade, it feels like just touching it would cause the one touching it to be bisected right into two.

Then the Sea Snake lets out a terrific roar, that causes the whole zone to rattle, moreover, that roar which is accompanied by the physical impact of its shockwave that strikes my body violently, is also followed by an unknown wave that is transmitted into my mind, probably this roar is accompanied with an effect that awakens the terror in the listener's mind.

Normally the one who heard this roar would have their body along with their mind blown away into darkness due to the shockwave, and even if they barely maintained their consciousness, their brain would be in disarray and their body cowering in fear, they would be turned into prey and could only tremble while waiting to be eaten.

However, such a thing is totally ineffective against someone like me, and so, I simply complain, "So noisy. Just shut up!" then I quickly hold my hands out over my head, pointing towards the sea snake with open palms, and quickly gathering my energy, I yell, "White Ice Spears!" and throw my hands down, and cross them.

My energy solidifies into numerous solid spears of ice, that move at the speed of light and easily pierce through the blade-like scales of the head, piercing its brain and freezing its body killing it in an instant, without giving it any chance to retail, then looking at the frozen body, I mutter, "This monster feels way stronger than any other I have met until now... Maybe eating it will raise my stats even more..."

And realizing this, I take out the Tactical Arms in its Sword Form and use it to cut some of the frozen meat to eat later and quickly store it inside my Soulbound Territory.

Then, right at that moment, the space a few kilometers in front of me separates and begins to shake like jelly, and then, after a few moments the space melts and disappears, and a large island appears from the space gap, and I quickly realize, "…It seems, that the entrance to the next zone is at the center of that island."

The island is covered with really tall trees that could reach a few dozen meters on the whole, other than the shoreline I can't see the ground at all, and according to the Compass, the entrance to the next zone seems to be at the center of that forest.

At the same time, I sense that many powerful monsters are running rampant in large numbers there, especially at the center of the forest, so without hesitation, I rush inside while thinking, "At least this is a good warm-up before kicking Ehit's ass..."