Chapter 61: Haru Arrives!

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Kasugano Haru sat atop the wild boar, enjoying his Italian hot dog and cola. He watched Erica charge towards him, along with the injured Verethragna, who was carrying Godou Kusanagi.

Despite being in such a conspicuous location, neither Erica nor Verethragna, especially not the ferocious boar carrying him, seemed to notice his presence.

"A live-action version of the story. How interesting! Oh! The Holy Annihilator? She's mastered it already? As expected of Erica!" Haru munched on his hot dog, his eyes reflecting Erica's valiant figure. Damn, she's kinda hot.

Fly, Boots of Hermes! With a thought, Erica activated a leap spell. Her toes barely touched the ground as she swiftly closed the distance, getting within thirty meters of the boar.

"Lord, I call out to you in the daytime, but you do not answer. I cry out to you in the night, but you remain silent. Yet, you are the Holy One, the God who received the praises of Israel!" Erica took a deep breath and chanted the words of "Golgotha," a rare God-slaying incantation from the Deeds of David.

It was the song of calamity, the hymn Jesus Christ sang with all his might on the execution grounds of Golgotha, until his voice failed him. Ordinary people would lose their sight just from hearing it, and those with weaker constitutions would collapse. It could easily kill anyone within a 427-meter radius, a curse born of hatred and despair, imbued into a sword.

Erica Blandelli was a genius girl who specialized in "Steel Magic," the art of manipulating, transforming, and reconstructing steel objects.

Therefore, she was able to recast her beloved sword, Cuore di Leone, into a replica of the God-slaying spear, the Lance of Longinus. Imbuing this replica with the resentment of the Son of God was Erica's strongest attack. Facing the rampaging boar, a divine beast, Erica didn't hesitate to unleash her full power.

She stood atop a tall building, holding the spear in a throwing stance. Her body radiated a brilliant crimson aura as she channeled her magical energy into the spear, her gaze fixed on the boar's massive frame. "Such a large target. I don't even need to aim! For the sake of the people, would you mind becoming a dead pig? No answer means yes! Hup!"

Erica poured all her remaining magical energy, beyond what was needed to maintain the spell, into strengthening her arm. With all her might, she hurled the replica holy spear. 

Whoosh! The resentment of the Son of God emanated from the spear as it hurtled through the air, accompanied by a faint sonic boom. In the blink of an eye, it traversed the distance, striking the boar's flank. 

BOOM! A tremendous explosion shook the city. Buildings around the boar crumbled and collapsed, and the area was engulfed in a thick cloud of dust and debris. 

"How could divine beast withstand this?" Erica said , her voice muffled by the dust. Having taken a direct hit from the replica holy spear infused with the words of Golgotha, that boar should be defeated. This feat would surely earn her the title of "Red Devil."

Haru, seated cross-legged on the boar's back, peered through the dust cloud. He saw the gaping wound on the boar's flank, a hole five meters wide. "Quite impressive. If it were a normal divine beast, it probably would have been defeated by that Holy Annihilator attack. Unfortunately, this boar is a divine avatar. You lost to fate this time, Erica."

"Oink! Oink!!" A terrifying roar ripped through the air, the shockwave dispersing the dust. The injured boar, enraged, turned its bloodshot eyes – once merely red, now a terrifying crimson – towards Erica on the distant rooftop.

It remembered, vividly, the scent of this woman's magical energy. It was this woman who had injured it. Its hooves pounded the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust as it prepared to charge, its most ferocious attack, to obliterate the human who had dared to harm it.

Watching the boar prepare to charge, beads of sweat formed on Erica's forehead. "I killed a divine beast with that attack back in Hungary. Why did it only cause this much damage to this boar?"

Because she had experience killing a divine beast with the Golgotha spell – although she had been working with Liliana at the time, and the shared credit wasn't enough to earn her the title, as Paolo had slain six divine beasts single-handedly to receive the "Red Devil" title – Erica understood the difference in difficulty. But compared to the boar's fifty-meter frame, a five-meter wound was insignificant.

"Could it be… a divine avatar in the form of a boar? Or… a Heretic God whose true form is a pig? This is… a jackpot." Cold sweat drenched Erica's back. She had been confident against a divine beast, but a divine avatar, even the weakest one, meant certain death for her.

The shock of this realization plunged Erica into a momentary panic. And that was all the boar needed.

In that brief lapse of concentration, the boar charged. Cunningly, it used its divine power to suppress the sound of its movement, its massive body hurtling silently towards Erica. 

"Damn!" By the time Erica realized it, the boar was almost upon her.

"I can't dodge!!!"

Erica closed her eyes in despair.

"Hey, hey. I thought we were going to have a real fight, but it turns out it's a turn-based snoozefest. Your combat experience is even worse than it was three years ago." A voice suddenly spoke beside her ear. Erica opened her eyes and turned towards the source. 

It was a young man with silver hair, about twenty years old, seated casually atop the boar's head. He had a slender, almost feminine build and a delicate face that could rival a girl's. But despite his seemingly unimposing appearance, the boar, as if burdened by a mountain, was on its knees, panting heavily. It struggled desperately to stand, but to no avail.

The young man was only about 1.8 meters tall, a tiny speck compared to the fifty-meter boar. Yet, the boar couldn't move, as if pinned down by an invisible force. It grunted and groaned, its breath growing heavier, but even though its hooves dug into the earth, its muscles straining, it couldn't raise its body even a millimeter.

"Kasugano… why are you here?" Erica gasped, her eyes wide with astonishment.

Looking at the silver-haired young man, despite not having seen him for three years, Erica could still recognize traces of the handsome young man she had met three years ago in the outskirts of San Gimignano, Italy.

"Wherever a Heretic God appears, I will be there. Haven't you heard?" Haru asked with a smile, looking at the surprised girl.

Teasing this girl is so much fun. Haru thought with a mischievous grin. 

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