Chapter 98: The Church of the Stars (10)

The Zodiac Fiend of the Scales emerged from its prison in a wave of power.

The elven pillars surrounding its icy tomb shattered all at once, crumbling with the seal. A cloud of miasma surrounded the platform like a raging storm of darkness, entrapping everyone inside. Simon sensed a shift in the air akin to a Dungeon taking form in reality.

Exodeos, the Scales of Emptiness, has trapped you in his Abyssal Domain! All teleportation effects are negated!

The Zodiac Fiend lurched out of its prison in the form of a ten-foot tall colossus of rusted steel, tarnished copper, and aged metal. Its heavy footsteps shook the ground with immense force to the tune of gears whirring and ticking. A tattered cloak fluttered from its heavy shoulders, while its knightly helmet opened to reveal a black, empty void rather than a face. The Scales crystal shone brightly on its chest. Miasma poured out of its mechanical joints hollowed by time, and it seemed like a small miracle that this creature didn’t crumble to dust on the spot.

Escaping its seal had clearly taken its toll on the demon. He must have spent a lot of power to break out.

“I am Exodeos, the Scales of Emptiness,” the archdemon introduced himself with all the warmth of an executioner about to complete their job. A curved saber the length of an adult man appeared in his hand. “Nihility beckons, mortals.”

On one hand, the Zodiac Fiend had clearly spent a lot of power to free itself, on top of wasting away for centuries inside its seal. There was no way it was at full power, and he was surrounded by a high-level group of warriors whose entire Class kit revolved around killing demons. This should be the worst possible matchup for it.

On the other hand, a weakened archdemon remained an archdemon. Simon could taste the sheer, overwhelming pressure in the air.

“Simon, take cover!” Beatrice ordered as she charged forward without fear, her sword shining with light. “Everyone else, attack!”

The Templars jumped into the fray from all sides.

Taking cover behind a pile of rubble one of the elven pillars had turned into, Simon watched as Barbas rushed to lock blades with the demon while his allies moved to flank Exodeos. Silence reached the Zodiac Fiend first and stabbed him in the back with dazzling speed and claws of light. Exodeos grunted in pain as the holy weapons pierced through his metallic armor, miasma pouring out of the gashes rather than blood.

A translucent wave of energy suddenly erupted from the demon before Beatrice and Cubirah could complete their pincer attack. It spread across the platform, fizzling out the holy light radiating from the Templars’ blades and slowing them down. Simon sensed all of his buffs being stripped away when it hit him, from his light-empowered sword to his Haste.

Exodeos’ Grand Reset has negated all buffs and debuffs! Buffs and debuffs can no longer be applied!

Silence’s sudden loss of Haste-induced speed allowed Exodeos to backhand him across the platform with his free fist. The archdemon blocked a slash from Barbas one-handed, only for the knight’s remaining allies to strike from both sides.

“Thunderslash!” Beatrice shouted, her sword crackling with lightning.

“Judgment Blade!” Cubirah followed through, her blade hitting with far more strength and weight than normal.

Both blows struck Exodeos on the sides, cracking his metallic armor. Exodeos grunted and pushed them all back with a mighty swing, but the three Templars quickly regained the advantage by pushing forward with overwhelming offense. They surrounded Exodeos from all sides and targeted him with flurries of blades, forcing him to step back and remain on the defensive to keep blocking and parrying. Even then, three against one meant blades kept slipping past his guard and left cuts across his metal body.

They’re holding their own, Simon observed. His guess was right, the weakened demon was facing a terrible match-up in spite of its power. He had wasted too much energy freeing himself. They might actually win this without my intervention.

Still, he was unwilling to leave things to chance and rushed to the dizzied Silence and cast a Megaheal on him. The mute Templar nodded in appreciation and then rejoined the fray, quickly positioning himself behind the archdemon while waiting for an opening.

“Time diminishes all things,” Exodeos noted without any fear whatsoever between two clashes. “You and I both. Equalizer.”

A pressure fell upon the area, an invisible weight pressing on Simon’s very soul.

Exodeos’ Equalizer temporarily reduced all levels to 50 inside the Abyssal Domain!

Simon himself was ‘lucky’ enough to avoid the effect by virtue of being below the level threshold, but the Templars all took a blow to their stats. Their movements grew a little slower and their blows weakened. Exodeos then raised his free hand.

“Zero Gravity.”

Everyone except Exodeos began to float.

Simon’s feet suddenly left the ground below as gravity itself lost its grip on him. Rocks, dust, and even the sealing box flew around him, as did the Templars. Their ascent was slow, yet unavoidable. Only Silence managed to avoid the effect by using his claws to anchor himself to the ground. He crawled towards Exodeos as if he were climbing up a vertical wall with surprising speed and slashed the demon at the heel, causing him to fall on his knee.

“Everyone switch to Starshot!” Beatrice ordered. Simon joined in too as he and his floating allies bombarded Exodeos with balls of light. The archfiend raised his arm to shield his miasma crystal and chest, each impact dispelling more of the miasma surrounding him and leaving impact cracks on his armor.

“You are not strong,” Exodeos said coldly. “You are nothing.”

The demon brought down his hand, and gravity called them to the ground again at increased velocity.

The shift was so quick and brutal that Simon barely had time to raise his arms to protect his face from a potentially fatal fall. Even then, the landing dispelled his Templar Class outfit and left him with a mild concussion. He saw Barbas and Cubirah crash nearby, with only Beatrice managing to land on her feet relatively gracefully.

Silence immediately rose to strike at Exodeos’ crystal with a surprising dash of speed, slashing it with claws of light. The blow left no mark on the Zodiac Fiend’s heart, but it did infuriate him. Exodeos swiftly grabbed Silence by the throat and lifted him above the ground.

Then the demon devoured him.

He pushed Silence inside his black hole of a face headfirst, sucking him inside a dark void that swallowed the Templar. Silence kicked and thrashed in an attempt to escape, but his chest and legs swiftly vanished inside the darkness.

“Silence!” Beatrice saw red and rushed at Exodeos in a dash of speed. “Shockwave!”

Her sword rippled with power, the air vibrating around it. Exodeos parried with his own blade, but a shockwave erupted from Beatrice’s weapon on impact and propelled him backward near the platform’s edge. His sword shattered into pieces from the attack.

Should I reveal myself? Simon wondered as he got back to his feet. One casualty was a bad sign, and using Overlord Perks or spells could turn the tide, but the Templars would likely either tell Mastemo the truth at best or try to capture him on the spot at worst. No… not yet.

After putting his Templar outfit back on and casting a Megaheal on himself, which barely did anything—he cursed his weak Life affinity—Simon himself rushed to Cubirah and Barbas to heal them. “Megah–”

“Not me!” Barbas grunted angrily as he rose to his feet, more furious than hurt. He charged after Beatrice to assist her, leaving Simon to tend to Cubirah’s wounds.

“Thank you, Simon,” Cubirah thanked him upon recovering. “Let’s stay at the back and cover them with Starshot.”

Simon nodded and proceeded to obey, moving to the side while incanting his prayer. Beatrice was slashing across Exodeos’ chest with her sword, her latest blow leaving a miasma-leaking gash a few inches beneath the miasma crystal. Perhaps she had hoped eviscerating the demon would cause him to spit out Silence, but if so, her hopes were swiftly dashed.

“Banisher,” Exodeos cast, his finger pointed at Beatrice.

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A rift in the fabric of space suddenly opened right beneath Beatrice’s feet. She stumbled into a pit of cosmic darkness and starlight before she could realize what was going on, the rift closing behind her.

The sudden loss of their leader caused Simon to clench his jaw, but neither Barbas nor Cubirah halted their assault. The large templar impaled Exodeos through the gash Beatrice opened earlier, skewering the archdemon on his greatsword and lifting him upwards.

“Fire!” Cubirah ordered Simon. “Blast him!”

Simon clenched his jaw and fired a Starshot spell alongside Cubirah. Their projectiles blasted off parts of Exodeos, including his left arm and part of his shoulder. A droning noise echoed from inside the rusting husk of a demon and a light began to shine in his black hole of a face.

“White Hole.”

The light of death poured out of Exodeos’ face.

A mighty beam incinerated Barbas, dispelling his Templar armor, vaporizing the flesh off his bones, and then atomizing those in turn. He then turned his baleful stare at the surviving Templars, his energy ray crossing the platform in an instant.

Simon and Cubirah both ducked to the ground, but the latter was unfortunately closer to the beam’s origin point than Simon. The light pulverized everything above the waist, leaving smoking legs to kneel onto the stone.

Well… Simon thought grimly, fists clenched in both anger and annoyance. At least there’s no witnesses left, I suppose…

“Your allies fought well, child,” Exodeos said, the light in his helmet drowning into darkness again, “But the inevitable cannot be avoided.”

“I agree,” Simon conceded as he bolted to his feet, his free hand raised at the archdemon. “Devil’s Arm.”

His arm extended across the platform and his nails lengthened into shadow-infused claws. They grabbed and dug into a surprised Exodeos’ chest around his miasma crystal, drawing out a grunt of pain.

“You said justice was annihilation, demon?” Simon asked as he put on the Overlord, his Dreadful Aura radiating from him in waves of terror. “You’re wrong. In my land, justice is submission.”

And to punctuate his words, he forced Exodeos to the ground with his unnatural strength, slamming his knees against the cold, hard floor. He then followed that up with a Hellthunder and electrocuted the archdemon. Crimson lightning coursed through broken gears and steel plates.

“Argh…” Exodeos grunted in pain and pointed a finger at Simon. “Banisher!”

Simon immediately leapt to the side before a rift could open beneath his feet, though the sudden movement allowed Exodeos to wrench himself free from his Devil’s Arm. Simon’s limb regained its normal length and his enemy rose back up for a new round of battle.