Praise the Lord

The terrifying Inhabitant of the Lake, Glaaki, was a bizarre creature from the Dreamlands.

The essential difference between these bizarre creatures and the evil gods was whether they possessed Divine Authority to ascend to the supreme position. Therefore, even in the terrifying Dreamlands, mysterious creatures still fought over scattered Divine Authority, and Glaaki was one such loser.

Without a supreme will, no matter how powerful a mysterious creature was, it remained a mere mortal entity, existing on the same level as ordinary humans and still fearing mortal strength. Furthermore, the entity that had manifested in the mortal world now was merely one of Glaaki's avatars.

As if sensing the power condensing within the parchment, all of Glaaki's eyes turned toward Lynch at once. Countless bizarre gazes locked onto his movements, and its pale, bloated body writhed violently in an attempt to sink back into the deep pool to temporarily avoid his edge.

Fortunately, the vines were still there, and the blazing sun was still there.

Darkness, death, filth, and stench—Glaaki's powers complemented this ancient tomb perfectly, but both the brilliant sunlight and the vibrant plants were the natural banes of this shadowy monster.

The scorching sunlight not only suppressed the servants of Glaaki covering the ground, but it also caused green mist to rise from the monster's pale body. Within the mist, Glaaki's flesh began to rot away in large chunks as if corroded, and the rising blisters emitted a nauseating stench, leaving its body increasingly weak.

Under the suppression of the sunlight, the vines maintained a balance between snapping and growing, barely managing to bind the massive body to the surface of the pool. No matter how its bloated body writhed, it could not sink even a single centimeter, leaving it floating on the water's surface to face Lynch.

Lynch sprang into action.

Though I am weak, the power of money is mighty. Submit to the power of money, monster.

The parchment greedily absorbed the blood from his fingertip. As his finger pressed against the paper, it automatically drew a mysterious pattern. Guided by the pull of mystery, starlight began to twinkle across the ceiling, growing brighter and more conspicuous even against the backdrop of the blazing sun's radiance.

【Authority, Stars, Ability, Starlight Burst.】

One star after another lit up across the ceiling, their light converging into a single beam. Lynch drew the final stroke on the parchment, and with a point of his hand holding the paper, the concentrated beam of starlight shone directly onto the bloated body in the pool.

The starlight was dazzling.

In the next moment, a point of light lit up inside the monster's body like that first flash of creation. As its brightness surged, ray after ray of starlight spilled from within Glaaki, its brilliant radiance growing increasingly dazzling.

The rank six authority of Starlight Burst revealed the alluring charm of the dark night at this very moment.

It hit.

The daylight hanging high in the center, the twisted vines by the pool, and the humanoid flame dancing in the air—for a moment, these entities, though they possessed no physical eyes to speak of, focused all of their wills on the glowing starlight.

Lynch clenched his fists, equally filled with anticipation.

A rank six authority against a rank seven avatar—did they stand a chance?

No one knew, because something bizarre suddenly occurred.

Lynch felt his vision blur. Glaaki suddenly vanished from the pool, and his consciousness felt as though it had split in two.

One half of him was still standing in place, clenching his fists and waiting in anticipation for the effects of Starlight Burst, while the other half seemed to be standing in the deep pool, looking at himself on the shore.

It was as if he were standing by the pool, looking at his own reflection.

Furthermore, beside him, the reflections of the other three people were gathered neatly in a realistic fashion, watching the brilliant starlight detonate within the lake water together.

【Authority, Lake Water, Ability, Reflection in the Lake. Be careful: when fishing in a lake, do not spear your own reflection.】

Holy shit.

Before Lynch could even react, the starlight detonated.

The majestic power suddenly exploded, slamming into the physical forms of the four people and the monster.

In an instant, the light dimmed, the vines shattered, and the flames flickered. The physical Lynch was sent flying, crashing heavily against a stone pillar.

Intense pain racked his body, and it felt as if every bone in him had broken. At this moment, even breathing was agony for Lynch, and his vision was a blanket of white.

Damn it, he had been outsmarted by the monster. No wonder it was called the Inhabitant of the Lake; it actually possessed the authority of lake water.

Leaning against the stone pillar, Lynch struggled to focus his consciousness. He realized he had still underestimated these bizarre and unpredictable abilities. He had only thought of bombarding the enemy with high-powered attacks, yet a casual ability from the enemy had nearly taken him out. Fortunately, the previous Death Coil had enhanced his physical constitution—and a super-enhancement at that—otherwise, he might not have survived this hit.

Shaking his head forcefully to try and focus his eyes, Lynch barely managed to prop himself up, only to find that the situation was extremely dire.

Having suffered a sudden heavy blow, his companions were no longer able to suppress Glaaki's movements, and only a few of the vines wrapped around it remained.

This is bad. I have to think of something.

Yet the moment this thought arose, the situation changed once more.

When it rains, it pours.

Along with a writhing across Glaaki's surface, another wave of mysterious power rippled out from the lake monster's body.

【Authority, Lake Water, Ability, Inverted World. In the world of reflections in the lake, up is down; therefore, darkness is light.】

And so, light and darkness were inverted.

It was not that light had turned into darkness, but rather that darkness no longer feared the light.

Under the influence of this ability, the desiccated corpses that had been tightly suppressed by Rooney were slowly regaining their ability to move. In a few more minutes, thousands of servants of Glaaki would be fully active, and everyone would be torn to shreds by these mummified corpses.

Lynch felt the veins all over his body throbbing. Was this the power of a rank seven? It hadn't even made a serious move, yet with just two casual responses, it had plunged the four of them into a desperate situation. No wonder they said high-ranking experts crushed lower ranks. Damn it, what should they do?

“I still have a way.”

Seeing that things were going south, Rooney, who had been acting as a human sun, suddenly split off a much dimmer sphere of light to hang in the air while he solidified and dropped back to the ground. Without his suppression, the speed at which the servants of Glaaki regained their movement accelerated at a visible rate.

But Rooney did not even look at them. He immediately pulled out a thick notebook gleaming with golden light and pressed his palm hard against it.

“This is my transcribed Scripture of the Blazing Sun. Once activated, it can draw upon the Lord's radiance once, which is enough to break any of its abilities acting upon it. It is afraid of light, and the Lord's radiance will definitely purify it. Karl, you must find a way to help me control it, especially when I lunge forward to activate it. Do not let it release its spikes.”

“No problem. I'll do it even if it costs me my life. You two help as well.”

However, Lynch did not respond immediately. Instead, he reached out a hand toward the fiery Judy.

Understanding his intent, the fiery figure suddenly appeared beside Lynch and reverted to human form. Her still-steaming hand grabbed Lynch's wrist directly, sizzling with heat.

Fortunately, Lynch had already been pulled into the flame-filled crevice world, so he felt no pain. As for after he got out... he would worry about that later.

“Near a high concentration of mystery, the crevice is extremely unstable. Speak quickly, what is it?”

“Listen, I have an idea. I read its details. Its primary ability is lake water, and it's called the Inhabitant of the Lake. You also said yesterday that Glaaki wouldn't leave the center of the lake to hunt us down at the camp. So, does its existence depend on the lake water? Can the deep pool here also be conceptually understood as an underground lake, which is why it can exist?”

“Huh?”

“I'm thinking that if we boil away all the lake water, would we be able to expel this avatar?” Lynch said rapidly amidst the flames. “But I can't do it myself. I wanted to ask if you have a way.”

“It's not impossible, but the cost is high. Are you sure you want to do this? Isn't Rooney about to try his method? We can wait until he tries before deciding.”

“I'm not reassured. It's better to have a backup plan.” Lynch had not forgotten his previous worries. “We can wait on executing it, but it'll be too late to discuss it then.”

“Fine, but it will require your ring. And... you will lose it forever.”

“What about you?” Lynch asked in return. “I won't lose you too, will I?”

“Heh, I'm a cultist, you know. Don't worry, I won't die. I'll just completely lose my combat ability and need a few days to slowly recover.”

“Then let's do this...”

Lynch muttered rapidly within the crevice. Before he could finish, his spirit jolted, and his consciousness returned to his body.

Enduring the physical and emotional pain, Lynch gritted his teeth and pulled out several items, shoving them directly into Judy's hands. By this time, Rooney had already flipped open the holy scripture and begun to loudly chant the prayers of the Church of the Blazing Sun.

As a sacred aura enveloped them, the radiance from the scripture grew increasingly brilliant. From the surroundings of the glowing holy book, the faint sound of hymns could even be heard.

“Praise the Lord. Now!”

Rooney suddenly shouted, then charged straight toward Glaaki in the deep pool.

At the same time, the vines on Glaaki's surface suddenly erupted and multiplied endlessly. Layer upon layer, they tightly wrapped around the massive Glaaki, using the plant bodies to block any path for the spikes to shoot out.

Taking a final step, Rooney leapt into mid-air, lunging fiercely at Glaaki from above. At the same time, the scripture in his arms grew brighter and brighter, like a rising sun.

“Praise the Lord, the Lord's radiance shall surely—”

Yet just as Rooney was falling, the vines wrapping around Glaaki suddenly loosened completely, revealing the bizarre spikes beneath them that had long been poised to strike.