Nephilim, High Priest of the Sun God Faith

He was surprised that Owen was an assassin, but as they say, it takes one to know one.

Finn had taken charge of her, so he'd leave it to her.

He'd have to give her a bonus later.

The fact that she moved out alone meant she'd judged it was an opponent she could handle.

By drawing Owen away, they could focus on the large man here.

The problem was that the midsummer-like temperature was sapping their stamina.

Finn's endurance was good enough that she wouldn't run out easily, but the longer this dragged on, the worse it would get.

… A pure white robe with a sun embroidered in gold thread.

And a massive khakkhara.

The man's sheer size had thrown him off at first, but looking at the distinguishing features, it was obvious he was a high priest of the Sun God.

It was an outfit he'd seen many times at the church in Kassad.

"Good thing I made it in time. To imitate the god's realm, even on a small scale… He may have recovered more power than I thought. As long as I'm here, I won't let a sneak attack like that through."

"I want to ask about that, but… it can wait."

"I don't really care either way. The secret to a long life is not knowing too much."

Elza glared at the large man called Nephilim while holding up her rosary.

Alexia seemed curious but immediately shifted her focus.

Aogiri didn't seem interested in anything unrelated to the job.

"I can't move since I'm blocking the blessing and neutralizing his power. I'll leave the rest to you."

"Understood. He tried to burn Master, didn't he? Then I won't hold back."

Azu drew her sword and stepped forward.

She seemed unusually fired up.

"I sense the accursed power of the Creator King's Apostle. But it is immature. So an immature Apostle and a priestess have survived."

Nephilim lowered the khakkhara he'd raised to the heavens and looked at Azu and Elza with dead, ghost-like eyes.

He didn't seem to care about the others.

"Even though the tide has already turned, refusing to give up isn't limited to the Ash King. Because of that, we haven't been able to secure enough shrine maidens."

The Ash King. The monster that had once been an ancient nation's king, the one Elza and Azu had encountered in the catacombs.

He'd been a believer of the Creator King faith, if he recalled correctly.

Apparently he'd been doing various things against the Sun God faith without their knowledge.

"I ventured out to secure new shrine maidens and encounter this… I don't know whether to call it good luck or bad."

Nephilim brought his right hand to his chin and stroked it.

He seemed to be thinking about what to do.

Quite the condescending attitude.

Did being so huge naturally make you that way?

"If you're not going to come, we'll go to you. Fortunately, I've had time to prepare. Azu, and you. I'll leave the front line to you."

"You got it."

"Yes."

Seeing that Nephilim wasn't making a move, Alexia took it as an opportunity and pointed her battle-axe's head at him.

Multiple fire lances were conjured by magic and launched simultaneously.

That was the signal. Aogiri and Azu charged in.

Nephilim gripped his khakkhara and swung it to deflect the fire lances.

He seemed to be brute-forcing his way through the magic with raw power.

Or perhaps that khakkhara had some special effect.

The moment the fire lances were deflected, they scattered like a smokescreen in small fragments.

Using that cover, Azu kicked off the ground, gripped her sword with both hands, and drew it back as far as it would go, nearly touching her feet.

Then she brought it down with all her might.

Nephilim tried to block that strike with his khakkhara.

"Ngh!?"

He started with one hand, but seeing it wouldn't hold, switched to both.

His abnormally long arms were forced back in one push, and he barely stopped the blade just before it touched his head.

"That eye. You are the inheritor of Apostle Justitia!"

Nephilim shouted in the midst of their struggle of strength.

He must have seen Azu's right eye shimmering with rainbow colors.

Elza had said that was the source of the Apostle's power.

Azu's attack didn't end with being blocked.

The Sealed Sword Grungaus responded to Azu's mana and launched a follow-up.

Whether he sensed the invisible blade released from the sword, he tried to dodge by leaning his body back sharply, but it gouged his left shoulder. With no one to block her anymore, Azu's sword fell to the ground.

"That's a strange technique you've got there, girlie."

Aogiri didn't miss the opening from Nephilim's badly broken stance. She drew her katana from its sheath and swung at his neck.

The katana's speed was too fast to see, and from Yohane's perspective, it looked like it would hit.

Nephilim must have thought the same.

He gave up evading and interposed his left arm.

His left arm was severed and flew through the air.

But the trajectory must have changed when it hit bone, because it didn't reach his neck.

Blood gushed out forcefully, but it stopped quickly. He must have used a healing miracle.

"Too bad. I thought that would finish it."

"… How insolent. This body has been offered to our god. To do this to it. Heretics truly cannot be allowed to live. You bring nothing but disaster."

"Have you forgotten what you people did?! Master nearly died because of you!"

Azu shouted as she readied her sword and ran.

She must be talking about when the Sun God faith's Temple Knight nearly killed him.

He'd really thought he was going to die then.

Azu had cut off the enemy's arm and saved him.

She was still holding a grudge over that incident and harboring anger toward the Sun God faith.

The saying goes that the victim never forgets, and Azu's anger seemed to be substantial.

"I know not what you speak of."

It wasn't something Nephilim had personal knowledge of.

There was no connection beyond them both being of the Sun God faith.

The only certainty was that Azu's anger was directed at him.

He couldn't block Azu's attacks with just one arm anymore.

This should be the end.

"It cannot be helped. I offer my left arm to my god. In exchange, I beg a miracle!"

When he raised his khakkhara, the left arm Aogiri had severed burst into flames.