The Extra Can't be A Hero

Chapter 255: Start of the Apocalypse (4)

"L-Lord Kieran, the infidels are attacking our base! Seeking backup!"

"Lord Kieran, our defences have been breached, we ask for help!"

"Lord Kieran, our thirty-second stronghold has fallen! We are retreating!"

"Lord Kie-...!"

As the night deepened, the Demon Cult's headquarters descended into chaos. One report after another flooded in like a relentless tide, each worse than the last.

Kieran, the Apostle of Domination, felt as though his very hair would fall out from the stress. Six hours had passed since Leon's daring rescue of Sir Arthur… and in that short span, the Cult's world had begun to crumble.

Before the Cult could even organise a countermeasure, Eldorin struck back with terrifying precision. Yue's Monarch-tier spirits, each one a being capable of matching an eight-circle mage, led the assaults with inhuman coordination. Entire bases, fortified with barriers, sentries, and mana obelisks, fell in mere minutes.

Those that survived the first wave did so barely, their defences in shambles and commanders either slain or scattered. By the sixth hour, more than ten strongholds had been reduced to smouldering ruins. Even now, the distant horizon glowed faintly red from the fires of their destruction.

Kieran clenched his fists as another messenger stumbled in, trembling with fear. The magatama ziggurats, vital conduits for their grand ritual, were falling like flies. Once they were lost, the Demon Cult's grand spell, decades in the making, would collapse entirely.

And Kieran knew that if this continued… their grand plan would undoubtedly fail.

"We can't delay this any longer… Release all of the Greater Demons and slow them down. We'll be casting the spell now."

Ideally, they would have waited one more day to connect all of the strongholds and add another layer of protection. With the Apostle of Lust and Grief on their side, they were able to summon and create legions of demons and Chaos Dolls to protect them while the spell was being cast.

But, with Eldorin evaporating their bases with ease, there was no time to hesitate. And to top it all off…

"L-Lord Kieran! T-The Hero! He's coming here as we speak!"

"The two Commanders who have been destroying our bases are with him!"

The cultists gave the grim report, completely adding to the Demon Cult's second-in-command's burden. At that moment, Kieran felt like his head was about to explode. Heaving out a heavy sigh, he gestured to the three other Apostles who remained by his side.

"Samael, Dante, Damien."

"Heh, you're in quite the pinch, huh?" Samael sneered. While he wasn't thrilled that the Demon Cult's plans were going awry, he enjoyed Kieran's suffering too much to care.

"As much as you thrive in chaos… Help us this time… please. We can't let the spell fail."

Kieran requested, nay, begged the Apostle of Chaos to see reason. Fortunately for him, the current most powerful Apostle was in the mood to aid in his time of need.

"Don't worry, if Starfall is cast, there would be more chaos in the world. That's enough for me to move. Besides, you said the Hero was here, ey? I'm keen to see him again!"

Although it hadn't been long since their last meeting, the Apostle of Chaos yearned to see him once more. The power he'd obtained from the Demon King had stabilised, and since Malachi, the old bag of bones, kicked the bucket, there was no one he could test those skills on.

The Hero and two Commanders would be a good start.

"Hmph, that mere hero dares interfere with our lord's plan!"

"We've yet to enact our revenge against him!"

As for Dante and Damien, the Twin Apostles of Vengeance, they still held a grudge against Leon due to the events of the Foolish Lich. They wished to get a piece of the pie too.

"Then, I'll leave them to you…"

Kieran watched his fellow Apostles depart, the echo of their footsteps fading into the dimly lit corridor. He wasted no time. Striding deeper into the sanctum, he reached the most secure chamber within the base… a place forbidden even to high-ranking cultists.

At its centre sprawled a massive, demonic formation, etched into the obsidian floor and faintly pulsing with malevolent energy. Around the formation stood a dozen miniature ziggurats, each one corresponding to a key stronghold across the capital. Tiny flags marked their positions on a sprawling map of Zephys. Yet even at a glance, Kieran could tell the damage was severe—almost a fifth of those flags had already turned to ash, consumed by Eldorin's unrelenting assaults.

And if he delayed any longer, more would surely follow.

He had no choice.

The formation had to be activated now.

Taking his seat upon the throne at the heart of the chamber, Kieran pressed his palm against its armrest. Crimson veins of light erupted beneath his touch, spreading like wildfire across the runic lattice. The demonic glyphs around him began to writhe and rearrange, whispering in a chorus of unintelligible tongues.

The ground trembled. From the throne's base, greyish-black mist surged forth, slithering across the map and coiling around the remaining strongholds. One by one, the miniature ziggurats ignited with that same spectral haze.

Then, as the ritual reached its peak, pillars of flame burst from the real ziggurats scattered throughout the capital—dark fires that pierced the heavens like infernal lances. And for the first time, every soul in Zephys felt it—the oppressive, suffocating presence of something not of this world breathing down their necks.

"Saintess, use the Holy Grail and break the barrier."

"..."

Ellahan resisted the order. Even though Nirvana, the Pope of the Utopia Church, had used the God Eyes on her, she was the bona fide Saintess. Putting on some form of resistance was to be expected.

Alas, her opponent wasn't the selfish and whimsical Nirvana anymore—it was the Apostle of Domination.

"Do it now!"

Overwhelmed by Kieran's dominating will, Ellahan lifted the Holy Grail and poured her Holy Power into it. An emerald radiance flooded the chamber, its brilliance so pure it seemed capable of burning away all evil. Yet despite the surge of divine energy, neither the ziggurats nor the cultists were harmed.

By Kieran's command, Ellahan was channelling her entire strength into a single purpose: forging a new barrier. This one wasn't meant to defend; it was designed to counter the ward woven by the Staff of Yiirun itself.

And as the two opposing powers clashed, the ancient barrier that had safeguarded the capital for generations began to waver. Holy light cracked and dimmed against the encroaching corruption, its centuries-old stability unravelling before their eyes.

But the Staff of Yiirun was not going to go down without a fight.

Mana surged from its inner core, forcing the magical barrier to regenerate continuously. It called upon the mages around its sanctum to repair the holes, while at the same time attempting to negate the Holy Power generated by the Holy Grail.

Holy power vs Magic.

It was a fight to the death to determine which was superior.

A sacred tear dripped down Ellahan's porcelain cheek as she embraced the Holy Grail. Even though her body was dominated, her subconscious was screaming at her to stop. Guilt overwhelmed the Saintess as she let out a final whimper:

'Oh, goddess… What have I done?'

"As expected of a Heroic-grade artefact… It won't die that quickly."

Kieran cracked a sly grin as he witnessed the two Heroic-grade artefacts go at each other. One was powered by the Saintess, who was basically made of Holy Power. While the other had to use mana from regular mages. It was evident which side would win the battle.

However, it would take some time.

"No, I can't be too greedy. With those brats closing in on us, we mustn't take any chances."

Even if the barrier wasn't entirely eradicated, its strength had been shattered. The once-impenetrable ward now flickered like a dying flame. At this level of weakness, a single casting of Starfall would be enough to wipe out half the capital without question.

But Kieran desired far more than destruction. He sought utter annihilation.

Demonic glyphs began to spiral out from his consciousness, etching themselves into the air around him. They shimmered and twisted like living serpents of shadow, encircling the Apostle in an ever-tightening vortex.

Across the city, every ziggurat—monuments built through countless human sacrifices—ignited one by one, becoming anchors of a colossal magic circle that spanned the entirety of Zephys.

All that mana. All that suffering. All that power.

It was now being drawn into Kieran.

The surge was unimaginable. In that instant, he transcended mortal limits, surpassing every mage in recorded history. His body quaked under the torrent of power as his mind brushed against the will of his patron—the Demon King, a god from beyond the dimensions.

The skies cracked open in response, and a rift tore through the fabric of space itself, pouring torrents of demonic essence into his soul. At the centre of that storm, Kieran stood—alone, radiant in blasphemous glory. In his current state, even the Prophet would struggle to oppose him.

And then… with every fibre of his being aflame, every thought consumed by ecstasy and ruin, the Apostle of Domination invoked the culmination of the Demon Cult's decades of preparation.

The ultimate spell—unleashed at last.

"Starfall."