The Demon King Used the "Block the Beginner's Village Gate" Move on the Newbie Hero (Part 2)

Artoria nodded thoughtfully. She had heard some of this information before, so it wasn't surprising. She made her decision at once. "Then I'll take him down myself. Since he's here, I'll capture him now and give him no chance to use the Book of Falsehood!"

As for gathering important information, they could do that after capturing him alive—if they could capture him alive!

Artoria charged forward, rushing straight at Uryu Ryunosuke.

She was incredibly fast. Though they were more than two hundred meters apart, she reached Uryu Ryunosuke in just a few breaths and swung at his legs.

Uryu Ryunosuke had been smiling. He paused for a moment, then smiled even more delightedly.

At that instant, several shadows suddenly appeared and lunged at Artoria.

Artoria saw them and had no choice but to abandon her attack on Uryu Ryunosuke and defend herself instead, following up with several slashes.

A series of crisp cutting sounds rang out, and Artoria cut down the attackers.

Looking closely, they were lumps of flesh with squid-like tentacles, resembling giant flower buds.

Artoria recognized them at a glance.

They were creations of the Church of Mysterious Words, wretched beings twisted beyond recognition by the power of a mysterious object, which fused and transformed humans with other creatures. These monsters were called the Void Kin.

The introduction to the Church of Mysterious Words devoted a great deal of space to these monsters, because they invariably appeared alongside members of the church. They were the church's servants.

Heh heh heh heh~

The monsters let out low, grating shrieks that rattled the mind. This was one of their abilities, named Sound of Madness. Anyone who heard it would have their reason clouded, becoming irritable and prone to losing control.

But to Artoria, the sound was merely unpleasant. It couldn't affect her mood or thoughts.

The protection bestowed by her inheritance had become a tangible attribute: Artoria possessed Magic Resistance at Rank A. Against enemies, this greatly reduced the effects of magical attacks. Against the Mystery, it rendered effects that influenced the mind and will almost entirely ineffective.

So to Artoria, these monsters were just a disgusting mob, like Slimes in a traditional RPG—weaklings a newbie could cut down with ease.

There were simply too many of them. They kept pouring out without end, blocking Artoria from getting within striking distance of Uryu Ryunosuke.

Uryu Ryunosuke held the Book of Falsehood in his hands and smiled with delight, speaking in a strangely bewitching voice. "Ahhh~ What a beautiful figure~ King Arthur~ A force belonging to humanity, belonging to the planet~ So beautiful~ Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful~"

"Such a beautiful~ exceptional~ perfect human~ Ah~ This is the finest gift for my Lord~ Lord~ Great Lord~ Perfect Lord~ Supreme Lord~ Surely you can..."

As he spoke, Artoria clearly felt a force of Mystery's Will trying to invade her consciousness and forcibly alter her thoughts.

But under her Rank A Magic Resistance, this mental pollution—which ordinary people couldn't resist—had no effect on her. At most, it made her feel a little sluggish.

The endless stream of Void Kin was the only thing holding Artoria back, preventing her from reaching Uryu Ryunosuke.

Just as the standoff continued, a gunshot rang out like thunder. With a splat, it blew apart the body of a Void Kin that had rushed up beside Artoria, trying to ambush her.

Artoria was taken aback. She immediately looked back and saw Baal, in the distance, resting a sniper rifle on a car hood. Her precise, deadly shot had helped her.

At the same time, the Nine-Tailed Fox Squad, already in position at various advantageous points, opened fire. Bullets streaked through the air with a steady succession of gunshots, hitting every targeted Void Kin without fail.

Though these monsters were creatures of the Mystery, shaped by mysterious objects, they weren't immune to modern firearms. The very purpose of elite combat units like the Nine-Tailed Fox Squad was to deal with the cannon fodder created by such objects.

If modern weapons truly had no effect at all, countries wouldn't have formed specialized elite units to fight the Mystery.

With the reinforcements joining the fight, Artoria's view and path forward cleared at once. She charged toward Uryu Ryunosuke, while the restrained Void Kin could no longer effectively stop her.

Faced with this, Uryu Ryunosuke's expression twisted with madness. "Ahhh~ Worthless mortals~ Trash mortals~ Worthless mortals~ Why, why, why? Why do you insects keep getting in my way? Die, die, die~ Worthless things~ You can all die~"

As he spoke, the Book of Falsehood in his hands began flipping rapidly on its own, its pages turning like the counter on a money-counting machine.

The book seemed to be made from the skin of some creature. Whether it was the clichéd human skin, who could say?

As the book's pages turned at incredible speed, formless and intangible power—the power of the Mystery—spread along with ultrasonic waves, instantly engulfing Baal and the others.

Everyone immediately looked uncomfortable. They were all wearing earmuffs, but these mysterious sound waves couldn't be blocked by purely physical means. The Void Kin they were holding back also slowed at once.

But at that very moment, Artoria's magical energy surged into her sword. She let out a shout and thrust it forward with all her strength.

Whoosh!

A golden beam burst from the blade like a laser and struck Uryu Ryunosuke's book almost instantly. A huge hole appeared in the book, and the blast tore apart his right hand as well.

More Void Kin blocked Artoria again, but with the Book of Falsehood damaged, its effects on Baal and the Nine-Tailed Fox Squad vanished. They immediately joined the effort to help Artoria once more.

Meanwhile, their spirits soared.

"Huh?" Uryu Ryunosuke stared blankly down at his right hand, as if he hadn't yet realized what had happened. A moment later, his face twisted. He clutched his right arm with his left hand and screamed, "Aaaahhh~ My book! Aaaaahhh~"

It was a pitiful cry—painful to hear, and oddly satisfying.

At least Artoria felt no sympathy. She was simply glad.

But just then, Uryu Ryunosuke abruptly stopped screaming and grinned crookedly. "Ah, I tricked you~ Hahahahaha~~~~"

As he spoke, he spread his arms, his face alight with fervor. "That's right, just like this, exactly like this~ Everything I am~ my fate~ my soul~ has been waiting for this moment~ How many years has it been~ How many years, exactly~ Ah~ Great Lord~ Now I offer you everything I have~ and put an end to the mortals' foolish hope~"

"Ah~ Maiden who bears the name of King Arthur~ Look up at the sky~ My Lord~ has descended~"

As he spoke, the shattered book suddenly rose into the air and attached itself to Uryu Ryunosuke.

At the same time, his body was rapidly consumed. It rotted before their eyes, exposing flesh and bone, then transformed into a mass of pure filth that shot into the sky, and then...

Boom~

It exploded~

In an instant, the sky shrouded by the Mystery Domain collapsed. A vast, writhing thing tore through the heavens, broke through space, and descended.

Reality tottered on the brink. A distortion that rewrote reality engulfed the entire area and began spreading rapidly. Centered on the wealthy district, Chiba City started to fall under its shadow.

At the same time, every anti-Mystery monitor across Yingzhou blared its most piercing alarm. Terrifying sirens rang through every major institution like mournful cries.

At the Supernatural Disaster Countermeasures Office, Murata Himeko's eyes widened. Her body trembled slightly, her face had gone pale, and her expression was full of disbelief.

The giant screen in the Operations Department showed the Mystery's disaster level.

Level Five Mystery!

It was the same terrifying Mystery that had destroyed an African nation not long ago—the most powerful one humanity had ever detected.

Codename: Star Corruptor!

A true calamity. A truly terrifying being, one that couldn't be destroyed even with a hydrogen bomb!

It also had an identity unknown to humanity.

One of the original five members of the Church of Mysterious Words, the High Priest representing "Language"—a monster that had fully transformed into a higher Mystery.

Now it had arrived. Just as Artoria had only just become a supernatural being, it had swooped in and pinned her down.

A true hero had barely made it out of the newbie village, and the evil faction, with multiple demon kings at its disposal, had air-dropped one of them to block the village gates.