Brave Soul of Evil Supremacy-Chapter 174: Last Bet

　Ryuna is taken to the altar, and the evil ritual begins.

　"You should be honored. You will be sacrificed to the Lord, the true ruler of the world. Become the foundation for the resurrection of the old world."

　"Ugh..."

　Rudanaga grabs Ryuna's arm and leads her to an altar in the middle of the desert.

　She is just like in a nightmare. It is as if she is following a script he has been given.

　Veinrune, the demon who brought Ryuna here, is standing a short distance away against a rocky hill, watching the ritual with a bored look on his face.

　"......!"

　Soon, the smell of blood pierced her nose.

　Around the altar, the corpses of children are piled up.

　The number of people and faces seem to differ from those in the dream... Still, pale souls come out of their mouths with wailing sorrows.

　""""AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!""""

　The gates of the other world are opened, using the children's souls as an energy source.

　The cage that the goddess has kept the evil god locked in is about to be opened.

　The sun's total eclipse has weakened the blessings of the goddess from the earth.

　This is the moment that Rudanaga, the fourth heavenly king of the demon army, and the servant of the evil god, has been waiting for for a thousand years.

　'OGJRG`J`R'PIT`SVJ+GR`H*}=FJEWG*EJGGE`IEG!'

　"OH, OHHHHHHHHH...! You've returned! My Lord! The ruler of the old world, the great god Illyanka Noburunaga!"

　The head of a snake with a woman's dry upper body on its forehead emerges from the gate of the other world, which has been opened by the evil ritual.

　For Ryuna, it was a scene she had seen many times. It was a recurring nightmare.

　"Sister... Father..."

　Ryuna looks up at the head of the evil god as if it were someone else's problem, and in her mind, she thinks of the faces of her loved ones.

　"And... Baskerville-sama..."

　The last thing out of her mouth was the name of the man she loved.

　The past few days' events play like a racehorse in Ryuna's mind.

　She remembers one day in the oasis when a man suddenly fell from the sky and saw her naked.

　She watched the battle between her angry sister and her loved one with a sense of dread.

　She spent several days together in the dungeon, fighting a monster.

　And when she crawled into the bed where he was sleeping, she could hardly sleep because her heart was pounding.

　'+PUFJEUP*HG{=WIGF*B}RBHOW'EGJ+{!}'

　"......"

　The mouth of the evil god was opened to the limit. Numerous human arms extend from inside the torn mouth.

　They are the arms of the humans who have been eaten and killed by this evil god. They reach out to Ryuna in search of new friends.

　"......"

　Ryuna bit her back teeth. The poison is already there.

　She had put it there just before she began her journey before Shakuna took her from the temple.

　And the poison she put in her back teeth for this moment. Now is the time to drink it.

　If she drinks the poison, she can prevent the resurrection of the evil god as she had dreamed. The evil god will be returned to the other world, and this land will be saved.

　But... Ryuna hesitated to bite into it.

　"......Baskerville-sama"

　She mumbles the name of a man who is not here.

　But she knows... he won't be here.

　Maybe he's on his way to help her, but he won't make it in time.

　Unless he can teleport himself, he won't be able to stop the ritual.

　Now, the only way was to drink the poison...it was a known truth.

　"Still, I want to live...... "

　But even so, Ryuna still refused to commit suicide.

　With her hands raised, she opens her mouth without biting down on the poison in her back teeth.

　"I will not die. I will not let cruel fate kill me! I will bet my life...and the world, on Baskerville-sama shattering my destiny!"

　Ryuna says with a big smile.

　Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rujanaga's doubtful face as he laughs at the sacrifice just before her death.

　But...he doesn't care about that and raises his lips proudly to the approaching evil god as if he has nothing to fear.

　"I'm not your food! I won't let you eat me! So...stay cooped up there forever!"

　'{~GOWGI}WHKJW}#TE23-^TGBN*ETW~=HJS}W?'

　Countless hands reach out from the evil god's mouth and grab Ryuna's body.

　The terrifying force almost pulls her into the huge stomach... yet, Ryuna's smile remains.

　"I believe! I believe in my beloved... I believe Baskerville-sama's victory!"

　"Well... you barked a lot!"

　"......!"

　She heard the familiar voice. The voice of the man she longed to hear, beating against her eardrums.

　And the same time, the arm that was about to drag the poor sacrifice into the mouth of the snack is severed, and Ryuna's body is held by someone.

　"You, the hostage, have endured... I must show some guts too! The evil god or the snake god or whatever he is... you can die!"

　"Baskerville-sama...!"

　A young man wearing an aura of evil-like armor appeared as if he had come out of hell.

　That is to say... Zenon Baskerville held Ryuna's body in his arms and swung his sword at the evil god.