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--
A little earlier
...
'It seems they got here before I did. But where's Mumulbur?' Elizabeth materialized out of a shadow, watching the Berkley estate from afar.
He must be gathering a large army while heading here. Elizabeth could think of a few monster zones that lie between the camp the undead appeared in and the empire. This is why it's best to travel by airship since you can't avoid going through the monster zones unless you take a separate path that will take considerably longer to navigate.
"Everyone seemed to be safe." Elizabeth turned into a shadow and jumped onto one of the estate's defensive walls.
'The area is strangely quieter than everywhere else… This gives Lauran some time to recover her mana.' Elizabeth just finished her thought when someone teleported next to her.
And speak of the devil.
"Ms. Elizabeth." Unsurprisingly, Lauran appeared next to her, "Were you able to help everyone?"
She nodded.
"Mumulbur regenerated before I revived them but he didn't care about exterminating their souls. I think his sole purpose is you."
A frown appeared on Lauran's face, "I don't understand… What's so important about me?"
"You're a vessel of some kind. You have the potential to hold infinite life energy or mana. This is a trait all Archmages share from what I know."
"Then I'm no different from Lady Freya then! Why am I the one being chased!?"
"I think that's exactly the reason why. Freya is already the strongest mage in the world, whereas you only have your potential. You're the easier target."
A necromancer with dark magic versus a pure arcane arts magic user, who happens to be the Archmage. The victor would be difficult to say. Freya specializes in all categories of magic, like destruction, non-elemental, elemental, etc. She also has the greater firepower.
But Mumulbur probably has lots of powerful dark magic spells as well that could rival hers. It's unknown how many ranks he can cast, though. Someone as old and experienced as him would be a pain to fight even if you have the upper hand.
"…Ms. Elizabeth, are necromancers invincible once they reach your level?"
She shook her head, "Not really. But we can revive ourselves by placing a certain rune called [Return by Death]. It takes a considerably long time to put one on oneself and there are requirements that must be met. I haven't even managed to put one on my soul yet. It's an arduous process and I don't know how long it would take for every necromancer. Goddess Aedri, the goddess I am an incarnation of, seems to know him and he fought Hero Promethius centuries ago so he must be close to a thousand years old right now. Who knows how many runes he placed on himself?"
"…I have to kill him as many times as the number of runes he placed on himself? Over the past thousand years…?"
"Yes..."
She noticed Lauran trembling slightly with clenched fists, "I can barely control my spells efficiently and almost exhausted all my mana with all those Fifth and Sixth-Rank spells I used. How am I supposed to beat a thousand-year-old necromancer?"
"I'm sorry… I don't know. Maybe the Holy Sword has a skill that can seal Mumulbur away but neither of the heroes can use it right now."
It definitely can seal him away. How else did he lose to Promethius hundreds of years ago then? However, there's something else to consider: a necromancer this old, wise and powerful would certainly have contingency plans.
As such, Elizabeth thinks he might have other ways of staying alive. The Death rune was definitely consumed, probably to test Lauran's capabilities or exhaust her, but he might even be able to use other people's bodies as some kind of fuel.
Or in game terms: life bars.
Elizabeth grabbed Lauran's trembling hand, making her jump a bit.
"It's going to be okay."
Lauran smiled even in this chaos.
A boom echoed in the distance. The girls could spot a behemoth monster trying to break through the cathedral's barrier. But a gigantic magic circle manifest and blasted a ray of energy that took the monster's upper body clean off.
"I… I want to go help her but… if Mumulbur decided to go there, I'll be troubling her…"
"Stay with Luke. Mumulbur might be an ancient undead but he's not immune to divine power. He'll tread carefully when confronting Luke."
"What will you do?"
"I need to make sure Arnold's family gets to safety first."
At that moment, Elizabeth and Lauran felt a presence so oppressive, they stopped breathing. Their instinct wasn't to run, but to stay completely still, as if a predator that only reacts to sound was breathing down their necks.
Two cold but soft hands—the hands of a woman—was placed on their necks. It was unnervingly gentle.
Her feminine scent entered their nostrils as her warm breath tickled their cheeks.
"Humans are a lower species but they always produce such beautiful little toys," licking Lauran's cheek, the voice said with a melodious tone in her voice, "If you two don't interfere then I won't kill you, fufu."
**
· Lilith
· Title: Brynhildr Selia Bloodforth's Creation
· Species: Succubus (Clone of Succubus Queen)
· Level 100
Neither could think to cast a spell or run even though the hands holding their necks weren't forceful.
They could only tremble.
"Oh, where are my manners. My name is Zathriel the Blackened. I'm the newest lord serving the Demon King."
She bit Lauran's ear, making the girl tremble like she was thrown naked into an icy lake.
'Ahhh, seeing their scared expressions is making my nether regions hot.' Her mouth drooled considerably and she had to awkwardly squeeze her legs shut.
She didn't know she liked seeing humans scared.
"H-Hey you! Let them go!" a boy's voice came from below, holding a sword too big for his body.
"Oh? You want to challenge me, little boy?"
Nait glared at her without flinching.
He doesn't have warrior sense yet or have experience in battle so he couldn't really tell the level between them. All he saw was a "pretty lady" who scared the girls.
"I-I'll kill you if you hurt them!"
'Where did this brat even come from? His signature is so insignificant that I couldn't detect it. I shouldn't hurt him too much but I should at least play the part of a demon lord.'
"Minion." Said Lilith.
"—Yes, my lady." A woman with ash-gray skin, a mask over her entire head with only her mouth and nose visible, revealing her cherry-colored lips, dressed in skimpy attire that hid almost none of her curves and barely covered her breasts, appeared in front of the boy.
Lilith's master has scolded her a lot for putting her servants in such revealing clothes but Lilith can't help it since she's a clone of that depraved succubus queen who likes to see the bodies of others, even if it's a man or woman. All her servants look like they're from some strip club.
"Deal with this child. He will become a great addition for our human farm."
Hearing that made Nait's eyes widen.
'Don't hurt him, C1. Just restrain him somewhere else.'
'Yes, My Lady.'
Hearing that, Lauran gritted her teeth. This woman had a presence as great as Mumulbur and just like back then, it will take lots of courage for her to even lift a finger.
Since she only drank the potions the mages from before gave her a moment ago, it will take a while for her mana to actually recover. The liquid isn't raw mana so it needs to be infused into her body.
In short, she's helpless.
Nait charged at the skimpily-dressed minion with the iron sword in his hand.
She simply chanted a Telekinesis spell, stopping him in place. Then she lifted him up like he was a baby, pressing his face into her breasts.
"Ugh! Let me go! Don't be a coward—" he was taken away with teleportation.
**
Luke stared blankly as Norn's body was slowly mutating into something grotesque.
The black fog from the maid's shattered vial had surged up Norn's nostrils and down her throat like a living parasite, violently corrupting her from the inside out. Sickly, pulsating black veins spiderwebbed across her pale skin, throbbing in time with the deafening ringing that was currently washing over the entire empire.
Her eyes—the warm, gentle eyes of the childhood friend he had loved for as long as he could remember—rolled back into her skull. When they snapped back down, the whites had bled into a pitch-black void, and her pupils glowed with a toxic, unnatural violet luminescence.
"L-Luke...?"
Her voice gurgled out.
She reached a trembling hand toward him, but before she could take a single step forward, her spine bowed backward at an impossible, agonizing angle.
Crack. Snap.
The sickening sound of her bones breaking and instantly fusing back together in jagged, wrong directions echoed through the doorway. Norn let out a choked gasp that warped into an earsplitting, wet shriek. Her delicate fingers elongated violently, the skin tearing at the tips as thick, obsidian talons burst forth in a spray of crimson.
Luke's mind completely shattered.
He wanted to scream.
He wanted to swing his sword.
He wanted to rip the shadowy maid away from her. But the suffocating, gravity-like aura radiating from Zathriel still held him firmly in place, turning him into a helpless spectator to his own personal nightmare.
Norn fell to her knees, her clothes tearing apart as masses of dark, corrupted muscle and chitinous armor erupted from beneath her skin. Her jaw unhinged with a wet tear, splitting her cheeks all the way up to her cheekbones. Rows of razor-sharp, needle-like fangs aggressively pushed out her human teeth, which clattered bloodily against the stone floor.
The horrific metamorphosis accelerated. Extra joints snapped into place along her arms and legs, bending her limbs into those of a predatory beast. The black fog oozed from her now-monstrous maw, evaporating into the air like acidic steam.
The sweet girl he had sworn to protect was gone. In her place stood a hunched abomination dripping with dark miasma.
From the courtyard, Zathriel watched the spectacle unfold. An unfeeling chuckle escaped the demon lord's lips, her grip not loosening in the slightest on the necks of the petrified Elizabeth and Lauran.
"Oh my," Zathriel mused, her beautiful features twisting into a sadistic smile. "It seems your fragile little friend couldn't handle our gift. What a pity."
Luke couldn't hear her taunts. The overwhelming presence of the demon lord, the impending death of Lauran and Elizabeth, and the monster standing where the love of his life had been just seconds ago finally pushed him over the edge. His grip failed him entirely, and his sword slipped from his numb fingers, clattering uselessly against the ground.
The monster hovered over him, acid dripping from its razor-sharp jaw. But as the talon raised to split him open, the creature froze, trembling violently. A choked, gurgling sound echoed through its throat—a faint, agonizing whisper striking straight into Luke's mind.
"…L-Luke… kill… me…"
It was Norn. Trapped inside that nightmare, using her last shred of soul to beg for death.
Something inside Luke's mind didn't just break; it shattered beyond repair.
Luke looked up at Elizabeth, hoping for some kind of answer—
Can she be saved…?
Elizabeth averted her eyes.
"…" his head lowered.
The grief was too massive, the horror too absolute. His sanity disintegrated into jagged, empty pieces. A quiet laugh escaped his throat.
He stared up at the abomination with bloodshot eyes as his laughter stopped.
If the universe permitted this to happen to Norn, then the universe was wrong. The demons weren't just enemies—they were a blight that needed to be erased from creation.
His dormant Hero power didn't awaken as a soft, noble light. It detonated like a dying star.
A terrifying, blinding torrent of golden flame exploded from his chest, tearing the earth apart and instantly vaporizing Zathriel's oppressive aura. The sheer heat turned the stone floor beneath him to molten glass. His sword flew into his hand, vibrating violently as it fed on his shattered, murderous intent.
Luke slowly rose to his feet. The gentle boy who wanted to protect everyone was dead. In his place stood an apex predator with glowing, unblinking eyes that held no warmth—only pure, insane malice.
He looked at the creature that used to be his love, then turned his gaze toward Zathriel. A chilling, vacant smile spread across his face.
"Every single one," Luke whispered, a soft, broken giggle lacing his words. "Every demon... every rotten, wretched beast from the abyss..."
He raised his blazing sword, the golden light turning jagged and volatile. The force of his intent alone caused the walls of the estate to crack and the brilliance of his golden aura overwhelmed the red sky.
"I won't stop until I've slaughtered your entire race," he promised, his voice echoing like a death sentence. "I will burn down the underworld, tear apart your realm, and erase every last one of you from existence."
**
'His level didn't even increase and he's this strong!?' gritting her teeth, Lilith gained some distance and took out her Star-Class items.
First, she put on the armor Selia gave her.
· Urion's Divine Resist Armor (replica)
Then she consumed a few buffing pills purchased from the Star Shop that increased her defense and agility.
'Although I have no natural weaknesses to divine power as I am a genetic clone born from an artificial womb, even Star-class items won't be able to handle attacks from him. I'll have to give it my all.'
Since he doesn't have the Holy Sword's insane buff, she should be able to take him on in a fight. It will be a close one, though.
'I wish I could just run but I need to act the part and keep the hero busy for a bit.'
Luke was now a leaky faucet that was trying to resist the water pressure going up the pipe. Or would it be more accurate to describe him as a dam that's about to crumble?
Lilith is trying to force that dam to break.
She manifested her Star-Class magic sword.
"Come, Hero. I'll have some fun with you and go see that Arnold fellow after, fufu."
"I WON'T LET YOU TOUCH ANYONE ELSE I LOVE!" the ground caved in where he stood but upon blinking, she noticed he vanished.
Lilith sensed him behind her so she hurriedly blocked with a Star-Class magic shield.
The strike was so heavy, she almost lost control of the shield. Though she could withstand the blow, she was still sent crashing through several buildings.
"Ugh." She threw rubble off herself, "I should keep him here and far away from that Lauran girl."
If he's near Lauran, it'll be impossible for that undead named Mumulbur to carry out his plans.
Luke's crashed down on the building like a meteor, destroying every building on this block. With the Star-Class shield, Lilith could block the attack, but his aggressive attack pattern—no different from that of a monster's—made counterattacking impossible.
What complicates this fight is that she shouldn't fight him seriously to kill him. She's been getting rusty not fighting after all these years so that's a big ask. Lilith has an administrative role in their nation so she rarely fights.
"Careful there, Hero." Lilith turned into black smoke while Luke was standing in the middle of the debris, then materialized on one of the support pillars of the ruined building, "You don't want to hurt your precious childhood friend, do you? Who knows, she can still be saved~"
"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" His bloodcurdling scream almost made her go deaf.
"Ugh!" he landed a solid hit on her stomach. Though the Star-Class armor could absorb the damage, most of the shockwave was sent right through her body.
'As expected, a champion of the gods is different from ordinary humans!'
He's even stronger than every level cap NPC she's ever faced over the years.
Even though he couldn't fly, Luke jumped and reached Lilith's altitude again, "Hump!" she shot out black chains of mana and spun around, gaining lots of momentum before throwing him back down.
The ground collapsed and a sinkhole formed in the middle of the street. Before she could catch a breath, Luke sent a beam of energy straight up at her, which she narrowly dodged.
Another one was sent flying at her, which she blocked by spinning her spear with Telekinesis, making the energy blast change trajectory to a random part of the district.
When the dust cleared, she found Luke gathering a huge amount of golden energy around him. When she blinked, he vanished but she sensed him behind her.
This won't be an attack she'll be able to block easily.
"Are you really going to sacrifice the lives of tens of thousands just for your revenge?" Lilith taunted, a sly smile gracing her lips.
Luke's feral scream choked in his throat. He looked down. At the edges of the ruined street, commoners were looking up at his golden light with tearful, hopeful expressions. They had no idea that the raw density of his amassed aura would incinerate them all if he unleashed it.
His face violently twitched. He dropped his hands to clutch his head, his golden eyes flickering wildly as his sanity fractured.
"I… I'm not like you!" Luke screamed to the empty air, his voice cracking with desperation. Then, his face twisted into a vicious snarl, his tone dropping into an unfamiliar growl. "But she killed her! She killed our Norn! Why are you hesitating?!"
"No, no, they're innocent—"
"She won't give them mercy! Burn her! Burn it all!"
The dam burst.
As Luke writhed mid-air, groaning loudly and paralyzed by his own splintering psyche, Lilith's smile widened. The boy's awakening had far exceeded her expectations, making him entirely too dangerous to fight directly, but his fragile human mind was tearing itself apart. Wrapping herself in dark mana, the "demon lord" slipped quietly into a spatial rift, leaving the broken Hero to scream at the ghosts inside his own head.