CHAPTER 354: RESOLUTION (7)

0% “—What the hell are you doing?!”

Pfft. That was the first time the punk’s ‘Iliya voice’ came out.

I’ve taken quite the beating since entering the Void Zone, but...

“-Ugh.”

Even I, who was used to all sorts of pain, couldn’t help but groan from the terrifying agony that kept coming at me.

The Demonic Auras that came from the Fallen’s Seal seeped into the Devils’ remains nearby. Those Auras then mixed into their bodies, blended together, and ‘resonated’, as if connecting themselves to me.

“What am I doing?”

I barely managed to spit out those words.

“Erasing your worries, of course.”

“What...?”

“Thanks for coming in with me. I probably couldn’t have made it this far alone.”

It was kinda funny to think about, but...

The only reason why I was able to get this far was because this punk was ‘fighting’ alongside me.

With Desperation, Iron Man, and her blatant help...

You could even say that she guided me here while pretending to fight me.

“What do you mean erasing my worries...?”

Obviously I was talking about the things she was always worrying about.

The power that the Devils possessed was too great, and there would always be humans trying to exploit it.

While yes, she beheaded all the Devil Worshippers when she crossed to this timeline, there was no guarantee that there wouldn’t be the second or third generations of Devil Worshippers in the future.

“...Human’s greed is way harder to get rid of than the Devils.”

“...You’re right.”

I answered her with a wry smile, and she calmly agreed with me.

“The Devils aren’t at fault, you know?”

“...”

“It’s those who’re trying to exploit them who are at fault. The Devils were just born that way.”

In short, her hostility was misplaced from the start.

Her choice to completely give up on changing what was bad and shifting to erasing the cause was no different from running away.

“—Then, what are you going to do?”

“It’s simple really.”

There was one more thing I had to thank this punk for.

After all, the idea for what I was about to do was provided by her.

A smirk appeared on my face.

I had said this before.

As a promise that I made to Eleanor a long time ago.

-I picked the Theology School to save you.

Back then, those words were just something I threw out to gloss over the situation, but in hindsight, those words weren’t entirely false either.

“—Mixing half of something with half of another thing would turn them into a mess, you know that?”

As I said that...

The ‘Divinity’ that flowed into the Fallen’s Seal mixed with the Demonic Aura and spread out like an explosion.

●

“Everyone on stand by, please prepare to enter in order!”

After Marquis Bogut said that, various reactions bursted out from the communicator.

[Wow, so this is a communicator?]

[As expected of a barbarian, you’ve never even touched one of these before, huh?]

[...You wanna say that again, punk?]

[Can you guys stop fighting for a second—?!]

“...”

Marquis Bogut let out a bitter smile at the chaos that erupted from just one sentence.

Seeing them causing a ruckus even in such an urgent situation, no one could tell whether they actually got along well, or just straight up hated each other’s guts.

One thing was clear though.

It was the fact that they could act this leisurely even though their lives could be in danger at any moment.

Probably because they have one clear focal point.

The thought of losing doesn’t even cross their minds.

Bogut thought so as he stroked his chin.

Considering the level of the enemies they were facing, there was no way they didn’t feel any sense of crisis. They were still humans, they were bound to feel such emotions.

And yet...

Not a single one of them seemed to think they were being driven into a corner.

...Probably because they’re all so strong.

Bogut suddenly felt a newfound respect for Dowd Cambell for leading these people and overcoming such crises until now...

“...Well, I’m probably overreacting a little.”

“...I dont think so.”

“Huh?”

“Unifying various people with such strong personalities isn’t just an ordinary feat.”

Huh, she got a point.

Anyway, the signal from Dowd and that Prophet person has vanished from the Void Zone ages ago.

We need to quickly deploy the Devil’s Vessels to sea—

“-Hm?”

At that moment, Marquis Bogut’s gaze detected something strange.

From the Tribal Alliance’s virtual screen battlefield display, ‘something’ seemed to have appeared in the middle of the Void Zone—an unobservable area until now.

“...”

He narrowed his eyes and stared at it intensely.

At first, it looked like a dot.

Then it turned into a line.

It then multiplied.

Into multiple layers.

And then...

“...?”

The ‘energy’ kept on expanding.

-!

-!!!!!

[-Error-!!!]

Soon, it created a massive ‘pillar’ of light that seemed like it was about to pierce the heavens.

“-Observation Team, what the hell is that?!”

As Marquis Bogut shouted with a hardened expression, the personnel in the command and control room started running around like headless chickens, checking various readings.

These were top elites of the Tribal Alliance who had faced all sorts of situations. Their current actions befitted of that title.

“...We don’t know.”

—That was why.

The answer that came out of their mouths showed just how unusual the current situation was.

Even those who had encountered all sorts of supernatural phenomena immediately gave up on analyzing this bizarre energy that was rising from the Void Zone.

“Our closest hypothesis is Demonic Aura, but there’s too much heterogeneous energy mixed in to call it that.”

“...Heterogeneous energy?”

“...We could sense Divine Power in there.”

“...”

Even Marquis Bogut was at a loss for words at this.

Holy fuck.

I’d rather believe that water and oil could be mixed perfectly than that.

Divine Power mixed with Demonic Aura? Are you fucking with me?

“-FIND OUT WHERE IT ORIGINATED FROM IMMEDIATELY. WE NEED TO KNOW WHAT’S HAPPENING INSIDE RIGHT NO—”

Marquis Bogut screamed out these words, but the scene that followed made it impossible for them to move forward with his order.

The pillar of light that rose up soon began to ‘split’ into several strands.

Then, it spread in all directions, as if ‘tracking’ someone.

As if it had locked in onto certain people.

-?

Marquis Bogut’s eyes instinctively followed their trajectories.

And it didn’t take long for him to realize where those spreading pillars of light were heading

“-Oh shit...!”

He let out that curse, forsaking his usual dignity, but the situation clearly warranted it.

Because the target of those pillars of light were undoubtedly the Devil’s Vessels.

●

Yuria Greyhounter blinked and looked over her body.

“-Huh?”

What just happened?

Umm...?

She furrowed her brow and tried to recall what had just occurred.

A huge pillar of light suddenly rose up to the sky, then something like a fragment of light fell from it and flew towards her. She was covered by it, lost consciousness, and then...

“...”

She slowly examined her body.

There was no visible change, but her body felt...different...to a degree she had never experienced before.

It feels light...

As if she just had a good rest, even though she hadn’t. There wasn’t any specific trigger either.

It was an oddly refreshing feeling...

As if a shackle that had bound her for entire life had fallen off.

“Sis, my body feels kinda weird right no—”

Yuria’s words were cut off abruptly.

She called out to someone who stood the closest to her, who was always by her side, Lucia, her sister, but...

This ‘someone’ clearly wasn’t Lucia.

“...Uh...”

She scanned the ‘person’s appearance, up and down.

Is this...?

Could it be...?

“...A doppelganger?”

She uttered the name of the creature she had encountered once before.

“...The fuck are you babbling about?”

But, the moment she heard that forceful voice, she clamped her mouth shut.

Because the doppelganger she had seen before didn’t show such a lively reaction.

...No, it isn’t...?

With a tearful expression, she looked up and down at the other person who ‘looked exactly the same’ as her.

Her height, appearance, everything was identical to her.

The only difference might be that she was completely naked, without a single piece of clothing.

...She’s naked?

Suddenly, the name of a being that always had that characteristic whenever she encountered it came to mind.

She murmured unconsciously.

“...A Devil?”

“Huh?”

“...”

Seeing the fierce expression that she would normally never make, along with that scrunched up face, She immediately became certain.

This is the being that was inside the Severer...!

“...This is... A human body?”

While Yuria was struck dumbfounded.

The Devil who was taking her form muttered those words.