Ch.1205The End of Desperation

======[ Haschal ]======

Had the sword that left my grasp not contained my power, or had it simply missed its vital point by a hair’s breadth?

Contrary to my expectation that Israfel would die instantly when Durandal pierced its divine core, it continued its desperate struggle even after pulling out the sword.

【 Divine אלוהים core hand ירידת ערך damage―סַכָּנָה danger■ זה לא יעבוד■…! 】

“Don’t you understand yet? Your struggles are meaningless!”

Though it wasn’t an instantly fatal spot, it was clearly a mortal wound. Compared to before, the fallen angel had become noticeably slower and weaker, unable to properly manifest even a single divine ability.

“If you don’t understand, I’ll make you understand. Your life is already over-!”

Of course, I wasn’t in perfect condition either.

My limbs, reduced to little more than bone, opened up with wounds and suffered shocks with each swing of my sword, gradually reaching the limit of forced movement.

The power of murder karma substituting for flesh and muscle was continuously repelled by my divinity, befitting an evil god’s divinity. Now I could barely maintain it, let alone control it as I wished.

My mind, excessively overworked from the extreme bloodshed, couldn’t completely shake off the malice contained in Vanirgand’s divinity, giving me the feeling of being gradually eroded.

‘…I’m hungry.’

An endless hunger surged like a tidal wave the moment I relaxed even slightly.

Anger of unknown origin that I couldn’t distinguish—whether from the insatiable hunger, the murderous intent toward the enemy before me, or the excruciating pain in my limbs.

As befitting the evil god of hatred and predation, once its power began affecting my mind, it felt as if holes had been drilled in my stomach and head.

…This power would be dangerous if I maintained it any longer.

Normally, I could easily suppress such impulses with a scoff, but in my severely depleted state while trying to maintain the power of murder karma, that was somewhat difficult.

If I continued fighting like this, in the worst case, I might temporarily lose my mind completely to the temptation of murder karma, losing reason and rampaging with madness.

‘Fortunately, I’ve already inflicted a mortal wound.’

Of course, this was merely a hypothetical “it could happen.” The likelihood of it actually occurring was slim.

【 Critical נזק קריטי■retreat■סַכָּנָה■■לָסֶגֶת…! 】

“If you have the energy to struggle, think about your last words! Your divinity is leaking everywhere—how much longer do you think you can last in that state!”

Anyone could see that the Fallen Angel with its broken divine core was dying.

Of its wings, only four remained, and even those were barely attached, half-severed and in tatters. The central crystal had been pierced by Durandal, with red liquid and divinity steadily flowing out.

【 Break לִשְׁבּוֹר hand. ■שִׁחזוּר■ אִי אֶפְשָׁרוּת ability. ■destruction מְמַשׁמֵשׁ וּבָא approaching. Negative שְׁלִילִי■. Impossible לֹא מוּבָן■…! 】

Its voice was no longer language but closer to glossolalia, a bizarre mixture of static and words like a broken speaker. Even its halo, once a blazing flame, had dimmed to mere embers.

It looked like it would breathe its last within a minute even if left alone. Meanwhile, I could maintain my sanity for at least five more minutes.

And that was the minimum—five minutes. If I focused more on that than on combat, I could last several times longer.

In other words, barring some unimaginable twist, my victory was as good as—

‘…No, whenever I think like this, that very twist tends to happen.’

A realization born from experience.

A premonition flashed through my mind—if I became certain of victory before the fight was truly over, the situation might dramatically reverse the next moment.

It happened all the time, frustratingly so. I couldn’t go through that again, could I?

So I completely erased any thoughts about victory or defeat from my mind and focused all my attention solely on destroying the enemy before me.

“This time for sure…!”

Perhaps it was thanks to this righteous mindset?

– Crack!

【 ■אנוחיבי■ם לסª■ת…!! 】

There was no twist.

“…Thank you for fighting so stupidly.”

I grabbed its wings with tentacles of murder karma that had unraveled strand by strand, and in that opening, I mounted the crystal and drove my blade down in a reverse grip.

– Crunch…!

Using my limbs—which had deteriorated to the point where they would fall off completely the moment I withdrew the power of murder karma—as the price—

“You fools couldn’t even defeat me when there were three of you!”

– Squelch!

【 ■№לֹא■א――!! 】

Durandal’s blade pierced through the Fallen Angel’s life.

—-

With its divine core completely destroyed, Israfel lost its power and vanished.

…Though it didn’t exactly die quietly.

You know how they say ugly creatures die in the most disgusting and pathetic ways? That was exactly what happened.

“…Your wounds are healing smoothly. Really, really thankfully.”

“Yeah. Fortunate indeed. At the end there, I really thought I was going to die.”

That damned Fallen Angel, at the moment its irreversible death was confirmed, self-destructed in one final desperate act.

Thanks to that, I was now confined to a sickbed.

Nigel urgently threw his spear-sword to push me away, but it wasn’t an explosion that could be avoided just by that.

My limbs, which had barely been attached by the flow of murder karma, were all severed and blown away. My body was crushed by the blast pressure, breaking several ribs and rupturing some internal organs.

Had I not released my divine nature, I would have died before even hitting the ground.

To make matters worse, I fell right into the midst of the Arachne forces. If our allies had already completed their retreat, I might have survived the explosion only to face certain death afterward.

– Lord Haschal! Hold on! I, Jahan, am coming right now!

– That crazy bastard, rushing in so recklessly…!

– Count of Sigmillus! We need fire support! You still have mana left, right?!

– No problem!

Nigel and Ophelia eliminated the Arachnes rushing toward my fallen form with all kinds of ranged attacks, while Jahan broke through the enemy lines, picked me up, and rescued me.

– Sir Jahan! Hand her over to me! I’ll evacuate her from here!

– The right arm is here… and the left arm over there? We need to recover them before they’re eaten…!

Leonore, who took charge of me after I was carried out with missing limbs, urgently ran to Lena to cast a healing miracle on me, while Nigel recovered my severed limbs by skewering them on his spear-sword.

A coordination worthy of the highest praise. Thanks to them, I was able to barely preserve my life.

I was also spared the indignity of crawling around like an adult doll with only a face and torso, missing all limbs.

– We can’t do any more! Retreat according to plan!

– Jahan! It’s time to withdraw! This way!

After I was evacuated, my companions also protected each other and quickly withdrew, managing to retreat safely without any casualties.

Although the fortress we had built was eventually captured by the Arachne forces… there was nothing to regret. That was actually part of our plan all along.

It was a fortress built with the assumption that we would retreat and lose it. To explain in more detail, it was a fortress that only had meaning if it was captured.

What do I mean?

You still don’t understand? Well, the fortress itself was a trap.

– Huff… huff…! Has everyone escaped…? Good, then now, it’s my turn…!

When the Arachne forces completely occupied the fortress and filled its interior, Turankai, who had remained behind until the very end without retreating, unleashed his ability at maximum output as if he had been waiting for this moment.

To use his racial ability to manipulate stone with his mind to remove all the pillars and foundation stones supporting the weight of the fortress.

– Kahahaha! Behold! This fortress shall be your tomb!

As a result, the fortress, having lost its support, collapsed instantly like dominoes, becoming an avalanche of rocks that engulfed the Arachnes inside.

Since I was already being evacuated by boat at that point, I couldn’t know the extent of their casualties… but at least half of them must have been annihilated.

They would have had almost no time to escape.

From the beginning, the fortress itself was designed to collapse inward when the supports were destroyed, with the purpose of annihilating the occupying forces.

Anyway, the Fallen Angel Israfel was destroyed, the Arachnes were buried in the ruins of the fortress along with their queen’s corpse, and we survived safely.

Many troops died to buy time for our retreat, and Turankai, who collapsed the fortress, had not yet returned… but I’d say this counts as a victory.

When I heard that three demigods had attacked, I was so terrified that I thought this might be my grave, but somehow we managed to get through it well.

To face such enemies and escape with only this much damage—honestly, even now as I lay in bed recovering, it was hard to believe.

There’s a limit to how much good fortune one can have; no matter how I looked at it, it seemed impossible that such a crisis could be resolved so well.

“Maybe I’ve already been done in? You know, like seeing happy illusions in a life flashing before my eyes just before death…”

“Again, again with those malicious jokes…! Do you really want to have nothing but concentrated medicinal broth for every meal, sister?”

When I made that joke expressing my feelings, Lena angrily poured thick medicinal broth into my mouth.

“No, wait, I’m sorry. It was a joke, just a joke…! Ugh…!”

It was a special healing potion made with Naga’s arcane arts, but whatever ingredients they used, it was thick and slimy with a terrible texture, and the taste was absolutely horrific.

Really, really horribly bitter, fishy, and nauseating. Nevertheless, its effects were so excellent that I couldn’t refuse it.

“You know how worried I was…! My heart nearly stopped at that moment!”

“Ugh, uuugh…!”

…Actually, I tried to refuse, but I had no right of refusal. My limbs were barely attached and still couldn’t move properly.

So I had no choice but to reluctantly swallow that disgusting medicinal broth down my throat. At least until I could walk on my own two legs again.