Ch.124Those Who Wish to Die. (3)

Demon God.

The final boss of Lactea, and the only being that Olivia cannot face alone.

Agares, a fervent follower of the Demon God, once said this to Olivia:

[The Demon God will be watching you.]

At first, she only intended to remain vigilant.

After all, the day of the Demon God’s resurrection was predetermined, and there was still plenty of time until then.

But.

One day, she began to feel something foreign in her body. Beyond the simple tightening of skin, it was like thin threads connecting to her joints.

It was quite similar to the sensation she felt when entering a clue and controlling “Olivia’s” body.

When using a clue, there’s a feeling of bodily sensations gradually reviving from toes to head. Of course, that moment is so fleeting that it’s barely perceptible unless deliberately focusing on it…

Anyway, after that fleeting moment, consciousness completely transfers over.

She can freely control the body.

And the sensation she felt now was exactly the reverse of that process.

Only after experiencing this sensation did Olivia realize something was wrong.

‘…Someone is trying to steal my body.’

She realized the gravity of the situation right after being poisoned by the Hydra.

Her consciousness was rapidly slipping away. The voice muttering in her head grew more violent, exuding an eerie sense of foreboding.

Something was writhing beyond her consciousness.

Starting from her fingertips, her sensations were slowly disappearing.

Of course, she had no energy to worry about losing her body right now.

She was about to die, after all.

She had subdued three Returners, but the other three remained unharmed. Meanwhile, Olivia’s body was practically in tatters.

Escape was impossible.

‘…Then.’

Feeling something writhing beyond her consciousness, Olivia bit her lip.

Whatever happened, survival was impossible.

She had no magical power left, and her physical strength would soon be depleted due to the Hydra’s poison.

Death was only a matter of time.

At that moment.

[The Demon God will be watching you.]

One solution flashed through her mind.

It was risky, but she had no choice.

She didn’t know what consequences her current choice would bring. But…

This was the only way.

“Oliviaaaaa!”

Beyond her fading consciousness, she heard Kiel’s cry. She couldn’t answer.

Her body was falling in real-time. There was no strength left to respond.

Feeling the distant sensation of falling, Olivia spoke to “someone” trying to take her body.

‘My body. You want it?’

The same voice from before didn’t respond. But Olivia didn’t care.

‘Then, take it.’

Crack!

As soon as permission was granted, a shattering sound came from deep within her consciousness.

It was as if someone was rejoicing in the depths of her mind.

Olivia thought of this “someone” and smiled bitterly.

She didn’t know if this “someone” was the Demon God or some other higher-dimensional being.

But one thing was certain.

If “someone” took over this body’s consciousness, they could escape from this place.

‘…They must be stronger than me.’

What would happen to the Returners then? Would they die?

Probably not. Even if the one trying to take her body was the Demon God, with this tattered body, escaping from this place would be the most they could do.

She didn’t know what would happen later, but for now, this was the best option.

The falling speed increased. Her consciousness was being sucked into a deep void.

She remembered her promise to Melina.

[I’ll be back within a day. I promise.]

She wouldn’t be able to return within a day. But she was determined to keep her promise to come back.

Just before her consciousness was about to be buried deep, Olivia used all her strength to lift her eyelids.

And in her mind, she recalled the window she had seen thousands of times.

[Reward for obtaining 7 clues.]

[Reward for obtaining 8 clues.]

[Reward for obtaining 9 clues.]

.

.

.

[Special reward for obtaining 10 clues.]

Tssssst!

As soon as she recognized the text, the movement of space-time began to slow down.

Was this consideration to give her time to check what the reward was?

After checking the reward details, Olivia laughed with a choking sound.

‘…Ahaha!’

Whoever it was, they really gave her exactly what she needed.

The regular rewards weren’t much.

[You can now use clues without direct contact.]

[Clue usage time is doubled.]

[Prerequisite quests (2) for the main quest are now available.]

But the special reward was different.

[Special Reward]

[Consciousness Extinction Prevention.]

– Under any circumstances, your consciousness will not disappear.

This meant that normally, the moment she lost control of her body, her consciousness would have been extinguished.

That was fortunate at least. Even if the Demon God took her body, her current consciousness would never disappear.

As long as her consciousness remained, there would surely be an opportunity someday.

Just as she made that determination, a message arrived.

[A special quest has arrived!]

Olivia checked the message without hesitation.

+

<Special Quest – Reclaim Control of Your Body.>

– Clear Condition: ???

– Time Limit: –

– Reward: Regain control of your body.

– Failure: Consciousness extinction.

+

A quest with virtually no disclosed information. Even the clear condition wasn’t shown. But Olivia felt relieved nonetheless. Reclaiming her body from someone stronger than herself—of course the difficulty had to be this high.

‘At least there’s no time limit.’

[Upon accepting the quest, your consciousness will transfer to another timeline.]

The notification appeared as if urging her. Olivia sensed that time was running out.

Tssssst!

The slowed space-time was gradually returning to its normal speed, and because of that, Olivia’s body was getting closer to the ground in real-time. It was a height that a fragile mage’s body couldn’t withstand.

[If not accepted within 5 seconds, you will die.]

She didn’t know which timeline she would be transferred to, but it seemed better than dying in 5 seconds.

‘…I accept.’

Soon after, Olivia’s consciousness disappeared somewhere.

*****

Boom.

Olivia’s body crashed to the ground.

Through the rising dust, Olivia could be seen collapsed and bleeding. The Master of Dark watched for a while, and only after confirming that Olivia had lost consciousness did he approach.

There was no pulse. Her heart was beating weakly, but at this rate, it would stop within seconds.

“…”

He didn’t… regret it. What they had done was justified revenge. Olivia had betrayed and deceived them. She had committed massacres that no human should. She was simply receiving her karmic retribution.

But why didn’t it feel satisfying at all?

“…Are you going to kill her?”

Eryas, who had returned to human form, asked in a voice heavy with fatigue.

Although his physical wounds had been healed by the World Tree’s blessing, the mental fatigue from repeated battles still remained.

“…”

There was only one reason the Master of Dark hesitated. Because of what the Imperial Princess had said.

[If possible, bring her back alive.]

Olivia shouldn’t be allowed to die peacefully.

“If it were me, I’d kill her.”

Eryas spoke. Through the recent battle, he had clearly realized: if they didn’t kill Olivia now, there would be no next chance.

The Master of Dark shook his head. Originally, he had intended to kill her, but given the circumstances, he no longer planned to do so immediately.

“We can restrain her with magic-binding shackles and detain her. Without magic, Olivia is no different from an ordinary person.”

“Ahaha! Heh, ahahahahaha…!”

Hearing laughter from somewhere, the Master of Dark turned his head.

There stood Kiel.

He was laughing like a madman, tears of blood streaming down his face.

Kiel’s eyes had long lost their focus.

In his past life, he had thought Olivia was the devil. But look at those creatures.

‘In fact, we were the devils.’

He couldn’t stop laughing.

From the beginning, the cause lay with them.

Not knowing that, they had only blamed Olivia.

– You know nothing.

He thought he had understood a little, but even that wasn’t true.

‘I was a fool.’

They killed because she deserved to die, and they destroyed because she deserved to be destroyed.

If Olivia had any sin, it was treating trash like him as human.

“Uhahaha! Ha, haha…”

The Master of Dark glared at Kiel with an annoyed expression. Seeing the man once called the Sword Master now consumed by madness put him in a foul mood.

The Master of Dark rummaged through his pocket and took out an antidote. Whatever the case, he had no intention of killing Olivia immediately.

As he administered the antidote, put on the magic-binding shackles, and began treating her body…

Shiver.

Feeling a chill run up his spine, the Master of Dark whipped his head around.

“Hmm.”

A woman with blood-red eyes stood there. She smiled seductively and slowly opened her mouth.

“This is unexpected.”

The moment he heard her voice, goosebumps rose on his skin.

“I heard she was a powerful being who subdued the Eastern Duke and Western Duke in one go…”

The woman approached right in front of him, but the Master of Dark couldn’t move his body.

After encountering the great demons in the South, he had immediately conducted an investigation on them.

Western Duke, Belphegor.

Southern Duke, Baphomet.

Eastern Duke, Agares.

And Northern Duke, Asmodeus.

“To think she would fall to mere mortals.”

The woman before his eyes was…

The monster known as Asmodeus.