Ch.141Chapter 141. You Shall Receive Divine Punishment!

Lineford proudly raised his shield and leaned against it casually.

He carefully dusted off his clothes, examining them thoroughly, then frowned when he saw the scorch marks from Tigria’s magical bombardment.

“If you’re going to surrender, now is the time. I’ll graciously accept it.”

“Stop spouting bullshit, you pimp bastard. I’ll definitely kill you myself.”

Though Lucy retorted harshly with veins bulging in his neck, Lineford slyly taunted the hero.

“My dear Luciena. It’s not good to immediately turn unrequited love into hatred. Pushing your feelings one-sidedly—don’t you consider the other person’s feelings at all?”

“…I’ve long forgotten about someone like you, and don’t spout such nonsense in front of Lin. Didn’t I clearly say I’d tear you apart vertically?”

“Go ahead and try. From the looks of it, you recklessly attempted to fully release your power with a mere sword instead of Hrungnir and only suffered the backlash, didn’t you?”

Lineford’s observation was accurate.

Having expended all his magical power and suffering even worse backlash than before due to the abyss’s rejection, Lucy could barely stand.

But no one except the hero’s party knew how severe the backlash was.

That’s because Lucy had pretended to be fine in front of the public until the end.

As Lucy bristled but couldn’t properly refute, Lin stepped forward beside him.

“You should know that Lucy isn’t the only one who wants to tear you apart.”

“Wait, Lin!”

Airan called out to Lin as she was about to take a combat stance.

“If he’s absorbing your power, Lucy should attack while you handle defense.”

While theoretically correct, the reality demanded they move in the opposite way, so Lin and Lucy exchanged awkward glances.

Lineford, who needed to induce and absorb Lin’s attacks, couldn’t let things proceed according to Airan’s suggestion, so he deliberately provoked Lin more intensely.

“A demon joining hands with humans—how absurd.”

“That’s because you corrupted Lin!”

“Luciena, while I did contribute to the corruption, it took all our efforts for Lin to become such a powerful demon.”

Seeing the shield knight quickly add words to prevent Airan from stepping in to refute, he realized the eloquent general’s intervention could again disrupt his plans.

Moreover, Lin was sharp, pinpointing the core issues, so he couldn’t let his guard down.

Therefore, Lineford chose to push emotions rather than logic.

“If everyone had been inside your mind, they would surely have seen all your suffering! Yet has anyone apologized to you until now? Ah!”

The shield knight clapped his hands dramatically.

“There was Naidrian. But since he’s dead, well, I suppose he doesn’t count? So that makes zero.”

With arms spread wide, he looked around at the Rowellina forces and island residents, frowning and shaking his head.

“When you were rampaging, I can understand their fear, but even now, as you sacrifice yourself fighting me for their sake, not one person offers an apology? Not even that hero.”

The shield knight’s finger pointed at Lucy.

Regardless of whether Lineford had the right to make such observations, the statement itself was true, so Lucy hurriedly stepped forward and denied it.

“Once I eliminate you as an enemy, I’ll spend my life atoning by Lin’s side. So it’s none of your business.”

“Let me hear your plan. Exactly how will you atone, specifically?”

“That… I’ll stay by her side for life…”

Unable to recall Ravin’s encouragement and advice at that moment, Lucy just repeated the same words, stammering.

Lineford seized the opportunity and pressed in relentlessly.

“Luciena Estel, you boar-like woman. I fully understand your desire to kill me. But after you kill me, what will you do with that demon you created with your own hands?”

By “demon,” he was referring to Lin.

Excluding the subdued demon knights, Lin was the only demon present.

“She’s not a demon, she’s Lin.”

“She’s a demon named Lin.”

“No!”

“Face reality. Lin has become a demon.”

“Demon or not, she’s Lin!”

“But people won’t see it that way. They’ll only see her as a monster with a grudge against them. After witnessing her rampage earlier, do you really think they won’t want to eliminate the demon?”

Lineford’s words painfully struck not just Lucy, but also Lin, Airan, and everyone in the square.

“Luciena, that feeling of yours… it’s probably the same as my desire to exclude you.”

“Your intention to sow discord with useless words is obvious. People should have conscience. No one sees Lin that way, right?!”

Confident, Lucy turned and asked the people behind him.

But except for the hero’s party and Airan’s group, everyone avoided the hero’s gaze.

Seeing Lucy’s expression gradually sour, Lin could guess the situation without turning around.

A bitter smile formed on her lips as Lucy, feeling genuine disgust, unconsciously asked them:

“You inhuman bastards… why should we protect those who know neither gratitude nor karma?”

In response to the hero’s words, they all sent resentful glances, though none dared to openly challenge him.

Those glances made Lucy feel even greater fatigue and helplessness than before.

“I agree, Luciena. Who would have thought we’d find common ground one day.”

To Lineford too, they were disgusting creatures.

The knight raised his shield and instantly changed his snickering tone to a serious one.

“Those who know neither remorse nor gratitude deserve to disappear.”

BOOM-!

“Lucy, get back!”

As he slammed down his shield, a wave of demonic energy exploded along the ground.

Lin stepped in front of Lucy, blocking the fan-shaped wave with her entire body.

Behind Lin was Lucy, and behind Lucy were the hero’s party, Airan’s group, and a few island residents.

“Ugh…!”

Though she took the demonic energy wave head-on, unlike the Demon God’s skills, it was surprisingly bearable despite being painful.

‘Damn it, that was my power!’

Realizing the Demon God was using her absorbed power, Lin quickly released her own demonic energy.

She whipped the chaos with her demonic energy, stopping the wave.

But in doing so, she had her demonic energy absorbed.

Though she had neutralized the attack, Lin couldn’t hide her displeasure at feeling mocked.

“You think attacking me with my own power will work?”

“Regrettably, I wasn’t attacking you.”

However, Lucy’s hollow voice that followed made her turn around.

“Lin…”

People were dead.

Despite Lin blocking the demonic energy wave in front, those to her left and right, beyond her body’s width, had all been torn apart by the demonic energy.

Among them were both Rowellina’s elite soldiers and island residents.

Everyone except for a very small number of troops including Airan, Garin, Biscon, and some island residents was dead.

All the elven council members and nobles.

Arsil, bleeding from damaged internal organs after being kicked in the abdomen.

Tigria, still suffering from concussion.

Ravin, who was caring for those two, was insufficient to protect the others.

“Is the old grudge resolved? I’d like to receive proper thanks this time.”

Faced with the horrific scene, Lin momentarily lost her words.

Airan was crying.

The iron-blooded general was holding the helmet of a Rowellina soldier whose head was all that remained, and weeping.

Garin and Biscon were also covering their tears, hands clutching their heads.

Lin thought of Naidrian, who had died in vain.

Like those corpses, the archer had left the world without a proper chance for atonement.

“LINEFORD!!”

Lin gritted her teeth and shouted at him.

“What is this madness! Why are you arbitrarily deciding who lives and dies when even I haven’t passed judgment on these people!”

“Because I am the guardian of balance.”

“What balance?! You kill them without giving them any chance! You’re just a child parroting ‘balance’ like a parrot!”

“If they were people who would apologize when given the chance, they would have done so already.”

Lin’s temple veins bulged at this answer, which had already presumed everything according to his own judgment.

As her suppressed self-control burst, Lin unleashed unrestrained anger toward someone for the first time in her life.

“You fucking bastard! Who the hell are you to judge people as you please!!!!”

Too angry to continue speaking, Lin was just violently emitting demonic energy.

Words had already been said enough.

It was obvious he would just repeat his dog-like logic and talk of balance.

Kill him. Let’s kill him.

Leaving him alive would only prolong misfortune.

Just as she made up her mind to move, Airan’s thunderous voice erupted.

“You foolish dictator who tries to judge and measure the world as you please! Do you feel like a god after playing with our lives?!”

Airan cried out, holding the helmet of the soldier whose head was all that remained.

“You will receive divine punishment from the Goddess!!”

Then Garin and Biscon followed suit.

“You will receive divine punishment, Lineford!”

One by one, the survivors began to cry out toward the shield knight.

“You will be punished!”

“Goddess! Please bring divine punishment upon him!”

“Save us and punish him, Goddess!”

“Goddess!”

“Goddess!”

“GODDESS!!!”

The island square filled with the foolish citizens’ pleas.

“Divine punishment! Divine punishment! DIVINE PUNISHMENT-!!”

Those cries pierced the sky and reached the subspace where the Goddess was imprisoned.

“GODDESS!!!”

[Can you hear?]

In the middle of the subspace, the bound Goddess Justinia raised her head to look at the World Postman.

[My children are calling for me.]

The golden chariot World Postman grinned and stroked his goosebump-covered forearm.

“Indeed, things have gotten interesting, haven’t they?”