Ch.145Our Paths Crossed. (4)

“Why are you suddenly in such a hurry?”

“Because the situation has changed.”

The Serial Murderer turned to look at Olivia with an expression that suggested she was talking nonsense.

But there was no choice.

If the Master of Dark died at Agares’ hands now, all their efforts so far would be for nothing.

‘The reward isn’t my problem.’

She imprints partial memories of random playthroughs.

At first glance it seemed good, but thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t entirely positive. Half of the no-kill playthroughs were achieved through violence, and even in normal playthroughs, she focused more on story progression than building relationships.

Rather than having such memories imprinted, it might be better to remain ignorant as she was now.

‘I might recall memories of being killed…’

But that possibility seemed low. After being badly burned by Kiel relatively early on, she had been extremely cautious when interacting with other returners.

That’s not to say she hadn’t died many times, but compared to the playthroughs she’d passed without incident, those deaths were just a drop in the bucket.

[Returner, the death of ‘Master of Dark’ is imminent.]

Seeing how the messages were appearing more frequently, the situation seemed to have become more serious than before.

There was no time to worry.

Olivia urgently used lightning to blast away the dirt pile blocking the cave entrance while simultaneously freezing the walls to prevent the cave from collapsing.

KWAAANG!

Normally, she wouldn’t have used such a crude method. But this was different.

“…Is it safe to go in there?”

“No time, shut up and get in.”

Olivia immediately began descending through the cave. Fortunately, they seemed to have found the correct entrance, as there were no void creatures in sight. If they had entered the wrong cave, they would have encountered void creatures by now, but the real entrance was clean because it was maintained by demons.

Pat-pat-pat-pat!

Olivia moved forward, liberally using Blink.

“Are we just going down without any preparation? Do you know what’s down there?”

“The Grand Demon Agares.”

“Grand Demon? The Grand Demon I know is…”

“Much stronger than Baphomet.”

To begin with, Baphomet wasn’t a Grand Demon because of raw power, but because of his troublesome abilities. He could infiltrate the consciousness of former allies and control them at will—once you experience it, you understand how difficult it is to deal with.

But Agares was different. He became a Grand Demon not because his abilities were tricky, but simply because he was overwhelmingly powerful.

Olivia took out two potions from her spatial storage.

“When we get in, give these to the people who are collapsed.”

“How do you know there are two of them?”

“…I have my ways.”

The Serial Murderer looked at her with suspicious eyes, but this was the only option now.

“I’m asking you, don’t kill them.”

“What if they try to kill me?”

“If that seems likely, just give them enough to keep them from dying.”

“So I don’t necessarily need to make them fully conscious?”

Just looking at that grinning mouth, Olivia could guess what she was thinking.

“Don’t inflict any additional wounds eith—”

Olivia stopped mid-sentence and closed her mouth. Before her eyes, a massive cavern came into view.

****

‘At most… 3 minutes left.’

The Master of Dark temporarily sealed his burst side with fire energy. Though he was an assassin, he could use such basic magic. He had learned it from Melina when she saved his life in the past.

– You’re quite useful among the assassins I’ve met recently. Hmm, if you swear to grant me one favor later, I’ll spare your life. I’ll even teach you a few spells while I’m at it.

That was already decades ago.

He had been lucky. At that time, the Master of Dark was just a young boy who had barely finished his apprenticeship, and the Master of Golden Tower didn’t want to bloody her hands by killing an ignorant child.

And that oath, as years passed…

– Help me, Master of Dark.

– Why should I?

– Because it was the Master of Golden Tower who sent me here.

…was fulfilled through the fallen empire’s princess.

[Are you having random thoughts because your time has come?]

Agares leaped into the air and fell toward the Master of Dark’s head. He put all his strength into bringing both fists down on the Master of Dark’s head.

THWACK!

The Master of Dark’s kama sliced off both of Agares’ arms. Of course, the kama didn’t remain intact either. After cutting through thick bone, the blade was damaged beyond use.

The Master of Dark took out a new kama from inside his robe. He’d lost count of how many he’d gone through. Agares, trusting in his regenerative abilities, used his body like a consumable.

No matter how many times he was cut, he regenerated instantly.

Using weapons as consumables was something the Master of Dark did too, but he had truly reached his limit now.

After Olivia was kidnapped by Asmodeus, the Master of Dark had always trained with demon battles in mind. Though they had human forms, demons had no vital points.

If pressed, the neck might be considered one, but unless it was severed with a single stroke, it meant little.

Pat! Swoosh!

He heard something flying through the air. Agares frowned and turned his head to the side.

There stood the Devilhunter, holding a crossbow. She had regained consciousness and immediately readied herself.

Her weapon wasn’t just a longbow. When she was too injured to move properly like now, she would take out a crossbow from her spatial storage.

She didn’t even need to draw the string.

She just needed to infuse it with magical power.

Click.

And then fire.

The pure white arrows instantly closed the distance and pierced Agares’ left eye.

‘Not enough.’

The Devilhunter’s face showed no satisfaction. She had hit a vital point, but it was far from sufficient.

Due to the anti-demon energy imbued in the arrow, it wouldn’t regenerate as quickly as before, but that made little difference in terms of killing him.

[…Strange. You hunted Baphomet with just this level of skill?]

Agares pulled out the arrow as if it were nothing. His eyeball came out with it, but that was all.

If Agares had been human, if he had a human body like the Devilhunter, this fight would have ended in their victory long ago.

The Devilhunter sensed that the fight would soon be over. She had experienced this before.

It was the same when she fought Olivia.

Thud.

The Devilhunter laughed dejectedly. Even holding the crossbow with her broken arm had reached its limit.

At some point, she had stopped feeling pain. The Devilhunter knew well that this was a sign of approaching death.

Life flashing before her eyes.

Yes.

Amidst her pale face, a void energy rose. Now she understood. Why such monstrous beings hadn’t shown themselves in her previous life.

They had been killed.

For decades, Olivia had been fighting these monsters without anyone knowing.

Agares, Asmodeus…

The extremists, the nobles who only sought to fill their own bellies…

Things that had been hidden by anger were now becoming visible as death approached.

Was it regret? Or lingering attachment?

Why, in this situation, did her conversation with Aria at the imperial palace come to mind?

– Even regret has its time.

True words. Nothing is as ugly as regretting too late.

In the Devilhunter’s fading eyes, she saw the Master of Dark being knocked back, coughing blood.

It was over.

Her eyelids felt heavy.

*****

“They’re both completely unconscious.”

The Serial Murderer said. But there was no response.

“…Olivia?”

The Serial Murderer flinched when she saw Olivia’s face. Olivia’s expression was calm as always. But her eyes were different. A distant rage that could freeze everything swirled within them.

“Those two. Make sure they survive. If they die… you’ll deal with the consequences.”

The Serial Murderer was overwhelmed by the atmosphere.

“…Okay.”

Olivia jumped down into the cavern. As she landed gracefully on the ground, intense magical power swirled around both her hands.

It was hard to control her emotions.

Why? She wasn’t sure. She hadn’t expected it to be this difficult to wait until the Devilhunter and the Master of Dark completely lost consciousness. Every time they coughed blood, anger welled up inside her.

From a distance.

Duke of the East Agares turned his head. Olivia saw her own face reflected in his retina.

It felt strange. She never thought she would make such an expression.

Wouldn’t anyone mistake her for being their ally?

She didn’t want such a misunderstanding.

She simply couldn’t let them die. If they died, she would die too.

After a moment of silence, Agares spoke.

[Yes. I thought something was strange from the beginning. They might have gotten stronger since last time, but to hunt a Grand Demon… they seemed quite lacking. Maybe Belphegor, but with that level of skill, they couldn’t have hunted Baphomet.]

Agares’ eyes gleamed.

[So it was you. The one who hunted Baphomet.]

The ground dirt exploded upward in all directions. Amidst the dirt cloud, Agares didn’t lose sight of Olivia.

Or so he thought. In an instant, Olivia’s form disappeared. Blink? Agares rapidly rotated his upper body.

KWANG!

Lightning struck Agares’ right arm. His face contorted at the tingling sensation.

[…I thought I was the one setting a trap, but it wasn’t me.]

Cold, lightning, and raging winds penetrated his entire body. Sharp ice shards raining down from all directions. Crackling lightning. Agares’ screams were drowned out by the sounds of magic, and his regenerative abilities couldn’t keep up with the rate his body was being destroyed.

GOOOOO!

And Olivia, unleashing this magic, looked just like…

Agares burst into maniacal laughter. This sensation that made every hair on his body stand on end.

[Kuhahaha! The Duke of the North was right!]

It’s her.

Agares shouted as he charged forward.