Ch.146Demon God. (1)

“…What a shame.”

The Serial Murderer licked his lips as he watched the Master of Dark vomiting blood. In that state, he wouldn’t even need to use his scythe. He could just inject a little of the demonic energy he’d stolen from Baphomet and be done with it.

Is it fun to kill someone who’s wounded? How you killed someone didn’t matter. What mattered was whether you could kill them or not.

And this was a golden opportunity.

But since Olivia had made her threat, he had no choice but to heal them.

The Serial Murderer took out the potion Olivia had given him from his pocket. He planned to make the Master of Dark drink just the minimum amount and sprinkle the rest on his wounds. That way, he wouldn’t regain consciousness.

If he couldn’t kill him, he would at least make him feel pain.

Still, he couldn’t help feeling disappointed.

‘You should know how lucky you—’

The Serial Murderer couldn’t finish his thought. He felt something strange behind him.

Crunch!

His body wouldn’t move. It felt like something was holding him.

His eyes widened at the sudden situation. He tried to summon his aura and flex his arm muscles, but nothing changed. In fact, the more he tried to summon his power, the stronger the resistance became.

‘…What is this?’

Whoooosh!

The Serial Murderer turned his head with difficulty and his face filled with shock. An invisible force was surging around Olivia.

He was being crushed by that force.

The Serial Murderer looked up at Olivia with a surprised expression.

It wasn’t magical power. If anything, it was closer to a release of ki. The Serial Murderer unconsciously took a few steps back. It wasn’t him who felt fear. It was Baphomet’s demonic energy that he had absorbed days ago, writhing and acting up.

Terror.

Baphomet’s demonic energy was feeling both gut-wrenching terror and endless reverence at the same time.

And toward Olivia of all people.

The Serial Murderer was swept up in the emotions of the surging demonic energy. Even though he had fully incorporated Baphomet’s demonic energy into himself, he couldn’t completely control it, so he couldn’t stop those emotions from flooding in.

‘That’s… dangerous. That’s… that’s…’

The Serial Murderer felt a chill run down his spine.

Destruction.

The Final Hour.

Demon…

Crash!

The potion in his hand made a loud noise as it shattered.

“…Ugh! Huk! Huuuk…”

Only then did the Serial Murderer come to his senses, exhaling rough breaths as he collapsed to the ground. His pupils were trembling like aspen leaves, unlike his usual self.

The Serial Murderer swallowed the rising nausea. In his mind, the “request” he had just heard echoed.

– Make sure those two survive. If they die… you’ll deal with the consequences.

The Serial Murderer’s body slowly rose. It wasn’t his will. Unbelievably, Olivia’s “request” from earlier was making him move like this. The demonic energy inside him writhed as if it would die immediately if he didn’t fulfill that request.

What.

Kind of.

Absurd situation was this? The Serial Murderer bit his lip until it nearly burst. He summoned his aura to its maximum, but that was the best resistance he could muster.

His hand moved on its own to open the Master of Dark’s mouth. Then it inserted the potion. When exactly half had been sucked down his esophagus, his hand stopped. Since one had just broken, this was the only potion left.

Then he walked toward the Devilhunter. Like a puppet.

Boom! Booooom!

Explosions sounded right behind him. It was the sound of Olivia and Agares fighting. Yet the Serial Murderer’s body moved calmly.

Stone fragments flew and cut his body all over, but he just kept walking toward the Devilhunter. The Serial Murderer’s lips trembled.

“…What kind of damn magic is this?”

The Serial Murderer instinctively knew this situation was because of Baphomet’s demonic energy. Could Baphomet have done something when he died? But that wouldn’t explain why nothing happened when he killed Baphomet in his previous life.

The Serial Murderer arrived in front of the Devilhunter with his heart beating rapidly. The moment he opened his mouth and shoved in the potion, the pressure that had been compressing his entire body subsided.

Only then could he breathe out roughly with relief.

Thud!

A completely different noise was heard.

*****

The fight was one-sided.

Agares, true to his aggressive demonic nature, charged in recklessly, willing to die, but he couldn’t even get close to Olivia, let alone land an effective hit.

He abandoned his human form and manifested as a ferocious wolf, swinging his claws fiercely, but nothing changed.

[This situation seems familiar. Are you their guardian or something?]

“You don’t have the right to ask me questions, you bastard.”

Crack!

Electricity sparked from Olivia’s fingertips.

“I’m the one who asks questions.”

Magical power exploded.

Crash! Light split into thousands of branches and struck Agares’s body. With his lower body frozen, he couldn’t dodge. Since when? He had detected the flow of magical power, but that was only the lightning. If he had felt the signs of cold being generated, he would have responded.

The overwhelming difference in power. Agares quickly acknowledged it. He had felt it when they met in the south, but now it was incomparably greater.

Tssss!

Black demonic energy covered Agares’s entire body. It wrapped around him like scales, protecting his body from Olivia’s attacks.

He was giving up on attacking and focusing solely on defense. To endure even a little longer.

From Olivia’s perspective, it was puzzling. That Agares, of all demons, was taking such a defensive stance.

It would have been better if he had rushed at the Master of Dark and threatened to kill him like last time.

‘Of course, he would have been split into thousands of pieces before that.’

Like this.

BOOM!

A massive pillar of light appeared from the sky, piercing the ground and striking the main base of the Demon God cult. Agares was temporarily blinded by the brilliant light.

Crackle! He waved both arms and dug into the thick ground like he was diving. In an instant, he reached dozens of meters underground. Lightning still followed, creating fierce light, but it wasn’t as painful as before.

“Olivia…?”

The Serial Murderer called out with an anxious face. But there was no answer. She just kept firing magic at Agares.

“Should I, should I evacuate these guys outside?”

Olivia didn’t answer this time either. Instead, she turned her head and glared at the Serial Murderer with a fierce gaze.

Flinch.

The Serial Murderer unconsciously lowered his eyes to the ground. …Why? Only then did he realize his strange behavior.

Why was he afraid of Olivia?

The Serial Murderer wasn’t the type to fear death. He was the kind of person who would regret not killing more even at the moment of his death.

Yet he was feeling fear.

The Serial Murderer swallowed dryly and stepped back. Olivia took her eyes off him and glared at Agares, who had dug deep into the ground.

Her chest was boiling with rage. Olivia manipulated the lightning into a hook shape, grabbed Agares with it, and pulled him up to the surface.

Boom! Agares, who had been resisting until the end, was holding huge rocks in both hands.

[Puhh, puhuhu… Kaha!]

Agares staggered. Yet he was laughing as if something was so amusing.

She thought he would stop laughing if she overwhelmed him. She thought he would get angry if she didn’t respond to the “warrior-like” fight he wanted. She thought he would lose his mind and charge at her if she deliberately gave him a chance to escape.

But that wasn’t the case.

Even though she had trampled all over his pride, Agares was still laughing.

She didn’t like that.

She wanted to wipe away that smile. Would tearing off his mouth work? No. He would still laugh and say it was fine even with his mouth torn off.

“Shut up.”

[Kuhh, kuhahahahaha! How could I not laugh! I have witnessed with my own eyes the advent of the one I’ve been waiting for all my life!]

Agares nodded happily, laughing. He tore off his arm, which had become like a rag and was dangling, and hummed as if pleased.

[The Duke of the North was right. To think that gloomy man’s judgment was actually correct. Oh my, uhuh, uhahahahaha!]

“I said shut up.”

Agares’s laughter stopped. But he hadn’t stopped laughing. He looked at Olivia with an expression of utmost glory.

At that moment, Olivia saw the madness of inquisitors in Agares’s eyes.

The expressions they make when martyring themselves during operations. There is no fear of death on their faces. Only endless ecstasy.

“Why…”

Olivia muttered as she approached Agares. He didn’t even try to get up and just smiled brightly.

Why are you making such a disgusting expression?

[Because it’s the most glorious death.]

As if catching Olivia’s thoughts, Agares spoke.

“Do you think I’ll let you die like that?”

Olivia didn’t hide her surging killing intent.

“You won’t die even if you want to. I’ll tear off your limbs and feed them to monsters, and I’ll burn your eyeballs in sulfur fire until they can’t regenerate.”

[Huhahaha! That too would be an honor!]

Agares laughed as if it were ridiculous. Olivia didn’t calm her raging heart. Following her emotions, she grabbed Agares’s neck.

“I told you to shut up, you fucking bastard.”

…Crack…Crack!

The sound that spread from his neck covered Agares’s shoulders, chest, and back. It was the sound of muscles being torn apart.

[…You right now…]

Even with death right before his eyes, Agares looked up at Olivia with a bright smile.

[Truly…]

His vision flipped. Even as his neck was being torn off, Agares trembled with an intense sense of omnipotence.