Ch.147Demon God. (2)

Long ago.

A very long time ago.

That is, when I first used a “clue.” I had such a question.

Why doesn’t “Olivia” notice the sense of incongruity?

Even when suddenly waking up in a strange place.

Even when conversations end before she regains consciousness.

Even when Kiel suddenly distances himself, Melina reacts strangely, and Livga shows hostility—why?

Why doesn’t she notice?

Is it simply because she’s entering memories? Of course, when I used Kiel’s “clue,” that’s what I thought. Because there was a translucent barrier preventing me from going beyond what Kiel remembered.

But at some point, that barrier disappeared. I don’t remember exactly when. Probably around the time Kiel’s “clue” was reaching its end.

That’s when I realized. A “clue” isn’t simply entering someone’s memories.

It’s directly intervening in the past of the massacre playthrough.

Because it’s just a play record?

No. “Olivia” isn’t just a play record.

If that were the case, I couldn’t explain how I overthrew the port city of Icail with Esthie.

The reason these thoughts suddenly come to mind is…

Because I’m witnessing the results of surrendering to violent emotions firsthand.

“……”

Olivia had never felt such intense killing intent before. A pure murderous intent that wanted to tear everything apart—not for humiliation or pleasure, but simply for the act of killing itself.

Olivia looked at the dark red blood flowing down her arm. It wasn’t her own blood. It was the blood of the great demon Agares, who lay helplessly with his spine ripped out.

Agares wasn’t dead yet. Although his head had been torn off, he was still the third-ranked great demon. This much wouldn’t kill him. If left alone, he would eventually regenerate.

She had no intention of letting him live. But she didn’t want to kill him immediately either. She was afraid of being swept away by the wave of emotions again.

‘…I couldn’t resist.’

She couldn’t resist the violent killing intent. Half-crazed, she drove Agares like a demon. Even if one could make a hundred concessions for that, ripping out Agares’s neck was a different matter entirely.

An action no sane human would ever take. Even serial killers might savor their victims’ agonized moans by sticking needles into the seven orifices until the very end, but they wouldn’t kill by ripping out the spine.

That wasn’t something a human would do.

It was something a monster like a lycanthrope would do.

Olivia almost wished that “Olivia” had been the one who created this situation. She wanted to believe that “Olivia” had possessed her in reverse.

But no matter how much she denied reality, the situation remained unchanged.

It was Olivia herself who had been enraged at Agares and ripped out his neck along with his spine.

It was completely different from what she felt when fighting the six Returners before. Back then, it felt like an invisible force was blatantly trying to control her body, but this time it only touched her mind.

Even that was very subtle.

Slowly, imperceptibly. Very naturally making Olivia angry.

The moment she directly witnessed the impending deaths of the Master of Dark and the Devilhunter.

That was where it began.

While watching the Devilhunter collapse, her emotions slowly boiled over. Like a frog that would jump out if thrown into boiling water, but would be cooked to death if the water gradually heated up without realizing the danger.

Olivia herself was the same.

By the time she landed on the bottom of the cavern, she had already gone berserk.

‘Why did I…’

She had no feelings whatsoever for the Master of Dark and the Devilhunter. Annoying, interfering bastards. Her feelings toward them were nothing more, nothing less. If it had been Melina or Livga, perhaps, but there was no reason for Olivia to be angry about those two being harmed.

But clearly, the killing intent originated from that situation.

Olivia covered her face with both hands. Just pulling herself together was overwhelming. In truth, she knew. She hadn’t been controlled or hallucinating.

She had simply been intoxicated by emotion.

That’s why she became angry and created this result. So much so that she wanted to believe she had been controlled. She couldn’t believe that she, who had been cold-headed at every moment, had been consumed by momentary emotion.

– How can I not laugh! I have witnessed with my own eyes the advent of the one I have waited for all my life!

Olivia glared at Agares’s writhing head. Struggling to push away the urge to stomp and burst it with her foot, she concentrated magical power at her fingertips.

[Using skill, ‘Lightning Bolt’.]

Crack! With the familiar bursting sound, Agares’s head exploded. Olivia wasn’t satisfied with that. He still wasn’t dead. Though it was hard to say he was alive either.

But the maniacal laughter blooming on his face still hadn’t disappeared.

…Crack! Crack!

The cavern brightened and darkened repeatedly. Olivia didn’t stop casting spells until Agares turned to ash.

[You have defeated the great demon, ‘Agares’.]

[You have cleared the Earth Demon Realm, Moria.

The key to the Earth Demon Realm will be granted.]

When the long-awaited notification appeared, she could finally exhale a deep sigh as if expelling the sediment from the depths of her heart. The sigh didn’t ease her troubled mind, but she felt she might go insane if she didn’t do at least this much.

“…Are you okay now?”

The Serial Murderer asked with a face full of caution. In his hand was a sickle as red as blood. Around him were piles of stone fragments split in half. It was evidence that he had tried hard not to get caught in her magic.

Behind the Serial Murderer, the Devilhunter and the Master of Dark were lying quietly. Now that she looked, it seemed he had protected not only himself but them as well.

‘Huh. I thought he would run away.’

Still, he listened well when told what to do, just like a dog.

In a good way, of course.

“For now.”

Olivia pushed away the Serial Murderer who ran up to her with a bright face. The job wasn’t finished yet.

[The owner of Clue #12 is the ‘Master of Dark’.]

Fortunately, the Master of Dark was still unconscious. The bleeding had stopped, but the wounds hadn’t healed. It seemed the Serial Murderer had only given him a small amount of potion.

‘This might be better.’

If he had seen what just happened, he really would have… misunderstood in a bad way.

“So what are we going to do now?”

Instead of answering the Serial Murderer’s frivolous question, Olivia placed her hand on the Master of Dark’s head. Just enough not to kill him. The moment she thought that, electricity crackled from her fingertips.

The Master of Dark’s body trembled. When no message about subduing him appeared, Olivia slightly increased the intensity of the current.

“Grrrk.”

“Oooh…”

The “grrrk” was the Master of Dark, and the “oooh” was the Serial Murderer.

“Making him feel the pain while keeping him unconscious…”

This wasn’t even torture. It was simply inflicting pain. Even after he regained consciousness later, he would suffer terrible aftereffects along with the overwhelming agony. Truly revolutionary.

The Serial Murderer kept nodding with an impressed expression. Olivia sighed as she looked at him.

“Move aside.”

The Serial Murderer nodded and stepped back. For some reason, he wasn’t being defiant as usual. Olivia assumed he was probably feeling ecstasy watching the Master of Dark foaming at the mouth.

“Grrrrrrrk!”

“Ooooooh!”

She was right.

‘Why is he so tough?’

Olivia didn’t want to be involved with the Master of Dark anymore. Of course, after obtaining the clue, she planned to erase all traces of her presence here, but she couldn’t resolve the question of “who saved them from Agares.”

To begin with, defeating Agares would require someone like the Red Dragon Lord Eryas, but he never left the princess’s side.

‘Can’t be helped.’

Suspicion was unavoidable. But what could be done about it? The Master of Dark didn’t know that Olivia had escaped from Asmodeus.

At most, he would suspect Melina or Livga, but they had no reason to come here. Did he even know that Melina was alive?

[You have subdued the Returner, ‘Master of Dark’, without killing him!]

[You obtain Clue #12.]

Finally, the awaited notification appeared. Olivia removed her hand from the Master of Dark without hesitation.

Olivia walked to the center of the cavern. Perhaps because of the lightning she had unleashed during the battle with Agares, there was a huge hole in the ceiling.

Receiving the faint dawn light coming through the hole, Olivia reabsorbed her magical power that had seeped into various parts of the cavern.

So secretly that even the Grandmasters, even if Melina came, would not be able to discover any traces.