Ch.16153. You, my friend, are deeply, exhausting.

The giants, who had been hesitating, moved simultaneously.

Some turned toward the mysterious woman who had made a spectacular entrance.

Some simply flared up in confusion, while others, seemingly terrified, were desperately crawling into corners.

‘…They’re different.’

There was a clear difference compared to the giant I had encountered at the entrance.

If all giants were as powerful as that one, it would have been troublesome in its own way.

But just as with humans, where there are strong fighters and non-combat personnel… these beings seemed to have similar distinctions.

However, that wasn’t the issue.

-Do not approach.

The woman spoke.

A strange resonance touched the space.

-I warned you.

But the hostile giants paid no heed to her indifferent warning and threw their massive bodies forward.

-How pitiful.

Even then, the woman didn’t move.

Fists many times larger than her body lunged to grab her.

“……”

Should I intervene?

My intuition reassured me with certainty.

That being is not someone you need to worry about.

-Surely not….

Even the Demon Lord wandering beside me seemed to sense something, staring intently at her with half-opened eyes.

The situation was at a breaking point.

And then, as expected yet unexpected…

…all the giants who had tried to harm her collapsed at once, crumbling to the ground.

―!!!!!!!

The giants’ screams echoed throughout the building as if heralding the end of the world.

“What just happened?”

I asked in a lowered voice.

-…….

The Demon Lord didn’t answer.

Crimson pillar-like crystals had suddenly surrounded her, rising from the ground like tree branches.

Yet they weren’t obstacles, barriers, or shields.

They merely grew and illuminated the surroundings.

The giants’ attacks had been thwarted midway.

There was no need to block or defend.

The woman observed this phenomenon as if it were natural.

Then suddenly, she looked directly at me.

Toward me, who was clinging to the ceiling, suppressing my presence.

“……”

Was she just glaring?

No.

-There you are.

I instinctively leaped away at an inexplicable premonition.

Space split with a red trajectory.

“……”

It became clear.

She hadn’t appeared here by chance.

Should I flee immediately? Or strike first?

I thought about speaking to her, but somehow felt it would be meaningless.

I made a quick decision.

I tried to launch myself away from her, but…

She had already reached in front of me with just a few steps.

“……”

How strange.

That technique seemed very familiar.

The red trees and branches around her grew more persistent, sprouting like vines.

They emitted a red light that illuminated the surroundings, making the scene extremely, extremely bizarre.

She opened her mouth.

-I promised. To take you away.

“Take me away?”

-…Can you hear me now?

For some reason, she showed bewilderment at my response.

By the way…

…her face also seemed very familiar.

But while familiar, I had never seen such a dangerous being, such a woman, in my life.

…Look at her eyes.

Like red stars embedded in them, yet with a mysterious quality that seemed ready to explode at any moment.

…Apart from that, all her external features were entirely human.

But that one feature alone made it impossible to regard her as a normal human.

-Come with me willingly.

“Willingly? By whose decision?”

If you’re making a proposal, you should offer acceptable terms.

Or at least show sincerity.

If you force someone with power or violence, of course they’ll resist. Don’t you even know such basic common sense?

“……”

With such power… perhaps she could.

[Hey. That looks dangerous. Not just a little, but absurdly so.]

“……”

[Even my familiar senses can detect it. The magical power. The magical power is overwhelming.]

“Magical power?”

[…That’s definitely a being from the demon realm. And if it’s coming here so boldly… it’s no ordinary—]

Despite quickly pulling away, the bird perched on my shoulder was cut in half.

-There’s no time.

“As if I have time to spare for this…”

-Kariel.

At that moment, the Demon Lord rarely addressed me by name with seriousness.

“……”

-That is the current Demon Lord.

Like a bolt from the blue.

I was momentarily speechless at this unexpected revelation.

-Too fast, much too fast. If she’s this anomalous, the World Tree of the Demon Realm must have done something.

“So, what am I supposed to do?”

It was shocking, but that wasn’t enough to discourage me.

However, the Demon Lord seemed to be thinking in a completely different direction.

-We talked about the world earlier, didn’t we? About will?

“…Yes.”

-The ability to forcibly impose one’s own rigid world on others. That’s the Law of Reason, the qualification and right of a Demon Lord.

And for a Demon Lord, the Law of Reason is…

-Sometimes it becomes the most powerful weapon.

It’s a proof of life in its own right.

A belief to continue forward, an ideology to carry through, life itself.

-You can consider that woman to have inherited the legacy of the Great Demon Lord.

“……”

Is this how she makes her entrance?

Perhaps I have a terrible connection with that accursed Great Demon Lord.

-And that was something I left behind in the demon realm. If she mastered it and became the Demon Lord with it…

-Who are you talking to?

The woman asked, staring directly at where the Demon Lord was floating.

Though invisible, she seemed to sense something, her gaze following as the Demon Lord moved.

-My, my.

The Demon Lord grinned.

“Haa.”

So a fight is unavoidable after all.

As I drew my sword and shrouded it in darkness, the woman watched with interest, her star-like red eyes flashing.

-How pitiful.

What is?

As I was about to ask, my spine tingled again, and I reflexively leaped away.

Once more, without warning or sign, space was torn.

“……”

But you know what?

You’re not the only one who can do that.

I swung my sword with determination.

Simultaneously, she disappeared from her position, vanishing in response.

My black trajectory cut through empty air, effectively slicing through the wrong space.

-Kariel. Let me warn you in advance, that’s something you can’t handle with force. Don’t try to confront it.

“…?”

What kind of cursed legacy is this, that even the Demon Lord is warning me?

This from someone who usually lets me learn through painful experience.

-How pitiful.

With that strange murmur, she rapidly moved to my front.

I reflexively retreated while swinging my sword, but…

Vines sprouting from the ground deflected it.

CLANG!

A fierce friction sound erupted as if metal met metal.

Simultaneously, a red current swept around like dust or wind.

“?!”

My instinct warned me.

But the warning came too late.

I tried to retreat by folding and crossing space, but…

I already felt that I had been hit by something incomprehensible.

“What in the…”

…Unfortunately, there was a precursor to this.

Pain.

Sheer pain.

“!!!”

Pain that seemed to crush, tear, split, and pierce my entire body… agony that instantly filled my consciousness.

In the time it took to exhale once, I rolled through hell.

“Kuh!”

Is it possible for pain alone to make the soul fly away, and beyond that, for the internal organs to be so shaken that one vomits blood?

…Perhaps it is possible.

That’s exactly what was happening to me.

‘What kind of…’

-It’s something that those with life cannot normally confront.

The Demon Lord rarely pronounced such doom.

-This should be handled as a weapon, not made into a world itself… that’s just wrong no matter how I think about it.

“……”

I wish he’d stop muttering things only he understands.

The aftereffects of the pain were still present, and I was getting increasingly irritated.

-You have a strong will.

Whether praise or commendation…

But I was in no position to respond leisurely.

I managed to avoid her as she charged again, but exposed to the aftermath once more, this time it wasn’t pain but nausea that surged.

Due to overwhelming disgust and contempt…

Retching scraped my insides, making me want to vomit everything out.

Extreme revulsion led to the urge to vomit.

“Kuek!”

Saliva and gastric juices rose to my mouth, forcing me to spit them out.

…A terrible experience.

This is pain, but pain of a different realm.

Different from physical pain or stimulation.

This is… damn it. My mind isn’t working properly.

-Be the king of all negation and pain.

The Demon Lord rambled.

-That’s the power the Great Demon Lord used to torture and make those who wouldn’t listen repent.

And whoever they may be…

-Those with life cannot endure it. It’s an absolute shackle of living beings, something that cannot be helped.

…Unless one dies.

Or endures stubbornly.

But that thing even makes time its ally.

Pain accumulates and the mind splits.

The concept of endurance becomes the greatest enemy.

Without any reward or compensation.

Only passing on despair.

“…Haa.”

What an unfairly dirty ability.

It’s absurd to the point of disbelief.

-But it’s not a power to be used frivolously.

Because that…

-The caster also experiences the same pain, if not more, as the target.

“…?”

What? What does that mean?

-And to make this her Law of Reason. She must be out of her mind.

“Law of Reason?”

At those words, the woman—no, the current Demon Lord—who had been watching me, spoke.

-How do you know? Is there someone telling you about this?

“……”

Again.

Though clearly invisible, the current Demon Lord’s gaze… was clearly following the former Demon Lord who existed yet didn’t exist.

-It doesn’t matter. You’ll know everything when you come with me.

‘By whose decision?’

I’ve pursued power to be freer than anyone else.

And now I’m supposed to taste defeat again due to a relative difference in power?

‘In that case… rather!’

From my sword shrouded in darkness, a pure white light suddenly surged.

‘Even if it costs me my life!’

If there were a sword descended from heaven, it might be like this.

A sword emitting an intense light beyond purity, to the point of sublimity.

If she’s also a Demon Lord, to defeat or subdue her…

…this must be the answer.

But why?

The current Demon Lord’s eyes shook violently as if an earthquake had struck when she saw it.

-Why are you… using that? You… could it be…

Eventually, she shed her human form, her face distorting and wrinkling and crumpling.

It twisted and distorted severely, like that of a hideous demon.

To the point where it would stop the heart of anyone who saw it.

-Were you also Radiance?!?!

It was.

A cry like a wail, a scream, a shriek.

Instantly, vines and trees, branches sprouted and spread around her like a point of origin.

They filled the world.

“?!”

I desperately swung the light of my sword to cut them all down at once.

But they sprouted faster than I could cut them.

‘What kind of grudge does she have!’

At this point, I feel more hatred and disillusionment toward the malicious Demon Realm World Tree that’s obsessively pursuing me than toward the unknown current Demon Lord before me.

“Hee—!”

I reflexively turned and swung my sword.

But.

A black hand caught it bare-handed.

Though protected by gauntlets made of darkness, this wasn’t simply a collision and interlocking of metal.

The light of the sword, sacred yet different from holy power, cut through her hand and pierced her arm.

Yet.

She didn’t flinch and immediately reached out with her other hand.

All while pushing her body forward.

Then she suddenly teleported to the side, and though I reflexively moved through space as well…

I was caught by the scruff of my neck.

“Kuk!”

My caught clothing was dragged as if in the jaws of a beast.

I immediately reversed my body and bent my elbow as much as possible, swinging my sword in a cutting motion at close range, almost cutting my own chest.

But my ankle was suddenly kicked, causing my center of gravity to collapse.

Simultaneously, as if connected, my world flipped.

My body was forcibly flipped by the hand that held me.

As my body flew through the air in a semicircle…

THUD!

I collided with the ground.

“?!”

But as soon as I hit, I tried to use the rebound to lift my body and regain my center.

But the hand that held me still hadn’t let go.

As if not to miss this opportunity, she began to beat me mercilessly like wielding a club or whip.

“—!!”

Damn, she’s relentless!

I managed to free myself by cutting off her arm.

My body was already in tatters, but…

Rather, it was the caught clothing that became dusty; I was in much better condition.

“Huu! Haa!”

If it were simply being beaten in hand-to-hand combat, it wouldn’t be much of a problem.

Even while being beaten, I tried to mitigate the damage.

By softening the impact and deflecting it.

But that wasn’t the issue.

‘This is maddening.’

Immeasurable pain in dozens of unique forms stirred my entire body.

Being stabbed, cut, poked, with varying sizes from faint needles to daggers, greatswords, wooden spears, iron-tipped spears, arrows flying and embedding themselves…

Having my entire body pierced and pierced again by each of these, experiencing it dozens of times… just that alone was enough to scramble my mind.

Normally, one would faint, but… yes, being accustomed to pain helps in this way, which is ironically amusing.

-You’re resilient.

The woman showed a reaction that might have been admiration or a curse at my appearance.

And in that gap, the Demon Lord spoke to me.

-Escape. Even if you have to push yourself a bit.

“……”

I was already planning to do that!

I swallowed my breath and threw myself into the darkness in one go.

I feared being caught again if I hesitated or was lukewarm.

Indeed.

Her arm had regenerated at some point, and she had followed me a little into the abyss.

‘She’s persistent.’

I felt relief briefly.

But I didn’t let my guard down.

I sensed something invisible attacking me.

I reflexively countered, but a red trajectory grazed my shoulder.

It wasn’t just one.

Despite deflecting them, I failed to avoid one out of dozens.

And the price was severe.

“Kuk!”

I somehow made it back to the campsite.

But despite not bleeding a drop, the extreme pain surging from my shoulder momentarily made me lose consciousness.

-My Law of Reason, the Golden Rule. The Golden Ratio has been broken, and if that woman’s Law of Reason has occupied the demon realm.

The current demon realm must undoubtedly be an infinite hell.

A river of pain, a land of pain, a sky of pain… a world infinitely occupied by pain.

-Did it really make such a determination?

Perhaps the World Tree harbors a malice far more severe than either the Demon Lord himself or Kariel thought.

-Is it a battle against time?

More than overcoming Lueld.

It was crucially important for him to remove the shackles imposed on him.

Something related to the World Tree.

If he wanted to live a normal life, this had now become an unavoidable trial.

And.

After leaving the system.

Having extracted himself from some kind of protection, he was vulnerable in one way but finally overcame trials and moved forward, shaking off the curse of the Demon Realm World Tree that had been holding him by the scruff of his neck.

But now that its malice, or evil intent, and its warnings no longer worked…

It has now brought another form of nightmare.

It was destined to be unavoidable.

-…….

You are indeed weary.

Yet a life that must move forward.

Your life must now become as strong as a heart.

Whether for yourself…

…or for others you care about.