Ch.173Answer (4)

Answer (4)

The sole survivor of the Twelve Thousand.

Baruna headed straight for the headquarters of <The Eye of Truth> where La•Pa would be.

Though her wounds were serious, she thought La•Pa would have returned by now.

And sure enough, La•Pa had indeed returned.

However…

“Honestly, I thought Mother would have fled immediately.”

“You know me too well. But not this time. I did my part, you know?”

La•Pa, whom she had expected to have fled long ago, was more battered than anticipated.

She looked as if she had endured to the limit before escaping. It was strange that she had become like this in such a short time.

“Even when fleeing, one must think about what comes next.”

That’s why La•Pa had withstood Belphegor’s attack.

She could have avoided it, but deliberately took it to gauge its power.

She knew about the divine authority, but didn’t know about Belphegor’s power. As long as she didn’t know how threatening it could be, she needed to find out.

“I’m not the one fighting, but Capilla’s ascetic. Considering he’ll face that damn kid, I needed to push myself a bit.”

So she withstood it.

She blocked Belphegor’s overwhelming power as if it were nothing.

Her insides were in turmoil and she wanted to vomit blood immediately, but she maintained a forced smile and sneered.

To make Belphegor think her abilities were insignificant, to make her rely on divine power.

As a result, Belphegor began to fully utilize divine power.

Setting aside her space-destroying power, she exercised divine authority that distorted space itself.

La•Pa, who had endured to her limit, fled upon seeing Belphegor’s unstable appearance, making Belphegor believe her threats had worked.

‘Well, they weren’t entirely ineffective.’

She could have endured longer, but chose this method for a safer approach.

That is, to increase the burden on Lug.

‘Still, I’ve taken the minimum precautions, so he should manage well.’

She is an evil god.

And evil gods deceive people and grow stronger through their despair.

Therefore, it was simple to guide Belphegor’s consciousness.

To make him use divine power.

No…

‘To make him use only divine power.’

She increased his dependency, limiting the type of power directed at Lug to just one.

In the process, she had to deliberately take a beating and pretend it didn’t hurt…

“Well, they’ll handle it from here. I’ve done my part.”

Now all that remained was Lug’s choice.

‘Now, what choice will you make?’

La•Pa smirked alone, contemplating Lug’s vaguely anticipated choice.

Once all this ended, no one would be able to stop her.

***

Originally, he had been creating vessels through the seven emotions and five desires, devouring what others couldn’t digest to grow stronger.

He had been building his strength in that way, anticipating the day he would face Belphegor. He thought that was the minimum requirement.

But he realized he didn’t need to spend such arduous time when an unexpected situation arose.

Lilith had once come with the hero’s party to help Lug escape.

When things went wrong and Belphegor appeared to bury the hero’s party in one strike, Lug absorbed that power and made it his own.

What he could gather wasn’t just the seven emotions and five desires to create vessels, or the karma that overflowed because it couldn’t be contained. He could also reclaim his own power.

‘La•Pa certainly did well according to plan.’

He wasn’t sure what Belphegor’s original power was, but currently she was only exercising power usurped from the divine.

She was relying on that authority.

‘The Demon Lord’s condition is critical. So the power she received from me is leaking out like karma she can’t handle.’

Right now, Belphegor was like a magnet covered in iron filings.

She had clearly usurped his power, but he could pull it back with just a little effort.

Of course, there was a price.

“Kuk…”

The act of pulling iron filings.

Unlike what was contained in the vessel, being exposed externally meant there would inevitably be problems in the transfer process.

Simply put, it was like getting iron filings on your hands.

But unlike the metaphor, what Lug had to draw in wasn’t iron filings but flames.

Lug had to be continuously exposed to blue flames.

His skin was damaged by the heat, and chunks of flesh were carved away by the space-manipulating power.

“You…”

Because there was no other way? No, that seemed a bit strange.

While Lug might be seizing the opportunity to steal back Belphegor’s power, even after being discovered, he still wasn’t exercising that power.

“Ha…!”

And then Belphegor realized. All of this had been designed.

Even the gradual stealing of Belphegor’s power. Even what came after.

Lug had never actually attacked Belphegor.

He only took power from her without doing anything else.

Even if it was to avoid being discovered stealing power, continuing the same behavior after being discovered meant…

“You still pitied me.”

It meant he never intended to be hostile to Belphegor in the first place.

Belphegor repeatedly clenched and unclenched her hand, checking her body’s condition. It felt light. She had always felt as if something was pressing down on her, but now she could feel refreshed for once.

However, that could hardly be called a good thing.

The discomfort she felt was the recoil from suppressing enormous power.

Its disappearance meant that power itself had been taken away.

What she had feared all along.

Perishing because she couldn’t withstand her own power. The divine before her was solving that problem.

“How far do you intend to look down on me? Do you still think you’re some god who can do anything?”

How dare you.

“I don’t think that.”

“Stop bullshitting.”

Bang!

As Belphegor swung her fist, black energy extended and devoured the place where Lug stood.

Not the divine power she had usurped, but Belphegor’s inherent power to destroy space.

The perception La•Pa had planted disappeared, and her head cleared.

While part of it was due to escaping the precarious situation, the fundamental issue was Lug’s blatant attitude.

“Save me? And then what? Were you planning to subdue me and lecture me?”

“…”

Belphegor’s attack was nothing more than venting her anger. Even with just that, Lug collapsed in critical condition.

The aftermath of using Belphegor’s own power, not divine power.

It was that simple.

She had wasted so much time not noticing this simple fact.

Dealing with a foolish divine who dared to say he would save her.

“Tsk.”

She had thought of him as her archenemy.

Seeing him withstand despite the enormous power she poured out over a long time, she thought, “A divine is still a divine after all.”

But what was this?

Arrogant and lacking self-awareness.

“…I have no intention of lecturing you.”

“…”

But. Lug stood up.

Despite being hit directly with her own power rather than the divine power she had been using until now. Despite clearly being hit squarely, coughing blood, and reaching a critical state.

“What are you…”

That was different from arrogance.

Rising to the end in such a state was different from arrogance.

That fact gave her chills.

She couldn’t fathom the divine’s intentions at all.

“Why are you getting up? I’m not going to play along with your tricks anymore, and you have no chance of winning. Ah, yes. There is one way. The divine power you took back. With that, you could heal your wounds, couldn’t you?”

The ability to transcend spatial constraints.

That’s how it’s expressed in words, but in reality, it’s a power with even greater versatility.

Just by wielding that power, Belphegor could overlap spaces and tear opponents to shreds.

It’s a power that can’t even be defended against unless one has the ability of the same god. That alone is an absurd power, but…

As the owner of that authority, the divine could draw out even the powers of the world that Belphegor didn’t know well.

Because he had crossed all six realms.

He could convert that immense power to summon the power of hell, or conversely, the power of heaven.

Transcending spatial constraints.

Converting power. Exercising the world itself as power.

In that sense, healing wounds would be a simple matter.

The highest place in heaven. The gods there inherently possess immense vitality. If he exercised the power of that world, regenerating himself wouldn’t be difficult.

In fact, divine force is the conversion of such heavenly power through divine authority.

The ability of the divine is to convert the world itself into power.

Yes, he can do it.

Just as he saved Lilith in the past.

He can easily heal wounds or diseases that would lead to death.

“But what exactly do you want to do?”

Why is he enduring with his bare body?

It would be understandable if he was pretending to get his power back, but why, when that fact has already been discovered?

Even if the divine had no intention of interfering with her and only wanted to heal her, it was strange.

At this rate, he would die before saving her.

“Well. To be honest, I’m not sure.”

“What?”

“Even having come this far, I still haven’t reached a conclusion.”

He thought talking might lead to some conclusion.

But even facing each other like this, he still hadn’t reached a conclusion. He knew the cause.

“It seems I’m not ready yet.”

He feared what lay ahead.

That’s why he couldn’t act rashly and remained at a standstill.

Doesn’t he already know? The day he fell. How many people suffered because of it.

“Then stay crumpled up quietly.”

“I thought about doing that, but…”

Lug laughed as if in despair.

He knew that what he was doing now was foolish.

But…

“When I see someone who rises up despite any unreasonable situation, I feel that I shouldn’t stay still just because I’m not ready.”

Hero Esmeralda never stayed down in any despair.

Even trapped in darkness where no answer was visible, she took steps forward.

And Lug admired her for that.

“After all, I am a god in name.”

He decided not to stand still.

***

The holy sword broke.

All that remained above the handle was a blade not even half the size of a dagger.

Even if she stabbed First with this, the blade wouldn’t reach his heart.

And he could easily recover from such a scratch anyway.

Thud.

Esmeralda fell to her knees.

She had lost her weapon, and her opponent remained unharmed.

“It was like this from the beginning, wasn’t it?”

It was a fight without any chance of winning.

She had entered the demon realm to defeat the Demon Lord, but in reality, she couldn’t even defeat First. No, not even Second.

“I knew this would happen. The difference in power was too great, I thought it could never be bridged.”

Yes, she knew. She came all this way knowing she could never win.

Like the holy sword before her eyes. She had been broken long ago.

Yes, she was already broken, and yet she came this far.

That was…

“But the difference in power doesn’t determine everything!”

Esmeralda, who had been kneeling, rose to her feet again.

Her body, half-submerged in a pool of blood, rises again.

With a fragment of the broken holy sword in the hand opposite to the one holding the holy sword.

She stabs, not caring that blood flows from the hand gripping the blade.

“See.”

Esmeralda smiled, even as her hand holding the blade trembled.

“I wounded you this time, didn’t I?”

First, thinking it was over, was slow to mist-form.

He allowed Esmeralda’s attack, which he had been belittling, and bled.

But it’s still just a scratch.

However…

“And if I’ve done it once, I can do it twice.”

Esmeralda’s fighting spirit was burning more fiercely than ever before.