Ch.192The Witch Who Will Destroy the World. (2)

Kuuuung!

An enormous pressure crushed Asmodeus. In an instant, bones shattered and internal organs burst.

“Arghk…!!”

Asmodeus hadn’t simply pierced Olivia’s chest. Not content with having his hand burst through her back while gripping her heart, he had even squeezed it until it exploded.

Clearly, that should have been the end.

Yet Olivia stood up as if nothing had happened. Her regenerative ability far transcended that of Asmodeus.

[You already know.]

Asmodeus’s shoulders trembled slightly.

“…No.”

Only one possibility flashed madly through Asmodeus’s mind.

Beings who transcend even the realm of transcendence, forcibly dismantling and recreating the laws of the world themselves.

The god Asmodeus feared most, the creator of all demons.

“No, no, NO!!!”

Even though he realized this was the most terrifying yet only possibility that could explain the situation, Asmodeus shook his head frantically, muttering like a madman.

“Die, you damned heretic…!!”

Asmodeus gathered demonic energy while shouting. Immediately, crimson flames gathered at his fingertips and burrowed into Olivia’s chest.

Black flames amplified to the extreme. Heat so intense that even Asmodeus, who created it, could barely withstand it.

Kwaaaaa!

He continued to hurl black flames relentlessly at Olivia, who still stood motionless without any response, feeling nothing but rage and contempt.

As time passed, the temperature inside the barrier rose exponentially, and the demonic energy scattered around became sacrifices to increase the size of the black flames.

“Just, just, just die! Die already!”

This wasn’t the fight he wanted. If the opponent dodged, he would have countless ways to respond. The same if she countered with her own attack. But Olivia’s chosen method was far beyond Asmodeus’s expectations.

The black flames created by Demon Lord Asmodeus himself.

An attack that could reduce even transcendents to ashes, yet Olivia was enduring it as if it were nothing.

No, it was beyond mere endurance.

The black flames, upon touching Olivia’s body, were immediately broken down into demonic energy and absorbed. Asmodeus watched the scene with trembling eyes.

Beyond his increasingly horrified gaze, Olivia, who was forming a smile, whispered:

[We haven’t even properly started yet.]

The next moment, Olivia’s entire body vanished into darkness. Beyond simply concealing her presence, it was as if her very existence had disappeared.

The darkness let out a chilling scream. The space resonating with that scream shook violently. Light vanished, and a silent darkness descended. Even with demonic energy enhancing his vision, he could see nothing.

Asmodeus’s eyes trembled. This emotion he was feeling was unfamiliar. The feeling of fear rising madly within him.

What should I do? How can I survive? I must find a way. I am an immortal being. I will not die unless I wish for death myself. I will definitely kill Olivia and survive.

Olivia wouldn’t have just left him here. She must be watching him from somewhere.

Asmodeus’s shoulders shook uncontrollably. He was afraid to advance into the darkness where he couldn’t see an inch ahead.

He was being hunted.

Having never been in such a position before, he didn’t know how to respond. The anxiety he had been trying to suppress was surging strongly.

In this space created by Olivia, no sound could be heard. Not even his own breathing. What did that mean?

Before Asmodeus could properly consider the reason, he felt a sense of déjà vu from all directions.

Sssssss…

The sensation of thousands of snakes slithering past his body.

Something was approaching Asmodeus.

“…Wh, ah…?”

He couldn’t feel the weight of the demonic sword in his hand. With the sudden feeling of lightness, Asmodeus looked down at his body. His arm was gone. As he widened his eyes—his legs had disappeared.

“AAAAARGH!”

No sooner had he screamed in terrible pain than darkness burst forth. His vision collapsed sideways as he fell to the ground with a thud. It hurts. Kill. Kill, kill her. Asmodeus frantically looked around with bloodshot eyes.

Demonic energy poured from his wide-open palm. It contained a ferocity incomparable to before, but that was all. The moment it advanced beyond the darkness, it was buried in silence and disappeared.

“Th-this is…”

The ‘darkness’ instantly closed in, tightening its encirclement. Fear prevented him from making quick judgments. Before he knew it, the approaching ‘darkness’ swallowed Asmodeus.

“…!!”

Engulfed in darkness, Asmodeus looked around with wide eyes. He could see nothing. Feel nothing. And soon, even such ‘thoughts’ were cut off.

A terrible silence where everything had stopped.

Standing blankly in the middle of it like a machine whose lifespan had ended, someone’s memory took root in Asmodeus’s mind.

A woman’s memory.

A woman shooting lightning while white snow flurries around her. Before this woman, who could rightfully be called a transcendent, appeared some massive being with eyes alone spanning thousands of meters.

Even in the overwhelming pressure that seemed capable of making one lose consciousness just by looking up, the woman continues fighting as if accustomed to it.

The faces of the comrades fighting alongside her change each time. But she never changes.

Killing gods with her own power, continuing that achievement across thousands of world lines.

Finally, she finds the answer.

“Augh, augh-ah…!”

Though he barely returned to reality, his mind had been toyed with to the point where he couldn’t even speak.

Memories from distant world lines overlapped with the reality before his eyes.

“Kuh, khaak…!”

Asmodeus wasn’t wrong. The energy Olivia emitted was clearly different from the Demon God she remembered.

But despite reaching that conclusion, Asmodeus’s complexion had hardened to a degree that surprised even himself.

“What… what are you trying to do…!!”

[You should know after what you just saw.]

Olivia said this as she drew both hands together.

It was obvious, but the immortality of the Demon God was incomparably stronger than that of a Demon Lord.

So much so that it could even defy the will of its master, the Demon God.

The reason it remained in the form of remnants despite completely annihilating the Demon God was because of this.

[How do you destroy a being that cannot be destroyed?]

Olivia spoke calmly.

[If immortality can defy its master’s will to such an extent, then conversely, one could use that against it.]

Simultaneously, countless grudges rose behind Olivia.

Hatred directed at a madman who had annihilated not just one world, but all dimensions of the universe.

Asmodeus couldn’t even dare to face that darkness.

He just lay collapsed on the floor, trembling and whimpering.

Tears, mucus, blood, and brain matter mixed indiscriminately. Muscles and tendons detached, joints and bones twisted randomly.

“Auuugh…!”

Only then did Asmodeus realize what this darkness originated from.

A world without life or death.

The Void.

[I only realized after countless trials and errors.]

To save everyone, she had to kill everyone.

[That this is the only way.]

Tstsstststs…

As Olivia shook both hands, a dagger containing the energy of the Void appeared in midair.

“…Augh, aughaaa…!”

The moment he faced the dagger, Asmodeus retreated in terror. Even while bleeding profusely from his entire body, even while dragging himself across the floor, he tried desperately to distance himself from Olivia.

In that brief moment, he had died countless times. His mind collapsed as soon as it recovered, and his body continuously disintegrated.

‘…I want to die.’

He wished for annihilation, but even that wasn’t allowed. Olivia didn’t permit even death.

The proud and arrogant Asmodeus no longer existed. From the moment he realized Olivia’s true identity, she had lost all hope.

From their first meeting, the evil god disguised as a transcendent had been seeking his destruction.

Thud.

Asmodeus reached out with trembling hands and grabbed Olivia’s foot.

“…Please, please. Kill me…”

[Of course I will.]

Just as a glimmer of hope appeared in Asmodeus’s eyes, Olivia continued:

[After I’ve killed you as many times as I’ve died.]

At those words, Asmodeus’s face was colored with despair.

*****

At some point, Asmodeus literally broke. Though her body still regenerated, her once-shattered mind never returned.

“Auu… auuu…”

Asmodeus’s face was distorted with fear and pain. All the broken-minded woman could do was mumble unintelligible words while her lips quivered.

Olivia plunged the dagger in her right hand into Asmodeus’s chest.

Hwaaak…

The darkness subsided. The demonic energy constituting Asmodeus’s body was sucked into the dagger.

Soon, Asmodeus disappeared without leaving a trace.

Olivia stared into empty space for a moment, catching her breath. Her entire body ached, and her heart was beating wildly.

‘…Not yet, not yet.’

Olivia composed her breathing and removed the barrier.