Ch.194Salvation – 3

Drawing a trajectory of yellow light, a meteor crashed to the ground with a thunderous roar.

The impact nearly scorched the earth, sweeping away everything in the vicinity. A thick cloud of black dust settled around the massive crater that had formed. Debris that had shot high into the sky came raining down.

I was the cause.

Stepping along the slope of the crater, I strode out with purposeful steps. With one swing of my greatsword infused with mana, the dust cloud was caught in the wind and dispersed cleanly.

In the distance, Olivia, who was in the process of reconstructing her shattered body, was giving me a sticky gaze. The fact that I had just destroyed her body didn’t seem to concern her at all.

“Ah, Master…! You became this strong for me, right? You’re conveying a love so intense it could destroy my world, aren’t you?”

“Destroy the world?”

I glanced at the crater I had just climbed out of—a crater that seemed at least ten times my height in depth, created by the impact of my meteor strike.

“Those bugs lying over there couldn’t even scratch us! This is something only possible between you and me! It must be the power of love! Yes! It’s love! Don’t you think so too, Master? You became this strong because you love me, right?”

Olivia finished reconstructing her body and lunged at me again. Her voice overflowed with madness, and her gaze was drenched with love.

“I like you, Master! I love you more than anyone in this world! We are destined for each other! We can never be separated!”

“Can you stop that destiny nonsense already?”

I raised my right foot, infused it with mana, and stomped the ground hard. A shockwave reverberated with a boom. Olivia, who had been charging at me almost like she was flying, was caught in the shockwave and violently coughed up blood.

I swung my sword diagonally at the momentarily stunned Olivia. Mana compressed to its limit explosively erupted along the trajectory, creating a blue slash.

A thin line appeared behind it. A moment later, Olivia’s upper body split in half from her left shoulder to her right side.

White flames burned and consumed the wound. Even as her severed upper body fell backward due to momentum, her lower body was still charging toward me.

I flicked my finger. A spear of flame struck her lower body directly. Her legs below the knees were shattered, and the unbalanced legs collapsed onto the ground with a splat. Entrails spilled from the severed surface.

And then, as if nothing was wrong, time began to rewind, and she started returning to her original form.

I clicked my tongue. Being on the receiving end of this ability was truly frustratingly troublesome. Well, I suppose that’s how I managed to survive all this time despite all the hell I went through trying to die.

‘…There’s no benefit in dragging this out.’

I dashed forward, scraping the ground with the tip of my greatsword. Blue flames suddenly erupted from its end, climbing up the blade and hilt and onto my body.

From somewhere, I thought I heard someone gasp.

The blue flames, about to envelop my entire body, met with the white flames already occupying half of it, blending together and emitting light and heat.

Wings made of holy power sprouted from my back. They weren’t perfectly white but had a slight blue tint. As the wings spread wide, the holy power radiated brilliant light.

From somewhere, I thought I heard someone sobbing as if they were about to choke.

While I was preparing my next attack, Olivia, who had already completed her body’s reconstruction, smiled brightly and shouted:

“That’s right, isn’t it? Without needing to talk about destiny or whatever, we simply love each other, right? I believe you, Master! I understand! How could it be otherwise! The word ‘destiny’ is far too inadequate to express all of our love!”

‘How does she interpret it like that?’

Thinking it better not to say unnecessary things, I kept my mouth shut. With blue and white flames swirling around my body, I flapped my wings and soared into the sky.

With my left hand, I drew a magic circle—a complex pentagram pattern for a spell that could rightfully be called the most powerful in terms of firepower.

From somewhere, I thought I heard a small voice expressing admiration.

As the magic circle was completed, my left hand held what could only be described as hell itself boiling over. The black mana, suddenly heated, was not just melting but even oxidizing.

Flapping my wings once more, I prepared to plunge downward.

—Moon Breaker.

—Purgatory.

Two opposing forces rose from my left and right hands, targeting Olivia. Blue flames and red flames caused tremendous repulsion against each other.

Olivia raised her greatsword with a happy smile. Black mana leaked from her body, forming layers of defensive barriers.

I plunged downward. The blue flames surrounding my body burned even more fiercely, ready to explode with power. The world flashed, and my vision was covered with light and heat.

The first to collide with the black mana barrier was Purgatory. The heat of hell melted the black mana, and the black mana devoured the red flames. The air heated up, forcibly creating an updraft.

Everything boiled over. My vision distorted. Light that dared not enter between this fierce battle warped my pupils.

Behind the melting black mana, Olivia’s figure appeared, extending her sword toward me. I raised my right arm. Blue flames concentrated on the blade.

I swung the sword vertically downward.

First, Olivia’s sword that met my greatsword shattered, and then her body collapsed. Even before making contact with the greatsword, her bones and flesh were completely pulverized by just the pressure.

Olivia, directly hit by Moon Breaker, shattered into pieces and was buried into the ground. A cracking sound echoed like a death cry as her head and pelvis met, compressing the bones and flesh inside.

‘Even this is not enough.’

The last emotion confirmed on Olivia’s face before her body was destroyed was pure ecstasy and joy.

No matter how many times she was hit by me, no matter how many times she was pierced by the greatsword, no matter how many times she was torn apart by magic, no matter how many times she was burned by holy power—Olivia only expressed infinite love toward me.

‘How much time has passed?’

I pondered briefly. It had been over 20 minutes since Olivia and I started fighting. During these 20 minutes, Olivia and I had been continuously battling.

More precisely, I had been one-sidedly dominating Olivia.

The fact that Serena, Christine, and Charlotte’s individual powers were slightly inferior to Olivia’s meant, conversely, that if the three combined their powers, they could easily overwhelm Olivia.

Right now, my body was imbued with the power of all three at once. So it would be more strange if I couldn’t defeat Olivia.

‘We can’t keep going like this. I need to find a way.’

However, even this power had clear limitations.

“Ah, Master. My Master. How much time has passed? How long have we been rolling around on the ground? Isn’t it about time we finished? Isn’t it time for you to accept my love? Isn’t it time for the spell to break, the fog to lift, and the truth to be revealed?”

“Not if I kill you within that time.”

Olivia laughed with a giggle. As if she had heard a truly funny joke.

I inwardly sighed. Yes. Olivia had long since figured out the state of my body without me needing to tell her.

Because the soul bond between me and Serena, Charlotte, and Christine had already been broken.

The bond formed between the essences of our souls had been directly severed, and what remained bound to me were merely fragments in my soul, so naturally, the combination could only be temporary.

The fact that I could no longer use black mana was evidence of this. Olivia’s soul had been scattered into the void long ago.

Olivia’s soul was merely pieces torn apart and put back together, and because so much time had passed, the bond with my soul was extremely weak.

The souls of the other three were still maintaining their bond, but it didn’t seem like they would last much longer.

‘The time left… at most about 10 minutes. The rate of consumption is too fast.’

The speed at which the bond was weakening was much faster than I had anticipated. I thought it would last at least an hour, but this was the situation after only 20 minutes.

I needed to end this situation quickly somehow. No matter how much I was dominating Olivia, it was to my disadvantage unless I succeeded in breaking through the time fixation or completely subduing her.

“…”

Or, use the second method.

I glanced back at where I had evacuated Serena, Christine, and Charlotte. The three were still growling at each other, engaged in a battle of wills even in this situation.

Seeing them like this without getting tired, it seemed they had recovered quite a bit of strength. Right after I moved them, they looked like they were on the brink of death and couldn’t even think about a battle of wills.

I was prepared. If I couldn’t defeat Olivia here, the fate that awaited was only eternal love. So, I had been prepared since I came here.

But what about Serena, Christine, and Charlotte? Would they nod in agreement even knowing what I was about to do?

Honestly, I wasn’t sure.

“Where are you looking, Master? Hm? Why are you looking at those bugs instead of me? Ah, I see! You want to kill those bugs first, right? I’m sorry, Master. I’ll take care of them right now!”

And there was no time to worry.

After impaling Olivia with Dimensional Cut and Meteor, I slashed the surrounding space completely, burying her in time, and flew to the three.

By my estimation, Olivia would break through that in at most 1 minute. I had to resolve this within that time.

I landed in front of the three. They looked somewhat refreshed thanks to the healing magic I had used. At first, they truly looked like they would die the moment I took my eyes off them.

But that was that, and this was this. I took a deep breath and opened my mouth.

“I have something to tell you—”

“I understand, my lord.”

“I will follow, my god.”

“Do as your heart guides you, my dear.”

Before I could even get to the point, as soon as I started to speak, the three nodded and gave their permission. With the situation flowing like this, I was the one who was surprised.

“Wait, you’re giving permission? This easily? Do you even know what I was going to say?”

I felt deflated. All the complex explanations I had prepared in my mind evaporated cleanly. Ignoring my feelings, the three calmly continued.

“How could I, as a knight, refuse what my lord does? Whatever you command me to do, I will gladly follow.”

“I exist solely for my god. If the divine wishes it, even if I must give up this life, I would gladly do so. Please speak your will.”

“I believe in you. Isn’t that fact alone enough? One belief is far more valuable than a hundred promises and a thousand oaths.”

“…Alright.”

With permission granted, there should be no hesitation. There wasn’t time for separate explanations either. Even at this moment, Olivia was approaching, drooling with madness.

I placed my right hand on my heart. Beyond that palm, a faint fragment of soul emitted light. As if understanding what I was about to do just from that light, ecstasy appeared on the faces of the three.

‘Come to think of it, I had broken the soul bond.’

Whether it was Serena, Charlotte, or Christine, with their personalities, they wouldn’t have objected to re-establishing the soul bond.

That wasn’t what I was worried about, though.

Drawing the soul from my heart, I extended my other hand. As I was about to start the soul bond in that state, I paused, encountering an unexpected obstacle.

‘…Who should I do first?’

Three pairs of eyes were staring intently at the direction my hand would move.

Suddenly, cold sweat formed on my back.