A Quick Divorce 2

“Ahahaha, I never thought I’d see the Archduke of Gluttony with my own eyes.”

Nihilus laughed.

However, unlike her smiling face, her body was far from being in good condition.

-Gurgle.

-Gurgle.

-Grk.

Maggots were blooming all over her beautiful, slender face and body.

The maggots gnawing at her body weren’t in good shape either.

As a price for daring to covet the True Ancestor’s blood and flesh, the maggots were constantly being contaminated by the blood, either self-destructing or attacking other maggots. But even so, the rate at which maggots grew on the True Ancestor’s body was much faster.

“Plea-se-die-quick-ly-I-can’t-show-this-to-our-Alice.”

With dozens of wings spread out, Fira presented a rather grotesque appearance.

Perhaps Fira now looked far more terrifying and like a nightmare-ish monster than any ordinary calamity or monster.

The irony was that such a monster was standing on the front lines to protect humanity and the Ark.

“I had some business with that child too, ahahaha! Who knew the Archduke of Gluttony would be so protective…”

“I’m-Fira-Dunhill.”

“That name. How long do you think you can use it?”

“…….”

“The Ark, no, your friend, everyone you knew, how long do you think they’ll see you as Fira Dunhill and not a Demon Archduke…”

-Crunch!

Even though her entire body was being devoured by maggots, Nihilus showed no signs of tension or a sense of impending defeat.

In the first place, this wasn’t even her main body.

Nihilus was the source of those mosquito bastards called the Primordial Calamity among the True Ancestors.

All blood was her.

Even the True Ancestors who seemed to have their own egos were all Nihilus.

Nihilus could be reborn into a new body at any time, and even this body being devoured by maggots could be revived as long as a single drop of blood remained.

‘I originally intended to contaminate Fira Dunhill with my blood… but for her to escape from being a child of the Dunhill Family and become the Demon Archduke herself is unexpected.’

Nothing ever goes according to plan.

However, Nihilus wore a smile on her lips.

Because she had seen something interesting.

The Demon Archduke, who was said to have perished with the Demon Lord long ago, was spreading grotesque wings right before her eyes. How could she not be moved?

‘This body is reaching its limit too.’

The maggots were increasing, and her heart, nasal cavity, and brain had already been eaten away.

It seemed like it was time to part ways.

“Ah, he’s dead.”

At that moment, Nihilus looked somewhere with her one remaining eye.

She sensed the death of Luichella Dunhill, who had been granted the power of Blood Contamination by her.

‘I know that guy from the Dunhill Family, though not as much as me, has an excellent talent for escaping or clinging to life…’

The children of the Dunhill Family all possessed dozens to hundreds of maggots in their bodies.

Even if only one of these survived, they could fully recover with proper treatment and rehabilitation.

Although not as good as a True Ancestor, they had extra lives to spare compared to ordinary humans.

But to lose their life in an instant without even escaping, let alone using their extra lives?

“How amusing.”

“Wha-t.”

“Luichella Dunhill has been completely killed by Alice.”

“…!”

At those words, Fira’s face lit up.

It was the face of a noble lady made of maggots and flies, but a bright smile was clearly present.

“Well, since our promise is over… I’ll look for another opportunity.”

“Do-you-think-a-mosquito-like-you-will-have-another-chance?”

As Fira gestured, the maggots devouring Nihilus’s body simultaneously began to overload with mana.

Even if only one exploded, it would collapse the surrounding area, and there were thousands of them gnawing at her body. This body would die cleanly, leaving not a single cell behind.

But that didn’t matter.

Nihilus had plenty of bodies.

So many that it was pointless to count them.

“Archduke of Gluttony. Let’s play with a little more formality next time.”

“Screw-you-mosquito-bastard-!”

[Soul Shatter Art]

★

★

★

Alice’s bare foot slammed down on Luichella’s face, which was just a head.

“Kuh!”

“Goodbye. Let’s get the divorce done quickly.”

-Thud!

Mechanical tendrils resembling syringes pierced Luichella’s fixed head all at once.

And then, the energy Drain began.

【Commencing Fusion.】

【Fusion Target – Luichella Dunhill】

Originally, Luichella was also a descendant of the Dunhill Family, so if even one of the hundreds of maggots that made up his body survived, there would be a possibility of revival or recovery someday.

However, Alice’s energy Drain, a primal energy absorption mechanism that blocked even the True Ancestor’s infinite regeneration and infinite revival, was directed at Luichella.

Most of the maggots that could be considered part of Luichella were either frozen and shattered by the self-destructing cold formula or annihilated without leaving even a corpse, caught up in the space compression formula.

In the meantime, the few remaining maggots crawled up to his head, seeking to survive, but the mechanical tendrils piercing Luichella’s head were absorbing not only energy but also the maggots that made up Luichella’s body.

Of course, if the maggots were in a normal state, even if Luichella had been defeated, some of them would have survived and escaped using the Plunder formula.

Theoretically, Luichella was confident that he could at least escape even against Fira, which was why he had boldly revealed himself.

No matter how powerful Fira was, she wouldn’t be able to destroy hundreds of maggots using the Plunder formula all at once.

However, most of the maggots were destroyed by Alice’s space compression formula before they could even use Plunder, and even the few that survived began to be absorbed powerlessly by the energy Drain.

【Main System Fusion Initiated】

【Warning – Unidentified Data Installation】

【Warning – Archduke’s Seed Detected】

【Warning – 84 Percent Chance of Fusion Failure】

【Human, Continue?】

84 percent chance of fusion failure due to unidentified elements and instability.

16 percent chance of success…

“Theresa, what are the demerits if Fusion fails?”

【Unconfirmed. Considering the nature of the maggots, there is a high possibility of permanent mutation of the body.】

“Is that so? No big deal.”

【Human, the probability of failure is high. Please refrain from taking unnecessary risks. Furthermore, after undergoing multiple Fusions, I can no longer handle the pain sensors.】

“The chance of success is 16 percent, right? That’s a steal.”

【…Understood.】

It was a rare opportunity for Fusion.

The Dunhill Family’s maggots.

In fact, Fusion itself could be done with mayflies or goblins.

But there was nothing to gain from doing it with such things.

On the contrary, the energy consumed in the Fusion process was much greater.

That’s why Alice was very picky and careful about Fusion.

Once Fusion was initiated, she had to fill up the Fusion energy for at least a month, and Fusion was only possible immediately after defeating the target. She couldn’t store the corpse and perform Fusion later.

【Initiating Fusion.】

The moment she started Fusion, Alice felt her body temperature rising rapidly.

“Ugh, gr…k!”

It was a side effect of Fusion.

All the sensory organs in her body were overloaded, and at the same time, her main personality, memory, and combat systems were all opened. Even the spiral and gear parts that she didn’t even use were being forced to turn.

The first Fusion using the Scrap Iron Dragon wasn’t that painful.

But subsequent Fusions became increasingly vivid.

Her senses became more sensitive, not like an android machine body but like a human body, and pain was no longer something vague and distant but something felt right in front of her.

The sensation of having her skin turned inside out and her internal organs torn apart in real time was not pleasant, to say the least.

‘Aaaaaah! Cibaal! This feels so hurt…!’

【Are you on some kind of drug? Human?】

‘It feels like my bones, skin, and internal organs are being rearranged in real time…! Theresa, have you felt this every time you’ve done Fusion?’

【Of course. Always be grateful, Human.】

‘I’m grateful, but…kuaak, shit…!’

The pain was beyond imagination.

Alice felt as if she had filled her artificial blood vessels with molten iron and lava instead of blood, and conversely, she had to feel a coldness that suddenly froze her soul.

This was what Fusion was like.

The unpleasantness and pain were unavoidable because all the organs of the body had to go through the process of recognizing the newly introduced foreign object as their own body again, and the pain was beyond imagination.

In particular, Alice had become closer to a human by fusing with Gaia, and being closer to a human meant that she felt pain more vividly.

“Haa, haa…”

【Fusion Complete. Good work, Human.】

The time spent on Fusion itself was only 3 minutes, but it was like an eternity for Alice.

“Heu, heu-heut. Still, there’s been progress.”

The 【Status Window】 that she had taken away before appeared in one side of Alice’s vision.

In fact, she hadn’t used the Status Window for quite some time because she hadn’t had a proper chance to use it, but apart from Alice not using it, the Status Window was working hard on its own.

Even if it wasn’t Alice, Theresa would classify and organize the contents of the Status Window.

【Entity Name: Alice】

【Level: 48】

【Energy (HP Integrated): 64.1%】

【Strength: 71>101】

【Intelligence: 22>54】

【Speed: 84>114】

【Mana: 30>97】

【Energy Drain LV 10】

【Swordsmanship – Mantis Blade LV 6】

【Power – Fusion (Mimicry) LV 3】

【Plunder Formula LV 7】

【Self-Destructing Cold LV 3】

【Multi-Casting – Consumes mana to activate multiple formulas simultaneously.】

【Gaia – The Earth Mother who loves you bestows a [Twisted Blessing].】

【Blessing – Twisted Vitality can be used as energy.】

【Twisted Vitality – Unrefined, wild vitality can be used instead of internal current.】

【True Ancestor Agatha – Devoured Agatha.】

【Blood – You receive a slight blood blessing.】

【Parallel Personality Link】-【Linker – Doll1】-【Linker – Doll2】- ……… -【Linker – Doll50】【Linker – Marlang】

The stats she had checked after a long time had increased unbelievably.

Even considering that Alice hadn’t checked or paid attention to the Status Window, it was an unbelievable rate.

In particular, considering that 1 point in Strength was the strength of an adult male, it was no exaggeration to say that she had entered the ranks of a decent S-class Hunter, high-ranking Executor, or First-Class Overseer.

However, Alice’s real ability was not her physical ability but her ability to utilize multiple abilities using the abilities absorbed through Fusion and her mechanical calculation ability.

“Luichella Dunhill, was it? I’ll forget it soon, but thank you very much.”

Alice muttered, checking the bottom line of the Status Window.

In other words, the most recently added ability.

【Archduke’s Bloodline – You have eaten the descendant of someone who swore allegiance to you.】

Someone who swore allegiance to me…

“Theresa, do you have anything to say?”

【I believe you have already guessed. Human.】

Theresa kept her words to a minimum.

However, even if Theresa didn’t say anything, Alice could easily guess the meaning of the phrase ‘swore allegiance’.

The Dunhill Family was said to be descendants of Beelzebub.

In fact, she didn’t know what Beelzebub was, and she hadn’t been able to recall it until now due to severe memory loss.

‘If my guess is correct, Beelzebub’s alias is Demon Archduke.’

And if he was an Archduke, he was naturally a noble rank of the demon race.

Nobles were those who were absolutely loyal to the Demon Lord.

‘It’s a bit strange that he’s a demon rather than a demon race… but in the first place, the demon race is not a single race but a collection of all races with demonic tendencies. It’s only natural that there are demons, dark elves, and undead races besides the demon race.’

【Devour the Archduke’s Bloodline to acquire some of its abilities!】

【Devour (Sealed) – LV 1】

【’Devour’ and ‘Energy Drain’ are integrated.】

【The power of ‘Gluttony’ is unlocked.】

【Gluttony LV 4】

Energy Drain had completely changed to Gluttony.

It looked useful at a glance.

Originally, the Energy Drain I had was a natural enemy to the True Ancestors, but if I had Gluttony, which was much stronger than that, there was no need to fear the mosquito bastards in the Ark anymore.

Of course, it would be a different story if the True Ancestors were purely stronger than me physically, but their regeneration and revival abilities would be completely sealed.

And of course, the efficiency of absorbing the enemy’s power and abilities would be much better than Energy Drain.

“Ha, it was worth enduring the pain.”

Alice sat on the crumbling layer and shook her legs.

-Whoong!

At that moment, Alice sensed the intense shaking of the nearby mana flow with her enhanced senses.

Feeling the same mana flow as when Fira had disappeared, Alice realized that Fira had broken through the True Ancestor’s barrier and escaped to the outside.

“Alice~! Are you okay!? Am I not too late!?”

“Ah, Fira? You came?”

Alice smiled and looked at Fira.

Fortunately, Fira was fine too.

She didn’t even seem tired, as if it wasn’t a difficult fight, and there were no tears in her clothes or even minor injuries.

“That’s a relief! I was so worried that our Alice would be kidnapped by that playboy Luichella and forced to marry him, becoming a sex slave who would bear children like in those shady books…eup!?”

“Fira? What’s wrong?”

At that moment, Fira’s face suddenly hardened as she approached Alice, swaying to hug her.

It wasn’t because an enemy had appeared or because Alice was hurt.

For some reason, Fira suddenly felt her heart pounding.

Even a slight blush had risen on her face.

‘Wh-what is this…?’

Emotions were surging.

Fira was clearly fond of Alice even in normal times.

Her appearance was to her liking. She was also cute for trying to stand up to her without being intimidated.

She was also proud of her for becoming her new junior as an Ultima-Class Returner and creating various achievements and accomplishments, and Alice was someone she wanted to get closer to, unlike her friend Oriana.

She thought of her as a favorite younger sister.

She thought of her as a beautiful girl.

But now, Fira felt that her usual emotions were amplified several times.

Affection was soaring into love, and she was more than just beautiful, she was fascinated.

‘Wh-what is it?’

Fira also recognized her mental abnormality.

No matter how much she liked Alice, she wouldn’t suddenly ask her to marry her like Luichella did as soon as she saw her.

She liked her so much that she wanted to make her her younger sister, but that didn’t mean she felt love.

This wasn’t Fira’s emotion.

It was something close to instinct.

Fira easily realized the cause.

Demon Archduke.

Beelzebub.

Fira had transcended the masterpiece of the Dunhill Family and metamorphosed into Beelzebub himself.

She had actually achieved the metamorphosis a long time ago, and she usually sealed those aspects as much as possible, hiding them away.

But just now.

Fira had revealed the appearance of Beelzebub in order to face the True Ancestor Nihilus, and she had met Alice immediately after that.

This wasn’t Fira’s emotion but the emotion that Beelzebub was sending towards Alice.

In addition, Fira had originally been fond of Alice, so that emotion had exploded and began to feel like something close to love.

“What, why are you suddenly looking at me like that? Are you going to eat me or something?”

“…….”

Fira had to hide her trembling hands with a fan.

“U-um, Alice?”

“Yeah?”

“U-um, if it’s not too much to ask…”

It was quite difficult to control her emotions.

“Would you marry me?”

“…?”

Are these guys crazy?