Chapter 153
The leader of Pandemonium's words were more than enough to shock me.
It felt as though my mind had frozen solid.
My neck stiffened, and my thoughts refused to connect.
I had let my guard down.
No...
I hadn't even considered the possibility.
I didn't know what kind of power the leader of Pandemonium possessed.
But that wasn't an excuse.
I had walked straight into the trap he had prepared.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
[Devil Knight, do not try to deceive me. I already know that you have betrayed Pandemonium.]
"..."
I knew a lie wouldn't work.
Even so, I continued the conversation because I needed to find a way out of this situation.
Picking a fight with the leader of Pandemonium was insanity.
Although he had lost his physical body during the Great War, his power was by no means something I could ignore.
If I could just get out of this sanctuary, I felt like there would still be a way.
The problem was how to escape.
There were only two methods of entering this place.
Using a Gate Stone...
Or through Malphas's Authority.
Since the Gate Stone's power was derived from Malphas's Authority, using it was obviously impossible.
In that case...
My gaze shifted toward the crow-headed bastard flying overhead.
"When did you realize I had betrayed you?"
[When the White Witch did not fall into corruption, I became suspicious. When Berid died, I became certain.]
"Then why did you continue to watch without acting?"
[Because I knew your cute little rebellion would have no influence on Fate.]
His composed answer made my face twist.
I hated that response.
With a single sentence, he dismissed everything I had struggled to accomplish until now.
"Do you truly believe my actions have brought no changes whatsoever to Fate or the prophecy?"
[You should be the one who understands that better than anyone.]
He didn't say it outright, but the meaning was obvious.
He was mocking the fact that one of the chains binding the End had disappeared.
There was no way the leader of Pandemonium didn't know that the seal of the End weakened whenever one of Pandemonium's High-ranking Executives died.
A question suddenly came to mind.
I understood that the End's seal weakened whenever a High-ranking Executive died.
But why?
What connection existed between the End's seal and the High-ranking Executives?
There was no way the Corrosion Rate simply increased and broke the seal because of prophecy and Fate alone.
If it had been that simple, the leader of Pandemonium would have killed the High-ranking Executives himself long ago.
There had to be another reason he hadn't done so.
Which meant...
There was still something I didn't know.
And it also meant that everything I had done until now hadn't been meaningless.
I raised my head and looked at the leader of Pandemonium.
"So... what do you intend to do with me now?"
The Infernal Flame of the Asura Divine Art flowed through my body.
The violently spinning flames heated my entire body, causing the surrounding air to shimmer.
After witnessing him effortlessly disperse my attack against Malphas, bringing out the Demonic Authority was undoubtedly a foolish decision.
Of course, even his ability had its limits.
If I drew forth Abyssal Mana in a form close to its original source, even he wouldn't be able to neutralize it instantly.
But...
That was my trump card.
The Levatein formed from Abyssal Mana had cut down even the Lich Lord Biden in a single strike.
There was no way I could reveal that power so easily.
I knew full well that I was no match for him.
No matter how hard I fought, it was impossible at my current level.
My objective was simply to escape this place.
To do that, I needed to kill Malphas and obtain his heart.
[Is that your choice?]
"It was the only choice I was ever given."
[You could simply acknowledge your mistake and humbly accept your Fate. I have no desire to damage the Vessel of the End.]
"You think I'd quietly accept Fate?"
[...]
There was no longer any need for words.
The raging Infernal Flame instantly engulfed my body.
I wrapped my entire body in my Domain while making the Infernal Flame outside it rotate at extreme speed.
The immense force felt as though it would crush my body.
But I accepted it, uniting myself completely with the flames.
In that moment...
I became pure fire.
【Asura Divine Art】
【Asura Descent】
The condensed, rotating Infernal Flame began forcing back the Demonic Energy blanketing the sanctuary.
[Heavenly Demon... what a pointless thing to teach.]
The Infernal Flame possessed the power to suppress evil.
It was the natural enemy of Demonic Energy.
His enormous mass of Demonic Energy writhed violently.
Rumble...
The sanctuary trembled as violent vibrations spread through it, and the surrounding space itself began to change.
This Domain belonged entirely to the leader of Pandemonium.
Was he planning to use the space itself as a weapon?
But what he did surpassed even that.
Massive cracks spread across the sanctuary's floor before it collapsed.
Beneath it stretched an endless abyss of pitch-black darkness.
Then the walls crumbled.
The sanctuary itself began disappearing, returning to absolute nothingness.
"What is this...?"
The leader of Pandemonium, who had taken the form of a sphere of Demonic Energy, was nowhere to be seen.
Before me remained only endless darkness.
For a brief moment, I was stunned by its immeasurable vastness.
Then I realized...
My entire plan had collapsed.
This wasn't supposed to happen.
My original intention had been to pour everything I had into attacking the leader of Pandemonium as a distraction, seize an opening, kill Malphas, and take his heart.
Then I would absorb it and steal his Authority.
But now...
I had trapped myself instead of Malphas.
His voice echoed through the empty void.
[Remain there and reflect upon your sins.]
Caw! Caw!
Malphas's cries echoed as though right beside me, making my irritation grow.
I released a torrent of flames into the darkness.
But the blazing fire vanished into the endless blackness.
Damn it.
First...
I had to escape this place.
At first glance, it looked as though I had been cast into the endless depths of outer space.
But it couldn't actually be that.
If I unleashed an attack powerful enough to shatter space itself, I should be able to break free.
I gathered the Infernal Flame covering my body into my hand.
The condensed power settled into my palm without the slightest loss.
A crimson sphere radiating brilliant light.
It resembled a miniature sun.
Let's start with something simple.
【Asura Divine Art】
【Purgatory】
The miniature sun left my hand.
It exploded with tremendous force, burning fiercely enough to consume space itself.
But there was nothing in this void for the flames to burn.
Once the explosion subsided...
The endless darkness swallowed even the fire.
Watching that, I suddenly noticed something strange.
There was no sound.
Purgatory was a technique as deafening as it was destructive.
The miniature sun endlessly compressed and exploded, containing unimaginable energy.
Yet despite such a tremendous explosion...
I couldn't hear a thing.
Only then did I realize that this place wasn't simply a space of darkness.
This place was devouring my very existence.
The endless darkness stole away my senses one by one.
At some point...
I could no longer hear.
I could no longer smell.
I could no longer feel.
The only thing proving I still existed here was the Infernal Flame of the Asura Divine Art burning around me.
For the first time...
Fear settled into my heart.
As my senses vanished, it became increasingly difficult to even recognize that I existed.
Panic began to set in.
I extinguished the Infernal Flame and hurriedly summoned the Demonic Authority.
I intended to draw forth the Abyssal Mana I'd planned to use as my hidden trump card.
But I immediately regretted extinguishing the Infernal Flame.
The darkness had stolen not only my senses...
It had even caused me to forget how to manipulate Mana itself.
Merely losing the sensation of my body had rendered me completely helpless.
Worse still...
By unconsciously extinguishing the Infernal Flame, I had also lost my final remaining sense.
Sight.
Nothing remained that could make me feel my own body.
The only thing proving I existed...
Was my clear consciousness.
So I kept thinking.
Searching desperately for a way to destroy this space.
For a way to prevent my existence from being consumed.
Even the flow of time had disappeared.
I no longer knew how long I had been trapped here.
Surely it hadn't even been very long.
Yet the emptiness that erased every sensation was enough to drive a person insane.
If only I could find the tiniest opening to unleash my power...
At that moment—
Boom!
The void rippled with a tremendous impact.
What was that?
The space...
It was shaking.
I hadn't done anything.
Boom!
An even greater tremor shook the void.
At the same time, my senses returned for a fleeting instant.
I didn't waste the opportunity.
I ignited the Infernal Flame once more and regained my sight.
My hands.
My feet.
My body.
Simply seeing them made it feel as though my mind, which had been consumed by the darkness, had become clear again.
I quickly organized my thoughts and assessed the situation.
I didn't know exactly what was happening outside.
But this was the perfect chance to escape.
Boom!
The space trembled once again.
I converted the Infernal Flame into the Demonic Authority.
This miraculous opportunity couldn't be wasted.
To escape this place, I needed an attack powerful enough to shatter this space in a single blow.
But the Asura Divine Art alone couldn't produce that level of power.
I hesitated for a moment.
Should I draw upon Abyssal Mana?
No.
Drawing out Abyssal Mana required far more concentration and Mana control than I could manage with these fleeting moments of restored sensation.
Then...
What should I do?
The answer was already there.
An Authority that demanded less effort than Abyssal Mana...
Yet possessed even greater destructive power.
The Greatsword of World Annihilation.
Its destructive force bordered on catastrophe, so I had never used it myself.
But the sensations of the End wielding it remained vividly engraved in my memory.
Furthermore, I had already used it once before.
It had even been registered as one of my skills.
As long as I was careful with my Mana consumption...
I focused and waited for the next impact.
Then—
BOOM!!
A thunderous roar, almost like an explosion, shook the void with a force several times greater than before.
"Hah!"
Without missing that brief opening, I thrust my hand into the empty air.
The 【Dark Relic】, the 【Flames of Gehenna】, and the 【Mighty Strength】 Authority all activated simultaneously, colliding with one another.
Boom!
The intertwined Demonic Authorities submitted to my control and harmonized as one.
At the same time, I felt an enormous amount of Mana drain from my body.
Even after my Corrosion Rate had increased and my mastery of the Void had deepened, I had believed my Mana reserves would never again be lacking.
Yet it was being consumed this quickly.
But what appeared before me was even more astonishing.
The space split apart.
An unimaginably massive greatsword emerged.
Hellfire blazed along its colossal blade.
I couldn't maintain this summon for long.
My Mana was melting away like snow beneath the sun.
Concentrating completely, I focused my consciousness on the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
The End had merely summoned the Greatsword of World Annihilation and let it fall.
But that wasn't enough for my current situation.
Then...
Flames erupted from the void, forming a gigantic hand.
The enormous hand of fire grasped the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
At my current level, I could swing the Greatsword of World Annihilation only once.
But once...
Was enough.
Guided by the gigantic hand, the Greatsword of World Annihilation slowly rose.
Rumble...
The colossal blade pointed straight toward the heavens.
It looked as though an enormous mountain had risen into the sky.
Then the Greatsword of World Annihilation traced a magnificent arc—
Carving a single immense line across the void itself.