Chapter 154
Malphas stared at the scene before him as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Could that truly be the power of a single person?
Even among the High-ranking Demons, only a handful possessed strength comparable to hers.
A human who hadn't even made a contract with a Demon was holding her own—no, fighting on equal footing—against the leader of Pandemonium and the High-ranking Executives.
At that moment, the leader of Pandemonium's voice echoed.
[Heavenly Demon, is this truly your decision? Are you really prepared to abandon your lifelong wish of returning to your homeland?]
Four High-ranking Executives stood around him.
Their condition was terrible.
It was the result of taking the Heavenly Demon's full power head-on.
Of course, the Heavenly Demon herself wasn't unscathed either.
Her entire body was drenched in blood, making it difficult to even recognize her appearance.
She glared furiously at the Demons before her.
"So... you've deceived me all this time."
When the situation had begun to take a strange turn, the Heavenly Demon had personally come searching for Yoo Sung-woo.
The leader of Pandemonium had then revealed the truth about Yoo Sung-woo's Fate.
As well as the method by which she could return to her homeland.
To return home...
She needed her disciple's life.
By opening a Gate to another world through the rift created when he summoned the Demons into this world.
After all, the reason she herself had crossed into this world in the first place had been because of a conflict between a great Demon and a Hero.
Without using the Demons' power...
She could never return to her original world.
The horrifying truth filled the Heavenly Demon with rage.
At the same time...
She regretted hesitating when the leader had told her to stop if she wished to return home.
She regretted averting her eyes from her disciple as he was abducted.
How deeply must her actions have wounded him?
Her foolish disciple never admitted he was hurting, even when he was in pain.
He never admitted he was sad, even when his heart was breaking.
That was exactly why she should have noticed.
Her own ignorance had pushed her disciple into the abyss.
Which was why...
She had to save him.
Her gaze shifted toward the leader of Pandemonium.
Floating beside him was a black sphere no larger than a clenched fist.
"Oblivion."
A perfect void where nothing existed.
An emptiness that devoured all.
Her disciple was trapped inside.
Merely remaining inside that space for a short time was enough to erase one's soul.
Endless emptiness consumed the soul until nothing remained except an empty shell.
She herself had experienced it when she had gone berserk after confirming Yoo Sung-woo's death.
That was why the Heavenly Demon was growing impatient.
If she didn't save her disciple quickly...
Yoo Sung-woo would become nothing more than a hollow body devoid of a soul.
There was only one problem.
The sphere of Oblivion was far sturdier than she had anticipated.
Even after striking it several times with her fists...
It refused to break.
Naturally.
Oblivion was one of the leader of Pandemonium's ultimate techniques.
The previous battle had already exhausted her.
Fighting the leader of Pandemonium alone had been difficult enough.
Having to deal with High-ranking Executives who kept arriving one after another placed an enormous burden upon her.
Her eyes shifted toward Malphas, who was flying overhead.
If not for that bastard...
She would have rescued her disciple long ago.
Originally, only the leader, Malphas, and the Heavenly Demon had been inside the sanctuary.
But once the battle began and the leader of Pandemonium started being pushed back...
Malphas had continuously brought in the High-ranking Executives one by one, reinforcing their forces.
As a result...
She now faced the greatest crisis of her life.
Her stamina was nearly depleted.
She had no idea how much longer her disciple could endure inside Oblivion.
That was why...
She decided to wager everything on a single strike.
The Heavenly Demon brought her hands together.
At the same time, an unprecedented power surged forth.
Veins bulged across her hands.
Mana compressed to its absolute limit, tearing holes in space itself.
The sight resembled the casting of some supreme magic.
A phenomenon brought about through power that transcended all common sense.
The instincts of the leader of Pandemonium and the High-ranking Executives screamed in warning.
Every instinct they possessed cried out to stop her immediately.
The Heavenly Demon violently twisted the very axis of space, dragging everything around her inward.
An irresistible force wrapped around the High-ranking Executives.
Though they had reached the pinnacle of Demons, none of them could think of a proper response to her trump card.
No matter how powerful one became...
Every movement and every phenomenon existed within space.
Yet she was freely distorting that very space, forcibly pulling them toward her.
Standing at the center of that irresistible gravitational force...
The Heavenly Demon did not move.
She merely pointed her fist directly toward the leader of Pandemonium and the High-ranking Executives.
It was as though she were declaring herself to be the strongest being present.
The High-ranking Executives immediately unleashed their ultimate techniques.
The techniques that had established them as the rulers of Pandemonium revealed themselves.
Each one possessed enough destructive power to effortlessly annihilate an army.
The distance between them rapidly closed.
The instant they entered each other's range...
They attacked simultaneously.
Watching the torrent of ultimate techniques rushing toward her...
The Heavenly Demon poured even more power into her fist.
The High-ranking Executives' ultimate techniques converged upon her.
Yet...
Her punch wasn't aimed at those incoming attacks.
Her single punch shot past the High-ranking Executives and headed straight toward the leader of Pandemonium, who was maintaining the sanctuary.
Seeing this, both the leader and the High-ranking Executives turned pale with shock.
They had never imagined she would abandon her own life simply to target their leader.
Craaack!
It sounded as though a steel sphere were being crushed beneath a hydraulic press.
The Heavenly Demon's punch hadn't been aimed at the leader of Pandemonium.
From the very beginning...
Her target had always been only one thing.
The leader's face twisted violently.
A tiny crack had appeared in the black sphere imprisoning her.
Oblivion.
The leader of Pandemonium roared.
[Heavenly Demon!]
But his anger lasted only a moment.
An indescribable light suddenly burst forth from within the sphere of Oblivion.
A faint smile spread across the Heavenly Demon's face.
Then...
Something began emerging from the black sphere.
It was an enormous greatsword.
The Greatsword of World Annihilation, towering like a majestic mountain peak, revealed itself.
The hellfire clinging to its blade erupted into a massive explosion that swept across the entire sanctuary.
After escaping the void, I couldn't believe the scene before me.
The sanctuary was burning.
The High-ranking Executives of Pandemonium lay scattered across the ground.
And standing calmly at the center...
Was the Heavenly Demon.
It wasn't difficult to understand what had happened.
She had stormed the sanctuary...
To save me.
The Heavenly Demon turned toward me.
The moment she saw me, a faint smile appeared on her face.
"...Master?"
My voice trembled.
There was a fist-sized hole through her chest.
Blood streamed from the wound.
I hurried toward her.
Had she suffered this injury just to save me?
Drawing a dagger from the darkness, I sliced open my palm.
I intended to use the Authority of Restoration on the Heavenly Demon.
I had never imagined someone powerful enough to look down upon the entire world could ever be injured like this.
I stretched out my bleeding hand, intending to let her drink my blood.
But...
She slowly shook her head.
Her hand gently brushed through my hair.
There was no strength left in that touch.
The realization made my chest ache.
Blood staining her hand trickled down my face.
"I'm glad... you're safe."
"..."
No words came out.
So many things I wanted to say circled inside my mouth.
Yet none of them could be spoken.
By storming the sanctuary, wreaking havoc, and standing against the leader and the High-ranking Executives...
She had abandoned her chance to return home.
For my sake.
Yet...
The disciple she remembered...
Wasn't me anymore.
Which was why I couldn't say anything.
The one she had truly wanted to save...
Was the real Yoo Sung-woo.
Then another voice echoed throughout the sanctuary.
The voice of the leader of Pandemonium.
[Heavenly Demon... so you have chosen to commit an act you will regret. Neither you nor the Vessel of the End shall leave this place alive.]
One by one, the High-ranking Executives who had fallen began rising to their feet.
Their injuries appeared just as severe as the Heavenly Demon's.
But even so...
They were opponents neither she nor I could defeat in our current condition.
Moreover...
I had already expended an enormous amount of Demonic Energy summoning the Greatsword of World Annihilation.
There was no way we could fight them.
My eyes shifted toward Malphas.
Caught in the aftermath of the battle, he hovered in the sky, observing everything.
We're leaving together.
No matter what.
I began drawing forth Abyssal Mana.
Perhaps because summoning the Greatsword of World Annihilation had consumed so much Demonic Energy...
Pulling forth Abyssal Mana came surprisingly easily.
Within the 【Lamb】 that imprisoned the Demon of the End...
Lay both its prison...
And an ocean of Demonic Energy.
Abyssal Mana flowed forth from those immeasurable depths.
The Levatein that had bisected Lord Biden in a single strike appeared once more.
I glanced back at the Heavenly Demon.
The wound in her chest was severe.
But it wasn't enough to render someone of her caliber incapable of fighting.
As long as she received treatment quickly.
I reached out toward her.
"Master... you can still move, can't you?"
"..."
She gave no answer.
She merely looked at me with an indescribable expression.
Only a fool wouldn't understand the meaning behind that silence.
"Master."
"You already know, don't you? You still cannot defeat them... at least, not yet."
The Heavenly Demon intended to sacrifice herself to buy me time to escape.
An unprecedented aura erupted from her body.
Even the leader of Pandemonium and the High-ranking Executives frowned at the sight.
[To release such power despite injuries like those... truly astonishing. Ignore the Heavenly Demon. Prioritize the Vessel of the End.]
The High-ranking Executives turned their attention toward me.
They looked at me like hunters savoring helpless prey.
"You think I would allow you to lay a hand upon my foolish disciple while I still stand?"
Boom!
A violent impact struck me.
She had shoved me away with overwhelming force.
My body was launched through the air in an instant.
Seeing this, the High-ranking Executives immediately gave chase.
But the Heavenly Demon refused to allow it.
Boom!
Her foot stomped down, shaking the very space itself.
At the same time...
Everyone around her froze for a brief instant.
Watching her grow farther away...
I clenched my teeth so hard they nearly shattered.
The faint taste of blood spread through my mouth.
I was furious with myself.
Once again...
I had relied upon her.
But now wasn't the time for regret.
There was still a chance.
If I killed Malphas and obtained his Authority...
We could both escape.
I turned toward Malphas.
As though she had known my plan all along...
The Heavenly Demon had deliberately thrown me toward him.
Malphas had been trying to flee.
But the Heavenly Demon's aura had pinned him in place.
The Demonic Authority strengthened my body.
Violent hellfire erupted from Levatein.
The crimson blade grew even redder, crying out with insatiable hunger.
No matter that Malphas was a High-ranking Demon...
He couldn't possibly withstand the Levatein that had split Lord Biden cleanly in two.
Levatein sliced through the air.
A crimson line was carved across space.
Using that crimson line as its fuse...
Explosive flames swallowed Malphas whole.
My sword reached him in an instant.
It pierced straight through his back.
"CAAAAAAW!"
His scream echoed through the sky.
The enemies restrained by the Heavenly Demon grimaced.
I thrust my hand into his chest and gripped his heart.
【A Demonic Authority available for absorption has been detected.】
【The 【Lamb】 greedily devours the Demonic Authority.】
【The Demonic Authority 《Portal》 has been acquired.】
【Corrosion Rate has increased by 1%.】
The 【Lamb】 opened its Gate and ravenously consumed Malphas's power.
An immense torrent of Demonic Energy flowed from the blood-soaked heart clenched in my hand.
I realized...
I could now use Malphas's Authority.
Immediately activating it, I created a black portal in midair.
I had made it in haste.
It wouldn't remain stable for long.
I stretched my hand toward the Heavenly Demon and shouted.
"Master!"
She stood alone in the center of the leader of Pandemonium and the High-ranking Executives, holding them back so I could escape.
Our eyes met across the sky.
As she looked at me...
Her lips moved silently.
"I'm sorry... for being such a pathetic master."
Those were her final words—
Before the portal swallowed me whole.