Chapter 207: The Great Evil (6)
Multiple ‘gazes’ were felt.
Among those gazes, some were friendly, while others were cautious.
From among them, one of the friendly gazes bestowed power upon me.
[Special Stat 'Struggle' increases by 10.]
[A faint vitality wraps around your body.]
-Master.
Black Heaven looked at me.
-Use me.
‘Not yet.’
I steadied my breathing and kept my eyes on Daji.
My goal was simple.
I must prevent Daji from rampaging.
Daji was strong against lower ranks. Moreover, she was a transcendent being. While I was only of a higher rank, I could stop Daji with the advantage of the Energy of Defying Heaven. However, others couldn’t stop her.
‘The problem is that it’s hard for me to move.’
I thought as I chewed on a pill I created in the form of a potion from my subspace.
The refreshing liquid entered my body. Most of it was mana, but through the Conceptual Stat Alchemy, it converted to the Energy of Defying Heaven. I felt slightly better.
The battle resumed.
I immediately charged at Daji.
‘I must stop her.’
However, it was hard to block her. Even with the inflated stats from the Savior title, standing my ground was all I could manage.
What I needed was time. I needed some time to catch my breath while constantly tuning my body with Black God Martial Arts.
Thud.
Someone stood next to me. Their hair was radiant silver, as if starlight had descended. The moonlight made it even more dazzling.
“I’ll do it.”
“…Just buy me a little more time.”
“Okay.”
To be honest,
I didn’t want to reveal Seo Ga-yeon. I wanted to keep her hidden for a while longer. Especially now, with the Nazi Empire and the Great Evil watching this situation, that desire only grew stronger.
‘But I have no choice.’
Perhaps reading my thoughts, Seo Ga-yeon looked at me.
“It’s okay. I was prepared for this anyway.”
-I don’t want to see you in pain any longer.
Her words were confident. I couldn’t say anything against the concern in her voice.
“I’ll be back.”
Pure white, immaculate wings unfolded.
[The Boundary Demons are watching you!!]
[The gaze of an otherworldly being is upon you!!]
[The will of the world blocks the gaze of the otherworldly being!]
Seo Ga-yeon headed for the battlefield. She felt several gazes upon her. Most were unpleasant.
However, there was one exception. She felt the worried gaze of a young boy.
‘It’s okay.’
She could lose her life. She didn’t want to die. It was the unknown. It meant eternal separation.
But as long as Lee Seo-ha existed, Seo Ga-yeon was fine.
She feared the disappearance of Lee Seo-ha from this world more than her own death.
[What is this… .]
Daji opened her mouth. Her eyes were on Seo Ga-yeon, filled with a strange fear.
[That man… That man wasn’t the prophesied one…?]
“No.”
The prophesied one.
Lee Seo-ha had mentioned it. A story passed down among the Demons. A Demon with the power of foresight would be born with the power to crush all Demons.
Seo Ga-yeon lazily stretched out her hand.
Starlight descended. The moonlight fell thick.
The power of the moon strengthened Daji. Because the nine-tailed fox was a being born of yin energy.
However, that power also affected Seo Ga-yeon. The power of the starlight grew stronger. All the Demons present instinctively realized. That power is dangerous.
[Kill her! Kill her first!!]
Daji roared.
Her subordinates, drawn by her power, swelled up. Demonization. Their physical abilities heightened, they rushed forward, disregarding their bodies.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Do we look like mere decorations to you?”
The Elder and Ha Seong-hwi stepped forward.
The Elder’s fist crushed the head of a Demon. Pinkish mana spread from Ha Seong-hwi. The rushing Demon turned to attack another Demon.
“Foolish.”
Behind the Witch Maiden, a figure emerged. A figure in the form of an Asura appeared.
A black Asura clad in dark flames.
Naraka Sword.
Slash.
It severed the arm of the one called the Heavenly Demon Cult Leader. But the Witch Maiden frowned. Even if they lost their lives or limbs, their goal was to kill the being imbued with the power of starlight.
[Dieee!!]
Simultaneously, starlight descended. It was dazzling, pure white starlight. It was similar to the unholy power of Lee Seo-ha’s sword.
It affirmed the death of the Demons.
As if the world didn’t need them, the power of the starlight affirmed the life of this world and affirmed death for the beings of the otherworld.
Sssaaaa──.
Nothing remained where the starlight descended. As if to confirm the death of the Demons, only the ashes left by the Demons’ death were scattered.
[What… .]
Not just an archenemy. It was beyond that. If Lee Seo-ha’s power was the archenemy of all things, the power possessed by that being…
It ignored ranks.
It defied the laws created by the gods of creation. The rank of the one wielding it was merely of higher rank. It had no density in the story, and it was a rank hastily intertwined and entangled, embarrassing even to call it a rank.
Daji was flustered. But there was no retreat.
Thud.
A silver aura raged. Daji bewildered the world. She blocked the laws of the world. The moonlight grew stronger. It felt as if the earth and the moon were drawing closer.
“Crazy.”
No, it wasn’t just a feeling. The moon was actually drawing closer to the earth. The Great Evil, particularly the one called the Illusionary Evil, wielded such nonsensical laws.
The starlight grew stronger.
But Seo Ga-yeon couldn’t be happy about it. She instinctively felt that the moment that being fully summoned the moon, she wouldn’t be able to win.
“It’s coming….”
One side, Lee Seo-ha quietly murmured. The dark flames in his heart responded, and his mental image was running wild.
The final phase.
The mental image of Illusionary Evil was immense. Her mental image recreated the era of the Silver Kingdom, a time when Daji manifested—a world filled with mysteries.
Breath, along with the most dangerous situation.
Everything around began to wither away.
Reality was overlaid by the mental image of the being known as Daji.
‘It’s okay.’
The Black Heaven sword stood beside him. It had a different form from usual. Now, it had a confident expression and was slightly shorter in stature.
In other words, it took on the form of Cheonma.
Thump.
The Black Flame Celestial Body pounded violently.
[The proficiency of 'Black Flame Celestial Body(?)' has increased.]
[Something dormant in your mental image is slowly awakening.]
[Talent, Celestial(?) is observing your mental image.]
Hwaak!
A silver aura covered the surroundings. At the same time, the Energy of Defying Heaven that Lee Seo-ha possessed enveloped the area. Black Heaven added her power. The spreading Nyeom was strengthened.
[You think you can challenge my mental image with your insignificant one!!]
Daji, angry but still confident in victory, shouted.
The mental image of a transcendent was different from that of others. They contained an entire world within themselves.
Therefore, she was confident that even if she faced this impure being, which boasted an extreme incompatibility with her, she would undoubtedly win if they clashed mental images.
The moon descended. A silver moon engulfed the world. On one side, a massive fortress was visible. This was the place where Daji offered the beings of the Silver Kingdom as sacrifices, allowing her to reach the rank of a transcendent.
Therefore, she made this place her mental image and abode. She was confident that she could not be defeated here.
Daji had no doubt about her victory. She believed that with this mental image, she would crush her opponent’s mental image and then kill the prophesied one. She had no doubt.
She didn’t.
Swaaa──.
It was black water. Not the life-giving source of the sea, but a force of extinction that would engulf the world.
On the opposite side of the silver moon, a sun rose. It was a black sun. A corrupt sun that seemed capable of devouring everything.
[…What is this?]
A massive black cloud covered all sides.
Each one contained a world within.
Daji stared at Lee Seo-ha with vacant eyes. This was something beyond what any human—or even beings called gods—could possess. It was not a power that a mere living being could contain.
[You, you, you, no, you… .]
Daji, trembling in fear, looked at the incomprehensible existence known as Lee Seo-ha.
The two mental images collided.
Daji’s once confident mental image began to distort and wither. The black sky, sun, and ocean that the opponent had unleashed began to consume her mental image world.
It was terror.
Something that devoured everything about her—something impossible, something that should not exist.
[Stop!! Stoooop!!]
The silver moon twisted eerily. Slowly, the moon began to crack. Daji’s mental image was breaking.
‘Is it… a success…?’
Lee Seo-ha grasped his fading consciousness.
As Daji’s mental image shattered, she intended to destroy his mental image as well.
It would end soon.
Lee Seo-ha gazed in one direction. A woman glowing silver was looking at him.
Meanwhile, before Daji opened her mental image world.
Ershil gathered the mana she had prepared up until now.
“It’s our turn now, right?”
-That’s correct.
“Ah, I’m glad I came. Student Council President, watch closely. See how amazing Ershil, the eldest daughter of the Merchen family, is.”
Ershil giggled.
Her golden hair began to change to silver. Her eyes did the same, transforming into a platinum hue, and her short hair extended down past her waist.
Her clothes had also changed. She now wore a long black evening dress.
-Illusion magic is supposed to be countered by an illusionist. Illusion magic is nearly invincible against those below the rank, but incredibly tricky for those above.
Ershil—no, Melanie—murmured as she walked.
One step.
As she walked, the ground beneath her began to change. It was like walking on a tranquil lake, with ripples forming as she moved.
-But what is that darkness?
‘Is there something even you don’t know, Master?’
-I’m not omniscient. I simply have a lot of knowledge.
Melanie observed the black world. It was a mental image world colliding with and fighting against Daji’s.
From here, she couldn’t see that mental image. Melanie found it absurd.
‘Could it be that it’s not because of the Energy of Defying Heaven that we can’t see the boy, but rather due to the mental image world?’
That thought crossed her mind because the boy’s mental image was incredibly vast and filled with an overwhelming corrupt power.
‘…But is it okay to interfere like this?’
-It’s generally not the best method.
When mental image worlds clash, it’s essentially a battle of Nyeom.
Melanie acknowledged the boy’s greatness. But the vitality of a Demon who had risen to the position of the Great Evil didn’t fade easily.
‘Though with the Energy of Defying Heaven and the power of starlight, it might be different.’
These beings revived no matter how many times they were killed.
That’s why they were called the Great Evil. They were evil that could not be killed.
The surroundings were filled with silver light. The silver moon cracked. It was proof that the mental image was breaking.
-Really outrageous. Ershil, if you’re going to catch him, do it quickly. There are plenty of others who’ll try to take him.
‘I’ll make sure to drag him into bed and secure him after this battle.’
The disciple made a vow to herself and focused her mind.
Ripples formed, and within each ripple, a scene appeared. Some places showed a castle, others a gate, and others the interior of a fortress.
It was the mental image world that Melanie had created.
A world created out of illusions.
An empire that Melanie, dreaming of eternity, had created by unifying the worlds, pushed out the other mental images and began to encroach on reality.
-Welcome, demon.
She elegantly smiled, brushing her silver, shining hair behind her ear.
-To my Merchen.
Immediately after.
Countless spheres of light descended upon Daji.