Chapter 108
Leviathan was once again pondering a thought that had crossed her mind hundreds of times.
*Shouldn't I just kill this Saint bastard?*
But Leviathan knew better than anyone that she couldn't. Recalling how the Celestial War had ended 300 years ago, with Asmodeus at its center, and having lost her Master, she knew it was an act that absolutely could not be committed.
She knew.
She knew, and yet...
<F1>Why!!! Why!!! Why won't he fall?! Why!!</F1>
It was incredibly frustrating. Killing him would be simple, but instead, they were forced to try and corrupt him. They were trying to shatter his mind by stirring up all sorts of negative emotions, but the Saint's mind was proving difficult to break, even with a Demon King's Authority.
A being who simply accepted their own misfortunes and shortcomings as part of themselves would not have their mind shattered by trauma or an overstimulation of negative emotions.
Nor was it true that only misfortune and shortcomings existed within him.
The Saint did not hate himself.
To put it negatively, he was a characterless human; to put it nicely, he was an ordinary being.
And that was the problem.
Up until now, the Saints, Saintesses, and Heroes the Demon Kings had encountered were special beings in some way.
And that specialness created a certain discord within their hearts.
There were those who pursued perfection, those who were broken by that perfection and hated themselves, and those who pursued an excessively obsessive goodness.
Such beings were easy to manipulate mentally.
But the Saint was not like that.
His ordinariness.
His upright character, naturally blended into that terribly ordinary nature, was raising the difficulty of corruption to an absurd degree.
Adding to that, that damn Unicorn bastard was desperately protecting the Saint's mind, making the already maddening difficulty even higher.
<F1>Belphegor!!...Leviathan!!</F1>
Satan's scream, blocking Asmodeus alone, grew louder.
Leviathan and Belphegor's hearts grew even more urgent.
<F1>Just give me a little more time!!</F1>
<F1>I... I can't hold on!!</F1>
<F1>It's almost done!!</F1>
Leviathan began unleashing her Authority as if in a frenzy.
Negative emotions explosively surged, engulfing the Saint.
They even engulfed the mind of the Unicorn, who was desperately protecting him.
<F1>Belphegor! There's no time! I'll contaminate the minds of both of them as much as I can!!</F1>
<F1>Hurry! I'll handle the Brainwashing after that!</F1>
Leviathan pushed her Authority to its limits, unleashing it in a frenzy.
The negative emotions of the Unicorn and the Saint boiled up like crazy.
<F1>Please!! Just hurry up!...</F1>
The minds of both were completely buried under the negative emotions and memories invoked by Leviathan.
In her haste, Leviathan began to torture the minds in a somewhat violent manner.
Hurry.
Please, just break quickly.
The two Demon Kings had lived for ages, but this was the first time they had felt such desperation.
To think that two Deities were struggling so helplessly against the mind of a mere human.
It was almost done.
The Unicorn's and the Saint's egos were completely buried in negative emotions.
No one could withstand this.
Five minutes.
No.
Three minutes.
No.
Just one more minute, and everything would belong to Hell.
Please.
Just hold on for one minute.
And before even ten seconds had passed.
<F1>Lucifer? Lu, Lucifer!!</F1>
Satan's scream erupted.
Sloth and Envy looked at Wrath.
Wrath began to collapse, screaming.
The Black Chains, stained black, which had been tautly pulling Asmodeus's Left Wing, snapped powerlessly.
Lucifer's Interference was gone.
And the enraged Asmodeus found herself in a one-on-one confrontation with Satan.
<F1>Amael!!</F1>
Asmodeus roared, focusing her Authority towards Satan.
Asmodeus had been forced to unleash her Authority only to the extent that it wouldn't harm the Saint's Body.
But the Demon King of Lust, whose eyes had gone wild, momentarily lifted that restriction.
The Saint's Body convulsed, unable to withstand the enormous amount of Authority that burst forth explosively.
But in return.
The Demon King of Wrath couldn't even scream properly before his physical body was crushed.
While Satan was sinking.
Asmodeus, with nothing left to hold her back, rushed towards Sloth and Envy with terrifying speed.
<F1>Don't you dare touch my Master!!</F1>
The radiant pillar of light pouring down from the sky narrowed its range.
An immense concentration of divine power focused on the physical bodies of the two Demon Kings.
A storm of divine power, so intense it would even impact the incarnated Deities of Envy and Sloth, shone majestically upon the Human Realm.
Flowers began to bloom amidst the shattered rock fragments, broken and pulverized by the clash of Deities.
Due to the impossibly intense divine power, all sorts of wildflowers and flowers bloomed on the Rocky Mountain, where no life had existed before.
Sloth and Envy recoiled from the Saint.
They could no longer endure.
<F1>Lucifer!! Lucifer!!</F1>
The situation had turned.
Belphegor urgently called out the Demon King of Pride's name.
But there was no response.
The Demon Kings of Envy and Sloth felt fear.
The physical bodies, created by sacrificing dozens of Followers, were melting away, exposed to Asmodeus's divine power.
It was clear that the moment their physical bodies were destroyed, their Deities would be exposed defenselessly to the Human Realm.
Lucifer was not helping them.
Fortunately.
<F1>Amael!! Amael!! No!! Please!!</F1>
Asmodeus had no interest in Satan, Leviathan, or Belphegor.
The intensely powerful divine power that had covered the entirety of Talahaim's Rocky Mountain with wildflowers and flowers began to recede.
Asmodeus, weeping, urgently embraced the Saint and began to treat him.
It was fortunate.
It was an opportunity.
If they fled quickly in this gap, there was still a chance to return to the Spirit Realm.
Now, if there were no more obstacles.
They could safely return to the Spirit Realm.
The three Demon Kings thought this and were about to gather their Authority to return hastily to the Spirit Realm.
<F1>Ah, this damn...</F1>
A grinding sound escaped Belphegor's lips.
<F1>Velia, that, that bitch... No!! Don't!! That body is my collection!! It's mine!!</F1>
Belphegor thrashed her limbs.
However, the Deity of the Demon King of Sloth had not fully recovered from the wounds inflicted by Asmodeus's divine power just moments before, making it difficult to resist this sudden snatching.
Without a chance to counterattack properly, something was forcibly pulled from Belphegor's Deity and then vanished as if sucked down into the lower part of Talahaim's Rocky Mountain.
<F1>No!!</F1>
Belphegor momentarily lost her reason and reached out her hand.
A black hand, imbued with sticky malice, shot out with explosive speed to retrieve what she had lost.
And almost simultaneously, the triangular rock at the summit of the Rocky Mountain exploded and shattered.
Slowly.
Something began to ascend from beneath the Rocky Mountains.
Belphegor's black hand flew towards the being that had emerged from beneath the Rocky Mountain.
In an instant, the black hand firmly grasped a human.
<F1>It's mine!! It's mine!! Velia!! I won't let you take my collection!!</F1>
Belphegor screamed, concentrating power into her black hand, but it wasn't long before blazing Red Divine Power burst forth, forcibly prying open Belphegor's black hand.
Let go of that hand!!
With a shout filled with explosive Wrath, Belphegor's black hand shattered into pieces.
Soon, everyone recognized the being who had walked up from beneath the Rocky Mountains.
It was Kanya.
But she looked completely different from before she descended into the Rocky Mountains.
Her emaciated limbs were now muscular and fleshy.
Her grotesquely curved spine was also straightened.
She had somehow donned red-tinged Paladin's armor and held a massive sword in one hand.
Satan. Leviathan. And...<F1>Belphegor</F1>.
Slowly.
A divine pronouncement began to imbue Kanya's voice.
Burning Red Divine Power blazed around Kanya's sword and her entire body with an intense light.
<F1>I'll postpone my Ascension for a moment. I will destroy the three of you with my own hands, and then I will ascend.</F1>
<F1>Velia is that bitch who deserves to be torn to shreds...</F1>
At Belphegor's trembling voice, Kanya reacted.
No.
The Goddess of War took a stance, gripping her sword.
<F1>For 300 years, I will repay you for what you did to me and my Chosen Ones.</F1>
The three Demon Kings' judgment was swift.
Lucifer's help was now gone.
The fortunate point was that Asmodeus was not participating in the fight.
And Velia, having only recently recovered, would likely not be able to display her full power from her prime.
What was the best course of action in this situation?
All three Demon Kings knew.
<F1>Followers!! Summon all the Followers!!</F1>
<F1>We must reopen the Passage to the Spirit Realm!!</F1>
If their physical bodies had been intact, they could have opened the Passage to the Spirit Realm without needing Followers.
But their physical bodies were currently damaged.
To unleash their Authority more effectively, they needed more physical bodies.
At Belphegor's and Leviathan's gestures, space tore vertically from top to bottom.
Countless summoned Followers began to pour out urgently through it.
Satan also summoned all his Followers and summoned his Demonic Sword Baltaruk with them and gripped it in his hand.
The three Demon Kings were anxious.
Their Demon King bodies were all tattered from Asmodeus's divine power, and if they made even a slight mistake, as Mammon had.
There was a possibility they would be devoured without even being able to properly escape from the Human Realm.
<F1>Do you think you can face all of us alone, you bitch?</F1>
But Satan didn't show his anxiety.
He looked at Velia, burning with terrifying wrath.
And Velia calmly replied to his words.
<F1>No, I can't win. Even if I've recovered my past Deity, there's still a difference between me and the three of you. I can't defeat you alone.</F1>
Satan grew even more uneasy at her remarkably calm admission.
She was the Goddess of War.
To be so serene, for a being who clearly knew she would lose, meant she had another plan.
<F1>You, what the...</F1>
Interrupting Satan, Velia turned her head to look at Asmodeus behind her.
Longing swirled in her eyes.
"<F1>My friend.</F1>"
Asmodeus raised her eyes and looked at Velia.
<F1>If you wish to save your Master, help me.</F1>
The two Deities met each other's gaze for a moment.
Soon, Asmodeus gently placed Amael down on the abundant grass and flowers covering the Rocky Mountain.
<F1>Velia. What do you wish for?</F1>
<F1>Help the Pantheon Deities Interfere in the Human Realm.</F1>
As soon as those words fell, Satan flew towards Velia.
Velia's sword and Satan's sword clashed, producing a thunderous roar.
<F1>Hurry!! We must open the Passage to the Spirit Realm! High Priest! Begin the ritual!!</F1>
As you wish! Demon King of Envy!!
In the meantime, Belphegor and Leviathan desperately tried to open the Passage to the Spirit Realm, but unfortunately for the Demon Kings, Asmodeus was one step faster.
<F1>Lucifer.</F1>
Asmodeus looked down at the floor.
<F1>You've played with me well all this time.</F1>
Slowly, divine power began to emanate from her body.
<F1>So you should have known this outcome was coming, shouldn't you?</F1>
Asmodeus began to unleash divine power.
And then?
<F1>Asmodeus!! You bitch!! You filthy whore!!</F1>
Lucifer's scream erupted from the Spirit Realm.
But that scream was instantly drowned out.
The Passage that connected sky and earth opened once more.
And as soon as that Passage recovered, the Gods of the Pantheon began to interfere in the human world, unleashing all their authority without reservation.
With a brilliant beam of light, the space in the middle of Talahaim's Rocky Mountain tore open from top to bottom.
And from within.
There they are!!
"They're Demons!!"
Draw your swords! Brothers!! We are ready for this moment!!
There were an enormous number of Paladins and Priests.
And the Empire's army began to pour out.