Book 1 Chapter 760

There was a time when Leo was called the Hero of Survival, before he was known as the Hero of Beginning.

In a way, it was a more familiar title than the Hero of Beginning.

No one knew when the Hero of Survival began to fight.

It was a story from the past that even his fellow Great Hero did not know or ask about.

At some point, Kyle was at the forefront of the battle against Tartarus.

After losing countless comrades, he stopped making new ones at some point.

That is why, as much as the demons hated the Hero of Beginning.

Or perhaps even more, Leo hated Tartarus and Erebus.

But that feeling was not unique to Kyle.

Everyone who had to live through the age of calamity inevitably harbored a deep-seated hatred for Erebus and Tartarus, whether big or small.

Therefore, it wasn't as if Leo alone ruthlessly hunted demons.

'Kyle was just particularly severe.'

Lisinas gazed at the demons with a dull expression.

However, Lisinas was different.

She never displayed even a hint of hatred, let alone any emotion, in her battles against Erebus and Tartarus.

Unlike the Great Heroes who could afford to show their emotions, Lisinas, who had to be responsible for them, always had to assess the situation coolly.

Lisinas's only consideration was efficiency.

She only thought about the simplest, easiest way to kill them.

As a result of killing demons like a machine, without a shred of emotion, Lisinas became a hero who hunted more demons than any other hero.

That is how she earned the title of Slaughterer, Slayer, among the demons.

The Hero of Beginning became a terrifying figure to the demons in the process of earning their greatest hatred.

On the other hand, the King of Wisdom was pure terror itself to the demons.

That terror was now being imprinted even on the ancient demons.

'What the hell is this!'

Cardmol trembled with a fear that welled up from the depths of his emotions.

He couldn't comprehend the situation at all.

Why would the Second Saintess's knights attack each other?

Even within Styx, the Knights of Rest led by the Second Saintess were monstrous beings.

They were beings who were promised eternal resurrection.

As long as they did not lose their loyalty to the Second Saintess and their faith in the Frost of Death, Nyx, they would virtually never perish.

On top of that, they had immunity to mental corruption.

As long as Ameriol's dominion existed, the Knights of Rest would never betray.

"You traitors! How dare you betray the Saintess and the Goddess!"

Cardmol roared in anger and swung the mace in his hand.

Kugagagagang! Kkuang-!

As the mace swung, an invisible physical force was applied, sweeping away everything in front of him.

An attack with immense power that partially destroyed a part of the city.

However, that attack could not continue.

The attack, with its calamitous power, stopped precisely where Lisinas stood.

Lisinas, with her left hand resting on her chest, had her right hand extended sideways.

An invisible, intangible force was blocked by Lisinas.

"Amplification of the attack? Hmm. I don't think so."

She tried to discern the nature of the invisible attack with her insight.

'It was simply swinging the mace, but the city was half-destroyed without any warning. If it were a power that maximized physical force, there should have been a wave of dark magic left behind?'

Yet, despite this level of destruction, there was no such indication.

Lisinas's obsidian-like eyes stared at Cardmol as if piercing him.

"You impertinent reptile! Is all of this your doing!"

As Cardmol exclaimed, he swung his mace upwards from below.

Kwaang-!

Lisinas was sent flying upwards at tremendous speed, struck by an intangible mace that rose from the ground.

However, there was no impact.

Instead, she calmly assessed the current situation.

'The ability was activated by swinging the mace.'

At that moment, she saw Cardmol draw his longsword.

A sword like a transparent crystal was swung towards Lisinas, who floated in the air.

Lisinas extended her right hand into the air.

Flash-!

A sword of light shot out from her right hand.

Spirit Armored.

It was the Great Spirit of Light, Laruel, summoned and shaped into a sword.

Kwagagang-!

The invisible sword and the sword of light crossed in the air.

Hwaak-! Kkung-!

'I see.'

Lisinas's eyes turned to Cardmol.

'The ability to actualize thoughts through action.'

The thought of destroying the city with the mace.

The thought of cutting herself with the sword.

Those thoughts affected reality through action.

It was a powerful ability.

It seemed to activate without any premonition and without penalty.

'It's an ability fitting for a direct demon of the Legion Commander class.'

Lisinas opened her right hand.

Woong-!

Laruel, returning from sword form to its palm-sized body, shone and began to split into fingernail-sized pieces.

Lisinas was a master of light magic, recognized even by Luna.

While the spirit with the best compatibility was the spirit of darkness, the spirit she could handle best was the Great Spirit of Light.

Fifteen small Laruels began to transform into orbs of light and flew towards Cardmol at tremendous speed.

Kwagaagag-!

The light projectiles made of Laruel tore Cardmol to shreds.

Indeed, Cardmol's ability was a powerful one befitting a high-ranking demon.

An ordinary hero might have died as a bloody mess without even being able to respond properly.

But the opponent was too much.

For Lisinas, Cardmol's ability was not just not threatening, it wasn't even a nuisance.

If there was no wave of dark magic before activation and no penalty for using the ability, it might seem invincible at first glance.

However, it had the fatal flaw of requiring a specific action before activation.

Exploiting that gap was far too simple for Lisinas.

"How… How could you know my actions in advance! Are you reading the future! Or do you have the ability to read thoughts!"

Cardmol shrieked in astonishment.

Kwak-!

A Laruel projectile flew off Cardmol's head.

The medium through which Cardmol could project his thoughts into reality through action was not just his hands.

It could be through his body, his feet, or his mouth.

But before the ability could activate, the Laruel projectile had already crushed Cardmol's body part.

For Cardmol, the only explanation was that Lisinas had the ability to read thoughts.

"Seeing the future is Arion's extrasensory perception, but I could never learn it. And if I had such a convenient ability to read thoughts, I wouldn't have been so heartbroken because of that idiot."

Lisinas grumbled self-deprecatingly.

"Do you happen to know a game called chess?"

"What?"

"There's something called reading moves in it."

She had merely read the next move based on the clues Cardmol revealed.

Predictions close to foreseeing the future were exceptional feats only possible for Lisinas, who possessed unimaginably profound insight.

"There's no way that would work…!"

Seeing the astonished Cardmol, Lisinas said calmly.

"It's probably not a realm accessible to high-ranking demons who have only ever relied on their innate abilities. Didn't I tell you?"

The Knights of Rest appeared behind Lisinas and swung their swords.

"We are irrational beings."

Kwak! Kwak! Kwak!

"Greeeeak!"

Swords flying from all directions pierced Cardmol's body.

The Knights of Rest, drawing their swords, again mangled Cardmol's recovering body.

Around them were the corpses of the Knights of Rest scattered as ice shards.

Only the demons being controlled by Elsie were moving.

"How… How is this possible! The Saintess's grace is absolute and unchanging! Why have the knights betrayed!"

-I wonder about that too. Was my ability this great?

Elsie asked in a bewildered voice.

She understood that she was currently exerting control over the Knights of Rest.

But this was a power unknown even to Elsie.

"Surrendering everything to a being of absolute immutability… Body, will… Even the soul. At first glance, it seems like a promise of absolute immutability, but in reality, it's not."

Lisinas gently stroked Laruel's head, who had appeared beside Elsie, with her fingertips.

"The moment you lose control, it's over."

Lisinas said calmly.

"Elsie, the shadow spirit here, is a Great Spirit capable of exerting control over those who possess it."

"Even if there is such a spirit, the Saintess, a confidante of Nyx, the Frost of Death, her dominion…!"

"The Saintess, or something?"

"What?"

"Sorry, but I'm a dragon who led the subjugation corps that defeated Erebus, who swallowed the six evil gods."

Kwak-

A sword from a Knight of Rest pierced Cardmol's forehead.

"For a mere Saintess of the Legion Commander class, severing her dominion is not that difficult."

Before the words were even finished, Elsie's power began to dominate Cardmol.

The moment he was freed from the Saintess's dominion.

The eternal life that had been bestowed upon him came to an end.

"Th-this can't be… I… I…"

"It's what you wanted, isn't it? Eternal death."

"I never wanted this kind of death! I wanted to remain in an unchanging form forever!"

"What do I care?"

Lisinas turned away coldly.

Kwajik-!

A Knight of Rest crushed Cardmol's head with Cardmol's own mace.

Following that, the demons descended into chaos among themselves and all met their deaths.

-You dealt with him surprisingly easily?

Laruel asked in a bewildered voice.

Laruel, who was also a sworn ally of the Hero of Genesis, knew.

No matter what, the demon named Cardmol just moments ago was not a demon that could be killed like swatting a bug.

As Laruel marveled at the Great Hero's potential, Lisinas said.

"We had a good matchup."

-A matchup?

"Tartarus's legions are broadly divided into two categories."

Lisinas said calmly.

"Those who blindly push with force. Those who resort to cowardly tricks."

-Then these demons?

"They belong to the category of resorting to tricks."

Lisinas said calmly.

"I've had enough of tricks during the age of calamity, so they're actually easy. It's the ones who push with force that are threatening."

At that, Elsie tilted her head.

-Then what category does the Lord of the Undead belong to?

"The Lord of the Undead is…"

Lisinas sighed softly.

"Both. That's why he's extremely threatening."

In essence, he had no flaws as a demon.

Furthermore, he was cunning and thought several steps ahead.

He even considered escape as a contingency.

He was literally one of the worst enemies.

Kugagagagagang!

At that moment, a pillar of white flame erupted in the distance.

Lisinas headed towards it.

-Leo went that way.

"Leo probably won't need my help much."

Elsie said, and Lisinas shrugged.

What she was curious about now was Lunia El Lundia.

As Lisinas headed towards Lunia, a summoning circle appeared in the air, and a hand suddenly protruded.

"Gasp?"

Lisinas recoiled in shock.

But the hand was faster, being sucked into Lisinas's chest.

After rummaging through her chest, the hand emerged holding a staff.

The hand immediately disappeared beyond the summoning circle.

Clutching her chest, Lisinas trembled.

"You damned bastard! You should at least give me a warning!"

Lisinas erupted in anger towards Leo's disappearing hand.