Book 1 Chapter 760

760.

Before Leo was called the Hero of the Beginning, there was a time when he was called the Surviving Hero.

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

No one knew since when the Surviving Hero had been fighting.

That was a story from the past, which even his fellow Great Heroes didn't know and never asked about.

From a certain point, Kyle was on the front lines of the battle against Tartarus.

He lost countless comrades and, at some point, stopped making new ones.

That's why, as much as the demons hated the Hero of the Beginning,

or even more so, Leo hated Tartarus and Erebus.

However, that feeling wasn't Kyle's alone.

In the hearts of all who had to live through the Age of Calamity, a deep-seated hatred for Erebus and Tartarus, big or small, was bound to take root.

Therefore, it wasn't just Leo who cruelly hunted demons.

'It was just that Kyle was particularly severe.'

Lisinass looked at the demons with dry, emotionless eyes.

But Lisinass was different.

She had never shown any hatred, or any emotion whatsoever, in her battles against Erebus and Tartarus.

Unlike the Great Heroes who were allowed to express their emotions, Lisinass, who was responsible for them, always had to assess situations coolly.

All Lisinass had to think about was efficiency.

She only thought of how to kill them as simply and easily as possible.

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

The title she earned among the demons was 'Massacre,' 'Slayer.'

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

In contrast, the King of Wisdom was pure terror itself to the demons.

That terror was now being etched even into the ancient demons.

'What in the world is this!'

Cadmol was trembling with terror that surged from the depths of his emotions.

He simply could not comprehend this situation.

Why were the Knights of the Second Saintess attacking each other?

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

They were beings promised eternal resurrection.

As long as they didn't lose their loyalty to the Second Saintess and their faith in Nyx, the freezing of death, they were virtually imperishable.

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

As long as Ameriol's dominion existed, there was no way the Knights of Rest would betray them.

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

Cadmol roared in fury and swung the mace in his hand.

Kwagagagagang! Kwaang-!

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

An attack of immense power that half-destroyed a part of the city.

But that attack could not continue to be swung.

The calamity-like attack stopped precisely where Lisinass was standing.

Lisinass, who had brought her left palm, where Elsi was sitting, up to her chest, had her right arm stretched out to the side.

An invisible, intangible force was blocking Lisinass.

"Is it an amplification of attack? Hmm. It doesn't seem like it?"

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

'He merely swung his mace, but the city was half-destroyed without any sign. If it were a power that maximized physical force, there should definitely be a wave of black magic left, shouldn't there?'

However, despite such destructive power being unleashed, there was no such sign.

Lisinass's obsidian-like eyes pierced through, looking at Cadmol.

"Eek! You lowly reptile! This is all your doing, isn't it!"

Cadmol yelled, and at the same time, thrust his mace upwards from below.

Kwaang-!

Struck by the intangible mace that shot up from the ground, Lisinass flew into the sky at tremendous speed.

But there was no impact.

Instead, she calmly began to grasp the current phenomenon.

'The ability was activated by swinging the mace.'

At that moment, Cadmol was seen drawing a longsword.

A sword, like transparent crystal, was swung towards Lisinass, who was floating in mid-air.

Lisinass stretched her right hand into the air.

Flash-!

A sword of light shot up from her right hand.

Spirit Armored.

She had summoned the great spirit of light, Rariel, and formed it into the shape of a sword.

Kwagagang-!

An invisible sword and the sword of light clashed in the air.

Hwaak-! Kung-!

'I see.'

Lisinass's eyes turned to Cadmol.

'The ability to materialize thoughts into actions.'

The thought of destroying the city with a mace.

The thought of cutting her with a sword.

Those thoughts were affecting reality through actions.

It was a powerful ability.

There seemed to be no sign of activation or any penalty.

'An ability befitting a direct Archdemon of Commander-rank.'

Lisinass spread her right hand.

Woong-!

Rariel's body, which had returned from sword form to its palm-sized true body, glowed and then began to divide into fingernail-sized fragments.

Lisinass was a master of light magic, acknowledged even by Luna.

Among spirits, the most compatible spirit was the spirit of darkness, but the one she could handle best was the great spirit of light.

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

Kwagagagak-!

The light bullets made of Rariel tore Cadmol to shreds.

Cadmol's ability was certainly powerful, befitting a high-ranking demon.

An ordinary hero might not have been able to properly respond and might have just turned into a bloody mess and died.

But his opponent was too bad.

Cadmol's ability was not just non-threatening to Lisinass, it wasn't even bothersome.

Without a wave of black magic upon activation and without penalties for using the ability, it might seem invincible at first glance.

However, it had a fatal flaw: a specific action had to be performed before activation.

Sticking into that gap was too simple a task for Lisinass.

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

Cadmol shrieked in shock.

Kwaak-!

A Rariel bullet blew off Cadmol's head.

Cadmol's body wasn't the only medium through which he could project his thoughts into reality through action; it wasn't just his hands.

It was possible with his body, his feet, and his mouth.

But before that ability could activate, the Rariel bullet moved one step ahead and crushed Cadmol's body part.

Cadmol could only conclude that Lisinass had the ability to read thoughts.

"Seeing the future is Arion's precognition, but I could never quite master it. And if I had such a convenient ability to read minds, I wouldn't have gone through such emotional distress because of that idiot."

Lisinass grumbled self-deprecatingly.

"Do you know a game called chess?"

"What?"

"There's something called 'reading the board' in it."

She had merely read Cadmol's next move based on the clues he revealed.

Such predictions, close to foreseeing the future, were an impossible feat only possible for Lisinass, who possessed transcendent insight.

"There's no way that would work…!"

Lisinass said calmly, looking at the horrified Cadmol.

"It wouldn't be possible for a high-ranking demon who has relied solely on their innate abilities their entire life. Didn't I tell you?"

The Knights of Rest, who appeared behind Lisinass, swung their swords.

"We are abnormal beings."

Kwaak! Kwaak! Kwaak!

"Ughhhhhh!"

Swords flying from all directions pierced Cadmol's body.

The Knights of Rest, having pulled out their swords, repeatedly stabbed Cadmol's regenerating body.

Around them were piles of corpses of the Knights of Rest, scattered as ice fragments.

The only ones moving now were the demons controlled by Elsi.

"How…! How is such a thing possible! The Saintess's grace is absolutely unchangeable! Why have the Knights betrayed her!"

-I'm curious about that too. Was my ability really that amazing?

Elsi asked in a bewildered voice.

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

But this was a power Elsi herself didn't know.

"Subordinating everything one possesses to an unchangeable being… body and will… even soul. At first glance, it might seem like eternal immutability is promised, but in reality, that's not the case."

Lisinass said, gently stroking Rariel's head, who had appeared by Elsi's side.

"The moment control is taken away, it's over."

Lisinass said calmly.

"Elsi, the shadow spirit here, is a great spirit who can exert control over those who possess her."

"No matter what kind of spirit it is, the freezing of death! The dominion of the Saintess, Nyx's trusted subordinate…!"

"What about a mere Saintess?"

"What?"

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

Kwaak-

A Knight of Rest's sword pierced Cadmol's glabella.

"Severing the dominion of a mere Saintess, who is only Commander-rank at best, isn't that difficult."

No sooner had she finished speaking than Elsi's power began to control Cadmol.

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

the immutable life that had been granted to him came to an end.

"Th-this can't be… I… I…"

"Isn't that what you wanted? Eternal death."

"I never wanted death in this form! I! I wanted to remain in an eternally unchanging form!"

"Is that my problem?"

Lisinass turned away coldly.

Kwajik-!

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

Soon, the demons fell into chaos among themselves and all met their demise.

-You dealt with them surprisingly easily, didn't you?

Rariel asked in a bewildered voice.

Rariel, who was also the oath-bound partner of the Hero of Creation, knew.

Even so, the demon Cadmol from a moment ago was not someone who could be killed like swatting a fly.

As Rariel shivered at the Great Hero's power, Lisinass said,

"Because the compatibility was good."

-Compatibility?

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

Lisinass said calmly.

"The type that pushes forward with brute force. The type that cunningly uses cheap tricks."

-Then what about these demons?

"They're the type that uses cheap tricks."

Lisinass said calmly.

"Cheap tricks are easier because I've dealt with them so many times it made me sick during the Age of Calamity. The ones who push with brute force are more threatening."

At that, Elsi tilted her head.

-Then which category does the Necrolord belong to?

"The Necrolord is…"

Lisinass sighed softly.

"Both. So he's very threatening."

He virtually had no weaknesses as a demon.

Moreover, he was cunning and thought several moves ahead.

He even considered escape in case of an emergency.

He was literally one of the worst enemies.

Kwagagagagagang!

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

Lisinass headed in that direction.

-Leo went that way, didn't he?

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

Lisinass shrugged at Elsi's words.

What she was curious about now was Lunia El Runda.

Just as Lisinass was heading towards Lunia.

A summoning circle appeared in the air, and a hand shot out.

"Huh?"

Lisinass flinched and tried to back away.

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

A staff was clutched in the hand that emerged after rummaging in her chest.

The hand immediately disappeared beyond the summoning circle.

Lisinass clutched her chest, trembling.

"You damn bastard! You should at least give a warning!"

Lisinass exploded in anger towards Leo's vanished hand.