Lord thought this while looking down at Freyâs body.
It wasnât Freyâs body that was there. He had already separated from his flesh.
This was his soul body. Or it could be called his transcendent body.
Nevertheless, whether it was called his soul body or his transcendent body, if the body of a transcendent being received a fatal attack to its âcoreâ, it would inevitably disappear. This was true even for his own kind.
But Freyâs body didnât disappear. It was still translucent as though it would disappear at any moment, but it didnât disappear even after he stopped breathing.
It was strange.
âIâm sure heâs dead.â
To put it in the context of other living beings, his heart had exploded and his brain had been smashed. There was no living being who could remain alive when its vital organs had been destroyed.
That was why he still felt uneasy.
After all, this was the man whoâd managed to escape from the Abyss. Even if he didnât do it on his own, it was still an achievement that ordinary humans would never have been able to accomplish.
In short, this man had a record of making the impossible possible.
So he couldnât let his guard down. He couldnât even relax.
Therefore, in order to get rid of his anxiety, he had to erase even the slightest possibility.
Just as Lord was about to raise his hands and carry out his thoughts.
âYou look exhausted.â
Lord didnât turn around. But he knew the owner of the voice was Asura.
[So? Did you reveal yourself because you think you can defeat me now?]
Lordâs voice was filled with disdain.
Of course, it wouldnât have been enough to call his current state a mess. But that didnât matter.
The only one who could kill him was already dead. If there was truly something called fate, then it was already settled.
Now, there were no longer any threats to Lordâs fate.
In other words, he no longer had to worry about dying. Everything he wanted to happen would surely happen.
He was the winner.
ââŠno.â
Asura knew that too.
He shook his head bitterly.
âI saw your fight with Frey.â
It was such a fierce battle that he couldnât even have tried to interfere. Their levels were so different that they could be said to have been in different dimensions.
Asura had no choice but to run away and watch from a distance. Heâd even used the power of Lilith, who he always disdained, to save his life.
It was the most humiliating thing heâd ever done in his life. It was to the point that he wanted to bite off his tongue and kill himself in shame.
For Asura, who had lived for thousands of years, this day was surely an incurable scar on his heart.
âŠOr not.
There was another way.
Clang.
Asura threw his six weapons aside.
Then, while taking the stance heâd shown Frey not so long ago, he said.
âLetâs exchange pointers, Lord.â
[Donât be ridiculous, Asura. Itâs very unsightly to see you, a demon, trying to imitate a Magic Warrior.]
ââŠI know. I think so too.â
[Why are you trying to throw away your life? I have no intention of destroying Hell.]
Lord sounded genuinely confused.
[I think it is necessary for Hell to exist. I will not destroy this place and cause chaos. Look. This is the end of the clown who mistook Hell for his own property.]
Luciferâs headless body suddenly appeared.
Lord then put his hand into the body.
Crack!
[âŠand this is the core of Satan, Hellâs former balance. It wasnât completely digested.]
Lord opened his bloodied hand to reveal a small gem.
Even though it was a gem, it seemed to have a mysterious aura filled with unlimited vitality and potential. This was the only thing that could have been considered the qualification of a balance in a material way.
It was just as Lord expected. Lucifer had the cores of both Satan and the Dragon Lord. And after separating them, he realised that it would be inefficient for one being to possess all the cores, so he decided to share.
Lord held out Satanâs core to Asura.
[I will give this to you.]
ââŠâ
[You and Lilith are the only surviving Rulers. Just you two. The Dream Demon is not qualified to be the balance. But if itâs you, it might be possible. It can be said that youâre a half-step ahead of the other RulersâŠ. You could become the only Ruler just like Satan in the past. I will help you do that.]
It was an extremely attractive offer. He felt that every Ruler would have had this dream at least once.
To be the one and only Ruler of Hell.
Asuraâs desire to do this was particularly strong. It would have been a lie if he said he wasnât shaken.
But.
Asura still shook his head.
[âŠwhy?]
âThere is no point sitting on a seat that someone else prepared for you. I get what I want with my own two hands. This is the way I have lived from the start.â
Crunch.
Asura clenched his fists.
Lord sighed.
[How foolish. Do you feel like youâve accomplished something by telling yourself that? Your image, which has been deeply influenced by the mortalsâ way of thinking, just looks unsightly. Donât forget your place, Demon.]
Asura didnât answer and rushed towards Lord.
Lord didnât even bother to move.
ââŠ!â
Then Asuraâs body suddenly stopped.
His body gradually became bright red. He was using all he had, but he still could not move even a single muscle.
Chak!
Blood splattered from Asuraâs body.
He wasnât even sure what happened. Lord had only looked at him with the same disdainful gaze.
But in truth, such a result was natural.
With no way to resist Lordâs power, this was inevitable. Frey was the only exception.
So even Asura, who was the strongest demon after Lucifer, could not even touch Lordâs body despite the state he was in.
Hik.
But Asura just laughed.
Curious, Lord asked.
[Why are you laughing?]
âBecause⊠it took longer than I thought. We talked for so long.â
[âŠ!]
At those words, Lord turned to look behind him. Freyâs body was no longer there.
[You dareâŠ!]
Burning with rage, Lordâs eyes appeared on his face.
Asura grinned.
âDumbassâŠ! Exchange pointers. Bullshit! Is there any way the War Demon King⊠would say that kind of nonsense? Hu-, hahaha.â
Asura looked Lord in the eyes.
âI⊠really hate you Demigods.â
[âŠ]
Lordâs hand shook. Then Asuraâs body exploded, his flesh and blood scattering everywhere.
Heâd killed Asura with a gesture, but Lordâs thoughts had already turned away from him.
Freyâs body couldnât have just disappeared on its own. Someone had to have taken him.
And that personâs identity was quite obvious.
[Lilith.]
The last Ruler, Queen of the Dream Demons. He never thought that she was worth his time, just a bug, but now, she was annoying him.
Where did she go?
[âŠfine. Iâll play tag with you.]
Lordâs eyes disappeared again.
His mind had calmed down again.
He would literally pursue her âto the ends of Hellâ and kill her.
* * *
âHukâŠ! HukâŠ!â
Lilith flapped her wings desperately as she ran away.
âWhy am I⊠doing thisâŠ?â
Freyâs body was on her shoulder.
Right. His dead body. A body colder than ice with not even a hint of vitality in it.
âAsura, you stupid bastard!â
She cursed nervously.
She didnât see Asuraâs end, but she knew that he wouldnât have survived.
Paht!
Lilithâs body faded for an instant before reappearing in an entirely different place.
This was Lilithâs power. She was able to step into the virtual world of âdreamsâ. She was sure that Lord would invade and conquer the Dream Realm. That was why she was only using it sparingly.
This was to blur Lordâs perception of the Dream Realm and reality. If she hadnât used this method, then she wouldâve been caught already.
âHowever⊠Iâm only stalling.â
Lilith bit her lip.
If Lord had been in his normal condition, even this method would not have worked. Sheâd have been caught in seconds and suffered a miserable end just like Asura.
âHow am I supposed to run away from a guy who controls space?â
Hell had already become a strange world that could no longer be called Hell. This was because Lord had mixed the Abyss with the space here.
It was like black ink had been spread across the sky and earth, and ominous dimensional cracks were everywhere.
Crack!
âKukâŠâ
Lilith didnât scream despite the pain of the sudden attack. Then she felt that something was missing.
Her left wing had been torn off.
After losing a wing, she inevitably crashed to the ground as she was no longer able to fly.
Then, as she lay face-down on the ground, she heard a voice.
[You really thought you were clever.]
Lord.
Lilith grit her teeth.
She couldnât believe that the time Asura had desperately fought for had been so meaningless.
[Asura died to protect his petty pride. He didnât want to sit on a throne created for him and died for his stupidity. So what about you? Why are you trying to save him?]
ââŠI owe him my life.â
Lilith glanced at Frey and muttered.
âI am a demon, but I have something called shame. Do you? You are lying. You never thought about making Asura the balance of Hell.â
[NonsenseâŠ]
âHa. Stop pretending. I am a woman who survived for thousands of years with the lies from my mouth. Do you think I canât smell a liar?â
Lilith laughed.
âYou have no intention of keeping Hell around.â
Lord was speechless.
He never thought that he would be seen through so easily by this woman.
Lilith didnât miss this opening. She pushed Frey into the black space beside her.
Freyâs body was quickly swallowed by this black space.
Seeing this scene, Lord shook his head and said.
[Do you know what youâve done?]
âIâm going to die anyway, so what does it matter?â
[Right. You know it well.]
Crack!
In the next instant, Lilithâs body was crushed as though she had been stepped on by a giant being.
It was an end so pointless and miserable that it was not befitting of the last Ruler of Hell.
Lilith didnât even know how she died.
Lord looked down at the puddle of flesh and blood that had once been the Ruler known as Lilith. Unlike Asura, he didnât think she was worth talking to.
[That space, the Abyss, is my world. Lilith, all you did was push Frey directly into my lair. Your foolish struggle was for nothing.]
That was what Lord thought.
He tried to step into his space.
But,
Tak.
He felt that heâd been blocked by a wall.
[What is going on?]
Lordâs voice was filled with shock.
This wasnât possible.
He couldnât step into the space that heâd created?
[âŠ]
But Lord soon realised something.
His expression became distorted.
[âŠIris, do you intend to block me till the end?]
âHuhuhuâŠâ
A loud laugh reverberated around him.
Lord spoke in a cold voice.
[Your struggle is futile. Right. I forgot your existence because you were so insignificant. Iris Phisfounder. âGet outâ of my Abyss immediately.]
âŠ
âŠ
It wasnât possible.
Lordâs expression became stiff.
Despite his direct declaration, Iris was still staying in the Abyss.
No, that wasnât all.
He couldnât âinterfereâ with the Abyss.
[HowâŠ]
âThe Abyss is no longer your world. Iâve been studying this space for over 4,000 years, Lord. I know secrets of this place even you donât know.â
That was impossible.
Lord was silent for a moment before opening his mouth.
[Nonsense. The place youâre in isnât the Abyss. Where is âthatâ place? Where the hell did you take Frey?]
âHuhu.â
Iris chuckled.
Lord stared at the black space in front of him and opened his mouth.
[I donât know what the hell youâre thinking. Heâs already dead. What you have is nothing more than a corpse⊠Frey Blake reached the transcendent level. That means the boundary between his soul and body disappeared.]
For ordinary beings, death meant a new beginning. Even if their body died, their souls would wander around the Continent, and soon, they would get a new beginning.
But after reaching the transcendent level, one stepped outside of the path of reincarnation. One would be able to view the world from a higher level.
However, this wasnât necessarily a blessing. There was a price to pay for breaking free of the yoke of life.
For transcendent beings, death was not a chance to restart but a complete end⊠nothingness.
It was not possible for them to leave behind a crystal like the Demigods, so they wouldnât even leave residual thoughts behind.
There was no way Iris Phisfounder didnât know that.
âI know. So please donât worry about us.â
[âŠus?]
âYes. Lukas and I will live here forever. I donât want anyone to interfere. Lord, you have a lot of work to do, donât you? You have a world to reset.â
[âŠ]
When Lord didnât answer, Iris continued in a cold voice.
âLukas is already dead. If you try to take even his body from me, then I will interfere with everything you do. I will bother you till the day I die.â
This wasnât a bluff.
Lord weighed the pros and cons for a moment.
Iris Phisfounder. This woman could definitely be incredibly annoying. Now that Frey was dead, it was clear that she was the person who could bother him the most.
After all, Iris had his power and would be able to resist his power of space to an extent.
âI could spend the time to find and kill Iris, butâŠâ
He was thinking about the Continent.
Droâs core on the continent was Lordâs top priority.
Besides, Frey was already dead. There was no way heâd be revived.
Therefore, it was more urgent to deal with the situation on the continent than chase after a corpse.
âI will kill her after.â
After thinking this, Lord nodded.
[In the end, you got what you wanted. Black Witch, I admire your perseverance and willpower.]
Lord did not say anything else and simply disappeared.