Chapter 53
Chapter 53
Episode 53.
The doubts about Kadak weren't entirely resolved.
Aiden couldn't quite understand why he'd passed the task to someone else when he could have destroyed the black heart himself.
Though purely in terms of results, it had been advantageous.
The pulsating black heart before him—one of the twelve lives possessed by 'Gusian'.
Destroying it would yield massive experience points!
After all, Gusian was one of the highest-ranking demons.
An opportunity like this was unheard of in the early-to-mid stages.
Moreover, being the primary contributor to the conquest of the Grand Duchy would lend far greater weight to his words and actions.
For Aiden, who had to prepare for the future, this was cause for celebration—yet his mood remained somewhat bitter.
Aiden sighed softly as he stood before the black heart.
Jude ran his fingers over its dark surface and spoke.
"There should be a barrier, but I can't sense anything. It seems the Archmage has already dispelled it."
Aiden nodded. Still, he couldn't ignore its basic durability.
If he failed to destroy it in one strike, complications could arise—so he had to pour everything into this attack.
The paladins understood this well.
Goth recited a prayer while Jude chanted a spell.
Magic enveloped Aiden's body, maximizing his physical capabilities.
Aiden immediately unleashed his halo. Divine energy surged forth, incinerating everything inside in a blinding white light.
The paladins gasped in awe at its purity—far beyond what someone his age should possess. It was clear his foundation was different from the start.
As Aiden clenched his fist tightly, divine energy condensed around it.
With full force, he drove his fist forward—a radiant white light piercing through the heart.
Not the sound of tearing flesh, but the shattering of steel.
His fist pulverized the muscle and burst out the other side.
Black smoke rose from his hand, now coated in shredded blood vessels and tissue.
Immediately, the heart began beating wildly.
Accelerating faster and faster until its vibrations became impossible to track with the naked eye. The surrounding air trembled in resonance.
Aiden swiftly withdrew his hand. The heart would convulse violently before finally exploding. Success.
He turned to the paladins.
"Time to retreat."
The assassination had been flawlessly executed, dealing an irreparable blow to the Grand Duchy.
The results were perfect.
The paladins, staring at Aiden's composed expression, looked as though they had countless things to say.
They had just participated in a feat worthy of scripture. Their story would be passed down for generations—an honor never to be repeated.
Though something swelled in their chests, they suppressed any outward reaction.
They were professionals. Until the operation was fully concluded, they couldn't afford to relax.
There would be time to savor the joy later.
The paladins steeled themselves and moved with seamless coordination.
They had already mapped out the escape route by observing the movements of the cultists.
Soon, they exited the facility.
The Grand Duchy was a nation where the sun never set.
Even when night fell, the despair-fueled technology illuminated the city in radiant light.
But today was different.
The Grand Duchy, bereft of the sun's watchful gaze, was swallowed by a silent darkness.
The city that never slept was no more.
Deprived of demonic energy, it crumbled like a sandcastle.
Screams filled the air. Citizens unaccustomed to darkness wailed in terror.
Demon worshippers afraid of mere shadows—Aiden passed by such ironic scenes as he sprinted toward the coastline.
Their teleportation had deposited them beneath the spire's foundation. Thus, it took over an hour to reach their destination.
They planned to traverse the sea northward to the Empire's northeastern territories.
Deafening explosions echoed ceaselessly behind them, but they ignored them, focusing solely on escape.
As they raced across the sandy shore, something abruptly unsettled the entire group.
A chilling sensation, as though a tongue licked their spines—so eerie they couldn't help but turn their heads.
They saw crimson-red eyes.
The slowly sinking Grand Ducal palace—at its peak, a massive eye had unfurled, staining the entire duchy in bloody light.
An eyeball the size of a house took in the city at a glance.
Its pupil twitched madly, darting about as if searching for something—before suddenly freezing.
It was staring at the coastline.
Then, its eyelids narrowed, locking directly onto Aiden.
The blazing red pupils, vividly glowing in the darkness, were so viscerally repulsive and terrifying that even Aiden struggled to maintain his composure.
He immediately spoke to Goth and Jude.
"Focus on Siron. That's an order."
With that, he grabbed Goth and Jude and hurled them with all his might. They soared far before splashing into the sea.
Siron stared at Aiden in shock, but there was no time for explanations.
The distant entity had finally found the culprit who defiled its sacred ground.
The demon's eye, which had illuminated the night, vanished.
As the surroundings plunged into darkness, a grotesque voice scraped against their eardrums.
"Mortal, do not run."
Two voices, existing in entirely different registers, spoke simultaneously.
Siron and Aiden's footsteps halted abruptly. The presence behind them froze them in place.
Aiden turned his head.
Tarjan de Trapelga—the Grand Duke himself.
His ash-gray hair attested to his lineage, but his crimson-red eyes were no longer his own.
A demon had seeped into him.
Those scarlet eyes curved like crescent moons—as though grinning mockingly.
"Was trading my farm for Vacheksar's mongrel worth the cost?"
Gusian had possessed him.
Aiden steadied his breathing. A few more steps and they might have escaped, but now there was no turning back.
He glanced at Siron, who stood rigid.
"Endure it. But never voice your suffering."
That was all he could say. The rest was bound by prohibition.
Since Gusian wasn't in his true form, he couldn't remain on the continent for long. However, the more someone screamed in agony, the longer his possession lasted.
In other words, if they endured without breaking, they would eventually escape.
Goth and Jude needed to help Siron. That was why he'd thrown them into the sea.
Gusian, unable to leave the Grand Duchy, couldn't extend his reach to them.
"Siron!"
As Aiden unleashed his halo, Siron erupted with divine energy as well.
Radiance scattered, painting the sky white.
Without their holy swords or halberds, they had to face him bare-handed.
They stomped the ground. Sand erupted, obscuring Goth and Jude's vision.
When the surroundings cleared again, the Grand Duke's hands were clamped around Siron and Aiden's faces.
Gusian grinned down at Aiden.
"You think you can endure? I've honed this craft for three hundred years."
Instantly, his palms burned like branding irons.
Sssss—! Smoke rose from their searing flesh.
Aiden and Siron's legs convulsed. They thrashed like pigs freshly slaughtered.
Yet no screams came.
Even as their skin melted, Aiden calmly closed his eyes.
Siron choked back sobs rising in her throat. Despite her lips and nose fusing shut, she refused to wail.
Gusian chuckled with amusement.
"Typical of Valkyries. But I'll flay you open regardless."
The Grand Duke hurled them onto the sand.
Their scorched-red skin had lost its original form.
Excruciating pain carved into their faces.
Aiden murmured softly.
"...Remember. Just endure."
Siron couldn't fully grasp his meaning.
But knowing this demon embodied despair, she understood the implication.
The more she screamed, the more he'd revel—and grow stronger.
With great effort, she nodded.
Just as Aiden attempted to throw a punch, Gusian flicked his fingers.
Black demonic energy oozed from his body, coiling around Aiden and Siron.
Then it lifted them into the air.
An overwhelming sense of powerlessness—Aiden's strength couldn't touch Gusian.
The demon grinned, his lips stretching unnaturally wide.
"The scriptures will depict you begging for mercy. Let's enjoy this."
The demonic energy forced its way past their fused lips, flooding their mouths.
It surged down their throats and windpipes, filling their lungs and stomachs.
Siron trembled violently as something foreign filled her completely.
Aiden's voice continued.
"God is watching you. Consider this a trial."
His tone was eerily calm—utterly mismatched with the situation.
The flat delivery offered a strange reassurance. He seemed completely unfazed.
The result of investing so many points into mental fortitude.
Siron shut her eyes. She recalled her faith and reaffirmed her duty.
A Valkyrie would never yield to a demon.
The Grand Duke smirked and flicked his wrist.
Sharp claws extended, slicing open Aiden and Siron's abdomens.
Simultaneously, the demonic energy inside them wrenched their organs outward.
Their viscera danced mid-air under Gusian's command.
Siron's pupils dilated wildly. Her eyes trembled wretchedly as she stared at her own entrails.
The pain was unbearable—yet no scream could escape.
Aiden sneered at the demon.
"Demon, your three centuries seem wasted. Has old age dulled your creativity?"
He hoped to provoke it into killing him outright.
As long as his mind remained intact, nothing else mattered.
But the demon only grinned wider.
"Don't be disappointed. We've only just begun."
With another gesture, their intestines twisted together into a grotesque braid.
Siron threw her head back, gagging. Though she didn't scream, her eyes grew increasingly lifeless.
Soon, even the faintest flicker of vitality faded.
The Valkyrie met her end without ever voicing her suffering.
The demon dropped her corpse indifferently.
"Only you matter. The rest is irrelevant."
Aiden smirked down at him.
"You disgusting maggot. Are you truly the Grand Duke of the Demon Realm? Reduced to flailing pathetically because you couldn't break one young Valkyrie."
The demon roared with laughter.
Then it spoke no more. It simply tormented Aiden with every grotesque method imaginable.
Yet not a single scream—not even a whimper—escaped him.
Aiden's form was no longer human, yet his life clung on. Death would have been kinder—in moments like these, his resilient body felt like a curse.
But even this seemingly endless torture was approaching its finale.
When the end finally came, the illusion shattered like glass.
The shoreline, unlike the Grand Duchy's center, was utterly silent.
Aiden's shredded entrails and flesh were nowhere to be seen.
Only the paladin stood expressionless before Gusian.
The demon's allotted time had expired. The hallucination vanished.
Aiden spoke.
"The scriptures will record not my disgrace, but an incompetent demon's failure."
Gusian offered a rancid smile in reply.
"It seems we'll meet again."
Then, the crimson light faded from the Grand Duke's eyes.
The demon departed with those final words, returning to its homeland.
Tarjan glared at Aiden with naked fury.
"You... killed my son—"
"Join him."
Thwack! The Grand Duke's head went flying, vanishing into the distance.
The paladins stared at Aiden in shock. Siron's eyes shimmered with reverence.