Chapter 90
Chapter 90
Episode 90.
Atraxia's severed head rolled across the ground before coming to a stop at Yuriel's feet.
Yuriel stared at Aiden with a face drained of color. Meanwhile, the Imperial Princess merely drew a holy cross with a bitter expression.
Aiden met Yuriel's gaze.
"I'll explain later."
He had no choice but to kill Atraxia.
If the divine vessel containing the Moon's soul had been swallowed by that rift, it might have become nourishment for the unborn demon. So before that could happen, Aiden sent the Moon's soul into ascension.
Otherwise, a far more terrifying demon would have been born.
Of course, under normal circumstances, such a thing would have been impossible. A vessel capable of containing a divine soul was nearly impossible to come by.
But this was an exceptionally unusual situation.
That bastard demon was of the Moon's flesh and blood—that single fact made the impossible possible. Had he let it live, the child and parent would have resonated, just like in the original story's routes.
Aiden had no confidence in facing the monstrosity that would have resulted. Nor did he want to sacrifice Atraxia. Their bond wasn't deep, but he might have even felt some fondness for her. The debt he owed from the Saya incident likely played a part too.
Whatever the case, Yuriel, still undergoing her trial, couldn't hear these explanations—and Aiden couldn't give them now.
For now, extermination took priority.
Aiden channeled divine power into the pommel of his holy sword.
A radiant white light surged up the hilt, wrapping around it in a swirling glow. Though the blade hadn't fully materialized, it was more than enough to rend through darkness.
It would cleave through the dull flesh of that newborn demon just fine.
Yuriel, too, focused on the immediate threat. There had to be a reason Aiden killed Atraxia. Steeling herself, she clasped her hands together and began a hymn. A pale mist shimmered faintly around her.
The demons screamed, clawing at their ears as if poisoned by the song.
Aiden locked eyes with the infant.
Within those pitch-black orbs, he sensed pure malice—untainted, primordial evil itself. A gaze that could corrupt a human soul with just a look.
At the same time—
"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE—!"
A deafening shriek tore through the air. The demon's forehead suddenly bulged, flesh splitting apart as Chimurem's face emerged.
A lecherous visage the size of a house, speaking in a sickeningly affectionate tone:
"My child, my child, my hungry little child. Devour those raw morsels to your heart's content."
Immediately, the infant's mouth split open from ear to ear—as if grinning—and a black tongue slithered out.
It writhed in the air, swaying like a serpent choosing its first prey.
Aiden glanced at the Imperial Princess.
"Let's begin."
Raphelia nodded, condensing celestial power in her palm. A crimson aura swirled outward, forming a miniature sun.
Though small, its scorching heat erupted into the night sky, painting the surroundings in a dawn-like glow.
The Princess spoke:
"Vacheksar watches over us."
Though paladins fought most often at night, they were strongest under the sun's light.
They were, after all, the Sun God's chosen. And if their deity was watching, his blade would shine sharper than ever.
Aiden was no exception. His stats surged. Even as a god, the traits of a paladin remained.
His thighs split open like quaking earth, muscles tearing through his skin.
Just as he prepared to kick off the ground—
FWIP!
The black tongue lashed out like a whip.
Aiden didn't dodge. He simply snatched it mid-air. Acidic demon saliva splattered across his face, its acrid stench burning his nostrils, but he endured.
HISS—!
His skin began to sizzle. Poison mixed into the spit. But Yuriel's healing followed instantly, nullifying the damage.
Aiden coiled the tongue around his left forearm. If that thing targeted Raphelia or Yuriel, it would be disastrous. This was the simplest way to control the variable.
It also made using the demon's own strength easier.
The infant strained to retract its tongue. When muscle alone failed, it thrashed its head side to side, shrieking in frustration. Foul drool sprayed everywhere.
Aiden timed his leap with its movements.
Lightning-fast, he shot toward the floating abomination.
In an instant, he closed the distance. His eyes met Chimurem's, embedded in the infant's forehead. Without hesitation, he slashed downward with his holy light.
WHOOSH—!
A white arc split the demon's face from brow to chin. Then—
CRACK!
Its skull split open like a melon. Black blood gushed out, drenching Aiden.
The infant contorted its face in agony, unleashing a horrific scream.
Aiden grimaced.
He'd missed Chimurem. It must have fled deeper into the demon's body.
His priority now was finding and killing the Lust God first. If Chimurem fully merged with the infant, it would gain control over the newborn demon. The fight would become twice as hard.
Just as Aiden raised his blade again—
WHOMP! WHOMP!
Two massive hands closed in from either side.
Despite their size, they moved terrifyingly fast. Too fast to dodge. Realizing this, Aiden stomped on the demon's jaw and launched himself upward.
CRUNCH—!
The hands clapped together with enough force to rupture eardrums. Aiden's, Yuriel's, Raphelia's—all burst from the shockwave. The air itself warped, space seeming to twist.
This was no ordinary demon. Two centuries of gestation, half-divine blood—its innate power was monstrous.
Of course, it wasn't a demigod. Only the firstborn of a goddess inherited divine authority.
Atraxia's true firstborn was elsewhere.
Landing atop the demon's head, Aiden glanced at Yuriel. Blood streamed from her ears. Since she couldn't heal herself, the injury was critical—but thankfully, Raphelia was there.
The Princess poured holy water over Yuriel's wounds.
Relieved, Aiden looked back down. The demon clutched its own tongue with both hands, desperately yanking.
With Aiden standing on its head, the tongue stretched vertically—a ridiculous tug-of-war.
But Aiden had no intention of returning it. Gripping the fleshy muscle tightly, he drove his holy light straight into the demon's skull.
Unlike the sensation of piercing bone with steel, the radiance slid in smoothly—a fusion of searing heat and overwhelming cutting force.
Aiden twisted the blade inside, churning the demon's brains into pulp. Black smoke billowed out as the infant wailed in torment.
Finally, enough space opened up.
Still gripping the tongue, Aiden shoved himself into the hollowed skull.
The demon's arms were too short to reach its own head. It could only pound its temples in frustration.
Aiden pushed forward through the squelching darkness.
Clammy cerebral fluid and spongy brain matter clung to him. Reaching the center, he swung his holy light wildly, carving out the skull's interior.
Fragments of bone and liquefied flesh sprayed everywhere. The stench of burning innards filled the air as screams echoed from outside.
After what felt like an eternity, Aiden felt the demon's body tilt. It was collapsing, its cognitive functions failing.
BOOM—!
The massive demon crashed to the ground. Thick, black fluid oozed from the hole in its skull, pooling across the cracked earth.
The surrounding demons watched in horror.
Aiden remained inside. He still needed to find Chimurem. Unless the Lust God died, the infant wouldn't perish. Even this level of damage would be healed by two centuries' worth of accumulated yin energy.
He waited for the fluid to drain, scanning the hollowed interior.
The liquid receded to his ankles, but Chimurem was nowhere to be found.
'Not in the brain?'
In the original story, routes where Chimurem merged with the infant were nearly nonexistent. This situation was a unique branch created solely because Aiden had become a god—something impossible for players at this stage.
Under normal progression, they would have cleared Trial Stage 8 and lifted the curse.
Chimurem wouldn't have gambled by implanting the curse into itself either.
Meaning Aiden had no concrete strategy.
But this wasn't his first time improvising. Ever since the Duchy arc, the story had spiraled completely off-script. He'd always adapted on the fly.
This time would be no different.
Yet his first assumption had been wrong. Chimurem wasn't in the skull.
Disappointing, but not critical. With the infant crippled, searching would be easier.
As long as they prevented the fusion—
Aiden raised his foot.
CRACK!
He kicked the skull apart.
And in that moment—
Like shattering bone, his perception of reality collapsed.
A bizarre sensation—as if his mind were being stretched like rubber. The disconnect of drifting through a dream.
Then, a frantic voice pierced his ruptured eardrums:
"L-Lord Aiden!"
"Snap out of it! Now!"
The rubber band snapped. Reality rushed back.
Aiden stood dumbfounded.
The tongue was no longer wrapped around his arm.
No—the fallen infant demon was gone entirely.
The rift was vomiting something else out.
Yuriel, pale-faced, stammered:
"L-Lady Atraxia... she's—"
The Princess shouted:
"While you were standing there dazed, the original was swallowed by the rift!"
Aiden struggled to process the situation. No—he refused to.
This can't be—
"Kekeke..."
Someone laughed behind him.
Turning, he saw Gusian.
An illusion.
But the holy barrier didn't just block physical attacks—it shielded against mental intrusions as well.
Interference from beyond should have been impossible.
Then Aiden remembered—
The moment he'd kicked the demon's skull apart.
Gusian's illusions spread through all five senses.
His foot had breached the barrier.
"Fuck."
He'd made a mistake worse than any amateur. Complacency? Maybe things had been going too well lately. He hadn't restrained the urges the Demon-Slaying Archpriest stirred in him. Emotions he should have controlled.
Aiden stared at the rift.
A horrific monstrosity was coming.
And he'd failed his vow to Atraxia.
Even if he could slay this demon, her soul would still be lost.
Despair gnawed at him. Self-loathing carved into his heart.
The rift spat out a silhouette—a shadowy humanoid figure, tall as a grown man.
Like a living shadow, featureless save for the crescent moon carved into its forehead and the pale glow of its eyes.
Aiden forced his guilt aside. If he didn't deal with this, it would be game over.
Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the sword—
Then, Elohim Dekar flared.
Just like when he'd first arrived in the demon realm.
"To whoever reads this—I leave everything to you. See you in the demon realm."
Kadak's message flashed through his mind.
Aiden looked up.
Storm clouds swirled above, gray lightning stitching across the sky.
A jagged bolt struck the ground—
BOOM!
Thunder quaked the earth.
But it didn't stop.
The storm concentrated, rotating like a vortex before—
ROAR!
A colossal thunder dragon descended.
Riding it was an old man with white hair.
The Demon-Slaying Archpriest—Grand Magus Kadak.
If anyone had a solution, it was him.
"GRAAAAAAAAH—!"
The thunder dragon ravaged the demon realm. Lightning devoured everything in its path.
Demons turned to ash.
Through the smoke, the old man walked forward.
Crossing the barrier, he drew a holy symbol.
"House of Saint Valenstahl. I've come to settle my debt."