The Evil Spirit of Destruction (2)
The moment Yeonhui sensed the man's hand reaching for the nape of her neck, her eyes gleamed golden.
"…O Sun, protect me."
"O Sun, protect me."
⟨ Sun's Barrier ⟩
Clang—!
In an instant, the divine spirit's power manifested, blocking the man's hand. It wasn't just a block—the fingers that dared to target the saint's neck burned away completely in the intense heat as punishment.
Yet the man merely tilted his head, showing no sign of pain as he muttered, "Your activation speed is unnaturally fast. And it even withstands my power…."
The man grinned wickedly.
"Receiving a blessing directly from a god, are you? Makes you even more tempting."
Yeonhui stared at him intently. Though he wore a guard's uniform, he wasn't one of the guards who'd been with them the whole time—this was a new face. Just as he'd claimed to have disrupted sound waves to muffle noises before they reached them, he must have concealed his approach here in the same way.
"…You're the evil spirit that killed Lord Abraham, aren't you?"
When Yeonhui pressed him, the man answered simply, "That old man? Yeah, I killed him."
The Evil Spirit of Destruction had possessed a guard's body and appeared here. He'd probably used a similar method to kill Abraham. The problem was, to Yeonhui's eyes, the host's body didn't seem to have high spirit affinity. It wasn't the kind of vessel an evil spirit could rampage freely in, so she couldn't fathom why it had contracted with such a person.
'If it's saying it wants to take over my body, that means it's dissatisfied with its current contractor.'
Harboring her doubts, Yeonhui asked why the evil spirit had killed Abraham.
"Why? The Wise Star wouldn't have done anything to harm you."
"I don't have any obligation to explain my reasons."
The Evil Spirit of Destruction showed no intention of answering at first, but then seemed to change its mind.
"Actually, whatever. You'll be the body I take over here anyway, so it doesn't matter if I tell you."
"Hah."
Yeonhui let out a scoff laced with derision at its arrogant attitude.
"…Who decided that?"
Like her golden eyes, two deer-like antlers sprouted from her head, radiating brilliant light.
"I'll just subdue you and find out myself."
She had directly revealed a fragment of the divine spirit, the Horned One.
Horned One
⟨ Divine Spirit Fragment ⟩
Seeing that power, the evil spirit openly admired it.
"A god's blessing and a divine spirit's power…."
Its eyes filled with ecstatic delight, it shouted as if beholding something truly magnificent.
"Makes you even more tempting!"
The evil spirit said this while grinning creepily as ever. Even after Yeonhui revealed her divine spirit's power, it showed no tension whatsoever. Instead, it tilted its head as if baffled by her claim of subduing it.
"But subdue me? How? No matter how great a divine spirit's power…."
The evil spirit grinned, its mouth splitting wide.
"I can just destroy that too, right?"
Crack—!
The moment it spoke, the pair of antlers on Yeonhui's head shattered into pieces.
"What…!?"
Yeonhui had assumed a power opposing the evil spirit—one from the divine spirit at its antithesis—would at least hold its own, so she couldn't help but panic. But she'd miscalculated. The evil spirit before her wasn't some ordinary one; it was the worst evil spirit in history, known as the most heinous.
Clang—!
The Evil Spirit of Destruction immediately targeted her nape again to subdue her, but this time too, Yeonhui barely blocked it with the Sun God's blessing.
"The god's blessing is still a bit much. As expected, this trash body can't handle enough power."
The Evil Spirit of Destruction lived up to its name: born from the myriad acts of 'destruction' plaguing the world. This power to shatter everything worked even on higher beings, but the evil spirit hadn't yet regained its full strength. The Sun God's blessing hadn't broken because, in its incomplete state, it couldn't overcome a blessing bestowed by the Supreme God.
"Still, you can't manifest the blessing forever. Using a god's power through a human body has its limits."
"……."
"I wonder who'll break first if I keep pressuring you?"
At the evil spirit's words, cold sweat trickled down Yeonhui's face. With even the divine spirit's power nullified, she had no choice but to endure via the Sun God's blessing.
'Junior Hyunjin….'
Until Seong Hyun-jin or others like Jerónimo VIII and Ahajaka Eldark noticed and came to help.
"Master."
"Yeah?"
Astaroth suddenly stopped Seong Hyun-jin, who was on his way to check on the guards. Ahajaka and Jerónimo halted too, eyeing her curiously.
"Looks like we don't need to hunt around one by one. Saved some trouble."
"What're you talking about?"
Astaroth smirked slyly.
"It couldn't hold back and moved first."
"…Moved?"
"Where has it appeared!?"
Jerónimo asked urgently, but Astaroth ignored him, grabbing Seong Hyun-jin's hand and pulling him along.
"Let's go, Master."
"We don't have time to stroll like this, Astaroth. If the Evil Spirit of Destruction has shown up, we need to—"
"I know, Master."
Astaroth placed her hand on the prison wall as if it were obvious. Then—
Rumble-crash—!!
"Shortcut."
The Nastrod Prison wall, which even a dragon's breath couldn't melt, collapsed in an instant, opening a straight path.
Jerónimo couldn't hide his shock.
"N-Nastrod's walls…."
"I didn't touch the bars. Wouldn't want criminals escaping and causing you trouble, Master."
"……."
Seong Hyun-jin stared at the smug Astaroth in disbelief but decided to use the shortcut she'd made.
"Exactly where?"
"Over there—the place you were at earlier, right?"
"…What?"
Seong Hyun-jin's expression hardened. Yeonhui was there. That meant she was facing the Evil Spirit of Destruction alone right now. The worst spirit in recorded history, by herself.
The realization made his blood run cold, his mind sharpening like ice. His hand instinctively went to his sword hilt, ready to charge—
"Master, don't rush. Charging in unprepared will just get your body destroyed without accomplishing anything, and you'll end up dead."
"Then what do I do?"
"Heh, what a silly question."
Astaroth gently placed her pale hand over the back of Seong Hyun-jin's on the hilt.
"Use me."
"…Your power can stand against the Evil Spirit of Destruction?"
"Of course."
Astaroth chuckled.
"Comparing me to that half-baked fool would be an insult, Master."
Clang—!!
Once more, the Evil Spirit of Destruction's attack was blocked by the Sun God's blessing, failing to subdue Yeonhui.
"Held out again? Why not just give up and hand over your body? You might even enjoy it. Smashing everything always feels refreshing!"
But with each repetition, Yeonhui grew wearier, while the evil spirit laughed leisurely, unconcerned even if its host body crumbled.
Yeonhui wiped the sweat dripping from her chin with the back of her hand and directly refuted its bizarre logic.
"…Cut the nonsense. That's not my thing."
"Too bad."
The Evil Spirit of Destruction said.
"But you'll end up doing it whether you like it or not."
With that, it targeted her again with its power to destroy all. Yeonhui put on a defiant front, but honestly, she was nearing her limit. Even with her transmigrator perk of the Divine Blessing, wielding a god's power through a human body drained immense mental and physical stamina.
One or two more times at most. Both it and she knew it bone-deep.
'Anyone… please….'
She could only pray someone would notice and come to her aid.
"Let's see how much longer you last."
"…O Sun, protect me!"
"O Sun, protect me."
⟨ Sun's Barrier ⟩
Boom-clang!!
The Sun God's blessing activated again, defending against the evil spirit's attack. But this time, it thrust out its other hand in quick succession. The hand was already ragged, its fingers burned away from repeated blocks, but for the evil spirit, any body that touched Yeonhui would do.
"Got you."
"…!"
Without even giving her time to manifest the blessing, the evil spirit's hand reached Yeonhui—
Celestial Evil Slay
Riiip—!!
Sword ki flew in at invisible speed, cleaving the evil spirit's body in half. It didn't stop there—the body it possessed began rapidly disintegrating from the sword's path outward.
"…Hah."
The evil spirit, which had laughed leisurely until now, hardened its expression for the first time.
Yeonhui blinked dazedly at the hand frozen before her eyes, then slowly turned her head.
And there stood the man she'd so desperately wished for.
"…Junior?"
His hair had turned completely white, for some reason.