Aporia: Heaven's Verdict
Colors slowly seeped back into my pitch-black vision. Familiar wind sounds reached my ears, which had heard nothing before.
"…Huh?"
Sensations returned one by one, along with a boiling surge of demonic energy. I let out a dazed sound without realizing it.
'…Did I die and come back to life or something? How is this even possible?'
Even I, a transmigrator, couldn't comprehend the situation. Reviving a dead character was nearly impossible even in the game.
But nothing else explained this phenomenon besides resurrection.
"Wh-what…?"
Belhalm was flustered by my miraculous revival.
"…A human has twisted causality itself."
The truth was, I had no idea either. After feeling nothing at all, I was certain I'd died.
But now, I was undeniably alive.
"No, you're not. You wear a human shell, but you're no human."
"What does that…"
I frowned at Belhalm's nonsense, but then I finally noticed the window floating before my eyes.
Demon
Seal of Original Sin completely absorbs Archdemon, Lilishbea
Temporarily entering Hierarchy Transcendence state
"………Huh?"
The Seal of Original Sin had completely absorbed Lilia?
As far as I knew, this was absolutely impossible. If I died, her binding would break completely, freeing her.
But now, it meant only one thing.
'Did Lilia choose to be absorbed by me of her own will…?'
A demon sacrificing for someone else? In a lord-servant bond forged by force?
"…Li, Lilia."
I called her name with a faint hope, but no answer came. Only silence.
And that silence meant Lilia's existence had vanished entirely.
'This is…real…?'
I'd known it deep down. I couldn't sense her demonic energy at all anymore.
Instead, an enormous amount overflowed from my own body—like when we first met.
"Twisting causality confirms one thing. If I take you too, I can truly become a god."
Belhalm spoke, but his words didn't register with me.
Even though our bond was purely out of necessity.
A wave of loss crashed over me like a towering tsunami.
This was the same emotion I'd felt in my previous life when I lost my parents—something I'd thought I'd never feel again.
"Just…"
I couldn't understand why tears streamed from my eyes.
"You drag me into this bullshit dream and make me feel this again…?"
In an instant, faster than thought, my body moved.
—Crack!!!
Without a sword, I swung my bare fist and smashed Belhalm's jaw.
"Wh-what!?"
Belhalm stumbled back, shocked that I'd one-sidedly struck him despite his near-full recovery to 10th Circle power.
—Whoooong!!!
His shock was brief. Vast mana poured from his hand, drawing countless circles in the air.
But right now, I wasn't bound by petty magic.
My overflowing demonic energy converted entirely to mana.
And since I'd touched that realm once before, I was in a state where my mental transcendence manifested physically.
A temporary Hierarchy Transcendence.
"Behold. This is the ideal you've pursued so desperately."
Vast demonic energy floated in the air, coalescing into beams of light.
"Have you truly reached that supreme realm…?"
Belhalm was visibly trembling. Awe and terror shone clearly in his eyes.
I couldn't believe this was the same being who'd unilaterally butchered me moments ago.
Star Manifestation.
The transcendent realm whose name was too sacred to utter.
As you'd made me feel loss, I'd grant you utter despair and frustration.
"The pinnacle I could never reach in my lifetime…!"
Light beams bloomed in the air, one by one forming spears.
'Divine Retribution Spears'.
—Pababababa!!!
Like a sudden downpour from the heavens, countless beams pierced straight through Belhalm's body.
"Guhhh…!!!"
Unlike before, he let out a agonized scream and collapsed pathetically to the ground.
A hollow laugh nearly escaped at the sight of him like a feeble old man drained of all power.
"Just…"
Because of this one, I'd lost someone again.
Maybe instinctively, I'd seen her as my one true confidante.
Even if it started from necessity, the time and moments we shared were real.
Family. The stability I'd first felt in this world.
All lost to the whims of this one before me.
"…Impressive…cough! Indeed."
"You talk big."
"But that power isn't infinite… I just need to endure until it fades."
He wasn't called a great sage for nothing.
Hierarchy Transcendence was temporary, fueled by the massive demonic energy Lilia had passed to me.
Once it depleted, I'd revert.
But.
"What if I kill you before then?"
Simple as that.
"Looks like dying and reviving made you forget."
—Whoooong!!!
Vast mana swirled from Belhalm's bosom.
Trying to regress again via his pocket watch?
With infinite regressions, I couldn't kill him permanently.
That's why I'd lost before and lost Lilia.
However.
"You're mistaken. I'm not as helpless as before."
"…What?"
Before, I was powerless. His pocket watch was a Star Manifestation-grade magic tool.
A mere 6th Circle like me couldn't touch it.
But now, I'd stepped into Star Manifestation too.
"Your fancy clock tricks end here."
I raised my right hand, murmuring like a judge delivering verdict.
"Heavens above."
In that instant, the world lost all color, turning gray as if frozen still.
"Who am I to defy Your will?"
The myriad light beams converged to a single point.
"Who am I to reject Your answer?"
That point was the sole light piercing the ashen world.
"Who am I to ignore Your word?"
Twisting causality is mere paradox, and this is Heaven's reply to contradiction.
"No path remains for you to return."
If you wish to regress, pray to the heavens.
They'll send a beam to sever your paradox.
Light * Holy attribute.
Star Manifestation-grade spell.
"Aporia—."
A single beam from the sky pierced Belhalm's heart silently.
Unlike the thunderous Astrafe, it was utterly quiet.
As if it had always been, Belhalm clutched his chest without a sound.
"Wh-why didn't the watch activate…!"
"No clock is needed in halted time."
Aporia fundamentally paused time before activating.
A spell to precisely strike the target in that frozen instant.
"Impossible…!"
"Now you see. This is the world you so desperately sought."
"Ah…aaah……."
Belhalm stared at me in utter despair, unable to accept it.
"Are you afraid?"
"I… like this… is this true annihilation…?"
His body crumbled to ash.
Once hit by Aporia, erasure was inevitable.
Perhaps that's why. After eons, Belhalm felt fear.
Terror of true death, probably.
'Should I let him go this easily?'
After taking Lilia and killing me once?
"…No way."
—Slash!!
"Gaaaaah!!!"
I cleanly severed his fading right arm.
"I'll vanish soon—do you have to go this far!!"
"You'll suffer until you do."
I didn't forgive him.
No—forgiveness wasn't mine to give.
'Sensory Amplification.'
I cast a spell amplifying his senses, then sliced and carved his body repeatedly.
Once. Twice. By the time I stopped counting.
Belhalm, writhing in agony, was gone.
Emptiness. Only hollowness and loss remained.
"Ah…………."
Again. Again. Must I always lose like this?
What had I done to be this powerless?
"…Fuck."
I wiped my tears, cursing inwardly.
As I turned away, spitting curses.
Insight scans the target
◈ Can rewind a target's time once, at will
My eyes moved on their own, against my will.
An item that should've been pulverized by Star Manifestation magic.
"……Ah."
It lay before me, granting one final chance.