Self-Destruction
Her complexion had drained of all color; her limbs shook uncontrollably, lips parting and closing without sound while her pupils darted in wild, frantic disarray.
Watching Annus tremble in absolute terror, having finally grasped the sheer horror of her situation, was a far more gratifying spectacle than I had anticipated.
"What's wrong? Look like you've seen a ghost."
"Y-You... You bastard...!"
Parting her trembling lips with immense effort, as though crushed beneath the weight of something irreversible, tears suddenly spilled down her cheeks as she clutched desperately at her chest.
"What... what the hell did you do to me?!"
"Who knows? What do you think?"
"This isn't... a-a joke! Tell me right nooow...!"
"Hmm... To be totally honest, I don't really know the exact details either."
"Wh-Whaaat?!"
Watching her shriek in sheer panic and petrified dread, a vicious streak of sadism threatened to rear its head inside me.
"All I know is that you're in an 'immortal' state right now."
"...What?"
"Lord Han-gil. What did you just say...?"
"Immortal...?"
The party, completely in the dark about what kind of artifact the Grimoire of Blasphemy actually was, stared at me in utter bewilderment. Weller, the only one who had known its true nature, kept a calm expression, though her gaze was equally brimming with curiosity.
"Hey. What happens now, then? Isn't granting immortality to a Demon King the worst possible thing you could do?"
"Hmm..." In response to Weller's question, I glanced over at the ashen Annus and smirked. "Doesn't look that way, does it? Her reaction says it all."
"I'm asking you what's actually happening to warrant that kind of reaction!"
"How should I know?"
The lore guide had simply stated: There is no death that tolerates eternal life.
I vaguely understood that her Authority of Death was clashing with immortality, but I didn't know the first thing about the underlying causality or precise metaphysical mechanisms.
"What?"
"I don't know the specifics. All I know is that doing this kills the Demon King of Death."
When I had first discovered this exploit in my past life, I couldn't believe how absurd it was. She was supposed to be a Demon King, yet could be wiped out so simply and effortlessly that it almost felt like a developer oversight.
"What kind of nonsense is..." Weller began, her expression baffled, but she couldn't finish the thought.
Annus's jaw was chattering violently as thick plumes of deathly mist began to erupt wildly from her form.
"You, you bastard...! What... what the hell did you do to meee?!"
"Hmm?"
"D-Death is...! Hic, death is closer than it's ever been... Hah, hah...! It's coming! How...? Am I... am I going to die...? Am I dying...?!"
Gasping in ragged, erratic breaths, she wrapped her arms around herself, stumbling as her fingernails dug viciously into her own flesh.
"K-Kang Han-gil! Right now! Put me back to normal this instant!"
"Sorry, but that's impossible. I don't have any reason to, and even if I did, I wouldn't know how."
"Put me baaaack!"
Spitting mist in a convulsive fit, she condensed the swirling darkness into razor-sharp spikes and hurled them straight at me.
"...!"
Where the black spikes grazed my cheek and flank, the flesh instantly blackened and began to rot away.
"Khh...!"
If my instincts and intuition hadn't screamed in warning a split second before, those spikes would have punched clean through my forehead and solar plexus, sending me on a one-way trip to the afterlife.
"Lord Han-gil?!"
"I'm fine! Don't come near me!"
Warning Cecilia back before she could rush in, I scrambled backward to put distance between us.
"...Damn, she really was holding back on us."
Cold sweat pricked my neck. To think she could reshape the mist at will and fire it faster than even my divine authorities could track... If she had gone all out from the very beginning, every single one of us might have been wiped out.
Whew... Just because she's the easiest and simplest Demon King to defeat doesn't mean she's weak.
In terms of sheer raw power, she was easily on par with Rubias—maybe even above her.
"A-Aaaah?! It's coming! It's coming, it's coming, it's comiiing!! Death! Hiiiik! Hiiieeeek?! Death is... swallowing meeeeee!!"
Yet in her half-crazed state, there was not a shred of demonic majesty or terrifying aura left in Annus. Her complexion was pitifully blanched with raw dread, her face smeared with tears and drool in an instant, and her trembling body tottered on unsteady legs while her pupils contracted so violently that only the whites of her eyes showed.
"I don't want to die! I don't wanna dieeee! I... I haven't even tasted happiness yet! I don't even know what peace feels likeee!"
Her flailing screams were so gut-wrenching that one couldn't help but feel a pang of pity and sympathy.
"Ugh, khhh-aaaah! Why?! Whyyyyy?! Why won't my authority listen to me?! It's mine! It's the power the Demon God granted meee! Why... why are you trying to kill meeee?!"
Without warning, one of Annus's hands dissolved into ash, drawing a piercing shriek from her lips.
"Aaaaagh?!"
Damn it, it's already starting.
—Gather up. Head toward the Duke's Castle. As quietly as possible.
Knowing full well what kind of end awaited Annus, I urgently sent a mental transmission to my companions as I slowly backed out of her line of sight, retreating toward the outer wall. Fortunately, she was in far too much agony to pay us any heed, doing nothing but screaming in despair as she stared down at her missing hand.
"...Lord Han-gil. Will Annus simply die like that?"
"If what I know is correct... probably?"
Answering Muriel, I turned my eyes toward Weller.
"Sister Weller. Can you blow Annus as far away as possible using your magic?"
"...Out of nowhere? I mean, I probably could if I tried, but... why would I need to?"
"She won't go quietly. She'll try to drag as many lives down to the grave with her as she can."
"...That's a disaster in the making."
Glancing back toward the outer walls, Weller grimaced, a drop of cold sweat rolling down her temple.
"Exactly. If that thing targets not just us but Terabaon as well... it could deal a catastrophic blow bordering on total annihilation."
"Tsk... So all I have to do is blast her away?"
"Yeah. As long as we put as much distance between us as possible, we should—"
"Look out!"
Just then, Tsarkhella, her entire body enveloped in dazzling lightning, unleashed a fierce fist blast directly forward. Crackling sparks violently danced along the compressed blast wave, amplified by her innate affinity.
The black mist colliding with her strike held against Tsarkhella's Aura Blade before surging inexorably in our direction.
"Hup!"
"Allow me!"
"Dammit!"
Only after Muriel, Rebecca, and Nemeth combined their forces and unleashed their own Aura Blades did the mist finally lose momentum, gradually dispersing into nothingness.
"...Doesn't seem like she was aiming at us intentionally."
Paralyzed by terror while her body crumbled in real time, Annus didn't possess the presence of mind to coordinate an attack. However, with her authority running completely rampant, she was engulfed in wildly fluctuating clouds of dark miasma, violently expelling black mist in all directions.
"...Hey. Magic isn't going to get through that, is it?"
"Oh. Right..."
Cold sweat ran down my back as alarm bells rang in my head. Whether it had just been a dramatic game cutscene or coded mechanics, taking Annus down with the Grimoire of Blasphemy always triggered a mandatory self-destruction finale. If the player failed to put enough distance between them, it resulted in a total party wipe and an instant game over.
Of course, this wasn't a game anymore; it was reality. Defeating the Demon King might count as a success, but what good would that do if we all died and the duchy was reduced to ash in the process?
"Hey, don't tell me you don't have a plan?!"
"Just wait a second. I'm thinking right now."
"You're thinking now?! Hey! Why do you always handle everything by the seat of your pants?! You should have had a Plan A, a Plan B, and a Plan C mapped out before jumping in! At the very least, you should have lured Annus far away to fight her!"
"Will you shut up for a second...?! How was I supposed to drag away a Demon King who came specifically targeting the people around me, not me?! There's got to be a way. Something..."
Right in the middle of my retort, an idea flashed across my mind.
"Cecilia!"
"Y-Yes?!"
Her hair stood on end at my sudden shout, her eyes going round in surprise.
"You have a way to contact the Pope, right? Call him right now and tell him to get over here!"
"Whaaat?! His Holiness?! Why?!"
"It doesn't even have to be the Pope! Void Footsteps! Anyone who can use that artifact will do! Hurry!"
"Ah...! Y-Yes!"
The Void Footsteps was a Legendary-grade boot relic that allowed the user to open spatial warp gates anywhere across the continent without cost or penalty. The Church had been using it to transport troops and supplies across vast distances.
"Y-Your Holiness! Can you hear me?! The thing is, right now...!"
While Cecilia scrambled to establish contact through her communication artifact, I tapped into my remaining divine authority and looked around at the party.
"Until they get here, our job is damage control! Block any stray authority headed toward Terabaon!"
"Understood!"
"Ugh, that looks easier said than done...!"
"Sister Weller, back us up with magic!"
"Tsk, honestly...!"
Frankly, deflecting the chaotic deluge of death mist was harder than fighting the Demon King head-on.
"Aaaagh! Aaaah! I don't want to die! I don't wanna dieeee! If I have to go out like this, then...! Everyone's dying with me! I won't go alone! I refuseee!"
To make matters worse, Annus's impending self-destruction drew closer by the second, tightening the vice around my chest.
"It's done, Lord Han-gil! Any second now...! Ah, they're here!"
Almost on cue with Cecilia's cry, a purple gate tore open beside us, and a breathless beauty with dark bluish hair came tumbling through.
"I came as soon as I received the message! I am Missionary Susanna! Where is the Demon K—Kyaaaah?!"
"Over there! Can you do it?!"
Yanking Susanna back just before the corrosive mist could touch her, I jabbed a finger toward Annus. Blood was trickling from Susanna's eyes and nose simply from being in the vicinity, and she broke into a torrential cold sweat.
"Th-That is the Demon King...?! What ferocious, monstrous demonic energy...!"
"Cut the chatter! Can you teleport her where I tell you to or not?!"
"Y-Yes! I should be able to!"
"Great! Move her outside Terabaon's western outer wall! Preferably right into the thick of the demons!"
"What? Not into the middle of the Great Forest or the Wasteland?"
"If you drop her there, we won't be able to find the body! The Demon King's Essence is an essential drop!"
"E-Excuse me...? What does that..."
"Shut up and just do it!"
"E-Eek...! A-All right! Here goes...!"
She stomped her boot firmly against the ground. Beneath the spasming form of Annus, a massive gate manifested and swallowed her whole.
"Did you definitely send her outside the western outer wall?!"
"Y-Yes! I moved her! I dropped her right where I felt a colossal amount of demonic energy!"
"Nice! Now teleport us over to the western outer wall too! On top of the ramparts!"
"U-Understood!"
As she stomped her foot once more, an enormous gate opened beneath our feet. Before we could even brace ourselves, we plummeted into it.
"Whoaaa...?!"
Even though we had been swallowed by a massive portal, a bizarre sensation of being forced through an impossibly narrow needle washed over my entire body. When my senses finally returned, we were standing atop the western ramparts, surrounded by a crowded throng of people.
"Aaaagh! Die! Everyone dieee! You're all coming with meeeeee!"
"Huh?! What?! Annus?! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Kaaahk! Kyaaaahk!"
"Gwaaaargh!"
"Skreeeech!"
The scene that greeted our eyes was nothing short of total pandemonium.
Otiliv, the Demon King of Life, and the High Demons she had brought with her; mutated monsters born from Otiliv's authority; the Stanasila Knights; the mage corps; paladins and priests; even Urtega and Perdio Hadim—
Every single one of them was running for their lives in sheer panic, completely losing their minds at the sudden intrusion of pure, unadulterated Death.
"...What is the meaning of this foolishness now, Alzen?"
Suddenly, Urtega stepped up beside me, glaring down with profound disapproval. Having been in the thick of a brutal brawl, his appearance was a thoroughly battered mess.