Chapter 214: Alice Subjugation (10)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 214: Alice Subjugation (10)
The Nightmare Dragon’s abdomen split wide, and through the jagged rift, a lethal chill surged in.
The dragon’s massive frame froze solid in an instant, plummeting helplessly into the sea of ice below. Alice suffered the same fate. The Frostscythe’s unique skill, [Absolute Zero], was not constrained by mere space.
The powerful frost seeped deep into her wounds, and her body was encased in ice in the blink of an eye.
The crimson wings sprouting from her neck shattered into fragments. The grotesque, extra arms protruding from her back crumbled into ashen dust, scattering in the wind. The dark marks marring her neck and face gradually began to fade.
Mephisto, no longer able to siphon Alice’s mana, began to fall.
Thud.
Isaac moved with blinding speed, catching Alice in a bridal carry.
As Mephisto’s power and personality fragments dissolved into ash, Alice’s body—having sustained a mortal wound—remained entirely frozen. Her bodily functions had completely halted; she was, for all intents and purposes, a human ice sculpture.
In a final, desperate act, Mephisto manifested a grotesque eye and mouth around Alice’s mana-infused eye. The demon no longer possessed the strength to exert its will, yet it stared at Isaac with a gaze so chilling it felt as though it could freeze his very heart.
Mephisto let out a hollow, rasping laugh.
[It is a pity… that I could not defeat you, even while wielding the body of the Queen of Hearts…]
As Mephisto’s mana withered, the demon minions lost their strength. The disaster-level ice beasts and the Düpfendorf army quickly seized total dominance.
The roars of the Düpfendorf soldiers grew louder. Eventually, Freya the Dark-Winged, having sustained a fatal injury, plummeted into the frozen sea, and Hamon the Gluttonous collapsed. One by one, they turned into ashen dust and vanished.
The war was almost over.
…Or so it seemed.
[But you know… this isn’t the only trick I have up my sleeve.]
Mephisto chuckled with its last remaining mouth.
[O Nameless Hero, pray, listen to this tale…]
Whooooooo!
Suddenly, an immense surge of dark mana flooded the sky above Isaac. It was a void of absolute pitch-black. Isaac squinted, tilting his head back.
Paaaaaat!
The dark mana swelled and erupted in all directions, forcibly driving away the radiance of the White Night.
Isaac swiped away the level-up system windows flickering before him and quietly observed the darkness consuming the sky. Despite having wiped out the demon army, the Düpfendorf soldiers did not cheer. Instead, they looked up in a stunned, heavy silence. Tension rippled across the sea of ice.
[Among the humans who struck a contract with me, there was a foolish woman who desired to be the most beautiful in all the world…]
Mephisto licked its lips.
[Through our contract, that woman gained peerless beauty. She became famous, won the Emperor’s heart, and eventually became the Empress.]
In the middle of that pitch-black sky, only Isaac remained illuminated—a radiance of sheer solitude.
Mephisto continued in a hoarse, mocking voice.
[Then, the mirror answered her. It told her that Princess Snow White was fairer than she… and that princess was her own daughter. Consumed by rage, resentment, and a twisted sense of inferiority, the woman sought to kill her child simply for being beautiful. But after her many assassination attempts failed, she returned to me. Her heart was black with spite, and she wished for nothing but her daughter’s eternal misery…]
Dorothy, who had defeated the Phantom Cat Cheshire; Kaya, who had slain the Tiger Dragon Bandersnatch; Luce, riding atop the Thunderbird; and the many others from Märchen Academy all looked toward the sky.
A profound sense of dread washed over them.
“Isaac!”
“Isaac…!”
“Sir Isaac!”
Their instincts screamed of impending catastrophe. No matter how capable Isaac was, his survival couldn't be guaranteed against a force of this magnitude.
Dorothy took flight, racing toward him. Luce and Kaya abandoned the protective barrier over the island, spurred by a reflexive need to grab Isaac and flee.
“Kugh!”
“Ugh!”
They were forced to a halt, bracing themselves as the black sky unleashed an astronomical torrent of mana like a physical storm. This was the pressure of mere presence.
[Finally, I gave the woman a clock. This clock contained a terrifying demon capable of subjecting Snow White to a fate worse than death. Sealed within was a creature endowed with the power to exist forever in a bottomless prison… The woman was delighted. To think her daughter would suffer in eternal agony… Haha… even now, I remember her reaction with joy. I gave it to her, expecting her to release the creature at her leisure before the resurrection of Lord Nephid…]
The pocket watch Mephisto had given the Empress. The platinum watch Snow White had treasured as a gift from her mother.
[But I did not expect someone like you to appear. And so, I have decided to release it earlier than planned… It took some time to loosen the reins, for that creature is something even I cannot fully control…]
A spark of sadistic joy lit Mephisto’s eye.
[The moment it is released, it will devour Snow White. It will devour the other humans, and finally, it will devour you as you fall into despair! It is too late to stop it now. Hehe… what a delightful turn of events!]
Mephisto grinned with its fading mouth.
[Farewell, O Nameless Hero… May you have a pleasant journey… into the eternal prison…]
Isaac lowered his head and looked at Mephisto.
Caught up in its own malice, Mephisto saw Isaac’s expression and its remaining eye widened. The demon’s fading mouth lost the ability to speak.
On Isaac’s face… there was a faint, knowing smile.
Whooooo!!
The pitch-black sky unleashed a biting wind saturated with dark mana.
Dorothy deployed a powerful starlight shield; Luce and the Thunderbird manifested a highly condensed [Thunder God’s Barrier]; Kaya used the power of blood and nature to form a [Blood Tree] to shield those around her.
However, the gale of darkness effortlessly bypassed their defenses, leaving shallow cuts across their bodies.
The island itself was precariously held together by Isaac’s frost barrier. Isaac, standing closest to the epicenter, endured the freezing pressure through the [Wind Elemental Resistance] of his bracelet.
He hadn't moved an inch. The elemental bracelet had been set to this specific resistance from the start—because Isaac knew exactly when "that demon" would emerge.
He had anticipated this from the very beginning.
“Didn’t I tell you?” Isaac’s voice was as cold as the frost surrounding them. “That I would find you and kill you.”
[You can’t be serious…?]
Even feeling this transcendental mana… you still claim you can defeat the “Abyss”?
“Just wait.” Isaac stared into Mephisto’s eye with pure, murderous intent. “I’ll kill that bastard first. Then I’m coming for you.”
Whaaaaack!
Thick, dark mana seeped from the pocket of Isaac’s robe. Countless eyes flashed within the blackness as the mana carved through the air, targeting Isaac and Alice.
Mephisto felt a surge of overwhelming confusion. Why was the "Abyss"—which was supposed to emerge by devouring Snow White—springing forth from Isaac?
[Why… why do you have that clock…?]
As if he had known the script all along, Isaac held the clock containing the Abyss.
Amidst the torrent of unanswered questions, Mephisto’s last eye and mouth could no longer hold their form. They disintegrated into ashen dust.
Only Alice, frozen and still, remained in Isaac’s arms.
Isaac gripped Alice tightly with one hand. With the other, he pulled out the pocket watch. It was Snow White’s watch—once platinum, now stained a corrupted black.
The seal on the demon known as the Abyss was the leash. Now, that leash had been severed, and the creature had regained its freedom.
Isaac let go of the watch. Emitting a geyser of dark mana, it floated into the sky. Finally, the pitch-black heavens opened wide like a gaping maw.
[Om the Eternal]
>
Lv: ■■■
Race: De■
Elements: Darkness, Wind, Eternity
Danger: Ext■
Psychology: [■]
The demon Om the Eternal, commonly known as the “Abyss.”
A high-ranking demon and an enemy that should not have appeared at this stage of the story.
Isaac reached into his memories. Snow White’s clock had already been preparing to release the Abyss. As Mephisto said, it was because of the Nameless Hero. Upon hearing that the Floating Island had fallen, Mephisto had accelerated the seal's release to check Isaac’s power.
Isaac had been monitoring the clock’s seal regularly. He had judged that the Abyss was due to emerge today. The timing was perfect. Mephisto had clearly planned for this to be the decisive battle.
Seeing Mephisto’s reaction, Isaac was certain.
He looked up at the pitch-black sky, his eyes burning with fighting spirit. The Abyss, a sentient void, pulsed with excitement at the prospect of facing Isaac—a delectable prey and a formidable adversary. That hunger resonated through the air.
Isaac spoke calmly.
“Fine. Let’s fight.”
「Act 9: Alice Subjugation」
Let the final battle begin.
Guuuuuu!!
Crack!
The Abyss, Om the Eternal, surged downward, engulfing Isaac and Alice.
A deep shadow fell over the faces of Dorothy, Luce, and Kaya as they flew toward the void. In an instant, the enormous mana surrounding Isaac vanished as if it had never existed at all.