Chapter 782: The Return
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 782: The Return
An suddenly felt a biting chill.
She sat motionless upon the throne, the cold obsidian pressing against her skin, radiating a ghostly, frigid light.
But this cold did not stem from physical contact; it came from... her soul.
"My King... My King..."
Divine Will’s demented voice continued to echo in her ears, drawing closer and closer. The shrill noise pierced deep into her mind, mingling with whispers potent enough to drive one mad.
From the corner of her eye, she saw the shadows beneath the throne deepening, stretching like silhouettes pulled by the final rays of a setting sun, hideous and distorted. Viscous, corrupted fluid gathered into a rapidly rising tide, slowly swallowing the base of the throne.
Divine Will had arrived.
The spatial barrier Hamulein had erected was still holding, but the pollution seemed pervasive, devouring the final defenses bit by bit. Divine Will stood on the other side of the barrier, his withered face twisted with fanaticism and longing. Pressed against the transparent, invisible space, he stared at An with a gaze that made her skin crawl.
"Wait for me, My King. I will grant you rebirth right now... very soon... very soon..."
"Since you still consider me your King..."
An’s face remained expressionless, her dignified features masking the sliver of terror she felt facing such an abominable creature.
"Then can I just tell you to piss off?"
"..."
Divine Will froze. The wrinkled skin across his body suddenly split open, and from the darkness within the gashes, countless eerie, malicious eyes fixed their gaze directly on An.
Yet, Divine Will offered a benevolent smile, speaking in a gentle tone like a kindly old grandfather from next door:
"Do not be afraid, My King. Please, do not fear. You are merely blinded by this false shell, these false memories. I will soon liberate you from them—I will save you from this foul, stench-ridden husk!"
"Foul stench? Take a look at yourself first, you old fossil. The smell coming off you is enough to make anyone gag."
An’s hands clenched tightly. Relying on the psychological fortitude she had trained since childhood, she forcibly reined in her emotions.
Fear was useless.
Anger was useless.
Even the dragon revered as a Calamity could not protect her forever. An understood perfectly well that she was only being shielded because she was a vital component in Divine Will’s plan to resurrect the "Demon King."
As long as the situation was under control, the dragon would have the spare capacity to protect her. But the moment things turned sour, she would undoubtedly abandon this side temporarily and instead—
Boom!
A massive explosion jolted An from her thoughts. She saw a blinding flare of light descend from the heavens, striking along the spatial barrier and temporarily repelling the encroaching Divine Will.
An looked up in shock. At the highest point, a fiery red figure hung in the sky like a blazing sun. While launching attacks against the Eternal Cycle, Hamulein seemed to be keeping an eye on this area, diverting a portion of her power to assist.
"The legendary Calamity... doesn't seem quite so cold-hearted after all..." An murmured softly.
But she didn't feel a surge of hope from this outside help.
The reason was simple...
"It’s futile."
In the blink of an eye, Divine Will—whose limbs had been torn apart by the flare—pressed close once more. His flesh was in tatters, and the profound blood of a Demon God flowed through the cracks of his broken body, its vitality not diminished in the slightest. If Hamulein’s full-strength strike couldn't kill him, what impact could a hurried, diverted attack possibly have?
It was, of course, useless. It couldn't even buy much time.
Creeeak...
The filthy tide rose higher and higher. Twisted tentacles finally managed to tear a small opening in the spatial barrier, carrying the corruption of the Demon God as they slowly squeezed through the rift.
"Stop resisting, My King. Come, take my hand. I will let you reclaim everything that was once yours! I will give you the power to take revenge on this world! Yes... power! My power! Your power!"
The madness in Divine Will’s eyes intensified, and even his words began to stumble into incoherence.
However, his obsession with resurrecting his "King" had not weakened in the slightest. Under some form of catalysis, it had become the sole consciousness remaining in his mind.
His flesh and blood squeezed through the spatial rift along with the viscous, foul liquid. He seemed entirely oblivious as his body was crushed into fragments; as his broken form pieced itself back together, his heart was filled only with the ecstasy of having taken a monumental step toward success.
"Come, My King! Please, take my—"
"Get lost!"
The fury and loathing finally broke through An’s dignified facade.
"Get away from me! The only one allowed to touch me is the Young Master!"
In an instant.
Steel shrieked.
An had been imprisoned on the throne by Divine Will, unable to move. But given her personality, she was never going to sit idly by and wait for death.
She had been constantly trying to crack Divine Will’s restriction. Though the gap in their realms was vast, if her Young Master could once escape a meticulously prepared cage using nothing but a fishbone, how could she fail?
She was the Young Master’s personal maid, after all.
Lockpicking Skill, LV. MAX!
Restriction: Dispelled.
Then, the long-accumulated power of Divine Blessing finally erupted!
A steel jungle rose from the earth and descended from the sky, instantly encasing Divine Will within its metallic press.
Crushing, grinding, twisting... the massive girders of steel were like coiled giant serpents, systematically obliterating Divine Will’s physical form.
The favor of a deity erupted with staggering force at this moment, drawing even Hamulein’s gaze from high above.
But then...
Drip.
Just as An released the full extent of her power in a single burst—her face turning pale from the sudden drain—a single drop of ink-like liquid fell from a gap in the steel.
The liquid landed before An, bubbling and expanding rapidly. An unscathed Divine Will floated up from the center of the viscous pool, the benevolent smile on his face unchanged.
"Is this your final act of defiance?"
He nodded, speaking with genuine admiration.
"This refusal to ever give up... it truly is exactly like hers."
"..."
An’s slender frame swayed as she sank back onto the throne.
Her all-out struggle had earned nothing more than a word of praise from her enemy. How ridiculous.
No... she had expected this. She had only fought back because she didn't want to lose so pathetically.
She was a maid of the Campbell family. Even if she were to die, she would do so with her back straight, so as not to tarnish the Campbell name.
"I'm sorry, Young Master. I won't be able to serve you anymore."
An gave a tragic smile.
"I won't even get to see you one last time."
But perhaps this was for the best.
Young Master, run. Run as far as you can.
That way, no matter what Divine Will did, or what that thing he was resurrecting did later...
At least the Young Master would be safe.
As long as he was alright, then even if she died, she...
"I'm here."
An, who had almost accepted her fate, bolted upright, her beautiful eyes widening in disbelief.
Was it an illusion? Had she actually heard the Young Master’s voice?
No, it wasn't an illusion.
Because at that moment, An noticed that even Divine Will—who was only inches away from her—had lowered his head to look toward a certain spot, a look of utter bewilderment on his face.
It really was the Young—
"I'm f*cking here!"
The excited roar echoed through the distorted space, but An couldn't help but blink in confusion.
Strange. While that second sentence sounded familiar, it didn't seem to belong to the Young Master.
*
"You stole my line!"
Inside the cramped cockpit, Muen irritably shoved aside Ariel, who had nearly occupied his entire personal space.
"That was supposed to be my cool entrance in front of An! That’s low!"
"What do you mean your line? It’s mine!"
Ariel bared her teeth at him, but the excitement in her eyes was impossible to hide.
Her hands were gripped tightly around the control levers. A vivid sensation extended through the controls to the massive entity at the end of the cables. She felt an unprecedented sense of liberation; her perception had been vastly extended and enhanced, as if she were merging with the machine she operated. Even through thick layers of soil and various defensive restrictions, she could clearly see everything happening in that sealed space!
"Why didn't you bring out something this badass sooner?!" Ariel was in high spirits. After being suppressed underground for so long, she finally had a chance to cut loose!
"What do you mean sooner...?" Muen said, exasperated. "You forgot that we discovered this thing together!"
"Ah, right. Fair point." Ariel pursed her lips.
Not only had they discovered it together, they were currently piloting it together.
At this moment, her hand was layered over Muen’s on the control lever. Only by combining their two powerful spiritual energies—both far exceeding their current realms—could they barely manage to operate this terrifying weapon of war.
Because they both had to exert force, the warmth and sensation of their palms were clearer than ever. Their bodies were pressed tightly together; to avoid making the space even more cramped, she was practically sitting in Muen’s lap... but for the sake of getting to kick some ass, she decided not to pick a fight with him for now.
"So? What’s the plan?"
"What else? The path is right in front of us, isn't it?"
Through the perception flowing from his palm, Muen watched the scene unfolding in the space above. The raging fire in his heart could no longer be suppressed.
His voice pierced through the reinforced barriers, echoing into that space ahead of them, laden with fury.
"Divine Will, you old fossil! Get the hell away—from my girl!"
The only one allowed to touch his maid... was him!
Lava-like light sparked in Muen’s eyes as he looked down at Ariel. "Let's go."
"...Yeah."
Ariel suppressed the strange flutter that had inexplicably risen in her heart and whispered back, "Let's go."
And so, ignoring the fact that their spirits were on the verge of tearing once again, Muen and Ariel simultaneously pushed their spiritual output to the maximum. Working in perfect synchronization, they shoved the control levers all the way forward!
"This is..."
In that moment, even the blood of the Demon God seemed to cease its eerie, screeching noise. Divine Will looked down blankly. It wasn't Muen’s possessive roar that shocked him.
"Impossible... That thing was abandoned a thousand years ago... It’s impossible... No one should be able to activate it..."
Divine Will hadn't cared about the Muen who had escaped, because in his eyes, he was nothing more than a weak human brat.
How could such a weak human ever threaten him?
A truly ferocious beast never concerns itself with a few ants it let scurry away.
But now...
BOOM!
The earth shook, and the world trembled.
Accompanied by a dull, thunderous roar, a cold and colossal monument of engineering suddenly pierced through the soil with its sharpened prow, rising from the depths!
Ants aren't scary. But these two ants... had come back for blood in a mecha.