Chapter 149
<Is that so? Then how about this?>
Elio erupted into a manic laugh, the black aura coalescing into thick, undulating waves. He spun toward Lahan and struck him violently.
“Ugh…”
Lahan rolled backward again. Elio grinned, his mouth stretched wide.
<I’ll tear apart your weak husband once more.>
“Lahan!”
The saint’s cry rang out. On the stone floor of the empty harbor city, Erishi struggled to stand, but Elio coldly grabbed her hair and yanked her toward him.
<You are mine. You were, and you will always be. Do you really think your author can save you?>
He whispered mockingly, seizing Lahan with black aura and suspending him in midair, bound tightly.
Lahan’s face was already a mask of blood. Seeing his pitiable state, Elio clicked his tongue.
<Even now, look. If your author weren’t a pitiful god, your fate would have been in my hands long ago…>
Elio’s tongue slithered out and smeared his sticky venom across Erishi’s cheek.
Erishi grimaced at the foul smell, but Elio drew closer, whispering again.
<Saint, it’s not too late. Come with me.>
“….”
<I’ll give you all the wealth in the world. Your author has only let you flee to the ends of the earth. But see my strength. All that is good in this world will be yours.>
“Strength?”
Erishi, captured by him, snorted.
“All I see is a pathetic human who couldn’t accept being rejected by a woman and became a miserable demon.”
Her unwavering defiance drove Elio deeper into confusion and rage. Then, she spat.
“All the good things in the world? No matter what you say, the moment I’m with you, it becomes the worst thing in existence. Don’t you get that?”
Elio hesitated. A faint light began to glow from Erishi’s body.
Sizzle…
Once again, Elio’s hand began to burn. But consumed by pure evil, he did not release her.
<Then how about this? If you don’t become mine, I will end your husband’s life this time for sure.>
This time, Erishi could not suppress a high, sharp laugh.
“Ah! How utterly foolish and ridiculous you are!”
Those words shattered Elio’s last thread of patience.
<Erishi Ahen!>
Elio shouted in furious rage, shoving her violently.
“Ah!”
Erishi tumbled to the ground.
<Master! Punish this foolish woman!>
But in his anger at Erishi, Elio overlooked something. From behind, Lahan had struck, splitting through the black aura and charging forward.
“You bastard!”
He swung his sword, attacking Elio rapidly. Elio jumped back, swinging his arm. The clash of steel and charred flesh rang out.
<Lahan Norwich! You are but a morsel! How dare you oppose me with that pitiful sword!>
Elio roared, pushing Lahan back.
“You’re the weak one!”
Yet Lahan, though knocked back, maintained his balance and rose again.
“It’s not the sword, but my will that will end you!”
He charged once more. This time, his sword glowed with holy light. Erishi, regaining composure, had crouched but was now projecting her sanctuary again.
“Be careful, Lahan!”
<Where do you think you’re going!>
Elio’s eyes blazed as he focused all his energy on Lahan.
The black aura swelled, coalescing into hundreds of shadowy spears in the air—a truly overwhelming number, enough to make even Lahan flinch.
<This time, I will leave nothing alive!>
The sky was covered with dark spears, quivering incessantly, emanating an intangible fear—horrific, catastrophic, absolute.
It made onlookers sense inevitable defeat.
Erishi, still crouched, involuntarily gasped.
“No….”
But Elio’s resolve was relentless. Having failed once, he intended to crush them completely this time.
<I’ve lost too much because of you!>
He roared into the void. From his former eminence, he had plunged to an abyssal existence. Perhaps he even knew he could not recover. His rage had a single target.
<Die!>
Hundreds of black spears shot toward Lahan—each powerful and cruel enough to shatter him.
Lahan gritted his teeth and raised his sword.
The black spears descended on him in an instant. He tried to evade, but his body had already reached its limit.
At the brink of disaster.
“Leviathan.”
Lahan whispered softly.
And then…
Darkness tore apart.
<What…?>
Before Elio could even react, the black spears filling the sky dispersed like smoke.
The oppressive, malignant energy surrounding him receded rapidly, as if an invisible force had sucked it away. Even the poison that had turned him entirely black faded to gray and scattered like ash.
[Ahhh, I was getting bored waiting. Finally called, huh?]
A childlike voice echoed. The black clouds and stormy sky cleared. The black aura had vanished entirely.
Naturally, Elio’s appearance was exposed to sunlight.
The once radiant golden hair was gone; now his white, streaked hair hung limp. His red eyes had turned icy blue.
“…Master?”
Elio murmured.
Lahan did not waste the moment. He seized the one chance, raising his sword.
He drove it into Elio’s heart.
Time seemed to slow.
Thunk.
The sword struck its target. A heavy shock ran up Lahan’s arm. Elio’s flesh, bone, and blood resisted with all their might, but Lahan’s blade pierced his chest.
As the sword pierced his heart, the world fell silent, as if all sound had ceased…
“Argh!”
A scream of agony erupted. Hot, sticky blood ran down the blade. Lahan withdrew his hand, stepping back slowly.
Elio staggered, clutching his chest, struggling to pull the sword free.
Clang!
The cracked sword fell in half to the ground. Yet the blade remained embedded in Elio’s chest, blood spilling from his hands.
[Sorry about that. I crave something far more delicious than your soul.]
Instinctively, Elio realized the childish voice he heard belonged to someone like his “Master.” He understood that he had been abandoned.
[Abandoned? Nooo. You were never chosen in the first place. Hehehe…]
Despair filled his mind.
“At that time… you were… my contracted master…”
A barely audible question. But the demon was merciless.
[Exactly. Isn’t it natural for a master to discard their servant?]
“No… this isn’t…”
Only a few words escaped his lips. The whistling wind shook his throat, but it was no longer human language.
Lahan watched Elio.
The last pulse in his fingers faded, signaling the end.
