Chapter 180
It was light on an entirely different scale from when the Dark Wraith appeared.
The ancient magic circle emitted radiance from every corner as if it had truly found its rightful master.
A bright, warm light filling the underground chamber.
“How…”
As the Dark Wraith’s bewildered voice echoed, Alice smiled brightly.
‘The deity… has come.’
Alice felt an overwhelming emotion toward her deity for the first time, but the sudden burst of light enveloping her was so dazzling that she had to close her eyes.
Yet even without seeing, Alice could feel it.
The warm light embracing her was healing her neck, her hands, and even her tense heart.
As her body and mind were being perfectly restored, the light that had filled the underground chamber vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.
And Alice, now fully charged with the deity’s holy power, slowly opened her eyes.
She felt so energized she could rip out all the Empress’s hair right then and there.
With this newfound strength, Alice turned her head toward the ancient magic circle.
And the moment she saw the person standing upon it, the smile disappeared from her face.
“…Why… are you…”
The Empress, too, opened her mouth with a startled expression.
“…Duke Dearrut?”
Yes. The person standing on the ancient magic circle was none other than Kylus Dearrut—Alice’s husband.
“That’s not Helios. But it was clearly Helios’s power…”
“Why Duke Dearrut…”
The Dark Wraith and the Empress murmured in low voices, as if unable to comprehend the situation.
But Alice knew. She knew why someone other than Helios was standing on the ancient magic circle.
‘At the moment the Dark Wraith awakens from its seal, it will manifest on earth by borrowing another’s body.’
‘A strong human who has not received my blessing. And a human who, born without destiny, would not matter if they died.’
‘I have found one who can bear my spiritual form.’
The deity’s words floated through Alice’s mind.
The expendable person the deity had found… the sacrifice to receive the deity’s spirit… was Kylus?
“No… This can’t be… This shouldn’t happen…”
Alice shook her head in shock, denying the reality before her eyes.
That couldn’t possibly be the deity; Kylus must have simply come to rescue her.
Alice approached Kylus.
Stopping right in front of him on the magic circle, she reached out her hand toward him.
Hoping desperately that she was seeing an illusion. Praying that this was all a deception by the Wraith.
But when her palm clearly felt his warmth, Alice finally released the breath she’d been holding.
“Ha… Kyl…”
As she called his name, Kylus’s black eyes looked at her.
Just as Alice’s golden eyes flickered with faint hope.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you beforehand, my child.”
Kylus’s voice reached her. But as soon as his words ended, Alice’s face contorted as if she were collapsing.
Because Kylus would never call her “my child.”
So the person before her was Kylus, yet not Kylus.
The deity, Helios.
The truth she had desperately refused to accept had become reality. Alice asked with a trembling jaw:
“Why… of all people…”
She wanted to demand why he had chosen Kylus specifically, but Alice couldn’t finish her sentence.
Because the Dark Wraith, momentarily frozen in confusion, had come to its senses.
“I don’t care who you are. I’ll kill anything with holy power.”
“I’ll explain later.”
As the deity finished speaking, he enveloped Alice’s body in a spherical barrier and lunged forward.
Clang–!
Alice quickly turned toward the thunderous sound.
She saw Kylus’s sword, enveloped in divine power, blocking the Wraith’s sharp claws.
Though called claws, the Wraith’s nails were as long and hard as a beast’s fangs.
The Wraith frowned its massive face as it looked at Kylus, who had blocked its attack.
“A holy knight? Ha, so the prophesied hero wasn’t that girl?”
The Wraith glanced at her inside the barrier.
“I thought she seemed too weak to be a hero, like a helpless chick. So you’re the real hero. Not a bad decoy, but no matter how much you—”
Just as the Dark Wraith was about to sneer at Kylus, the deity cut its words short.
“Still unnecessarily long-winded, I see. And just as stupid as ever.”
The corner of the Wraith’s mouth twitched.
Something familiar about that manner of speaking.
“You… could it be…”
As the Wraith’s red eyes widened, the deity summoned his strength and swung his holy-power-infused sword.
“Argh!”
The Wraith’s hand, severed in a single stroke, fell to the floor. The deity drove the point home:
“It’s been a truly long time, Diseyer.”
The Dark Wraith’s name—one no human could know. Only the deity knew the name of the underworld being.
The Wraith, now fully recognizing Kylus’s true identity, bared its fangs.
“Helios.”
Then, from the Wraith’s severed wrist, a black energy spread smoothly, creating a new hand.
Alice’s eyes widened at its unbelievably fast regeneration ability.
But that was nothing.
When the newly-handed Wraith and the deity clashed again, the underground chamber collapsed.
The ground, unable to withstand the collision of two immense powers, gave way.
Simultaneously, the sound of cracking walls echoed throughout.
As Alice raised her eyes to follow the cracks in the walls, she saw the ceiling splitting wide open.
Her golden eyes filled with horror. The next moment, the underground ceiling came crashing down.
Alice instinctively squeezed her eyes shut at the falling debris.
But she felt no pain. The protective barrier the deity had placed around her was shielding her from the stones.
Outside the barrier, however, the situation was dire.
With the collapse of the underground ceiling, the Empress’s palace was crumbling.
Boom- Crash–!
“Aaaahh!!!”
The sounds of collapsing buildings mixed with people’s screams.
Yet Alice could barely see a step ahead due to the rapidly collapsing palace.
All she could see were breaking and falling stones.
But even that was momentary—the palace collapsed in an instant.
Thud—
As the roof finally crashed to the ground, a cloud of dust surrounded the barrier.
And then, silence descended.
The sudden quiet after the chaos made Alice extremely tense.
She swallowed dryly as she approached the edge of the barrier.
As the dusty haze that had obscured her vision gradually cleared, the completely collapsed palace came into view.
The building had fallen so catastrophically that its original form was unrecognizable. But the ruined palace wasn’t Alice’s main concern now.
“Kyl…”
She needed to find Kylus.
But no matter how much she looked around, she couldn’t see him.
Of course, the Dark Wraith was nowhere to be seen either.
‘Where did they disappear to?’
‘Is he safe?’
Just as Alice bit her lip anxiously, someone emerged from beneath the pile of rubble.
Alice hurriedly approached, then stopped as the figure became clearer.
Golden hair covered in dust.
Yes, the person who had painfully climbed up from under the debris was not Kylus, but Lariella Pentium.
Though not the person Alice had been waiting for, she was genuinely relieved to see Lariella.
Glad that she hadn’t died.
‘With all the sins you’ve committed, you shouldn’t get off so easily with death.’
Just then, Lariella turned her head toward Alice.
Alice narrowed her eyes as she faced Lariella directly.
Unlike Alice, who remained unscathed under the deity’s barrier, Lariella looked barely alive, tattered after surviving the palace collapse.
The Empress’s dress she had been wearing was torn to rags.
“You said you were on a different level…”
Her current state contrasted sharply with those words.
“The worthless one isn’t me, but you.”
Alice stared directly at the Empress, exaggerating her mouth movements.
Though the Empress beyond the barrier couldn’t hear her, she could clearly see.
Alice’s true feelings seemed to be well-conveyed, as the Empress clenched her fists and her eyes flashed. Then she charged toward Alice with murderous intent.
A serpent-like dark energy lunged at Alice as if to devour her, but tang- the powerful barrier repelled the dark force.
Tang- Tang- Tang-!
It was the same no matter how many times she attacked.
The Empress’s power could never penetrate the barrier created by the deity.
“Die! Die!!!”
Realizing her attacks were useless, the Empress screamed and began pounding the barrier with her fists.
But that, of course, was equally futile. Alice stared blankly at the Empress as her strength drained away.
Eventually, the Empress collapsed onto the pile of rubble.
“Huff, huff…”
Alice looked down at the Empress, who was breathing heavily as if on the verge of death.
And she said quietly:
“Don’t die. With how many people you’ve killed, you shouldn’t get off so easily. So live and pay for your crimes. For a very long time. Regret what a foolish choice you made, over and over again.”
‘Die miserably.’
Alice added coldly to the Empress who glared at her.
Then Alice turned away from the Empress.
To search for Kylus again.
‘Where is he?’
There was still no sign of Kylus, not even a single strand of hair. The same went for the Dark Wraith.
‘Surely they can’t both be… already dead…’
Just as anxiety painted the worst scenarios in Alice’s mind, lightning struck in the sky.
Alice tilted her head up so far her neck almost cracked. Through the clouds, she saw consecutive flashes of light.
And they were not lightning.
The deity and the Dark Wraith.
It was the collision of powers created as a god and a near-godlike being fought.
Alice narrowed her eyes and craned her neck further, trying to assess the situation, but she could only see flashing lights and afterimages.
Human eyes simply couldn’t keep up with them.
“Kyl…”
Alice clasped her hands tightly and called his name desperately.
Praying for his safety.
At that moment, the sky suddenly darkened, and real lightning struck.
Behind the clouds, the shadow of a massive figure struck by lightning was clearly visible. Then, an enormous body falling from the sky.
BOOM–!!!
A sound even louder than the palace collapse shook the earth.
Alice, who had lowered her head and covered her ears from the violent vibration that made even the barrier tremble, slowly raised her eyes toward the source of the sound.
