Deal with Death

The black hole released by the Demon God moved slowly forward, consuming all matter in its vicinity.

Gradually, the suction area expanded. It went from two meters to four, then eight, and so on.

Cien, flying as fast as he could, felt a looming threat behind him.

When he looked back, the black sphere had already devoured half of Lumiere city. It continued to grow, seemingly pursuing him.

Cien's panic intensified as he realized his flying speed might not be enough to escape the reach of the black hole.

"Uncle..." Lilinette called out.

Cien initially ignored his niece's call, focused solely on escaping.

"Uncle... chains."

"…"

The words went in one ear and out the other. However, Lilinette's voice finally managed to divert Cien's attention as a sound akin to metal clashing resonated in the sky.

"Huh?"

"The chain. In the sky."

Clank! Clank! Clank!

The eerie sound of chains was incredibly familiar to Cien.

Upon hearing it, his entire body felt enshrouded by the God of Death. Unlike the aura emitted by the Demon God, which seemed eager to destroy everything and looked down upon those around it, the aura possessed by Death was more of an absolute force that held life within its grasp.

If compared, Cien would admit that he was more afraid of Hela than the Demon God.

Simply put, while the Demon God was terrifying, Cien could still logically think to distance himself from that formidable entity. He was aware that he still had a chance to escape.

However, when Hela's aura was felt, Cien knew that he couldn't escape at all.

Wherever he went, Hela would find him. Death would shroud him. When that aura emerged, Cien knew that the control of life and death was no longer in his hands. It was Hela who held the reins.

Therefore, when the sound of chains echoed in the sky, competing with the resonating cracks from the Demon God, Cien halted.

"Uncle?"

"Hahaha! Now I feel stupid, for being afraid of a mere incarnation. Damn, how pathetic..."

"...?"

"Hela. Take me to Marina."

"Come on, you want an interesting show, don't you?"

"Sigh…"

Cien suddenly felt his mind clear. The sound of chains grew nearer.

At this moment, Cien was thinking fast. The issue of the black hole that would swallow him up was no longer his primary concern.

Right now, Cien was only seeking a way to help those in Marina. He couldn't just leave them in their current chaos. There was also the possibility of leaving them with the incarnation of the Demon God, which was far too dangerous.

Indeed, among all the options swirling in his mind, only Hela could assist him.

"Hela, let's make a deal."

"You mentioned that your soul is sealed, right? Do you know how to release the seal?"

"Perfect. If that's your conclusion, I think it's a valid one. I won't stop you. But, will that conclusion come? We don't know yet, and it can still be prevented. Isn't that right?"

"I will release your seal, in exchange for letting me out of Death Valley."

Not with time. That meant that even if he got out, the two-week time limit would still apply.

Cien grinned, looking at the area where the Demon God's black hole was now about ten meters away from him.

"Deal. But, first, take me to Marina."

Clank! Clank! Clank!

A dense black chain instantly emerged from Cien's chest. He was lifted into the sky and shot towards Marina like a lightning bolt.

When he arrived in Marina's sky, the black chain vanished, dropping Cien from thousands of meters in the air.

"...you seem like someone who doesn't want to let go of their own seal."

< ... >

"Silent, are you?"

Cien smiled, feeling the strong wind sweeping against his face. He tried to open his eyes, looking at the land below.

"!"

Cien forgot that he was actually someone who had a fear of heights. So when he realized he was free-falling from thousands of meters, his mind went into shock. He vividly remembered the horror of being at such a height.

Lilinette, held by Cien, had been silent all this while, not because she didn't want to ask Cien anything.

Lilinette just knew that after the sound of the chains, she would be lifted into the sky. It reminded her of an experience she didn't want to recall.

That's why when Cien spoke to himself like a madman, Lilinette herself stayed quiet, preparing herself to avoid feeling nauseous.

Well, those preparations seemed to have failed. Because right now, Lilinette could feel her stomach churning.

"Uncle... Lily can't... hold on..."

"..."

"Uncle?" Lilinette glanced at her uncle.

The girl was suddenly frozen when she saw her uncle had lost consciousness.

"Eh? Ehhh? Ehhhhhhhh?! UNCLEEEEE!!!"

No matter how cold and composed Lilinette usually was, facing freefall was a different matter. Eventually, Lilinette couldn't help but panic too.

***

Back in Lumiere, or what used to be Lumiere, as the city was nowhere to be seen.

Buildings and everything within, including thousands of demons and humans, had been sucked away by the Black Hole.

All that remained of Lumiere was a massive crater hundreds of meters deep. The crater signified the disappearance of the capital of Farnodt in a matter of minutes.

At the center of the crater, a large demon, the incarnation of the Demon God, hovered. He looked northward into the sky, the direction his prey had fled.

He also remembered the black chain hanging in the sky before. The black chain filled with an aura of death.

Only those who mastered the element of death to the highest degree could emit such a chilling aura of death.

The Demon God then gazed at his hand. He pointed westward, and from the tip of his finger, a black laser beam shot forth, cleaving the earth as far as the eye could see.

Even though it was only ten percent of his original power, the incarnation should still be able to effortlessly destroy everything. However, the man he targeted earlier managed to withstand all his attacks.

Strange.

Furthermore, the various curses and auras he emitted seemed to have no effect at all.

The Demon God felt puzzled by this, but when he saw the chain and the heavy aura of death, he understood what was happening.

His aura was still not as terrifying as the figure who had pulled the man with its chain. That meant there was someone in Kastia who could match him in power.

Reaching this conclusion, the Demon God smiled widely and burst into laughter.

"Gyahahaha! I thought this world had weakened after losing Adam and Eve. But it seems someone is still guarding it from behind the scenes. Good, good... I can't wait to see you, O Child of Death."

The Demon God laughed happily and started flying northward.

***

North of Farnodt. Marina City.

Kirana and Azazel, who had been frozen in place by the sound of cracks in the sky, could finally breathe a sigh of relief as the sound vanished. However, the next thing they felt was a terrifying presence coming from the south.

They both knew that the figure was far away. But the aura from that presence already reached them.

While it didn't freeze them in place like statues, the aura still managed to instill a sense of terror in both Kirana and Azazel.

"Who is the owner of this terrifying aura?"

Muttering to herself, Kirana took to the air and landed on top of an ice wall.

Her body felt somewhat weakened due to the terror she had experienced. She tried to calm herself down, realizing that the situation in Marina was still dire.

"Our deity, O Demon God. He has arrived!"

Despite looking pale, Azazel smiled widely and felt a sense of happiness upon sensing the arrival of the formidable presence in Lumiere. He could tell that it was the Demon God.

With this knowledge, Azazel immediately envisioned the day when the glory of the Abyss race would be restored.

The time when demons would rule over Kastia as they rightfully should would return!

"The Demon God?"

Kirana heard Azazel's words. She was somewhat puzzled because she had never heard of that term before.

Just like Cien, she had always thought that the demon race worshiped the God of Darkness rather than the Demon God.

So, who was the Demon God? Was he the same as the Demon King, the figure her father and Fenrir had spoken of?

Kirana didn't know. But she had only one choice now. She needed to defeat Azazel before the terrifying figure in the distance realized the ongoing battle in Marina.

If that happened, even without seeing it yet, Kirana wasn't sure she could stand against someone emanating such an aura.

Once Kirana managed to calm herself down, she prepared to face Azazel again.

She conjured ice dragons from the ice wall, forming three ice dragons that hovered in the air, ready to charge at Azazel.

"Advance!"

The intense battle resumed between Kirana and Azazel.

They clashed with each other, causing destruction all around them. The ice walls and the city walls began to crack from the impact of their weapons.

Kirana could freeze any weapon that came into contact with Moonice. However, despite that, Azazel could easily conjure another dark trident.

Yet, Azazel faced some difficulty due to losing his right hand. He wanted to regenerate it, but for some reason, he couldn't for now.

It was as if there was an obstacle preventing his hand from regrowing. Azazel was certain it was due to his enemy's freezing skill.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

They exchanged attacks, but as the battle seemed to reach a stalemate, Kirana intended to use Moonice's soul skill.

However, before she could do so, help arrived from one of her squad members. Vice Captain Brook swung a high-level fire attack towards Azazel.

"[Fire Slash]!"

Swoosh!

"Vice Captain?! What about Mother?"

"She instructed me to come here after hearing the commotion in the sky. Don't worry, Captain! Lady Ethel and the group are safe and I've escorted them to the evacuation route. Their protection is in Legia's hands now!"

Kirana gave a faint smile. She then glanced at Azazel, who now bore a deep gash from Brook's [Fire Slash] attack.

"Well, even a Rank 10 attack couldn't bring him down. This will indeed be a tough battle, Vice Captain."