Bephelgor (end.)

I went on the full offensive as he cast his spell.

I infused my blade with mana and aura, slicing off the light projectiles coming my way.

[Shadow Tag]. With this spell, he could no longer teleport as he used to. I tried to match his proficiency, but his skill far exceeded mine.

'He's not giving me any distance,' I noted after a while. I tried to close the distance to him, but he kept me well-engaged and used various spells to keep me at bay.

"I recognize you," Bephelgor said while laughing.

"Josephine von Konrow, known as the Eldest Daughter of the Konrow Duchy and the villainess of the century!"

My shadow magic was ineffective against opponents with high resistance, and even when serious, I wasn't able to hit him once.

"I told you, physical attacks are useless against me," Cassian said as he pushed me back again.

"Use magic, or else you'll never be able to defeat Bephelgor."

"You realize that, don't you?" Bephelgor said in the background.

"Of course, there's no demon with the ability such as yours." Cassian said.

"Then what will you do, huh? Do you realize how many lives you've sworn taken by your own hands?!l" Bephelgor railed.

"That's why you must kill me, oh blessed one." A large beam of light came at me.

"I remember now. Someone shook my hands during the Crusades flooded my mind. It was General Gantz, and after that, I didn't know what happened.

"It must have been you, Bephelgor," Cassian said. "He... used me."

"So what, you senile old man! You're just an old man who sacrificed millions for the cost of my great plan," Bephelgor taunted.

"I know. And I could never repay this debt to Hecatia," Cassian admitted.

A blizzard appeared out of nowhere, as a tornado swept the area. Pillars of ice shot at me and grazed my back.

Darkness on the floor began to engulf me as tentacles wiggled and restrained me, pulling me in front of him while he pointed his staff at me.

He uttered something I couldn't understand.

I broke free of the chains with holy magic, the light glowing white as my hair radiated

[Sanctuary!]

Eventually, the whole room was enveloped with bright light and magical symbols.

"You idiot! You think holy magic works on me?! Hahaha!-

"I am the beginning and the end," Cassian plunged his staff and a magic circle appeared.

-

"Wake up, oh blessed one."

"Huh?" Everything stopped moving, frozen in time.

"I don't have much time, so listen carefully. You can cast off Sanctuary, can you not? If you can't, just visualize enveloping this area with holy magic."

"But why doesn't holy magic-"

"It doesn't work."

"It's because his real body is nerves, isn't it?" Cassian replied.

'Smart'

Wasn't he asleep when Bephelgor controlled him?

"But I could feel it. There's demonic energy inside of me. There's no way he could have controlled me otherwise."

I nodded in agreement.

"If you could do that, I can momentarily break free from his control. Then, do what you must do."

-

"I surrender everything that was given to me to the great triple-faced goddess Hecatia."

"How! Why can't I control you?! Stop!"

Bephelgor's demonic essence became visible, intertwined with Cassian's body. Cassian raised his arms, and a divine light formed.

"Ars, Nova." A creaking sound was heard.

[Part of Hecatia's authority was transferred to you! Divinity increased!]

[Magic Overlord evolved into Empress of Magic!]

I felt my entire body radiating with power.

"You senile old man!"

I saw his body moving as he cast a spell at me, but it was significantly slower and weaker. I could feel it. I grabbed his shadow with my hand and squeezed tightly.

I watched as he struggled to move, but his efforts were in vain.

Slowly, I approached him and activated my divine sight. I grabbed one of the nerves and channeled my divine energy into it, spreading it like roots from a tree throughout the city.

"You bitch! You think you can control me? I'll control you!" he spat, but suddenly, the nerve caught fire.

His entire tree was burning from inside out as the roots starts to disintegrate.

"No!!! Impossible! This can't be happening...! My plan, years of work, destroyed by a mere young lady!?"

All the nerves in the city began to clump into one and form a giant hand. The hand lunged at me, trying to overwhelm me. "Then I'll corrupt you instead! Hahaha!"

-

"Where is this place? Wait, this feels familiar—"

Isuddenly found myself in a strange, familiar realm.

"Hey, Bephelgor."

I saw a younger version of Cassian.

"Is this...?!"

I tried to escape, but an invisible wall stopped me.

"I knew it, it's your soul that's corrupted," he said to me.

I grabbed him by the collar.

"It's no use, you're trapped here with me."

"How…! How is this possible?!" I stammered.

Realization struck me.

"Illusion! I lost to a mere illusion!? Goddamn it!"

"That's right," Cassian said.

-

I looked at the old man kneeling in front of me.

He had switched our bodies with magic when Bephelgor's judgment was clouded. That's why Bephelgor couldn't discern things.

I pointed the staff at him.

-

"Where my journey ends, yours begins," Cassian said.

"Live a good life, rule the world if you must."

"No…!"

I must not die here!!!

"Don't you want to revive them! Live a good life and rule it all! I could give it-"

Suddenly, he struck me with a fist and I stumbled on the ground.

"From now on, it's her journey to take."

"No...!!!" The area in his mind began to burn.

"Forgive me, Hecatia," he said, walking towards the void.

"I can finally join you guys on the other side…"

-

"You can't defeat Bephelgor without his real body, which I presume is his soul. Even if you kill all his nerves, he will still exist."

"Then how can we stop him?"

"We must trap him inside my mind. I'll recognize him inside of it, and with [Sanctuary], he won't be able to escape. When that happens, you must kill us both with magic, or else he'll come back."

-

The senile old man knelt before me, sticking his staff into the ground.

"I hope that in your next life, you live a happy life with your comrades."

The magic circle glowed as I cast the magic circle he had prepared beforehand.

[Fallen Down!]

A pillar of light incinerated his body, leaving nothing but dust behind.

"Latom," I said, watching it all unfold before my eyes.

[Quest: Defeat Bephelgor - Completed. Would you like to view the reward?]

"Later," I muttered, "after I manage to loot of this place first."