Chapter 558: The Weak’s Survival

The battlefield triggered by the Bastion Beast Zebrililith could be said to have split into three sections.

The heroes preparing to subdue Zebrililith. The unrivaled sorceress reaching out for the witch Baronuis.

And the battle between the aged hero and the magical devilish being Giluel, which began in the spiritual world.

…The black sword rang out loud. The aged hero, with a thunderous bang, slashed the demon’s neck without even a moment to breathe.

「It’s useless…I told you…huh…? 」

Giluel’s jaw snapped open as she tried to speak. Her skull was split in half before she could speak another word.

Her limbs were torn off, her head was blown off, and her eyes were shattered into countless pieces.

Even under such a horrific barrage of slashes, Giluel didn’t die. This was her own spiritual world. Here, she could be as omnipotent as she wished.

Yes, omnipotent. Or was it meant to be. And yet Giluel was unable to block Richard’s thunderclaps. She couldn’t stop the pain.

The intense pain and heat that had been making her feel like she was going to die had been overwhelming her for some time.

Giluel’s eyes widened in horror, only to be slashed again.

Giluel’s omnipotence wouldn’t be effective if she couldn’t perceive it in time. To make things possible, she had to know them first.

But Richard’s power was beyond Giluel’s comprehension, let alone imagination.

Trapped within the spiritual realm, Richard’s soul began to optimize in accordance with his will. Faster, stronger…as if recalling a time when humanity was at its highest level.

「I’m not feeling too good either. I’d be grateful if this were over soon. 」

Even as he joked, the barrage of attacks continued unabated. Giluel looked at him, with her body on the verge of being torn to shreds.

…There was no aging body in this place. Richard’s physique was youthful, his eyes shone brighter than a ferocious beast, and he exuded a spirit aura that could kill everything in the world.

There stood the hero Richard Parmillis at the peak of his power.

The soul was a slave to the will, and the will walked alongside the body. As the body aged, the soul also took on an older form.

But this was a world where body and soul were separated.

In this place, at this very moment, the soul of the man called Richard was beginning to remember his true form. An unmistakable, shining, powerful being.

Giluel saw this and thought.

How hateful. Even she, as a magical devilish being, couldn’t reach him by a finger. She had originally intended to overpower his soul, but she had been defeated instead.

She spat out the following words.

「…It won’t end. Faith is always unwavering. It’s not faith that wavers in the face of death. 」

「Do you really like a god who tells you not to think or do? I don’t like the teachings of the Great Holy Church itself. Humans must be always free. 」

「That’s the nonsense of the strong, Richard. 」

Giluel opened her blue eyes after dripping blood from her fatal wounds.

The pain was so intense that it drove her crazy. Her voice trembled slightly. But her will was unwavering.

「Do you want this world to be free? Not something to be bound or controlled? Ha, ha, ha! Nonsense, nonsense. 」

Giluel chuckled as if echoing someone else’s words. Richard knew that this demon, who continued to die and yet remained immortal, was weak.

She was the weakest of the Guardians, not to mention the demons who were once the Demon Kings. In a normal battle, she might not even be able to match the aged hero. The hero still surpassed her even in this ideal spiritual world.

That was the woman named Giluel even before she became a demon.

She had no fighting power. No will to stand firm. At best, she had faith.

All she could do was to clap her hands and pray to God, begging for salvation.

She had been trampled many times, crushed by reality, and knew how pointless prayer was.

Giluel’s soul took on the form of a simple, frail village girl.

「The freedom to choose? The weak have no such freedom! Those who are violently robbed are constantly oppressed, and their lives are filled with constant control by others…So what’s wrong with choosing God over a violent oppressor? The freedom you speak of is only freedom for the strong! 」

The strong could choose any path they wanted. They could carve out their own path.

Then, what about those who weren’t strong?

What about those who had been looked down upon as insignificant, taken away by violence, and could no longer even walk on their own?

To Giluel, everyone around her was strong and also an enemy.

Giluel was born beautiful, but she was an object of violence and exploitation.

The ordinary children around her didn’t see Giluel as one of their kind.

She had no knowledge of nobility. She had no knowledge of brilliance. Humans were the epitome of violence and sludge, and no one had given Giluel anything; she had only ever had it taken from her.

The only place she could find freedom was within her own mind. The shell that was her own self was her only salvation.

「The weak will always remain disadvantaged. They are never cared for, never respected, and never even remembered…Shall I show you my true self, Richard? 」

For a moment, Richard stared blankly. His expression frowned as the image appeared before his eyes. His young, manly face witnessed the horrific state of the village girl before him.

…The only way to describe it was to say it was…indescribable.

Just imagining the circumstances that led to this was horrifying. Nauseating, that was exactly what it sounded like.

But still. Richard’s sword didn’t stop. It sliced ​​through space and swung down toward the village girl.

It wasn’t that he didn’t feel anything. But right now, he couldn’t indulge in sentimentality. No matter what her background was, she was now a demon, an enemy of humanity.

Pity, regret, empathy, and righteous indignation could be savored after it was over.

「Ah, I thought so… 」

Richard’s swing was accompanied by an aurora. Giluel spoke with certainty before it reached her body.

「You abandoned us because we were weak humans, didn’t you? 」

Giluel looked at Richard as an ordinary village girl.

Her appearance was so ordinary that it made him think she could’ve been in the village Richard had made his hometown. No, perhaps she really did exist.

An unconscious breath was released. It lasted less than a moment. A moment too long to count.

And yet, Richard still didn’t distort the tip of his sword. Just as before, it was imbued with enough power to slay the demon before him.

But that didn’t mean his heart was made of stone. A hero was one who was loved by humanity, and who loved humanity.

The demon showed a mesmerizing smile. Then, he chuckled.

「Yes. Finally, finally. This is the first time you’ve been truly moved, Richard Parmillis…Unlocking the Original Text, “Master of Souls”. 」

—

Time in the real world began to move.

Richard raised his black sword, its tip pinning the body of the real Giluel Hano. Their positions remained unchanged. Reality remained reality. Giluel had no way of escaping.

Just a second ago, Richard and Giluel’s souls had simply left the world.

…And now, naturally, the blade was swung down. Giluel was cut down in reality.

It was a blow that severed her straight from the left shoulder all the way to her heart, a blow that would’ve surely killed a human. Even Valerie, who was beside her, was convinced of her death at the sight of the brutality. The demon’s body, which should’ve been invulnerable to a mere mortal, was easily shattered.

But…she was a magical devilish being after all.

Richard distorted his tongue involuntarily. The corpse that should’ve been bisected held out its arms. Richard stepped backwards, trying to dodge her, but to no avail.

It no longer even resembled a human. Its naked demonic nature whispered out loud.

「Your soul is now mine, and therefore God’s. 」

The wriggling flesh wrapped its arms around Richard’s neck. Valerie took a step forward.

An arrow pierced Giluel’s arm.

The force of the arrow knocked her back, making her collapse. She no longer had the strength or the meaning to get up.

The body known as Giluel Hano was undoubtedly finished.

Richard’s eyes widened, and he realized who the arrow belonged to. There was only one person around Richard who would shoot an arrow with such utter seriousness.

「That stupid student. 」

He swung his black sword and sighed. Looking for signs, he saw that Giluel’s death had apparently triggered her guards to retreat.

It was as if she had achieved her original goal.

Richard furrowed his eyebrows. Then, he distorted his tongue once more.

「…She was a mysterious, but dangerous fellow, but she got away with it quite easily. 」

Richard nodded at Valerie’s puzzled words. Then he said…

「Valerie, I have a favor to ask you. 」

「I won’t give in so easily when it comes to military matters. No matter what you say. 」

「That’s not what I was going to say. 」

Richard paused for a moment and said…

「What a blunder. I’ve been fooled. Will you please kill me? 」

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