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“What do you expect me to do once everything’s messed up like this…”

Sigh…

In the Audience Room of the God of the Dead, a sticky curse had been placed on the users, and it was the moment when Lily had died at the hands of the God of the Dead.

Black Lily, lost among the multitude of broken spells, gnawed at her lips in frustration.

She hadn’t intended for things to turn out this way.

The God of the Dead was a being of the highest tier.

Although restricted by the users and the System, he was certainly not an opponent to be taken lightly, and thus she had prepared thoroughly.

She had prepared countless high-level spells and wove them together.

Raising her rank, she had set her sights on spells that would reach the highest tier, drawing upon the world’s powers and meticulously preparing.

If only there had been a little more time, she could have launched a significantly meaningful attack right from the beginning.

However, everything had ended up in chaos due to Lily’s intervention.

She tore through Black Lily’s space, twisting thousands of spells in the process.

Just tackling that mess was taking ages.

Blodia, who had grasped a certain degree of magic, was assisting; however, the actual magic was Black Lily’s responsibility.

Ugh…

Without Black Lily, this magic cannot be executed.

Kwah-gah-gah!!

─Everyone’s messed up!

─It’s, it’s cold!!!

─You can’t die more than six times! If you die five times, just logout already!!

─Where’s Lady Lily?!

“……”

The fight below was still ongoing.

The users were facing an army of frozen dead.

Although they were merely the scraps summoned by the God of the Dead, they were a high-level undead, and their ‘frozen’ power was thoroughly disrupting the situation.

Even the users, who were numb to pain, were feeling the extreme cold.

For now, the only silver lining was that the users were under the ‘Cortina’ blessing.

As long as that blessing remained, there was little chance of things going horribly wrong, even if the users were pushed back.

At the end of the undead army, a few resurrected high-level undead could be seen, but one interesting note was that the ‘Clown’ was absent.

He was a fragment of the God of the Dead, Silence, who had been dispatched by Black Lily long ago.

It was expected that he would be absorbed back into the main body upon return, but to think it would actually happen.

Black Lily laughed.

And then she shook her head.

“Maybe I was a bit scared, you know. No matter how different we are…”

Lily and Black Lily were different.

Though the beginning may have stemmed from one, the main body known as Lily didn’t particularly give commands or orders.

Therefore, they were just living their own lives, and Black Lily had thought the same.

But…

“…Were you really paying attention?”

The Clown was a fragment of the God of the Dead.

The ‘God of Balance’ that had once been among the Eight Seats was aspiring to be the true God of Balance.

Both beings were parts or fragments of true existence, and perhaps being continuously exposed to such entities had changed her mind.

Unlike Lily, Black Lily had no System, and the magic could destabilize her mentally.

‘Maybe I was affected.’

She looked down.

Kwah-gah-gah-gah!!!

Kuguguguung!! Crack!! Kwah-gah!!

As the users were busy clashing with the army of the dead, a sound erupted from one side of space like the heavens were collapsing.

Of course, the ones making that noise were none other than Lily and the God of the Dead.

The two transcendent beings were clashing violently, and it seemed that Lily had the upper hand.

Even though the God of the Dead had borrowed the power of the Demon King, she was still ‘Lily.’

What more needed to be said?

─It’s hot.

─Is this what madness feels like…!!!

Creeeak!!

As Lily spun around with her hammer, the colossal body of the God of the Dead was ripped apart.

In an instant, his body exploded, and what remained was shredded like a Holy Storm.

Truly, it was a display of the Avenger’s persona, but…

‘…Still lacking.’

After all, the opponent was someone who had reached the ‘top’.

He continuously regenerated, but Lily had already died twice.

If her physical body died four more times, it would mean her loss.

To defeat the Demon Race, they had to join forces…

“……”

Lily, Black Lily, the God of the Dead, the God of Balance.

And then…

Black Lily suddenly turned her head.

A shape resembling a door had been opening and closing in the void repeatedly since earlier.

There seemed to be raccoons with rings on one side, preparing to step in if they found themselves in a situation they couldn’t control.

For now, they appeared to just be watching silently.

On the other side… it seemed to remain unopened.

Only the ‘chilling cold’ flowed endlessly from it, firmly shut.

Whatever was inside would likely not open no matter what.

‘…I’ve made my decision.’

Black Lily’s hand moved swiftly.

■

Kugugugugu…!!

“Wow, seriously.”

Kwah-gah!!!

“This is something else.”

Creeeak!!

“Isn’t this a bit much?”

The body of the God of the Dead, covered in countless ice, began to restore itself again.

No matter how much it was shattered, smashed, and obliterated, it was futile.

Perhaps its power was infinite; it kept regenerating as if nothing had happened.

[LOL]

[It’s my first time seeing something that might be immortal compared to Lily]

[Wow, a 250-level boss, huh?]

[WTF]

[He’s seriously crazy]

[Wow, insane]

[Isn’t this already like Dekka 3?]

[250 is on another level]

[A boss that has killed Lily three times, whoa]

[It’s been a while since we saw a mob that gives Lily a hard time]

[LOL]

[Is there any way to tackle this?]

“Well, I’ve been trying, but…!”

Creeeak!!!

A mountain of corpses made of ice passed by me.

The heap of corpses reached the far end of the Audience Room, killing some of the users before they even had a chance to resist.

I had deliberately lured the battle over to the opposite side, but such widespread area attacks were impossible to deal with.

I pulled out the Kraken spear and plunged it straight into the God of the Dead’s body.

Hundreds, thousands of octopus tentacles surged up and entwined around him.

He struggled to resist, but I also pulled a considerable amount of power, and the liquid oozing from his body was quite effective.

Yet this was just a temporary measure.

The moment a very small opportunity arose, I would have to find a way.

“I expected simple attacks wouldn’t kill him. After all, he’s practically immortal.”

It was a bit hard to consider the Holy Power as a physical attack, but in any case, I couldn’t kill him unless I rose to the same level.

Just like the God of the Dead, I too would need to reach his highest potential.

Rising momentarily to the top from my current state was simple, but there was one problem.

“Do you see that over there?”

I dodged the attacks from the God of the Dead while pointing at the ceiling of the Audience Room.

[?]

[That?]

[What’s going on there?]

[Is that a magic circle?]

[Huh?]

The ceiling of the Audience Room.

More accurately, a distorted space somewhere within the Audience Room, there was a strange magic circle revolving around.

It looked as if it were rotating around a crimson heart.

“The God of the Dead is the highest demon named Silence. And most of the highest demons have Life Vessels.”

A repository for souls.

What was before my eyes was merely a shell; to kill him, I needed to find the Life Vessel.

Otherwise, no matter how ‘high’ I climbed, it would be nothing but a meaningless death.

“To kill it through its Life Vessel, I would need to at least be at the ‘Left’ rank. Naturally, that’s impossible, and… Ah.”

“Die!!!”

Creeeak!!

Before I knew it, the God of the Dead, who had turned everything into food, gathered strength.

Compressing the thousands, millions of mountains of the dead, formed from pure cold, was an attack I couldn’t even stop.

I died, marking my fourth resurrection.

“…Nevertheless.”

[WTF]

[LOL]

[That’s insane]

[LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL]

[Lily, let’s stop explaining and just fight now]

[The God of the Dead is really crazy]

[This is madness]

[World compression? What even is that?]

[So it doesn’t die no matter what, huh?]

“I need help from Black Lily. I can’t find the Life Vessel on my own.”

Despite everything, the Life Vessel had yet to show itself, even after wrecking the whole Audience Room.

I guess it was hidden under some peculiar magic or power that I didn’t know about.

I could painstakingly find it if I dedicated all my power into each tiny detail, but time was not on my side.

I prepared to strike again as I eyed the God of the Dead, who was gearing up for another massive attack, pulling out my spear once more.

‘Black Lily.’

“I’m sure you’re listening. I’ll try to create an opening. Meanwhile, search for it.”

The Holy Transformation is out of the question.

This power, among others, is all set to counter the God of Balance.

To ensure I could stop the God of Balance, I couldn’t expend too much power.

So I’d use just enough for this.

Creeeak…!

With all power of annihilation held in my hand.

‘Annihilation.’

 

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