Chapter 257

At that time, everyone’s gaze turned in one direction.

“Aillet…”

Printz repeated his sister’s name like a sigh. Raywin silently patted his shoulder.

Only then did Printz, realizing the attention around him, force himself to clear his troubled expression and smile brightly.

He was originally more accustomed to giving comfort to others than receiving it.

“My sister is smart and strong, so she must have come up with a good plan. She’ll rescue Sir Tesillid and safely get out together.”

As if on cue, Raywin and Ash chimed in.

“Yes, Printz. You’re right.”

“I think so too, Brother Lintz.”

Hestio also added gruffly.

“Right. Aillet isn’t some idiot who can’t take care of herself, so she wouldn’t have recklessly charged at the Demon King.”

“Hey, Hestio…”

“Braids, way of speaking, my type…”

It was good that the atmosphere brightened, but it wasn’t a situation where they could simply relax.

Printz, whose expression had turned serious, also pointed that out.

“It would be best to set aside worries about those two for a moment. We have a bigger problem to focus on right now.”

The appearance of Demon King Inferinos.

They had to prepare for a fierce battle. As they thought of the coming disaster, people’s expressions hardened.

Just then, Raywin found a positive aspect even in the pessimistic situation.

“If we defeat Inferinos, it might result in saving those two as well.”

“Ah, that’s right! Hearing you say that, Brother Ray, makes me feel motivated!”

Surviving inside a burst dungeon is usually unimaginable, but for Aillet and Tesillid, it might not be impossible.

Perhaps they might even pour out with the dungeon burst itself?

Iphail and Hestio replied, their faces brightening.

“Just stay alive, Tesillid, Aillet.”

“Aillet, I’m counting on you. If you and Tesillid can hide from the Demon King and hold out, we’ll…”

It was then.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

“…!

The earth’s axis vibrated loudly and prolonged. It was a terrifying earthquake, as if grabbing and shaking the very edge of one’s soul.

All the troops gathered on Litniel Plain lowered their stances and wary of the strange phenomenon.

Before their eyes, the ridge of the hill dividing the night sky and the plain was gradually rising.

Those who realized the situation shouted.

“Th-the ground is sinking!”

“Everyone move away from your current positions! Hurry!”

The place where the Demon King subjugation force stood. An area approaching 200 meters in diameter was collapsing like an antlion’s pit.

Fortunately, the progress was not fast, so everyone in the subjugation force was able to evacuate from the anomalous area without harm.

Numerous knights, mages, and priests surrounded the perimeter of the giant pit and looked down.

The area where the vegetation had died black had sunk tens of meters deep.

Even now, soil, sand, and gravel continued to be sucked downwards.

However, this pit was not meant to sink anything at all.

On the contrary.

Creeaaak!

“Wha-what is that?!”

“Something is rising from below!”

Iphail and Ash shouted, looking at the edge of the pit.

Something like a castle wall adorned with gargoyles was rising from the ground.

It was as if an ancient ruin was shaking off sand and emerging.

“That’s…!”

The structure that finally revealed itself completely was a circular arena, seemingly carved out of bedrock.

The edge of the pit where they stood became the highest viewing stands of the circular arena.

On the circular stage, visible at a glance, the main actor was already waiting.

Swoosh.

The triple moon, combining the symbols of the Three Demon Kings, changed.

The half-moon swallowed the crescent moon and blacked out the full moon’s domain.

What finally completely conquered the night sky was a distorted blue half-moon.

Where that eerie moonlight poured down like stage lights, the owner of the moon stood proudly.

<Hmph… The air in the human world is simply too light.>

A female demon with blue and gold hair, spreading and rippling like a peacock’s tail feathers.

Eerie demonic energy and overwhelming pressure unraveled like black threads from the Demon Realm’s ruler, occupying everything around her.

Demon King Inferinos, 3rd in the Demon Realm hierarchy.

Humans who laid eyes on her trembled with instinctive fear and awe.

“Th-that’s the Demon King…”

“Hick, heeeck…”

In front of an overwhelming existence, weak humans instinctively wish to kneel and prostrate themselves.

Most of the subjugation force struggled just to overcome that impulse.

“How can we defeat something like that…”

“Run, must run, hiccup.”

It was a moment when their minds admitted defeat before even fighting.

There was something they hadn’t noticed. There was one more main character on this stage.

A figure, buried in the demonic energy and darkness emitted by the Demon King, revealed her presence.

“Divine Descent.”

A low but clear voice. The moment it traveled a long distance and echoed in the ears of hundreds.

Whoosh!

Sacred white light enveloped the owner of the voice, driving away the momentum of darkness.

The Demon King’s adversary shone brightly as if to become a lighthouse of the night, establishing a sanctuary in the area.

Her long silver hair, symbolizing divine favor, streamed out behind her, spreading like wings.

Her golden eyes gazed steadily at the Demon King, an entity terrifying even to behold.

The elegance and dignity that had been suppressed by her attire now surged as if exploding.

She did not hide that she was a human being blessed by God.

Her intense and unique presence rivaled that of the Demon King.

No one present failed to recognize her.

“Her Grace, the Holy Saint!”

“Her Grace!”

“Aillet…!”

Deep elation filled the eyes of hundreds.

“My child…!”

There was no time to be moved by his granddaughter’s brave appearance.

Duke Hispenril collected himself and sternly shouted.

“We will begin the attack!”

Now the strategy became simple and clear. They had to fight while protecting the Holy Saint.

The other four strong individuals immediately nodded and entered combat stance. But.

“What is this?”

“Unbelievable! We can’t move forward!”

“Ugh! It’s a powerful barrier that even my strength can’t overcome!”

“Could it be…”

A steadfast wall blocking their path prevented their intervention.

Only then did they realize.

The absolute rule of the dungeon.

The Demon King’s territory, which had risen into the human world, had already completed its stage. Intrusion onto the battlefield was not permitted.

Those outside the pit were given only the role of spectators.

The Demon King’s adversary was Aillet Rodelain alone.

She had to defeat Demon King Inferinos.

“W-we have to just watch the Holy Saint face the Demon King alone?!”

“My goodness. What, this is…”

“How can a human face a Demon King alone…!”

A human facing a Demon King alone. It seems like an impossible situation. However, the Vanguard of the End Times and the Demon King’s sole adversary showed no retreat.

With her silver hair fluttering, the Holy Saint opened her mouth.

“Inferinos.”

The Lily Cross Scythe grasped in both hands was enveloped in blazing aura and divine power.

An Aura Master and simultaneously a 9th Divine Power Tier Awakener.

These are, respectively, a power reaching the limits of humanity and a power transcending the limits of humanity.

The Holy Saint, imbued with incandescent energy, glared with her golden eyes.

The next moment, her two feet kicked off the ground with an explosive roar.

Inferinos also extended one hand forward.

<Evil’s Bane Executor!>

Blue hair rushed towards Aillet from all directions like living entities.

Claaaang!

The world shook with the collision of the two beings.✠ At the same time, Tesillid was being toyed with by another rule of the dungeon.

“What is this…! Ugh!”

Absolute coercive force coiled around his body like chains, restraining his freedom.

Violently dragged, he soon felt a searing pain in his back.

When he came to his senses, his body was seated, almost impaled, in the middle of the spectator stands.

He tried to stand up immediately. The knuckles on the backs of his hands turned white, and the veins in his forearms bulged as he strained. But the chair gripping his body didn’t budge.

‘Are they planning to make me a spectator?!’

Tesillid, like a demon, immediately understood the twisted rule and grit his teeth.

Meanwhile, in the center, a thunderous noise continuously roared.

Aillet and Inferinos’s battle had already begun.

To just watch that. Sitting there, helpless.

Just then, a voice, as if mocking the situation, was heard.

“Oho, what a VIP seat. I must engrave every single moment of the great Demon King Inferinos’s performance into my eyes. I came! I saw! I conquered! Demon King Inferinos, fighting!”

“…”

“What are you doing, human? Why aren’t you cheering for His Majesty the Demon King?”

Marquis Elentia Levant, sitting quite a distance away, chattered on.

Tesillid’s face was drained of color, unable to even let out a bitter laugh.

“Ugh!”

Suddenly, thorns grew from the VIP seat he was sitting on, pricking his body.

There was a reason for the sudden torture. Just then, gargoyle statues decorating various parts of the spectator stands opened their mouths.

“…”

Naturally, Tesillid resisted with silence. The pain piercing his body intensified, but he endured.

It was then, as he swallowed groans until his chin trembled slightly. Tesillid sensed an ominous aura observing him.

He raised his head and looked straight ahead.

His gaze, flying across the arena, landed on the spectator stands opposite him.

There, another version of himself, as if his colors were inverted, was sitting.

“…”

Reed, brazenly seated in the Holy Saint’s Cheering Section.

Even from a distance, it was clear he was pulling up the corners of his mouth, smiling languidly.

‘Why, exactly.’

Tesillid, from beyond the horizon of the original work, tried to gauge Reed’s intentions, who was in the blind spot of the original work.

Why was he tying up his 117th iteration self, whom he loathed so much, in the spectator stands instead of immediately killing him?

‘What is he trying to show?’

Just then, a hallucination seemed to echo from somewhere. -What if I took your place? Tesillid thought.

If he were the 100th iteration.

If he were Reed, who hadn’t obtained Aillet.

What would he do in this timeline?

“…!”

The moment his mind found the answer, his entire body turned cold.

It felt as if ice water was creeping through his veins instead of blood.

“No…”

Tesillid was certain.

Today, in this place.

Reed would drag Aillet down to his side.

Privilege for Possessors