Paria Southern Shore, District 2.

Tiffany Ducal Manor.

Sitting in the reception room, Duke Tiffany frowned as she gazed out the window at the dark, stormy rain.

If Nigel lost, she didn't expect to survive the night.

But she never imagined that what was originally just a conflict between the ambitious Pearlman and their Borson Kingdom had gradually escalated into a chaotic battle. The Great High Priest Loren was one thing, but even Asksan had emerged.

According to high-level intelligence stolen by the Kingdom United Council in the Cree Empire, and confirmed by the cardinal of the Rebirth Church, Bishop Asksan of Annihilation had died half a year ago.

Yet now, she saw Asksan, seemingly returned from the grave, defeating Pearlman on the battlefield several kilometers away in the blurry images from the Borson Demonic Realm channel.

Absolute power, terrifying sealing techniques, and the obsidian-like divine radiance of the primordial stone tablet seal—all undoubtedly proved that the distant gray figure was Asksan himself, not an illusion.

Earlier, the channel had even captured his voice in the rain, saying, "I have returned."

"Could he really have returned from hell?"

Duke Tiffany pinched the space between her eyebrows, able to form only this question for the moment.

She believed she was not the only one with questions; the Cree Empire, the source of the intelligence, was probably the most incredulous about Asksan's resurrection.

Borson Demonic Realm, District 10.

In the northernmost reaches of the Borson Demonic Realm on this rainy night, everything had finally settled.

When the last deafening roar dissipated, Pearlman, the demonic ambitious, lay collapsed on the cold ground.

"Wh...why..."

His body was almost cleaved in two, blood gushing from the wound like a fountain, his pale face filled with unwillingness.

The relentless rain continued to fall, raindrops hitting the shattered remains of buildings like bullets, making dull thuds.

Rainwater mixed with blood, flowing freely through the ruins.

Skyscrapers that once stood tall now mostly consisted of fragmented skeletons, covered with cracks and jagged holes. Shards of broken glass emitted mournful cries in the lightning and thunder.

"Man, what can I say?"

Lanchi gazed at the struggling Pearlman.

Even with Talia already finishing him off, it would still take some effort to kill Pearlman.

"Your demonic race really has strong vitality. Let's give him some dignity; after all, he was once a meritorious official of the Borson Kingdom, Nigel's foster father."

Lanchi said to Talia.

"You're the demonic race; your whole family is the demonic race. I'm a law-abiding Iklit citizen, 25 years old, and a platinum-level card maker."

Talia responded in Lanchi's mind.

Lanchi didn't know when Talia had begun to dislike being called a demonic race. In this regard, she had been completely assimilated by Hyperion.

He only felt that if other demonic races heard the current demon queen's thoughts, they might have to accept the fact that "the demonic race really has declined."

"You, where did you get a real primordial stone tablet seal!"

Even now, Talia felt that the special effects on Lanchi were fake.

She had previously believed one hundred percent that Lanchi's sealing stone tablet's divine radiance was just a counterfeit like the Wafuu stone tablet's divine radiance, only realizing something was wrong when she saw its power.

How could this guy go to the Northern Continent and get a primordial stone tablet seal!

"Lao Sang gave it to me."

Lanchi answered as a matter of course.

"Lao Sang is Asksan! How did you beat him? And these seal cards, did you steal them from him?!"

Although Talia was still unclear on the details, she roughly understood where Lanchi got his inheritance.

Rounding it off, Lanchi having a stone tablet was equivalent to her also having a stone tablet, but her mood was more shock.

"What do you mean steal? He gave it to me willingly."

Officially certified by the Protos Empire.

"Willingly, my foot!"

She didn't believe Lanchi's nonsense at all.

Just as Talia's abyssal black flames were being applied to Pearlman, a chilling change quietly occurred on Pearlman's body.

Suddenly, a strange flame burst out from the fragment of Palroni's Grimoire of Grudges on Pearlman's chest.

At first, the flame was faint, like a ghostly whisper.

But gradually, it became brighter and more rampant, eventually turning into a cluster of deep blue curse power fire, dancing wildly in the rainy night.

Talia immediately protected Lanchi, pulling him behind her.

Its color was bizarre and evil, its deep blue form grotesque and ever-changing, sometimes like a torn face, sometimes like a twisted limb, as if trying to devour everything.

Talia's eyes were fixed on Pearlman's every move, afraid of missing any dangerous omen.

Logically, her finishing moves should have been effective, and Pearlman shouldn't have had any more trump cards.

But Pearlman's body began to convulse violently, and he stood up like a puppet on strings.

"Aaaaaah..."

Pearlman's wails echoed through the ruins, as if fighting an invisible demon within, or as if enduring unimaginable pain.

In an instant, Pearlman's body straightened abruptly, his movements stiff, with no sign of life.

When he raised his head again, his face was completely unfamiliar.

"Let me introduce myself. My name is Beelzebub, and I am a demonic race from the North."

Pearlman's mouth reopened, emitting a piercing, high-pitched voice.

"It really is a joke of the Goddess of Fate. Lanchi McCarthy, for you, who can defeat Pearlman, to appear here."

His hollow eyes looked at Lanchi.

Lanchi looked back at him.

He knew that this guy was the culprit who spread the curse, and also, as Talia said, another extreme demon race from behind the Disaster Waste Soil.

Pearlman had little combat power left, so Beelzebub took advantage of the weakness and controlled him with the help of a fragment of Palroni's Grimoire of Grudges.

"You think this is all over?"

Beelzebub said, the corners of Pearlman's mouth curving into a smile. He slowly raised his hand, pointing into the depths of the ruins.

Behind the broken walls, a huge screen was still tilted, riddled with holes and cracks, but miraculously it was still working, emitting light.

The screen was still showing the images from Beelzebub's side.

He was no longer on the Southern Shore, but had gone to the Northern Shore.

It was a magnificent Count's manor, now half collapsed.

The broken walls were like the teeth of a giant beast, the manor's gates wide open in the black night and stormy rain. Rubble and debris covered the connection between the front hall and the garden, and a figure stood proudly.

The barriers on the Count's manor didn't take him much effort to dismantle.

In the ruins at his feet, a red-haired maid had been defeated, crimson blood flowing from her forehead, dyeing the rainwater in the garden red.

Her eyes were closed, and traces of blood remained at the corners of her mouth from her resistance.

And in Beelzebub's hand, a blond figure was struggling and writhing in pain.

At this moment, Christina's snow-white neck was being strangled by Beelzebub.

Her face was as pale as paper, her eyes wide open, and tears streamed down her cheeks, as if she couldn't understand why such a terrifying demonic race would target their Count's manor. Even Inoan couldn't defeat him.

"Look, Lanchi."

Beelzebub said mockingly.

"Did you know that I discovered your connection with Nigel that night? And you work for the Baptiste family. You should care about them, right? They're behind the broken reception room, shivering."

He pointed to the inner side of the mansion.

Instantly, Christina seemed to understand something.

"You... damned curse spreader..."

She said in a trembling voice.

"Oh? You don't blame Lanchi?"

Beelzebub just looked at her coldly.

"If Lanchi stopped you... then I can only say he did a great job..."

Christina's voice became more and more difficult, because Beelzebub's hand seemed to tighten a little.

However, he wouldn't kill this young lady who was a valuable hostage yet.

"Very good. The more affection and loyalty you have for him at this time, the greater your value."

Beelzebub's eyes stared straight at Lanchi through the screen, his thin lips twisting into a curve.

Before the words finished, Beelzebub's hand suddenly tightened.

Christina let out a shrill scream, coughing up blood constantly. Her neck, strangled by Beelzebub, not only showed bruises, but even the tips of her golden hair were about to be ignited by the deep blue flames.

Inside the Baptiste Count's manor, in a deathly silence, only Christina's heart-wrenching screams, like sharp blades, cut through the heavy air and pierced into everyone's hearts.

The Baptiste Count's family was surrounded by a deep blue flame, as if encircling them, unable to escape. Their faces were as pale as paper, and their eyes burned with a mixture of anger and terror, as well as a sense of powerlessness that went deep into their bones.

The Count's fists were clenched tightly, his veins bulging. The Countess covered her mouth, and tears streamed from between her fingers, but she could only watch her daughter suffer.

"Let her go..."

Inoan stood up in the storm, as if awakened by Christina's voice. She staggered towards Beelzebub again.

But Beelzebub simply dodged like teasing a child, kicking her away again, accompanied by the deep blue curse flames spreading over her body, causing her to roll several times on the withered grass.

"Is this the backup you left at the Baptiste family, Lanchi? She really is like an unkillable cockroach. No matter how you hit her, she won't make a sound."

Beelzebub appeared in front of Inoan, stepping heavily on Inoan's back, as if stepping on a rag. Inoan didn't even scream.

This maid had a strong physique, but was strangely weak, like a delicate maid with talent but who had never learned to fight.

"No... Christina..."

Inoan weakly reached out her hand, seemingly still wanting to save Christina.

Beelzebub twisted his foot on her back and looked at the screen again.

At the same time, on the ruins of Borson Demonic Realm, District 10, Pearlman, controlled by him, made the same sound.

"Lanchi, choose. If you give me the key, we can avoid this battle. I will also make a promise to you that I will no longer harm the civilians of the Flower Capital. You can take whoever you want; I will let you take them away. You should understand that our demonic race's contracts are reliable, right?"

In the picture, Beelzebub raised his finger slightly, seemingly telling Lanchi that he wanted to kill this weak blond girl, no different from crushing a fly.

"Conversely, if you choose to continue fighting, I will no longer seize the key, but will do everything possible to kill the civilians of the Flower Capital, kill everyone you know in the Flower Capital, and destroy the entire Flower Capital as much as possible. In the end, even if you can defeat me by luck, you won't be able to keep me. You will bear a crime that can never be washed away. One day, I will come back and take away all your important things..."

Pearlman, controlled by Beelzebub, bowed elegantly to Lanchi on the ruins and asked.

"Lanchi...! Don't listen to him...!"

Before Christina could finish speaking, she was punched by Beelzebub, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and her eyes dimmed.

"Continue fighting. Even if you can reclaim the Flower Capital today, what will you gain? You will have nothing."

Beelzebub continued to smile on the screen.

Talia didn't dare to continue attacking Pearlman for a while.

"Lanchi, what should I do?"

While tightly watching the screen and the enemy in front of her, she asked Lanchi in her mind.

Although Lanchi didn't respond to Beelzebub on the surface, he had already told Talia the answer in his heart.

"Talia, don't compromise with terrorists. Fight to the end."

Lanchi transmitted his thoughts.

"No, no, Lanchi, do you have other ways? You must have a way."

Talia struggled for a long time but couldn't make this decision.

Even a hundred years ago, she wasn't cruel enough to be so ruthless, ignoring the life and death of her friends.

Not only the Baptiste family, but if things continued like this, even if they could kill Pearlman and rush to the Southern Shore, I'm afraid not many living beings would survive there. Rosalind would die, everyone would die.

She was no longer the demonic princess of a hundred years ago.

After too long a peaceful life, understanding human emotions, she couldn't bear the restraints brought by this guilt!

"Success is not the end, failure is not the end. We must move forward. Compromising with the enemy is absolutely impossible."

Lanchi looked at her helplessly, responding to her thoughts.

He had no other way. They had tried their best to fight to this point today. All that was left was to pray to the Goddess for blessings.

If the enemy was just Pearlman, he might still have a way to win. Even if there were two enemies, if the enemies still wanted to win, he might still be able to deal with them.

Unfortunately, the enemy was this most extreme kind of guy.

When he found that the hope of winning wasn't so great, he no longer pursued victory, but chose a purely disgusting fighting style.

Talia stared at Lanchi blankly.

Their thoughts could be conveyed in just an instant, but at this moment, she didn't know what to do.

On the other broken screen.

"What's wrong? Are you two not on the same page?"

Beelzebub seemed to have noticed the disagreement between the two of them and laughed with joy.

This was the situation he wanted to see the most.

"Are you going to personally kill innocent people? People will really die this time. Is that okay with you?"

Beelzebub's voice had a hint of resentment, as if imitating the countless souls that would die in the Flower Capital's Paria tonight.

"Don't dream."

Lanchi glanced at Beelzebub.

Then, his gaze only focused on Talia in front of him.

"Talia, kill Pearlman, and then go to the Southern Shore. Save as many people as you can."

He conveyed his thoughts.

Talia looked at Lanchi, not knowing why Lanchi, who was usually more gentle than anyone else, could be so firm and decisive at this time.

"When you're decisive, I'll hesitate. When you hesitate, I'll be decisive. Thinking about it this way, aren't we two invincible? When anyone hesitates, just listen to the other."

Lanchi's voice seemed to want to awaken her.

"Maybe you'll feel that, to some extent, the people who die today are all dying because of this choice. You care, you'll be sad, you'll be in pain, but it's not your fault!"

Lanchi held Talia's cheeks tightly with both hands, making her eyes particularly shocked, only able to look at the man in front of her.

"All the mistakes made by summons should be borne by the summoner, so you don't have to worry, you don't need to think, go defeat the enemy. All the sins are mine. You're not wrong at all, Talia."

Talia couldn't believe that Lanchi would say these words to her one day.

"Aren't you also caring, sad, and in pain..."

Her golden eyes gradually filled with tears, looking at Lanchi. She knew that Lanchi actually cared more about Christina and the Baptiste family than she did.

But what followed was the resoluteness after the waves subsided.

"I understand."

The moment Talia's voice fell, she had already placed the spatial rift next to Pearlman again. It was a signal of determined killing intent.

She and Lanchi might never be able to have the same thoughts and feelings.

But when they were confused and the other was decisive, they could give their whole body and mind to the other.

No tacit understanding was their best tacit understanding.

"It's a pity. It seems that you're going to make a choice today that you'll regret for the rest of your life."

Pearlman, controlled by Beelzebub, laughed loudly despite constantly receiving new fatal injuries.

Since the enemy chose to fight him to the end, he would make the enemy lose everything as much as possible and never let Lanchi McCarthy have a good time!

On the other side.

Paria Northern Shore, District 4.

Baptiste Count's Manor Garden. Beelzebub looked up to the sky and laughed. His laughter was crazy and piercing, like a demon reveling.

"Lanchi, you won, but you'll never be able to forget me. I'll forever imprint the pain of sin in your heart."

He spread his arms, carrying Christina and spinning in the rain, declaring his joy to the whole world.

"Let me first show you how to burn this girl's flesh and blood before extracting her bones."

Then, Beelzebub looked at the Baptiste family in the mansion. Not only Christina, but the expressions of the Baptiste family were also wonderful wine that could be given to Lanchi McCarthy.

"Stop it...! !!"

Inoan ignored the injuries on her body and wanted to counterattack Beelzebub.

"Don't be impatient. Don't you think this voice is very pleasant?"

Beelzebub mocked and stepped heavily on Inoan's head again.

"How is it? You who seem to feel no pain, do you feel anything at this moment? If not, then how about I make her scream even better?"

He twisted his hand slightly, causing Christina's spine to make a subtle and rhythmic cracking sound, causing her, who was already dying, to make a sound mixed with whimpers and screams again.

The more closely related a person was to Lanchi McCarthy, the more time he deserved to be tortured, giving Lanchi suffering and guilt.

Inoan lay on the muddy grass, desperately clutching the dirt on the ground.

Pain was a concept she had never understood in her life.

She once thought that she would never understand what pain meant in her life.

But now, she finally understood. This pain was that she would rather bear the hellish torture for Christina. Pain didn't need physical trauma; it was enough to cut the softest part of the soul, not just a momentary discomfort, but an increasingly painful lingering death.

She always felt that this voice was very familiar.

She seemed to have heard it countless times.

But she couldn't figure out where she had heard it and why it was so familiar.

"Inoan..."

"Oh? I don't know if you can hear it. She's still asking you for help."

Beelzebub put his other hand to his ear, tilted his head, and listened to Christina's weak voice.

"Run..."

Christina's voice became smaller and smaller.

Rainwater mixed with tears, rolling down Inoan's cheeks and dripping into the water puddle where the flowers were withering, stirring up undetectable ripples. And on the black water surface floating with petals, her blood-red shadow was faintly reflected.

In Christina's fading voice, Inoan's pupils kept contracting.

This moment was very short and also seemed very long.

"Why is it so familiar to me?"

The corners of Inoan's mouth trembled slightly.

The world seemed to stand still.

The rain was still falling, but the raindrops seemed to have lost their weight. The wind was still blowing, but the sound of the wind seemed to have lost its direction.

Everything was silent.

Flames, blood, charred corpses, wails...

Everything seemed to be a rerun of yesterday.

Suddenly, she felt a blank in her brain.

Her consciousness was constantly shuttling, regressing, until it fell, as if her whole body was sinking into the water, in a scarlet ocean that was about to suffocate her. All around her were fragments of her broken memories.

Until she regained her senses, what was in front of her was no longer a rainy night, nor the Baptiste family's courtyard, but a gloomy riverbank.

She seemed to see herself on the edge of a pool of blood.

She, in a pure white maid's outfit, stood on one side, while on the other side of the riverbank, a red-haired woman in a black robe was standing there, smiling at her.

The red-haired woman opened her mouth slightly, but didn't make any sound.

But these words echoed in Inoan's ears—

Because you are also an exactly the same villain.

Have you forgotten those you killed?

Didn't they also make such sounds before they died?

Inoan, lying on the ground with empty eyes, gradually focused and became crazy.

"I remembered..."

The long-sealed, forgotten pictures in the depths of her memory flooded into her brain like a dam break.

"I am..."

"Ivanos."

Under the dark clouds, Beelzebub, who was still laughing, suddenly felt the extreme cold in the air. Before he could become alert, he found that his right hand had become lighter.

Beelzebub subconsciously lowered his head, wanting to tighten his fingers again, but found that his right hand, which had been tightly gripping the girl's delicate neck, had disappeared without a trace, even including the wrist.

"Ah, aaaaaah!"

Blood was gushing out of the empty cut, quickly staining his gray skin red.

Christina, whose life and death were unknown, had appeared opposite him, being held by that ghostly red-haired woman.

"This... how is this possible..."

Beelzebub widened his eyes, his lips trembling. He slowly raised his head, his eyes trembling and falling forward, his eyes full of disbelief and deep horror.

The red-haired woman was like the incarnation of the Manjusaka, both terrifying and beautiful, a delicate balance between life and death, creation and destruction, and the death god who controlled everything.

Her eyes were no longer as docile and respectful as a maid, but completely cold and ruthless. It was pure human evil.

Even he, as a demon, felt an indescribable, chilling evil in this woman.

And that red divine radiance—

Without a doubt.

The holder of the Primordial Fire Stone Tablet was only one person.

This woman was the infamous cardinal of the Rebirth Church in the Southern Continent, Ivanos!!

And at this moment, Beelzebub didn't dare to question whether this stone tablet was fake, because the violent magic power on the other person made him feel suffocated.

This was really a joke of the Goddess of Fate!!

He couldn't imagine what extent he had offended the Destruction Bishop.

"...I'm fighting Ivanos? Lanchi McCarthy, is this also your conspiracy?!"

Beelzebub shouted with a somewhat broken mentality.

Only a real high priest could possibly stop this monster!

Lanchi and Talia, who were killing Pearlman in the Borson Demonic Realm, were also stunned.

They really didn't know that Inoan would be the Destruction Bishop Ivanos.

"Lanchi, is this your plan?"

After seeing Lanchi's sealing stone tablet, Talia wouldn't feel strange about anything now.

"This... how could I possibly plan this? I'm not the Holy Emperor."

Lanchi's expression was also dull. This kind of situation where success was about to be achieved, but he was helped by the enemy.

He only felt mixed feelings in his heart.

"Could it be that I... have beaten a Cardinal?"

Talia completely couldn't understand it. It seemed that every word she accidentally wished to Lanchi would be fulfilled.

The two looked at each other and awkwardly turned their eyes away.

(End of this chapter)