CHAPTER 252: THE GREATEST SCAM IN HISTORY!

"It’s pretty stupid of you if you think that you can defeat me by taking over my body. You do not know my power, and you shall bear the wrath of my power now."

Zarek stared right into this woman.

"Hee, we will see then." The woman chuckled with a hint of disdain in her voice as she stared straight at him, her blue hair fluttering. This was her true form, not the one which was made purely out of Divine Energy.

"Hmm," Zarek squinted his eyes but didn’t move for a moment. ’This is not an illusion but instead is my mind, so I can’t destroy this place, but...’

He shot forward, lunging at her with full speed.

"Hmph." The woman sneered in disdain as she slowly stood up and pointed with her fingers.

In an instant, Zarek felt a terrifying pressure overtake him. The sheer oppressive force caused him to directly kneel on the ground on his knees; imaginary cold sweat poured from his back.

He tilted his head and looked at the woman, his pupils dilated in disbelief.

This was because she was growing in size right before his eyes, reaching a height of seven feet, then eight, then ten... increasing with every breath.

By the time she grew to her maximum height, she seemed to occupy the entire space, growing to hundreds of feet.

’Is this an illusion?’ For a moment, Zarek truly thought that it was an illusion, because here in his mind only the reality is reflected, that means her true size is that?

If it wasn’t for his Hive Mind skill, which didn’t have any effect, he would truly have thought so.

However, Zarek still found it hard to believe that she was this huge.

He raised his neck and barely could see the faint outline of her head from here. In front of her, he was just a tiny shadow, an ant before her.

"Human, do you know why you will lose? It’s because you underestimate a Paragon far too much. A Paragon is a being who has nurtured their soul with Telekinetic power. And I, who have merged with the Divine Energy, have not only nurtured my soul with Telekinetic power but also with Divine Energy."

She raised her foot high into the air and slammed it down with devastating force.

Rumble!

The entire space began to reverberate, and Zarek screamed, his eyes bloodshot from the sheer pain of the backlash.

This was his place, his consciousness, and every blow dealt here inflicted unimaginable pain on him, pain so intense it defied description.

Luckily, his soul was "adapting" to the attacks. Given enough time and opportunity, he could fully recuperate and grow stronger.

Unfortunately, the woman before him showed no mercy, no chance to retaliate.

She stomped down on the ground repeatedly, each strike more ferocious than the last.

Zarek’s eyes were now completely bloodshot, his pupils rolled back beneath his eyelids. Blue veins snaked across his body as he teetered on the brink of collapse.

Adapting the soul was an agonizingly tediously slow process, only slightly faster than Physics Adaptation but still a slower process than both his mind and body, the body was the fastest, followed by the mind.

And this woman was not giving him the chance to adapt at all. She clearly knew about his strength and weakness; however, she didn’t use it before but now used it. Maybe her entire plan right from the start was taking over his body.

Zarek was calm at his heart despite all the calculations he was doing and the pain he was suffering through, as if it was just a mere illusion.

But it wasn’t an illusion at all!

After the hundredth stomping by the woman, Zarek fell to the ground.

"Hmph." The giant woman sneered and lifted him by pinching him with her two fingers, truly like a bug. "It is time for your defeat."

Zarek’s breathing came into rough grasp as he looked straight into her eyes and scoffed immediately, "Do you think that you have won by merely beating me?"

"..." The woman stared at him and chuckled. Her fingers pinched tighter, and Zarek, in her grasp, winced from the pressure he felt.

"You can’t beat me by merely defeating me."

Even though he was in unbearable pain that couldn’t be described in words, there was an eerie calmness in his eyes, as if her fate was already sealed.

And truly, her fate was already sealed as well.

With each chain, I seal away your soul.

Swish!

Chains burst forth like living shadows, writhing and snapping through the air. They coiled tightly around her limbs and torso, within the blink of an eye, her body was ensnared, imprisoned and she fell to the ground with a large thud.

Zarek summoned every ounce of strength, breaking free from her grasp. He launched himself in a long, powerful leap before landing firmly on the ground.

He locked eyes with the towering woman, his cold, boundless blue pupils piercing through her. "I told you, your fate is sealed."

"H... how?!" she gasped, struggling against the chains that bound her tight, unable to move an inch. "My soul strength is among the strongest. I never expected there would be someone..."

Her voice trailed off in disbelief. Suddenly, her pupils flickered and her body stiffened. She turned sharply to the north. "Who are you? How can you exist inside another person’s soul?"

A faint ripple echoed through the darkness as a man slowly emerged, stepping forward from the shadows.

When the woman laid eyes on the man, she nearly fainted on the spot, overwhelmed by sheer terror. Her mind spiraled into confusion as her giant form trembled violently, struggling to break free from the chains.

But the chains were like coiled serpents, alive and persistent, preventing her from moving even an inch.

With parched lips, she whispered, "How can there be two of you?"

Indeed, the man who had emerged was Grey. Behind him stood a line of striking men and women, each radiating an aura of terrifying power.

Grey stepped forward to join Zarek, and together they fixed the woman with cold sneers.

"I didn’t expect Lilith to be so useful right now," Grey said, turning toward her.

"Hmph. I am called the Soul Goddess," Lilith said, folding her arms with unmistakable pride. "Anything related to the soul comes effortlessly to me."

"Is that so?" Grey chuckled, a mysterious smile playing on his lips.

Though the Book Taming world was weaker in raw power, Grey felt a quiet satisfaction. Their true strength lay in bending reality itself, and in moments like these, his Grimoire shone brightest.

"What should we do with her, then?" Lilith asked, her eyes sparkling with curious interest as she glanced at the giant woman.

"Well."

Grey and Zarek exchanged a knowing look and grinned in perfect sync.

"Of course, we aren’t sparing her in the least bit." They spoke in perfect unison.

Lilith shivered involuntarily, a cold chill running down her spine as she caught sight of their grins. Her eyes softened with pity as they rested on the giant woman.

The giant woman narrowed her eyes at the approaching pair. "You fools. You cannot do anything to me, my soul is strong even if I am bound—"

Soul Severe, Cleave the soul!

Grey’s fingers danced over Lilith’s grimoire once more.

An agonized scream echoed through the place, but the giant woman’s soul was very strong so it did not vanish, only suffered injury.

Grey had expected this and immediately prepared to strike again.

"Ahhhh!"

"Again."

"Ahhh!"

Grey’s spiritual energy waned, forcing him to retreat, returning to his body to recover before stepping back into the Zarek’s mind to continue to sever the soul of this woman.

"Ahhh!"

Over and over again.

The giant woman began to shrink, the accumulated damage stripping away her towering form until she stood at a normal height, about six feet. Still larger than most people, but no longer a giant.

If Grey used Soul Severe once more, she would die instantly.

But he didn’t.

He simply watched her with cold, unyielding eyes.

The woman was no longer in her prime, her gaze vacant, her lips muttering incoherent sounds.

Grey and Zarek crouched down as Zarek spoke calmly, "Speak everything."

"Hehe... hehe," the woman replied, her laughter erratic and uneven.

"Do you want to die?" Zarek signalled to Grey, who was already preparing to strike again.

"Wait, wait! Don’t kill me! I’ll tell you everything!" Panic flared in her eyes as her conscience seemed to return.

Zarek’s voice remained steady:

"...Then the first question: does Mirabella really communicate with the human god, or is it a scam?"

The woman’s pupils dilated in shock, "Ho... how did you know?"

"So it is true," Zarek nodded slowly. A faint suspicion had been stirring within him and now it was confirmed: the greatest scam in history.

Mirabella wasn’t a saint, she couldn’t communicate with the gods at all!