Chapter 446

Deva was not one to kneel or beg before anyone.

The Abyssals were a noble race, second only to the High Elves.

If the High Elves were beings who looked down upon the world from its peak, then the Abyssals were those who supported it from its depths.

Yet Deva had long lost that pride of her kind.

From the moment she betrayed Neria a thousand years ago, she could no longer call herself an Abyssal with pride.

So she lived quietly, as if she did not exist.

She lived that way for a thousand years, until she crossed over to Earth.

Now, Deva could feel that her remaining lifespan was nearing its end.

When the time of death came, Abyssals went alone to a place no one knew, to meet their end in silence.

They returned their bodies to nature like dragons and fell into the arms of their god.

But Deva did not yet wish to die.

There was still something binding her to life.

It was Neria, the one now rampaging out of control.

The being who had become the Black Queen because of her own foolish choice.

As before, once Neria lost control, she abandoned reason and destroyed everything her eyes could see.

Back then, Kurayan had barely managed to suppress and seal her thanks to overwhelming power and countless artifacts.

But El Harun had neither.

Clinging to a single withered World Tree, El Harun had no force capable of stopping the Black Queen.

Even if they threw everything they had at her, El Harun would suffer irreparable devastation.

That disaster, at least, had to be prevented.

Deva turned her Abyssal Eyes upon Zeon.

The Abyssal Eyes, like the High Elves’ Eyes of Truth, could pierce into the essence of others. But even with those eyes, she could not read Zeon’s true nature.

A being whose essence could not be seen even by the Abyssal Eyes, such a one could not be ordinary.

He was surely of a higher realm than she.

That was why Deva knelt before Zeon.

She did not truly believe he could subdue Neria, yet she was certain his power would aid the others greatly.

But Zeon’s gaze upon her was cold.

“You remain a coward until the end.”

“What?”

“Even with the situation this dire, you still push the responsibility onto someone else. If you’re so sorry, why not confront Lady Neria yourself? Why not try to stop her? Why force someone else to do what is yours to do?”

“That’s…”

“Do you understand? This is your burden.”

“You’re cold. But thanks to that, I’m awake now. You’re right, it is my burden. Something I can’t push onto anyone else… Thank you.”

Deva bowed her head slightly to him.

When she raised it again, her face bore a look of release.

Zeon’s rebuke had cleared her mind.

'Yes. This is my burden. I began it, so I must end it.'

Deva walked toward the rampaging Neria.

Bang! Kwaang!

With each sweep of Neria’s tail, buildings crumbled.

Her colossal seventy-meter body was itself a weapon of war.

―Saaaa!

Each time her roar echoed, the surrounding troops clutched their ears in agony.

Pop!

Deva pushed off from the ground and soared into the air.

The Abyssals possessed a gift others did not, the ability to fly.

Without any artifact’s aid, they could remain aloft for a limited time.

Deva rose to Neria’s eye level and called out.

“Sister, it’s me, Deva. Do you remember?”

―Saaa!

Neria answered not with words but with a wide open maw lunging to devour her.

Deva veered away just in time to dodge the attack.

Crunch!

The jaws of a massive serpent snapped shut where she had been.

A heartbeat slower and she would have become its prey.

Neria’s upper body, fused with the serpent’s head, swayed like reeds in the wind.

It seemed her consciousness was gone.

To awaken her, Deva cried out.

“Sister! It’s me, Deva! Please, wake up!”

―Saaaa!

But what returned was only the serpent’s hiss and a spray of venom.

Venom rained down upon where Deva had been.

She barely avoided it by flying higher, but those below were not so fortunate.

“Gaaah!”

“Ugh!”

“Help me!”

The screams of humans and other races pierced Deva’s ears.

She watched as the venom melted those it touched.

If this continued, even more would die.

At last, Deva gave up on words and attacked.

“Gravity!”

Kwoooom!

The instant her voice fell, an immense gravitational force crushed down on Neria.

Under gravity increased more than tenfold, Neria’s body stiffened for a moment.

“Now!”

“Attack!”

The council leaders did not miss the opening and launched an all-out assault.

Krudu leapt onto Neria’s body, ripping at her scales with his bare hands, while Taboaru fired magic blasts into her exposed flesh.

Boom! Kwaang!

Explosions thundered, and Neria’s massive frame staggered.

Hera, Galanta, and Osolo joined in.

Kwakwaang!

―Saaaa!

Neria’s agonized cry shook El Harun.

“Now! Everyone, strike the Black Queen!”

At Krudu’s shout, those surrounding Neria charged as one.

The awakened warriors of the martial path climbed her body, driving their weapons into her, while mages bombarded her from afar.

Even with her formidable physique, Neria’s scales shattered under their assault, exposing flesh and drawing blood.

Deva looked upon her and murmured,

“I’m sorry, Sister Neria… truly sorry.”

Black fire bloomed in her hands, the Hellfire that had absorbed Zeon’s White Phosphor Flame.

She poured all her strength into it.

The black flame grew taller than she was, roaring between her palms.

“Yaaah!”

With a cry, Deva hurled the Hellfire at Neria.

Her target, the upper body fused with the serpent’s head.

Fwoooosh!

The Hellfire engulfed the serpent’s head and Neria’s upper form.

―Saaa!

Neria’s scream of pain tore through the air.

Seeing her sister suffer, Deva’s eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’ll repay this sin even in death.”

Resolute, she prepared a second and third strike.

But then,

Neria, whose head had hung limply atop the serpent, slowly raised it and looked directly at Deva.

“De…va?”

“Sister! You’ve come to your senses?”

“So you’re still alive…”

“I’m sorry! Because of me, you, ”

“What sin could you have? If there is guilt, it lies with me, the one who betrayed Lord Trizian.”

“But…”

“I swore to serve him all my life, yet I chose love instead. I know it was my fault… and still, I can’t help but resent it.”

Tears flowed from Neria’s eyes.

It was the first time she had wept since merging with Mars.

Her union with the goddess had stripped her of nearly all emotion, leaving only rage and vengeance behind.

She wanted revenge, but not destruction.

Yet her body moved only to destroy.

It was not her will.

It was Mars, the will of the fallen goddess, still clinging to fury, that drove her.

The divine wrath that had lost its sanctity refused to release Neria from its grip.

Neria spoke.

“Kill me, Deva.”

“Sister?”

“Until I am dead, I will not stop. I will destroy everything, and in the end, this land itself will perish. Nothing can stop me. So do your best, if you do not wish to see the world end.”

Then the serpent’s massive jaws opened wide.

Ssssss!

As it inhaled deeply, the Hellfire burning across its body was drawn in.

The serpent that swallowed the flame exhaled once more.

Kwaaaa!

A torrent of Hellfire mixed with venom erupted in all directions.

And those who had charged fearlessly toward Neria paid the price.

“Gaaah!”

“Keuk!”

Those struck by the burning venom screamed in agony as they fell.

Deva’s eyes trembled as she watched them collapse.

She had never imagined Neria would turn her own skill against El Harun’s warriors.

Neria’s mind was clear, but sorrow filled her face.

This destruction was not her will.

With Mars’ wrath entwined with her own, she could no longer stop.

There was no restraint, no half-measure.

Only when everything was destroyed would she cease.

Bang!

“Aaah!”

Deva was struck by Neria’s tail and hurled to the ground.

Her body felt crushed beneath a mountain of stone.

Even so, she struggled to rise, but her limbs would not obey.

Tears streamed down her face.

“Why… why am I so useless…?”

The Black Queen was a disaster of her own making.

And now, that disaster was about to destroy El Harun.

The thought filled her with despair.

Then Zeon’s voice reached her.

“So Lady Neria also wishes to escape this hell.”

When she looked up, Zeon was already standing before her.

Deva answered in a cracked voice.

“Because this slaughter isn’t what she wants. It was I, and this world, that made her like that. My sister Neria… she’s kind. So kind she couldn’t even harm an ant. I’m sure she’s crying inside.”

“I believe you.”

Zeon nodded.

Not because of Deva’s words, but because he had seen the tears on Neria’s face.

“Huuh…”

He let out a long sigh.

He had no desire to meddle in El Harun’s affairs, but this was different.

He did not know whether El Harun deserved to continue existing, but Neria wanted peace in death.

Zeon was no champion of justice, yet he was not so heartless as to ignore one who had fallen into the abyss.

Neria had suffered for a thousand years.

It was time to end that suffering.

“Let’s do this.”

Zeon walked past Deva toward Neria.

Lying on the ground, Deva stared blankly at his back.

He strode toward Neria without a trace of fear, past the bodies of the wounded and dying scattered across the streets.

Any ordinary person would have faltered at the sight. But not Zeon.

Not a hint of hesitation showed in his eyes.

Watching him, Deva felt a spark of hope rise unbidden.

'Could this man truly be our salvation?'

It was a foolish hope, perhaps.

If even the council leaders together could not subdue the Black Queen, how could a mere human?

And yet Deva hoped, because of the look in Zeon’s eyes, and the essence she could not perceive even with her Abyssal Sight.

Because his gaze remained steady even before the might of the Black Queen.

Zeon had something within himself.

At last, he stood before the towering Neria.

From her perspective, Zeon was no more than an ant.

Yet his eyes, gazing up at her, did not waver in the slightest.

He murmured.

“This brings back memories.”

He remembered the moment he had hunted a beast said to be beyond human reach,

An SS-class monster.

Leviathan.

Shhhhhh

The Black Queen’s massive tail came crashing down at him.

As Zeon dodged the strike, he muttered,

“Summon. Sand Soldier.”