CHAPTER 393: 393 THE FALLEN DELUSION

[Lucy’s POV: ]

The power that the emperor had obtained through that ambiguous ritual was in fact the power of corruption. However, unlike the normal power of corruption that is born in the deepest consciousness of the victims, this power of corruption was an external force.

It was obtained from outside and did not belong to him, ultimately it was something like a parasite that belonged to somewhere else and he gave it a place in his body.

’However, this parasite was different from what he had thought it to be.’

Surely it was a seed that gave him greater power than what he possessed at the moment. It was certainly something that he could contain within himself with his divine powers as well.

However, the truest nature of this corrupt power was dark in nature.

By nature, this power corroded everything that it interacted with, including the divine powers and the entire existence of a being that comes in contact with them.

’One of the easiest ways to obtain this dark power was through a ritual that involved a lot of sacrifices.’

Under certain conditions, it is possible to open the forbidden dark realm which primarily houses this corrupt power. And, the existence of this power itself is a closely guarded secret.

’He must have purchased the information to ’win’ this war in any way possible, and as a ’good’ dimentional merchant, He gave him what he wanted.’

Alas, the power that he obtained, the power to ’win’ this battle, a way to come out victorious against me and our forces was a poison that had started corroding his existence from the moment he obtained it.

[ "Shall we fire a few rounds on his head? He’s become a complete monster I mean." ]

[ "Not yet. He is still not completely corroded yet. There is still a way to bring him out of that darkness." ]

[ "You... bastard." ]

At this moment when I had finished dealing with the demon knight and most of the army of the emperor, the general of the empire the supreme emperor himself had fallen victim to the dark corrosion of the fragmented power.

’The moment he obtained this power, he had started losing his own divinity to this seed of darkness.’

As time passed, the seed ate away at his divine power, the core powers of the emperor, and after absorbing the divine powers of the emperor it corrupted his mind, his soul, even his ego.

And now that he had sensed a strong possibility of defeat as well, even his body was beginning to fall to this corrupt power.

’The seed was showing him what he wanted to see, what he wanted to experience, what he was longing for... it was fullfilling his desires so that he could be at ease and submit his entire being to the darkness.’

There was a sky piercing pillar of darkness in the middle of the battlefield. The center of this pilled was the emperor, or at least what was left of the emperor of the great empire.

His army had alredy fallen, his ’mercenaries’ were also dealt with, and even the closest aids that he had, the three heavenly commanders that he had raised himself, had also alredy been captured by the members of Spades.

Now, aside from some small fries that were being taken care of by the ghost knight and a the remaining undead forces of our side, only this pilled of darkness was left to deal with.

[ "Why the hell do you want to save that bastard now?! Isn’t just killing him the best thing?" ]

[ "Bringing him back and then killing ’Him’ will be even better, El. Believe me." ]

He was rapidly succumbing to the corruption.

The moment his (Delusions) get an upper hand over him, he will fall, his divinity would corrupt completely, and we would have to deal with a power even stronger than that Eisheth, the Prisoner of distorted desires.

’We were weakened alredy, so even though Ana had finished her job and we now had a better energy system, something that might be strong enough to even deal with something of that scale, there isn’t really any need to waste that much energy.’

He has not fallen completely. And, even if everything else including his body was almost corrupted, his ambitions were still alive.

’He was still alive in that darkness.’

It will be a little tricky, but it was still possible to bring him out of that darkness. So... I had to go now.

[ "This is not what we agreed upon." ]

[ "But this is better." ]

El was worried about me since this was dangerous. Walking into the place with corrupted energy was not safe or easy.

It was going to be difficult even for me, she knew that already. And I did as well...

[{ One is coming down, master. }]

[{ "There’s no need, Ana, but sure. She will be a little less worried if you are there." }]

We did not expect the power he had obtained to be something as bad as this.

At worst, we expected it to be something like a direct contract with some demon or other kind of higher being.

We considered the ritual to have been about the strengthening of some kind of skill or stat that he already possessed, or perhaps he was planning to summon a higher ranking demon with an (Embryo of devil).

We had considered the possibility that he even got into contact with some faction that he was closer with, but... no.

Of all things he could have done, he obtained a fragment of corruption, and now, he has created even more trouble for all of us.

’This was a big problem for us, and at the same time, an opportunity.’

For an epic’s rank to get higher, the presence in of something that was denied by the majority of the Worldline was a great thing.

’The power of corruption is also called (The cancer of the Worldline). The element that works against the the Worldline, on an even more fundamental level than the evil factions of the Worldline do.’

Similar to what Cary explains as (Ego darkening) where the overwhelming strength completely corrupts the individual, this primordial corrupt power is something that closely does something like that.

’Eisheth was a lost cause since she had long fallen into the darkness of this power. However, it is different for the emperor.’

He is an ambitious person. He certainly also is crazy.

Wanting to preserve and expand what he had and gain more and more power over what belonged to him would one day might have made him into a Conqueror.

Though, unlike the first conqueror, he would have been like the real tyrants that have conquered everything with their own strengths and abilities.

He wouldn’t be the best man for that title, but at least he was a capable person with the potential to achieve it.

’That little thing made all the difference.’

He was under the influence of that corrupt power, but even after almost completely being consumed by it, he had not fallen yet.

[{ Master. }]

A blazing star fell from the sky and landed right on top of my shoulder.

"Be careful, Ana."

She had worked really hard with the whole energy management system of the fortress.

Thanks to her, the fortress was now completely operable even without the constant Mana input from Cary.

It was not a simple thing to do while maintaining all the spells that she was casting all over the battlefield... she was exhausted even right now, but she was still coming with me for this dangerous task.

’The epic was still ongoing...’

There were some good moments in this epic. Some times where even the people themselves might have been surprised.

El was maintaining the stream so I didn’t yet know what kind of response we were getting actually, but I knew for sure that it was quite a unique and interesting one.

’She said they are liking it a lot.’

It was all related to fights happening on a lower world like ours and yet the quality was much better than what most streamers would provide.

’The response from the spectators was good as well.’

I wasn’t worried about any of that.

And now that things have come down to this, I know the end to this great battle was near.

[ "You should start preparing for the endgame, dear." ]

[ "You deal with that shitty darkness first. And come out fine to end things. We shall be done in a bit as well." ]

[ "Alright then... take care." ]

The area filled with the dark energy was not safe for normal humans or even strong ones.

The corroding darkness that surrounded this place was so intense that without a proper mental fortitude, or a skill like {Six Walls} and our crown skills to offset most of the mental effects, it would have been impossible to enter this area even for me.

But... I had the power and strength to go to this place.

-Ooooooooooong!

With Anna on my shoulders, I just crossed the border of the darkness, walked carefully through the corrupt land, and went for the emperor... but as I knew, it was not going to be that easy.

-Ooooooooooong!

This power of corruption was by nature corrosive and when it starts corrupting something, it does not stop until

It has achieved its final goal.

It resists all factors that might interfere with its mission. Sometimes, by giving birth to spectral energy monsters that block you from reaching the ’core’.

"I’ll take care of them, Anna. You can rest for now."

[{ Yes... master. }]

I could feel her worries since these creatures were in no way something easy to deal with.

They were strong... perhaps as much as those divine messengers and the demon Knight.