Free Web Novel“Unfortunately, you’re only the pursuer. You’ll always be one step too slow.”
A cold sneer curled across Muen’s lips. He did not consider Donna a true threat.
The Grand Barrier was still the Grand Barrier. Donna’s ability was indeed absurdly overpowered, but no matter what, her method of slowly invading through her physical body could never compare to directly controlling the Grand Barrier itself.
Thus Muen immediately began manipulating the Grand Barrier through the control core. Killing Saint Peron V could wait for a moment. First, he needed to shake off this octopus monster!
Buzz!
The entire Grand Barrier trembled once more. Muen and the Saint Peron V pinned beneath him flickered briefly, disappearing and reappearing.
Muen’s expression darkened.
It failed.
His control over the Grand Barrier had once again been disrupted!
“Don’t even think about it!”
As if he had seen through Muen’s intentions, Saint Peron V also revealed a cold smile.
“This is my Grand Barrier. My city... there’s nothing you can do!”
“Damn it!”
Muen cursed inwardly, a pounding headache forming instantly. He had almost forgotten that he was still locked in a stalemate with this old monster—and worse, he was the one at a disadvantage.
“You’re really not afraid?”
Muen stared directly into the old king’s eyes and ground his teeth.
“You’re seriously going to let a monster that just sucked you dry crawl all over you again? You don’t feel disgusted? Terrified?”
“It is... disgusting.”
As though recalling what had happened earlier, revulsion flashed across Saint Peron V’s face, and he nearly retched again.
But the disgust was quickly suppressed.
In fact, at that very moment, he seemed to think of {N•o•v•e•l•i•g•h•t} something else entirely, because a smile slowly appeared on his lips.
“Even if I don’t understand why it’s this monster... I still trust Olive. My Olive would never deceive me. If she did this... then she must have had her reasons.”
“I trust her!”
“Holy shit.”
Muen’s vision went black for a second.
What kind of peak-level cuckold nonsense was this?
Did this idiot even know that his Olive already had a child? Not only old enough to run around, but strong enough—as an Evil God scion—to turn him into paste?
And after letting a monster sleep with him, he still trusted her?
At this rate, if the Witch of Repentance openly rolled around in bed with someone else right in front of him, would this old bastard actually go over and help push from behind as long as she asked nicely?
The corner of Muen’s mouth twitched. He could practically picture the beautiful scene already.
“I don’t know whether you actually mean all this, or whether you’re just clinging to the last straw keeping you alive, but either way, you disgust me.”
Muen temporarily gave up trying to manipulate the Grand Barrier’s control core.
Instead, he focused completely, tightening both hands around Elizabeth’s hilt.
Then every ounce of strength in his body exploded outward.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
Thunderous roars shook the chamber once again, but this time it was not the collision of authority within the Grand Barrier.
This time, it was simply Muen using his full power.
Stack!
Tenfold stack!
Hundredfold stack!
Layer upon layer of vibrating force piled atop one another before erupting all at once against that tiny one-centimeter gap between Muen and Saint Peron V.
Black flames churned there as well, endlessly eroding.
That single centimeter felt as distant as heaven and earth themselves. Veins bulged violently across Muen’s forehead. Muscles swelled throughout his body. A faint mist of blood seeped from his pores. His already exhausted mind was now attacking at the cost of utterly overdrawing himself.
Even so, he still could not force the blade across that distance in a short time.
But fortunately—
The distance was shrinking.
Every reduction was microscopic, so tiny it was nearly invisible to the naked eye.
Yet it was unquestionably shrinking.
Elizabeth’s pure-white tip drew closer and closer to Saint Peron V. Black flames coiled around the blade point. The blade did not even need to fully pierce him. The instant it touched Saint Peron V, the black fire would consume him completely.
As long as it could touch him.
“You won’t succeed! I absolutely will not let you stop the arrival of the New World, Muen Campbell!”
Donna’s roaring had devolved into outright screeching. Amid the writhing tentacles, that hideous mouthpart opened and closed continuously.
The fishy stench grew heavier and heavier. Muen could clearly feel Donna invading his “position” at an increasingly terrifying speed.
“That’s right. I also... won’t let you succeed.”
And the most troublesome part was that at a moment like this, Saint Peron V seemed to have drawn strength from nowhere and begun desperately pushing back as well.
“I am the king of this nation! I am the ruler of this country! I am the great sovereign destined to lead this kingdom into a glorious future and carve my name into history itself!”
Saint Peron V’s emaciated body struggled violently as blackened veins writhed beneath his skin.
“I... will never be killed by some nameless wretch like you! I... absolutely will not die! I will live longer than anyone!”
“Great sovereign my ass. You’re a tyrant. You should’ve died ages ago! Haven’t you realized it yet? Your name already made it into history books—it’s just on the wrong side of them!”
Muen showed him no mercy at all, pouring every ounce of strength into the blade while continuing his mockery, trying to destabilize the old monster’s mind first.
“When future generations read history, they’ll all know Saint Peron V as a complete and utter tyrant!”
“Shut up! I am not a tyrant! I am a great sovereign! A ruler praised by all the people!”
“The hell I’ll shut up. Even Evil Gods don’t qualify to silence me—who the fuck are you, tyrant? Tyrant! Tyrant! A sewer rat sitting on that throne would’ve done a better job than you! Great sovereign? Says who?”
“AAAAAH! Muen Campbell! I’ll kill you! I swear I’ll kill you!”
The blade tip crept forward again.
This sort of “mental” attack actually seemed to be having at least a little effect.
But Muen knew perfectly well that verbal attacks alone could not truly tilt the outcome toward victory.
Without realizing it, this assassination had completely transformed into a race.
The question was whether he would kill Saint Peron V first... or Donna would invade first.
In Muen’s current state, he no longer possessed the ability to face Donna again.
The moment she invaded, he would die.
Life or death.
Fast or slow.
It was that simple.
“Faster... faster... faster!”
Gradually, Muen forgot everything else.
He stopped mocking them, because mockery no longer held any meaning.
All his strength, all his willpower, all his consciousness compressed into that final single point.
The others were the same.
Saint Peron V stopped screaming as well, because he no longer had the strength to scream.
An eerie silence descended upon the bedchamber.
Only the race continued.
And finally—
It reached its conclusion.
...
“So in the end... I was still one step too slow?”
The silence broke beneath a helpless sigh.
It was Muen.
He looked at his blade tip. The black flames there churned with the power to devour everything, yet there was still a distance the width of a sheet of paper between it and Saint Peron V.
But that tiny paper-thin gap felt like an uncrossable abyss.
“It’s over.”
Donna approached slowly, tentacles writhing, expression twisted, fishy stench flooding the chamber.
She was standing directly behind Muen now.
Truly behind him.
There was no longer any meaningful distance between them.
Closer than that thin sheet of paper.
No options remained.
...
...
“Hah...”
Pero climbed out of the water and gulped down fresh air.
But she did not dare relax for even a moment, nor did she dare make any unnecessary noise. She hurriedly rose from the water and slipped into the nearby shadows.
Her entire sequence of movements was astonishingly practiced. Even while shifting positions, she made virtually no sound at all.
Saint Haze Palace. Central courtyard.
The lake built for the king’s sightseeing and fishing shimmered beneath the light. Fish occasionally leapt from the surface, perhaps unaware that this city was already steeped in the aura of destruction.
Hidden within the shadows, Pero held her breath and concentrated.
Only after a long while, once she had confirmed there was no movement nearby and that she had not alerted anyone, did she cautiously peek out to inspect her surroundings.
“It’s... changed so much.”
She stood there in a daze.
The central courtyard before her no longer resembled the one in her memories at all. The lush gardens had nearly been flattened. The elegant architectural decorations had been smashed into ruin.
It looked as though a thousand demonic beasts had rampaged through the place, leaving devastation behind.
Of course, there had not actually been a thousand demonic beasts here.
The place had become like this simply because a certain self-proclaimed god had passed through.
“So amazing... seeing it in person is way more shocking than watching it.”
Pero’s first instinct had been to hide because she feared enemies might still remain here. With her current strength, even with the aid of black flames, she would have absolutely no chance of defeating any of the enemies she had seen in those visions.
Fortunately, her god had cleaned this place very thoroughly.
Which meant she could move freely now, without needing to fear any remaining enemies.
Past the courtyard gardens, through a long corridor, then across the vast plaza—
Only then could Pero finally see the bedchamber.
It stood atop the stairs.
Pero looked up at it, and memories she had not revisited in a long time surfaced quietly in her mind.
She still remembered that long, long ago, she too had once been held there in that old man’s arms while he affectionately teased her.
Back then, his smile had seemed so warm and gentle. He had appeared to sincerely care for her. When assassins attacked, he had even fled while carrying her in his arms as an infant.
Which was why, after learning his true nature, Pero had spent a very long time unable to distinguish which side of him had been real... and which had merely been a mask.
“No. Thinking about that now is meaningless.”
Pero slapped her cheeks hard, forcing herself to cast aside those useless thoughts.
Then she started walking forward.
She knew that within that bedchamber, a battle deciding the fate of this city... perhaps even this entire kingdom... was unfolding at this very moment.
Any additional weight placed on the scale might completely tip the outcome.
But she did not head toward the bedchamber.
Instead, she turned and walked toward another side hall.
It was an extremely remote building. Though beautifully constructed, within the ancient and sprawling Saint Haze Palace, it appeared utterly unremarkable.
Pero pushed open the door, and a cloud of dust immediately blasted into her face.
“Cough, cough—”
Fortunately, she had not forgotten how to use wind magic. She waved her hand, summoning a breeze to clean the room.
Everything remained exactly as she remembered.
The place resembled the residence of an ordinary palace maid—or perhaps an unfavored princess. Nothing about it drew attention. It was utterly mundane.
Even invaders storming the palace would never spare such an ordinary place a second glance.
Pero walked straight inside.
First, she opened the wardrobe and selected several pieces of clothing.
Soft, layered court dresses.
She removed her filthy vest and shirt and changed into the dress instead.
Then she took off her hat, letting her long hair fall freely before loosely tying it with a flower-decorated ribbon.
Finally, she slipped into a pair of brand-new deerskin boots.
The dress hung somewhat loosely on her small frame, leaving wrinkles throughout.
She was also clumsy with the complicated accessories and accidentally caught her hair several times.
The boots, however, were unexpectedly soft. Probably because it had already been years since she had worn shoes this comfortable.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Pero slowly spun once.
Quiet. Elegant. She finally looked somewhat like a princess again.
And then...
She suddenly grabbed an axe from somewhere and swung it directly at the perfectly ordinary wardrobe filled with clothes!
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
The wardrobe was quickly smashed to pieces, revealing...
A door.
No magic.
No decorations.
No special aura whatsoever.
Just an ordinary door.
An ordinary door appearing inside an ordinary room was the sort of thing no one would ever pay attention to.
But the moment the door appeared, a faint fishy stench drifted out from within.
“This is the place.”
Pero nodded to herself in confirmation, then immediately pushed the door open and walked inside.
