Side Story Chapter 147

‘You’ll help me, won’t you?’

Lilith desperately asked Joshua, but she got no answer. A frown crept onto her beautiful face.

‘Why aren’t you saying anything?’

-Aisha didn’t ask me.

‘This is for the sake of your son.’

-...If I release my energy, the situation may get worse, not better.

‘What in the world do you mean?’

Lilith asked, her lips still twisted into a frown.

-You’ll find out soon enough. For the time being, do what she asks you to do.

Although she wanted to postpone giving an answer, she couldn’t because Aisha was right in front of her.

“How should I help you?”

“I knew that you would lend me a hand.” A smile spread across Aisha’s face. “The plan is simple. Please distract Kireua, and I’ll catch him off guard from the shadows.”

“You want me to do what?”

Aisha was asking her to fight against that monster, who exuded demonic power thick as mud, head-on. Lilith knew that Aisha’s stealth was peerless, but...

“You only have to distract him for a very short moment. I’ll use that small gap to subdue him. I know it’ll be difficult, but please endure for a moment,” Aisha added with a bitter smile.

“O-Okay.”

A deafening

bang

grabbed their attention. Lilith and Aisha turned and found that another death knight had been struck by Kireua’s strike and was getting pushed far back.

“Let’s go.”

“Shit, I don’t know anymore.” Lilith infused her mana into her sword, enveloped it in pale silver aura.

-I’ll help.

Joshua pulled the nearby mana into Lilith’s body using a highly advanced mana accumulation technique of such sophistication that Lilith couldn’t even begin to fathom. Whatever it was, it filled her body with vigor in an instant.

“...I feel like I can take on a Demon King right now.”

Lilith charged into battle with new confidence, crossing dozens of meters in a second. Oddly, Kireua had turned to look at her even before she had started running.

“...This energy is...?” Kireua murmured. Lilith heard his voice, even though that was quieter than an ant’s footsteps.

-That’s not the actual Kireua. Ignore him.

Lilith tightened her grip on her sword. She had already closed the distance, so she couldn’t retreat now. She gathered her resolve and acted.

‘I’m sorry, Prince Kireua. I hope this brings you back to your senses.’

Their swords clashed. Lilith’s palms went numb like she had smashed her sword against a giant boulder, but she had already started attacking Kireua. She didn’t stop.

All of Lilith’s three attacks ended up hitting Kireua’s sword, which greatly hurt Lilith’s pride. It wasn’t like she had used her full power, but Kireua had managed to block all of her swings.

“Try blocking this too!” Lilith spun nimbly. A series of attacks like a shower of rain wasn’t what she needed right now. She needed one strong attack to bring Kireua back to his senses. She used the momentum of her spin...

LIilth’s eyes nearly popped out of her skull. She had put every ounce of her power into this slash, but her powerful aura had dissipated as soon as her sword collided Kireua’s in spite of the fact that he wasn’t even using his mana.

Kireua wan’t done. Kireua swung his sword backward without looking. Red sparks flew from the darkness, and Aisha went rolling across the floor, groaning. Judging from the blood dripping down her arms, her wounds were quite serious.

“How... how can he detect presences as well as me and control his power so proficiently?” Lilith gasped.

-...My father was called a god, so this is not unexpected.

Kireua was now staring at Lilith without moving.

“Is that you, Joshua?” Kireua asked. However, Kireua wouldn’t address his father by name—it was clear that that wasn’t actually Kireua.

𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

It was Duke Aden von Agnus, the infamous Dark God.

“How is this possible?” Lilith frowned.

She got her answer from someone else. A lich appeared a few steps away from her without making a sound and laughed ominously.

-Ninth Circle is a level where you can create something from nothing, so this kind of thing is a piece of cake. Hehehe.

“‘I see all the heroes are here,’” Joshua said through Lilith. “‘Evergrant con Aswald, don’t you think this is too petty of you?’”

-Petty? Why?

“‘I paid the price.’”

-Yes, you did. Thanks to you, I reached the ultimate level, for which I am grateful. That’s why I’m faithfully keeping our promise.

“‘Taking out your anger on my son is what you call faithfully keeping a promise?’”

-”Test the qualifications of the people who visit this place. If they're not competent enough to maintain control of the undead legion after taking them outside, don’t give the legion to them in the first place. Destroy the entire army if necessary.” Those were your instructions.

Evergrant’s glowing red eyes swayed in his hollow sockets.

-Just like I said, I’m doing my very best to keep our promise, Joshua Sanders.

Lilith turned at Joshua’s behest toward the burning gaze he could feel boring into him.

“It was indeed you, my son.” Kireua—no, Aden von Agnus said.

“‘...You’re no longer my father. You’re just a pitiful ghost who wanders this world, unable to let go of your lingering regrets.’”

“I see that your mouth is the same as ever. You seem to misunderstand something here. I don’t really resent you.” Aden repeatedly clasped and unclasped his sword.

It was a bizarre, tragic encounter between father and a son. After decades, Aden had been reunited with his son in someone else’s body.

“I really can’t get used to this thin sword. It’s like a toy...” Aden muttered.

-Let me fix that for you.

Evergrant immediately spun his demonic power as if he had been waiting for Aden to say that. A two-meter-long black greatsword was created out of thin air and flew into Aden’s hands on its own as though it knew its owner.

“I assume that you have many questions for me,” Aden said.

“‘...As do you.’”

“Hahaha! Yes, I also have many questions for you. So, as usual...”

An enormous amount of energy poured out of Aden, making the air tremble and tense. Even without doing anything specific, this man could pressure his opponent. This was why humans dared to call him a god.

“Duke Aden von Agnus, the Dark God...” Lilith grunted.

Aden’s footsteps echoed off the walls of the massive vault. How strong was Aden? The battle he had fought in the Palace was the stuff of legends, but its events were only recorded in history books now. However, Lilith may witness the same thing with her own eyes today. It set her heart racing with excitement that made her forget about the situation she was in.

“Come.” Aden gestured at Joshua.

-...Since he’s the opponent, I’ll have to use more power. I ask you to excuse me in advance.

Lilith almost shouted, “Certainly!” Her trust in Joshua was already at the level of a fanatic. Even if the great Dark God wouldn’t be able to defeat the Martial God. Never.

‘Should I consider it an honor?’

Lilith chuckled silently.

‘I get to experience a battle between two legends first hand.’

Lilith’s body took a single step forward.

Without warning, a barrage of black aura was fired. From left to right, from the sky to the ground... The aura strikes also flew from behind Lilith to ambush her. They were so fast that they seemed to disappear from the eye. Whenever Lilith moved, dozens of black streaks honed in on her in every direction, as if Aden were showing her what a real flurry of attacks looked like. Lilith instinctively realized that the Dark God intended to hold nothing back.

The attacks left deep scars in the vault. The floor was cracked and a tempest raged in the vault, and yet...

‘Why can’t he hit me even once?’

Lilith wondered.

She no longer had control of her body; Joshua had dodged all the sword strikes without looking and it didn’t even seem that Joshua needed to expend a great deal of effort to do it. Aden stopped, apparently as taken aback as Lilith.

“How...?” His sharp eyes peered at Joshua.

“I thought the victor would get the answers they wanted.”

“...Ha. Hahahaha! I’m so dumbstruck that I can’t help laughing. Am I unable to use my full power because this isn’t my body?”

From the two half-shattered death knights to the wounded dark elf, there were many people in the vault watching Joshua and Aden. Evergrant’s eyes, unnatural as they were, seemed especially intent.

“Do you want to know the answer?”

“...No, I’ll test it myself.” Aden drew up his power again.

Joshua quietly shook his head. “There’s no need for that. This fight is already over.”

“What?”

“It means that it’s my turn now.”

Lilith was lending Joshua her body, but she was just as desperate to know what Joshua meant. In fact, she wished he would tell Aden the answer before he moved on to their next exchange, because she didn’t think for a second that the Martial God was going to lose.

Maybe he noticed her wish.

“It’s not that you got weak, Dark God. It’s just...”

“‘Just’?” Aden quietly prompted.

Joshua straightened.

“Time stopped for you decades ago, but time still flows for me. That’s all.”