NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 125
Chapter 125 I Missed You
It was as if the sound beyond the crack was asking if it could hear her voice, tickling Shia’s ears.
The voice calling to her was so sweet and hopeful.
It felt like an old connection, one she thought she would never meet again, was reaching out to her.
She thought it was impossible, but instead of a doppelganger, Yeonhwa from another world had come with the Demon King’s fragment.
If that was the case…
Then couldn’t it also be possible that Menelapie or Teresa would come looking for me?
“Unnie, unnie…!”
Even though Yeonhwa was trying to stop her, Shia couldn’t stop herself from approaching the crack, her expression blank as she touched the fractured space.
And from there, a hand slipped out.
It was a familiar hand.
‘Could it be, Menelapie…?’
Hope welled up inside her.
She shouldn’t have hoped…
She thought it couldn’t be…
She believed it was impossible.
The face of someone she thought she would never see again flickered before her eyes.
It was simple.
All she had to do was reach out.
If she just took hold of this hand… maybe…
Just a little more.
A little more…
Crack!
“Ugh!?”
Just as she was about to grab the hand, it seized Shia by the collar.
Shocked by the sudden situation, Shia grasped the rough hand tightly.
There was no longer any need for that hand to search for something to cling to.
Shia tried to shake off the hand gripping her collar, but for some reason, the hand wouldn’t budge.
‘What… strength!’
Clack.
Clack.
“How dare you… harbor hope as a dead one.”
Even the voice that reached Shia’s ears wasn’t unfamiliar.
“So foolish.”
It was even familiar.
“Because you dream of a hope you shouldn’t have.”
Of course… it was familiar.
“Because you remember a warmth you shouldn’t recall.”
That was it.
“I.”
It was Shia.
Because the voice was her own.
“The me who was never supposed to exist. The me who should never have been here…”
The thing that crossed through the crack, with the same voice and face as Shia, wore a twisted smile.
Though it had Shia’s face, the atmosphere and gaze made it clear that the two were separate beings.
The one who walked through the shattered crack had a face that could be described as the very definition of ecstasy—so beautiful and yet so cruel at the same time.
“Like this… heh heh heh.”
Ah, how beautiful.
It was so beautiful and mesmerizing… like a flower with teeth that devoured everything that came close.
“Got pulled out, didn’t I?”
Licking the black, sticky malevolent energy like honey, it inhaled deeply.
The fragment unleashed its most primal and intense desires.
The dungeon, now more than 120 percent eroded into another world, wasn’t limited to just the dimension of Earth.
It had become a crossroad of countless dimensions, capable of pulling anyone into another world, or becoming any world at all—a nexus of infinite parallel universes.
And with the overlapping traits of the Saintess of the Dead, who granted miracles and wishes, the Demon King’s fragment had drawn something from that place.
“Haahhhhh….”
Before long, it let go of the hand gripping Shia’s collar.
It stepped forward, surveying the scene before it.
A frozen cityscape.
The crimson sky and the malevolent energy wafting from every direction.
And…
The smell of delicious humans.
“Still, it’s quite heated.”
“…..!”
Ah, it was ecstatic…
It caressed its cheek.
As if it was madly in love.
As if it was so happy it could die.
It laughed, its brain seemingly drenched in euphoria from the delicious smell.
Ah, ah.
I can’t stand it.
“Delicious.”
It licked its lips with its tongue.
“Hope, after all…”
Is nothing but a rotten rope, a pointless torture.
I know it all too well.
I was like that.
The being that had fully crossed through the crack was drenched in blood and malevolent energy.
“The expression when you devour every last bit of hope in front of them… and watch them fall into despair.”
At its feet, blood pooled, and from its footprints, squirming flesh crawled.
Dragging flesh and blood behind it, the creature seemed to caress the ignorant with a loving touch.
“Hee, that’s the most terrifying… and the tastiest…!”
“…”
Why that expression?
Ah, I didn’t introduce myself.
What a ridiculous face.
Or is it an unpleasant one?
I’ve seen faces like that often, but I’ve forgotten them by now.
What kind of emotion was it?
[In the name of the Star of Darkness, I declare. My name is Shia.]
Its spine snapped and reconnected.
From between the shattered bones and torn flesh, tentacles sprouted, grinding their teeth hungrily, searching for prey.
Crack!
Snap!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
Crack!
[But some also called me this…]
The tentacles, just like Shia’s, seemed to mimic their master, grinding their teeth even more ferociously and terrifyingly.
[The Saintess of Fire and Steel. The Saintess of the Dead. The Mother of Corpses, and…]
[The Witch of the Dark Star, Lirisia Alphenheim.]
So, did you protect everyone and obtain the light of hope?
I obtained the sin of despair, as I failed to protect anyone.
You still have things to protect. I don’t.
That’s the only difference between us.
“Please, call me as you wish.”
But you are still there.
Like I was before I lost my light.
Like a condemned prisoner who wraps the rope of hope around their neck and stands on the gallows, you still pursue hope and salvation.
Yes, a saintess cries out for hope, embodies miracles, and sings of light.
“I came after hearing despair….”
Once, I was like that, too.
“There are only those who hold on to hope here. They don’t even know I’ve arrived. They’re playing happily, clasping hands with people, blissfully unaware of the impending threat or the situation they’re in.”
And that’s why this place is so good.
“There’s so much despair to devour.”
“…..”
With those words, Shia snapped out of her daze.
Her eyes, now wide open, focused sharply as she stepped forward, standing protectively in front of Yeonhwa, facing the being that had her same face without hesitation.
“You may be a saintess who grows stronger by devouring hope… but I’m not.”
Yet, despite those words, Shia didn’t retreat.
No, retreating was never an option in the first place.
Her own form, as the fallen version of a saintess, had appeared before her, so how could she step back?
Lirisia smiled as if she understood Shia’s determination.
“If you’re clinging to that rotten rope of hope, that is.”
Black holy power materialized with physical force.
The sticky malevolent energy mixed with the holy power in Lirisia’s hand, blending into chaos.
And chaos was about to explode, ready to destroy everything.
Was it frustration? Anger?
Or perhaps it was mere, petty jealousy?
“Please, hold onto it until the end.”
Oh, starlight, please forgive them.
They know not what they do.
Crackle!
Today, I will become the shepherd leading the ignorant.
[Flesh Miracle – Great Rupture]
Today, the light of this world shall fall!
○○○○○
Shia didn’t know much about herself, but she thought she understood enough.
Having lived over sixty years and endured all sorts of ridiculous situations in the previous world, she still hadn’t fully grasped her holy power, her body, or her miracles, but she believed she had a decent handle on using her body, abilities, and miracles.
That’s how she saved countless people, brought them salvation, and even succeeded in defeating the Demon King.
But the moment she saw that pitch-black Saintess of the Dead, Shia thought.
‘Ah, I’m screwed.’
It wasn’t just screwed.
I’m really screwed.
Of all the ways to be screwed, this one had the most variations.
Looking at the Yeonhwa from the parallel world, who was eroded by the Demon King’s fragment, Shia had considered, just a little, that she might encounter Menelapie or Yeonseo or even Teresa, similarly eroded by the Demon King’s fragment, in the worst possible scenario.
She had even braced herself for the possibility of the person she wanted to meet most appearing in the worst possible form.
But what…?
‘I’m the enemy? Even in a cliché game, this would be ridiculed… Damn it…’
Shia knew as much about her own power as she did about its opposite.
As an ally, she was the most reliable.
But as an enemy, nothing was more terrifying than the Saintess of the Dead.
“Hah, hah… Ugh…”
The destruction subsided.
The buildings and skyscrapers that had once formed the landscape of the bustling city had been neatly wiped away, and at the center of it all, surrounded by swirling black holy power, stood Lirisia.
Even the drones sent by the Hunter Association to assess the situation in the dungeon had been wiped out, and Shia, who had barely managed to shield the shelters from the destruction, exhaled heavily.
‘What a fierce greeting.’
“Hooh, impressive.”
The [Great Rupture] that had exploded from the hands of Lirisia, who had introduced herself as the Witch of the
Dark Star, was eerily similar to Shia’s miracle, [Holy Body Annihilation], though its nature was the exact opposite.
The black, sticky holy power, comparable to malevolent energy, had detonated like a physical shockwave across a vast area. Shia had blocked it with her Sanctuary of the Orphan.
She had succeeded in blocking it, at least.
The miracle of Great Rupture had been intended to wipe out everything in its vicinity, including Shia and Yeonhwa, as well as the nearby buildings and, ultimately, the civilians hiding in the shelters. But it had been stopped by Shia’s miracle, leaving only a few buildings in ruins.
However…
“Cough…!”
Shia winced as dark blood gushed up from her throat.
‘That hurts…’
The Sanctuary of the Orphan wasn’t an invincible barrier or miracle.
It worked by absorbing all the impact and destruction with Shia’s holy power and body, using them to halt the devastation.
So far, no attack or battle she had encountered had been powerful enough to strain her holy power and body to such an extent.
Fortunately, the destructive power of the Great Rupture was immense, but it couldn’t be unleashed continuously, as Lirisia had begun gathering up the black holy power and brushing off her hands.
“I intended to start by giving you the despair of failing to protect… but you held on better than I expected. Impressive. Truly impressive.”
“….Don’t talk to me like you’re my mother.”
“Ah, right. But what can I do? I truly couldn’t contain my joy.”
“You talk too much.”
Clack.
Clack.
Shia spat out the foul blood in her mouth as she slowly walked toward Lirisia.
Lirisia looked down at Shia, who was approaching, with a gentle smile.
Crack!
Snap!
Crunch!
The tentacles extending from Shia’s waist and the ones from Lirisia’s waist ground their teeth, as if they were ready to tear into each other at any moment.
If even the smallest trigger appeared, the two would clash immediately.
“……”
“Heh heh heh.”
Even their heights were the same.
Their golden eyes, even in such a situation, and their sturdy reservoirs of holy power were a source of amusement.
Ah. One had brilliantly shining silver hair.
The other had hair faded and ashen, like the remnants of a fire.
That was another difference.
No matter what world it was, the body of the Saintess of the Dead was, in its own way, quite appealing.
If this weren’t the current situation, maybe I would have waved in greeting.
How was I on your side?
What about Menelapie and the others?
Were you doing well?
It was hard, wasn’t it?
Maybe we could have comforted each other, talking about those things.
But now…
Smack!!!
Instead of a greeting out of joy.
As the saintess who must destroy those that deserve death, Shia’s fist flew.
At the moment they faced each other, she knew.
We cannot tolerate each other!
When Shia’s fist connected, Lirisia’s body flew backward into a building, but the tentacles extending from her back leisurely supported her body, allowing her to regain her posture.
“You’ve got quite the punch.”
“Ah, really!”
Of course, Shia didn’t expect it to end with that one blow. She immediately launched herself toward Lirisia.
Smack!
But as if to prove that the first hit had been taken on purpose, Lirisia easily caught Shia’s fist, smoothly stepping back as she fiercely kicked Shia’s thigh.
Shia twisted her body, as if anticipating the move, avoiding the kick.
With her other hand, she aimed a punch at Lirisia’s solar plexus with a sound that tore through the air, but Lirisia caught the punch, and they continued to dodge and counter, twisting and striking at each other.
Smack!
Thud!
Crunch!
In mere seconds, dozens of exchanges took place, and Shia realized something.
They knew each other’s movements all too well.
Because it was me.
Because they were the same being.
Their lightning-fast exchanges were too quick for the human eye to follow, and their bodies, tougher than most S-class monsters, clashed, but neither side easily gained the upper hand.
Even though they were the same being from different worlds, fundamentally, they were identical, and even their fighting styles were strikingly similar.
But there was one thing that was different.
“I wanted to talk a little more.”
It was experience.
Snap!
“Grrk!”
Liricia dodged Shia’s fist that aimed for her face and immediately bit down on the hand, locking it in place with her teeth.
She was far more experienced in combat.
It wasn’t just a matter of dirty tricks or savage fighting.
Liricia knew much better than Shia how cruel and merciless the Saintess of the Dead could become when she didn’t hold back.
“Ugh?!”
And then, a tentacle of Liricia, moving at supersonic speed, came at her, wrapped in dark holy power.
It wriggled like a separate living entity, smoothly drawing in Shia’s fist and simultaneously restraining her.
“This is something you brought upon yourself.”
With Shia’s fist still in her mouth, Liricia gathered dark holy power in her free hand.
[Flesh Miracle]
“…!”
[Explosion]
Bam!!
Even though she couldn’t fire it consecutively, using it again after a short time wasn’t an issue…!
The invisible physical shock hit Shia’s body, sending her flying through five buildings.
‘Ugh… This is tough!’
It wasn’t just tough; it was beyond that.
As Shia flew back, gritting her teeth against the fierce pain she hadn’t felt in a long time, her body seared with agony.
Her holy power-protected, steel-like skin boiled and frothed as if it had been corroded by the dark holy power, evaporating in its wake.
Despite being familiar with countless pains through her body and experience, Shia exhaled like a child who had scraped their knee for the first time.
After a long moment, Shia realized that she had flown hundreds of meters and had crashed deep into a building.
Her skin, which had been scorched by the dark holy power, quickly returned to its original pale white, but the traces of destruction left on her body were significant.
Rumble…
Shia lifted her head and realized that the building she had crashed into was collapsing from its foundation.
It seemed like she had struck it with the force of a meteor.
‘Uh… oh… if that collapses, it’ll be hard to get out…’
[Absolute Zero]
At that moment, Yeonhwa approached, freezing the entire building, halting its collapse completely.
Slash!
Yeonhwa swung her sword, splitting the enormous frozen building in half, landing in front of Shia.
Rather than being crushed by the massive building’s debris, freezing it into ice made it easier to shatter.
The ice shards broke apart like snowflakes, and beneath them, Yeonhwa helped Shia to her feet.
“Unnie! Are you okay!?”
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m fine.”
It had been a long time since Shia had felt such intense pain, not since the day she had returned to Earth and had been caught in Yeonseo’s spatial rupture. But this hurt even more than that.
“Get a hold of yourself, unnie.”
“…”
“You can have your breakdown after this. You can despair and be sad after we finish here.”
“…Yeah.”
Shia couldn’t help but smile slightly at Yeonhwa’s surprisingly calm demeanor.
Thanks to Yeonhwa’s words, Shia managed to calm her swirling emotions just a little.
That’s right, set aside the confusion for now.
Right now, she had to take down that crazy witch from the other star, or whatever she was, who was out to kill them.
Clap, clap, clap
“Oh my, I don’t know that face.”
Like a spider, Liricia appeared, stepping between the rubble with her tentacles, laughing gleefully like a child watching a circus.
Seeing this, Yeonhwa’s eyes, as she helped Shia stand, turned cold.
“Hm, you’re not a mage since you control ice… Ah, you must be an elementalist? Elementalists’ flesh had different flavors depending on the spirits they handled…”
Crack!
The ground where Yeonhwa stood split apart.
The frost-covered ground shattered, shaken by Yeonhwa’s emotions.
Shia flinched in surprise at Yeonhwa’s sudden burst of killing intent.
‘Uh… Yeonhwa…?’
How dare this thing.
What?
You? No… something like you, calling yourself Shia? Shia unnie? Don’t make me laugh.
“Well, I was curious about your name, child. What is it…?”
“I have no name to give to an old hag like you.”
“…………….”
Liricia’s face twitched slightly for a moment, but she quickly returned to her usual serene smile.
“Don’t be so harsh. I’m a little curious since I didn’t have something she has…”
“It’s not curiosity, it’s jealousy.”
Her brows furrowed again, but Liricia still smiled.
A smile.
A smile.
“…..”
“And what? Dark Star Saintess? What a joke, you’ve got a major case of middle school syndrome. I’m seriously curious, how old are you?”
“…….Ha ha, child. I’m older than you—”
“Even though my Shia unnie was diagnosed with a mental age of 21 by the association, are you seriously an old hag? Wow, it’s pathetic watching a hag act all crazy, saying she’ll kill and whatnot. Don’t you realize how pitiful you look?”
‘…Could Yeonhwa have been embarrassed when I called myself the Saintess of the Dead?’
But… it’s true… I am the Saintess of the Dead…
No way, right?
“And here you are, calling yourself the Dark Star Saintess? You’ve made a complete mess in another world and come here? Aren’t you ashamed?”
“………”
Each of Yeonhwa’s ice-cold words stabbed into Liricia like daggers, making her face twitch little by little.
“Haa, child….”
“Stop calling me ‘child.’ I don’t need a name from you.”
Clang!
Yeonhwa drew her sword, infused with her icy power.
The cold aura emanating from the sword was sharper than ever.
“And don’t say such nonsense with Shia unnie’s face. You’re disgusting, hag.”
“Heh heh heh…”
Liricia’s smile remained unchanged.
“Yes, I see. You have a good friend. In this world, I…”
However, it was inevitable that her smile had darkened more than before.
“In that case, I’ll just have to break her.”
○○○○○
The fight continued after that.
Crack!
Bam!
[Flesh Miracle – Severance]
Liricia swung her finger, and everything in its path was severed.
The severed parts wriggled with dark holy power and exploded.
Yeonhwa moved at high speed, freezing the ground beneath her to reduce friction and avoid the attack.
[Flesh Miracle – Thorn Hell]
The bloated flesh spread from Liricia’s center, and bone spikes burst forth.
Fortunately, Yeonhwa froze the flesh and bone with her ice and shattered them. Shia, whose body had been reinforced with holy power, wasn’t affected at all.
“It was a useful miracle for killing humans in one blow… but it’s not much use against you, is it?”
While Liricia freely used widespread destructive miracles, Shia and Yeonhwa were burdened by significant restrictions.
There were still many people in the shelters.
No matter how hard they tried to limit the battlefield, the destructive power of the witch from the Dark Star, who was on par with Shia—or perhaps even stronger—was terrifying.
Shia knew that terror better than anyone.
With just one punch, buildings collapsed. They had smashed each other into buildings and knocked each other down dozens of times already.
Shia didn’t tire as she got back up. She took as many hits as possible in Yeonhwa’s place, while Yeonhwa did her best to attack Liricia with ice and cold.
However, because there were civilians in this dungeon, Shia couldn’t recklessly unleash her attack miracles like Holy Body Annihilation.
If she didn’t limit her power, she could destroy the shelters.
And even worse, if she sent Liricia flying into the wrong place and that insane woman fell where the civilians were hiding…
Then Shia might as well have killed countless people with her own hands.
“Ha ha, what’s wrong? You’re being so passive for someone who talked so big, aren’t you? You’ve got a lot you want to protect, huh?”
Liricia knew that as well.
From the moment she tore through dimensions and arrived here, she had smelled the sweet scent of human flesh.
If she wanted to, she could have ditched Yeonhwa and Shia and feasted on humans instead of continuing the battle.
After all, she had no concept of boundaries.
Her greed and hunger had no limits.
Why would the Dark Star Saintess ever resist her hunger?
Yet, the only reason Liricia was still entertaining the fight was because she found this world’s Shia and the child named Yeonhwa interesting.
Are you still protecting them?
Did you really think you could have everything while clinging to a rotten rope?
It’s so laughable, I just want to crush you!!!
[Flesh Miracle – Great Explosion]
BOOOOM!!!
[Miracle – Sanctuary of the Orphan]
“Ah, ugh…”
As the Dark Star shone again, another widespread destructive miracle swept through the dungeon.
Once again, Shia had to bear all the impact with her body through the miracle of her sanctuary.
While Shia knelt on one knee, Yeonhwa’s ice surged toward Liricia.
“This is getting boring.”
“Kugh!”
But with one hand, Liricia shattered Yeonhwa’s ice, and the tentacles extending from her waist reached through the ice barrier, grabbing Yeonhwa’s body.
“Huff, huff, huff…”
“What are you doing?”
Shia, who barely managed to recover from the impact of the Great Explosion, lifted her head, blood dripping from her mouth.
“What’s wrong? Are you not going to save her?”
“……..”
“Did you stop because you think I’ve taken a hostage?”
Liricia realized something new.
The pitiful Saintess of the Dead, who clung to hope, hadn’t truly tasted despair yet, had she?
“Hahaha, how soft I’ve become.”
How childish.
Are you hesitating just because I’ve taken this pathetic girl?
Liricia’s eyes turned pitch black.
“If you stop, you’ll die.”
“Not just you. Both of you will die. And soon, those humans over there will become chunks of meat too. Then, you’ll lose everything.”
“My Empress, my witch, my servants, my fingers—everything, everything, everything.”
“You can’t move because something precious has been caught? You still need to act. You should be charging forward instead of hesitating. You should swear revenge on everyone who dares lay a hand on what’s precious to you…!”
“You’re right…”
“Hah…”
How pitifully weak.
You can’t even understand what I’m saying. You’re hesitating just because a hostage is taken.
Is this… the me of this world?
Is this what I was jealous of?
So weak that it makes me sigh.
So pathetic that I can’t even believe it.
I have no expectations.
“Enough. You’re done for…”
“But you sure talk a lot.”
“What?”
[Ice Contagion]
“Hug me, you old hag…!”
Craaaaack!
“…!”
At that moment, Liricia’s body, which had been holding onto Yeonhwa, began to freeze entirely.
Her eyes widened at the chilling cold that erupted, a near-suicidal level of frost.
It wasn’t magic—it was a power closer to an elemental force, so resisting it with holy power had its limits.
There was no time to respond or even cut off her arm.
She had been too close, thinking she had a hostage.
Normally, Liricia’s dark holy power would have protected her, and Yeonhwa’s ice wouldn’t have dealt much damage beyond freezing her skin slightly.
But Yeonhwa, possessing the strength of an S-rank hunter with powerful ice abilities and matching physical capabilities, had caught Liricia off guard.
Not to mention…
It wasn’t just Liricia.
Yeonhwa’s body, which had unleashed her power without any limits, had frozen along with her.
‘She froze herself to freeze me…!’
Just because she wielded ice didn’t mean she was immune to it.
Normally, she would control her abilities to avoid harming her own body, but now Yeonhwa had frozen both her arm and body completely.
Perhaps, the source of that action…
[Great Miracle – Scepter of the God of the Dead]
Yes, it must be her.
That girl.
Shia!
The Saintess of the Dead!
Because she trusted Shia, this ice wielder had pushed herself to the brink with a near-suicidal outburst of power!!!
‘…!’
BAAAAAM!!
Shia gripped the mace summoned by the miracle, tightening her grip as she charged forward.
What seemed like a kneeling stance was actually a position to generate maximum propulsion, and her speed only accelerated further.
At this moment, Shia’s attack power was significantly limited by the presence of civilians.
Widespread miracles like Holy Body Annihilation or any other destructive miracles were off-limits.
In this situation, the most powerful miracle Shia could use was the Scepter of the God of the Dead, the same mace she had used to strike down the Demon King in her previous world.
“Get your head in position!!!”
CRAACK!!!
With a fierce grip on the mace, as if unleashing all the frustration she had accumulated, Shia reached the frozen Liricia in an instant.
Five seconds.
That was the time it would take for Liricia to free herself from the ice.
It took Shia only one second to summon the Scepter of the God of the Dead.
And just two seconds to crush the ground beneath her feet and charge straight toward Liricia.
That left two more seconds.
The dark holy power flared as Liricia resisted the freezing, but the remaining two seconds were more than enough for Shia.
Plenty of time to crush the head of this damn witch from the Dark Star!
You have no idea how disappointed I was when you showed up instead of Menelapie or Teresa!!!
BOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!