As someone who could boast of experiencing more deaths than any mortal, he could understand what was happening to his body at this moment more clearly than anyone else.
He was dying. Sadarkelisa’s petrification wasn’t just about freezing time. Her influence was spreading a vast and deadly corruption across all areas she touched.
Though time had stopped, Sadarkelisa’s corruption hadn’t yet manifested its full effects. But that was only because she hadn’t acted.
‘d*mn it.’
Had Loft’s plan failed? Or was it because the Great Demon was stronger than he had anticipated? Even the last heroes of civilization, who had gathered to oppose the end of a world in his previous life, had to tear apart and rebuild their souls to remain free from the corruption of Hellish Magic.
Poison flowed through his veins, and he felt his roughly pulsating heart slowly fading. If others hadn’t yet been twisted by the corruption due to the frozen time, then he, the only one free within the frozen time, was facing the corruption head-on without any filter.
-Fernandez.
‘Huh…’
A single breath escaped. His lungs stiffened, and his breathing became labored. Fernandez couldn’t tell if his reddened vision was due to the blazing flames before his eyes or the rupturing of his bl**d vessels.
But he couldn’t give up.
-Swish.
With great effort, his fingers, which he had barely managed to spread, curled. [Construction]. The first step of all magic. With his divine power drying up and his soul rapidly crumbling, he made a move with his blurred vision.
The distortion in his vision intensified, and his hand felt heavy, as if bound by chains. Glancing down, he saw a black haze entwined around his hand. Without stopping, he twisted his left hand and folded it. Again, [Construction].
-Snap.
The haze dug into both arms. A searing pain accompanied the stiffening of his wrists, turning them to stone.
[I know you.]
A voice echoed from the top of the burning Yggdrasil, resonating through the sky. A noise that crushed his mind began to speak directly to his soul.
[I know you. Sadarkelisa remembers you. The moment you first opposed Sadarkelisa, your birth, and even the events beyond that.]
With a hissing sound, one of Yggdrasil’s branches crumbled. The slow collapse of the massive branch resembled the fall of an ancient city wall.
The branch struck the ground without a sound. The ground twisted, and a part of Yotunheim’s Legion that had been on it disappeared beneath.
[Beyond the line of the horizontal world. Sadarkelisa has long dreamed. A dream of the world burning. A dream of a mortal struggling…]
Even amidst the deafening roar that tore through the sky, Fernandez thought with a cold, calculating mind. Does she want to talk? Why? If her power could freeze time, why would she attempt to converse with him instead of immediately setting the world ablaze?
-Bluffing?
‘Half right.’
No matter how great a demon she was, no matter how powerful and mighty, it was impossible for her to retain her full power within the seal created by the Temple of the Gods. There was still hope.
‘Help me.’
-Swish.
A spirit form extended from his back. A desperate move he had been holding onto. Since losing the function of his right arm, he had prepared this move for this very moment.
Auxiliary spell, Three Heads Six Arms. His signature spell from his previous life was too much for his current body, but Three Heads Six Arms was possible. With the extended hand, he made another move. Once more, [Construction]!
[Your struggle is meaningless. Tearing you apart and devouring you is not difficult, but Sadarkelisa wishes to speak with you. Do not test Sadarkelisa’s patience.]
-Crack.
The haze constricting him intensified, and Hellish Magic began to burn through his veins. The intense flow of magic, starting from his fingertips and toes, climbed through his veins and slowly consumed his body.
His sensory system went haywire. It was itchy, hot, and at the same time, a cold sensation as if being sliced by a blade twisted through his stomach. His heart slowly stopped beating.
d*ath was close.
‘Heartbeat.’
-Yes.
The heart is not just an organ that pumps bl**d. It is one of the best organs for containing magic. The arm that rose from Fernandez’s back plunged into his chest, materializing at the fingertips.
-Crunch.
“Ugh…!”
[Do not resist.]
Ignoring Sadarkelisa’s whispers, he focused as much as possible on the sensation in his fingertips. As his hand materialized, it tore through organs and muscles, but that was a secondary loss. Slowly clenching his hand, he forcibly gripped his heart and continued the pulse!
-Thump, thump, thump!
bl**d regained its vitality, and reason returned to his overheated brain. Fernandez glared at Sadarkelisa with bloodshot eyes. Far away. The gaze looking down at him from the top of Yggdrasil…
The top?
The seal should have been inside Yggdrasil… in the sanctuary of Karadfel?
‘Faijashi! It’s an illusion!’
-But the magic is real. Even if the surroundings are an illusion, this dense magic itself… the presence of the Great Demon is not an illusion.
‘The seal has been broken. But she hasn’t been fully released yet!’
[Destroyer of worlds. Sadarkelisa has long dreamed. A dream of your world burning. And the wish you desire… Help me fulfill your dream. Submit to Sadarkelisa. I will grant your wish.]
His vision intensified, and the burning world around him began to take shape. A dark green sky, crumbling earth, advancing demons… A familiar scene from his previous life.
And beyond that, a spire… the Crimson Spire. The stronghold Faijashi had built in the past came into view. The demons blackening the sky and the handful of heroes struggling against them.
Sadarkelisa whispered amidst it all.
[Tyban was foolish. He did not know what you desired. But Sadarkelisa is wise. The soul of your kin, abandoned beyond the horizontal world. Sadarkelisa can save it. Isn’t that what you wanted?]
The haze entwined around Fernandez’s arms writhed, and a massive amount of magic seeped into his body. The divinity in his veins completely burned away, and his arms turned black and necrotic. Sensation disappeared below his elbows. But magic overflowed.
[Your]
