Chapter :109

Theo’s face was tense.

He stepped on the circle of wind and ran like an arrow.

Faster, farther—he had to get away from Benaya.

There was clear fear in his eyes.

Just then, his back froze.

A chilling sensation crawled up his skin.

A breathtaking horror shot up his spine.

The desperate fear of a hunted animal.

“Keuk!”

A hand lunged and snatched his clothes.

Theo’s body was dragged down from the air, straight down.

The wind rushed past, tearing at him, and before his spine could even feel the chill, the ground was right in front of him.

But he couldn’t just take it. In mid-fall, he created a sword of ice and thrust it at Benaya.

A sharp and fierce blow. However—

Ting! The gauntlet lightly deflected the sword.

It was a piece of equipment he had prepared in advance, thinking it would be a nuisance if his arm were to get cut.

“Useful.”

Benaya, who had bent his wrist once with an indifferent hand, slammed Theo into the ground the next moment.

Thud! The impact, as if his bones would shatter, spread throughout his body.

Before he could even cough, a gauntlet-clad hand choked Theo’s neck.

“……!”

He couldn’t breathe. The air was cut off. His pupils shook.

I don’t want to die!

That intense desire was tangled up to his fingertips, and Theo desperately pushed away the hand that was choking him.

But it wouldn’t budge. No matter how much force he used, that grip was as hard as a rock.

“Keoheok—”

His lungs tightened. His mind went white.

His hands and feet grew cold, and his struggling body soon went limp on the floor.

He hadn’t broken his neck, so he wasn’t dead. But those few seconds of being unable to breathe, along with the pain of his flesh being torn, paralyzed his body.

In the end, his body had shut down his consciousness to protect itself. That could also lead to death.

“His Holiness must be waiting.”

Benaya slung Theo’s unconscious body over his shoulder.

His limp arms and legs swayed slightly with his footsteps.

“I hope he hasn’t waited too long.”

He muttered lowly.

How could a mere believer dare to make God wait?

As if to prove his haste, Benaya’s steps grew faster and faster.

And in that moment, Benaya missed it.

The gaze he would never have missed under normal circumstances.

A gaze that was quietly watching him from afar, faintly glinting from between the dark trees.

* * *

The moment Caelus’s eyes fell on Theo’s unconscious and limp face, the corners of his mouth twisted.

“Ahahahaha!!!”

A mad burst of laughter shook the altar.

He felt as if the sense of humiliation, shame, and disgrace that had been pressing down on his chest had all evaporated.

The first face that came to mind was, of course, Evan Lisitoel’s.

What kind of expression would he make in the face of his beloved son’s death?

Would he shed tears of blood? Would he scream with a broken face?

Yes, he would. Because you loved your son so much.

“Hehehehe.”

There was no reason, no will to hide his true nature.

A twisted smile spread across Caelus’s lips.

“Your Holiness.”

“Yes, I can’t just end it like this.”

Caelus, twisting his body as he approached, carefully lifted a silver platter filled with blood.

The blood of a dark red viper.

Every time it shook, its surface rippled as if it were alive.

Caelus dipped his hand into the blood without hesitation.

The moment the cold sensation traveled up his fingertips, he immediately and roughly tore open the clothes of Theo, who was lying on the altar.

Rip! With the sound of fabric tearing, his abdomen was exposed.

A drop of blood, then another, fell onto the white skin.

Caelus began to draw a magic circle with the blood.

The curves were sharp, the symbols distorted.

The curse was thus engraved.

The world would pay a high price for Theo Lisitoel’s life.

A talented magician, that alone was enough to make the world bow its head.

But that was not enough.

So he chose a curse that destroyed the soul.

So that not the body, but the very existence itself, would scream in agony and reach annihilation.

This spell was not a simple taboo.

Even mentioning its name was a capital offense.

A realm of complete heresy that was not even allowed to be approached.

But the Pope was an exception. From a position no one else could reach, he had obtained the taboo.

And finally, it was time for that knowledge to be useful.

The moment the curse’s magic circle was completely engraved on Theo’s abdomen, his body twisted greatly.

“Keoheok!”

The scream that burst out was short and rough, as if his breath had been cut off.

The unconscious body writhed in pain.

It was not to live. It was just a reflexive and instinctive movement.

His fingertips trembled and his legs twitched as if in a seizure.

He looked like a sinner screaming to be saved.

“Hahahaha!!!”

But Caelus, seeing that, laughed out loud.

His eyes glistened with madness, and a joy mixed with contempt spread across his lips.

“More, suffer more!”

Struggle more in the inescapable destruction!

The more you suffer, the more the world will value it!

And Caelus held out his hand and said lowly.

“The knife.”

Benaya moved without a word. He took out two daggers and handed them over.

Pure white daggers.

The blades were as white as snow, and they themselves held a sacredness.

But the moment the daggers were placed in the silver platter containing the blood of the dark red viper, everything began to distort.

Bubble.

Bubbles erupted from the tip of the blade, and in an instant, the entire blood began to boil.

The blood churned in the silver platter like hot lava.

When the bubbling blood foam had subsided, the blades of the daggers taken out were no longer white. They were terribly stained a dark red.

The daggers that had shone sacredly now radiated a light that was more ominous than ever.

Caelus, who had taken the daggers from the platter, handed one of them to Benaya.

“When I say so, stab your heart with this.”

Even at the command to stab his heart, Benaya silently bowed his head.

Caelus, satisfied with Benaya’s compliance, smiled and held the other pair of daggers.

He felt a burning sensation in his palm, but he paid no mind to the pain.

Caelus, holding the daggers in both hands, quietly recited the incantation.

A dead language from the past, long forgotten even among demons, flowed from his lips.

With each syllable, Theo’s body twisted more in pain, vomiting blood and shedding tears of blood.

Even if his mortal breath were to be cut off, the suffering of his soul would not end.

“I’d like to enjoy this leisurely, but I must hurry.”

He, who was already cornered, had no time to spare.

When the last syllable ended, Theo’s body became completely still.

Now, Theo Lisitoel was trapped in a never-ending curse.

But this was not the end.

The curse-spreading dagger cut through Theo’s flesh and took out his bright red heart.

The source where all souls reside. The liquid that flowed from the heart seeped into the altar.

When a red light erupted, Caelus was ecstatic.

No more sacrifices were needed.

It seemed the world had valued his suffering at a much higher price.

He was puzzled, but it didn’t matter. What was important now was to summon the demon.

Once again, an ancient language flowed from his lips.

The red light grew as if it would swallow the world, and when the light completely subsided, a giant demon appeared before Caelus.

His skin was the color of ancient desert sand. But his eyes were those of a young man, filled with the fierce light of one who was about to witness the end of the world.

《Are you my summoner.》

A distant sensation that trampled on all divinity with just one word.

A ‘named’ demon! And judging by this overwhelming presence, he must be a rather high-ranking demon.

“I summoned you.”

He had prepared for a ‘just in case’ situation, but as expected….

‘While I’m at it, I should search his stomach and get the ring.’

But before that, there was something he had to do.

“Benaya, stab your heart with the dagger.”

A virtual suicide command.

But Benaya, without hesitation, stabbed his heart with the dagger that radiated an ominous light.

Stab! With the sound of a sharp blade cutting through flesh, the demon was momentarily flustered by the sudden slaughter.

“Benaya, what is the demon’s true name?”

“Agares Insalaf Turkel.”

For the first time, a stir of emotion appeared on the face of the demon, Agares, who had been relaxed all along.

What had unfolded before him was a clear anomaly.

Suddenly, another human stabs his own heart, and then recites his true name.

There should be only one being who knows his true name!

“Obey, Agares Insalaf Turkel.”

The pressure of the true name, the chains of obedience, tried to swallow Agares.

How dare you!! Anger flashed in Agares’s eyes.

In a fit of rage, Agares’s eerie hand stopped just before it reached Caelus.

Why?

Agares tried to move his body somehow, but his body was frozen as if it had escaped his will.

《…These damn humans!!!》

The roar shook the altar.

Unless you’re mad, yes! Unless you’re mad!

How could you even think of fusing a human and a demon!

Something that should have been forgotten long ago in the human world! A mere human, whose life is but a fleeting moment compared to Agares’s!

Agares’s body shook. His fading body seemed to be returning to the Demon Realm, but that was not the case.

He was being absorbed by the human through the dagger as a medium.

《Human!!!!!!》

“Shut up, demon. You have one job. To become the flame that will burn the world.”

To become the first spark of that flame.

“From a demon’s perspective, it would be a great happiness.”

《Hahahaha!!! How greedy, how greedy! Fine, I will become a spark for you!!! But you must be prepared.》

Agares’s end, now almost completely gone, was aimed at Caelus.

《The world will not go as you wish—》

“If you wish to cast one last curse, then do so, Agares.”

Caelus said with a firm, unwavering face.

Agares’s body scattered. Benaya’s skin, where his heart had been stabbed by the dagger, turned black.

He could no longer remain as the Pope, but it didn’t matter. Because he would burn the whole world. But before that—

“I must retrieve the ring.”

The ring bestowed by God would become his other fortress.

Just as he was about to cut open his stomach with another dagger, someone’s voice cut through the space.

“Are you perhaps looking for this?”

It was the voice of the one he had killed with his own hands.

With a deathly pale face, Caelus slowly turned his head.

‘Theo Lisitoel,’ wearing the golden ring, was smiling at Caelus with a clear face.

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