Chapter 282: War (6)
Savage black flames flickered and writhed. Amid the heavy echoes of approaching footsteps, a man walked straight through the sea of fire.
“Amon...”
Though his appearance was nearly indistinguishable from the other avatars, the moment I saw him, I could tell that this wasn’t a clone. It was the real Amon, the Archbishop of Ruin. The very pinnacle of the demons, the being humanity had never managed to defeat in my previous life, now stood before me.
“To call the Master of Ruin a ‘bastard.’ Hah! You must first learn the proper etiquette for addressing your master, O’ Heir of Ruin.”
“You keep calling me your heir, like we’re somehow connected,” I replied. “But the only relationship between you and me is victim and perpetrator.”
And of course, the victim crushed beneath unjust violence would be Amon.
“Very well. At least when it comes to running your mouth, you seem to have the upper hand,” Amon said.
“Well now. Are you sure that’s the only thing I’m better at?” Gripping my sword, I stepped toward him.
The avatars lined up behind him spread out, surrounding me with hostile intent. I glanced at the circle of Amon’s clones and curled the corner of my lips. “What? The only people who’ll help you are your clones? You should’ve made more friends while you had the chance.”
Just like I did.
The Warp Gate that the cadets had just passed through rippled once more. From within the gate emerged the elite forces of each nation. The first to step through was Khalid Han, the Falling Petal Sword.
“Kehahahaha! At last! The long-awaited funeral day for these demon bastards has arrived! Well, you can’t have a funeral without some liquor.” Khalid pulled out a bottle from his waist and began gulping it down.
Shaking his head in disbelief, the Sword of the Holy Empire followed behind him. “Haa! Even at a time like this, you’re drinking?”
Behind the Sword of the Holy Empire came the Pope herself. “Don’t scold him too much, Johan. Drinking is Khalid’s own kind of ritual.”
Finally, the Empress stepped through the Warp Gate. “It’s been a while, Amon.”
Amon frowned as he looked at the Masters gathered in the auditorium.
“Five Masters... No, six.” Clicking his tongue, Amon turned his gaze toward me. “You came well prepared.”
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that nearly all the military power of the current heroes had gathered in this single auditorium. Even for the pinnacle of demonkind, this was a force that couldn’t be taken lightly.
Amon’s lips twisted upward. “But... It’s pointless.”
No matter how many had gathered, it didn’t matter to him. From the very beginning, Amon hadn’t come here to fight the heroes. He desired only one thing. It was to awaken the ember sleeping in the deepest depths of the Abyss and be reborn as the true Master of Ruin.
As Amon violently stomped the ground, the black flames throughout the auditorium surged wildly. The heroes quickly deployed defensive magic against the raging inferno and prepared for battle, but the flames weren’t targeting the heroes. The black flames engulfed the demons lined up behind Amon, burning the Apostles of Ruin who served him.
The demons were shocked and confused.
“Huh?”
“M-my body?”
“L-Lord Amon! What is the meaning of—”
“AAAAAAAH!”
“H-hot! It’s burning! It’s burning!”
“My bodyyyyy!”
“W-why us?”
Even the heroes inside the auditorium looked stunned by Amon’s sudden attack on his own allies.
Iris, who had been treating the wounded in the back, shouted with a pale face, “B-be careful!”
Suddenly, the black flames, swollen by devouring the demons’ life force, detonated in a massive explosion. In an instant, the entire auditorium collapsed as the flames of ruin devoured everything around them.
The prayers of Iris and Marianne echoed through the crumbling hall.
“O’ Seven Gods!”
“Protect your child!”
A brilliant white barrier expanded outward in a circle, enveloping the panicking heroes inside the auditorium.
“AAAAAH!”
“I-it’s collapsing!”
“Get inside the barrier!”
Thick smoke billowed everywhere. The explosion had been powerful enough to obliterate a massive hall capable of holding thousands of people in the blink of an eye. But thanks to the swift response of the Saintess and the Pope, no one had been injured. Though, the same couldn’t be said for Iris and Marianne, who had borne the full brunt of the explosion.
“Cough!”
“Haa! Haa!”
“S-Saintess! Your Holiness! A-Are you alright?” Johan shouted.
I frowned as I surveyed the devastated ruins of the auditorium. “Amon.”
Something was wrong. If Amon’s goal were to resurrect the Demon God, then he wouldn’t be sacrificing his subordinates’ lives so recklessly. Reaching the deepest layer of the Abyss required immense time, effort, and manpower. To achieve that, he needed to occupy the Hero Academy built above the Abyss. Yes, not destroy, but occupy. Naturally, maintaining and managing an occupied territory required a solid power base.
Despite that, the first move he played in this war was turning his subordinates into living bombs? Even if Amon were to win this battle, the only future left would be the mutual destruction of both heroes and demons. There was no way Amon was unaware of that. Yet he still chose such an extreme move.
Unless... his objective was never occupation in the first place. Wait! No way!
“Damn it!” Cursing under my breath, I charged forward through the thick clouds of smoke.
Had the others realized it too? Camellia, Khalid Han, and Headmaster Ryu also rushed straight toward where Amon stood.
Amon curled his lips into a faint smirk as he watched the Masters approaching him. “Impressive. You caught on quickly. But...”
It was already too late. A crack formed beneath Amon’s feet, splitting the air open. It was a rift made entirely of black flames.
“The main building of the Hero Academy was constructed with the center of the Abyss as its foundation. Which means... if you continue straight down from here...”
They would reach the deepest point of the Abyss. Of course, if someone tried to dig straight down in a crude, physical way as he described, they would never reach it. Countless layers of defensive barriers protected the deepest layer of the Abyss; reaching it through physical means alone was impossible.
But beyond the flaming rift, through the opening, a land of endless fire could be seen. It was a scorched world engulfed in flames as far as the eye could see. Resembling hell itself, it matched perfectly with the descriptions recorded in the chronicles of the Great Five Heroes. This was the sight of the deepest layer of the Abyss.
Headmaster Ryu bit down on his lip in disbelief. “How in the world?”
As the headmaster of the academy built directly above the Abyss, he knew better than anyone how heavily protected this place was. The Abyss had been sealed beneath countless defensive barriers. Without those barriers, the seal imprisoning the Demon God would never have survived the last five hundred years against the demons.
However, the very seal that had stood firm for five centuries and the legacy left behind by the Great Five Heroes had been breached. Was it really possible for all of that to be breached by a mere flick of Amon’s hand?
Standing before the flaming rift, Amon chuckled. “The answer is simple. The one who created this seal personally told me how to break it.”
Headmaster Ryu asked, “What do you mean by—”
“Lionel! This isn’t the time to question him! We have to stop him from entering the Abyss!” Khalid Han rushed toward the rift.
The raging black flames surged violently and blasted Khalid Han away. Groaning in pain, Khalid was forced back.
“Well then, we’ll meet again.” With a twisted grin, Amon threw himself into the flaming rift.
“Not so fast!” Camellia wrapped herself in a radiant rainbow aura and attempted to follow him into the rift. But she too was violently repelled and thrown back.
“It’s useless. This rift is a gate that only those chosen by Ruin can pass through.” A mocking voice echoed from beyond the rift, as the crack in the air slowly began closing.
“Is that so?” I kicked off the ground and hurled myself straight into the rift.
Unlike when Khalid Han and Camellia approached it, the black rift showed no rejection.
“So, that means I can enter too, right?” I said mockingly.
Amon’s eyes widened in shock as he stared at me. “You!”
“What? Weren’t you the one calling me the Heir of Ruin earlier?” I replied.
Amon hurriedly released a surge of dark mana in an attempt to push me back, but it was too late. I had already crossed into the rift, and he no longer had the power to force me out. The black rift swallowed both Amon and me before sealing shut completely.
Inside the rift, I looked around. This place...
Before me stretched a vast land engulfed in endless flames. It looked strikingly similar to the place where the Primordial Flame burned in the world of my mindscape.
Perhaps he hadn’t expected me to follow him all the way here. Amon stared at me with an annoyed expression. “You’re a persistent nuisance. But now that we’ve arrived here, the outcome won’t change.”
If we were anywhere else, things would be different. But here, no one could stop him. This place was filled with the Flame of Ruin itself. It was the perfect environment for his power to reach its absolute peak.
Of course, I knew that better than anyone. In my previous life, the moment Amon reached the deepest layer of the Abyss, the seal of the Demon God had broken, and the Demon God was resurrected.
Damn it, I cursed internally.
I had managed to follow Amon all the way here, but what came next was the problem. From experience in my past life, I knew one thing for certain. No one was capable of defeating Amon in this place. I should’ve stopped him from reaching this place in the first place. But how could anyone have predicted that Amon would suddenly open a direct passage leading straight to the deepest layer of the Abyss?
Amon slowly raised his hand. “Well then, let’s bring this to a close.”
Ever since he had carved the soul stigmata of the Demon God into his chest, this was the moment he had longed for.
“Come, Ruin.”
The flames burning throughout the Abyss gathered together. Amon spread his arms wide, his face filled with ecstatic joy. His voice roared through the fiery world. “At last, I shall be reborn as the true Master of Ruin!”
The flames of the Abyss surged together. But they didn’t move toward Amon. Instead, they gathered toward me.
“Huh?”
Wait, what the hell? Why are they coming toward me?
“What?”
“Huh?”
Within the raging inferno, two bewildered gazes met in midair.