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711. Paimon the Slave
Lotus was dead.
I watched as Jofis impaled her with her very own lance. She couldn’t fly. She couldn’t access her Skills. Her movements had become sluggish, and she was barely able to react to his attacks.
And now, her body dissipated with the rest of the disappearing Fairies that swarmed the air. The dome overhead began to disintegrate, revealing the nothingness of the fold between the planes of the Nexeus beyond.
I clicked my tongue as I watched shards of reality collapse all around us, whilst Hartia was far beneath me, desperately trying to do something. But he couldn’t do anything except curse at himself.
“Why aren’t my Skills working? What kind of a Grand Skill is this? This is complete bullshit!”
Meanwhile, in the distance, I looked towards Jofis who was standing over Lotus’s dissipating body. He was no longer in his Demon Mode form, but he was still hunched over like some kind of monster. Even though his body was currently more akin to a [Fiend], apart from his claws.
Slowly, he raised his head and let out a roar. I stared at this, seeing the mindless look in his eyes. Then his head jolted towards the side, looking towards me.
I nearly flinched at his gaze.
It was like he was no longer sane. No— it had nothing to do with sanity. It was like he had become overcome with his instincts. Like he had become a wild Demon.
I watched as he took one step towards me, moving on all fours. And I immediately swept down, reaching for Hartia. He blinked as I picked him up, then began to fly away from Jofis.
“You—”
He started, but I cut him off.
“We have to get out of here— now!”
I exclaimed as I glanced back. Up above, more of the sky was falling apart as the void between the planes reclaimed this false reality. The ground beneath was also collapsing— cascading into nothingness. The last of the army of Fairies had completely faded away.
And only Jofis was standing there, slowly making his approach. Behind him, the earth crumbled away, eating its way towards him. But he barely even seemed to be bothered by that. Instead, he continued striding forward, heading in my direction.
With each step he took, his movements grew faster. Wilder. He spread his wings wide, before leaping into the air with a terrible shriek. He flew after me as I clicked my tongue.
“What are you doing? Get us out of here!”
Hartia exclaimed as Jofis rapidly caught up to me. I gritted my teeth in response.
“I’m trying!”
I looked back to the front, focusing on the space ahead of me. It was hard to focus, for a variety of reasons, even though I still had my Skills unlike Hartia. Firstly, with the collapsing space all around me, it was difficult to manipulate reality. Especially since this artificial space was originally not created by me.
But secondly, considering that Jofis was giving chase to me— and his demeanor was much more terrifying than before— I was actually pretty terrified of him right now. So I found it difficult to concentrate on creating a rift back to the Netherworld.
However, I eventually succeeded.
A rift opened right up right in front of me right as Jofis took a swipe at my back. But [My Flames Shall Burn Until Eternity Ends] was still active. There was a flash of iridescent light, causing Jofis to recoil and roar in pain.
And I shot straight out of the rift with Hartia as the Winged Horror remained stunned back inside the collapsing world. I crashed into the white and rocky ground of the Netherworld, looking up for a moment as Jofis steeled himself.
He snarled as he swung out, but I immediately closed the rift right before he could reach it.
I sighed in relief as I placed a hand on my chest.
“We made it…”
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I looked back down at Hartia who I was hugging, and he snorted back at me.
“Yes, we did. Now can you let go of me?”
And I just chuckled as I released him.
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Jofis was going to die. He knew that he was going to die. His dreams were forever going to be crushed.
He was never going to become a [Hellking].
He was going to be killed here.
He watched as [Paimon the Slave] slowly trudged up to him. She didn’t say a word. Not since she arrived and slaughtered his people. There was no reasoning behind her actions. She had just done what she did in complete silence.
Jofis clenched his jaw, before letting out a defiant roar. He took a step forward and swiped out with his claw.
“I will not die here—”
He started. But she easily grabbed his hand, before tripping him and pinning him against the ground.
Jofis closed his eyes as she brought her hand up to his face. This was it. He was finally going to perish here.
Or so he prepared himself for the outcome.
But that was not what happened.
He waited for a long moment, and his death didn’t come. Cracking an eye open, he saw [Paimon the Slave] just standing over him, her eyes closed.
“I am tired.”
She spoke for the first time as he stared at her in confusion. Drawing back, she freed him from her grip as he blinked a few times.
“I am tired of this. All this endless slaughter. Doing everything to stop the rise of a new ruler of the Netherworld. And for what?”
[Paimon the Slave] took in a deep breath as Jofis slowly rose back to his feet. He looked at her, and she brought a hand up. For a moment, he flinched. But she didn’t swing up at him. Instead, she stabbed herself through the chest.
Jofis watched as she stumbled back, blood dripping from the hole in her chest.
“All for a man who has yet to move on from his king. Ridiculous. I do not wish to do this anymore.”
She dropped to one knee, looking up at Jofis. Her eyes returned back to their normal color as she took in a shaky breath.
“Kill me. You will achieve your goal of evolution if you finish me off.”
“I don’t understand.”
Jofis replied as his head spun.
“Why are you doing this? What do you have to gain from this?”
She just chuckled back at him in response.
“I get to spit in his face. So kill me.”
Jofis froze for another moment, before he nodded. He wasn’t going to pass up this chance to survive. He didn’t know what was going on, however, he was going to seize this opportunity.
He took a step forward and raised his clawed hand.
And [Paimon the Slave] met his gaze.
“But before you do, you must promise me, you will free us all from our slavery.”
She spoke softly, and he paused. He waited to listen to what she had to say. And she closed her eyes.
“You must promise me: you will kill Focalor.”
“I will.”
Jofis nodded back at her.
Then he swung down, finishing off the Primordial Demon.
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Jofis could barely process the world around him. He knew that using this Grand Skill would be a massive risk before he used it, because it would rob him of much of his free will and thoughts while it was active. But it was necessary for his victory.
He defeated the Supreme Spirit, and he overcame Hartia’s Grand Skill. However, while his mind was mostly gone, his intuition was still there. And he realized that the predicament he was in was even worse than before.
Behind him, the false reality created by Hartia was slowly melting away into an eternal nothingness that threatened to swallow him.
Soon, there would be nothing left for him to stand on. And his existence would come to an end.
Soon, Jofis would die.
Even in his mindless state, he realized this.
And a part of him screamed at him to move. To live.
It was not his mind telling him this. It was a part of his soul. His being. It had been a request that had been etched into his existence.
That he needed to live.
That he needed to survive.
That he couldn’t die.
Not until Focalor was killed
So as the last of the sky melted away, leaving only a small chunk of earth around Jofis…
He let out a scream.
He screamed and screamed and screamed as his body wisped with more iridescent light than before. His divinity poured off him, focusing on the area in space where the rift had been created. But it was not enough to tear a hole between the planes.
Divinity alone wasn’t enough.
However, his body was no longer just filled with divinity.
His figure began to twist and turn, distorting as he screamed. His voice became muffled. Like he was drowning underwater. And he continued to pour out his divinity alongside something else that had infected his essence.
Until the space where the rift had been blurred, then flaked with a bright light. And then a hole began to… open up.