As soon as Carn's Aether flowed into Arthur, the latter's divine energy surged in retaliation, rejecting the foreign energy and forcing it back into Carn. Simultaneously, a powerful presence materialized in the room. A radiant gold spear ford in mid-air, and its lethal tip hovered in front of Carn's face.
The female holy spirit erged. Her glowing wings stretched wide, and her shining eyes glared at Carn in fury. She growled, "Release our saint, or you shall perish alongside the sinful mortals of this world."
Carn snorted, unimpressed. "How protective of you, Miss Sloth. Are you going to smite because I stole your gigolo boy's job or because you just hate ?"
"Try it, and your parents will never find peace in the afterlife!"
"…Ah, very threatening, coming from a so-called HOLY spirit."
Turning his attention to Arthur, Carn assessed the situation. The presence of the divine spirit complicated things. As long as this angel lingered, any attempt to convert Arthur into a gargoyle would be futile. Killing Arthur wasn't an option either because such an act would not only provoke the divine spirits into declaring war on him but also risk harming his parents.
For now, his Aether was insufficient for another war against the holy spirits. Carn released his grip on Arthur.
The angel sneered. She floated closer to Arthur and wrapped her glowing arms around him.
A brilliant gold light erupted from the pair, illuminating the entire room. The intensity of the holy radiance forced Carn to shield their eyes, though they otherwise remained motionless, patiently waiting for the spectacle to pass.
When the light finally dimd, Arthur and the angel were gone, leaving only silence in their wake.
Rosa, standing nearby, scowled at the two. "That ungrateful bastard… We dragged him out of that hellhole, and he doesn't even stick around to say thank you?"
Gawain crossed his arms. He wasn't surprised, "Typical. Holy spirits can sotis be overly possessive over their incarnations, especially the ones that could evolve into one of them in the afterlife."
Carn was also unfazed. He rubbed his eyes, letting out a tired sigh. "At least he will be useful later on. For now, that's all that matters." Turning toward the doorway, he added, "Let's call it a night. There's nothing more we can do here."
Just as he was about to rest, rlin, the leather-book grimoire, hovered before him. He called out to the demon lord.
"Wait, Demon Lord Pebble."
"What is it now?"
"I need a confirmation from you. Do you know who you are fighting with?"
"Kaim Ariel, right?"
rlin was relieved as Carn was already aware of the mastermind behind the undead. He continued, "Do you know his goal?"
"Revenge?"
"Yes, but to what extent? Are you aware of that?"
"Are you telling that he's after the entire Earth or sothing?"
"He's… after sothing else. According to Aether and Galahad, that man seeks to overthrow the Netherworld Realm and erase the circle of reincarnation so that no holy spirit can be reborn."
Carn raised an eyebrow, staring at rlin. He was skeptical about this information, so he looked at Rosa, who nodded at him and elaborated.
"Galahad is the na of ECD-7. He's your ferryman, master."
Carn froze for a mont and looked at Gawain. Then, he shifted his eyes to rlin.
"Is it just , but characters from Arthurian Legend are assembling? We have Arthur, Gawain, rlin, and Galahad. Where's Lancelot, Guinevere, Mordred, Morgan, and Excalibur?"
rlin dryly chuckled and reminded Carn, "Fleur's forr na when she was a human was actually Morganne De Fleur. So you have another one."
"…"
"If you're critical about it, the friend of your mother's na is Gwendolyn… Sounds familiar? Guinevere?"
Carn facepald. He lost count of how many tis he slapped his forehead. He prayed that he wasn't one of the characters.
rlin moved on with the conversation, "Just in case you don't know, I'm possessing a fragnt of Akashic Record. This book automatically records everything that has happened on Earth and the history of Aether World, where you ca from. It has most of Kaim Ariel's records."
"So? I can already tell from your title "Akashic Grimoire". What's your point?"
The grimoire opened, and its pages flapped, projecting a hologram of past events on Aether World. A scene depicted a ruined city, infested with ghouls, zombies, and flesh abominations.
rlin described the scene, "This is the Kingdom of Iron on the Black Mountain Continent, 300 kiloters away from the mainland where the Mother Tree is. This scene is from yesterday. And…"
rlin showed other scenes of destruction. This ti, it was a burning forest. A zombie dragon and colossus flesh trent road the land and consud everything in green fla.
"Those are two calamitous monsters that destroyed the Fay Forest and the Flower Continent, 1,500 kiloters away from the Kingdom of Iron. This is also from last week."
The hologram shifted once more. This ti, it displayed a barren wasteland stretching endlessly. Amid the desolation marched an army so vast it defied comprehension. Rows upon rows of armored skeleton soldiers moved with chanical precision, their numbers seemingly infinite. Behind them followed ghouls, vampires, death knights, and wraiths, all organized into massive formations. The sheer scale of the force extended to the horizon, their tallic banners glinting ominously in the dim light.
In front of the massive armies of the dead, soone was looking back at them through the hologram. It was a young handso man with purple skin, levitating over the crowd. His full plate armor, however, was also alive as a hundred eyeballs of the living armor moved around, observing the minions around him.
The man was none other than Kaim Ariel, Carn's forr nesis. He was the current Lich King.
As if Kaim could sense them, everybody in the living room could hear his voice.
"Demon Lord Pebble, I am not your enemy. Let pass through your world. I promise I'll spare your people."
Everybody shuddered because of the intense dark energy from the voice. Crimson blood dripped down from her eyes even though her entire body mass was made of stone. Gawain collapsed to his knee, and a portion of his body cracked. rlin also fell to the floor, unable to move.
As for Carn, he wasn't in good condition either. Blood dripped from his eyes and ears as the contaminating energy hard his human organs.
Despite being injured, Carn attempted to communicate with Kaim.
"Why Earth, Kaim? Can't you just go straight to the Netherworld Realm and ignore us?"
"Earth hides the gateway to the Netherworld Realm. We need to pass through there."
"Then, ignore the humans."
"I can't. I have to kill the holy spirits, and they will command the Earth forces to stop ."
Carn nodded. He gained an inspiration. Since Kaim wasn't antagonizing him and his family, he tried negotiating for a way out. After all, he didn't care about the world's fate.
"Let migrate my people to Mother Tree Forest first."
Kaim declined, "Leave Mother Tree. I'll kill her after this."
"You… What the hell do you actually want?! Total annihilation?!"
"The destruction of Aether and Holy Spirits. End of reincarnation. End of all lives."
"Dude, you're just being cringe," Carn was frustrated. He couldn't understand why Kaim had to go to that extent. "What have the Netherworld and Mother Tree have done to you? They have nothing to do with your death or human conspiracy."
"Demon Lord Pebble… Mother Tree is just an overgrown parasitic mushroom that accidentally gains sentient and intelligence… just like humans. As long as that tree exists, Aether will never disappear. And when humans get their hands on Aether technologies, they will begin cultivating more Mother Trees and destroy more worlds. And wherever Aether exists, holy spirits will be born and infest the planet. To truly kill all holy spirits, Aether must not exist."
"I know you hate the holy spirits, and so do I! But your thod is just wrong, man. Just seal Aether on Earth and leave her alone, can you? When you get everything done, you can isolate Aether World from other planets. Seal the goddamn rifts, and no human can get to that world! You don't have to go Thanos because you hate so treacherous spirits."
Kaim bitterly smiled. He raised his finger and pointed at Carn through the hologram.
"I'm so sorry, Pebble. You don't understand the bigger picture."
*BOOM*
The hologram shattered. Carn clenched his chest and also fell to the ground, coughing blood.
The others were also in a critical condition. Rosa and Gawain kept casting restoration spells on themselves as they were on the brink of death. rlin also groaned in pain even though the book showed no sign of damage.
Everybody was no longer in the mood for chatting. Carn crawled to a couch and rested on it. While casting an interdiate healing spell on himself, he closed his eyes. A few breaths later, he fell unconscious.
.
anwhile, Kaim was still hovering, monitoring his army in the Aether World. He gazed at the horizon, where he had sensed rlin's prying eye earlier.
After a brief conversation with his forr enemy, Kaim bitterly smiled.
"I'm so sorry, Pebble. Once the Netherworld and the Mother Tree are gone, I'll explain everything. For now, please stay away from my army."
He sighed and turned around. Floating behind him was the forr Lich King, whom Carn had killed. However, Kaim had resurrected him to be his aide.
His na was Mordred. Surprisingly, his surna was also Ariel, and he was Kaim's grandfather.
Following Mordred was an army of dark priests and priestesses. Unlike the undead creatures, they were mixed troops, consisting of elves and humans. They wore black clothes and carried long staffs, imbued with divine energy.
Among them, the missing daughter of Jasmine, Janette, was there. She followed the group willingly, and she gazed at Kaim with respect and admiration.
She was ready to fight for this undead army.
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