Zaroth was speechless.
Everything had unfolded exactly as Vera said it would.
She had predicted the locations of people she'd never t, anticipated their actions, and even guided his strategy with unnerving precision.
"Well, was I wrong?" Vera asked with a smug expression, though it was invisible beneath the white mask on her face.
"You… were completely right," Zaroth replied calmly, still having trouble believing it had been that easy.
Hellweaver had now begun evolving to the Epic tier.
Zaroth had expected a long and difficult search for 'Destiny'—the one who had taken the form of a fox and killed the spider in the beast arena before Zaroth resurrected and tad the creature, naming it Hellweaver. He needed to find and kill 'Destiny' to allow Hellweaver to evolve to the next rank. But to his surprise, it all happened far more easily than he had anticipated.
"What happens now?" he asked, curious to know how much more she could predict.
"Like I told you," Vera said evenly, "your friends—and Sofia—will beco the leaders of the empire. Other empires across the Eldorwyn continent will see this as weakness and attack. But one by one, they'll fall. In the end, the entire continent will be under their rule."
She tilted her head slightly. "And if they respect you as much as you think they do... it will be yours too."
Vera's words sounded too good to be true… and yet Zaroth felt like he could believe her. It wasn't even about trusting her. It was more about the way she spoke, like she was playing a ga that she had won a long ti ago.
'I finally killed Althea's father,' he thought, clenching his fist. He knew Althea had married the now-dead emperor because of her father.
He was a powerful figure, the ruler of a clan. Zaroth thought it would be difficult to reach him… yet the man died just as easily.
It had been because Zaroth used Eldros to deliver the kill—just as Vera had advised.
There was a twisted irony in it. Eldros, the Unholy Judger, was the one to judge Althea's father with death.
'She's terrifying,' he thought, observing the petite woman. In such a short amount of ti, she had demonstrated insight that he could only dream of.
"I admit," he said, shoulders drooping, "You will not be a liability if you co with to the elven continents."
"That's great! Then we just have to wait for one more person," she exclaid.
Of course, she was referring to David.
Eventually, after so waiting, he appeared out of the Abyss, his figure bloodied from the fight with the False Prince.
"What happened?" Zaroth asked his friend, voice filled with concern.
"Rynor… got away," David complained. "During our fight, he had so kind of breakthrough and rged with his mirrors."
"rged?" Zaroth raised an eyebrow.
David nodded. "It's like he beca an elent born from them." A smile crept onto his face. "However, he isn't the only one."
Before Zaroth could ask, David pointed behind him.
There, the Spectral Warden hovered nacingly as always. However, it had changed… it now had four, rather than three, hollow eye sockets.
"Well done!" Zaroth laughed. "Maybe now you'll be able to face !"
David chuckled, but his gaze shifted to the ruined capital. He shook his head. "I'm still not strong enough. I'm heading back to the Abyss. I'll figure out what those natives were—and keep evolving until I can face them as an equal."
"Looks like soone finally grew a spine," the Spectral Warden mocked, as always.
After catching up, David took off, having his own path to follow.
Left with nothing else to do, Zaroth summoned Luna and climbed onto her back, Vera following suit.
It didn't take long before they reached the ocean.
It was... breathtaking.
The sea stretched endlessly across the horizon, nothing in sight but rippling blue. The sunlight shimred over the surface, like liquid starlight.
Following her master's command, Luna descended onto the beach, Zaroth and Vera stepping off felt the sand beneath their feet.
"So this is it," Zaroth murmured. "The ocean…"
It was the first ti he had seen it with his own eyes, making him go a bit sentintal.
Not really in a rush, he sat, feeling the warmth of the sand against his skin, the pleasant ocean air brushing his face, and the salty scent of seaweed entering his nostrils.
The feeling of peace after so much endless fighting felt nice… it felt deserved.
"I went to war against two empires and brought them to their knees," he chuckled darkly, still processing everything. "So many died by my hands… millions. I must have the highest kill count in existence."
Vera sat beside him, their gazes locked on the rising and falling waves.
She chuckled softly. "You're one horrible man, you know? So would dare say worse than the devil himself."
Zaroth gave her a sidelong glance and scoffed. "I might be…"
He could have argued, of course, but what was the point in that? He didn't try to maintain the image of a hero—because he wasn't one. He was just a simple man who lived for his desires and got rid of anything that stood in his way.
So ti passed in silence.
There wasn't anything to say anyway, but sadly, one couldn't stay stagnant for too long.
With a sigh, Zaroth stood up. After a mont of hesitation, he extended his hand toward Vera. She looked plenty surprised as she took it, rising to her feet.
With a flick of his finger, Zaroth summoned the serpent.
Sparks appeared, and then the Mythical beast materialized—its colossal figure spanning across an entire kiloter, eyes gleaming like a predator ready to deliver swift death to its enemies.
Scratching the back of his head, Zaroth asked, "Hey... can't you get a bit smaller?"
The serpent tilted its head to the side.
'Is there a problem with my current form?'
"Well yeah... the bigger you are, the more enemies you'll inevitably attract," Zaroth reasoned.
Flaring its nostrils, the serpent obliged and began shrinking. Instead of stretching across a full kiloter, it now asured about a hundred ters—just the right size to serve as a perfect boat.
Zaroth was also pleasantly surprised. Thanks to its smaller form, the serpent was consuming far less mana. That was good news—it ant he didn't have to worry too much about running out of energy in the middle of the ocean… hopefully.
As for why he was choosing the serpent over Luna to reach the elven continents, it was simple. Luna, while majestic, consud much more mana in flight than the serpent did while swimming. In terms of mana efficiency, the serpent won hands down.
The serpent lowered its body, allowing Zaroth and Vera to climb onto its back.
ROOOAAAARRR
Letting out a thundering roar, the serpent began to drift into the ocean waters, moving against the waves as if they were nothing, surging forward toward their destination—
The elven continents awaited!
****
How long had it been drifting through the ocean?
Days? Weeks? Months?
It didn't know. Its consciousness barely held together. Countless deep wounds covered its body—a result of relentless battles with sea creatures of colossal scale.
It had been a hellish journey…
Taking advantage of the chaos in the Draconian capital, it had managed to slip away and race to the body of the dead Demigod, seizing control before anyone had noticed.
Then, without wasting a second, it dove into the depths of the ocean—full speed ahead toward its ho.
It had crawled through hell and back, but it had all been worth it.
Opening its tired eyes, revealing its pupils and their ever-shifting color, it recognized the crimson soil of its holand. It had arrived—one of the demon continents.
Its massive mouth opened wide, revealing its tattered teeth, and exploded into a low, nacing laughter.
"I did it! I got the Primordial Demon's Heart and even obtained the body of a Demigod—the child of the God of Chaos!"
Still laughing, it rose on its two damaged legs, eyes locked onto the land before it—the land it would conquer single-handedly.
"I am now the top of the food chain! No human, beast, demon, or God can stand before !" it roared, cracking the ground beneath its feet.
It could finally begin it…
Its conquest of the world!
[End of volu two: Worse Than the Devil]
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