“Fufu~ How cute~”

  “Huh?”

  The former member of Sheorcracy’s greatest elite force, holding the position of 9th seat within the Bck Scripture, could not believe what she had just heard from the female magic caster who just stepped up to face her.

  Was she insane?

  A feeble magic caster… Voluntarily fag her, one on one?

  “Hey darling~ This girl is pissing me off, so I’ll be pying with her~ It’ll be fine, right~?”

  “...Sure.”

  “Hold on a minute! Are you insane? Did you got some screws loose when you’re making your way here? Getting a magic caster to face me… If you want to dump yirlfriend, you just say it instead of having her killed, you know?”

  “...”

  Clementine’s expression froze when she saw Yuuji stayed silent and Aika smiling at her in the distanbsp;

  Crack!

  Then, something inside her broke.

  While the draic helm and fox’s mask obscured their eyes, Clementine could feel their belittling gazes at her.

  “Hah… Ahahaha~!!! Don’e be silly, you slut~! How could a measly little magic caster beat me? It’ll be over in two or three blows~! Just like how those proud magic casters all fall under my bde~!”

  “Oh really~ Wow~ You must be so good with your little needle~”

  “You…”

  Clementine’s eyes narrowed, and for the first time, she had a look of annoyan her fabsp;

  “There’s only five people in this try who give me a good fight. Gazef Stronoff. Gagaran of Blue Rose. Luisenburge Albelion of Red Drop. Brain ungus. Also, the retired Vestia Croft Di Lofan, though none of them could beat me even if they went all-out. Not even I was without the magic items from my try.”

  Clementine smiled at Aika. A disgusting mix of hatred, pride, violence, perversion, and anger of a smile.

  “So slut, be grateful that I, Clementine-sama – one who’s left humanity behind and stepped into the realm of heroes – will carve you i personally a you experience a living hell for daring to go against me–”

  Time stopped. The world became silent. And the space, the very air seemed to have frozen over in an instant.

  Clementine, Khajit, and all the cultists could not move even a sirand of muscle. No, they were not allowed to move a muscle. They were not allowed to even tremble.

  All they could do was slowly, ever carefully, shift their eyeballs – which was the only thing they could move – and saw darkness. A pitch-bck darkness, voided of all life and matter, except for the white gold warrior at its ter.

  The Holy Knight, whose very appearance was meant to inspire hope, bravery, kindness, and heroism, could not appear more opposite to them.

  “What… Did you just say?”

  Like thunder, his voice shook the very core of their minds as.

  Yuuji had not cast any spell. Nor did he io emahe immense pressure that seemed to stop time and freeze the world for them.

  But in his rage at Clementine’s words, the aura he had carefully sealed and cealed, erupted.

  Not eveine, who was truly one of the beings in this world who had ehe realm of heroes, could bear the sheer iy and “mass” of his presenbsp;

  “Hubby, calm down.”

  But just as suddenly, the pressure disappeared, as if it was but a dream.

  They all snapped out of their daze and wondered what had just happened… No, was it even real?

  Such a thing… It must’ve been their imaginatiht?

  They looked towards the white gold warrior, and saw the white-robed mage pg a hand on his shoulder.

  “Fufu~ You’re so protective of me, hubby~ I love it~ But, you o calm down, okay? Her words mean nothing~”

  “...Sorry. I lost myself a bit there.”

  A heavy sigh escaped his lips.

  And as Clementine was trying to assess what just happened, she felt their gazes nd on her.

  “!!!”

  Like a prey eyed by a predator, the natural, primal instincts that were still embedded deep within the human psyche, her survival instinct immediately activated, screaming and begging for her to run.

  Run as quickly as she could. And ran as far, far away as she could.

  Her mind and logic hadn’t been able to process everything. And her pride stopped her from running away at a moment's notibsp;

  But in the end, her survival instincts broke through all her pride and logid forced her body to move.

  Her leg muscles tightened, and she made a dash instinctively.

  “[Stop].”

  A calm, beautiful voice reverberated throughout the area, and Clemeopped iracks.

  She did not io stop. Her survival instinct was tellio run. And her mind was now f her body to do the same thing upon uanding the sheer gravity of the danger she was in.

  Her whole body trembled. Every single muscle it o use for movement was flexing strongly so she could move. Even her jaw muscles were flexed, g her teeth as she tried her best to move.

  But she didn’t. She couldn’t.

  Clementine could immediately tell that it was magic. However… What sort of magic could possibly bio this extent?

  Simir spells had been casted upon her during her escape from the scripture. However, not even that cold bitch’s ice (Infinite Magic) could stop her, much less the other spells casted by those lesser filth and that bastard (Divine ). Even if one successfully nded on her, her body’s natural resistao magic that she had built over decades of battle would’ve nullified it. If not in a moment, a few moments after.

  But this… No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t even move an inch from her very spot.

  Khajit and his subordinates all watched with widened eyes as the beautiful, white-robed woman with a fox’s mask approached Clementine, before stopping a small distance away.

  “[Follow me. Let’s take this somewhere more private~]”

  Aika walked away, and to their shock, Clementine followed…

  “What… What the hell is she thinking…”

  Khajit could not uand why the psychotic bitch would follow the words some chick told her.

  ‘Is it magio, that’s impossible. Although I hate to admit it, that woman has such a high resistao magic that even I ’t affect her with my orb of death. It’s impossible…’

  The notion that Clementine was pelled and forced to obey some random magic caster’s words was simply unbelievable to him.

  After all, even his “Charm Person”, a third tier spell, was broken by her after a few moments, and gave him multiple stab wounds that took quite a bit of death energy to recover from.

  So, the only reasonable expnation was that Clementine was, once again, pying with her food and simply followed her words for her sick little games, just as usual.

  ‘Hah… How annoying. Well, I don’t care what she does, as long as she keeps helpih what I need…’

  Khajit shook his head. The thought of dealing with Clementine, on top of everything he nning, simply gave him a headache he’d rather not have right now. He o focus oual.

  He was so close… Ever so close now to realizing his dream…

  ‘A bit more… Just a bit more… I finally bee a lich…’

  And the only thing standing before him and his goal he had worked and sacrificed so much for… were the adventurers before him.

  Khajit shook his head and focused on the holy knight, the fighter woman, and the robed magic caster.

  The fear he had felt that pelled his instincts to make him run had long been dismissed by the ember of the death cult, Zurrenorn.

  It must’ve been simply a spell that the robed man casted to instill them with fear. However, now that he was aware of it, he didn’t have anything to be afraid of.

  ‘Now the’s up this trash…’

  --------------------------------X--------------------------------

  With ched teeth and eyes spread wide open in denial, Clementine walked.

  She walked, following after the white-robed female magic caster.

  It was not her iion to follow the vixen. But, her body kept moving, disregarding her own will and iions.

  Even with her body’s resistao magid her defiao the spell’s pulsion effect, she tio walk as the king of two pairs of high heels against the ruined pavement and dirt echoed through the silent graveyard.

  Clementine dove through her knowledge about spells and artifacts in her mind that could pel her to such a degree. One possibility was the God artifact possessed by the old woman of the scripture. She had heard rumors that it was capable of mind trolling even dragon lords and put it uheir trol.

  However, it was impossible for a random magic caster like her to have such a thing. After all, even she was incapable of taking that artifact, as it was guarded by a monster beyond parison.

  If not that… theruly had no ao her question. But it was only natural. After all, the spell Aika had used was something even Momonga, who khe most spells in Yggdrasil, had no idea about previously, as it did.

  [Whisper of Evil].

  An exclusive skill of the “Empress of Evil”, allowing absolute domination over anyone below level 60 and causing fear, fusion, and ao those below level 80, in addition to making all words she utter to be perceived as truth until proven otherwise, even if it went against her target’s belief.

  It was simir to, but much superior than “and Mantra”, a skill possessed by Yuuji, Demiurge, and other archdevils which could only dominate beings under level 40 and nothing else.

  It was also not as absolute as Lelouch’s Geass, which gave him the absolute obedience of his target, regardless of level, if they do not possess an SSR raem capable of defending against mental attacks.

  After a while of walking, Aika arrived at ay clearing within the graveyard. A few headstones, ruined and in disrepair, id around them. There were only a few still standing, as most had already turned into rubble and mixed with the broken stone pavements and debris.

  She stopped and turned around. Clementine simirly stopped a few distance from her, just as Aika had willed.

  Just then, in the distance, golden light shone brightly from above, illuminating the night sky in its divine brilliance, before a loud rumble of explosion reverberated, shaking the air ah.

  She smiled proudly and lovingly. And although his figure was no longer in her sight physically, she was still watg him through her Elemental Sight, and saw how cool he was while beating up the ugly half-dead old man and the skeletal dragon.

  Her eyes shifted back towards Clementine, who still stood still at the pce she had ordered her to stop, uo move a muscle without her express and.

  Her smile disappeared, and a cold disposition repced her usual, sunny expression.

  Ever sining to this world, Kiryuu Aika found herself capable of thinking with extreme crity, even more so than when she received the “tremendous magic calcution area” as a support item and ter reward from her mission in Tatsuya’s world.

  She was also capable of seeing through people with extreme ease now and expressed herself much more fidently and persuasively. Yuuji also observed the simir ges to himself, and they both suspected this to be the influence of their “character build”.

  For Aika in particur, it should be due to the [Empress of Evil] Job Css and [True Primordial Demoness] Racial Css.

  Such a sudden ge in her disposition should’ve been arming to experience as someone who was a regur high school girl just a few months ago. However, perhaps due to her experieh the mission and the mi and maturity that came with it, Aika did fear it.

  Having it was never going to be a detriment to her. The only thing she feared before was the fact that she had bee… a bit distant to her humanity.

  But even that was expelled due to Yuuji’s words.

  “I’ll be here to remind you.”

  Those words of promise alone was enough for her to embrace this ge without fearing losing her humanity. For he will be there to correct her if she ever strayed from the right path, just as she would for him.

  However… the woman before her. Givehing she has done and might do iure, she shouldn’t deserve such humanity.

  “You know, miss “former 9th seat of the Bck Scripture”, you actually haven’t done anything to us, aside from kidnapping Nfirea.”

  Clementine’s eyes widened in shock, and this time, her body tensed and froze even without the effects from Aika’s “Whisper of Evil”.

  Her past… How was she aware of it? How could she know she was a member of the Bck Scripture? Knowledge of her position within the scripture and subsequerayal should not have been something aside of the scriptures be aware of.

  Was she a part of the scripture? No… That’s impossible. She didn’t reek of those fanatibsp;

  But then… How was it possible?

  “That alone isn’t deserving enough for you to gh what I’m about to put you through. After all, it’s really a no biggie. But… your existence alone is a nuisance for us. So, it’s better for me to remove you before you get things messier ter on~”

  Her lips curled into a smile, ohat did not reach her eyes… Ohat cked the usual warmth and brightness Aika bring and shine upon with her beautiful smile.

  “So, I came to a promise~! I’ll be giving you a ce! A ce to kill me. After all, I’m quite ied to see how much you could actually do to me~ But if you fail to impress me, I will kill you in the most horrible ossible. How about it~?”

  Cold sweat dripped dowine’s forehead, down to her cheeks, and dropped down to the dirt and rocks beh her.

  The primal fear she felt before… It wasn’t an illusion after all.

  These people… No, these monsters… They held power beyond anything she could even begin to prehend.

  ‘Run… I o run…! Run as quickly as I …!’

  “Oh~ And you fet about running~ [Hellfire Wall] [Dimensional Lock]”

  A wall of jet-bck fmes, the fmes of hell itself maed in the world of the living, surrounding everything withiine’s range of view.

  There was hat she could feel physically. The temperature of the air around them did not increase. But instinctively, as someone who was still a part of the living, she knew instinctively… Oou the fmes of hell, and her soul is forfeit.

  As the jet-bck fmes appeared, the space around them seemed to twist and bend before returning back the moment, as if nothing had ged. But now, the space around them was sealed.

  Any teleportation and transfer magi or out, cast by a Aika and those she siders allies would be unusable.

  She had pletely and utterly sealed the space around them with magid now, she would have no way of physically ically running from her demise.

  “Alright~ Now, let’s start the fun. You do anything, everything you to impress me~ And remember, if you don’t… You’ll die a horrible death~”

  Clementine slumped as she took a step forward, catg herself from falling as the effects of Aika’s “Whisper of Evil” disappeared.

  Her eyes, still widened in horror, looked at the white-robed vixen. This time, there was no mockery, ridicule, calcution, nor pride.

  Before a power beyond her prehension, only fear, despair, and the desperation for survival remained.

  “AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!”

  [Pace of the Wind] [Ability Boost] [Greater Ability Boost] [Greater Evasion]

  Brandishiilettos, Clementine charged as a myriad of colors lit up around her body upoivation of her greatest Martial Arts.

  She was no lohe deft warrior who dashed towards her oppo. She was a beast, a ered beast charging at her predator in desperation for the final gamble of her life.

  Stab! Thrust! Stab! Stab! Thrust!

  Heart. Head. Shoulder. Heart. Throat. In a mere fra of a sed, Clementine unleashed a barrage of stabs and thrusts of her stilettos towards Aika’s fatal points.

  However, none mao even graze a part of her robe or mask. And even as she dodged, with seemingly no effort, Clemeiced that her smile never left her fabsp;

  “AAAAAAAHHH!!! DIE!!!!”

  [Flow Acceleration]

  In an instant, her speed exploded. Everything around her seemed to slow down as her martial arts temporarily accelerated the ws of her nervous system, allowio process information and move at increased speeds.

  ‘I got you!!!’

  She thrusted her stilettht towards her throat. That white, smooth, lithe, unprotected throat. She knew, from experience of fighting against mages, that the throat was not only a lethal point, but also a crippling one.

  Without the ability to speak, a magic caster would not be able to t. And without the ability to t, they won’t be able to cast any spells.

  A magic caster incapable of casting spells would be no different than a dead person.

  But in that slowed world, just as the tip of her stiletto was about to pierce through her throat, Aika suddenly moved even faster.

  She felt hands gripping her arm, and her vision suddenly turned upside down as the dark, starry night sky appeared in her sight.

  [Invulnerable Fortress]

  A live saving martial art, capable of blog physical attacks from monsters beyond her prehension.

  She had learo instinctively activate it – without sciously making the decision to activate it – during a life ah situation. It has saved her plenty of times in the past.

  And this time, it had saved her once again, as the rocks and grouh her caved in.

  The impact of being thrown by Aika created a massive crater and spider cracks rge enough that it was as if a building had fallen out of a sky and smmed down.

  “Oops~ That was a bit too hard, huh? But that retty good! You used [Invulnerable Fortress] right before you impacted! But, you do more, right~? e on, stand up~ You’re not done, right?”

  Clementine slowly stood up in a daze… Her legs trembled.

  The damage that would’ve snapped her spine and pulverized her innards was nullified by her martial art.

  It was the fear… The trauma, and shock, that made her tremble like she had never been in her life.

  “AAAAAAHHHH!! DIE! PLEASE JUST DIEEEE!!!”

  The warrior who had stepped into the realm of heroes was no lohere.

  She was simply a slightly above average beast, desperate, filing around in fear of death.

  Lightning. Fireball. Mind trol. The three spells ented onto her stilettos that had stolen the souls of hundreds, were now cast without finding a target.

  It was iable. Even when she was focused on stabbing Aika, she could not even graze her. And now… wailing around in desperation as tears, snot, and drool drip down her eyes, nose, and mouth, she had no ce of even hitting her.

  “Hah… Alright, I guess this is enough…”

  Aika caught the lightning cd stiletto with her left and the fming stiletto with her right hand, and shem.

  “Eh…? GUUUFHHKK!!”

  Then with a ko the gut, she unched Aika into the air, before smming her down into the ground.

  This time, having learhe extent of her strength through the first throw, she did not deepen the crater she had made.

  But without her [Invulnerable Fortress], Clementihe air forcefully ejected from her lungs as her entire body rocked from the impabsp;

  And before she could catch her breath, Aika stepped on her chest.

  “Since you ’t impress me, I guess then it’s the hard way to go for you. A torturous death for you it is~!”

  A pair of crimson and pink light shohrough the slits that made up the fox’s eyes on Aika’s mask.

  And that was the st thing before Clementine fell into darkness…

  [Nightmare]

  A spell that puts a target to sleep, and allowed the caster to trol what kind of nightmare their target experienced, causing a ce to inflict fusion, fear, insanity, and a smaller ce of instah.

  And as she had promised, she gave her a torturous death. Not physically. But mentally.

  In a matter of a few seds, she would experience years of death, torture, and suffering, all in the hands of those she had killed, and relive the life of fear and ay as she was chased by the Bck Scripture.

  And no matter how many times she fought bad ran, she would always be caught, tortured, and died. Over and ain.

  Not eveh by her own hands would free her from this prison.

  Aika didn’t know how a level 100 pyer from Yggdrasil would deal with this “Empress of Evil” exclusive skill. She guessed that even if they could not fully resist it, they won’t suffer from the more annoying “insanity” debuff or suffer the instah.

  But, either way, it was something that Clementine had no hope of achieving, as in a mere three seds, light disappeared from her eyes and she moved no longer.

  VergsX