Chapter 377: Lost Tongue

The moment Sophia activated her very last trump card, which she could use. The world itself turned gray for a moment; all the elements of purest darkness that existed within that metaphysical territory rushed towards her, forming a tornado of darkness.A shining black armour wrapped around her whole body, manifested and constructed from the very darkness itself, and a feathered helmet rested on top of her head, covering her entire face. Only her black eyes and the crimson pupils showed from the narrow gaps of the helmet.

This time, no swords manifested in her hands, but what appeared was a long, shining black spear. She judged that a spear was better suited for the current situation, facing off against multiple enemies, and she was more than right on that count.

A bloody grin stretched across her face, her eyes locked on Axel, as she proclaimed with a sneer, "You were saying???"

Before he could even have the opportunity to respond to her snarky comment, the sound of not one... but two sonic booms echoed in the ears of Axel and his two demonized humans, barely managing to track her movements through the highest use of his runic eyes and energy sense, locking onto her all-encompassing darkness, more potent than ever before.

With a demonic roar, all three figures attacked her, as Sophia’s dark figure rushed towards them, akin to a homing missile. Sophia was now fully prepared both mentally and physically to face three opponents; her previous words echoed again,

"Saint Art, Valkyrien Sword Style, First Form— Probability Pencer"

Seeing the probabilities flash through her eyes, she did not block any of the three attacks; her current form granted her 50% damage immunity against all attacks of any kind, and her spear moved at lightning speed, making successful counterattacks on all three of them.

More than that, her current form allowed her almost endless reserves of access to the purest form of the all-encompassing darkness for a short period.

But even so, she could not spam the probability pencer nonstop. Because it was an attack that overloaded her brain entirely, there was a period of cooldown time before she could use it again, apart from the massive cost of her energy reserves.

Ken Dusker, Axel Nomrad, and Galagar Gareth, all three of them, were pushed back 30 meters at once. Axel gave a mental command to both of his helpers, sharing his energy sense of the all-encompassing darkness, as well as the sight of his runic eyes, through the link he had with both, rooted in the seed of obsession.

A trace of shock showed on both of their faces, unable to hide their amazement. The vision with which Axel saw the world was far different from anything normal.

His rune eyes showed patterns and paths to take forward, depending on his intent and desires. The energy sense he gained from the void world was another broken ability that required no further explanation.

With an efficiency far greater than before, all three demons worked almost as if they were a singular hive mind; they attacked Sophia, using all their power and tactics, with not a single wasted movement on their part. Axel mostly used Ken Dusker as a meat shield; he was the weakest link in his team of three, which also meant that Sophia could not deal too powerful a blow to him.

The soul brand would immediately restrict her from doing so, and cause a violent backlash; she was already suffering from one such backlash. Tolerating the soul-pain like it was nothing, just through her iron willpower.

Three different but powerful sword techniques rained down on the valkyrie, each wielding different attributes of power. Her eyes flashed coldly, wielding the darkness like an extension of her very limbs on top of her sharp spear. She countered all the attacks gracefully, moving every part of her body like a dancer.

A ballerina dancing in the battlefield covered in blood, littered with corpses, the purple eclipse had turned into a crimson-ominous night of slaughter, betrayal, destruction, and heartbreak. Two lovers, trying to forcefully impose their own twisted ideology and will onto the other.

It was not merely a clash of interests, but of fate and destiny, as if the universe itself was trying to decide who the ’Destined one’ would be...the one who would come out on top.

Like three beasts who had utterly gone mad out of desperation, they fought on... and on against the unmatched martial expertise of the valkyrie. Axel could clearly see that her armor was constantly repairing itself as it took damage and chipped away from their combined assault.

Sophia, underneath, was not unharmed either; her state was constantly worsening, as her regeneration had long stopped. But even so, her eyes did not lose their murderous shine. She was still overwhelming the three of them. As if she could see and understand something that Axel could not.

All of a sudden, the tempo of the battle shifted; she had predicted and learned the pattern of their fight. Moving in an unnatural rhythm, she passed between Axel and Gareth, grabbed the throat of Ken with humongous force.

Throwing him high up into the sky... even if Ken did not die from the fall, he would at least be incapacitated entirely from it. She also did not allow any opportunity for either Gareth or Axel to move away from the battle, keeping them on the complete edge.

Now, with Ken Dusker out of the battle, Sophia’s attacks became more frequent and violent, with nothing holding her back; she was undoubtedly the deadliest war machine. If killing with precision were an art, there would be no artist greater than hers.

Gareth went forward, taking on most of the attacks, serving as the tank, and willingly sacrificing himself for the future that lay ahead, the horror that lay in wait for the world, and the vision of doom that Axel Nomrad had shown him. To prevent that apocalyptic end, he didn’t mind being the insignificant sacrificial lamb.

But alas! Just like Ken Dusker, Sophia did not take long to read his fight pattern and come up with an opportunity to commission the forger out of the battle, as he had already taken too much damage in the midst of the fight. Sophia’s long, dark spear pierced directly through the heart of Gareth, multiple times at that.

Now, only Axel remained standing against her, with a hardened heart and a pained expression on his face, he activated his very last resort, which he did not wish to use, for the immense cost of it. Just like the current form that Sophia was in, which costs one-third of her lifespan to activate.

But the sacrifice which Prime demanded from him was his emotions; there were three reasons for which he had slaughtered all the students-

One, because they were supposed to die in the original timeline. They lived a bit longer because he had tampered with the magic formation of the Lich.

Two, their souls and life force were needed as a sacrifice to manifest his metaphysical territory, which would suppress Sophia by 25%.

Three, their spirits and nexus cores were necessary as a medium of sacrifice, which allowed Axel to transform into the complete demon of obsession.

The transformation of the demon of obsession was only possible when Axel became a complete demon and not a half-breed. Even then, he would have to sacrifice all of his accumulated obsessive emotion forever to embody that form. A path that would never allow him to explore the true potential of that transformation, the power that the world Will would not want him to access.

Power that breaks the very balance of the world, the balance which the world Will dearly protects.

Because in the form of the demon of obsession, the true power of the skill ’objective obsession’ is unlocked at its maximum. Since he utilized the students’ spirit to achieve this transformation, he still retains all of his obsession. He could use that now. But that was precisely the most challenging part.

It would not be a mere temporary loss of those emotions, but a permanent loss. He could not help but feel truly crushed in that moment. Not only would he have to lose her, but he would also have to lose all the love and feelings he had for her. In the end, he would be nothing but an empty shell.

In that case, would it be him remaining, or would he become someone else entirely?

Nowadays, he rarely feels the loss of his little brother, Akon.

For whom he would destroy the world, within that trial.

Just like that, would he also one day forget entirely about Sophia?

Even so, there was no other choice; he knew this could happen. The two options that were given to him by the phantom.

He had made his choice; now he had to see it through to the end. He had to move forward, to win, to be free, no matter what. No matter the cost.

Sophia questioned him coldly, her voice tinged with sarcasm, "Any more tricks or backup you have left? If not, it seems to be my win, in the end... As it was supposed to be."

Axel let out a bitter laughter, replying in his demonic voice, "You were right, Sophia...it seems, I’m the same as you. A monster in the guise of a human. A selfish piece of shit, willing to betray even the one I care for most, just for my own sake."

"No...Maybe, I’m even worse than you."

It was more of a statement to himself than a question to Sophia. Before she could attack him or respond, his lips moved in a lost tongue that the world had forgotten for a million years or more, the forgotten language of the ancient demons. He uttered the forbidden words, "Sin of Obsession_Desire for Strength."

The moment he said those words, Sophia’s pupils dilated to the extreme, and the very ground beneath her seemed to crack. The ground, the skies, heavens...a tremor ran through it all. She heard a maddening alien scream echo from the whole world around; nature itself was roaring in fury.

The quietly slumbering World Will had actually awakened, enraged by the utterings of that unholy language, for it broke the very rules of reality, imposing the existence of balance. A primordial terror ran deep through the trillions of Sophia’s cells. Not because Axel suddenly became impossibly stronger; in fact, no such thing happened.

No such crushing pressure radiated from Axel that would make her feel threatened.

But instead, it was because there was something else happening behind the scenes, around the world, something she could not comprehend, something much deeper_ darker, as the true horror that lay beneath their continent, filled with history, politics, and power, was a horrifying secret that no one could have ever predicted.

And Axel was merely the trigger point of it all; he was_ the Beginning of the End.