Chapter 249

Hilda couldn’t comprehend what was happening to her.

How could she be losing like this?

Her understanding, her enlightenment, should have been far deeper. Her experience couldn’t even be compared to Theo’s.

Though her age in this world was merely 150, the countless regressions she endured as a Chosen One added centuries to her life.

Her ascension to the rank of a demigod wasn’t without reason.

And yet, she was being overwhelmed by a child—a mere mortal who had lived no more than a few decades, even across reincarnations.

"You’ve surpassed the ‘Wall.’"

The Wall. Theo instantly understood that Hilda referred to the Layer Line, the world of light-speed perception he had crossed alongside Kyle.

“Yes, I have,” Theo replied.

"The years I devoted to reaching that realm… And yet, you…!"

Though bleeding heavily, Hilda’s fighting spirit didn’t waver. If anything, it burned even more fiercely.

She tilted her head back, glaring up at the heavens.

Her crimson eyes were filled with resentment.

"Heavens! Divine Pantheon! First Ancestor…!"

Her cry was akin to the final roar of a wounded beast, steeped in despair and fury.

"Why? Why was this path, which was denied to me, so easily granted to this child? The path you allowed Kyle to tread… Why not me?!"

Her eyes reddened further, veins bulging and bursting.

A pale, ghostly visage began to emerge over her own.

It was her spiritual form.

As a demigod, Hilda could temporarily manifest her soul while maintaining her will.

She screamed.

...

...

The heavens, of course, offered no reply.

For a fleeting moment, Theo felt Hilda’s resentment touch his heart.

It reminded him of his previous life—of the layers of misfortune that had weighed him down when he had nothing.

Hilda’s life seemed to echo that sentiment.

Her existence had been an endless struggle to ascend to the heavens, to break through her limitations.

She had taken one step forward but had found herself unable to take the next.

Desperation to open the Ascension Gate had consumed her.

Yet even that had failed.

Now, even her body was gone, and death loomed before her.

Still, she had clung to the faintest chance of survival, resorting to possession—only to be denied even that.

"Very well! If this is your answer, then so be it!"

The ghostly face over Evelyn’s own solidified further.

"I will break down the gate you have closed! I will storm in and quench this thirst with your very throats!"

Theo’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the signs.

"She’s fully succumbed to madness."

Hilda had lost her sanity.

From the moment she had failed to ascend, her mind had begun to crumble.

Her obsession with entering the Divine Pantheon and the shock of her failure had driven her over the edge.

The only thing that had kept her stable was her pride—her desire to ascend with her swordsmanship intact.

But when Theo had proven himself superior, that fragile pride had shattered.

Her spiritual form began to blacken, her eyes transforming into obsidian orbs.

This wasn’t just madness.

Demonization.

Hilda was becoming a demon.

Suddenly—

Boom!

A massive shockwave erupted from the heavens.

Concentric circles rippled across the sky as dark clouds gathered, shrouding the world in darkness.

Thunder rumbled, bolts of black lightning streaking through the storm.

"So, you’ve finally crossed the line that should never be crossed."

The voice that had praised Theo earlier now deepened, laced with gravity.

As the blackened sky loomed lower, it began to bend.

"Spatial compression?"

No.

This wasn’t mere compression.

It was the presence of an overwhelming force attempting to crush the very fabric of space.

Something from outside the world was reaching for them.

There was only one kind of entity capable of such power.

An Outer God.

[The Pantheon issues a warning to you—]

Crash!

The massive message that filled the space above Theo shattered, replaced by the image of a colossal hand descending.

A guttural, otherworldly roar echoed across the battlefield.

"The Nameless Sovereign shouldn’t have broken free yet."

Theo couldn’t make sense of what was happening, but one thing was clear:

The Outer God wanted Hilda.

And Hilda had called it forth.

"Hahahahaha!!"

Theo acted swiftly, decapitating Hilda’s spirit form with a clean slash of the Drake’s Fang.

Slash!

Her head flew into the air, yet even in the face of death, her severed face continued to laugh maniacally.

Her laughter echoed, warping into a haunting wail.

The shattered fragments of her spirit scattered across the battlefield.

Simultaneously, the Outer God’s reaching hand also fractured and dissolved into the void.

"What’s happening?"

"Hilda isn’t dead yet. Look below."

Theo’s gaze shifted downward.

The fragments of Hilda’s spirit had fallen to the ground, where the earth now trembled violently.

Fissures formed, the ground splitting into deep chasms.

From these fissures erupted black mana in fountains, accompanied by a horde of grotesque demons.

"It seems she detonated all the vitality she had gathered to open the Ascension Gate."

The voice carried a faint hint of disdain.

"The rampage of the mystical force… it’s only intensifying."

Krrrrk!

Kyaaaaaah!

As the inferno of the battlefield raged, a colossal wall of fire erupted.

Hellish flames gave rise to a massive gate, from which poured forth a legion of dragons and monsters, clashing in chaotic carnage.

It was a scene straight out of myth.

“Julius—!”

Fwoosh!

Theo shouted, and Julius rushed over just in time.

Evelyn’s body, now free of Hilda’s possession, was falling lifelessly.

Catching her mid-air, Julius held her tightly in his arms.

Blood poured from her, her breaths faint.

Though the four swords piercing her body had missed her vital organs, she was in critical condition.

"You always seem so reliable, and yet you always worry me..."

A hint of sadness shadowed Julius’s face as he looked down at her.

He had always wanted to protect her, but he had failed too many times.

Now, he couldn’t let her go.

Carefully, he pulled out Theo’s swords.

A bit of blood spilled, but the wounds closed almost immediately as a strange vitality flowed into her body.

It seemed Theo had infused a restorative force alongside the attack.

"You really need to stop worrying me, Julius… It’s not me… It’s the young master… isn’t it?"

Evelyn’s trembling eyelids opened slightly, her voice weak as she looked up at Julius.

"Are you all right?"

"Do I look all right?"

"Not exactly..."

"I feel a bit... tired."

Evelyn recalled vividly what it was like to be possessed by Hilda.

Her consciousness had been intact, but she had been completely unable to control her body. It had been a truly wretched experience.

Yet, now, seeing Theo, Julius, Wellington, and the others from the clan around her, she felt relieved.

She had trusted that they would save her, no matter what.

Hilda’s scoffing disbelief had proven unfounded.

"I was just getting used to having two arms again… Now I feel incomplete once more. I suppose I’ll have to rely on you, Young Master—or should I say, Clan Leader?"

Evelyn’s words were cut short when Julius pulled her into a tight embrace.

"Captain?"

"Just for a moment."

"…What?"

"Let me hold you, just for a moment."

Evelyn was puzzled by Julius’s uncharacteristic behavior, but she didn’t press him for an explanation.

Her heart pounded wildly, her face flushed.

The warmth of Julius’s arms was strangely comforting, and for the first time in a long while, Evelyn allowed herself to rest.

She had always been a wanderer, far from home.

But now, in Julius’s arms, she felt a warmth she hadn’t realized she missed so dearly.

And perhaps, just a little, she liked it.

***

While Julius briefly stepped away.

Rumble!

The other Nine Dragons surged forward, clashing with the hordes of monsters.

Aura raged wildly, painting the battlefield with streaks of light and destruction.

Sword Dragon, Thunder Dragon, Wind Dragon.

These three led the charge, while Wellington, Ray, and Hulcus—claiming their lineage as successors—fought fiercely, their efforts leaving trails of defeated monsters in their wake.

Splash, splash.

Black blood poured from the slain creatures, staining the ground and intensifying the aura of death that suffused the air.

Screech!

Screeeaaaak!

The undead army that had been wandering through the Naga Forest roared in unison and began moving toward the outside world.

The mystical energy was spiraling out of control.

"Damn it."

Theo realized the rampaging force was spreading beyond the forest’s boundaries.

He wanted to intervene and stop its spread, but he had no chance to do so.

The voice that had warned him earlier was right—Hilda was not truly dead.

From the remains of the shattered monsters, fragments began to gather.

It was as though dozens, perhaps hundreds, of monsters were being forcibly compressed into a single humanoid form.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Theo unleashed bursts of aura, slicing into the amalgamation.

But no matter how many times he struck, the creature simply absorbed more corpses to heal its wounds, regenerating at a rapid pace.

Soon, the monstrous shape began to take on the semblance of a human figure.

Bit by bit, it adopted Hilda’s appearance.

"Her divine power has been corrupted into demonic energy."

As Theo processed this grim realization, someone descended quietly beside Hilda.

It was the Dragon Emperor.