CLANG CLANG CLANG

This was the sound of steel against stone.

Even now, even in this situation, Verity was still swinging his spear. For him, there was no rest, no respite, no end.

No matter what, he would swing his spear.

But what was the use of that? For what purpose?

Verity did not know.

In the physical world, both of his hands fell to the ground.

'What… What can I do!? I don't have a single skill that could help… And I'll never be able to break Muriel's wall before this is over… What can I do!?!?'

Verity looked ahead as his master's pale skin grew even more distinctive. Its color seemed to be absorbed by her spear's deepening darkness. The winds had begun swirling around her and the pressure she exuded rose with every second.

The demon looked at Evangelina intently. "Hmm… this is great."

Contrasting with her porcelain skin, purplish veins wrapped around Evangelina's arms, slowly traveling throughout the rest of her body. They pulsated with a certain rhythm, and for everything that they touched, Evangelina seemed to grow much more powerful, but somehow, weaker.

With one swift motion, the Duchess of Dreadmoore pulled the spear from her chest, and a silver aura surged from it as she pointed its blade toward the demon.

It was a spear that had been infused with everything that Evangelina was. Her life force, her Aura, her purpose. It had taken everything from her, and had grown into something terrifying.

"Listen well," she said.

She moved, disappearing in a blur that the demon could barely follow.

"Endure."

Evangelina slipped through the demon's guard and thrust her spear toward his navel.

As soon as the two came into contact.

BOOM

A crater formed behind the demon, and he spit out black blood. This one seemed to have hurt him gravely.

"Treachery is just as the name suggests… It is a betrayal."

Verity could barely speak. "I..Please..Sto–"

The pulsating corrupted veins gained ground on Evangelina's body and she seemed to freeze for a mere instant. Ignoring the pain, she spun her spear and swung it downward toward the demon, splitting him in half. "AH!"

His body regenerated almost immediately, but distinctly slower than it had before. With three Words, his speed skyrocketed and he knocked Evangelina back with a blow to her face that she was hardly able to avoid.

The demon wiped the corner of his mouth. "How amusing… but I find myself wondering if this really would have slain me had you used it back then."

Evangelina was the one to spit blood this time, and the veins on her body could now be seen to have reached her neck.

'No...No.. stop this..!'

The silver-haired haired heroine lowered her stance, and she steeled her eyes onto the demon. "However, Treachery is the worst kind… A betrayal of the self."

She exploded toward the demon and the two engaged in a furious battle that Verity, although he had grown stronger in the near-year he had been here, could not perceive.

All he could catch a glimpse of, was that every time Evangelina struck the demon, a crater would form behind him.

Still, he could hear his master's words clearly, as though they were having a normal conversation.

"This stance means to take all that you have accumulated, your achievements, your stories, your blood, your sweat, your tears, your laughs, your loves, your hatred, and… to throw it away. To forsake all of it."

The veins had now reached her lips, and although the battle between the two seemed to be even, anyone would have been able to tell that Evangelina would not last much longer.

'Master… Please… please don't do this… not for me…!!'

Her lips parted once more. "I hate it… I hate this stance… And I hate the one who created it…" She grit her teeth.

She was the one who had created it.

Treachery was her own achievement, and it had also become the very fuel for her current strength.

Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

Cracks and wounds which would not heal could be seen on the demon's body, but he appeared nowhere near as pitiful as Evangelina.

The veins had now reached her silver eyes, and once they covered her entire body, that would be the end of her legend.

She sent the demon flying with dozens of strikes to every inch of its body, and she fell to one knee, a torrent of blood flowing from her mouth.

The veins had now covered her entire body.

And yet, instead of turning to dust, Evangelina's energy seemed to spike tremendously. It had already been at a ridiculous level, but now… it was simply unfathomable.

This gave even the demon pause.

"The more you betray yourself… the stronger it grows…"

She was letting go of everything, all that had shaped her, all that she was.

Faces she loved blurred, scents lost to the void, sights gone for good, and sounds slowly fading away.

All but one.

Evangelina smiled, the image of amber eyes dancing in her mind.

Verity, at last, cried out. "W-Why are you doing this for someone like me!! I'm not worth it!! Please just run away and let me handle my own problems!!"

Evangelina scoffed, but she did not reply.

"Watch well… Verity."

She lowered her stance again, and Verity felt his chest tighten.

Evangelina was putting everything together for this one strike.

"Spear domain – Return to Dust."

Evangelina's spear domain, unlike many others, did not create a separate space. Rather, it was excessively straightforward.

The domain itself only existed between her and her opponent. It created a thread of causality between them, and simply put, it increased her damage output dramatically as long as it was active.

For the first time, the demon narrowed his eyes.

Was this worry?

Who knew.

"This image, engrave it into your mind, burn it into your eyes. This strike contains everything that I was, that I am, and that I could have been. It is my last lesson to you."

The demo–

BOOM

The tip of her spear had already made contact with his chest.

Verity's eyes widened as the world was engulfed in white.

When he opened them, he was at a loss for words.

The demon had fallen flat on the ground some dozen meters away, convulsing in unimaginable pain, and Evangelina stood, her back turned to Verity.

Behind them, a scene that could only be described as unbelievable was etched into Verity's pupils.

A trail of destruction that extended wider than Verity could perceive and further than the horizon itself. The strike was such that as Verity looked around, he realized they had left the flower garden.

The crimson petals still danced around him, but they were now in a deserted plain with a scorching sun overhead.

He shielded his eyes as he looked ahead. The veins pulsating on his master's body now resembled a disorganized mesh of cobwebs, and her shining silver hair seemed to have lost all of its luster.

She dropped her spear, and Verity ran to her.

"M-Master!!" he cried out.

She stood before he could reach her, and she extended a hand.

Till the end, she did not want to look into his eyes.

Verity froze mid-step. "W-What can I.. How can I help you!?? Should I go look for the man with the white hair, the Apostle!?? Or maybe I can–"

Evangelina stopped him. "What are you doing!?!" She yelled.

She coughed, but there was no blood left to escape her mouth. "I've shown you all nine stances of the Nine Hells Style, but you've only given me eight bows!!"

"W-Wha–"

She raised her fist. "Do I need to repeat myself!?? Straighten, then bow!"

Conditioned by thousands of hours of being beaten by his master, Verity found himself obeying before even realizing that he had moved.

He straightened, and tears began pooling in his eyes as he noticed the tip of his master's fingers crumbling away.

He bowed as low as he could, his head smashing into the hard stone at his feet. His body trembled, and blood trickled from his lip as he bit into it.

He heard soft footsteps walking toward him, and an even softer hand landed on his dark hair. "Good. I've accepted your bows. You are now officially my disciple, and… the inheritor of the Nine Hells Style."

He wanted to lift his eyes, see his master's face, but he felt a fist weakly collide with the top of his head.

A single drop splattered onto the ground before him.

"Be strong, my disciple."

He couldn't handle it anymore.

Verity lifted his head against his master's wishes, but when he did, she had already left.

Evangelina Dreadmoore was gone.

For good.

Verity dropped to his knees.

He grasped at the air, but could not feel anything, and he screamed.

He screamed so loud his vocal chores threatened to rupture.

Why, why, just why would she do this for someone like him?

Verity couldn't understand.

He wasn't talented with the spear, and he always teased her to no end. He complained constantly, and he wasn't any good at cooking either. The only reason he was even still alive was because of that weird skill of his. Not because he was especially strong, smart, or charismatic.

None of his achievements were truly his own. Verity wasn't anything special.

So… why do this for him?

So what if she couldn't sacrifice herself for the world decades ago? Did that mean she had to die now to make up for it?

No one wanted to die. She didn't have to blame herself for her decision. It was not cowardice to want to live, and she had nothing to be sorry for.

So why… just why had she decided to give her life now?

Tears streamed down Verity's cheeks.

'For me…? I-I don't understand… Muriel, Master… Even Elio…These people with goals they're ready to sacrifice everything for…. I don't get it damnit!!'

"Why!!!"

Verity cried out to the sky for an answer, but no one answered.

'I was always just pretending… always playing the part of someone great…Maybe he was right… maybe I really am just an impostor…'

A single sentence echoed in his mind.

Be strong, my disciple.

Verity hit the ground with such force he nearly broke his hand.

And that's when he saw it from the corner of his eyes.

A towering figure ahead in the distance.

The demon was… standing.

Verity's eyes widened.

The demon spit so much blood it resembled a waterfall, and he looked at the devastation behind him. "To think that was only the after-effect of your strike… truly magnificent."

He clutched his chest. "Hm… Do I only have three or so cores left…? Ridiculous…I probably won't be able to live for much longer… but that's fine."

He looked ahead. "Since you've reached me." He bowed mockingly. "Please forgive me… I indulged in a small distraction before your arrival…"

The demon stepped forward.

Step…step…step..

Verity grit his teeth.

[The skill -Beyond Reason- is being activated. Your stats have been increased to the maximum.]

[Your Foolishness stat is rising dramatically.]

He raised his spear.

He was well aware that what he was doing was pointless. Even weakened and bordering death this demon was invincible to Verity as we was now… but sometimes… emotions made one foolish.

Step… step… step…

The spear in Verity's hand crumbled.

[-Final Embers- has been destroyed.]

The demon stepped past Verity before he could even attack once.

The demon was not looking at him, he never was.

Verity looked behind him.

Blue eyes, dark hair, and a dashingly handsome face. The demon was walking toward… Elio.

Elio took one look at Verity, and he sighed. "I guess it doesn't matter now… We'll see each other on the other side." he then turned his attention back to the demon.

The demon straightened despite his injuries. "What should we call you now…? A child.. Or are you—"

Verity ran to Evangelina's obsidian spear, he clutched it as hard as he could and then prepared to pour his all into a single strike at the demon.

But before he could execute his plan...

[You have completed the trial.]

The world turned dark.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.