CH 500

The battlefield was a scene of utter despair as they fought against the amalgamation of vengeful spirits.

"Defiant beings who have betrayed the order! Perish in the name of Tu'an!"

The priests were capable of wielding the divine powers of both Demon God and Gods. However, now they needed the power of the Gods.

Olivia leaped towards the possessed-by-a-spirit holy knight, who had begun indiscriminately attacking the priests and fellow knights.

These people hesitated to strike, fearing to attack their comrades.

"Crack!"

Olivia grabbed the rampaging possessed knight by the throat and shouted.

"Begone, wicked beings!"

"Flash!"

"There is no place for you in this world!"

"Rumble!"

A golden storm erupted from Olivia's hand, engulfing the possessed knight.

"Squeeeaaal!"

"Screeeeeeeeech!"

Like being consumed by golden flames, the malevolent spirits that had taken over the knight's body were incinerated, along with the black smoke that erupted violently.

Within the golden flames that burned the souls, Olivia could see the light returning to the lifeless eyes of the knight.

"Gasp...cough..."

But it was only for a moment, as the knight who had regained consciousness foamed at the mouth and collapsed on the spot.

It was just a brief suppression of the spirit, but it was clear that his mind had already been shattered.

This was the power of just one fragment of the enormous vengeful spirit that had been split into dozens of pieces.

The priests, who could be called veterans, were driven to the brink of death by being possessed, those who had the mental strength to resist were dominated, and those who managed to break free from possession already had their minds shattered.

Under the protection of divine power, Olivia watched in a daze as the spirits penetrated their defenses and infiltrated the priests.

Was this the consequence of their sins?

The sins committed by those who wielded the power of the gods were not judged by the gods themselves.

So, the anger, hatred, despair, and fear that had accumulated and coagulated in the pit, along with the injustice and sorrow, were now punishing them.

Were they being judged by the hatred of the people, as the gods did not judge them?

However, Olivia was not alone in this place.

For a moment, the dozens of fragmented vengeful spirits swallowed the priests. Seeing Olivia's form, the priests diligently resisted and fought back.

They gathered together and amplified their divine power, creating a powerful barrier that prevented the spirits from entering, gradually pushing them back.

They could fight back.

However, Olivia felt a change in the atmosphere.

A chilling sensation enveloped her entire body.

The possessed ones stared at Olivia.

As if they had determined who the most threatening enemy was in this situation.

"Growl!"

One of the fragmented spirits, the mass of vengeful spirits, charged towards Olivia.

Olivia smiled in response.

"Come on, then."

Her weapon, Tiamata, was imbued with immense divine power.

"I'll burn you to ashes."

Hatred, despair, and injustice would all vanish, engulfed by the sacred flames that burned the spirits.

"Rumble!"

The mass of vengeful spirits charging at Olivia was shattered and disappeared, engulfed by the divine power storm released by Tiamata.

"Your Holiness! Behind you!"

"…!"

However, whether the frontal charge was meant to divert Olivia's attention or not, three more amalgamations of vengeful spirits were already charging at her, as a shout warned her to turn around.

The possessed knights and priests had been suddenly engulfed by the spirits, leaving them with little time to react.

Nevertheless, Olivia was the first to regain her composure, brandishing her sword towards the incoming spirits.

-Screech!

With a sensation eerily akin to cutting an intangible form, the cluster of spirits was torn apart.

But then came the second wave.

-Shriek!

“...!”

The spirits assailed the barrier of divine power surrounding Olivia.

However, they could not pierce through the divine energy boiling within her.

And then, there was a third wave.

-Groan!

“Damn it!”

Engulfed by the second wave of spirits, Olivia felt a suffocating pressure.

It was as if she had been submerged in a living mound of mud. Her arms, legs, and even her ability to channel divine power into Tiamata had become inexplicably heavy.

Despite being surrounded by divine fire that burned the impure beings, the cluster of spirits clung to Olivia, tightening their grip.

-Growl!

As Olivia's movements came to a halt, more dark masses erupted from the bodies of the possessed knights and priests.

It seemed their sole purpose was to either kill Olivia or possess her.

Dozens of spirits broke free from their hosts and charged towards Olivia, who struggled to escape the clutches of the persistent spirits.

-Shriek!

-Thud! Thud! Thump!

Like giant lumps of mud clinging to her, one by one, the spirits began to cover Olivia's body.

“Ugh... Ugh...”

Golden divine power poured from Olivia's body, somehow staving off the erosion, but the enormous horde of spirits relentlessly sought to swallow her whole.

“Save Her Holiness!”

Not only that, the priestesses also began to channel their divine power in an effort to save Olivia from the concentrated assault.

Would they fall, or would they persevere?

There were two paths before them.

But Olivia, struggling with all her might, felt a chilling terror within the suffocating mass of the spirits.

It wasn't that she couldn't defeat them.

Olivia could clearly see the spirits burning away within her divine power and the holy fire of Tiamata.

The spirits were undoubtedly being incinerated.

However, this was not just a single ghost.

It was an innumerable collection of spirits.

Though they appeared to be fused and gathered together, they were, in the end, separate entities.

Countless spirits charged towards Olivia, seeking to swallow her whole as they themselves perished.

-Giggle!

-Mommy...!

-I don't want to die...!

-Why me...?

-Why do I have to die?!

Their dying words, or perhaps their final thoughts, were filled with despair as they penetrated Olivia's divine barrier and assaulted her ears in the form of whispers.

Despair.

-The Demon King.

-Must die.

-Those who side with the Demon King.

-The Demon King himself.

-They all must die...!

-Why did you kill me?

Hatred.

Witnessing the vengeful spirits, who had remained in the world even after death, sacrificing their very existence to seek revenge against the Demon King, Olivia watched in terror.

The spirits were not powerful.

They were numerous.

Far too numerous.

As they perished under the onslaught of Olivia's divine power and that of the priestesses, the spirits sought only to swallow her whole.

As if to self-destruct.

As if staking one's existence on vengeance.

Too many resentful spirits, each a different entity.

But the wind was one.

The death of the Demon King.

The fall of the Demon King.

The destruction of those who followed the Demon King.

Witnessing humanity's hatred for the Demon King and the resentment of the dead, Olivia gritted her teeth.

"What... do you... know..."

You people.

What on earth do you know?

Do you know even the slightest bit of the truth?

"You... know... nothing... nothing at all..."

It's unfair.

This is unfair.

You people know nothing.

In the end, Olivia couldn't help but react to the resentment and fury of the spirits.

And that, in the end, was a crack in her heart.

In the end, it was a moment of faltering.

-Crash!

A crack appeared in the divine power that enveloped Olivia.

Like water seeping into the crevices of a rock.

As if water gushing toward a hole in a dam would eventually collapse it.

-Rumble!

Olivia's body was swallowed by a swarm of black spirits.

"Ah... Ah...!"

The invading dark souls pierced Olivia's mind in an instant.

Is this what it feels like to have one's soul plundered?

Olivia lost her composure for a moment, and the last line of defense, the barrier of divine power, disappeared, and the golden light of Tiamata also went out.

-Groan

Olivia was engulfed in the flood of souls, unable to do anything but scream in a voice that could not be described.

A single shard caused burdens on the bodies of the knights and priests, even causing some to explode.

All the souls rushed to swallow Olivia.

Divine magic poured in from the outside, but already inside, souls were running wild to dominate Olivia's spirit and soul, projecting cursed words not into her ears but into her mind and soul.

The body is inherently a vessel for one mind and one soul.

Countless souls began to mix and enter that vessel.

Even if it were a benevolent soul, the mind of the person experiencing such an event would inevitably shatter.

But it wasn't a benevolent soul; it was a resentful one.

Filled with malice, resentment, and hatred, countless souls with only the will to destroy something invaded the mind, and the mind could not help but be torn to shreds beyond collapse.

Swallowed by hatred and resentment, one could only become a vengeful ghost, running wild for the common desire of the spirits.

However.

"Ugh...!"

Olivia Lanze would not easily collapse.

Born with a divine mind, she had incredible resistance to all interference and harmful effects on her mind from a young age.

The divine don't choose humans who easily break.

She was not made to easily break.

Now, in the stormy sea of souls, Olivia clung to the last piece of her sanity, like a castaway on a raft enduring a sinking ship.

She faced the waves of resentment, like a tidal wave trying to crush her will.

Her physical battle had already been lost, but if her spiritual and soulful struggle also crumbled, she would disappear.

In the terror that she would be plunged into the deep sea of spirits if she let go of her sanity even for a moment.

She strained with all her might not to be drawn into the sensation of plunging, as if the spirits were grabbing her by the hair, her arms and legs, pulling her down, down.

In the bizarre and eerie pain, as if someone were sticking tens of thousands of needles into her brain, and in the fear.

Olivia's fragile spirit was like a small boat on the verge of sinking amidst stormy waves.

Resentment. And the grudges that stemmed from hatred were trying to engulf Olivia.

Due to her resistance against these grudges, Olivia lost her composure and allowed her mind to weaken.

And so, now, Olivia struggled to hold on to her sanity amidst the fear that her sense of self might vanish entirely.

“Huuu... huuuuuuuuu...!”

To face these dark beings and vengeful spirits starved for revenge, Olivia desperately tried to recall the name of a god.

Tu’an.

The goddess of purity.

As if by repeating that name, the sinking of her ego and the destruction of her soul would be averted.

In order to maintain a pure and strong mind, she tried to engrave the name of the god into her heart and soul.

For she needed tranquility to overcome the chaos.

To navigate through the turbulent sea, Olivia Lanze remembered the name of the god.

-Kiaaaaaaaaah!

However, even as she desperately sought the name of the god, divine help did not reach her mental world.

In the stormy sea, the names of the gods were too far away.

In the depths of despair, Olivia managed to grasp her sinking spirit and made a plea.

Oh, the Five Great Gods.

The five deities with different names but of the same essence.

You cannot abandon me like this.

Did you choose me just to let me crumble like this?

I may not know what your intentions are, but surely you didn't create me just to be trampled by mere grudges and obsessions, did you?

Even as she desperately cried out the name of the god in her heart, tranquility did not come, and the vengeful spirits continued to flood Olivia's mind.

To break the vessel named Olivia Lanze, and to dominate her broken body.

In the chaotic state where too many things other than herself had seeped in, at the edge of her consciousness and body, Olivia thought.

If I crumble like this.

If I vanish like this.

Reinhardt.

He would grieve.

If this life, saved by Reinhardt time and time again, were to finally sink into this undeserved hatred.

Reinhardt, who already suffers from the guilt of trying to save the world only for it to fall apart, would blame himself for Olivia's death as well.

She didn't want that to happen.

She couldn't cause him that kind of sorrow.

For Reinhardt, who was already undoubtedly filled with sadness and pain, she could not be the source of any more despair and fear.

Amidst the torrent of souls pouring in.

In the end, amidst the words of hatred towards the Demon King that they spewed forth.

Olivia finally let go of her obsession with tranquility.

In the end.

This injustice was infuriating.

Why was it Reinhardt's fault that the world ended up like this in the process of trying to protect it?

Why was it Reinhardt's fault that Liana de Grantz killed people at her whim?

Why must Reinhardt bear the responsibility for all of these things?

While their deaths might be pitiable and wretched.

That pity and wretchedness do not justify misguided hatred and anger, do they?

Why, after all.

What did he do so wrong.

That Reinhardt must be subjected to such hatred?

In the end.

Abandoning the mindset of trying to maintain reason and composure while floating above the waves that sought to engulf her.

A single will.

“Thi... these damn demonic bastards...”

Within the torrent, she discovered a rock to cling to.

“It's really... infuriating, isn't it

"Ugh... really...?"

The rock, it seemed, bore the name of fury.

-Zap!

And in response to the fury, the sacred relic released a crimson torrent akin to Olivia's emotions.

-Whirrrrr!

The priests and knights, who had tried to save Olivia in any way they could, witnessed the violent discharge of divine power skyward.

------

-Rumble

The crimson pillar of divine power shooting toward the sky soon subsided.

The priests, overwhelmed by the sight, were left speechless.

Olivia sat down on the open field, staring blankly at the Tiamata stained with the red aura.

No matter how much she called upon the gods' names, no power appeared.

However, her anger at the unjust situation obliterated the countless vengeful spirits attempting to consume her mind.

Olivia, who had held onto her sanity until the very end, had experienced the horrifying contamination of her mind and soul, but her heart had not broken.

"Ugh..."

But having already endured the excruciating experience, Olivia was now in a state close to exhaustion.

One of the priests hurried over and supported the faltering Olivia.

Olivia gazed at the now-quiet field.

The swarm of vengeful spirits had attacked her en masse, but they had disappeared due to the power of Tiamata, reacting to Olivia's raging fury.

Olivia didn't know how many spirits there had been or how they had vanished.

It was a feat, a miracle.

Having withstood the total onslaught of forces that even skilled priests and knights could not endure, Olivia not only maintained her sanity but also annihilated them all at once.

There was no being in the world more powerful in wielding divine power than Olivia.

Indeed, it was something only Olivia Lanze could accomplish.

The priest supporting Olivia murmured, still dazed.

"Is it... over?"

Everyone hoped that this terrible ordeal had come to an end.

However, Olivia's expression was grim.

As if she had a premonition.

Though she had performed what deserved to be called a miracle rather than divine magic.

Olivia stared at something, her eyes out of focus.

At the bottomless abyss.

She gazed at the pit.

Olivia felt something that no one else could sense.

From the depths of the abyss, something surged.

-Rumble!

The pit erupted, and once more the abyss gushed forth.

-Howling!

The manifestation of hatred that had emerged just moments ago, the swarm of vengeful spirits, had been immense.

However, what now appeared was dozens of times larger than before.

It was as if the swarm of vengeful spirits Olivia had just faced had been divided into dozens of pieces.

The first spirit to appear had also been merely a part of the whole.

Olivia looked up at the manifestation of hatred with a despairing expression.

She had performed a miracle.

But the hatred that pervaded the world was far greater. She stared blankly at the priests, who couldn't even scream in the face of the overwhelming form of terror.

"Run..."

Olivia couldn't finish her sentence.

How could they possibly escape?

How could they escape from such a thing?

-Howl!

The howling wave of vengeful spirits once again engulfed Olivia.

This time, Olivia couldn't resist.