CH 661

As fierce battles unfolded in Diane, an equally intense battle was taking place in the underground of the Temple Magic University.

It was just that there was no one to remember this battle.

Undoubtedly, the battle was intense.

However, the intensity wasn't due to Saviolin Turner.

"..."

Saviolin Turner silently watched as the Immortal knights were skewered and killed by aura spear.

She had not moved a single step since the battle began.

All approaching Immortals were intercepted.

"This... monster..."

Christina muttered in a daze, grinding her teeth.

She was unmistakably human.

She wasn't a revived Immortal who had become more powerful, nor did she possess anything beyond a human body.

However, Saviolin Turner, maintaining her initial stance, effortlessly blocked all of the Immortals' assaults.

She hadn't even drawn her sword.

Even among the Grandmasters of the Immortals, who were considered the elite, it was impossible to make Saviolin Turner draw her sword.

It was a battle of thousands against one.

Even if the narrow space didn't allow for thousands to attack simultaneously, how was such a feat possible?

Ellen Artorius at least had the power of the Divine Relics.

However, Saviolin Turner completely blocked the Immortals' assault without any such assistance.

If anything, she was the more unbelievable monster.

The nickname of "the strongest in the continent" was attached to her, but Saviolin Turner's reputation was weaker compared to that title.

Before the Great Demon War, there was the commander of Shanafel and her mentor, Larken Simonstite.

Just before and during the Great Demon War, there was the hero, Ragan Artorius.

Currently, after the Great Demon War, there was Ellen Artorius.

There was always someone mentioned before her.

Only when those individuals disappeared did she briefly become known as the strongest on the continent.

That's why some considered Saviolin Turner to be the strongest of the non-champions before the appearance of the next world's strongest.

However, that was just the opinion of the world.

She was always the second one mentioned, but whether she was truly second or not was unknown to anyone.

Strength wasn't determined by the evaluation of the world.

Strength was just strength.

Only those who saw and experienced it could know how powerful it truly was.

Ellen Artorius was powerful, but it was Saviolin Turner, who had ascended to that realm without even the help of a Divine Relic.

It was Saviolin Turner, who had steadily accumulated strength over a long time and had reached that position, who was the truly magnificent existence.

But that magnificent existence was blocking her path.

A shield that would shatter the spear if she tried to pierce it.

If the battle escalated, the laboratory would be destroyed, and the Immortals would be unable to regenerate. That would be playing into the enemy's hands.

Trying to launch a large-scale offensive to kill Saviolin Turner, only for the entire laboratory to be destroyed.

Saviolin Turner would want that.

'Wait...'

But as her thoughts reached that point, Christina felt puzzled.

Just as Christina had predicted the self-destruction of the Allied Forces and the Demon Army and withdrawn the Immortals, Saviolin Turner likely had the same intention.

The entire laboratory collapsing while attempting to break the unbreakable shield with an all-out assault. She would want that.

'No... That's not it either.'

Saviolin Turner would surely know that Christina wouldn't make such a choice.

Destroying the entire laboratory just to kill one Saviolin Turner was a choice Christina had no reason to make.

Since the battle had started, Saviolin Turner had not moved an inch.

Christina thought it was a display of confidence.

It seemed like a show of strength, as if she could block all the attacks of the Immortals without even moving.

No, that was not just a display. It was an indication that she had no intention of actively attacking the Immortals.

In fact, while Saviolin Turner continued to neutralize the Immortals, she made no move against Christina, nor against the Immortals that did not approach her.

Despite all the Immortals in the laboratory being within range of her magical spear, she did not attack or move against those who did not come within about thirty meters of her.

Though she appeared to be concentrating on defense and maintaining distance, she deliberately refrained from attacking the Immortals.

It was simple.

If she began to attack everything in sight, the Immortals would launch an all-out offensive.

Saviolin Turner knew that facing all the Immortals was an impossible task for her.

That's why she only dealt with the approaching Immortals while maintaining a stalemate.

There was only one reason.

"Was it... to buy time?"

It was because she knew what Christina planned to do when she sent the Immortals back into battle.

It was to prevent the Immortals from being redeployed to hunt down the Demon King and his forces.

That's why Saviolin Turner did not actively attack.

She maintained the stalemate, keeping Christina's Immortals tied to the spot and preventing any choices from being made.

Saviolin Turner had not come here to annihilate the Immortals.

Nor had she come to kill Christina.

She had come only to keep the Immortals tied up here.

To prevent the Immortals from returning to Diane.

"Ha, haha... hahaha... All you wanted to do... was that?"

"..."

"Don't you see? You're no different from me."

If the Immortals didn't return, there would be more casualties among the allied forces.

Both Saviolin Turner and the Emperor had decided to allow the deaths of others in the hope that the Demon King would not die.

With a sneer at how they were no different from herself, Christina listened as Saviolin Turner spoke softly.

"That's how it is."

"...What?"

With a stern expression, Saviolin Turner gazed at the alchemist who had gone mad amid the frenzy and despair of war and spoke softly.

"Killing the citizens of the empire while claiming to protect it."

"Killing people who are just like them, only with different appearances, while claiming to protect others."

"Only killing and destroying in the name of standing for something and protecting it."

"Claiming to do it for everyone, but in the end, not being able to help anyone."

"Forgetting the original purpose and intent, and in the end, going down a path that is no longer the right way, even though they know it, simply because they can't let go of the path they've walked."

"That's how it is."

Saviolin Turner had walked that path.

For a long time, as the sword of the empire, she had killed anything and everything.

She had killed more humans than demons.

It was uncertain whether her actions had truly protected anything. She might have had to kill, or there might not have been a need to kill at all.

There had simply been countless slaughters.

"And so, the Gate incident, as difficult as it was, was a clean war."

"Monsters were evil."

"There was no room for dialogue."

"And so, killing them was the right path."

There was no reason to hesitate in a fight against an enemy that could not be compromised with or was impossible to negotiate with. Therefore, the Gate incident was a war where there was no reason to question the slaughter itself, regardless of the war's difficulty.

But now, Saviolin Turner found herself in a place where such an absolute line did not exist.

She was in a place related to people, not monsters.

Whether her actions were to protect something,

Or to destroy something, she could not tell.

She was there to carry out his orders.

"Yes, that's how it is. When it comes to protecting something, eventually even that reason for protection is lost."

At the end of orders and commands,

Saviolin Turner was no longer there to protect the empire.

She merely stood there as the last sword of the crumbling empire.

"Like how you, who wanted to bring your dead friend back to life, ended up driving your other friends to death."

"…"

At Saviolin Turner's pointed remark, Christina bit her lip and glared at her.

She had wanted to bring her dead friend back to life.

But the truth she learned during that process taught her that her anger should be directed at everyone.

She had dreamt of revenge.

But Christina, by withdrawing the Immortals and leaving her friends in a life-or-death situation within the Allied Forces, had caused countless deaths. Not only would many people die because of Christina's actions, but her friends could die as well.

Of course, Christina knew that too.

Saviolin Turner had merely spoken a fact that Christina was already aware of.

"Christina."

"…"

"Do you still want to bring your dead friend back to life?"

She thought there was a way to do it.

The Immortal was only a half-hearted resurrection.

If she could find a more complete, more perfect method,

She believed she could achieve a true resurrection.

Had that thought changed by now?

"I can do it."

She still believed it was possible to find a way, even if she hadn't found it yet.

Christina thought that way.

There must be a way.

It wasn't impossible, she thought.

But Christina understood Saviolin Turner's words correctly.

She didn't ask if she could do it.

She asked if she wanted to.

"But I no longer have the right to do so."

Even if there was a way, she had no right to bring Asher back to life.

The moment she drove countless people, including her friends, to death in the name of revenge, she lost any reason or right to search for a way to bring her dead friend back to life.

She didn't have the right to try and reclaim what she had lost after throwing even the remaining people into the fire.

That's how it was.

The original intentions and thoughts,

What seemed like the cause,

Ultimately became meaningless.

Asher's body was in a pod somewhere in this laboratory, but Christina hadn't gone there in a while.

There was too much work to do.

Thinking that she would deal with it after everything was over.

In the end, the things she originally planned to do, the dreams she once had, had disappeared.

"Do you think I didn't know that I would end up becoming this kind of person?"

Saviolin Turner's words were ultimately something that even Christina knew.

She had not been ignorant.

She knew that everything would come to this, and that the thought of saving Asher would eventually fade from her mind.

Once she had decided to dream of revenge, she knew it would all flow like this, with the whole world as her target.

Christina had the most powerful army at her command, but in reality, she had to face her greatest enemies.

The Empire.

The Demon King.

The Hero.

In a way, these enemies were even more dangerous and formidable than the Gate Incident itself.

After all, taking revenge against the whole world wouldn't be easy. That's why such extreme measures were necessary, and the opposition was responding in kind.

The Gate Incident would come to a safe end.

The Empire would disappear.

The Demon King would dominate the entire world.

That was the conspiracy the whole world was plotting.

Those who sought to thwart the truth of the Gate Incident with lies and deception would once again attempt to wrap the world in lies and deception.

No complex thoughts were necessary.

Christina would kill all those who tied the knots of lies and deception.

Not for someone else.

For no one else, as words like "for a friend" had all become meaningless.

In the end, for the smallest unit.

For herself.

She would take revenge.

She wished for destruction upon everyone.

"She wants to buy time."

The space was narrow, and since it was difficult to attack, Saviolin Turner could hold out. Someday, her stamina would run out and she would collapse, but her role was to prevent the Immortals from returning.

However, Saviolin Turner's actions had a significant weakness.

"What if we do this...?"

As Christina signaled, the Immortals surrounding Saviolin Turner began to retreat one by one.

Instead, they cleared a path.

"..."

Saviolin Turner watched the scene with a stern expression.

As if to keep an eye on the situation, she surrounded herself with a multitude of Aura blades.

But the Immortals no longer charged or attacked.

-In a flash!

Rather, they disappeared one by one.

With a hardened expression, Saviolin Turner watched as Christina began to laugh.

The Immortals vanished somewhere along with the flash.

Surely, the Immortals were returning to the battlefield.

If they returned to the battlefield to hunt monsters and the Demon King's forces revealed themselves, they would hunt them as well.

Saviolin Turner had no choice but to watch.

She had no way of stopping their movement.

"Why should I deal with you?"

In an instant, all the Immortal forces had disappeared, and the research facility grew cold again.

If Saviolin Turner charged, Christina could do nothing.

"Look."

But, in the first place, there was no need for forces to protect Christina.

"After all, even without the Immortals, you can't kill me, can you?"

If Christina were killed, the Immortals would go berserk.

They would not only hunt the Demon King and monsters but also indiscriminately attack the allied forces.

However, Christina couldn't help but feel a sense of unease in Saviolin Turner's expression.

She was neither flustered nor surprised.

She slowly walked towards Christina.

In a situation where no one could protect Christina.

-Step by step

Slowly.

But as Christina's eyes widened at the sight of Saviolin Turner approaching with certainty.

She merely walked forward, not uttering a single word.

"Surely, surely not..."

Stumbling backward, Christina continued to retreat. She couldn't read any intentions from Saviolin Turner's expression.

"You know what will happen... if you kill me, right?"

Naturally, she couldn't help but be terrified.

She knew her opponent's intentions and desires, so she understood what choice she should make.

People would try to protect her, so she believed they would never kill her.

But as the stony-faced Turner approached, a myriad of possibilities raced through Christina's mind.

There were people who had gone mad.

Was there any rule that said Saviolin Turner couldn't be one of them?

Exhausted by hatred and malice, she might just twist Christina's neck without a second thought, right?

In the end, Christina collapsed in the very spot she had been retreating to.

Christina knew nothing of fighting.

She had sent away all the Immortals.

She had never been slapped in the face, not even once.

She had brazenly talked big in front of a being with the status of a Grandmaster.

"Don't, don't come closer..."

Looking at Christina, who was terrified even though she hadn't been exposed to any violence, Saviolin Turner, now close by, gazed down at her.

It was neither a sneer nor a look of contempt.

Saviolin Turner's clenched eyes were filled with sadness.

"How could someone like you... someone like... someone like you..."

"..."

"Have to end up like this..."

She had shouted confidently from afar, but the moment the being who might kill her came close, she collapsed in fear.

Once the thought of possibly dying crossed her mind, she began to tremble.

Such a pitiful and wretched existence, dwarfed by the fear of death. She had dreamed of an overly grand revenge.

Saviolin Turner could only find the wretchedness of Christina, who cowered and looked up at her, unbearably sad.

She was neither the villain of the century nor an immortal absolute being.

Just a slightly intelligent alchemist.

Saviolin Turner, suppressing her sadness, reached for Christina's collar.

However, before she could grab it, Christina thrust her hand into her pocket.

"I told you not to come!"

In Christina's hand, pulled from her pocket, was a teleportation scroll.

Flash!

Along with a flash of light, Christina, Anna, and Louis Ancton disappeared.

Christina might be small and insignificant, but her life was far from worthless.

She knew better than anyone what would happen if she died.

She acted as if she would die if they tried to kill her, but when death approached, she ran away.

Turner looked around the now empty laboratory, left alone in an instant.

Christina had fled.

But Saviolin Turner was curious.

Had Christina run away out of fear of death, or had she fled because of what would happen if she died?

Regardless, it was in the past.

That wasn't Turner's concern.

Saviolin Turner's original goal was not to kill Christina.

Rather, it was to protect her.

Christina had misunderstood and fled on her own.

A blue curtain of light spread from Saviolin Turner's body.

And then, Saviolin Turner took something out of her pocket.

A signal-emitting artifact.

Saviolin Turner pressed it.

She was not trying to stall for time.

Rather, she had known all along that this would happen.

She knew that if she pretended to stall for time, Christina would send the Immortals back to the battlefield.

It wasn't to protect the Demon King.

She had left the fight between the Immortals and the Demon King to them, and had come to send the Immortals back to the battlefield.

And the moment it was confirmed that the Immortals had returned to the battlefield...

To blow up the entire laboratory that resurrected the Immortals.

That had been Saviolin Turner's purpose for coming.

Click

Saviolin Turner pressed the button.

There was an explosion.