Chapter 156: 156. “But I don’t care.”

Chronos struck the ground with his cane and then looked at Lilis. "Use your Manifestation," he instructed and left no room for discussion as he disappeared on the spot.

His eyes flashed behind Karaskan in the next instant. He lifted his cane and made it spin before hitting the Mad God in the back.

"[Cycle Lock]," he chanted. An ancient and sophisticated clock was projected behind him. The hands started turning with a dull and repetitive noise.

Karaskan gritted his teeth as his body ached and seemed to burst from the inside. The cane that was pressing against his back was glowing with the same color as the clock.

Karaskan bit his lip and drove his Eternal-Cast Manifestation to engulf the cane and the old man holding it. When Karaskan was freed from Chronos' grasp, he immediately cut the surface of his flesh that had been in contact with the cane. He clicked his tongue and turned into a shadow to escape the strange energy field that had formed where he was.

Everything within began to rot and die. The red grass of hell perished, the rocks crumbled into dust, and the earth dried.

"Time decay… as ruthless as ever, huh?" Karaskan muttered after he appearing beside the temple.

Chronos' figure emerged from thin air and addressed Lilis again. "What are you waiting for? Use it. That's the only way to stop Pandora and Hephaestus."

Lilis trembled and glanced at Lanya. They nodded at each other and cast the Soul Manifestation together since they were resonating. "[Resurrection]."

Karaskan's expression darkened and even Hephaestus looked over with a slight change in his expression, even though it couldn't be discerned.

"Where were you, Chronos?" Michael inquired as he peeked at Lilis and Lanya. "And what's the meaning of this?"

Chronos didn't answer and glanced at Lilis whose aura was steadily flowing out of her body. It was different from all the Manifestations until now which just ‘exploded’ out of the caster. Pinkish energy surrounded Lilis and mixed with the glow of her newly acquired silver scales and wings.

She closed her eyes and the scene appeared really beautiful. When the pink energy had spread enough to even reach the sky, Pandora shook and Hephaestus immediately rushed toward Lilis ignoring anyone else. Chronos didn't answer Michael and went to stop the Demon.

"Dammit," Michael cursed and followed him. Hephaestus immediately swung his hammer at the two and the world shook as the red cracks formed a wall on thin air.

Chronos protected himself with a strange barrier and Michael could only fly away as he wiped off the blood around his lips. "Now he's getting stronger," he mumbled and the other gods attacked after him while Chronos was still able to contend with Hephaestus.

Every single one of them activated their Manifestations with the remaining mana they had. Azes' white domain reappeared, Zeus' horde came back, and Aphrodite prepared hers while the wind was forming a tornado which was hauling the blue flames in the sky. Hades, Poseidon, and Michael had already summoned their weapons and went to fight right away.

The only ones who didn't use their trump cards were Chronos, Gabriel, and Ifrit. Even so, Ifrit was the most active among them. While producing enough fire and explosions to destroy more than a few continents.

Hephaestus was forced to defend and Karaskan retreated even more. The huge Demon used his hammer to completely destroy the barrage of familiars from Zeus.

To oppose Ifrit, he used his own fire and both of them would occasionally produce stray magic that could be mistaken for nukes as they exploded far away.

For the three close-range fighters; Poseidon, Hades, and Michael, he would occasionally block the strikes with his bare hands and counter with his hammer from time to time. And no matter what they did, the gods could only scratch the surface of his skin.

At that moment, everyone felt a strange feeling going through them as a pink color filled their vision. They looked back at Lilis and Lanya who were holding hands and they noticed that they seemed to be in difficulty.

In the first place, Manifestations were hard to if you weren't in the Third Divine. It was still feasible at the Second Divine but even if they both were at that level with their resonance, their real one was a fusion of the First Divine and the Fifth Sky.

That's why Lilis could use her Manifestation but it required a lot of energy and focus. When the colorful energy had invaded the whole combat zone, a sudden change appeared on the expression of the fighters.

They all felt like they couldn't fight anymore. They lost their resolve to muster any strength. It was a simple thing; they simply were robbed of their will to fight and any violent thought.

The most affected ones were, Hephaestus who was holding his head and the actual Pandora which was shaking dangerously. The box started shrinking quickly. When Lilis' aura reached the limit, the box had already become more than at least 50% smaller.

And immediately after the pinkish energy disappeared, Hephaestus roared in rage and rushed at Lilis who had collapsed out of exhaustion.

The gods noticed that their force had stopped being absorbed by Pandora but they couldn't react in time to protect Lilis since they were still under the effects of her own attack. Even Gabriel who was the less affected by it because her will wasn't to fight from the beginning was powerless.

Chronos gritted his teeth. Time stopped and he teleported in front of the Demon. He drew a circle with his cane and it started to spin counter-clockwise. Chronos attempted to freeze Hephaestus in time and push him back but it failed dramatically. Hephaestus had gotten even more powerful because of Pandora’s influence.

The time lock was promptly shattered and Chulainn who was next on the line was crushed by the power of the red hammer.

“Fuck! [Resurrection]!” Ifrit shouted and he suddenly coughed blood, shocking everyone around him. His eyes shined and his horns grew longer. His body was getting bloodied for some reason and his aura was waning. He was staring at the injured Chulainn as well as Lilis.

Hephaestus roared and punched Lilis with a force powerful enough to kill her. She crashed on the ground below and let out a voiceless cry. There was something odd though; she hadn’t been injured. Instead, Ifrit’s stomach caved in and made him vomit more blood.

“He is… taking their injuries…” Gabriel muttered wide-eyed. She tried to heal him but failed again.

Her control over her powers was slowly coming back, but Lilis’ Manifestation had greatly affected her angelic nature.

Just before the gods could recover though, Hephaestus turned toward his other target. Lanya’s look crossed the Demon’s calmly. She knew what was going to happen the moment Ifrit initiated his Manifestation.

“…y..o…u…will…DIE!” Hephaestus yelled with a broken voice. Pandora released a strident high-pitched sound to show it agreed. He teleported in front of her and, without any holdup, pierced her body with his hand.

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“No!” Lilis shouted.

Ifrit’s eyes shined blood red again. But his eyes widened before he collapsed on the ground, half-unconscious. “(Shit…)”

Lanya coughed and stared at Hephaestus’ eyes whilst grinning even though his hand was threatening to literally tear her body in two parts. She grabbed his arm with a strong grip.

"[I hereby… swear]," she intoned with a ragged breath. Lilis' throat was dry as she watched.

At the same time, no one noticed the purple necklace around Lanya’s neck crack.

"[My End will be Your Misery]."

Lanya's body glowed weakly at first but gradually turned into a blinding light that could even hurt the eyes of the gods. Lilis painfully closed her eyes. She wanted to open them and stand up but she could only fall as she felt her power vanish and the wings and scales, which she had gained from the resonance, disappear.

What she heard next brought her hope and anguish at the same time. Space bent and the roar of an engine resounded clearly in the ears of everyone.

At the same time, a silver light befell and covered everything as if the world had turned unicolor. When it died down, the first thing they saw made them gasp. Hephaestus' body was half scorched and crumbling apart. But what they witnessed afterward brought them fear.

Far more than killing intent, stronger than bloodlust, greater than slaughter intent; it was death knocking at the door.

Arima had an expression distorted with anger as he held the bloodied Lanya in his arms. The Kind Demon's aura pressured everyone as he opened his mouth.

"Tell me, are you afraid of death?" His crimson pupils, filled with fury, glared at Karaskan and Hephaestus. "Don't worry, I’ll give you something worse."

******************************************

In Heaven, Karez was shaking uncontrollably, his previous countenance completely gone. Arima had slammed his body on the ground, opening cracks akin to the ones you would find after an earthquake.

Karez looked up at the source of the killing intent that was penetrating his mind. No matter how malicious and cold he could be, even he couldn't stay calm in front of Arima anymore.

He thought about what happened earlier and shuddered. He saw Arima split into two separate beings. The original Arima immediately climbed Deva.

The doppelganger, who could see Arima’s point of view, seethed in anger. They both shared emotions and visions. He gritted his teeth and cooled his mind. “(If she hadn’t had that necklace, there are chances that she would have really died.)”

The good thing about having millions of different lives in your head was how fast you could recover your spirit if you shared it with all of them. But even if he could calm himself down at the moment, his original was another story. He knew Arima was growing angrier.

"For the last time, how do I stop it?" He asked coldly. He had to get an answer fast. The Third White Art could only sustain his existence for five minutes.

"…I already said it. I won't," Karez trembled and answered firmly.

The doppelganger clicked his tongue in annoyance. Actually, he had already tried to use the Fifth Black Art on Karez but he could only complain as it didn't work on him. No matter how hard he tried to break into his mind to steal his memories, he couldn't get through the power of Hell's core.

"I seriously wonder how you managed to get that power," he uttered as he grabbed Karez and lifted him up again.

Karez chuckled. "It answered to me when I said I wanted my revenge"

"So, you’re saying that your feelings are strong enough for Hell's essence to humor you and give you power?"

"Of course," Karez smirked as rage flashed in his eyes.

"I see," the doppelganger muttered and dropped Karez carelessly. The latter sighed internally. He thought that he was going to be spared since there's no reason to kill him anymore.

"But I don't care about what you went through. Before you die; Baphomet thanks you for freeing him," the emotionless voice left his mind blank. Karez couldn't react as his body was reduced to cinders by Superore's twin bullets.

Arima’s doppelganger glared at the linear crater and then contemplated what he should do.

"{This is quite an annoying situation, huh? Dopper?}" Malum’s voice suddenly echoed in his head.

"{Malum?}" The newly named ‘Dopper’ frowned. "{How can you be here? As a clone, there shouldn’t be any other soul within me.}"

"{Stupid. I’m not part of your soul, I’m literally one of its components. Every time you’re cloned, so am I. I guess you could say we’re both doppelgangers. Anyway, let's get to the point. I think have an idea of how to stop the destruction of the Plane. I got a hint from one of our many parallel lives.}"

"{What is it?}" Doppel inquired immediately and Malum snickered. After he gave his response, Doppel's eyes widened. He burst out laughing just after.

"That idea of yours is messed up but it’s certainly plausible," he smirked and looked below him, at the corrupted core. Its destruction was closing. Heaven was already losing the liveliness it had before. The plants were dying and the earth shook from time to time

"I don't need to stay here then," Doppel muttered. He sighed and a magic circle appeared at his feet. The Third Art was promptly invoked and his body vanished.

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