The perspective shifts back to the arena.
The Madwhisper Beast’s massive body writhed and roared in the center of the arena, every movement shaking the earth.
It had inherited the most troublesome trait of creatures from the Supreme Heaven—a terrifying, irrational recovery rate.
Allen’s Holy Power could sear its wounds, and Livia’s Star Swift Sword could slice through its flesh, but those hideous gashes would always be covered by a filthy green light in the next second, writhing and knitting back together as if they had never existed.
This battle felt like two exhausted hunters futilely struggling against an unkillable nightmare from the abyss.
The Madwhisper Beast’s attacks were chaotic, yet its bloated body possessed startling agility.
Just as Allen and Livia scrambled to avoid its lightning-fast, lashing tongue, its pustule-covered hind legs kicked off the ground, sending the mountain of flesh soaring into the air.
As it reached the peak of its leap, countless ulcers and pustules on its toad-like skin burst simultaneously!
Yellow-green bile and pus flooded the sky, turning into a foul-smelling rain of corrosive acid that poured down toward the two below.
Livia immediately activated her Star Sigil.
Brilliant starlight gathered in front of her, forming a translucent shield.
However, the life-and-death struggle with Allen had consumed too much of her strength; the starlight shield was dim and so thin it was almost transparent.
“Tsk—!”
A few drops of bile splashed against the shield, cutting through the starlight like a hot knife through butter and instantly corroding several holes in it.
More acid followed closely behind, on the verge of penetrating the shield and drenching Livia.
“Stupid, look out!”
In that split second, Allen didn’t have time to think.
He lunged forward, wrapping a powerful arm around Livia’s soft waist and pulling her firmly into his chest.
He swung his black sword, which was wreathed in Saint Flame, and the golden flames exploded outward, forming an impenetrable arc that cleaved and evaporated all the foul liquid flying toward them.
The scalding acid hit the ground, corroding the hard yellow sand into deep, smoking pits.
In Allen’s arms, Livia’s body went rigid. She could clearly feel the solid warmth of his chest and the strength of the arm wrapped around her waist.
A scent mixed with blood, sweat, and something unique to him—a scent that felt like the burning sun—entered her nose, causing her to lose herself for a fleeting moment.
In her long cycle of reincarnation, this was the first time she had been in such close contact with a man.
“Let go of me,” Livia said, her voice still cold, though the tips of her ears turned a shade of red she couldn’t control.
Allen suddenly realized he had overstepped. He quickly let go and coughed twice to hide his embarrassment.
“Ahem… that was an act of God. Don’t go getting any ideas.”
“……”
Surprisingly, Livia didn’t get angry.
She silently took a half-step back, straightened her slightly disheveled clothes, and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Allen to face the titan that had just landed.
While her attention seemed focused entirely on the enemy, she couldn’t help but steal glances at the black-haired youth beside her.
“This thing is a standard late-game boss,” Allen muttered under his breath while warily watching the Madwhisper Beast.
“According to the normal script, it would take two years for you and your little friends to reach full build before you could take it down. Now, both of us are half-dead; the situation is bad. It’s all your fault, Livia. If you hadn’t insisted on trying to kill me, would we be in this mess?”
“It’s not your fault? Didn’t you lead it here?” Livia retorted sharply.
After the “psychoanalysis” earlier where they had dropped all pretenses, she was no longer as distant.
Though her tone remained cold, she was at least willing to communicate.
“What does it have to do with me?” Allen looked innocent.
“It is the mount of the Star Listener. In past cycles, you became a hateful cultist under the Star Listener’s guidance and slaughtered the citizens of the Capital. Isn’t this a trap set by you and the Star Listener?”
As expected of the heroine, Livia’s logic was rigorous and pierced straight to the heart of the matter.
She had actually guessed that some conspiracy existed between Allen and the Star Listener.
“Hey, Miss Livia, it seems we have a massive gap in information,” Allen countered with rare seriousness.
“I admit that in one of those times, I lost my mind and did something stupid. But I really didn’t massacre the citizens. I did start the fire, but those citizens had already turned into monsters. I was just providing necessary humanitarian treatment.”
He changed the subject and complained, “Besides, why don’t you mention that I also backstabbed the Star Listener? Do you think that lunatic would be kind enough to be my ally?”
Livia fell silent for a moment, seemingly processing this information.
She turned her head, her deep blue eyes scrutinizing Allen. “Why did your eyes turn golden? Was that strange power given to you by the Observer?”
“You’ve gathered quite a bit of intel yourself. But this has nothing to do with the Observer. I suspect there’s a third party working in the shadows.”
Allen was vague; he didn’t fully understand the situation himself.
“Was it really the ‘Observer’ who destroyed humanity again and again?” Livia pressed.
“Yes, but it’s complicated. I’ll explain the details to you later. For now, our primary enemy is the Evil God and its minions. The Observer comes second.” Allen succinctly prioritized their enemies.
“Allen,” Livia suddenly said his name in a strange tone, one that even sounded slightly intimate, “you are a bad person.”
“I don’t know why you’re so obsessed with that point, but I am indeed a villain.”
Hearing this, Allen immediately flashed his trademark, petty-villain smirk.
“So, how does it feel? Fighting alongside a villain like me—does it feel like you’re being defiled?”
“…I’m actually quite happy,” Livia whispered.
A touch of moving, youthful charm flashed across her exquisite, cold face.
The smile on Allen’s face instantly froze.
‘No, no! Absolutely not! You’re the designated Yuri protagonist! How can you show that expression to me? One Marianne is headache enough… if you join in, how will my “Yuri Paradise” plan work? Two heroines falling for the same man—that’s not Yuri at all!’
“It’s coming!” Allen forced himself to ignore Livia’s words and her expression.
He shouted, “Livia, help me hold it off for a bit. I’m going to ask the Judgement Court if their secret weapon is ready!”
“…Okay.” Livia nodded, her tone returning to its usual calm. “My body… please cremate it and scatter the ashes in the sea.”
Allen stumbled, nearly losing his footing. He turned back to glare at Livia.
Looking at her indifferent expression as she faced death, he couldn’t tell for a moment if she was joking or if she had truly started thinking about dying again.
This girl… she really made people worry.
“What’s with the gloom? Stay alive, you idiot!” Allen barked.
The Madwhisper Beast roared and attacked again. Livia, surrounded by shining starlight, stepped forward to meet it alone.
Taking advantage of the opening Livia created, Allen dashed to the edge of the arena and shouted to Guillaume on the high platform:
“Comrade Guillaume, where is your secret weapon? There are so many eyes watching; you can’t expect me to reveal my trump card now!”
Guillaume naturally understood the concerns of this “God’s Messenger” and immediately waved his hand. Several members of the Judgement Court quickly pushed forward several large, menacing-looking machines.
Allen took a closer look, and his expression became incredibly strained.
They were… several heavy siege ballistae from the medieval era.
These were indeed “heavy weapons,” but… they were a bit too ordinary and lacked imagination. Where was the Inquisition’s black technology? This was it?
Noticing the disdain in Allen’s eyes, Guillaume’s face flushed red, and he quickly explained, “Sir de Laval, these are just the appetizers! They are used to restrict its movement! Our true ultimate weapon can only hit if it stops moving!”
“?”
Allen pointed at the Madwhisper Beast in the air. Its wings were shredded, but it was flapping more energetically than anyone. His meaning was clear.
You think you can restrict that thing with ballistae? Does the Inquisition have a misunderstanding of the word “restrict”?
Allen sighed, feeling exhausted. “Fine, Livia and I will try. Neither of us can fly, so you guys figure out a way to get it down.”
The Madwhisper Beast completely ignored the laws of physics.
Those tattered wings somehow allowed its massive body to glide briefly and even accelerate.
If it started rampaging over the Capital, the consequences would be unthinkable.
Allen quickly returned to Livia’s side and told her the plan.
“That’s good.”
Livia’s cold face showed no emotion, but her words made Allen’s eyelid twitch.
“It seems we can die together.”
Great, she clearly had zero trust in the Inquisition’s “ultimate weapon.”
After all, in past cycles, she had been chased across the world by them more than a few times.
“Seriously, Livia, I didn’t know you had this hidden ‘purely pessimistic’ trait,” Allen couldn’t help but complain.
Just then, the Inquisition’s ballistae roared.
With a heavy mechanical thud, several Saint Silver bolts as thick as arms whistled through the air.
The torsion springs used on the ballistae seemed to be made of some black-technology material; the bolts flew with a terrifying howl and pierced accurately into the Madwhisper Beast’s tattered wings.
The power of the Saint Silver erupted instantly. Golden flames ignited with a sizzle, burning the filthy flesh on its wings.
“ROAR—!”
The intense pain caused the Madwhisper Beast to let out a heart-wrenching roar.
It plummeted from the air and slammed heavily into the ground, its massive body rolling frantically.
It quickly located the source of the attack.
In its fury, its long tongue shot out like a black shadow, instantly smashing one of the heavy ballistae to pieces, sending wooden splinters and iron parts flying everywhere.
The operators scrambled to avoid the debris, but their mission was complete—the Madwhisper Beast could no longer fly for the time being.
“Livia, can your stellar power bind it?”
“I can, but I need time.”
“Alright, you stay back and cast. Leave this to me.”
Livia watched Allen’s back as he faced the Madwhisper Beast alone, and a certain suppressed emotion stirred within her again.
She bit her lip, pushed those “distracting thoughts” out of her mind, closed her eyes, and channeled all her remaining stellar power.
Radiant bands of light, like a flowing galaxy, began to manifest around her, gradually condensing into the shape of solid chains.
On the other side, Allen faced the berserk Madwhisper Beast alone, pushing his Future Sight to the absolute limit.
His figure blurred through the frantic attacks.
Every sidestep narrowly avoided a foul-smelling claw, and every counterattack ruthlessly stabbed at the monster’s joints and weak points.
He didn’t use the golden power for attacks; instead, he let it flow through his body, rapidly repairing wounds torn by claws and replenishing his nearly empty stamina.
Even so, facing this irrational monster, he was gradually pushed into a corner.
The Madwhisper Beast’s attacks grew faster and more crazed.
Allen’s room for maneuver was constantly shrinking, and several times he was nearly swallowed by its gaping maw.
Just as the beast’s foul claw was about to crush Allen’s skull, Livia finally finished her spell!
“Stellar Bind!”
Dozens of chains made of pure starlight shot through the air, instantly wrapping around the Madwhisper Beast’s massive body.
With a crisp clanking sound, they bit deep into the monster’s flesh, pinning it firmly to the spot.
“Now!” Allen roared with all his might toward Guillaume on the platform.
The moment the Inquisition had been waiting for arrived!
A secret signal was sent, and their true “ultimate weapon” was activated.
The attack did not come from the ground, but from… the sky!
A pillar of blazing light, thicker than anyone could have imagined, suddenly pierced through the dark clouds.
Like a divine judgment, it struck the bound Madwhisper Beast with pinpoint accuracy.
There was no explosion, no deafening blast.
In the ultimate silence, the Madwhisper Beast didn’t even have time to scream.
Its massive, filthy body was instantly gasified and evaporated in the extreme light and heat, leaving behind not even a trace of ash.
After the light pillar vanished, only a giant, circular sand pit remained, its surface melted by the high temperature and shimmering with a glass-like luster.
“Holy… a Solar Ray? Does the Church actually control an orbital weapon?”
Watching this world-ending scene, Allen was utterly dumbstruck. This was… truly very high-tech, very science fiction.
The evil was thoroughly purged.
The moment the Madwhisper Beast was annihilated, the dark clouds in the sky rapidly dissipated, and the long-lost sunshine flooded the earth once more.
The decaying, sickly sweet smell in the air remained, but it had faded significantly.
The great crisis in the Capital was temporarily averted.
The commoners outside the arena, who hadn’t seen everything clearly, couldn’t understand what that beam of light was, but they all viewed it as a miracle.
They fell to their knees in prayer and worship.
However, Allen did not feel relaxed.
His duel with Livia had been cut short, and the purpose of the Star Listener throwing the Madwhisper Beast here remained a mystery.
He was about to turn and ask Livia about her next move when he found her staring at him.
Her expression was incredibly complex—tired, relieved, and containing things he couldn’t read at all.
In the next second, Livia’s body swayed.
She took a step forward, but it was as if all her strength had been drained. She began to collapse.
Allen lunged forward and caught her firmly in his arms before she hit the ground.
Where he touched her, her body temperature was terrifyingly high.
A sigil backlash! This girl… from the duel to the fight with the beast, she had been overtaxing her power.
She had been holding on purely through willpower!
The girl in his arms, with her stunningly beautiful face, was now as pale as a ghost.
Crystal-like beads of sweat hung from her long eyelashes.
Her eyes were tightly shut, her breathing was weak, and her brow was furrowed in pain.
Seeing her in such a weak state, the slight resentment Allen felt vanished instantly.
‘Dammit!’ Allen cursed silently.
He couldn’t stand seeing this.
Although he constantly called himself a villain, he was a gentle person at his core and couldn’t bear to see others suffer in front of him.
If suffering was unavoidable, at least don’t let him see it; otherwise… this soft-hearted man, who was a saint in every sense of the word, would likely end up worrying himself to death for others.
“You’re the protagonist! You can’t fall here! Medic! Medic!” Allen shouted anxiously.
“Livia!”
Marianne, having finished off the remaining heretics, noticed the situation and let out a cry of alarm as she rushed over.
Under the gaze of countless people, a field medic from the Inquisition wearing a white coat and carrying a medical kit ran toward the center of the arena.
……
The perspective began to slowly rise.
It swept past Allen holding Livia in the center of the arena and past the rushing medic.
It moved over the chaotic but safe stands, overlooking the entire Capital Lucien, which had just survived an invisible storm.
It continued to rise until the outlines of the continent appeared through the clouds.
The curve of the planet emerged, with blue oceans and mottled lands intertwined.
Finally, the perspective entered the eternal silence of space.
In the deep darkness, a steel construct that absolutely did not belong to this era was silently orbiting.
Its structure was precise, filled with strange antennas and modules.
Its outer shell was covered with scars from tiny meteorite impacts, telling a tale of long, unknown solitude.
On that weathered hull, a faded but still recognizable logo could be seen—
Two crossed olive branches gently cradling a brilliant blue planet.
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