Chapter 269. Armageddon (1)
There were no particular obstacles on the way to the shopping mall.
The only unpleasant part was seeing the Nameless King’s face on screens all over the city.
Terrible taste.
Even while thinking that, Christina had no intention of demanding that he stop.
If the Nameless King wanted to play the villain, then accepting that role as his opponent was part of what she needed to do.
In the end, battles in the Material Realm are entertainment for the Constellations.
Constellations watched Contractors because it was entertaining.
No matter how beautifully they dressed it up with noble excuses, humans were ultimately just spectacles to them.
Christina’s contract had ended when Siegfried disappeared, while the Nameless King was now a Constellation instead of a Contractor.
But both of them had once been Contractors.
And right now, both were equally entertainment for the Constellations.
In that case, cooperating with the scenario the Nameless King had prepared wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.
At least it would give the Constellations something interesting to watch.
But...
Christina thought.
This couldn’t be allowed to continue forever.
If you divide the current Constellations into good and evil, most of them belong on the side of evil.
They treated humans as entertainment.
They manipulated their fates.
If that wasn’t evil, then what was?
The Constellations need to be purged too.
Once the Material Realm was pacified...
the next target would be the Spirit Realm.
She would find some way to ascend there and purge the Constellations.
Of course, she wouldn’t slaughter every single one.
She intended to spare Constellations with good character who could benefit humanity.
And eventually, I’ll become a Constellation myself...
Then I’ll lead the other Constellations and guide the entire universe in the proper direction.
That was Christina’s ultimate goal.
And she would do anything necessary to achieve it.
No one can stop me.
Of course, Christina understood.
Neither humans nor Constellations would willingly support a goal like that.
But she didn’t care.
I’ll reign as an absolute judge.
She had no intention of ascending to power through public support and praise.
As long as she could stand at the absolute summit through overwhelming strength...
that was enough.
I’ll become a true hero beyond anyone’s reach.
With those thoughts, Christina stepped into the shopping mall.
It was an eight-story building.
Every floor was fully lit...
but once again, not a single person was inside.
“There are screens here too.”
Heracles raised his head.
A huge display had been installed in the open area usually used for events.
The Nameless King appeared on it.
─ Looks like you made it.
He was still sitting calmly inside the Chinese restaurant, smiling leisurely.
─ Then let’s begin.
─ All you have to do is come up to where I am.
Hearing that voice, Christina glanced to the side.
According to the directory, the restaurant where the Nameless King was waiting was in the center of the fifth floor.
So I need to get to the fifth floor.
Christina decided to use the escalator.
But as she approached it...
several large figures appeared.
“Stop!”
They had grotesque appearances.
One was a man in armor.
Another had a snake’s head growing from his torso.
The third had the head of a leopard.
They blocked Christina’s path.
“I am Eligos, No. 15 of Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons!”
“And I am Aini, No. 23!”
“This body belongs to Ose, No. 57!”
Eligos.
Aini.
Ose.
All were Demon God-class demons of Pandemonium.
“Why are demons here?”
“Christina... the great sinner who murdered His Highness Bael!”
Eligos shouted with bloodshot eyes.
“We will avenge His Highness Bael here!”
“Ah.”
“So that’s what this is.”
They seemed to have been followers of Bael.
Apparently, they wanted revenge on Christina for killing him.
“If you survived that disaster, you should’ve hidden quietly somewhere.”
“Showing yourselves in front of me like this seems incredibly foolish.”
“Don’t mock us, girl!”
At Eligos’s shout...
other demons hiding nearby rushed out all at once.
They didn’t seem to be Demon God-class.
But there were more than a hundred of them.
“We will kill you here, avenge His Highness Bael, and seek a new future for Pandemonium...!”
“You have no future.”
Christina raised one hand.
At that instant...
dozens of sword qi blades scattered in every direction.
“GRAAAH!”
“AAAGH!”
The demons’ screams echoed throughout the shopping mall.
Eligos, Aini, and Ose rushed toward her in desperation.
But Christina’s attacks left all three covered in blood and collapsed on the floor.
“Pathetic.”
The Nameless King had apparently recruited them while making his way to China.
But what did he think something like this would accomplish?
“Nameless King.”
“Is this really all you prepared?”
Christina raised her voice.
The Nameless King smiled from the screen.
─ Of course not.
─ More enemies will keep appearing.
─ Enjoy yourself.
As soon as he finished speaking...
new demons began to emerge.
Christina had no idea how he had done it, but he seemed to have persuaded quite a large number of them.
“I told you...”
“It’s useless.”
Christina attacked again.
A one-sided massacre began.
Gremory bit her lip as she watched her own kind die on the screen.
Gremory had once belonged to Pandemonium’s Seventy-Two Demons, yet betrayed Pandemonium and sided with humanity.
Even so...
she couldn’t comfortably watch demons being slaughtered like that.
“You seem troubled, Gremory.”
The one speaking was Ma Taesu, who had maintained a close cooperative relationship with her.
“Does the sacrifice of your own kind pain you?”
“Yes.”
“But I believe it is unavoidable.”
“Unavoidable...”
“There was something Belial and Kim Nameless once told me.”
"..."
“They said that if demons wanted humanity to accept us...”
“then we would have to be the first ones willing to shed blood.”
Gremory’s expression became complicated.
“The situation has turned out very differently from what we discussed back then...”
“but many demons accepted your request and went to the battlefield.”
Pandemonium had suffered catastrophic damage from the recent chain of events.
It was no longer in any position to wage war against humanity.
Now, demons had to worry that humanity might retaliate and massacre them.
“Ma Taesu.”
“As promised...”
“you must push forward with establishing an autonomous Pandemonium region in Siberia.”
“I’ll keep my promise, Gremory.”
Ma Taesu smiled bitterly.
“Because the Nameless King ordered me to.”
Countless obstacles blocked Christina’s path on the way to the fifth floor.
Demons appeared.
Monsters appeared.
Even zombie-like creatures came crawling out.
There were traps too.
All kinds of things interfered with Christina’s advance.
I’m starting to get annoyed.
Of course...
what irritated Christina the most was the Nameless King’s face constantly appearing on the screens everywhere.
He kept talking.
Provoking her.
Speaking in a relaxed voice as though he were some final boss, introducing each obstacle he had prepared one by one.
But every single one was useless.
That only made it more annoying.
“Christina, you should control your expression.”
Merlin approached and whispered.
“You haven’t forgotten that countless Constellations are watching, have you?”
“Show them the dignity befitting the summit of the world.”
“I...”
“No helping it.”
“You’re still a child.”
Heracles muttered from beside them.
That made Christina even more irritated.
But she quickly calmed herself.
“Fine.”
“You’re right.”
“I was acting too childish.”
“That’s all right.”
“You can show them something more impressive from now on.”
“Hmm. We’ve reached the fifth floor.”
The blood-covered escalator finally arrived.
The Chinese restaurant where the Nameless King was supposed to be...
was directly ahead.
“You two wait here.”
“Will you be all right?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“I can handle this alone.”
Until now...
Merlin and Heracles hadn’t lifted a finger.
