Chapter 270. Armageddon (2)
“Ugh...!”
Christina pushed herself upright from the rubble of the building.
Her body, which she had thought had been shattered to pieces, was perfectly intact.
She couldn’t tell whether it had regenerated or something else had happened.
Either way...
her physical body itself was unharmed.
“Haa... haa...”
Panting heavily, she looked around.
At some point, night had fallen.
The surroundings were dark, and thick clouds of dust hung in the air.
“My... power...”
The overwhelming energy that had filled her entire body.
The immense power Bael had gathered by spreading roots throughout Pandemonium’s territories across Europe, Asia, and Africa.
All of it...
was gone from inside her.
Christina’s body was no longer Lucifer’s body.
She was once again...
just an ordinary Vessel.
“My... rank...”
And that wasn’t all.
The enormous spiritual energy she had obtained through holy relics and Demon God-class demons...
had vanished completely.
Christina was no longer an existence of extremely high spiritual rank like Lucifer.
She was merely human again.
“No... this is...!”
Christina immediately realized something.
It was true that she had lost Lucifer’s power.
But the energy itself hadn’t disappeared.
It had simply left her body...
and now filled the surrounding area.
“H-Haha...!”
She took a deep breath.
The vast energy scattered around her...
began flowing back into her body.
“I can absorb it again...!”
If she continued drawing in the energy...
she could regain Lucifer’s power.
The moment she confirmed that...
Christina burst out laughing.
“You idiot... you complete fool...!”
She ran a hand through her hair as she laughed.
The Nameless King had gone so far as to sacrifice an entire city for this massive plan...
and still failed.
“Nameless King, you idiot!”
Christina inhaled deeply and trembled with joy.
She didn’t know the exact details...
but the magical ritual prepared by the Nameless King hadn’t worked as intended.
It hadn’t killed her.
It hadn’t completely neutralized her either.
“You acted so smug on those screens... Ah... ahahaha!”
Merlin and Heracles had sacrificed themselves for nothing.
Meaningless deaths.
“What a joke.”
“What a complete joke...!”
There was no longer any reason to play along with the Nameless King’s little show.
From now on...
she would simply crush him like an insect.
She didn’t know exactly where he was...
but he couldn’t be far away.
If she destroyed this entire area...
he would probably die in the blast.
“I’ll judge all of you.”
“Every last one of you...!”
Christina spread both arms.
Then...
“The one being judged is you, Christina.”
A cold voice rang out.
A man was walking toward her across the rubble.
“Kang Yujin...?”
“Yeah.”
“It’s me.”
Kang Yujin.
The Nameless King’s Contractor.
One of Lucifer’s Vessels.
The man Christina had long planned to defeat and turn into her slave...
was walking toward her alone through the darkness.
“Ah.”
“So you realized the magical ritual failed...”
“and the Nameless King sent you.”
Christina covered her mouth with one hand and laughed.
“Of course.”
“In the end, Kang Yujin is the only person the Nameless King can rely on.”
“That man can’t do anything without you.”
"..."
“Kang Yujin, aren’t you getting sick of him by now?”
“His plan failed, so he dumped everything on you.”
“He really is an irresponsible man.”
Christina extended one foot toward him.
“Here, Kang Yujin.”
“I’ll give you a chance.”
“A chance?”
“If you lick my foot and swear loyalty to me...”
“I’ll take you in.”
“From now on, serve me instead of the Nameless King.”
"..."
“Refusing won’t help.”
“I can simply beat you into submission and force you to do it.”
Christina had already recovered a considerable amount of power.
Even what she had regained so far was more than enough to overwhelm Kang Yujin.
That was why she could speak with complete confidence.
“I refuse.”
“Oh?”
Kang Yujin’s answer disappointed her a little.
But Christina remained relaxed.
“Then I guess I’ll have to force you after all.”
She raised one hand.
Then gathered the energy filling the surroundings into her palm.
“This much shouldn’t kill you.”
She fired a blade of concentrated energy at Kang Yujin.
Even if it hit him...
he would probably end up covered in blood and collapse.
But he shouldn’t die.
BOOM!
A flash.
A tremendous explosion.
But what Christina saw afterward...
was nothing like what she expected.
“Huh?”
Something was wrong.
Kang Yujin...
was still standing there unharmed.
“What...?”
Christina fired another energy blade as a test.
This time...
she clearly saw what happened.
Kang Yujin shattered the blade with his bare hand.
“How...?”
She had seen it.
But she still couldn’t understand.
There was no way Kang Yujin’s power should have been enough to block that attack.
“Curious?”
Kang Yujin’s cold voice reached her.
“You don’t understand why?”
“What... happened?”
“So you really didn’t notice anything.”
Kang Yujin slowly approached.
Then raised one arm.
“[Nameless Great Art].”
“[Heaven-Shaking Tyrant Dragon].”
There was still a considerable distance between them.
Even so...
Christina felt as though Kang Yujin’s fist had struck directly into her chest.
“Ghk...!”
An overwhelming force erupted from Kang Yujin and swallowed Christina.
The impact pushed her backward...
until she slammed into the remaining wall of a building.
BOOOOM!
The structure collapsed.
Rubble poured down over Christina.
She couldn’t understand what had just happened.
That attack...
was not something Kang Yujin should have been capable of.
This is...
Only after barely managing to get back up...
did she finally realize.
That attack...
had been completely equal in power to what Christina herself could currently produce.
“K-Kang Yujin...”
Christina called his name with a trembling voice.
“Kang Yujin, you...”
"..."
“What the hell did you do?!”
Kang Yujin stared at her coldly.
“I just moved according to the Nameless King’s plan.”
“W-What...?”
“That’s right.”
Kang Yujin walked toward her.
“You said the Nameless King failed.”
“But he didn’t.”
“He... didn’t fail?”
“This situation is exactly what the Nameless King intended.”
Another punch came.
Again, the fist never physically reached Christina.
But the force behind it struck her torso directly.
“Ghk...!”
And then...
Christina finally understood.
“K-Kang Yujin, you...!”
She staggered and shouted.
“You’re stealing my power...!”
“The energy scattered around here... you’re stealing it and using it!”
Now it made sense.
Christina and Kang Yujin were both the same kind of Vessel.
What Christina could do...
Kang Yujin could also do.
“Stealing?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“None of this was originally yours.”
“No!”
“This is mine!”
“It’s the power I obtained!”
“The power that recreated Lucifer!”
“Even if that were true, it already left your body.”
“That’s not true!”
“The massive magical ritual the Nameless King prepared with his companions released every bit of energy that had been injected into you.”
"...!"
The Nameless King hadn’t failed.
He had predicted this result from the beginning.
The magic power, life force, and spiritual energy that had been injected into Christina couldn’t simply be erased.
And because of Bael’s countermeasures, forcing her to self-destruct like the original Lucifer was impossible.
So the Nameless King had aimed for something else.
Release all of the energy inside Christina at once.
Because there was someone who could take that energy...
and use it himself.
Kang Yujin.
“AAAAAAAH!”
Christina screamed.
She focused desperately and began drawing in as much of the surrounding energy as possible.
The overwhelming power wrapped around her body.
It became armor.
A cloak.
Wings.
I have to gather it faster!
Before Kang Yujin takes all of it!
While Christina desperately absorbed the energy...
Kang Yujin moved again.
He kicked off the ground, approached, stomped down with Zhenjiao...
and punched.
“[Heavenly Splendor Great Thunder: Instant].”
A godlike strike so fast even Christina’s enhanced vision couldn’t follow it.
The fist slammed directly into her torso.
“Ghk!”
But Christina endured it.
The energy gathered around her body protected her.
She maintained her stance and retreated several steps.
“HAAAAH!”
There wasn’t even enough time to keep absorbing energy.
Christina manipulated the power wrapped around her body and attacked Kang Yujin.
The wings behind her began firing feathers.
FWOOSH-FWOOSH-FWOOSH!
Each feather carried enough destructive force to casually kill a human.
Hundreds of them flew at Kang Yujin simultaneously.
No matter how strong he was...
surely he couldn’t block them all.
But...
BOOOOM!
A steel ball tore through the entire storm of feathers.
Kang Yujin had pulled a flail from his inventory...
and begun swinging it.
"...!"
Christina used her wings to fly upward.
Then continued raining feather-shaped attacks down at him.
It didn’t matter.
Nothing she fired could reach Kang Yujin.
“This is impossible...!”
Christina screamed and rushed toward him.
She gathered all the energy surrounding her body into one place...
forming a sword.
With a blade possessing absolute destructive power...
she tried to cut Kang Yujin in half.
RUMBLE!
A thunderous sound exploded.
But once again...
Christina’s attack failed to injure him.
An overwhelming force burst from Kang Yujin’s extended fist.
It shattered the sword...
and sent Christina flying as well.
“W-Why...?!”
Christina was confused.
She understood that Kang Yujin could use Lucifer’s power on equal terms with her.
That made sense.
But Kang Yujin was clearly using that power better than she was.
No matter how she thought about it...
that was impossible.
“How?!”
“How are you doing this?!”
“This is your first time in a situation like this too!”
“So why...?!”
Christina shook her head violently and screamed.
Kang Yujin didn’t answer.
He simply rushed at her and attacked.
A continuous series of strikes launched Christina into the air.
Then Kang Yujin drove a full-power punch toward her.
Her body crashed through another nearby building.
“What... is going on...?”
Still unable to stand...
Christina muttered.
“Are you really that curious?”
“Please... just tell me...”
She was so frustrated by her inability to understand that she felt like crying.
Kang Yujin looked down at her.
Then spoke.
“[Nameless Great Art].”
“N-Nameless Great Art...?”
“A martial arts Skill that steals another person’s energy, turns it into your own, and lets you use it.”
"...!"
“I learned that martial art here in China.”
“From my masters.”
Christina saw Kang Yujin clench his fist again.
“Christina.”
“You and I are the same kind of Vessel.”
“In terms of being able to control Lucifer’s power, we’re equal.”
“K-Kang Yujin...”
“But I have [Nameless Great Art].”
“So I can use this enormous amount of energy filling the area far better than you can.”
Only now did Christina notice it.
An unbelievable amount of energy was gathering toward Kang Yujin through the darkness.
“So in this place...”
“I have an absolute advantage over you.”
“Ah...”
Christina forced herself upright.
She didn’t want to accept it.
She refused to acknowledge that Kang Yujin was stronger than her right now.
“AAAAAAAH!”
It felt as though every blood vessel and nerve in her body were burning.
She ignored the tremendous overload and drew in as much energy as possible.
Even if Kang Yujin had [Nameless Great Art]...
Christina had spent longer controlling Lucifer’s power.
That meant she wasn’t necessarily at a disadvantage.
She wasn’t inferior to Kang Yujin.
“I won’t... lose...!”
Explosive energy surged upward.
The vast power Christina pulled from the surroundings took the shape of a dragon.
Perhaps because the energy was so densely compressed...
the dragon was blood-red.
“Kang Yujin!”
“I’ll defeat you, stand at the summit of this world...”
“and become the first Constellation from the Material Realm!”
“No one can stop me!”
“That’s why I’m telling you.”
Kang Yujin answered without wavering as he took his stance.
“The first Constellation from the Material Realm is the Nameless King.”
“No!”
“I refuse to accept that!”
“I don’t acknowledge it!”
“That isn’t your decision to make.”
Kang Yujin clenched his fist.
Christina charged toward him...
pouring every last bit of her strength into the attack.
“HAAAAAAAH!”
“[Heavenly Splendor Great Thunder: Infinity].”
Kang Yujin’s cold voice rang out.
The strongest Heavenly Splendor Great Thunder pierced through the crimson dragon...
and struck Christina directly.
