What kind of great and terrible existence was that?
It was the Creator who ruled over all, overlooking this world of flesh and blood with no trace of mercy in its gaze, only raw destruction and hatred.
In that instant, Azazel's soul was completely seized. His body trembled uncontrollably, and in his eyes reflected the cold gleam of that emerald pupil, as though even his very existence was about to be crushed within that profound terror.
Subjectively, Azazel felt it lasted an eternity, yet in reality, only a moment passed.
From Zeroy and Patchouli's perspective, it was simply that upon making eye contact, Azazel revealed a dazed opening. However, that opening did not vanish immediately.
One second, two seconds, three seconds passed, and Azazel still remained stupefied. By the ninth second, he directly pitched forward, headfirst into the ground below.
"—!?"
Zeroy was stunned. Wasn't that reaction a bit too much?
She hadn't even used her full strength. To be safe, she had only employed sixty percent of the title's effect, intending to test the waters before going all out.
What… what was this reaction supposed to mean?
…
There was a serious problem.
Azazel was heavily injured.
Because she had been cutting down fodder earlier, she hadn't often used the title effect. Moreover, since the title effect—unlike her other powers—was an unconventional strength not belonging to Zeroy herself, she had severely underestimated the potency of [Headhunter] and [Heaven-Dimming Demon].
After Azazel lost consciousness, Zeroy asked Patchouli to help examine him with magic. The final result was that Azazel's spirit had suffered grave trauma.
This was trauma on the spiritual level, not something as simple as physical damage.
Patchouli used considerable magic, and Zeroy also spent Points in the shop to buy healing items, then let Azazel rest for a day before the Fallen Angel Governor finally awoke.
"..."
When Zeroy pushed open the door, morning light spilled through the curtain gap, illuminating the figure within the room.
Azazel sat on the edge of the bed. His face was pale, fine beads of sweat clung to his temples, and his expression carried a trace of bewilderment and pain.
"Are you alright?"
Zeroy's voice carried both apology and concern.
"—!"
Azazel shuddered violently, his clouded consciousness abruptly pulled back by her voice.
He raised his head instinctively, meeting those emerald eyes.
In that instant, terrifying memories surged like a flood—the wails of millions of lives, the shattering of billions of souls, a purgatory of mountains of corpses, and at the very core of it all, that merciless emerald eye gazing down.
The fear came not merely from the scenes themselves, but from the indescribable pressure radiating from that eye—the true source of terror.
Azazel's pupils shrank sharply. Unconcealable fear surged within his eyes, and from deep in his throat escaped an uncontrollable whimpering cry: "Uu—!"
"Uwa?"
Zeroy blinked in surprise.
There was no helping it. For such a mature, uncle-like figure to let out a sound so unbefitting of his image was truly unexpected… and somewhat comical.
One could even say it completely broke character.
Zeroy almost wanted to laugh teasingly, yet remembering that the culprit was herself, and that Azazel was not an enemy but an innocent victim, she couldn't bring herself to.
Azazel pressed his forehead, drawing a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart. Then he shook his head vigorously, as if to fling away that nightmarish memory.
After several more deep breaths, the rise and fall of his shoulders steadied, and only then did he lift his eyes once more to meet Zeroy's.
This time, his gaze brimmed with caution and vigilance, his entire body tense like a beast ready to fight. His voice was low and hoarse, every word probing.
"Who… exactly are you? You descended upon this world… with what purpose?"
The one before him was no little girl, no Red Dragon Emperor. That was undoubtedly some unfathomable deity, an evil god from beyond.
Its terror was far beyond their comprehension.
In all his long life, he had never been so terrified, never encountered anything like this.
If not for the safeguard-like mechanism within his consciousness, making his spirit sever itself when overwhelmed—like a circuit breaker in the human world—his awareness might well have been outright crushed.
"No, no, that's a misunderstanding. It's all a misunderstanding. I'm truly sorry for causing you such terrible harm, yet please believe me, it was never my intent."
"..."
"I have no special purpose, nor am I any so-called deity. Please believe me, it really was simply the challenge of fighting a strong opponent. There was no hidden deeper meaning."
"..."
"As for that intimidation I unleashed before, it was just a special method I happened upon. Before I obtained a Longinus, I wasn't particularly strong at all."
To Zeroy's apology and explanation, Azazel remained utterly unmoved.
You nearly scared this Fallen Angel Governor to death, and now you still have the nerve to pretend otherwise? My head still aches even now!
That crushing dread he had felt from that eye, which could shatter reason and soul alike—how could it possibly be as simple as she made it sound?
Only after Zeroy's repeated patient explanations did Azazel at last seem half-convinced.
Nevertheless, whether he believed or not didn't really matter. After all, Zeroy would soon be leaving.
So long as it wasn't enough to provoke the major powers into a collective crusade against her in such a short time before her departure, it was fine.
She went to such lengths to explain only because of one simple reason—this time, it truly was her mistake.
He had good-naturedly accompanied her in sparring, albeit with a trace of compulsion, yet the essence remained. And in return, she had almost beaten the old master to death with a careless strike.
Such a thing demanded a proper apology.
To prove it really was an accident, Zeroy even mentioned that she hadn't fully unleashed the title's effect.
At those words, Azazel's eye twitched.
"You're certain you're not some unfathomable evil god?"
That wasn't even full power? Then what would it be like if you did unleash everything?
"Uh… ahem, this power I happened to acquire truly is rather unbelievable."
Zeroy coughed lightly, a little embarrassed.
"But at this rate, it seems that kid Vali has no chance at all in this Heavenly Dragons' struggle."
Azazel sighed somewhat wistfully.
No, in the eyes of this suspected otherworldly evil god, the so-called struggle of the Heavenly Dragons likely didn't even register. Only Vali himself cared.
And the gap between them was an absolute chasm. Forget catching up… even being compared at all was absurd.
...
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