Chapter 1137: Mutual Diminishment
Chapter 1137: Mutual Diminishment
As Amon prepared to unleash the stolen wish, Primordial Demoness Cheek did not merely conjure another vortex of chaos to return everything to chaos. In addition, countless faint lights reflected and refracted within Her azure eyes, creating an indescribable sense of mystery.
These were near-omniscient eyes analyzing Amon's current state and weaknesses, searching for vulnerabilities to exploit.
In truth, Primordial Demoness Cheek knew of a way to deal with Amon quickly: linking the mirror worlds inside and outside the astral barrier to introduce the corruption of the Circle of Inevitability.
To instantaneously kill a Sequence 1 Archangel, one needed the corresponding pathway's Great Old Dominator!
Unfortunately, the barrier blocks any connection between the inside and outside... Reluctantly abandoning this idea, the Primordial Demoness focused on utilizing Her omniscient authority.
On the other side, Lumian was surrounded by the expanding vortex of chaos, preventing him from launching any further attacks for the time being.
Relying on the slow rotations of the vortex's face and the 0-01 carrying the black flames of destruction, he barely managed to keep the all-encompassing chaos stagnating in front of him. It flowed around him like tidal waves around a reef that might be submerged at any
moment.
As the voice representing the "wish" reverberated, Primordial Demoness Cheek finally saw Amon's current weakness.
He was not truly a dual-pathway god. He merely borrowed power from His past self through the Sequence 2 Sinner ability of the Inevitability pathway, with the permission of the current holder of the Error and Door pathway Uniquenesses.
Borrowed power that did not truly belong to oneself always left a chink in the armor. This was akin to when the Primordial Demoness split off part of Her Demoness of Apocalypse Beyonder characteristic, replacing it with an envisioned substitute to maintain Her rank and power. When faced with specific influences, She would inevitably suffer a severe setback.
For Amon to borrow power from the past using the Sinner ability, He had to remain in the state of a Sinner-this was the crux of the issue.
That power was from the past, and in the past, He was a Sinner!
As the wish was being spoken and about to be realized, Primordial Demoness Cheek caused the special mirror world that the vortex had yet to engulf to turn transparent, reflecting Amon's rapidly blinking figures.
Simultaneously, Primordial Demoness Cheek's pitch-black shadow abruptly rose and adhered to Her back.
Amon's shadow experienced the same transformation.
This was the inherent depraved nature present in all living beings!
Undoubtedly, the depraved nature of a Sinner was exceptionally strong, nearly equal to His very existence!
Amon's shadow, pitch black and viscous like slime, clung tightly to His body, unaffected by His rapid Blinking.
Apart from certain high-ranking individuals of select pathways, no one could separate from their own depraved nature. It could only be suppressed. For a Sinner, resistance was impossible, as They were depraved to begin with.
The black shadow enveloped Amon, sticking tightly to Him. Meanwhile, similar shadows continuously emerged from the depths of His psyche, merging inside and out, reshaping His
form.
Amon had previously stolen many abilities from the Sun pathway, but at this moment, He refrained from using them.
Otherwise, purification would not stop at His depraved nature-it would include the Sinner itself!
Amon first raised His head, and His left eye shone with light as brilliant as starlight.
The now-transparent borders of the special mirror world instantly turned dark and heavy.
As a Door pathway god, Amon sealed this area as a temporary measure. Immediately after, He leaped into a silvery, illusory river composed of interlocking and intricate symbols.
Before Him lay innumerable tributaries, each representing a different future.
He chose one of those fates, completing His self-redemption.
A holy light erupted as He emerged from the silvery river. He was no longer burdened by His depraved nature, nor was He at risk of being engulfed by the vortex of chaos.
However, He had now become an Angel of Redemption. He was no longer the Sinner of the past, nor the dual-pathway god He once was.
At this moment, the reverberating voice finally fell silent. The wish-"All envisioned things in the special mirror world shall vanish briefly"-was realized.
Primordial Demoness Cheek's figure suddenly shrank. Her rank and aura plummeted to the level of a King of Angels.
The expanding vortex of chaos simultaneously began to contract, quickly shrinking into a single point and vanishing entirely, failing to affect Amon, who had retreated to the edge of the battlefield.
For a short time within the special mirror world, Cheek was no longer a true god!
Now, She was only slightly stronger than Lumian but not overwhelmingly so. In terms of rank, She might even be slightly inferior.
Cheek abruptly transformed into a silver-white bolt of lightning, streaking toward the edge of the special mirror world at near-light speed.
She intended to escape this place.
If envisioned phenomena were invalid in this area, she would simply move elsewhere!
Outside, she would still be a god!
Primordial Demoness Cheek knew full well that for a wish to have an effective impact on someone like Herself a true god, the female body of the Primordial God Almighty-even the half-Lord of Mysteries would need to impose limits on time and scope. Without such constraints, the wish would likely distort, possibly even favoring Her. With restrictions in place, She could escape the affected area or hold out long enough to negate the wish.
Smack!
The silver lightning struck the heavy, dark edge of the special mirror world but failed to break
through.
The Door pathway god's seal.
The silver lightning reverted to Primordial Demoness Cheek. She turned to face Lumian, now resembling a flaming giant, and Amon on the battlefield's edge. Smiling, She said, "I'd love to see just how brief this 'briefly' is, but what I'd like even more is to see whether you can defeat me within such a short time."
Lumian offered no response. From the Traveler's Bag he had obtained, originally belonging to Franca, he produced a handful of metallic puppets and threw them backward.
The puppets instantly expanded, each over ten meters tall, resembling giants forged of steel. Before the battle, each had received boons from Sequence os of different pathways-boons with a time limit.
Lumian had waited until Mr. Fool's wish came true before bringing them out.
Smiling at Primordial Demoness Cheek, he declared, "As a Conqueror, how could I not have
my own army?"
Before he finished speaking, he led the dozen steel giants in a charge against the Primordial Demoness.
...
Deep within the mirror world.
The Demoness of Silver, her vision dazzled and mind ensnared by Franca's charming smile, felt a sudden pain. Her emotions and desires surged violently.
Instinctively looking down, she saw that the skull-shaped Sealed Artifact she carried was
gnawing on her.
Her mirror self suffered the same fate.
Amidst creaking and cracking sounds, her body rapidly decayed, dragging her Mirror Substitution and mirror self into ruin along with her.
The prophecy of the Post-Apocalyptic Scripture had been fulfilled: due to the violent fluctuations of her emotions and desires-the maddening obsession to offer both body and soul-the Demoness of Silver suffered a backlash from her own Sealed Artifact. It seemed
rather effective against a Demoness!Nôv(el)B\\jnn
In no time, the Demoness of Silver was reduced to a skeletal corpse with decaying flesh hanging loosely from her bones.
Similarly, the Demoness of Green, also entranced by Franca's Charm, halted her attacks, unable to tear her gaze away from Franca's face-those sparkling, lake-blue eyes that reflected her very figure like a serene pool.
A strong sense of danger struck her. Instinctively, she tried to activate Mirror Substitution.
However, her thoughts had already become sluggish and stalled without her realizing it, preventing her from acting in time.
This delay stemmed from the negative effects of the black cloak she wore.
Black, quiet, and eerie flames ignited within Franca's eyes, silently enveloping the Demoness
of Green's figure.
Suddenly, similar black flames erupted within the Demoness of Green's body, inflicting
excruciating pain as they burned her soul.
A Demoness's Curse-one that could not be avoided unless Mirror Substitution was actively
used! The Demoness of Green let out an uncontrollable, blood-curdling scream as the quiet flames consumed her soul. Her body collapsed, blood oozing thickly.
Her mirror self suffered the same fate.
While Franca focused on the Demonesses of Green and Silver, the Demoness of Brown broke
free of Franca's Charm and unleashed a surge of grayish-white color that swept toward her.
Simultaneously, a faint light flickered on the gemstone bracelet around the Demoness of Brown's wrist, as though reflecting starlight.
The space in front, behind, above, and to the right of Franca twisted into shadowy barriers, cutting off her ability to travel through the mirror world or evade in other ways.
The only exit was to the left, where a tide of grayish-white swept in-a color that petrified
everything it touched. Even if Franca activated Mirror Substitution, the space where she
would reappear remained within the gray ocean.
Franca let out a soft chuckle, producing a mirror and sliding it between the pages of the Post-
Apocalyptic Scripture.
The next moment, she stepped into the space behind that mirror.
Being unable to escape didn't mean she couldn't hide in an existing hidden space or fortify it
for protection!
The gray tide engulfed the parchment-bound Post-Apocalyptic Scripture, adding a thick layer of stone dust. However, it failed to completely petrify the book, and the mirror tucked between its pages remained unscathed.
Seeing that both the Demonesses of Green and Silver were dead, with uncertain prospects of
revival and unable to rejoin the battle anytime soon, the Demoness of Brown's heart filled with fear. News of the other battlefields wasn't comforting either; several other Demonesses wielding Grade o Sealed Artifacts had already been swiftly defeated.
With thoughts of her lover weighing on her heart, she was unwilling to lose her life entirely in this chaos. Seeing that the situation was beyond recovery, she disregarded the Primordial Demoness's plans and activated one of the bracelet's gemstones.
Her body transformed into abstract symbols and concepts, slipping into the astral world to
"wander" toward her lover's hiding place.
However, when she exited the astral world, what appeared before her was not the familiar
scene she expected but a dense fog of gray and white.
She was lost.
The next second, she saw a stream of crimson moonlight flowing through the fog.
Suddenly, she felt something inside her stomach-something that tore at her flesh and blood.