Chapter 77
The Count’s Domain (7)
“Where in the world is this, Mapheltan?”
Ilea could not tear her eyes away from the scene unfolding below.
Although the city had unmistakably transformed into hell, traces of its alien civilization still remained.
Burning skyscrapers towered high enough to pierce the clouds, while winged hunks of metal shot between the buildings like arrows.
Enormous screens mounted on spires continually changed their images while emitting strange voices.
“This is an emergency report. The current time is 3:42 p.m. Multiple unidentified anomalous entities have been detected over the capital region. Military authorities have classified this event as a ‘Labyrinth Backflow’ and issued a Level One evacuation order for all areas. All citizens must immediately proceed to an underground shelter or designated disaster-containment zone. Stay away from streets and windows, and under no circumstances look at or listen to unidentified voices or forms.”
The urgent announcement repeated endlessly.
Explosions continued erupting throughout the city.
The stench of gunpowder permeated the air.
Mapheltan swallowed a groan. There was no way for him to explain the present situation.
He said to Ilea,
“Because of the prohibition, I cannot tell you anything myself.”
Ilea’s gaze settled into calm contemplation.
“Then this must be the place that serves as the source of all the information you possess.”
She was not wrong.
The Annals of Man and Demons was a novel from Earth, and Mapheltan had overcome countless crises using information obtained from that book.
Previously, Mapheltan had been unable even to mention that fact.
The prohibition had prevented him.
This time was no different.
Mapheltan could not reveal anything.
If Ilea wanted answers, she would have to deduce them herself.
Mapheltan spoke.
“Trust your own judgment. That is all I am able to say.”
Ilea gave him an enigmatic smile.
“That is enough for now. I’ve learned one thing with certainty.”
“What would that be?”
She slowly swept her gaze across the scene below.
“Your hatred for this world.”
The world was being destroyed.
Senseless violence and slaughter continued without end. Everyone in sight was screaming in anguish.
Acts committed solely for the sake of destruction were repeated over and over.
It was as if the devastation were expressing someone’s buried rage.
Mapheltan swallowed a groan.
“…No. I do not hate this world.”
He loved Earth.
He wanted to return to his homeland.
He missed the younger siblings he loved.
Even if he harbored some resentment toward Earth, it was merely a tiny fragment of his feelings.
Ilea said,
“Can you really say that after seeing all of this?”
Everyone on the surface was groaning in agony.
“The scene before us is nothing more than a hallucination. It does not reflect my true feelings.”
Ilea shook her head.
“Belzarak shows futures grounded in reality. Some part of your heart must desire a situation like this.”
It was an accurate assessment of Belzarak’s power, so Mapheltan could not deny it.
“…What exactly are you trying to say?”
Ilea smiled gently.
“Use this opportunity to rid yourself of all that hatred. Cast away every knot of malice festering inside your heart.”
Mapheltan’s expression twisted.
“You want me to immerse myself in this hallucination and completely destroy this world?”
Ilea nodded.
“That’s right. An opportunity like this is rare. Wash away every lingering resentment and be reborn as a pure being—together with me.”
The moment Mapheltan surrendered himself to the hallucination, his mind would be corrupted.
There was no possibility that Ilea was unaware of that.
Mapheltan’s expression contorted.
“Stop spouting bullshit—”
“I’ll help you.”
She abruptly opened her palm.
Dark-blue mana began devouring their surroundings.
Just as Mapheltan tried to react, bitter cold swept through the air.
“G-ghaah!”
The man bound in midair groaned.
A long icicle had pierced his chest.
Mapheltan shouted in alarm.
“Joseph!”
Joseph might have been a blockhead, but he was Mapheltan’s most cherished younger brother.
Joseph coughed up mouthfuls of blood.
Mapheltan’s grip on his reason began to fade.
‘Damn it. No.’
All of this was merely a hallucination.
He repeated those words endlessly, desperately clinging to his sanity.
Mapheltan took Joseph into his arms and turned toward Ilea.
Ilea looked at him with contempt.
“That pathetic appearance does not suit the Lord of All Evil at all.”
Mapheltan spoke in a voice as sharp as grinding blades.
“…Who are you?”
Ilea had always wanted Mapheltan to preserve his humanity.
Although Mapheltan could not understand why, she had unmistakably remained wary of his potential corruption.
The Ilea before him was different.
She was now encouraging Mapheltan to fall.
Ilea said,
“I am everything to you, Mapheltan. I can become anything.”
Her appearance abruptly changed.
She transformed into Joseph.
Mapheltan immediately looked down at the person in his arms.
Instead of Joseph, Ilea was lying there.
Her eyes curved into a smile.
“Like this.”
Mapheltan’s expression twisted as he hurled her downward.
Ilea continued laughing even as she fell.
“…Belzarak.”
Mapheltan was about to pursue and kill him when black blood burst from his mouth.
A long blade had pierced his abdomen.
Joseph stood before him with the sword buried in his body.
“Johan, I always fucking hated you. A worthless unawakened nobody who constantly nagged me and told me what to do. Do you have any idea how ridiculous you were?”
Enduring the pain, Mapheltan seized Joseph by the jaw.
“Belzarak, you verminous bastard.”
Joseph smiled viciously.
“That’s right. Kill me. Twist my head off. Go on and take revenge against the world that despised you!”
Mapheltan stubbornly maintained his sanity.
He barely managed to raise the corners of his mouth.
“Belzarak, you are an empty being without form or substance. A parasite that can exist only within the imagination. I know exactly what you are. You are nothing but filth excreted upon other people’s nightmares.”
Joseph’s appearance changed.
A girl appeared in his place.
Kim Elijah.
She was one of Johan’s younger siblings.
“Johan, could you stop touching me? Honestly, it disgusts me. I’m scared that being around you might rub off on me and keep me from awakening too. Please disappear from my life. I’m begging you.”
Mapheltan tightened his grip on her.
“Changing your shell does not alter your true nature. You are merely a pitiful illusion envious of those who possess flesh and blood. Miserable imitation, I shall look upon you as you truly are. Reveal your real form.”
Elijah’s expression distorted violently.
She began changing her appearance once again.
Mapheltan did not miss that opening.
He stared directly into Elijah’s eyes and continued speaking.
“How long will you borrow the eyes and mouths of others to prove your existence and speak your thoughts? I, the Thirteenth Apostle of the End, shall behold the true Belzarak. I will bestow upon you the flesh and blood you have desired for so long and remake you as a being that truly exists.”
Elijah’s transformation stopped.
Her grotesquely swollen face spoke.
“…How could someone like you do that?”
“You have no choice. By now, the witch has probably already escaped from her hallucination.”
Ilea already understood Belzarak’s authority.
Having observed even his method of attack, there was no possibility that she would succumb to his hallucinations.
Elijah’s expression darkened.
“So that bitch really was a witch.”
“You should have chosen your target more carefully before playing your tricks. We are wasting time, so end the hallucination.”
Mapheltan had nearly regained his composure as well.
He also understood Belzarak’s power, and his status as an Apostle granted him tremendous resistance against mental attacks.
Even if he experienced dozens more hallucinations, there was virtually no possibility of him losing himself.
Mental attacks and Words of Power were most effective against beings inferior to their wielder.
Continuing this struggle would only result in a meaningless war of attrition.
Elijah spoke.
“Will you really give me a physical body?”
Belzarak’s ability was useful.
Keeping him nearby would prove helpful in many ways.
Mapheltan nodded.
“Let me see your true form first.”
The instant he finished speaking, his entire field of vision shattered.
The ash-gray chamber once again appeared before him.
There was one difference from before.
A transparent coffin now stood alone in the middle of the chamber.
It was the Celestial Womb Palace—the cradle that could give birth to an angel.
The skeleton lying inside the coffin must have belonged to the count’s wife.
Ilea approached with a forced smile. An inexplicable cruelty lurked within it.
“I learned what irritation feels like today. It was an extraordinarily unpleasant experience.”
Her gaze shifted toward a spot on the floor.
Something resembling pitch-black slime was writhing there.
It was Belzarak.
He possessed no eyes, nose, or mouth. He looked like sewage condensed into a single mass.
Mapheltan said,
“I did not find it particularly pleasant either.”
Murderous intent flickered in Ilea’s eyes.
Mapheltan was intensely curious about what sort of nightmare she had experienced.
Looking at Belzarak, Ilea spoke.
“I’m still furious. May I annihilate him right now?”
For her to display so much emotion, she must have experienced a truly horrific hallucination.
‘I should ask her about it later.’
Mapheltan said,
“Hold back for a little longer. He still has a use.”
Ilea released a long sigh.
“I suppose he does. What should we do now?”
Mapheltan casually sat down upon the glass coffin.
“We wait for the count.”
Their ultimate objective in coming here was Count Staviana.
The preparations to receive him were complete.
A relaxed expression settled over Mapheltan’s face.
The moment the count arrived at his mansion, he headed for the basement.
He intended to go directly to the underground complex.
The basement of the count’s mansion was connected to the third underground level by a straight passage.
The count immediately boarded the lift.
Someone supplied it with mana, and the lift began moving.
The count closed his eyes.
‘Yeriyan, please be safe.’
His heart pounded rapidly.
He could not even bear to imagine losing his wife.
The descent felt like an eternity.
At last, the lift came to a stop.
“Y-Your Excellency!”
“Please wait…”
Ignoring the cultists of the Wicked God Society, the count proceeded directly toward the sealed chamber.
He broke into a swift run.
In the distance, he saw two human figures.
‘The Apostle and the mage.’
That was what the report had said.
The reality was different.
The count’s face filled with bewilderment.
A boy and a girl were sitting upon the Celestial Womb Palace.
He steadied his breathing and stared ahead once more.
They were still merely a boy and a girl.
The demon and the mage were nowhere to be seen.
The boy raised the corners of his mouth and spoke.
“Cromwell Staviana. I shall give you two choices.”
The count was utterly bewildered.
“Wh-what is the meaning of this…?”
“First, you can follow your wife into the afterlife. Second, you can make a deal with me and spend the rest of your mortal life growing old alongside her.”
Ilea gave him a gentle smile.
“Now, choose. Whichever option you select, you’ll be able to spend eternity with your wife.”
Johan tapped the glass coffin with his index finger.
“Answer quickly. How much longer do you intend to keep your wife waiting?”
The count’s mind could not keep pace with the situation.
He remained frozen for a long while, staring blankly at them.