THE VILLAIN'S POV

Chapter 375: Gavid lindman vs Astaroth (2)

In that exact moment ..

His Aether blade glowed again, and the space around him began to tremble before dozens of swirling black vortexes appeared.

They looked like miniature black holes—sucking in every bolt of lightning Astaroth had just fired, swallowing them entirely before they could reach their target.

These mysterious vortexes pulsed with such terrifying power that even Astaroth faltered in stunned silence.

And then... he failed to notice one final vortex.

It had formed right beside his chest.

The same exact side Maekar had shattered before.

That black hole vortex spun violently—then detonated, tearing open a spatial fissure that devoured half of Astaroth’s body, erasing it from existence before the demon could even react.

Cold, black blood poured out of him.

Astaroth didn’t even register what had happened until it was far too late—until he realized that the entire right half of his body had been wiped out again.

Gavied had smartly aimed for the weak point Maekar had already exposed.

And now, Astaroth collapsed to the ground—while Gavied Lindman rose to his feet once more.

”...How?”

Staring in disbelief at the man he had pummeled again and again, Astaroth couldn’t comprehend how the tables had turned so quickly.

”I told you already. You’re just a mindless beast with explosive strength. What made you think Phantom Form was the only card I had?”

Gavied plunged his blade into one of the swirling vortexes, letting it wrap around the Aether and form a curved, black-hole-like edge that radiated power so overwhelming, Astaroth’s expression turned to stone.

From the very beginning...

Gavied Lindman had been in control. He knew Astaroth would eventually discover his weakness. He let him believe Phantom Form was all he had—hiding this devastating weapon for the moment it mattered most.

”All I had to do... was endure and wait for the perfect moment.”

That moment when an enemy becomes convinced of their victory—when they lower their guard and lose the will to defend.

Using the aftermath of Maekar’s battle...

Gavied Lindman utterly crushed Astaroth.

Standing tall, his sword cloaked in black aura, he looked like the Reaper himself in the eyes of the fallen demon.

Astaroth screamed in rage and desperation.

”Do you realize what you’re about to do?!”

”...”

”You’re dooming your entire race! It won’t end with me! More demons will come—stronger demons! They’ll wipe out this world! Is that what you want?!”

Though his frantic words were just a final, desperate plea for survival...

They weren’t entirely wrong.

Gavied Lindman knew that.

But he still found himself asking ...

”So what?”

Whether now, or later...

What had the Ultras endured regardless?

”This world is doomed either way. If death is inevitable, then I’ll at least die by my own will. That is my fate—and mine alone to decide.”

With unwavering resolve and a blade cloaked in black flames, Gavied stood like the embodiment of death itself.

Astaroth, dragging himself backward across the bloodstained ground, knew—he had truly lost.

”Stop!!”

He had faced death once before—against Maekar.

And now he faced it again—against another human.

Before the terrifying grip of death, the one thing Astaroth feared most...

He crawled desperately, trying to escape as Gavied Lindman followed with slow, heavy steps.

When the Aether blade glinted above the demon’s exposed neck, signaling the end—

Astaroth felt a fear so deep it drowned out his pride.

He screamed in panic.

”Save me!! Beatrice!!!”

Cornered with no way out, Astaroth called for the only one who might still save him.

But the witch never came.

No matter how many times he cried her name...

”No one will save you, Astaroth. Here and now, the demon order that enslaved the Ultras, using them as lab rats for their twisted pleasures, comes to an end... and a new order begins.”

”Beatrice!!!”

”A new order where everyone is free... free to choose their own fate!!”

Between Gavied Lindman, who declared the birth of a new system, and Astaroth, who kept screaming for Beatrice—

Slash!

An era of oppression came to an end the moment Aether cleaved through Astaroth’s neck, leaving behind a dark arc in the air...

A dark arc that severed centuries of cruelty endured by a continent that had seen nothing but horrors.

And with the severing of that head—

Gavied didn’t stop.

He kept swinging, cutting Astaroth’s body into pieces, reducing it to rotting chunks of black-blooded flesh.

Only after dozens of merciless strikes did Gavied finally stop, standing tall before what remained of the 19th-ranked Greater Demon’s corpse.

He had won.

”...I killed him.”

Gavied Lindman muttered, struggling to catch his breath as he began to walk away.

”I killed one of the upper ranks...”

He had taken the first step ..one that no other dared take.

But his body, wrecked by injuries, could no longer carry his weight. Gavied staggered, nearly collapsing—

Until a hand caught him.

Covered in blood, Gavied looked up to see the old man who had saved him.

”...Mergo.”

The Lord of the Dark Hive had arrived on the battlefield, his usual smile on display.

”You really did it, my friend...”

”Heh... Why do you look happy? Aren’t you half-demon yourself?”

Gavied asked, and Mergo’s smile only widened as a single horn emerged from the back of his head.

”Yes, I’m half-demon... but I’m also half-human. I’m as human as you are, Gavied Lindman.”

Gavied let out a dry laugh.

”So that’s why you deployed your barrier, huh?”

Mergo nodded, glancing at the translucent barrier he had placed around the tower during the battle.

It was that very barrier that blocked Astaroth’s desperate calls at the end, allowing Gavied to kill him uninterrupted.

Still smiling, Mergo drew his Ushigatana, stepping forward and leaving Gavied behind.

”The battle isn’t over yet, Gavied Lindman.”

Because that was only the first step ..

And now, the second round had begun.

Both Mergo and Gavied Lindman stood with their swords drawn, facing Beatrice, who now hovered beside Astaroth’s corpse, gazing down at it.

”In the end, you brought us shame, Astaroth... You were always the weakest and most pathetic among us. That’s why Lord Wesker loathed you the most.”

With a simple wave of her hand, Astaroth’s remains vanished without a trace.

”A fitting end for a pitiful demon like you.”

Having spoken her final words toward a fallen comrade of her own faction, Beatrice turned to face Mergo and Gavied, who had already taken their stances.

The aura of Rank 17 was absolutely suffocating.

”I’ll take the front. You support from behind,” Mergo said, stepping forward and unleashing his full power to face a demon even more terrifying than the one they had just slain.

Beatrice had every intention to kill them both—ready to shatter the game and unleash her full strength on the two traitors who dared betray the demons.

With a flick of her hand, hundreds of celestial orbs appeared above them, and the ground trembled violently under the pressure of her unrestrained might.

”You’ll pay your debt with your lives!”

She was about to attack both of them at once .. determined to kill them where they stood ..

But then she stopped.

Before taking a single step, a strange phenomenon occurred around her, forcing her eyes wide open in disbelief.

The world suddenly turned grey.

Time itself halted, refusing to move forward.

In front of her, both Gavied Lindman and Mergo stood frozen, unable to move, caught in the grip of a temporal freeze that suspended even their breath.

”This level of wave manipulation...”

Beatrice whispered, stunned by what she was witnessing—unable to move herself, locked in place by an overwhelming force pressing down on her entire being.

And then—

She heard the voice.

A sweet, wicked voice belonging to a vile existence that had no place in this world.

”Don’t kill them.”

Those were the only words he said.

And then the shadow appeared before her.

A tall black silhouette with a single crimson eye glaring directly at her, making her entire body tremble in place.

She couldn’t bear to look at it for more than a second before falling to her knees, an ecstatic smile spreading across her face.

With a single word—

That entity completely rewrote Beatrice’s will, forcing her to obey without hesitation.

”As you command, my lord!”

It all happened in an instant—through nothing but his overwhelming power.

And then, time resumed its flow.

The battle that never began... ended just like that.

Beatrice surrendered willingly to Gavied Lindman and Mergo—who had no idea what had just transpired.