Rogue Villain-Chapter 409: Too Late

With Mara melting the ground around her and imbuing it with the power of fire to the point it was more liquid fire than liquid earth, Naraka didn’t have the tactical advantage he sought by smashing Mara into the ground.

But Naraka wasn’t a god for nothing, even after clobbering the Tortoise King for a while. He retaliated by conjuring a rain of pellets of dirt packed so tightly it was like diamond.

However, the further away the pellets got from Naraka, the harder it got for him to control them. And the closer they got to Mara, the easier it was for her to melt them. And with each passing moment, the heat from her and her fires increased the temperature in her dome. She had created her own smelting furnace to burn Naraka out of existence.

But since she had sealed her and Naraka in a dome of lava, the others had trouble spectating her fight. Instead, they watched Shanshi play around with Hayut.

All of Ackster’s party had contributed in taking down The Hero and the Voice, even if Ackster had done the most. They had received a part of the Voice’s existential power that corresponded to their contribution.

Shanshi, who was among the strongest in Ackster’s party and the one who took the greatest beating when Ackster refined the world power into his Ichor, had earned a great amount of existential power. Before that, he was already the first vampire and an existence no one on Millmeria except the Sword God, the Creator, the Hermit of Equilibrium, and the Current Ackster could ignore.

After inheriting part of the Voice’s existential power, Shanshi’s strength had only risen. He also had a lot of time when Ackster was asleep to gather blood from several powerful individuals in addition to the blood from Ackster he consumed before the battle.

The twin god and goddess of the moon were watching the fights unfold with almost the same kind of excitement as the rest of Ackster’s party. The other gods of the army that had come to beseech Ackster to leave Millmeria weren’t excited at all.

If Ackster’s party was this strong, how powerful was he? Was he really a god, the same as them? If he were, why was he so strong? And why were the inhabitants of the surface so strong?

If they worked together with each other and their armies, the gods were confident they would win against Ackster’s party members. After all, they were still gods. But maybe they had been too reliant on their innate strength the last few hundreds of thousands of years. Instead of wasting their time with parties, relaxing, and taking it easy, would they have been strong enough to have Ackster leave their followers alone if they had trained all that time?

However, just the thought of training embarrassed most gods. If they were to expend effort trying to become better, wasn’t that an admission of their inadequacy? That was impossible.

"I will be right back."

After closing her eyes and breathing deeply for a few moments, Karandiel finally stood up and declared her eventual return.

She couldn’t ignore reality or her past any longer. If she wanted to be free of the chains of her history and enjoy a peaceful future with Ackster, she had to break those chains herself.

Karandiel looked at Yillister, the source of the restraints that made it impossible for her to leave her past behind. She knew what she had to do.

But at the same time, it wouldn’t be easy. Karandiel had spent a long time faithfully and loyally serving Yillister as one of his angels.

However, Karandiel remembered when Yillister had punished her by casting her out of his army and the Celestial Realm. All she had done was voice a question about why Yillister and the other gods only watched when their believers and the rest of the humans of Millmeria suffered.

That innocent doubt in her heart coming to light had been enough for Yillister to rescind Karandiel’s position in the Celestial Realm. All her efforts in her first life and in the life after it were reduced to dust by one question.

If it had been Ackster instead, he would have either thought about the question before giving an answer or given an answer straight away. Only if she gave him reason to doubt her loyalty or caused a grave offense with her actions would Ackster sever their ties.

As far as Karandiel knew, colluding with The Hero or targeting Mio with hostility would lead to such a tragic outcome. And now that The Hero was part of the past and the world was saved, that was no longer a concern.

So, as long as she let Mio have the first turn, Karandiel would be fine. She could do what she wanted within reason, and Ackster wouldn’t mind.

After the millennia of strict worship she experienced under Yillister, Karandiel sought the loose reins in Ackster’s hand.

Karandiel glared at Yillister and brought out the Evil-Slaying Sword from her Inventory. After the battle with The Hero, it had ended up in her hands. She knew how to use swords, and her powers were antithetical to evil. It was only natural.

But, as it turned out, the Evil-Slaying properties of the sword were looser than expected. The sword was just very sharp, and its past owners had a tendency to cut down evil.

Its current owner wasn’t any different.

A god that laughed when its worshippers died and mocked his angels before casting them down to suffer was no better than a demon. At least a demon had the decency to uphold the agreements they made. Demons also didn’t hide their evil.

<Ha! Have you come to return to my side?>

Yillister chuckled as he saw Karandiel approach.

"No."

Yillister saw Karandiel’s dark face and the unsheathed sword.

<No, I guess not. That means it’s too late for you.>

Yillister grabbed his halberd. Since Karandiel wasn’t going to return to the fold, it was best to just dispose of her. He swung out with his halberd like he was creating a horizon. He tried to cut Karandiel’s head off without hesitation.