Chapter 64: Satan was ‘choosing’ Seth

“It’s best to leave it to Lady Floria.”  

Mikael, drawing his sword to step forward, was stopped by Rita.  

He could act if needed, so he reluctantly followed her lead.  

Floria stood before Satan, who, on the brink of death, ground its teeth.  

“Because of you…!”  

Panting, Satan’s rage turned to Seth.  

“If you’d just let me take you!”  

If it had captured its initial target, it wouldn’t be so cornered.  

Blaming Seth, Satan staggered, glaring at him.  

Despite its fury, it swatted away Floria’s attempt to grab its neck.  

Seth, incredulous at Satan crawling toward him, muttered, “Madman.”  

Satan grinned wickedly, its red eyes, once filled with rage, now gleaming with indescribable madness fixed on Seth.  

Cold sweat dripped down Seth’s spine—not from fear, but disgust.  

“Frozen Valor!”  

With his last strength, Seth conjured an ice spear, aiming at Satan.  

Floria, knocked down by Satan’s thrashing, gritted her teeth and followed.  

“Dangerous! Both of you have used too much mana. If this continues…”  

Mikael, anxious at their sluggish movements, paced nervously.  

He tried to approach, but Rita grabbed his collar.  

At that moment, Seth’s water prison trapped half of Satan’s body.  

The flimsy prison held the weakened Satan.  

“You…”  

The battle, like a contest of endurance, ended in Satan’s defeat.  

It collapsed, panting heavily.  

A golden glint flashed behind it.  

Two massive arrows struck its severed tail, hitting the red gem—its vital point—emitting an unstable glow.  

Floria, confirming Satan’s brief scream, stepped past it lightly.  

Grabbing Seth’s wrist, she pulled him a few steps away.  

Moments later, a blinding light erupted as the arrows exploded.  

A piercing scream echoed, and Rita sighed in relief at Satan’s agony.  

“You… pests…”  

Satan’s body barely held together, its head half-gone, its vital point reduced to a sliver.  

Clinging to form in a final act of defiance, it rolled its dangling red eye, radiating fury.  

“Asmodeus… will come for me soon…”  

Though it knew no help was coming, Satan lied to intimidate them.  

Rita’s group didn’t buy it.  

If reinforcements were coming, they’d have arrived.  

Meeting their cold stares, Satan shut its babbling mouth.  

Seth stood before it, face stern, staring at its trembling form.  

He raised his staff to end it but hesitated, lips sealed.  

Satan, a mere husk, seemed to revel in its red eyes, as if awaiting his hand.  

As Seth wavered, Satan chuckled lowly.  

“Shut up and die.”  

Floria approached, aiming her bow at Satan’s head.  

Seth watched her silently, then stepped back.  

The final blow was hers.  

Her uncontainable rage, ragged breathing, blazing eyes, and murderous intent filled the air with silent fury.  

Satan, caught in it, stopped laughing.  

As if cradled in a cozy lullaby, forgetting its pain.  

As if it had found an ideal end.  

Shockingly, Satan gazed at them with blissful contentment.  

“You madman,” Seth spat, eyes full of contempt.  

But that was all.  

The Seth Satan had so eagerly awaited turned his back.  

As if his towering rage had faded, Seth’s eyes grew calm.  

Satan’s face crumpled, staring at his retreating figure.  

“Why…”  

A being who radiated fierce anger amid countless fears.  

Who raged at others’ pain but not his own.  

Who never bowed to overwhelming violence.  

Satan ground its teeth at Seth’s unyielding spirit.  

“Why aren’t you angry?”  

At its furious question, Seth turned back.  

Despite its blazing red eyes, he only sighed softly.  

Satan, lips twitching, gestured at Floria.  

“This alien took your place, so that other alien didn’t die, right?”  

Its cunning tongue subtly tightened around Seth’s calm heart.  

His face crumbled, recalling Eileen.  

Realizing his fault, Seth avoided Floria’s gaze, bowing his head.  

“Shut up!”  

Satan’s guilt-stoking tone ignited Floria’s rage and killing intent.  

She kicked its jaw, sending its eye rolling across the ground.  

Despite its grotesque state, Satan cackled, lips moving.  

“That alien died because of your weakness.”  

Seth, silent, clenched his fists, trembling.  

“Melted by my poison, torn by my spawn.”  

His once-calm breathing turned ragged again.  

“So rage. Crush me.”  

Satan tempted, cloaking guilt in anger.  

Seth wavered, silently screaming before the dying creature.  

“Shut up!”  

Floria kicked its jaw again.  

Its head snapped unnaturally, then turned back to her with a eerie laugh.  

“Ahh— I smell my sibling in you.”  

Floria’s rage-filled golden eyes froze.  

“What have you consumed?”  

Its eye was gone, yet she felt it scanning her.  

Instinctively, Floria covered her mouth, stepping back as if her sin was exposed.  

She glanced around in fear.  

Only Eileen and Rita knew the truth.  

Mikael, thinking of mana stones, was merely puzzled by her reaction.  

Satan cackled wickedly, then froze, staring at Seth.  

“I’ll remember you until the end.”  

Its low, laughing voice gripped him.  

Black shackles seemed to rise from its tattered body like shadows.  

Though an illusion, Seth, horrified, stumbled back like a coward.  

Satan said no more.  

“It’s… dead,” Mikael muttered uneasily.  

Rita, forced to listen to its nonsense, frowned.  

Trying to stand, Mikael stopped her, but she couldn’t stay down.  

“Soon… corruption will spread.”  

Watching the corpse, Rita forced herself up.  

Her legs wobbled, but Yan steadied her other arm.  

Mikael, puzzled by Yan’s earlier inaction, helped her move.  

“Is this necessary?”  

Despite his concern, Rita nodded.  

‘I don’t know what happens if corruption is left unchecked, but it’ll grow, harming humans somehow.’  

Recalling untouched corrupted spaces, Rita set aside her mage’s curiosity and lowered her staff.  

Black energy began seeping from Satan’s corpse.  

“Step back.”  

Floria, having witnessed Rita’s purification, pulled Seth away.  

Unaware of what was next, Seth snapped to attention at the mention of purification.  

“Are you insane? You nearly died purifying that cage!”  

“…It’s fine. Everyone, wait outside. Yan… help me.”  

It wasn’t fine.  

Hiding her pain, Rita looked at Yan.  

No words were needed—Yan understood, supporting her to the spot.  

The corrupted mana had thickened into a solid wall.  

Passing through with Yan, Rita gave a bitter smile.  

‘Twice in one day. I might actually die…’  

Checking her remaining mana, she felt real fear for the first time.  

Mikael stepped into the dark space.  

“So this is it.”  

Meeting Yan’s frown and Rita’s surprise, he smiled.  

He gently held her trembling hand, sharing his mana.  

“No idea if this works, but I’ll do what I can.”  

“Lord Mikael?”  

Before she could protest, golden mana flowed into her.  

Most scattered into the air, but it was enough.  

Mikael’s holy-infused mana warmed her, stabilizing her balance.  

Rita, with a calmer expression, began purifying.  

Mikael watched in awe.  

When a golden mana stone fell, he felt a jolt of realization.  

The stone’s existence needed no explanation.  

It confirmed what made Rita supreme-rank and Floria stronger.  

“Lady Rita, you’ve done well,” Mikael said with a warm smile.  

But Rita’s face was blank.  

Exhausted, she stared at the mana stone, ignoring Mikael.  

‘Why…’  

The third mana stone, after Mammon and Baal.  

Like with Baal, she couldn’t look away.  

Satan’s laughing face seemed to shimmer on its radiant golden surface.  

She felt it reaching to hold her face.  

‘Why…’  

Rita was drawn into the stone.  

The thought that she could absorb it dominated her mind.  

With glazed eyes, she cupped it in both hands, as if to hide it.  

Mikael, puzzled, watched as Floria stepped forward.  

“Lady Rita.”  

Having absorbed Baal’s mana stone, Floria recognized Rita’s warped desire.  

Rita, who became supreme-rank via Mammon, likely bore its influence, like Floria with Baal.  

Unable to grasp the full depth, Floria shook Rita with uneasy eyes.  

“Ah…”  

Rita snapped out of it.  

Chiding herself for succumbing to temptation, she forced her gaze away.  

Mikael, sensing the odd moment, looked at her worriedly.  

Sweating, Rita gave a bitter smile and bowed her head.  

“Let’s… go back.”  

Ignoring Yan’s skeptical glance, Mikael offered a kind hand.  

As Rita took it, the mana stone in her right hand surged.  

Its sharp mana scratched her palm, making her wince.  

In that moment of pain, the stone floated.  

Moving as if alive, it flew toward Seth, alarming Rita.  

“No!”  

Satan was ‘choosing’ Seth.  

Certain of the mana stone’s side effects after Floria’s change, Rita lunged.  

She tried to snatch it, but Seth grabbed it first.  

Startled, he felt the stone’s thin mana tendrils tickle his palm, its immense mana enveloping him euphorically.  

“This is…”  

Having heard Rita’s prior explanation, Seth recognized it instantly.  

His eyes shook with desire.  

Floria’s eyes narrowed.  

“Remember, it’ll give you power, but it’ll definitely have bad effects, whether you like it or not.”  

Unaware of the warning’s depth, Seth wavered, consumed by confusion.