Lust frowned irritably as she watched Yuria narrowly dodge attacks and keep her distance.
‘Why won’t she just die?’
More than ten minutes had passed since the clash began.
The initial excitement quickly faded; Lust was already growing bored.
What she wanted to see was the challenger collapsing in despair, not stubbornly clinging to life like a persistent bug, dragging out the time.
‘There’s no chance of victory anyway.’
What irritated her most wasn’t the overwhelming power, nor the burning fighting spirit—but Yuria’s calm eyes.
Eyes that weren’t filled with fear or fury, but coolly calculating how to overcome the obstacle blocking her path.
‘An inferior species molded after us…!’
Shaking off the rising annoyance, Lust wildly swung her hand.
A sophisticated illusion that perfectly deceived all five senses surrounded Yuria from every side, mesmerizing her.
Although it was all an illusion, it was simultaneously an attack capable of easily tearing through a fragile human body.
‘Left rear… Now.’
Yuria’s violet eyes flared intensely.
Twisting her body, she swiftly swung her dagger.
The shockwave struck the empty air, scattering the relentless attacks from all directions and creating a tiny opening.
Slipping through the needle’s eye gap, Yuria escaped the area.
Neither Yuria nor Lust realized it, but the situation had aligned perfectly.
Lust’s power was spread thin, as she exerted control over the entire Empire and simultaneously commanded the Monsters.
The illusions she generated had limits.
Even Yuria’s still-developing Ma’an was barely enough to detect those cracks.
That didn’t mean Yuria was in an advantageous position.
She was only avoiding fatal wounds while her entire body was already covered in scratches and bruises.
Dodging the attacks in front of her was all she could manage, and within the pink mist, she had no idea where Lust was hiding.
‘There’s no way to defeat her right now. We just have to hold on until Soares finds her weakness.’
When Yuria first confronted Lust, she found no weaknesses at all.
She wondered if it was due to insufficient Ma’an power but soon recalled Frey and Arcs’ explanation.
Lust’s Ma’an was a highly mechanical system that output results strictly according to input.
Even if she faced an enemy she could never defeat, the Ma’an would honestly reveal the enemy’s weak points.
Whether or not she could strike those points was a secondary issue.
So was Lust an immortal being with no weaknesses?
That was impossible.
Since Zion had defeated Pride, a demon equal in power to Lust, Lust could be killed too.
The reason her weaknesses weren’t visible was simply because they weren’t here, but somewhere else.
How that was possible was unclear and ultimately irrelevant.
What mattered was that the weakness existed elsewhere, and Soares had gone to find it.
If Soares’ action had been delayed and Yuria had been caught, things would have become complicated, but being alone now brought a lightness to her heart.
“Seems what you said earlier was true, huh?” Suddenly, Lust’s voice echoed.
It felt as if it came from a distant place, yet at the same time whispered right next to Yuria’s ear.
The direction and distance were impossible to grasp.
At the same moment, invisible attacks poured in from every side.
Calmly, Yuria created a gap and slipped away once more.
Her keen ears caught a faint tutting sound.
“Of course, Pride wouldn’t have been killed by a weakling like you, even if he was careless.”
“Ha ha, poor child. Abandoned by your comrades, and all that remains is to dance until you collapse and die on a stage I set. How heartbreaking that must be.”
Yuria paused and narrowed her eyes.
There was no need to listen closely; it was just taunting with nothing true in it.
Still, she focused her mind on every word Lust said.
“Don’t you feel resentful? You should. Don’t fool yourself. I know your heart better than anyone, even better than you. Hehehe, so how about this? I’ll give you a chance. Your comrades who abandoned you…”
At that moment, Yuria moved.
Without hesitation, she pushed off the ground and dashed like lightning through the mist.
Even she thought the timing was perfect.
She felt the blade slice through something.
The mist briefly parted, revealing Lust’s horrified expression.
“Found you.”
“You, you…!”
Lust’s face twisted in agony as she barely understood what was happening.
Just as she screamed in rage, Yuria swung her dagger again.
The blade and shockwave ruthlessly tore through her.
Lust’s shattered body burst into a spray of blood, flying in all directions.
‘Doesn’t even feel like I cut her.’
Looking down at her hand, Yuria frowned faintly.
It felt like cutting clay rather than flesh.
Sure enough, Lust’s body dissolved like melting wax, vanishing into the mist.
Then, she reappeared, completely unharmed.
“How dare you…! How dare you lay a hand on me?! Insect, you don’t even know your place!” Lust roared in fury.
Yuria answered with another attack.
Lust, caught off guard and not expecting a wordless counterattack, failed to dodge properly.
Her arm flew through the air once more.
“You damn woman!”
Lust swung her remaining arm violently.
Suddenly, an invisible barrier appeared right before Yuria’s eyes.
Not only in front, but also behind, left, right, and even above her head.
Yuria frantically scanned around and bit her lip in frustration.
“This is bad. No way to dodge…”
“Boom!”
A fierce shock shook Yuria’s entire body, and her consciousness blurred.
“Tsk.” Lust couldn’t help but click her tongue loudly.
There was no greater humiliation.
To allow a human to land several hits, and to let her emotions disrupt her own rules…
‘Fine. I admit it.’
With a light wave of her hand, the swirling pink mist gathered and lifted Yuria’s collapsed body.
Dragging her close, Lust glared down at her and thought, ‘This human is dangerous. If I leave her be, she will bring disaster someday. I must cut the bud now.’
Her nails grew long and sharp.
Bringing the steel-cutting tips close to Yuria’s chest, it would only take a slight stab to finish her.
That simple act was the most humiliating thing Lust had ever experienced.
For the first time in her life, she felt a sickening nausea—an emotion called defeat.
“Well done, Yuria.”
It was then that an unfamiliar voice sounded from above.
“Thanks to you, the analysis is complete. Whew, that was close.”
The mist that filled the hall suddenly dispersed in all directions like straw before a typhoon.
Lust’s movements froze.
Should she kill the woman in front of her now?
Or prepare for an enemy strike from above?
That brief hesitation created a deadly opening.
“Hands off Yuria, filthy demon.” Zion crashed through the ceiling, splitting Lust’s skull with his greatsword.
“Ahhhhhhh!”
A chilling death scream filled the hall.
Zion grimaced as he roughly kicked Lust’s divided body.
Spectrum was a powerful weapon on its own, but it was unmatched especially against demons and Monsters.
It was a kind of self-evolution that Almighty Naia Alkoth had developed while wandering the demon realm and defeating countless enemies.
The power was so intense that even Lust—who usually felt no pain—was forced to experience agony.
“Ugh, shut up.” Yuria regained her senses at the agonizing screams.
Almost falling to the floor, she caught her balance with a catlike grace and looked around dazedly.
“Zion? Was that a dream?”
“Ha ha. I came to help. Are you okay?”
The pink mist thickened again throughout the hall.
Yuria instinctively became alert but was surprised to find both her hands empty and even more surprised that the mist no longer felt threatening.
“Heh heh~ I put some muscle into this, you know.” Arcs descended from above, grinning triumphantly and flashing a peace sign.
“Arcs, you could have made that artifact faster, you know?”
“Hey, I worked hard to make the artifact, and that’s all you’ve got to say to Zion?”
“Yuria almost got hurt.”
“Well, that’s because the Avatar State limits my power… But if you give me a bit more time and budget…”
“The safety lock was just released. There’s no shortage of time or budget.”
“Oh? Oh oh? Really?”
Arcs had attached an artifact resembling an antenna to the top of her backpack.
She had kept her distance from Yuria and Soares, heading toward the Imperial Palace to thoroughly analyze Lust’s power and created the artifact on the spot.
While it didn’t fully seal Lust’s power, within the artifact’s effective range, it could nullify her mind control and illusion abilities.
Arcs’ special weapon backpack was not only a pun on “backpack” but also short for Background Factory.
It was a high-level artifact equipped with various firearms and an automated factory inside that manufactured artifacts instantly.
This ability to quickly produce versatile artifacts was the true essence of Deus Machina.
“How’s your MP?”
“There’s still some left. It won’t last long though, so…”
Zion stood naturally before Yuria, facing forward.
Yuria, watching his back, quietly stepped beside him.
Zion glanced at her with a small smile and said, “You can rest a bit, Yuria.”
“I’m fine. Not that tired yet. And there’s something I need to tell you.”
Zion nodded in understanding when Yuria shared her hypothesis about Lust’s weakness heard via communication.
It was strange that Lust was still alive despite being split vertically and clearly in pain.
The Pride they had fought before, even weakened with Frey’s help, had definitely died when his neck was cut.
‘Soares alone might be a bit risky.’
The scent of demons still lingered throughout the Imperial Palace.
Yuria was glad to fight alongside them but knew this battlefield wasn’t the right place for her.
“All right.”
Though her expression was displeased, Yuria nodded honestly.
She understood her role.
“Then I’m off!”
She called brightly and left.
In the hall, only Zion, Arcs, and the staggering Lust remained.
Lust glared at Zion with a haggard face, gnawing her lips.
“Ugh, ugh… What’s with this sword…? It hurts… Why does it hurt so much…?”
“Of course it hurts. I wield it to kill.”
“Kill? Me…?”
“Yes. Like Pride, who died in Kornika.”
Zion casually pointed the blade at Lust.
She looked stunned, unable to comprehend why she was suffering such pain, as if confronted with an unbearable injustice.
“Ah ha, hahahaha. Huhuhuhuhu…!”
Suddenly, Lust burst into laughter—an unpredictable shift in emotion.
She hadn’t even considered understanding anything.
After ruling the Empire for over forty years and playing with countless lives, she felt no guilt whatsoever.
She was a creature that only resembled humans in appearance.
No pity, no sympathy, no understanding was necessary.
Only cold judgment and punishment for her crimes.
“So, you killed Pride, huh? What’s your name?”
“Zion Alkoth, son of Naia Alkoth.”
Zion took a stance ready to charge at any moment.
Arcs deployed her backpack’s weapons, aiming every muzzle at Lust.
Lust spread her arms.
The pink mist filling the hall began to be drawn into her body.
“The stage’s a mess now. Guess there are days like this.”
Zion charged forward.
“Maybe it’s my turn to struggle to survive.”
The power wrapped in mist around Lust swelled explosively.