Chapter 154: The Sage Reaffirms His Path in Life

When I felt the sensation of being dragged in, I instantly leapt away.

But it was still dangerous, so I stabbed the sword into the ground and held on tightly.

The black hole possessed tremendous suction power.

Even more troublesome was the fact that it got stronger over time.

I looked at the demigod.

There was a hole in his torso where it had burst.

The black hole was sucking in the entire subspace.

When I looked closely, the demigod’s skin turned inside out as he bled.

It was all gradually being sucked into the black hole.

The demigod was willing to destroy and use his own body as a catalyst to maintain the vacuum’s suction power.

I guess he came to that decision as his body was failing against the miasma and had likely judged that space magic wouldn’t be effective against me anymore.

This was genuinely the demigod’s last resort.

He was exerting the last of his might to kill me.

I proceeded to shoot lightning strikes and fireballs at the demigod.

However, everything only got sucked into the vacuum.

The black hole continued to pull as if nothing had happened.

Fine cracks ran in various parts of the subspace.

Due to the overwhelming pressure of the vacuum, it was about to collapse.

If I were dragged into the destructive tear in space, it was doubtful that I could escape unharmed.

I also tried various spells like restraint magic, space magic interference, and even forbidden magic to combat the black hole, but none of them were effective.

That black hole was incomparable to all the space magic used up till now.

It could be considered a completely different kind of existence at this point, something like a unique ability that was only usable by the demigod.

It wasn’t activated at the cost of his own life for nothing.

I had a feeling that I wouldn’t be safe if I were dragged in.

Even so, I couldn’t just leave it unattended.

If this whole subspace were to be sucked in entirely, the black hole would begin interfering with the real world even after the demigod dies. It was hard to imagine the damage that could be caused by it, but it was certain that the damage would be considerably huge.

I have to stop it right here.

As I resolved myself, I pulled the sword out from the ground.

My feet began to scrape against the ground as I allowed myself to be dragged towards the demigod.

—Please lend me your power.

Although I was well aware I wasn’t someone who could be forgiven for praying, I strongly pleaded in my heart.1

The vacuum that siphoned in everything was just around the corner.

As it reached within my sword’s range, I slashed at it.

The full-bodied slash managed to split the black hole without any problems.

Immediately after that, the vacuum weakened.

The holes that were split were canceling each other out.

I proceeded to do additional strikes.

The keepsake sword pierced the demigod’s heart, and I only swung it more vigorously from there.

The blade was forced through his shoulder.

“Ah- aa…”

The demigod’s voice leaked out.

His mud-colored eyes were staring at me.

Even his ruined eye looked in my direction.

I couldn’t see any emotion reflected in it.

He just shed a single tear.

Going along the sword’s trajectory, the upper body of the demigod split vertically.

Following that, the suction of the black holes resumed.

The hole began to suck in the demigod’s flesh first.

With me having dealt a killing blow, the spell was spinning out of control.

The blood that spurted out and the torn flesh and bone were all immediately sucked into the vacuum.

The volume of the demigod’s body was decreasing steadily as he gradually lost his human shape.

I watched his final moments.

Eventually, the demigod's whole body was sucked in, leaving only the black hole.

With the loss of its caster, the power of the hole decreased as its lifespan significantly reduced.

Although it might suck this subspace in entirely, it wouldn’t last long enough to affect the real world.

As I stayed to witness his last moments, my goal was achieved for the time being.

I have to get out as well…

It wouldn’t be funny if I also ended up getting dragged to my death after defeating the demigod.

Fortunately, I had already devised an escape plan.

I activated my space magic and wielded the keepsake sword.

The slash cut through the subspace and opened a gap in that spot.

However, it immediately tried to fix itself.

I quickly jumped in there and went out of the subspace.

My lower body didn’t make it in time and got caught in the rift.

Without being able to resist, my body was halved and I ungracefully rolled onto the ground.

It would have been fatal to mortals, but I was an immortal.

I could just regenerate my lower body with miasma as a measure.

That was a close call…

I stood up slowly.

The dawn had come to the wasteland.

I was naturally exposed to the morning sun, causing pains in my body.

It was like pouring salt into a wound.

However, it was just a trivial matter to me now.

I looked around.

The traces of my battle against the demigod were all erased without anything remaining.

No black hole appeared either.

I couldn’t feel any abnormality in this empty wasteland.

He definitely died with that.

The demigod chose to bear justice.

Looking back, he was a terrifying person.

Although I couldn’t agree with his belief entirely, his feelings for justice were undeniably genuine.

Indeed, the demigod wished for world peace.

His general goal was the same as mine.

I wonder why the paths we walked are so different?

Although I asked that to myself, I didn’t even need to think about it.

The values the demigod and I had were different.

On one hand, that person and I defeated the great evil and saw the world that lies afterward.

On the other hand, the demigod had seen nothing yet.

He was still in the process of executing his justice.

These differences were huge and the gap was hard to fill.

As I had learned common justice didn’t cut it, I resolved myself to be an indestructible evil.

It was a compromise, so to speak.

Although I was well aware that this wasn’t the best choice, I still couldn’t give up on achieving world peace.

Therefore, I decided to do it while standing on the other side.

In that respect, the demigod was constantly struggling for justice.

He believed in the good of the people.

He was convinced that the world would move in a better direction once the evil that stood in front of him was destroyed.

He had a dazzling appearance.

It definitely wasn’t something I could do right now.

But I felt like I was seeing myself from when I was a human again.

Although the demigod must have found it regrettable, I thought it was better this way.

It was because he could live until his last moments without finding out that his beliefs were mistaken.

He didn’t need to experience the deep despair and died as he stood to face evil.

The demigod would be known as a tragic Herald by later generations.

He should be satisfied with that.

I was aware that deep in his heart, the demigod sought glory.

He went through all the trouble to declare war and decided the time and place for the duel.

If all he sought was to kill me, he didn’t need to go through all of that.

He had tons of opportunities to assassinate me.

The reason he didn’t do that was perhaps to carve his name into the world for a later generation.

The demigod sought to be the Herald who saved the people.

I didn’t consider such feelings as evil.

It was the dearest wish that the once nameless magician sought.

He challenged the world’s enemies, even at the cost of his own life.

Therefore, it could be considered noble.

It is the exact opposite of what I am now.

As I saw the rotten bones that were crumbling all over, I laughed in self-derision.

I felt something rustling in my chest.

It was probably not self-loathing.

This should be envy.

I admired the demigod who managed to die as a Herald of justice.

I am here right now as a result of my past choices.

I have made many mistakes.

If there were even a slight difference, I likely wouldn't end up like this.

Perhaps there was a possibility where I didn’t have to reign as the Demon Lord.

However, it was useless no matter how much I came to regret it.

I had to accept reality and live in the present.

There was only one path for me to walk on.

And that was to be an indestructible evil that overcomes all justice.

That was all I had to do.

As a person who tended to worry a lot, this was easy to understand.

—Thus, I had slain the demigod.