Volume 2, Chapter 34 – The Seed of Despair

Fia’s movements did not stop because of the smoke. [Wind of Exploration] could ignore obstructions and clearly show Noreen’s body outline. Everything that had just happened was in the blink of an eye. Noreen had just barely reacted to her right hand being severed.

I won’t give her a chance.

Fia gave up using her sword. Her free left hand went straight for Noreen’s neck.

The distance of less than a meter was closed in an instant.

However, just as Fia was about to grab Noreen’s neck, Noreen’s entire body suddenly emitted an ominous purple light.

Is she self-destructing with magic to avoid being caught?

A second after this thought appeared in Fia’s mind, a powerful flash of light exploded, accompanied by a tremor in the air.

Boom!

The scattering airflow even changed the trajectory of the falling rain. A pillar of fire, mixed with dense smoke, shot up into the sky. A deep, unmissable crater suddenly appeared in the ruins. Rubble and stones didn’t even have a chance to fly out before they were turned into fragments by the immense pressure.

When the initial firelight dissipated, two figures appeared in the blurry smoke where there should have been nothing.

A small girl was holding up her right hand, and opposite her was a woman whose feet were off the ground, her neck being strangled. Upon closer inspection, one could also see that Fia’s right hand had not touched Noreen’s neck. What was truly restraining Noreen were a spatial hand and a [Bee Shield] force field.

In the moment before the explosion, Fia had deployed a force field to protect herself and Noreen at the last possible second. At the same time, she used [Telekinesis] to seal off Noreen’s escape routes.

Even as a form of chaos, Noreen was only at the Third Tier and was no match for Fia.

The only sound left on the ruins was the whooshing of the falling rain. It was both deafeningly loud and incredibly silent.

If Noreen could make a sound, she would probably be making a gurgling sound in her throat right now, Fia thought, as the spatial hand held Noreen’s neck. Noreen was not a real creature. Even if her neck was strangled, she would not feel like she couldn’t breathe.

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Before, Fia had no time to think because she was in the middle of a battle. Now that Noreen was firmly restrained by the spatial hand, unable to move her limbs, Fia had a chance to think. She couldn’t help but feel a little puzzled. Anastasia had estimated that the disaster that happened in the castle was at least a Seventh-Tier forbidden spell, but [Wind of Exploration] reported that Noreen was only at the Third Tier. Could a Noreen of this tier really have caused a disaster that killed two hundred thousand people?

If Noreen could use a Seventh-Tier forbidden spell, she would have never been so easily held in Fia’s hand. Sensing the problem, Fia slightly relaxed the force in her hand.

Then, the sound of hurried footsteps came from behind her. It was Estelle.

“Fia!”

With the danger resolved, Fia responded to Estelle’s plea and put down her raised hand, but she did not relax the restraint of [Telekinesis] on Noreen.

A panting Estelle quickly stood beside Fia. Fia hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“She can no longer escape, but the chaos in the city has not been completely cleared yet, and if I kill her here, she will just reappear somewhere else. I feel that there are two powers in her body. One is trying not to harm you as much as possible, while the other is urging her to attack you. You must have also noticed, Estelle, that Noreen’s attack just now didn’t hit any of your vital points… Add to that the fact that her assassination attempt on you before was only to the extent of torture, I feel that there is something strange going on—how could a Third-Tier Noreen possibly cast a Seventh-Tier forbidden spell? She simply doesn’t have the ability to destroy a city. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so easily caught by me.”

At this, a different kind of meaning was added to Fia’s eyes.

“Since the magic that destroyed the city was not cast by Noreen, the only suspect left is Count Oro. However, I can’t think of any reason for Count Oro to destroy the city he had managed for a hundred years. He had decided to pass the territory down to Noreen, so he would never have wanted his successor to take over such a mess. Even if there was a disagreement, there were countless other ways to solve the problem. There is no reason for things to have progressed to this point. If it’s neither Noreen nor Count Oro himself, Estelle, what did you see in the main hall at that time? Do you really not know who destroyed the city?”

“Sister… I…”

Without directly answering Fia, Estelle, whose golden hair was soaked by the rain, just bit her lip hard and lowered her head.

Fia couldn’t help but frown. She put her hands on Estelle’s shoulders and forced Estelle to look up. Raindrops streamed down Estelle’s face. As if she hadn’t heard Fia’s words, Estelle’s face was pale, her breathing was rapid, and her lips were trembling uncontrollably, a look of extreme pain on her face.

Her reaction was the same as yesterday when she was in the main hall of the castle, recalling the scene of the disaster.

Fia’s frown deepened, and she unconsciously increased the force in her hands. She repeated.

“Was there someone else in the main hall besides Count Oro and Noreen at that time?”

“No… no… I don’t know… I don’t know…”

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Tch. ¹ tchhh indeed. goddamn it.

The sound of liquid being sprayed rang in her ears.

Fia, without hesitation, summoned a [Bee Shield] force field to block it. Immediately after, a lump of chaos that had formed a spear-like point hit the [Bee Shield], making a light “bang” sound.

Fia turned around and looked at Noreen, who was being held by the spatial hand. At this moment, Noreen was looking down. Despite the veil blocking her face, Fia could feel that Noreen was watching her. An aura of anger and warning surrounded her, which meant that the sneak attack just now was Noreen’s doing. She was trying to stop Fia from continuing to ask questions.

Fia was stunned for a moment.

…So that’s it?

The force in her hands quickly dissipated. Fia retracted her hands from Estelle’s shoulders. For a split second, she felt as if all the bones had been removed from her body. She felt all her strength leave her, and her vision became blurry.

This is ridiculous.

This is the Despair Demon General’s complete script. Everyone has underestimated the Despair Demon General too much.

She clenched her hands tightly. Her skin turned pale from the immense force, and her fingers made a cracking sound.

If the Despair Demon General were dead, then no one in this play would be saved. Everyone would be heading towards a tragedy.

—Could it be that even my killing him was part of his plan?

The moment this thought appeared in her mind, a sudden round of applause echoed through the ruins. It was an eerie, rhythmic sound.

Fia looked up in the direction of the applause.

Standing there was Norton, with long dark blue hair. Unlike his previous state of being sweaty and pale from blood loss, the current Norton showed no signs of fatigue. Although his dark blue hair was soaked by the heavy rain along with his clothes, his entire body was radiating a madness and excitement that anyone could see. The two combined to create a disgusting and hair-raising madness.

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“Norton.”

Fia’s eyes narrowed. She walked straight towards Norton. Her pace grew faster and faster until she was running. However, Norton did not seem to notice the violence that was enveloping Fia. He just had a look of joy and delight. He even spread his hands, allowing Fia to grab the collar of his clothes.

Like a fanatic sacrificing himself to a god, he was willing to accept death.

“Oh, you’ve already guessed the answer. That’s right! This look of anger and fury! Ah, how wonderful! This is what I wanted to see! Get angrier! Get angrier! Hurry up and hit me! Vent your anger! Let me see how far my masterpiece has come! Hit me harder! Harder! Come on!!!” ² i hate you.

Even when Fia’s murderous red eyes stared at him, Norton showed no fear. He spoke with a condescending tone, as if he were looking at a clown on a stage.

“Why aren’t you hitting me? Isn’t this what you desire in your heart? What are you hesitating for?!”

When Fia realized Norton’s purpose, her heart instead calmed down. The absolute rationality of her past self as a super-intelligent being now overpowered her immense rage. She still held onto Norton’s collar, but her expression and tone were so cold they were inhuman.

“Despair Demon General, I thought you were dead. Thank goodness, you’re still alive.”

“For a scene as wonderful as this, of course I had to be alive to watch it. I’ve been planning for this day for a full fifteen years! And the result is even better than I had expected! Are you wondering how I did it? Hahahaha! I might as well tell you! To be able to endure to this point, you are indeed worthy of being the person chosen by the Witch of Hope. I admire you, Elf Princess!”

A jarring laugh echoed through the ruins and the heavy rain. Immediately after, the chaos controlled by Noreen, which had been pouring out from all directions, shot towards Norton. However, Fia used a [Bee Shield] force field to stop Noreen’s attack. Killing Norton now would not solve the problem. She had to remain calm and find out how all of this had happened.

Even as the clanging sounds mixed with Norton’s laughter grew more piercing.

“Hoh, you’re still not giving up. It’s about time you made your exit. Don’t ruin my fun.”

Norton did not make any moves, but the chaos that had been forming into countless spikes suddenly fell as if they had lost their strength. They were no longer controlled by Noreen but retreated under Norton’s command.

Then, Norton turned his face towards Fia. The corners of his mouth stretched into a smile that was far beyond what a human could do. The smile was extremely eerie.

“I will have you as my witness, inheritor of the Witch of Hope’s will. Thirty years ago, I received the Seed of Chaos from Lord Absolute Evil—and you also have the scent of the Seed of Chaos on you. You must have also come into contact with that wonderful source of power. Was it the Moon Dragon Radric, or his lapdog Tilulu? Since you have seen them, you should know that the Seed of Chaos can change the consciousness of its host.”

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“However, although the Seed of Chaos is powerful, it lacks a bit of fun. The reason we seven demon generals serve under Lord Absolute Evil is so that we can do whatever we want. So I didn’t directly plant the Seed of Chaos in those pitiful wretches who are unable to dedicate themselves to their desires and make them lose their minds in front of their loved ones. That’s too simple and boring.”

“So I laid low for a while and modified the Seed of Chaos to be more delicious. I call it the Seed of Despair. Although it is still chaos at its core, it is now very different from the original. It will only be triggered when the host feels despair. It will explode with its full power in an instant, not giving anyone a chance to react. The more despair there is, the stronger the power it explodes with. After I finished this masterpiece, I began to look for a suitable candidate.”

At this, Norton’s excited gaze fell on Estelle, who was clenching her teeth, hugging her chest with both hands, and had a face full of pain.

“Yes, it’s her! Estelle! This imitation that was sent to the House of Oro! Her mother, the woman named Bellmore, had already lost her ability to procreate because of her natural charm curse. How could she have had a child?! And what’s even funnier is that in order to pretend that Estelle was a descendant of Count Oro, Bellmore had to pretend to be pregnant. How ridiculous!”

“No… stop…”

Estelle pleaded in a low voice, but Norton had no intention of stopping. His voice became even more piercing and unpleasant.

“I knew that this pure-blood with only half a wing would be ridiculed in the future. So before Count Oro took her in, I killed everyone in her family and then planted the Seed of Despair in her. Ah~ ah~ Her sister Noreen was a gentle woman. She would definitely not have abandoned her sister. She would have found a way to help her get over the ridicule of not being the Count’s biological daughter and not being qualified to be a noble. That way, she would have come to believe that she was an excellent noble, an excellent pure-blood. She would have lived up to the blood of the House of Oro flowing in her veins and would have done anything for the glory of the House of Oro. The noble honor her sister taught her, and the ridicule of others, would become the source of all her actions.”

As his emotions grew more intense, Norton’s body began to tremble uncontrollably. An aura of madness was visible around his entire body.

“So, what kind of change would a person who lived with that as their motivation go through after they found out they weren’t Count Oro’s biological daughter? What kind of despair would they feel? The thought of it just makes my whole body tremble with excitement! I have been waiting. Waiting for the day that her Seed of Despair would explode. This moment did not make me wait too long. Finally, as Estelle, with a heart full of joy, was crouching outside the door, eavesdropping on her sister Noreen’s conversation about inheriting the title, she heard her father mention the adoption! Hahahahahahaha!!! How does the feeling of your faith crumbling feel! How does it feel!!”

“Everything you cherished was a fabrication of others! And now, you have personally killed your family, and even the people who thought you were a decent noble. Two hundred thousand people, two hundred thousand people all died at your hands! And your sister, even at the very end when she had become a wraith-like thing, was still thinking of you. She didn’t hate you. Everything she did was to prevent you from getting close to the truth. Yet you couldn’t even fulfill your sister’s last request. The House of Oro is completely wiped out, and not a single shred of hope is left, Estelle! You are my best masterpiece!!!”

A jarring, ear-piercing scream echoed throughout the land. Norton laughed madly like a lunatic. Estelle, on the other hand, could only make an inarticulate whimpering sound. Her whole body, as if her bones had been taken out, went limp on the ground. She was gasping for air, and brilliant red blood poured out of her mouth. A black aura, visible to the naked eye, spread out from her body, gradually forming a seed-like shape above her head.

“That’s it! That’s it! Ahh, what a wonderful despair. It is you who will provide me with a continuous supply of mana, a wonderful undead body. Quick, like before, once again, once again detonate the Seed of Despair! Leave only yourself as the sole survivor in the entire Oro territory, and live your whole life in despair and regret—Ugh!”

Norton’s mad voice was cut short. Fia had snapped Norton’s neck.

But this was not the end.

Even with his neck snapped, Norton still laughed eerily. Immediately after, the blood vessels and muscles in Norton’s body swelled. His facial features also contorted as if they were being stretched. Amidst the sounds of muscle and skin tearing and the gurgling of water, the Despair Demon General, with his limbs like blades and his entire body pitch black, crawled out of Norton’s back. Norton’s body, like a discarded skin, fell to the ground.