On The Other Side: I Quit Being Human

Maurice gritted his teeth below his exoskeleton mask and crossed his hands to block Rexorem. His hands were easily cut through, but the momentum of the hit was enough to let him distance himself from Layland thus preventing Rexorem from going deeper into his neck. He stared at Layland in shock from afar. He couldn’t comprehend what happened.

“Are you wondering why it doesn’t work?” Layland voiced out Maurice’s thoughts. “Your Origin is heavily reliant on belief. Only those who believe in you revere thus allowing your Origin to take effect.”

“Impossible,” Maurice snarled. “Even if you know how it works, how are you not affected, Layland Kleinhaus? Just how arrogant are you to dismiss the existence of a God!?”

Instead of paying attention to the livid Maurice, Layland mused about the coincidence which had led him to his conclusion. Layland believed that Maurice was not invincible. He was sure of his victory against Maurice even despite the show of tremendous strength. At one point, his confidence in himself dwindled, but he pushed through. Maurice’s last attack was what had saved him from his predicament.

The pain and sensation that he had felt from the attack was real. It was not an illusion as it did tangible damage to his body. His mind had accepted defeat until the thought of his Origin set his pride alight. His survival instinct flared, prompting him to tap into his Draconic Mana. As Dragon scales covered his body, the intensity of the pain greatly declined. At this moment, he also realized that the pain was not enough. Instantly, the attack felt laughable.

The moment his transformation was done, Layland clapped his hands. The imposing star was immediately ripped apart along with the fake space around him. He immediately understood what Maurice’s Origin did. The fact that he didn’t receive any power-up despite his survival from an attack of such magnitude confirmed his theory.

“Each of your manners shows nonchalance, giving the illusion of omnipotence. Your soothing voice constantly spews suggestive words that make those who hear your words inclined to believe what you say. I almost believed it until you said you were God. Demons don’t call themselves Gods even if they can slaughter Gods.”

Layland’s explanation made Maurice shut his mouth tightly. His Origin was being debunked and he didn’t know how to react.

“Your Origin only works on those who fall for your illusion of omnipotence. It will only work if the victim believes you can harm him. Rather than turning into a higher being, you are weakening your opponent’s power with your hypnosis. I have had a tea with death, so I know what pain is. Your impressive attack earlier didn’t give me enough. It was enough to get me out of my spellbound state.”

“Y- You…. You are planning to kill God, aren’t you?” Maurice asked, trembling.

“Yes, and it is a feat that someone with an unimpressive Origin like you can never achieve,” Layland quipped nonchalantly.

Layland was not very impressed by his feat. He considered himself lucky for having [Pride] as his Origin. Though unimpressive after you knew how it worked, [Reverie] was hard to overcome. It was very persuasive, so one blow was enough to make you think that Maurice was more than capable of hurting you. The longer you fought with him, the weaker you became thus allowing Maurice’s illusion to become more realistic.

[Pride] brought the absolute arrogance within Layland out. He always felt like he was the supreme being whenever he used it, so his confidence was second to none. He was sure he could kill God. The thought of killing Maurice who claimed himself to be a God was very tempting to him. Maurice’s hypnosis went unheard, so his illusion of omnipotence remained an illusion.

“That Origin of yours is going to be dangerous in my hands, but you are not me, so it is nothing but a useless tool flailed around by a buffoon. You should have exercised your brain more than you did your muscles,” Layland sneered.

Maurice trembled and roared, “Layland Kleinhaus!” He lost his composure for the first time. “I will kill you!”

Layland snorted contemptuously as Maurice charged at him. He could sense Maurice’s Origin was doing its best to alter reality to no avail. He knew how strong he was, so the Origin’s influence couldn’t affect him. When Maurice swung his war hammer down, Layland lifted Rexorem above his head. The air exploded upon the impact. Rexorem greedily absorbed the shock, so Layland didn’t feel anything.

‘[Bottled Rage] is convenient, indeed,’ Layland mused before releasing the amplified shock from Rexorem.𝒪𝐯𝓁xt.𝓒𝒪𝓂

Maurice was ungraciously flung away. To his credit, he managed to stop his launch fairly quickly. With rage clouding his mind, he exerted every single ounce of Demonic Essence he had in his body and formed a star the size of a human head that was reminiscent of the one he had used in his illusion to kill Layland. He was sure it would kill Layland this time.

‘Ah, so that is the true form of that imposing star. Pathetic,’ Layland scoffed mentally from afar.

As the star rushed at him, expanding as it did, Layland shot forward with Rexorem held horizontally on his side. Meeting the star head-on, he swung Rexorem and relished the resistance that he met. When he cut through the star, he activated [Bottled Rage]. The star that was now three times his size exploded, but the explosion was immediately absorbed by Rexorem.

In the blink of an eye, the explosion that should be big enough to cover one’s vision disappeared. Maurice stared at Layland as if he were looking at the bane of every existence. His ultimate attack did nothing other than scorch some parts of Layland’s arms and face. Even so, the injuries were quickly healing. It was even safe to say that it did nothing to Layland.

‘Danger!’

Maurice’s instinct flared, evoking his fight-or-flight response. He normally chose to fight, but he was powerless at this moment. As soon as he was about to teleport, he found himself unable to do so. By the time he realized that the space around him had been sealed, he was already inside a pink sphere created by tens of thousands of cherry blossoms. His eyes turned to the gap in the sphere and saw Rexorem’s tip pointed at him.

“Art is an explosion,” Layland quoted.

[Bottled Rage]

A vermillion beam shot out of Rexorem’s tip, entering the sphere gap in the blink of an eye. Maurice’s exoskeleton mask cracked as the beam impacted his chest, revealing his horror-filled eyes. For the first time after decades of being Rusceus’ successor, he screamed in agony. Alas, no one could hear him.

[Little Boy]

The sphere closed the gap when the beam ended. Its pink colour receded as vermillion ate the pink away. When the sphere completely turned vermillion, it shrunk into the size of a marble in the blink of an eye. It remained that way for a few seconds before expanding to a ridiculous size. It was five times bigger than the star Maurice had sent to Layland. Did it matter, though? No. Maurice was already dead.

BOOM!

The explosion pushed the air away, enveloping the world with a blinding light. The sky and the ground trembled, but no one could hear a thing. The space was twisted to the verge of tearing. The Abhorrent Children below retreated, shying away from a challenge this time round. When the explosion dwindled, the sound returned in full force. The air that was forcefully torn asunder filled the gap in the space, creating an eardrum-rupturing noise.

When the Mana was fully used, the sphere dispersed, leaving some residue in the air. The explosion was high up in the sky, but a 200-foot-deep crater was still carved on the ground. Layland relished the destruction he had caused but was not impressed. He could do more than that. Alas, such force was unnecessary to squash a bug like Maurice.

Layland turned around and glared at a certain spot in the sky. “Stop stalling or I will fucking tear your head off.”

Layland’s gaze was planted directly on Rusceus who had a bewildered look as he glared at the projection screen. His eyes couldn’t help but find their way to Ilschevar. The said Demon King merely quirked an eyebrow with a soft smile on his face. Despite how sincere the smile looked, Rusceus felt ridiculed.

His heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. He took a deep breath before calmly saying, “I have her with me.”

The other Demon Kings looked at Rusceus as if he was crazy. A Broadcasting Array only worked one way. There was no way for Layland to hear what he said. They were proven wrong when Layland appeared before Rusceus, still covered in azure Dragon scales. They could barely register the rift in the space that Layland had caused.

“Technically, you broke the rule by…” Rusceus trailed off as Layland’s Dragon Intent overbearingly washed over everyone. Many of the Demon King’s Companions put their hands on their knees to support them. On the other hand, the Demon Kings gave Layland the sting eye but did not complain. “I am willing to overlook it. I hope this will quell the enmity between us.”

Rusceus stopped dilly-dallying and tore the air beside him. Winerva fell out of it, wrapped in a brown fabric that threatened to uncover at a moment’s notice. Layland swiftly caught her, putting her close to his chest. Winerva had been unconscious up to that point, but she immediately opened her eyes the moment her head touched Layland’s chest.

“Layland…? Layland. Layland. Layland! You are the real Layland!”

Winerva desperately reached for Layland’s face like a starving woman seeing food for the first time. Layland grasped her hand softly and smiled at her, calming her down.

“Yes, I am Layland and real.”

“You came. I knew you would come.”

“I am sorry I am late.”

The meeting space was filled with nothing but Winerva’s sob and Layland’s soothing voice. Everyone present was too dumbfounded by Layland’s complete disregard of the Demon Kings’ presence to make a sound.