Chapter 457: Sound of Liberation

As he got up, the cheers only got louder and louder. This feeling- he had felt it a few times; he had always been scared of it. He preferred to be the only one boosting his powers, and not others too, scared of what might happen. But not anymore.

He needed to get over this fear; that is, if he ever wanted to truly become the strongest. If he wanted to overtake people like Cain and Keres once he reached his class, he needed to be able to cultivate his powers. To reach their maximum level.

He shouldn’t ever be scared of himself at his full strength; after all, he wasn’t fighting that form of him. He was the one using it.

His marks pulsed under his skin, almost like a second heart, before dashing forwards, with a punch that Cain caught, but not before his whole arm just fell out of existence. Fallen’s eyes widened before he frowned. His claws came and ripped off a chunk of Lilith’s face, only to watch it regenerate.

"Since when did you have this kind of Ability?" He said, backing away, as Lilith felt the skin on his face recover as if it had never been ripped apart. He didn’t respond, just waited until his face was fully healed.

Cain scoffed as his horns grew bigger, his regenerating powers growing stronger.

Looking at them both, it was as if none of them had even gotten hurt at all. The only difference between them was that Cain didn’t feel anything, while Lilith did.

Dashing forward, they locked hands. But, in a battle of pure strength, Freedom was always going to win. Quickly charging an attack, Lilith used the energy to push Cain back while also getting rid of his hands.

But as Cain staggered back, he quickly grew them back, his claws coming down from above to slash him; the only bad part was that Lilith couldn’t heal the Core damage done. The only thing he had was the armor; outside it, he was vulnerable to it. So he was going to have to take care of this fast.

With his hands down, Cain gave Lilith an opening, which he took, his hands locking on his neck, before throwing him into a house with a blast of energy that destroyed the house, making it fall on top of the Devil, but he just pushed it off himself, as if nothing had happened. As he did, the first thing he saw was Lilith’s foot that stomped on his lower chest, making a hole inside his lower stomach.

Cain paled slightly. Something that he hadn’t done before... had he taken down his second heart?

’If so, then there is only one left.’ But before Lilith could continue, Cain gripped his foot, twisting around and throwing him onto the ground, while he lay on top of him, punching him right in the face.

Lilith tried to cover his face with his hands, but every time he did, Cain found an opening. But every time he punched, the damage just healed.

He frowned before summoning his blade and thrusting it into his heart... and yet, even then. It still beat.

"How the heck..."

Lilith gripped the fleshy blade, laughing. "You don’t get it, do you... I also have more than one heart, a lot of them really... I can’t die when the hearts of those cheering for me are still beating, can I?"

Lilith slowly took out the blade from his chest. Cain tried pushing it back in, but Lilith was just stronger, and once the blade was out, Lilith just rolled around, dashing and grabbing Cain by the hair, before dragging his face against the wall, leaving a trail of blood and pieces of flesh on it.

...

He felt it: how he was slowly losing himself to his powers; his body wasn’t strong enough to control all these voices. After this fight, he was going to be in a pretty bad condition, but at the same time... he was this close.

Once the wall ended, Lilith raised Cain in the air and slammed him down onto the ground, creating a big cloud of smoke that, before it even passed, Cain jumped through, stabbing Lilith in the throat.

But Freedom didn’t flinch; he just smiled. As the cloud disappeared, raising his foot, he intended to stomp onto Cain’s face.

"Wait!" The Fallen said quickly, as he realized his intention. "Let’s not act recklessly!"

Lilith tilted his head before realizing his last heart was probably somewhere there. But where exactly? Looking at his face, he noticed a mark on his tongue. Smiling, he leaned down, grabbing Cain by the tongue. "Is this the last thing keeping you alive?

Cain hesitated; Lilith let go, but stranded the Devil, standing close to his face, so that if he tried anything, he could just kill him. Staring him in the eye, he summoned some chain, made from the King’s powers, and exclusively given to him to bind Cain. Seeing them, Cain’s eyes widened a bit before he smiled.

"You know, Lilith, I’m satisfied with our fight, with its ending. I don’t want to do anything else."

Lilith tilted his head, surprised by his sudden comment. "Of course you aren’t going to do anything; your powers will be bound."

The Devil chuckled. "I know, just wanted to point that out. What about you? Are you satisfied with the ending of our battle?"

Freedom chuckled. "Shouldn’t I be? I finally beat you; I’m very satisfied, actually. I couldn’t have wanted a better ending."

...

[You have changed the ending of "From Zero to Hero"... your reward will be granted soon... do you wish to leave now, or see the epilogue of the world you created?]

Lilith’s face paled as he realized what he had done. He hurried to put the chains on, but before he could even do more, Cain already spoke. "No, get me out of here as soon as possible." He said, smiling at Lilith as his body slowly got transported to the white room.

Trying to act quickly, he also declined the offer to see the epilogue, but once he arrived in the room where the sync was awarded.

Cain was missing.

...

...

....

[Challenger Cain, you have reached the point of Enlightenment]

[You have been given the Authority to challenge the Bearer Trial of Salvation...]