The Devil Does Not Need to Be Defeated

Chapter 640: The Great Undead Sacrificial Activation Magic Circle

“…!”

Within the ruins of the throne room, Diere suddenly felt a strong palpitation, clutching her heart. The sensation was brief but intense, leaving her with a feeling that something significant had happened.

Unsure of the cause, she looked up at Shien, who was battling the death aura torrent in the sky, as if trying to see Mara through it.

Unfortunately, Diere lacked clairvoyance and couldn’t see Mara through the dense death aura.

But she was certain that something related to her had just happened near Mara. And that something quickly disappeared.

“What happened?” Diere frowned, confused.

Capeline stood up shakily, looked at the groaning female knights lying around, and then her gaze shifted.

“Brother…!”

Harvis was also lying on the ground, clearly not having received Shien’s protection like Diere and Capeline. He was motionless.

Capeline struggled towards Harvis.

Around them, people fled in panic.

“Quick! Retreat from the palace!”

Even Rockto, guarding the main gate, shouted this order, his expression grim as he looked at the death aura torrent threatening to engulf the entire palace.

“Retreat!” Under Rockto’s command, Tilly waved at the Imperial Knights.

Saliro, grabbing the pale and trembling Geno, also fled the palace with his knights.

The situation above the palace was too terrifying, even Legendary-level experts had to retreat.

“Roar!”

Yulin, also at Limit Level, roared at the death aura torrent in the sky, clearly sensing the threat.

After all, Mara was not only at Limit Level, but also possessed the constitution of a Greater Spirit of Death, wielding death aura amplified by the blood of countless fallen heroes on the Empire’s land, and using the enhanced necromancy spell, [Grand Astarte]. Even Yulin, at Limit Level, might be defeated.

That’s why even Shien, using [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree], was stalled.

“This venomous Consort is more troublesome than I thought,” Shien thought, using the Annihilation property of Bestowal Magic to counter the endless death aura.

Even with [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] doubling his power, putting him half a step into Transcendence, he was still stalled. This showed Mara was going all out.

Although Mara’s death aura was vast, it was still finite. Being constantly annihilated by Shien, her power would only weaken. [Grand Astarte], like [Astarte], relied on the amount of death energy. If the reserves decreased, Mara’s power would naturally weaken.

Yet, Mara continued to expend her death aura recklessly, just to stall him and buy time. This made Shien impatient.

Moreover, the sensing ability of [Outer Awareness of Heaven’s Decree] told him that Mara was doing something significant, and the strange magic power in the air was intensifying. Shien decided not to wait any longer.

“Lilith!”

Shien finally called out to his guardian deity.

At this moment, the world changed.

…

“It’s done.”

At the same time, a smile finally reappeared on Mara’s cold and emotionless face as she looked at a young girl before her.

In one of her hands, she held a lifeless mummy that vaguely resembled Wolram.

This arrogant adopted son of the Raifurut family was dead.

Mara had used the most brutal method, injecting a large amount of death aura directly into his body, turning him into an undead, then using necromancy to control him and activate his Unique Skill, successfully creating a clone of Diere.

Mara casually tossed aside Wolram’s mummy and picked up Diere’s clone.

With a single glance, Mara could tell that this clone was flawed.

It had no soul, no consciousness, no self. Just an empty shell.

Clearly, the clone Mara obtained through this shortcut wasn’t perfect.

But…

“This is enough.”

Mara didn’t need Diere, but the Goddess of Fate’s blessed one.

There was only one person with this blessing.

That was Lucy.

Before Lucy’s birth, the previous blessed one of the Goddess of Fate was Hero Mitra.

After Hero Mitra, no one had received this blessing for a thousand years.

That’s why Mara waited for a thousand years, until Lucy’s birth, to begin her plan.

But Lucy was the Kingdom’s Treasure, the only princess of the Mitra Kingdom in a thousand years, inheriting Mitra’s Holy Sword and favored by the God Race. Even Mara had to think carefully before making a move against her.

However, unexpectedly, not long after Lucy’s birth, another blessed one of the Goddess of Fate appeared.

No one knew about this.

Not even Mara initially.

It wasn’t until the large-scale assassination in the Royal Capital ten years ago that Mara noticed Diere.

No one knew that Mara was also in the Royal Capital that day.

As the mastermind behind that incident, Mara, like in Cosmos, hid behind the scenes, enjoying the chaos in the Hero’s country from the best vantage point.

She originally planned to take advantage of the situation and kidnap Lucy, but because her arrangements in the Empire weren’t complete, and the ritual underground hadn’t been fully set up, she could only observe for now.

It was at that time that Mara noticed Diere, sensing the aura of the Goddess of Fate on her.

No, it should be said that “that person” noticed the aura.

After all, “that person” had been with a blessed one of the Goddess of Fate for a very long time, and with her special Unique Skill, she naturally noticed the blessing on Diere.

It was at that time that Mara changed her mind and targeted Diere.

Compared to the highly protected Kingdom’s Treasure, this isolated girl with a tragic past in the Royal Capital was undoubtedly a more suitable target.

She just didn’t expect that because of a so-called variable, even making a move against Diere became extremely difficult, forcing her to resort to this alternative method to achieve her goal.

“Fortunately, the clone at least inherited the power of the blessing.”

Because the flesh and blood used for consumption was the horn cut off from Diere right after her birth, before she received the blessing, Mara was a little worried, unsure if the created clone could inherit the blessing’s power.

Fortunately, Wolram’s [Devouring Hand, Divided Self] didn’t determine the clone’s state based on the time the consumed flesh and blood left the main body, but copied the target’s current state. Otherwise, the created clone might not be Diere, but a baby.

Of course, this blessing’s power would probably disappear soon.

It was a God’s Blessing, not something that could be replicated.

A God’s Blessing would disappear.

Like Limgir, the moment he transformed into a Greater Spirit, his blessing vanished.

This blessing on the clone would also disappear soon, sensing that the vessel wasn’t the original body, not the one it should protect, but some kind of sinful existence.

“Let’s achieve my goal before this blessing’s power disappears.”

Mara prepared to activate her sacrificial ritual.

However, at this moment, her heart suddenly trembled, and she abruptly raised her head.

“Boom!”

A thunderous sound echoed from the sky, and endless evil aura surged out, swirling like a vortex.

“…!”

Mara felt a terrifying pressure descend upon her, making her face pale.

Not just Mara, but everyone in the Imperial Capital looked at the sky, where the evil aura suddenly erupted, their faces filled with terror.

Some silently knelt on the ground.

Some screamed in panic.

Some collapsed.

Some lost consciousness.

At this moment, a god descended.

“Weng!”

Enveloped in endless evil aura, a small goddess with twelve pairs of black wings descended from the swirling sky.

“The Evil God, Lilith…”

Mara broke out in a cold sweat.

Her most terrifying opponent appeared before her.

Responding to Shien’s call, Lilith, Shien’s strongest trump card, finally took action.

She looked at Mara, her eyes still lively, but Mara’s mind reeled, as if invaded by an indescribable terror, filled with endless negative emotions.

Mara was thus driven mad.

It was said that even a single glance from Lilith, the strongest Evil God, could drive a person completely insane, turning them into a mindless evil being.

Even Mara, a Limit Level expert, was as weak as an ant before Lilith, a transcendent being who could rival the Demon Lords.

To deal with her?

A single glance from Lilith was enough.

This was the difference between Transcendence and non-Transcendence.

Even Shien, with [Samsara of Heaven’s Decree] doubling his power, was only half a step into Transcendence. He needed his Holy Sword and his blessing to truly contend with a transcendent being. The difference in power was unimaginable.

Logically, the moment Lilith descended, everything should be over.

This was Shien’s greatest reliance, his trump card. He didn’t mind forcing Mara to reveal her full strength, her connection to the Old Demon Faction, and her true background.

But no one knew that Mara had already made preparations for this.

Because the [Greater Spirit of Death] was an existence born from love turned into hate, from extreme love to extreme hate, their heart filled with endless negative emotions.

In other words, she was already in a state of madness.

Therefore, after her mind reeled, although driven mad, her eyes turned ghastly green, and under the control of her insane consciousness, not only did she not stop, but she also activated her trump card.

“—Great Undead Sacrificial Activation Magic Circle, activate—”

With this chant, following the swirling vortex of evil aura in the sky, the earth of the Empire also changed.

“Boom!”

A pillar of light suddenly rose from somewhere in the Empire.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” …

Pillars of light rose from the earth one after another, reaching the sky.

They connected, forming a specific pattern.

They intertwined, forming an incredibly large and mysterious magic circle.

The sky reflected the magic circle.

The earth held its main body.

It slowly rotated, covering the entire Empire’s territory, causing panic among all its citizens.

“This is…!?”

Shien, having finally dispelled all the death aura, saw this scene and was shocked.

“What… is… this…?”

Diere, Capeline, Rockto, Saliro, and everyone else stared at this scene with wide eyes.

“Roar!” Yulin instinctively sensed danger and roared.

Even Lilith was slightly startled, a look of surprise on her face.

At this moment, Mara moved.

Another young girl suddenly appeared in her hand.

No, it was a girl’s corpse.

Looking closely, the corpse’s appearance was identical to Lilith’s.

Shien recognized the corpse.

“Beatrice’s magic life form…!”

That’s right. It was Beatrice’s magic life form, created by Danas in Cosmos to control evil beings, or rather, a flawed replica of Lilith’s other half.

She was Danas’s little magician, abandoned by him after the Cosmos incident and controlled by the Beastmen priests, only to suddenly die, a pitiful sacrifice.

The Beastmen priests seemed to have buried her.

However, Mara dug her up again.

For this very moment.

“—Sacrifice—”

Mara sacrificed the corpse without hesitation.

“Boom!”

With another explosion, a pillar of light descended from the giant magic circle in the sky, enveloping the corpse and vaporizing it.

In that instant, the special qualities deep within the corpse were activated, and its power awakened.

Mara intended to use this [Great Undead Sacrificial Activation Magic Circle] to extract the power of the sacrificed and use the Goddess of Fate’s power for herself.

So, what power was extracted after sacrificing the flawed replica of Lilith’s other half?

Undoubtedly, it was Lilith’s power.

“Rumble…!”

The giant magic circle in the sky devoured the power of the sacrificed, activating the power of the strongest Evil God.

“Huh?”

Lilith only had time to let out a surprised sound before the evil aura around her suddenly went berserk, transforming into a giant black curtain that enveloped her.

Lilith’s figure instantly disappeared within her own evil aura.

“Wha…!?”

Witnessing all of this, Shien gasped.

Then, the flames around him erupted completely.