Chapter 1942 – 1942. Dark Moon
The being revealed itself.
The form of a beautiful woman with snow-white skin.
Black leather, barely covering the vital parts of her voluptuous, fleshy body, was smaller than the palm of a hand. Her dazzling, sun-like blonde hair and blood-red eyes. A seductive smile played on her lips.
Behind her back were black bat wings, signifying a demon, and a long, black tail.
Blood stained the tail. It was that tail that had pierced and killed the imp.
I felt cold sweat trickling down my back.
Somewhat embarrassingly, my legs were trembling. The very space I stood in was being dominated by her. To put it bluntly, it felt like being placed on a monster’s tongue. A helpless feeling that I would be swallowed and killed by the monster at any moment.
There was nothing I could do in front of her.
‘Shit. Astaroth is here…!’
Astaroth looked at me, then scanned her surroundings before looking back at me. I was the only one who piqued Astaroth’s interest. The fact that she had revealed herself was 100% because of me.
The 167 sacrifices merely bowed their heads, and the staff members fell to the floor, whimpering in pleasure. Their crotches were soaked, as if they had ejaculated just from Astaroth’s gaze.
On the other hand, I didn’t feel any lust for Astaroth. An unparalleled beauty? It meant nothing. I knew better than anyone that Astaroth’s true form was a hideous monster. Astaroth’s current appearance was her true form, yet not her true form. She had created an avatar and confined her true form within it.
If she hadn’t, most beings would go insane upon seeing her true form.
The 72 demons were more like gods of evil than demons.
“Interesting. Very interesting.”
The lives of all living things here depended on her whims. If she told them to die, they had to die. To her, we were like insects.
She was approaching me.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The space screamed. It seemed as if the world was desperately trying to stop her by any means. Astaroth ignored the world’s resistance, crushing it with her power.
“You have a nostalgic scent. A very old… scent from that time.”
What was she talking about?
I gripped my trembling legs. It was hard to open my mouth due to the pressure, but my mind was working quickly.
An old scent. Was that why she was interested in me?
Even amidst all this, I hoped the camera was still rolling. That was the only way I could make money.
“Alright. I’ll look into your future. You’re curious about your future too, aren’t you?”
• • •
The Demon Realm. Astaroth, one of the 72 demons who ruled the place also known as Hell, felt a faint sign of being summoned after a long time.
A very faint sign.
It was more than just displeasing to be summoned by a mere offering of 167 humans, but it was also intriguing since it was a formal summoning.
But that was it.
There was no reason for her to step in personally. It wasn’t worth it to appear for just 167 humans. One of the demons who had sworn loyalty to her would take care of it.
Then suddenly.
She smelled a scent that piqued her interest.
A very old past. The scent of the time when gods and deities frolicked.
Astaroth, having changed her mind, moved herself. She dealt with the annoying imp in an instant, and forcefully suppressed the will of the world that was rejecting and pushing her away, descending into the mortal realm.
There were many humans.
But none were as special as the wizard who had summoned her.
Astaroth smiled.
She liked special humans. They were fun to watch.
“Alright. I’ll look into your future. You’re curious about your future too, aren’t you?”
One of Astaroth’s powers. She had the power to see the past and future of certain humans. The future she saw was just one unstable future among countless others. That’s why it was more fun to see the future.
“Not particularly.”
The wizard said, even while sweating profusely. Astaroth chuckled. The wizard didn’t get aroused even after seeing her. Did he have a power that protected his mind? Or was it some special item? Either way, she was more interested in the wizard.
“Your opinion doesn’t matter. What matters is that I want to see your future.”
Astaroth used her power.
She saw the wizard’s futures. As if proving that he was no ordinary person, he had more than ten times the number of futures than a normal human. All of those futures were shining brightly. If she could, she would like to look into each one and savor it… but she wasn’t that relaxed right now.
There was only one future she could see right now.
Astaroth looked into the most brilliant yet ominous future.
It was a space where stars twinkled. It wasn’t Earth, but space. However, what was strange was that there were many constellations she didn’t recognize. There were many familiar starlight, but their positions were all jumbled up. It was as if someone had messed up the constellations.
When she turned her gaze slightly, she saw something floating in space.
It was a corpse.
There were countless corpses. But no two corpses were alike. They were all beings of transcendent levels. All of them were beings similar to Astaroth.
Astaroth swallowed hard. Those were all true forms. The real bodies of beings who could easily manipulate an entire world if they wanted to.
And they were all dead here like trash.
‘What happened? Did a war break out between us? I can even see the corpses of the Void bastards.’
She was a little surprised, but that was it. This was just one of countless possibilities of the future. A war broke out over the fate of the world in the future? She felt that it was possible. They had never been on good terms from the start.
As she turned her gaze, she soon discovered something enormous.
A giant mass of flesh with 100,000 wings. That being, about the size of the moon, was the true form of Metatron. Among the 72 demons, he was a being in a similar position to Baal, the first in rank. Even Baal couldn’t guarantee victory in a fight against him, and yet he was dead.
And the wizard was standing on top of that corpse. The wizard, who was completely covered in a robe, was staring intently at the universe.
The insignificant wizard who had summoned her in the present. The wizard’s face was different from what she knew. It wasn’t that surprising.
‘He was hiding his appearance with magic, so that must be his real face.’
The wizard, who was quietly looking at the universe, turned his head. Directly towards where Astaroth was.
“……!!”
Astaroth was startled but quickly calmed down. This was not a confirmed future. It was a future that didn’t actually exist. It was just a coincidence that the wizard turned his head and looked at her.
‘What are those eyes?’
The wizard’s eyes were strange. It was as if he had embedded the universe in his small eyes, and countless starlight was shining within them. It wasn’t just a flashy-looking eye, but its presence was extraordinary.
The wizard opened his mouth.
“How presumptuous.”
It seemed like he was talking to her.
‘That can’t be. What I’m seeing is an unstable future that hasn’t been confirmed. To use an analogy from human civilization, it’s like a character on TV talking to you.’
It was absolutely impossible.
The wizard raised his hand.
At that moment, Astaroth understood the reason for the strange constellations. The moment the wizard raised his hand, the stars began to move, forming the shape of a magic circle. All those stars were being used as elements of the magic circle.
‘Ah, ah…!’
Astaroth realized what that being was.
A goal of a forgotten being she had been acquainted with a long time ago.
The true transcendence that transcends everything by understanding the truth of the universe with the key of the origin of magic.
The forgotten being named that goal in the magic system he created.
One who transcends all.
Overmind.
‘No way. That thing that only existed in theory… is it really possible?!’
In the brief moment she was lost in thought, the magic circle made of stars and starlight was completed. What came out of the magic circle was a single ray of multicolored lightning.
Feeling the transcendent power contained in that lightning, Astaroth closed her eyes tightly and released her power, as if running away, even though she knew this was an unstable future.
In front of her was the wizard, sweating profusely.
Astaroth grinned.
She had seen something enormous. What would happen if she told this to other beings? They would all be the same. A mere mortal achieving transcendence beyond transcendence? Everyone would disbelieve and laugh.
“I’ve seen a very interesting future.”
She wore a strange smile. Could the insignificant wizard in front of her reach that future? It would be fun just to watch. And if he did reach it… she would have to fawn over him to survive. There was no need to hesitate to invest in a stock that had the potential to skyrocket.
Just as she was about to move her hand to seduce the wizard, Astaroth’s expression hardened. She quickly raised her head and looked at the empty air.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
Multicolored lightning tore through the air and struck Astaroth.
“N-no way…!”
The lightning had pierced through space-time. It wasn’t the same.
An unconfirmed future. An unstable future. A future that didn’t exist yet. A possibility of zero. It had appeared, ignoring all of that.
“Aaaaaaaah!”
Astaroth fell to the ground. She felt excruciating pain. She tried to use her power to shake off the lightning, but the lightning tore apart even her power and penetrated her essence. Her immortality was being damaged. If she stayed like this, she would die.
“S-save me!”
Astaroth instinctively reached out to the wizard in front of her. The wizard in the future and the wizard in front of her were the same being. So, wouldn’t this wizard be the only one who could save her?
The wizard had a dazed expression. His gaze was not directed at Astaroth, but at the multicolored lightning that was killing Astaroth.
Then, the wizard grabbed Astaroth’s hand. The multicolored lightning moved to the wizard.
