34. Unruly Goddess
Asmaroth has always been a Goddess who cherished her body above everything else. Amongst the goddesses, she was hailed as the most beautiful physically, but character-wise, that was an entirely different story. She had a cruel and ugly nature; she couldn’t care less about valor or fairness.
Contrary to her elder twin sister, Kaimaroth, who is known as a proud warrior who holds valor and chivalry very highly. Kaimaroth has always been the one to keep her in check, preventing her from killing innocent entities indiscriminately—just like the time she blew the World Tree, the guardian deity of the elves, in half simply because she didn’t like its crooked shape.
To prevent her from going on a rampage, Kaimaroth bound her with a Celestium Pact made between her and Asmaroth. The Celestium Pact clearly states that if Asmaroth should use her techniques to indiscriminately brutalize an entity—especially when she has other alternatives, except when she doesn’t—the retribution will be as follows: she will be subjected to the Tome of Reverence for 2 months.
Asmaroth knew clearly how grueling the Tome of Reverence could be, but at this point, she didn’t care. All she wanted was to torture the little girl to death. But her usual air bullets could no longer suffice, not to mention that she had lost an entire arm from her divine body that she loved so dearly.
All these were just part of Asmaroth’s anger. The main reason she was furious was because the little girl called her an old hag, and she is very sensitive about her age. Plus, her actual age is 397 years—by normal standards, she wasn’t supposed to even be alive. The little girl had hit a critical nerve that she wasn’t even aware of.
"You little twit, you have some nerve....." Asmaroth said with a hoarse and chilling tone, which was very different from her usual sweet and lackluster voice. "Calling me an old hag." She regrew her arm instantly.
Asmaroth’s spirit energy surged to even greater heights than her opponent’s, overshadowing the little girl’s spirit energy. Her spiritual pressure placed a heavy weight on the little girl’s shoulders, forcing her into a bent position as she tried her very best not to fall on her knees.
"Underworld [Beauty] Technique, Gate 2: Sovereign Palms."
An invisible force lifted the little girl from below, and another unseen force struck her from above. She became suspended in midair, unable to move, locked between two invisible hands. Asmaroth’s name has a full meaning:
Asma—Beauty, and Roth—Underworld. Those two words together meant—The Beauty of the Underworld.
Beauty is an intangible concept, but entities or individuals can still be affected by it; hence her techniques are centered around an invisible force that can influence the physical. Though, this is just a fraction of what she’s actually capable of. She and Kaimaroth are the twin Goddesses of the Underworld, the cherished children of the beginning entity, Eria, who disappeared a couple hundred years ago.
"Emerald Eyes Technique, Column Nine: Flash Daze."
The little girl vanished into a flash of rainbow-colored light, reappearing behind Asmaroth. Before she could land a hit with her left leg, an unseen force slammed her into the ground, forming a crater. Asmaroth tilted her head slightly backward, her crimson eyes filled with disdain as she looked down upon the little girl lying flat within the crater.
"Did you really think I would allow your filthy self to touch my divine body again?" she said arrogantly.
The little girl struggled to get up from the crater, only to be forced back down by yet another invisible strike. She tried again, but she was knocked down. That cycle continued—the third, fourth, fifth—up to the thirtieth time. The little girl could barely move a muscle; she just lay there, almost lifeless.
Asmaroth was elated by the little girl’s pitiful state. She enjoyed the girl’s suffering more than the thought of victory.
"Don’t tell me you have already given up, pipsqueak! Where’s all the moxie you had earlier?" Asmaroth laughed intensely, barely holding herself together.
The little girl’s life flashed before her eyes. Then she remembered the pain and suffering she went through before Berry summoned her. He had made a promise to her—that he would kill Gudan and make him atone for mercilessly slaughtering her clan and family.
Even though a part of her knew that Berry was lying, she forced herself to believe in the small possibility that he wasn’t. After all, she knew far too well that even if there were ten thousand Berrys, they wouldn’t be able to touch Gudan, let alone kill him. But she still believed and blindly followed Berry. After all, it was the only way she could repay her parents for sacrificing their lives to ensure she escaped from Gudan’s grasp.
Upon recalling her painful past, the little girl’s spirit energy flared. Her dark hair transformed into a rainbow color. At this point, she was converting her own life force into spirit energy.
"Emerald Eyes Technique, Final Column:"
She rose from the crater onto her feet, her spirit energy cracking the very earth beneath her.
":Life Force Burnout."
The bearers of the Emerald Eyes have a long lifespan, which is one of their unique attributes. But what made them truly fearsome was their ability to convert their life force into spirit energy.
The technique—Life Force Burnout—further enhances the physical abilities of an Emerald Eyes bearer for five minutes, allowing them to unleash Emerald Eyes techniques one after another without any drawback or refractory period.
"Emerald Technique, Thirteenth Column: Twin Tails."
Two rainbow-colored tails struck at Asmaroth, raising dust from the ground. The little girl pressed her palms together.
"Overloaded Blast."
She launched a condensed mass of spirit energy at Asmaroth, who was within the dust.
"Helmet Cleave."
Condensed blades of spirit energy tore through the dust cloud. Technique after technique, the little girl continued her assault, not caring whether her attacks were actually hitting Asmaroth or not. The trying five minutes were finally over. She was now weak, exhausted, and vulnerable.
A clap sounded from within the dust cloud. Asmaroth’s shadow appeared first, followed by her actual body.
"Simply splendid—your final act of desperation, I mean." Asmaroth laughed ugly.
She had patiently waited for this moment, when the little girl was at her weakest. Asmaroth had a philosophy: she tortures the strong when they are at their weakest. She pulled her fingers together, forming a fist, as an invisible force grasped the vulnerable little girl.
*Crack*As Asmaroth pressed harder, she crushed the girl’s forehead and limbs.
She savored the moment, slowly crushing her opponent, who was completely helpless.
"The look on your face is priceless, pipsqueak!" Asmaroth said sarcastically. She caressed her soft lips with her blackened fingers; she was enjoying herself a bit too much.
"Don’t die on me now," she muttered, pulling the little girl closer.
*Badump*The little girl had exhausted her lifespan and was on the brink of dying. Her eyeballs rolled erratically as thick, dark red blood flowed from her eyes and ears alike.
"Tch, all that talk, and you are now about to die."
Asmaroth shaped her fingers like a blade. Out of boredom, she decapitated the little girl. The last expression on her face was peaceful—which only angered Asmaroth even more.
"What’s with that disgusting expression?"
She smashed the girl’s head into a red mush, her brain splattering on the floor, staining it crimson.
It finally dawned on Asmaroth—the punishment she would face after breaking the Celestium Pact.
"Holy shit!——"
She pressed her fingers against her temples.
"Sister Kaimaroth, I didn’t mean for it to happen." Crocodile tears rolled down her cheeks as she vanished from her current location.
As for the little girl, she must have reunited with her family in the cycle of death and rebirth... probably.
At the frontlines of Nirvana’s Domain, the corpse-like maiden, along with her two allies, was engaged in battle. One of them was locked in combat with Beta—she had dog-like ears atop her brown hair—while the other maiden, who was fighting Lux, had cat-like ears atop her gray hair.
The corpse maiden, Senita, grimaced. A set of flames that only she could see burned brightly before her eyes—and just now, the rainbow-colored flame was extinguished. Her already dim eyes, with heavy bags hanging beneath them, dilated slightly.
"Nuru and Katia, fall back. There’s been a change of plans," she said with authority.
The two other maidens came to her side immediately without hesitation. Her orders were absolute, and they couldn’t rebel even if they wanted to. In the absence of Berry, Senita was their appointed leader.
"Tch, and it was just starting to get fun, neow," Katia said seriously, but her catlike tone diminished the tension in her words.
Nuru threw both arms behind her head. "Katia, it is what it is. We can’t disobey the boss lady, you know," she said carefreely.
Raymond sat atop a pile of Ravter Abominations that he had defeated, yawning. He stared straight at Senita.
"Senita, wasn’t you sure look interesting," he muttered sleepily.
"Yikes—" goosebumps made Katia’s tail hair and ears stand as she fidgeted like a cornered cat.
"What a monster. I’m sure neither of us could defeat him—except the boss lady," Nuru stated lacklusterly.
"Speak for yourself, humph." Katia turned her face to the other side.
Senita’s face remained expressionless. She was well aware of Raymond’s strength.
He is definitely a threat that needs to be eliminated, but for now, destroying Blank’s Domain comes first. We can’t waste any more time since Cece is already dead, she thought inwardly.
In an instant, Raymond appeared behind them. He clapped his hands together in an attempt to end them all in one move—but he failed. They sank into a dark, murky puddle before his attack could land.
"Oh well, at least I tried." He shrugged.
"Geez, I thought we were dead..." Nuru exclaimed calmly, unaffected by the near-death situation she had just escaped. She wrapped her arms around Senita’s body.
"Senita-chan, what will we do without you?" she muttered, rubbing her cheek against Senita’s face. "Allow me to warm you—"
Senita pushed her aside before she could finish speaking.
Foosh----
A spear landed between them. They were currently at the gate of the Dominion. They were welcomed by the gods stationed there.
"Yckkkk, I’m in soup, Neow!" Katia screeched as her eyes looked upward at the gods that stood before them.