Chapter 521

Erice felt her fighting spirit crumble instantly.

Once the mask of composure was torn away, the fear of death hidden within her was cruelly revealed, relentlessly wearing down her spirit.

"When we finally arrive here, let's fight another day. Utsumi, feel free to challenge me, but don't disappoint me then."

Novia's voice was soft, yet carried a hint of warning.

An absolute force slowly swept through, the particles that make up everything disintegrated, and everything gradually lost its meaning.

Erice knew she wouldn't die, but leaving this place and facing Dee approaching outside the Shrine would only mean her death anyway.

"... I don't want to die... I don't want to die... Mom... Chitose... Demon King..."

Erice Death God Akihabara, would not normally reveal her true feelings like this. Although she fears death, she would pretend to be indifferent, even Future the Tokoyo. However, for some reason, when faced with the suddenly appearing 'Poimandres' and the overwhelming difference in strength it displayed, her heart was filled with despair, just like that of a fourteen-year-old girl in her Flesh.

Therefore, Erice grasped at her last support, which was her own shoulder.

"I was you, and you will be me (Tu Fui, Ego Eris)."

After the words fell uncontrollably, a boiling sea appeared, with waves churning. Tiny points of light rose from the seabed in the deep blue water, like countless fireflies piercing through the abyss and gathering around Erice now had long hair.

"... Damn it, how dare someone hit someone as cute as me? They don't want to live anymore--"

Erice, immediately felt an astonishing sense of oppression, which was aggressively suppressing her.

Damn it... What is this thing?! How am I supposed to deal with it?! Even a mutual destruction isn't possible!

In the Tokoyo of Age of Gods of Shindai, the guy she had provoked would have been able to sweep across the land and sea with each of his attacks, shake the era, tear space apart, distort time, and cause the world to roar and rage wildly. Such a scene would have been quite normal.

Sweat beaded on Erice's long-haired forehead as she silently reassured herself, as if giving herself a shot of adrenaline.

Compared to the enemies I've encountered before, there's nothing to be afraid of. I can defeat them all by myself!

Just then, the light behind Novia seemed to trace some kind of arc, and suddenly Erice, sensed the sound of something shattering.

Her entire body seemed to be surrounded by an ice palace that was previously invisible to the naked eye.

A dizziness a hundred times stronger than the floating sensation of riding an elevator washed over her. Ignoring the excruciating pain that felt like her nerves were being torn apart, she gritted her teeth and clenched her fists with even greater force.

Then, a completely different view of the sea appeared behind her.

One of the seven treasures of the Atlas Institute, the 'Law of Retribution,' which can record and recreate the mind, is itself composed of a specific state of the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate memory medium capable of recording infinite information. Perhaps the Philosopher's Stone used by Cleopatra earlier accidentally reached this level.

Red sand, red desert, a crimson world spreads out endlessly, and then a new body composed of gathered sand unfolds its enormous, magnificent wings behind it—a sacred bird that destroyed humanity to save it.

The Bird of Hermes.

Hermes of Greek Mythology later combined with Thoth of Egypt mythology and the Alchemy Mercury to become the symbol of Alchemical Theology. The Hermes Trismegistus, sometimes a man and sometimes a bird bearing that name, appears in various forms in many Book.

"You are the highest level of 'metal' that I have been striving for my entire life, yet you have unexpectedly become connected with the Inheritance of the Far East pantheon."

The red sacred bird Hermes seemed to pity Erice was crawling on the ground.

It's not about using sound, but about directly feeding information into the brain.

"Nevertheless, become Poimandres; only in this way can you avoid death. This is right. I define myself as right."

This is self-evident, since the source of the Poimandres is the Hermes Books, written by the Hermes Trismegistus himself.

"..."

Erice had a very bad feeling.

I feel I must stop another version of myself, but a voice inside me screams that I cannot stop her.

"You're saying I can only avoid death by becoming that... that thing? But let me tell you—"

Erice long hair, was in terrible physical condition. No matter how much she was encouraged or scolded, only her eyes and lungs could move. She was damaged on both physical and Od levels. The damage was not so minor that it could Overturning by willpower. Only anxiety kept circulating in her mind.

Even so, she remained steadfast.

"I don't need to think too much, just keep moving forward, that's enough."

The words of 'herself' reached Erice's ears.

"However, it's very difficult for a person to keep moving forward; it's not easy at all."

"Idiot, you're so cute, and you're even me, why are you so stubborn? Did that Demon King turn you into a silly brat?"

Long-haired Erice ignored the Bird of Hermes behind her, "'I'm already a child bride, right? When he reappears, I'll beat him so badly he won't be able to leave the house for three years, making him hang me around all day! I'll take his manhood."

"Gah... woo..."

Erice Sei never imagined that her other self would have such a personality.

"However, I still have to tell you the truth: whether it's that stinky bird behind us that's eyeing us like a hawk, or that guy in front of us, the difference in combat power is just too great. As of now, they're no match for us... That's a fact, but how can we just give up like this!"

This heartfelt cry Erice could feel the passion within her own soul. Despite being trapped in terrible despair, she refused to give up.

Unconsciously, Erice recalled her memories of facing the India hero Karna in the final of the Shinjuku Holy Grail Elimination Tournament.

Facing Karna wielding his Noble Phantasm, the Demon King told herself he had no Noble Phantasm, and her feelings then were the same as now. Her instincts whispered that victory was impossible, only defeat or death awaited her. But under the influence of that manipulative bastard's words, she rebelled for the first time—

"Stand up."

It was as if she could see the Demon King had once used her body looking at her as she wanted to 'surrender' to death, and as if the Demon King's words echoed in her mind, Erice's lifeless eyes gradually regained their light.

"Erice, get up."

Fighting a terrifying enemy so powerful it inspires despair makes one feel that directly confronting such a frightening enemy is a foolish and overconfident act.

But they still have to use every trick in the book to grasp that last glimmer of hope for victory, because they are the weaker party.

Did I truly give it my all? Did I even try my best? Did I become fearful after the initial setbacks, fighting with a half-hearted attitude? It was merely a confrontation with genuine despair, and I completely lost the strength to resist...

All the things the Demon King tried so hard to tell me in the past, all the hardships and struggles I've faced, were they really so easily tested?

The Answer is absolutely no.

But no matter how positively you think about it, if it doesn't exist, it simply doesn't exist.

In terms of ability, I currently have no way to beat this guy.

But if that bastard Demon King saw this, he would definitely mockingly say:

"No matter what, Erice, you're not going to admit defeat, are you? Then stand up and give them a good beating or some taunts."

It wasn't unreasonable forcefulness, nor excessive trust; he simply always spoke to himself in this matter-of-fact manner.

"I..."

Erice realized that she still hadn't loosened her fist.

This experience taught her that she hadn't given up, not only in spirit but also in body.

"Let me fight and advance, my other self."

Erice roused her trembling knees and stood unsteadily between the Bird of Hermes and the chosen path.

The Bird of Hermes spread its enormous wings, silently staring at the girl with her back to it. Its gaze was as intellectual as an old scholar observing some incredible phenomenon. Meanwhile, Erice stubbornly smiled and roared at the silver-haired man sitting on the Throne with a single finger.

"Now, I'm going to answer your earlier question, 'I asked you, Utsumi Erice, do you think you can defeat me?' Since you asked, I, Utsumi Erice, cannot refuse to answer. I'm going to tell you clearly now, 'No.'"

"Yes, that's right. Only by becoming Poimandres can you have any chance of moving forward."

The Bird of Hermes said with satisfaction.

However, amidst the storm whipped up by the enormous wings, Erice continued speaking to the person on the Throne:

"But whether I can defeat you or not doesn't matter. You are indeed very strong, so what? To be honest, it doesn't matter. As the weaker one, all I need to know is that you are far stronger than me. But humanity will not stop here. It will continue to move forward, challenge relentlessly, dare to challenge, rack its brains, and use every means to challenge. And don't look at me like this. In fact, among humans, I am just an insignificant part. There are many who are more outstanding than me."

"... Are you denying that I'm right?"

The sacred bird spread its enormous wings.

Erice's attitude and words completely negated the desire for her to become the Bird of Hermes Poimandres.

But she was simply following the way of life as the Fourth-Generation Divine System Utsu Gods of the Japan pantheon.

So even though Erice sensed the astonishing Od contained in the feather, she stubbornly continued walking slowly forward and spoke to the figure on the Throne.

"We come from the sea, and when we return to the sea, whether sailing or gazing into the distance, it is as if we have found our home in the darkness."

If we condense 50,000 years of human history into a mere half-century, we know very little about the first 40 years. In the final stage, we learned to cover our bodies with animal skins. By this standard, 10 years ago, humans emerged from Cave and began building new homes. Christianity arose less than two years ago, and printing and publishing only appeared this year. In the 50 years of human history, less than two months ago, the steam engine provided the world with new power, and Newton discovered the significance of gravity.

This condensed time capsule of history Church humanity the need for knowledge and progress, and the necessity of perseverance and unwavering commitment. Whether or not individuals keep pace with this progress, humanity as a whole will continue to venture into more distant and unknown worlds.

"Roar!"

To kill Erice, the sacred bird Hermes flew in.

With a roar, a massive number of crimson sand feathers shot out.

That was already a bombing. The immense Od contained in every feather triggered an explosion more violent than even the Noble Phantasm of Top Servant.

Erice, who had been looking at Novia, turned her head to face the immense destruction and stomped her foot firmly on the ground.

"The Wicked Spirit Medium Demon King."

Black Wicked Spirit suddenly began to envelop the dry red desert. An astonishing amount of Od swirled like a hurricane, transforming into Alder Tree that bound the soaring sacred bird Hermes, gradually dragging it down to near the ground.

So the sacred bird Hermes cried out loudly, attempting to break free of its restraints and fly towards Erice a second time.

Nevertheless, Erice was no longer afraid.

Since it was not the real Triple Hermes, but a spirit simulated using the Philosopher's Stone, taking its life was a power that he, as the pinnacle of the so-called Alchemy myth, should possess. The sacred bird was bound by chains formed from Leaf.

Therefore, she leaped high into the air and jumped towards the head of the sacred bird, using the last bullet of the Magic Bullet Shooter.

The seventh shot will only explode inside Erice's body after the Demon King disappears.

Erice used all her strength to press the muzzle of the gun against the sacred bird's eyeball.

A tremendous roar caused the sacred bird that had been ravaging the sky to dissipate into the clouds. Then, it landed on the ground. Although Erice was exhausted, she still walked to the path she was about to choose and continued speaking.

"I read in a book that many years ago, the England explorer George Mallory perished while climbing Mount Everest. Someone once asked him why he wanted to climb Everest, and he replied, 'Because it's there.'"

Novia sat motionless on the Throne, her hand supporting her chin, mimicking the contemplation of Yahweh in his youth, and softly spoke to Erice:

"... This is really a headache. But are you really going to make this decision so easily? Are you really going to give it up? This is a miracle that only belongs to you. If you refuse, you will never become the Supreme Being Alchemy legend, and you will never become Poimandres again."

Erice's expression was very clear at that moment.

"Utsumi, that's what seeing the Universe means."

"... Utsumi Erice, your words are actually meaningless to me."

"That's something you'll never understand, and it means a lot to me."

Then.

"Erice."

The girl's calm voice rang out.

"Therefore, I, in response to Poimandres and the Great Lord of the East— "

"I just need to keep moving forward. I will never choose any of you. I will only become..."

Whether it was the knowledgeable and existing Poimandres, or the Great Lord of the East whose very nature was to explore unknown stars with humanity, Erice didn't choose either path. She simply looked ahead, walked forward, and headed towards a path that seemed to have no future.

This is the path that Utsumi Erice chose.

This is also a concrete manifestation of the Answer Novia, sitting on this Throne, had been desperately searching for when she was the Demon King.

So, this was the feeling that was choking Yahweh back then?

Novia knew that, as human beings, they could find all sorts of reasons for everything, for themselves or for others.

If Yahweh were exactly the same as He Himself now, what would He have been thinking back then?

I just can't understand it. This is the path I've always longed for, so why can't I achieve it? Oh well... whatever.

However, the difference is...

Novia stood up, her mere presence distorting the surrounding time, space, and even Causality. Erice in front of her:

"Gah... Close your eyes, imagine the Universe, Utsumi Erice."

Chapter 533 If it doesn't work, beat the Dove until it admits it.

"You were born at the end of 2011, after the war ended."

In 2011, the largest war in history broke out, which was triggered by the failure of the Holy Grail War.

That was Third World War, a conflict that blended modern science with ancient mystery.