Bill III's expression turned conflicted, then abruptly twisted into a snarl. He seemed to be struggling to suppress something, but he held out only a moment before his face grew calm again, taking on a sacred solemnity.
Via realized at once that a deity had probably taken control of Bill III.
"Just as I thought!" Via closed his eyes, ready to meet death. "Bill, were you the one who won me that slim chance to survive? What a shame. In the end, I failed you despite all your efforts. I'm sor—"
Bill III's expression contorted again, and he barely managed to regain his own mind. The Demon-Hunting Set was already on him. He looked at his younger brother Via and sighed. "My brother, this is our fate. Neither of us can resist it. By making your choice, you accepted death. May you find release... As for me, I will become a deity's puppet."
Via closed his eyes. A look of relief crossed his face, as though every shackle binding him had fallen away at that moment.
As soon as Bill III finished speaking, his expression returned to its cold, impassive state.
His gaze shifted to the Greater Demon, then dropped to his own chest.
Beneath the armor of the Enchanted Set, Divine Power was healing the fatal wound, but it was also eroding his body.
Before, he would certainly have stopped the Divine Power from spreading any farther. Now, it no longer mattered.
His Kingdom was doomed to fall. His family had been moved to a small Void World whose location no one knew. And just now, Via had died too. His last attachment had been severed.
Bill III had no choice. Besides... that deity had intervened in person. Faced with such a mighty being, he had no power to