Floor1: Malicious Slaughter

Elpis, who was grabbed away by Cang Bi, asked anxiously.

Elpis: Cang Bi, how’s my baby?

Cang Bi: Don’t worry. The baby is in the slit between my scales on my chin. I’ve already had his berserk force under control.

As Elpis looked over to Cang Bi’s chin, she was relieved as soon as she saw her baby slumbering. She expressed her gratitude by grabbing Cang Bi’s claw.

Elpis: Thank you, Cang Bi. You saved my child.

Cang Bi: Don’t mention it. Let’s hurry to meet Leonard...Hmm!

Cang Bi: “What’s this...such a creepy power...and not only one individual...This is horrible...ominous as if it was wiping lives away...Right, just like the energy Enlil possessed before…” 

Not only Cang Bi, but all the combatant earthlings felt it, the incoming haunting existence. Suppressing the urge to tremble, Leonard looked up to the sky and soon spotted an energy-gathering tentacle.

Leonard: “That tentacle is aiming...It’s about to shoot!”

Leonard: ASTRID! EVERYONE! RUN!

Astrid: Leonard——

Severely injured, Astrid spent all her strength to reach Leonard, but she got swallowed by the tentacle strike next second. A blinding white shone, covering the entire center of the podium. Following next, the whole area was filled with the smell of burnt flesh.

Weird white smoke rose as the light faded; the stone platform was burnt to red, and the earthlings and the Eldus at this spot were wiped out, vanishing in the form of ashes. Astrid was one of them.

Leonard: ASTRID!

Zack: Stay calm! Our enemies might attack again!

Zack dragged Leonard who tried to rush over. In the meantime, Enlil stood up in the ruins and stared at the girl and the boy descending from the air——Lloigor and Zhar the ancient demons.

Enlil: Lloigor, Zhar, I didn’t ask for your help.

Zhar: You woke us up and powered us, but we never said we would listen to you.

Lloigor: Exactly! We only help you because of our same goal. It took you so long and still you couldn’t put them down. North is lame as always～

Lloigor and Zhar, hovering above, mocked at Enlil, but their laughter was soon interrupted by rifle shots——from Leonard! He trembled in extreme rage as he had just witnessed how his fellows were wiped out like ants.

Leonard: It was you...You two killed Astrid...killed our friends! I will get revenge for my friends!

Lloigor: Hahaha! By you earthling? How naive——

Zack: He’s not alone. I’m with him.

Standing together, Zack and Leonard stared at Lloigor and Zhar ——The face-off between earthlings and demons then began!

Floor2: Deadly Face-off

Four figures were moving swiftly on the podium, engaging in an intense battle. The collateral damage had turned the podium into ruins, but the battle was stuck in a tie.

Leonard: “With his injury, Zack will eventually go down if the battle keeps on. I must make a breakthrough!”

Leonard: Zack!

Leonard communicated with Zack with strategic hand signs of the combatant division, who nodded in return.

Zhar: What are you two doing! Keeping secrets is despicable!

Leonard: Humph! Said someone who sucker-punched us!

Zhar: You——Damn it! That’s very arrogant for a toy like you! Take this!

Zhar swung the thick tentacle on his waist, blasting Leonard away at his abdomen with an uncatchable speed.

Zhar: Hehe! You suck——Hmm! Something caught me!

While Zhar paid all his attention to Leonard, Zack lassoed Zhar with his element-enchanted chains. Lloigor, trying to help, crashed into Zhar who got tossed by Zack.

Zack: Leonard! Now!

In the mid air, Leonard managed to focus and brace himself to attack. Even with such extreme difficulty, Leonard successfully made a double headshot, penetrating Lloigor and Zhar’s heads at once. The headless bodies then fell onto the ground silently.

Zack: Phew...We...We won...Leonard!

It took Zack a moment to react with a thrilled look, but happiness did not last long. When Zack turned around towards Leonard, someone swiftly came to his back and gave him a hard turning kick!

Leonard: Zack!

Leonard rushed over to catch Zack, but momentum caused by that kick made Leonard crash into the stone fence, who felt a great pain from his back. Meanwhile, the skinny male attacker——Shudde the demon went to the headless corpses.

Shudde: Humph! How long are you two gonna stay down! Get your asses up or I’ll chop you into pieces!

Miraculously, the cross-sections of Zhar and Lloigor began to wiggle. Next second, new heads were regenerated.

Leonard: What the...? That was supposed to be fatal...How can we win this…

Holding Leonard’s shaky hand, Zack reassured him with the determination in his gaze.

Zack: They must have a weakness. Don’t give up!

Leonard: ...Right, I can’t give up. If I do, our friends would die for nothing!

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Floor3: Approaching with Hostility

Earlier the day when Lloigor and Zhar unleashed a deadly blow.

Cang Bi: Leonard! Zack! ...I need to help them!

Elpis: Sure. Take me with you!

With a nod, Cang Bi grabbed Elpis who had her baby in her arms. When it was soaring, it crashed into a huge creature. The impact caused Cang Bi slip its claw.

Cang Bi: Elpis!

Trying to catch Elpis, Cang Bi’s rescue attempt was interrupted by a few shades blocking its way. A curvaceous woman climbed out of one of the shades, which was actually an enormous red flower bud. Staring at Cang Bi playfully, the woman licked her lips.

Vulthoom: Hmm, you look delicious.

Free-falling, Elpis managed to hold her baby tight. Meanwhile, she surged her power and struck the ground with her broadsword when she was about to crash. Counteracting the momentum with the sword strike, she landed safely but still dropped her baby.

The baby rolled all the way until he reached a wall. In the meantime, his painful cry drew “her” attention.

Enlil: Aw, excellent. You’ve come back to me finally, the power of destruction.

Enlil, approaching step by step, was forced to retreat as she sensed an incoming hit. Next second, a broadsword was stuck into the ground where she was supposed to walk past. Meanwhile, a petite figure came over and stood in front of the baby.

Elpis: Don’t you dare to touch my baby!

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Floor4: Mother’s Power

Leonard and Zack were battling Lloigor, Zhar and Shudde; Cang Bi was attacked by Vulthoom; As for the surviving Eldus and earthlings, either they had fled or were busy with taking care of the wounded fellows. None of them had the time to pay attention to the far end of the cross-shaped podium where Elpis and Enlil were confronting each other.

Enlil: Elpis, stop overexerting yourself when you can’t even stand firm. I can spare your life if you step aside. You can have another baby, but you only live once.

Elpis: ...You’re pathetic. You have nothing worth protecting for...No. You used to have one but you destroy it yourself. That’s why you hate yourself——

Enlil: Shut up! I’ll give you what you want if you have a death wish! I’ll make sure you die painfully!

The signature smile on Enlil was gone, revealing the apathy and hatred that had been locked up. The elements around her were contaminated into an ominous force, and Enlil attacked Elpis with it... 

Elpis: “She’s too strong. I’ll lose if I don’t do something… I’m sorry, Enkidu. Although you’ve said that this was forbidden, I must break our promise for our child…”

Elpis cracked the surface to make Enlil fall, creating herself a moment of cease fire. Seizing the chance, Elpis held her necklace and whispered an unknown language. Elements began to attach onto her body, radiating blinding halos. When Enlil returned to the surface, she was shocked by what she saw.

Enlil: “This is the enhancing spell. How come she knows it...It must be Enkidu. That bastard must have taught her.”

Enlil: It’s useless. You can’t defeat me even if you overload yourself.

Elpis: Who knows if it’s useless without a try? Well, Enkidu always said I was hard to get rid of!

A fierce battle erupted between Elpis and Enlil, and the result was just as Enlil had expected. Elpis gradually became the lower hand, and she was not the only one. Leonard, Zack and Cang Bi were in tough battles too.

Elpis was eventually defeated by Enlil. Lying on the surface, Elpis could only watch Enlil walk towards her baby.

Elpis: “Anyone...can save my child...save everyone…”

Her thought was answered by a divine light. At this moment, a robust figure descended from the sky and landed in front of the baby, making the scene dusty and hazy, pausing Enlil’s pace. With a loving gaze, the figure then picked the baby up and stroked the dark mark on his chest.

???: Poor baby. Such a heavy burden on an infant...Everything happened because of my sin. Please let me put an end to all tragedies.