Crack.
As expected, Aleister's staff was stopped by an invisible barrier, unable to move further in.
"This really feels familiar," Anzen turned around, looking at him calmly. "I thought you'd at least improve a little."
Aleister's expression was neither happy nor sad, and he said lightly: "Humanity as a group has always been caught in repeating history. For thousands of years, there has been no progress."
"Mr. Aleister, are you trying to have a philosophy talk with me?" Anzen asked with a gentle smile.
At this time, the lady suddenly said: "Brother An, my power is gone."
"My lord husband, we seem to be inside some kind of anti-magic field," Losaepina followed up.
She felt her law-based powers were no longer usable, and even the Styx cloud around Othinus had vanished.
"I see. So your artificial heaven is complete." Anzen stayed quiet for a moment, then looked at Aleister. "You really can't be underestimated."
"This is only a small area for now," Aleister explained slowly, as if chatting with an old friend. "It's not fully complete yet."
Anzen's expression stayed the same as he spoke in a gentle voice: "You should know, even your artificial heaven can't strip me of my power."
Although his power of laws was somewhat similar to the Magic Gods of this world, it didn't actually come from here. The AIM diffusion field of the artificial heaven had no effect on him at all.
"Of course." Aleister nodded in agreement. "That's why we never planned to use the artificial heaven against you, Lord of the Underworld."
Buzz.
As soon as Aleister finished speaking, the world around them changed completely. The tall buildings disappeared, replaced by a blazing, burning hell.
"A space swap?" Anzen glanced at Nyang-Nyang and the others. Their bodies were locked inside black molten prisons that had appeared out of nowhere. Stripped of their Magic God powers, they looked like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
"If you leave here, they will die," Aleister said calmly.
He knew very well that Anzen, who controlled the power of space, could escape from this burning hell without a scratch. That was why he used the lives of Nyang-Nyang and the others to shackle him.
"Oh, so this is the arena you built so carefully." Anzen smiled and asked quietly, "But the other gladiator… that's not going to be you, right?"
Boom.
Right after his words, the space trembled violently. A massive black-and-red hand suddenly tore through the air and pressed down toward Anzen's head.
Space froze. Time stopped.
As the hand moved forward, it was as if everything around had been put on pause.
Collapse, twist, erase!
The hand itself was a structure made of laws. Countless malignant factors spread outward from it like a core, infecting everything.
Pop.
Just as it was about to touch Anzen's head, that invisible barrier appeared again. But this time, it couldn't block the hand. It burst apart like a bubble.
Crash.
The hand pressed down. Anzen's body was infected by the malignant factors like water molecules being dyed, slowly turning black and red.
Moments later.
The black-and-red Anzen crumbled like burnt paper ash, scattering into dust.
"Looks like that's settled." A soft, girlish voice suddenly rang out. "Shall we move on to the next part of our agreement?" From Aleister's side, a figure appeared—golden hair reaching her heels, wearing a pale yellow nun's outfit.
She was Laura Stuart, Supreme Bishop of the English Puritan "Necessarius."
But this Laura looked different from the one in the original story. Her eyes were completely black, and faintly within her long hair was the huge, sinister face of a demon.
In truth, that demon was her real form. Its name was Klenzo, a hell demon that spread filth and corruption through touch.
Aleister said nothing, only stared thoughtfully at where Anzen had vanished.
"You don't seriously think he's still alive, do you?" Klenzo, using the girl's body as a vessel, spoke with disdain. "This is my domain. Under my law of corruption, nothing can survi—"
Thud.
Before she could finish, a long blade stabbed into her back. Klenzo staggered forward in shock and turned her head. "Impossible!"
Anzen, completely unharmed, was standing behind her. His expression was calm and unreadable. "Your law of corruption is strong. If I faced it head-on, even I might not be able to stop it."
Klenzo's eyes widened as she watched Aleister, who had been standing at her side, dissolve into smoke and vanish. "An illusion? You replaced yourself with Edward?"
"Not an illusion. It's the power of this blade." Anzen gripped the hilt and raised his long sword. "She has a nice name—Kyoka Suigetsu." The blade came down, flashing with light.
Slash.
Klenzo's body was cut clean in half, splitting into two gray, rotting masses that tried to flee left and right. But before they got far, a milky-white barrier closed in, dissolving her body completely.
"Edward, you damned bastard!" Klenzo's furious roar echoed, then was erased.
"Oh, seems I gave you quite the help." Anzen turned his gaze to the side. Aleister appeared out of thin air, wearing teal surgical robes, a milky-white glow shining behind him—it was the guardian angel Aleister.
"I'm grateful to you," Aleister said flatly, expressionless. "So rest assured, we'll grant you a death without pain."
That Aleister just now was also him, but only one of his countless possibilities. He had separated it to manipulate things from behind the scenes, hoping Anzen and Klenzo would destroy each other.
Things hadn't gone as planned, but letting Aleister absorb Klenzo's remaining power wasn't bad either. Now bearing both angel and demon, he believed Aleister could kill anything in an instant.
"Oh? Is that so?" Anzen smiled faintly, lips curling upward.
Aleister's face didn't change, but deep inside, a bad feeling suddenly surged.
Thud.
A muffled sound.
The milky-white glowing spear pierced through Aleister's heart, its tip sticking out from his chest. Slowly turning his head, he saw that the one who struck him was none other than his guardian angel, Aleister.
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