## Chapter 1430 – The Approaching Darkness

Having regained the numerical advantage, I became even more courageous.

It made defeating an already beatable enemy that much easier. The almighty gang-up – that’s what it is. A present that provides extra-large fighting spirit.

Is this the power of love?
The power of love is truly great.

Fighting alone?

That’s what fools do.

I have my women who believe in and love me! My soulmates who support me! And finally, the countless humans who worship me!

For someone like me to fight alone is absurd!

“It’s only natural that I lead the gang-up!!!”

I recall the soulmates who had scattered.

They’re no longer visible, but they’re definitely cheering me on. Because they died for me, they’ve atoned at least a little. They have no choice but to support me. Logically speaking, ending their wicked lives was a very good thing. It was good and righteous. Therefore, those guys are on my side.

Their deaths have become my strength…!

Overwhelming emotion.

I was deeply moved for various reasons.
And a primal scream of joy erupted.

“KIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!”

My scream ignited the fighting spirit of the other women as well.

“KRAAAAAAA!!!”
“I’ll tear him a new asshole!!!”
“For KATT-nim and Fusion Confucianism!!”

They were literally exuding the aura of gangsters. Right. With wives like these gangsters, there’s no way I can lose. I raised Vugal as well. Then I turned to look at Kadia, who was standing behind me. She had used a considerable amount of her power healing me.

Along with Ari.

“Kadia. And Ari. If I tell you to retreat, you won’t, right?”
“Hmph.”

Kadia laughed at my words.

“Retreat in this situation? That’s absurd. I’ve used up some power, but I can still provide support and first aid from below. Well… I’m not exactly the combat type anyway.”
“Kadia-nim and I will take care of the lower area. We don’t know what threats might be lurking down there.”

As expected…!

“Alright!!!”

With Kadia and Ari as support personnel below, the remaining seven of us can take on the Lich. That’s enough. We can do it.

“Then let’s go!!!!”

ㅡWHOOSH!!!

With that, I kicked off the ground once more and soared upwards.

At the same time.

ㅡFLAP!!!

My other women also rose with similar momentum, deploying their wings. Of course, they couldn’t achieve explosive speed like me, but seeing them spread their wings all at once…

It was truly a spectacle.

“Ooh.”

It really gives off a strong Valkyrie vibe.
This is what a Valkyrie is.

Anyway, let’s start with the strategy!

“Alright, listen up! We have one target right now! That Lich!”
“That son of a bitch Lich!!!”

ㅡWHOOSH!

Lizzetina shouted those words with white light bursting from her eyes. Wait… eye light? But it wasn’t just Lizzetina.

ㅡFLAME!
ㅡFLAME!!

“Krrrrrrrr!”

Karin, Hilde, and Winia were all exhaling fierce breaths of fighting spirit, scattering intense light from their eyes. They were like berserkers…! Perfect!

“There’s nothing special! You’ve seen it already! Instantaneous, powerful magic and insane durability! We just need to break through that!!! Dodge the attacks as much as possible, and stack the damage!”

No need for lengthy explanations.

They’re experts in combat and teamwork.

ㅡNod.

They nodded in unison.

“It’s not a difficult task! He won’t be able to withstand our combined assault!!!”
“Right! That’s it! Once our melee types stir things up in the front!!!”

Me, Claudia, Karin, and Lizzetina will beat him down up close.

“Risha-unni, Hilde, and I can provide rear support from behind, right?”
“Yeah! Do that!”

The mages will concentrate their firepower from behind.
If we just do it like this, it’ll be perfect.

“Still, be careful. It’s better to evade attacks than to block them. The reason our partner struggled so much against the Lich was because of that evil seal… but even without it, he’s still dangerous.”

Focus on evading attacks.
Everyone agreed with Risha’s words.

“The depth of the Lich’s magic is probably greater than mine, so frankly, I can’t completely cover you. So…”
“Risha-nim! Is that true!!!”
“Huh?”
“How…! You have experience! How can Risha-nim be pushed back!!!”
“Ex, experience?!”
“Yes!!!”
“It’s just because the Lich is a more ancient being than I am!”

Risha’s face flushed at Hilde’s words!

An ancient being!

“Risha? Does that statement mean you’re admitting that you’re an ancient being…”
“Be quiet!”
“Okay.”

Then!!!

“We’re doing exactly as we just decided!!!”

Shouting loudly, I looked at the Lich.

「…」

ㅡCRACK.
ㅡCRACKLING.

Black currents were rising around him. He was still emitting light from his eyes, and the sky was black. But right now, he was just floating in the sky. He wasn’t showing any particular movements.

He wasn’t casting any magic at us, and he wasn’t even summoning any more monsters.

Was he taking a moment to recover because he had used too much power at once? That’s plausible. Or maybe he’s preparing something bigger.

“Hey!!!!!! What are you doing all alone over there!!! Come over here and play with us!!!! You son of a bitch!!!”

Like the social butterfly she is, Karin suggested that the Lich come and play with us. She’s such an affable older sister. She’s so affable that she’d stab you in the stomach right away and attach a cross-guard to your belly skin.

Of course, the Lich didn’t really react to those words.

How dare he!!!

“Hey, you bastard!!! Are you ignoring what my sister is saying!!! Huh!!! Say something, damn it!!!”

Full of spirit.

With more people, my confidence is overflowing even more than before. If the confidence level has a limit of 100, I was at about 10,000 before. But now it’s 100,000.

“Yeah! You son of a bitch!!! Don’t just grit your teeth, say something, you bastard!!”
“The skeleton insect won’t be forgiven in the name of Fusion Confucianism!!!”
“How dare you fuck up my darkie!!!”

ㅡDAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The women, filled with rage, hurled curses at the Lich while scattering light from their eyes. It was truly frivolous and combative cursing. Is this Hwangsanbeol? I need to fasten my crotch properly.

But.

I couldn’t hear Claudia and Risha’s voices.

I immediately turned to them and shouted.

“Claudia, say something too!”
“Wh, what?!”

Her face instantly turned red.

Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve ever seen Claudia curse in my life. She’s the type to just smile and stab you, not say anything. Wow. But I really don’t think I’ve ever seen Claudia curse?

“Hurry!!!”
“Ah, ah… that’s!!”
“Claudia, hurry!!”
“You, you bastard!!! How dare you KATT!!! I’ll kill you!!!”

Ooh!!!

“Claudia! Hurry! Hurry, say you’ll cut! Cut off his ears!”
“Yeah, unni! Ears! Say you’ll cut off his ears!!!”
“That’s right! Claudia-nim! Tear off that bastard’s ears!”

Here comes the ear-hunter Claudia meme.

“He, he doesn’t have ears! That thing!”

Claudia, completely red-faced, trembled her fists. Risha was looking at us with a troubled and embarrassed expression.

“I, I don’t use such vulgar language…”
“Hurry up!!!”
“Y, you son of a bitch!!! That skeleton is a son of a bitch!”

At Karin’s roar, Risha also burst out with a cute curse.

Then.

「Surprisingly… frivolous.」

The Lich finally sent a mental wave.

“Th, that bastard! Who is he calling frivolous!!”
“Who is that crazy nude skeleton calling frivolous!! Is he even wearing clothes, that thing!!”

Karin and Lizzetina were going crazy!!!

I was about to burst out with some curses as well, but at that moment.

「Like the Outer Gods and the remnants of the Titans, you have tenacious lifeforce.」

For some reason, I realized that this mental wave was only being heard by me.

Is it a kind of whisper?

“Hehehe, of course we’re tenacious. Hey, you bastard. The hero of justice never gives up. Especially the symbol of righteousness, cooperation, justice, and absolute good, the Heavenly Demon Kim Katt.”

So I said.

“How could we not be tenacious.”

The women, unaware of the nature of the whisper, tilted their heads, but I didn’t care.

「There is nothing more dangerous than a being who believes himself to be absolute justice.」

“Hey, bastard, are you talking about yourself?”

The Lich didn’t answer.

Anyway.

“Hehehe, anyway, you bastard, that thing you used earlier seemed to have strained you a bit too. You couldn’t kill me, right? Then we’ll win, you bastard.”

I don’t know what he’s hiding.

The Lich’s devastating great magic… it’s powerful enough to turn my body black. Kadia healed me, but she used up a lot of her power.

It would take her much longer to heal me a second time.

Troublesome.
I can’t get hit.

Paying attention only to that!!!

“Then let’s go!!!! Let’s go beat that bastard up!!!!”
“Yes!!!!”
“KRAAAAAAA!!!”

Like that, we.

「ㅡWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!」

Charged towards the Lich.
We’ll settle it here.

“DEJAAAAAAAT!!!”

Faster than the other women. Increasing my speed and moving ahead. Just before overtaking them, I gave them a wink. I’m not lying, that was enough. A fleeting moment. The women who understood my signal.

ㅡFLAME!!

Appeared behind the Lich.

Claudia, Karin, and Lizzetina entered the inside of the gate that Risha had instantaneously created. Without losing momentum, they charged towards the rear of the Lich, brandishing their respective weapons.

“Gather the power of love!!!!!!!!”

I also deployed the Heavenly Demon Shattering Strike at the same timing as them!!!

“FLYYYYYYIIIIIIIIIIIIING!!!!!! GANG-UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUP!!!!!!!!”

Unleashing a fierce strike!!!!!

「ㅡWHAAAAAAAAAAM!!!」

The world exploded.

The explosion caused by the Heavenly Demon Shattering Strike, Claudia’s sword, Karin’s sword, and Lizzetina’s gauntlets that struck at the same time was almost on the level of the Big Bang. A fierce strike that momentarily caused the red sunset to be visible due to the crimson explosion.

ㅡBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!

After the strike landed, a shockwave erupted. The ring created as the atmosphere fluctuated spread throughout this world.

ㅡCRACKLING!!!

At the same time, Risha’s black magic was plunged in.

“Katt!”
“Hey! That bastard is fine!!”

The Lich’s powerful barrier was unscathed. Inside it, the Lich was just holding a sinister staff and burning with light from his eyes.

Did our gang-up barely work!!!

Then we’ll unleash it twice! Three times!

And at that moment!

ㅡWHEEING!
ㅡWHEEING!
ㅡWHEEING!
ㅡWHEEING!

As if to cover the entire space, hundreds and thousands of the Lich’s magic circles were created in the air. Are you planning to block our escape? We can just break themㅡ

ㅡWHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!

Before the thought could continue.

“Winia Annihilation Orb!”
“Hilde Annihilation Orb!”

Winia and Hilde’s support fire followed from over there. Destroying the magic circles wasn’t a difficult task, as the intense magic that surged like multi-barreled missiles shattered the Lich’s magic circles.

In truly perfect cooperation.

“Again!”

ㅡWHOOSH!

We charged straight towards the Lich’s barrier. Vugal held in reverse grip. Karin was also about to strike down with her sword held in reverse grip. Claudia and Lizzetina were preparing a big attack while falling in similar poses.

“Dieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!”
“You bastard!!!!!”

ㅡWHAAAAAAAAAAM!!!

Once again, a combined attack was plunged in!!!

ㅡSCREEEEEEEEECH!!!

Unleashing Vugal with extreme power…!! The Lich didn’t run away! He was just fixed in the air while maintaining his barrier!!! Why aren’t you running away!!! The answer is clear. I can feel Risha’s power. Risha is currently interfering with the Lich’s gate magic deployment.

But!!!

“It seems like it’s still not working…!”

As Liz said, the Lich’s barrier was too solid… wait a minute!!!

ㅡCRACK!

At the intense energy I felt in that instant, I shouted.

“Scatter!!!”

ㅡWHOOSH!

The moment we pulled our bodies away with the women who reacted immediately.

「ㅡWHAAAAAAAAAAM!!!」

The Lich’s barrier exploded with tremendous force. Of course, we had already retreated at transcendental speed, but we couldn’t even avoid the aftershock.

ㅡSHATTERING!

“Ugh…! This is!”
“It feels like my skin is tearing!!”

The skin of the women who had gathered around me was bursting. We were concentrating our power for defense, but our skin was tearing, and blood was bursting from the inside. This is the extent even though I blocked them with my body at the very front.

If we had been hit properly, we would have just exploded… more than that, how dare he my women!!!

I swallow the maddening rage.

“Ugh…! It resonates to my bones!”

ㅡRUSTLE.

Soon, the aftershock disappeared.

I check my body.
The tips of my fingers were blackened.

This much is nothing… but still.
Amazing.

“…That son of a bitch is really fucking strong.”

Karin muttered while spitting out blood, and raised her sword.

“Let’s go again. We need to clash a few more times.”
“Right!!! The time after he uses a big move is our chance!!!”

ㅡWHOOSH!!!

Considering that to be an opportunity, we charged towards the Lich once more.

We charge, gather our strength, and plunge in a combined attack. Like an unlimited present, we bestow the concentrated gang-up enhanced with the power of love upon the Lich.

ㅡWHAM!!!
ㅡWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!

But the Lich is fine.

He’s just maintaining his barrier, ㅡDRIPPING!! Occasionally shooting out small, black rays like a finishing blow, making our spines tingle, but he hasn’t used any big attacks since the big explosion.

“Look! That bastard!!! He’s weakened right now!!!”
“KRAAAAAAA!!”

Along with the women who were exploding with fighting spirit, I tried to somehow read the source of the Lich’s power while unleashing the ultimate Heavenly Demon Shattering Strike…!

「ㅡWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!」

It’s not going as well as I thought! After using so much power at once that I felt a moment of fatigue, we retreated rapidly.

“Ugh…! We beat him so much! But it’s not working! I really thought that last attack was my strongest strike and plunged it in…!”

ㅡSPIT!

Lizzetina spat out blood-mixed saliva and snarled fiercely. Damn it! Is it still not enough!

“Isn’t there something? Some kind of method…!”

Method.

“…”

Analyze the Lich’s power and find its weakness.
Not yet.

Not yet.

It feels like I’m about to grasp something…! But not yet! I endured the Lich’s great magic with this body!!! If I can endure that, I can definitely inflict damage on the Lich! But the attacks still aren’t working!

ㅡGRIND!

My molars clench tightly as I have nothing to say.

The Lich’s power.

The barrier is still solid, and his attacks easily harm our bodies. We can’t break through even if we rush in all at once right now.

“But we did find out one thing.”
“Katt…?”

Right now.

“The Lich isn’t actively trying to attack.”

He used big techniques twice. Did his power start to run out? Right now, the Lich is fixed in the air, focusing on the durability of his barrier and using each and every magic as if he values it.

“From what I see, that bastard is using his power as efficiently as possible right now. Not pouring it all out. He’s leaving room.”

Right.

He’s trying to kill us.

“Room?”
“Katt. Then.”

He’s not pouring out his `complete power`.

“He’s controlling his power against us?”
“Similar.”

The women frowned at those words.

“He’s not trying to destroy the enemy in front of him with all his might, without thinking about what’s behind him. I’ve been thinking about it, and there’s only one answer. If he uses all his power against us, he won’t be able to control the beings from another dimension.”

Then he’ll be eaten.

“And he’ll want to save some power to face the Outer Gods of the heavens. After defeating us, he has to subdue this world last.”

If the Lich wants to kill us.

He has to give that up and pour in all his power.

Then he’ll be able to crush us.

Right. Right now, the Lich.

“He’s thinking about what’s behind him.”

It’s my belief that a being who thinks about what’s behind him can’t beat someone who fights with all his might in the present.

Should we dig into that part.

“Then… this lull. Is it because he’s thinking about what’s behind him?”
“But we don’t know how long that will last. If he loses his composure, he might unleash all of his power.”

That’s right.

“If that happens, it’s dangerous to say it coldly. We could get crushed.”
“Then… Katt. What should we do?”

What should we do.

Even though we attacked with a gang-up filled with the almighty power of love, we still haven’t found an answer. As I was worrying, Karin said.

“Right now, there’s no answer but to keep clashing. He’ll recover his power too.”
“Now… we’re not fully recovered either. This limited power… just like the lich. We have no choice but to allocate it properly. If we pour all our power into it and it doesn’t work, it’s our loss.”

That was also true.

“That’s what the lich is aiming for. To wear us down to death. But staying still isn’t good either. From the lich’s perspective, he’d want us to stay still.”

Karin replied.

—Hoo.

I exhaled.

“Everyone, what’s the remaining amount of power you have left?”
“About 60%.”
“Me too.”
“Yeah… me too.”

Not that much.

I’m below 50%.

“…”

I looked at the lich.

The bastard was still glaring with a fierce light, commanding the darkness.

「Your power is never infinite.」

“This bastard dares to talk about infinity in front of the Heavenly Demon?”

「It’s even more absurd for someone who has never reached infinity to talk about it. I, High Priest Angrahel, have atoned for thousands of years, bearing the grudges and karma of countless humans. Yearning. And the hopes and resentments.」

“What the hell?”

「Do you know the number of souls that I, who have dedicated all my life and time to it, must take responsibility for?」

The number of souls.

「That is infinity.」

“…Ha!”