『It seems like we should get rid of this dirty thing first.』 Agares waved his hand breezily and the tornado that reached into the skies suddenly disappeared as though it had never been there.

Crash! As the corpses of the Demonic species corpses and the torn-up Devil Trees that had been swept up in the tornado fell to the ground, Kindred looked up at Agares with an expression of disbelief. “Agares!”

A demon who not only belonged on the ninety-eighth floor but was also a Grand Demon Duke had descended. Kindred grit his teeth as he thought of how Brahm had burned up his power as though it were no big deal. Also, he couldn’t understand why a demon with such a high status would descend to the lower floors. Even an amazing sacrifice would only benefit medium- or low-level demons. He had to figure this situation out quickly because even if Agares’ power was limited within the stage, he was an entity who could do what he needed to do—which was clearly take the Dragon Human.

The Elohim, the Blood Land, the Devil Army, and even the demons all had the same goal, and the mission that Kindred had believed would be so easy was turning into a huge headache. He was worried that the ten years he’d spent trying to meet the other face of the Heavenly Demon, the Great Sage’s exuviae, would go to waste.

Kindred pulled out five yellow metal pieces from his robe—pieces of the Ruyi Bang. They floated in mid-air and a column of golden light shot down from the sky to enclose him. The pieces of the Ruyi Bang began to circle him, and as black energy combined with them, they took in a large amount of holy power.

Kindred focused the holy power at the edge of his fingertips. A colossal amount of magic power and spiritual power was required to borrow the other face of the Heavenly Demon, and he had planned to drain Brahm’s holiness first. However, with Agares present, he didn’t have time to weigh his options.

Crack! Bang! Bang! Byuk and Eung of the Seventy-Two Bian sparked as they combined within his right hand. Bing and Si swirled in his left hand. As he used the two opposing properties of yin and yang at the same time, the Ruyi Bang was pulled away with the power of the Monkey King. Kindred began shaking. The power was too much for his body to handle, and his veins bulged as though they would explode as his eyes glowed with a golden light.

Kindred demonstrated the power that he’d received from the Monkey King and slammed his hands together. “Explode!” Boom!

The two opposing properties condensed to create the large explosion that was Kindred’s signature skill. Since he had the power of the Heavenly Demon as well, he thought he would at least be able to damage the avatar.

However, Agares only smirked. 『Your intensity made me wonder what you were going to do, but I guess you were only getting this cute little thing ready.』 He reached his hand out towards Kindred. 『However…』

His laughter stopped abruptly as his eyes narrowed. 『You’ve still got a long way to go before you can be anything like the Monkey King.』

The explosion that was powerful enough to blow up the entire twenty-third floor flickered and evaporated before it could even reach Agares. One of Agares’ wings twitched slightly, as though he were flicking away an annoying fly. 『Disappear.』

The darkness that burst down like hair swept Kindred and the surviving bishop away. They couldn’t even make a sound, much less have the opportunity to raise a devil spirit or attempt a new possession. It was an anticlimactic end for the Second Bishop of the Devil Army. No matter how strong a player was, in the eyes of a god or a demon, they were just a speck of dust.

However, Agares frowned as though he’d noticed something he didn’t like. 『Was that just a shadow? That certainly befits the servant of someone who spends most of his time sleeping.』 He clucked his tongue, and turned. 『Well, it doesn’t matter.』

Without the two bishops, the Heavenly Demon was completely blocked from the twenty-third floor, and no one could stop Agares now. All right, since all of these pests are gone, tell me your wish, contractor.』

Brahm would have to give up his soul in return, and he smiled bitterly as he leaned against a piece of rock, blood pouring from his mouth. His body was starting to fail now that his soul had been damaged, but it Brahm had stopped caring about things like that ever since he left the ninety-eighth floor. He had already prepared himself, and everything was going to plan—except for Agares. “I was looking for Belial or Dantalion. Why did you come instead?”

『I don’t know. What do you think?』 A corner of Agares’ mouth curved up.

Brahm clenched his teeth. “If you want the corpse of a dragon, I have an old one. It belonged to a Lord. Dragon Humans are useless to beings like you, so that should satisfy you, right?” The corpse of a dragon Lord was so precious that even demons and gods would want it.

『What are you talking about, Brahm? Do you think I don’t know the truth?』 Agares crossed his arms and scoffed.

Brahm found it difficult to speak. Did Agares really know? He wanted to distract Agares and divert his attention to something else, but it looked like he already knew the truth. But how? This was something he’d hidden from the eyes of the gods and the ears of the demons.

『I want the Dragon Human. True, Dragon Humans are just lumps of dirt to me, if it’s Heaven Wing’s child, then I want it.』

Brahm’s back stiffened when his suspicions were confirmed. He clenched fists involuntarily. Galliard, who had been planning to escape with Brahm, also involuntarily did the same thing. ‘What?’

Galliard’s trembling eyes moved from Agares to Brahm. ‘Sesha is…Jeong-woo’s daughter?’ Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo had chased after him in the Tutorial and called him “Teacher” and “Master”. Even after he already entered the Tower, he would visit Galliard frequently and help him hunt down Akasha’s Snake. He was kind and cheerful, and when Galliard heard that he’d died after being betrayed by his comrades, his world grew dark.

However, by the time Galliard heard the news, too much time had passed, and Galliard wasn’t strong enough to avenge him on his own. He’d forced his anger to cool and waited for a day when his strength would be enough. At the same time, he’d planend to convince Brahm to grow his strength as well and join him. He never expected that Jeong-woo had left a child behind.

“No. That child is…” Brahm shouted frantically with reddened eyes. “Ananta’s daughter. My granddaughter!” He gripped his Book of Mercury even more tightly and forced himself up. As he did, light shot up from the book and the pages began turning. The grimoire had activated. “Agares! I’ll tell you my wish.”

『Fine, let’s get that over with first. Speak.』

“I wish for you to sacrifice yourself for my granddaughter.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the transmutation circle activated, and thousands of circles floated up, spinning like wheels. Brahm had put his holiness, the last remnant of his divinity, into it. Creak! The wheels began to spin. The transmutation circles revolved and scattered, and in their place, thousands of chains soared up. It was the substitute for divine iron that Yeon-woo had seen when he was calculating the formula for divine iron. Snap! The chains wrapped around Agares’ body and even his wings, and between Brahm’s holiness and the divine iron, there was no way that Agares would be able to escape.

As he tried to keep the chains in place, Brahm looked as though he were in a perilous condition. Wrinkles were rapidly forming on his bloodied face as the aging that his holiness had stopped suddenly began progressing. He was now an ordinary human without any holiness or a godly level. He was at risk of truly dying, but Brahm had already been planning on giving up his life to seal Agares anyway. He only regretted that he wouldn’t see his granddaughter smile for the last time, but if he could be sure that she would continue smiling, he was ready to give anything up. He invested more magic power into the Book of Mercury.

The grimoire, which was practically his shadow, seemed as though it would be torn to shreds, but he tried to keep it together for just a little bit longer. Galliard, who read Brahm’s intention in his eyes, turned away. He was sorry that he wouldn’t be able to stay with his friend, but he had to fulfill his last request.

Creak! The wheels spun as the chains bound Agares even more tightly. However, Agares only said in an amused voice, 『So that’s what you’ve been preparing all this time. Sorry, I can’t grant your wish.』