The Crisis World XX

Chap. 94: Victory Without Celebration

Cecilia then raised Astaroth's lowered face and made him look into her eyes forcibly. Astaroth who was still trying to regenerate despite the speed of his regeneration decreased drastically, only resignedly looked into Cecilia's eyes.

"Look at my eyes .. and feel the hell you created yourself."

I who was in Cecilia's room did not know what plan she had right now, all I could do was trust her.

Astaroth looked into Cecilia's eyes deeply. He stared at the orange iris and then began to get into something he had never felt before, a hallucination created by Cecilia specifically for Astaroth.

While Cecilia was doing something, Ishikawa-san and Mei-senpai who had been bouncing away from Astaroth's attack, returned to the Family Mart and approached Herlin who was holding her neck from being strangled just now.

"Herlin-chan, are you okay?" ask Ishikawa-san.

Herlin did not reply, he stopped the two of them intending to approach him with a 'stop' gesture using his hand. Herlin then pointed towards Banshee and made them understand that for now the two of them should not come any closer.

Banshee was in alert mode now and he would regard anyone who approached Herlin as a threat.

"I'm .. It's okay, just a little scratch."

"I understand."

Slowly Ishikawa-san then retreated along with Mei-senpai. They understood the circumstances and decided to see what Cecilia had done from afar.

Tetsu who was also bounced onto one of the refrigerators in the Family Mart woke up and rubbed his back head that was hit quite hard.

"Adudamu .. I thought I was going to die."

"Here is Subject C. .., it looks like he has a plan."

"Hmm …?"

Nimis and the previously defeated Ardenter were also standing beside Tetsu noticing the circumstances. While Tetsu is still confused and wonders in his heart what they are in fact enemies or not.

"So you're not going to attack Iraya again?"

"No, for now not …. And maybe so on, too" answered Nimis.

Tetsu assumes that Nimis's answer just now indicates that they are no longer dangerous, so he can calm down a little at this time. With the injuries and power he currently had, Tetsu was also already unable to fight outside of Sword Iraya anymore. He can only be a spectator now.

As Nimis and Ardenter were looking at Cecilia and Astaroth who were in a passive state, Tetsu suddenly said something.

"That's not Iraya" Tetsu said

"What's? Did you say anything?"

"The one who is holding the head of your Group Chairman is not Iraya .., he is Cecilia."

"Cecilia?"

Nimis had heard that name. And he also remembered that it was the name given by Host Subject C to Subject C. The fool who gave the experimental material a name, and the name he gave was Cecilia.

"You mean he traded his consciousness for that Subject C?!"

"Yes." Yeah."

"Is he crazy?! Subject C could have taken his consciousness completely and controlled his body as he pleased."

"Maybe, but I'm sure he won't."

"What?! How can you be so sure?!"

"We'll see."

The conversation between Tetsu and Nimis was over. Nimis still couldn't believe fully what I was doing, because she didn't know about my relationship with Cecilia. But yes it was only natural considering Cecilia was a creepy monster before.

And now I could see clearly, the hallucinations made by Cecilia that would make Astaroth give up and die. I entrust everything to you, Cecilia!

**

Astaroth opened his eyes. He slightly narrowed his eyes because suddenly the sun was at its peak, but previously he was sure that the fight occurred in the early morning.

"What's this?"

With a still confused feeling mixed in curiosity, Astaroth started walking straight without any clear purpose. He realized that he was also not in the Family Mart and the other Black Rain members were not here.

While walking, he examined his own body. Everything was clean, his clothes were not dirty or torn, there were no battle scars, nor the slightest traces of dried blood. The fight never happened to him.

He continued walking until he finally found a place with many people and many balls of light as big as a ping pong ball. As if isolated from the outside world because it is in the middle of the wilderness and covered by the lush forest trees.

The people who were there seemed happy to enjoy their lives. Although there was no place to live that could be referred to as a house, but it was not a problem for them. Men, women, even small children all smiled and laughed.

In the middle of the place, there was a tree larger than the other trees around it. There were also many balls of light and humans in the tree.

With colorful hair that is rarely owned by humans at birth. Light blue, dark green, dark pink, purple, and others are all here. And because of that, Astaroth realized one important thing after seeing it.

"They're not human, they're this …."

Astaroth's words stopped when he saw one of the balls of light coming down from the top of the tree. When it reached the ground, slowly the light began to shine brighter and bigger and then a few minutes later appeared an adult man who immediately approached one of the small children and hugged him.

"… Spirit," continued Astaroth who had previously stopped.

Despite knowing that fact, but Astaroth still did not understand why he could be here. He who had been hiding behind one of the trees stood up and intended to leave.

"I don't have time to capture Spirit now, I must destroy Black Rain."

Duaaarrr…

"??!!!"

Suddenly a series of explosions occurred destroying the trees and making the Spirits panic. Those who are still processing what is going on are given the opportunity to think when the next attack comes.

Blaaaaarr.. Blaaaaarr…

The people with bulletproof armor, high-caliber firearms, as well as the combat masks they wore entered broke through the peace of those Spirits. They all drastically turned this paradise-like place into hell.

The spirits were then shot and stabbed with knives, some were burned alive. After the Spirits were severely injured, they all turned into balls of light and the men in full uniform caught them and placed them inside a transparent glass tube.

Shouts and cries of fear became the atmosphere that dominated the place when they came. But they did not just surrender when slaughtered, there was someone who fought and started attacking the armed forces earlier.

"Hanakhh …!! Gaakkh …!!"

Several gunmen were killed by the Spirit's attack, the adult man with an angry face and tears not falling to his cheeks when he saw the other Spirits being slaughtered.

He gallantly finished off almost all of the armed forces alone. Astaroth did nothing when he saw it, he who originally wanted to leave was in the end curious and watched everything. He was familiar and no stranger to this atmosphere.

And his sense of hers then dissipated changed with shock upon seeing someone coming face to face with the man's Spirit. His eyes widened when he saw someone he knew there, someone he had not expected at all.

"Why ... could I be there?"

The other Astaroth stood in front of that adult Spirit. He was not at all afraid of that Spirit and just stood leisurely waiting for him to attack. While Spirit was with a feeling of being blinded by anger, ran over to the other Astaroth and started attacking him.

Craaassh…

But that Spirit had no chance at all before the other Astaroth. As he lunged, the other Astaroth easily dodged the Spirit's attack and pierced the Spirit's chest with his hand.

Shiii…

There was no blood coming out of that Spirit, because Spirit did not have it. With such a terrible injury, spirit's body then shone and finally disappeared turning into a ball of light that other Astaroth caught and he put into a transparent glass tube the size of a regular drinking bottle along with the other Spirit.

"Don't say ... if this is my memory …?"

The other Astaroth then looked towards the current Astaroth. Astaroth who was now was only shocked and silent as his eyes looked at himself. Astaroth's face looks fresher than Astaroth's.

"Heh …!"

The other end of Astaroth's lips lifted as he looked at Astaroth who was now hiding. Then after that Astaroth who was now involuntarily blinked and himself had already moved to another place.

Degh's…

"Ap—? Now where am I?"

This time Astaroth was in a laboratory building at night. The laboratory building he was already familiar with, as this was his laboratory before it was destroyed by Black Rain and Red Flame.

"It turns out to be true, I'm in my own memory. Am I hit by the enemy?"

Wild thoughts continue to be created in Astaroth's head at this time, but he decides to follow the plot where his memory will take him. He went back and waited for what would happen next.

Some people entered a room that Astaroth had previously occupied, so he stayed in hiding. This room is a spacious room with a glass tube measuring 2 meters in the middle, then there are hundreds of small glass tubes the size of a drinking bottle inside which has been filled with many light balls.

The small glass tubes were connected by a thick cable that was directly fixed to the large tube in the middle. Some of the people who had entered the room then started checking to immediately do the experiment.

"Stable temperature, air humidity is also good, we can start it now!" said one of the people in a lab coat who was a researcher.

"I understand!"

Once they felt everything was ready, one of the researchers in the other room watching through the bulletproof glass began to run the program. He pressed many buttons and finally pressed a round red button that was larger than the other buttons.

Piip…

Astaroth who was in hiding then realized that one of the researchers was himself. Another Astaroth noticed the large, empty glass tube and was asked by one of the researchers.

"Boss, how many Spirits were used to make this creature?"

Without looking at him, Astaroth answered the question calmly but proudly himself.

"378,443 spirits I captured from 200 different places. My two-year struggle in this country has finally borne fruit, I have indeed made Subject A and Subject B before. But this ... will be a real masterpiece."

The process has already begun. The Spirit-Spirit inside the small glass tube began to move towards the largest glass tube in the middle through the wires connected there.

Shiiing…

The Spirit-Spirit shaped ball of light began to enter and began to gather producing a fairly bright beam. Researchers who were behind bulletproof glass walls kept checking their new Spirit state stats.

"Temperature starts rising …. 30 ... 40 .. 50° Celsius .. and keep going."

Researchers who were near Astaroth began to fear because of the increasingly high temperatures that could have blown this place up, but the other Astaroth did not care at all about it and continued to look at his masterpiece with pride.

"I-I'm out of here!"

The more Spirit-Spirit entered into the large glass tube, the higher the temperature produced as well. This time it was already half the journey and the Spirit-Spirit just now still continued to unite.

Kraaakk…

"200 .. 250 .. 300 …. The boss! We have to stop it, otherwise this place will explode!"

"Continue!"

"But …."

"Not mind the others. Just continue like I said."

"Good-Good."

Small glass tubes that have been empty then break because they are not strong enough to withstand the heat that continues to increase. Likewise with large glass tubes that have begun to look cracks.

"Let's go on .. You guys can do it."

Tiii…

"The process is successful, watch out for explosions!"

Praanck…

After the process was successful, the glass tube was no longer strong enough to withstand the heat of almost a thousand degrees Celsius. Explosions also occurred and instantly destroyed and melted the room, except for the other Astaroth.

He was still standing quietly there, with severe burns but beginning to regenerate. He was the first witness to his own research.

A female Spirit with back-length hair and orange irises emerged from the middle of the blast naked and stared straight at the other Astaroth. Her gaze was very sharp and she looked so graceful as well as beautiful.

"Welcome, my creation."

Astaroth who now also watched from a hidden place also felt proud of what he saw, because somehow he was the one who made Subject C come alive.

"Why does the enemy make me remember what I enjoy most?"

Degh's…

Subject C suddenly looked towards Astaroth who was now in hiding. That murderous gaze from him made his heart pound a little, but he could still deal with it calmly.

"I'm moving again?"

He involuntarily blinked his eyes and when he opened them, he was already somewhere else. This time he was in a vast meadow and a bright light blue sky.

There was nothing else as long as the eye could see, just an ordinary meadow and nothing strange either. Astaroth who was confused then started walking again hoping to find something.

He had been walking for five minutes, but there was no significant change. Everything still looked the same, Astaroth began to feel that his efforts were in vain until he heard something from behind him.

Taps…

"Hmm?"

As he looked back, there was someone behind him. A face that was not unfamiliar to him but also not very familiar to him. He was the male Spirit who was defeated by Astaroth back then.

"You …? What is—?!"

Astaroth's eyes widened as he saw one after another the Spirit-Spirit he had captured first appear before him. Those Spirits surrounded him and left him in the midst of the 378,443 furious Spirits. Instantly the vast meadow was covered by the Spirit-Spirit that had sprung up just now.

"What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be dead?!"

"…."

There's no answer. Only the hateful and angry gazes they showed Astaroth. Astaroth who felt himself to be superior in terms of strength still boasted of himself despite his numerous opponents.

"You should know your place, you experimental creature!"

Astaroth pointed his palm towards those Spirit-Spirit. He tried to gather his aura and attack them. But after a long wait, nothing happened, he instead looked towards his own palm while puzzled.

"My strength ... don't want to go out?"

Craaassh…

As Astaroth was still in a confused state, his gaze suddenly became shorter than before and seemed to be dropped by someone. But instead of being dropped, his head separated from his body because he could see his body and he realized that his head was rolling away.

"W-What's really going on?"

Degh's…

After beheading Astaroth, the spirit of the man had disappeared into a small ball of light and flew into the sky. Although for them it was finished, but not for Astaroth.

His gaze returned straight and his height returned the same. His head returned intact and was in its proper place. He also held his neck to confirm it and found that there were no traces of grafting on his neck.

"I'm cured?"

Srrkk…

Although his head had returned to how it was, but the enraged Spirit-Spirit horde was still not satisfied. This time it was the turn of the ground footing under Astaroth that collapsed and made him fall, for some reason his strength could not be used completely here.

"Damn-Dam!"

Astaroth tried to grab something so he wouldn't fall down, but there was nothing he could reach and ended up falling into a lava pool that could melt anything that fell into it.

"AaaArrrRgghh …!!!!"

Astaroth's screams rang out as his skin began to peel and his melted bones disappeared heated by the lava beneath. And after a few seconds later, all parts of Astaroth's body had already disappeared and melted perfectly with the lava.

Degh's…

Astaroth opened his eyes again and his body had already returned to normal again. One of the Spirits then turned into a ball of light and flew into the sky just like the previous one.

Astaroth touched his already fine body and was still intact, but even so there were still hundreds of thousands of Spirit indignation unsatisfied. So Astaroth had to face the various torments that each Spirit had chosen.

And then the torture for Astaroth continued which he still had to feel 378,441 more times.

**

Back at the Family Mart, a few minutes had passed when Cecilia who took my consciousness held onto Astaroth's head and made him stare into Cecilia's eyes forcibly.

Silence ensued and none of them dared to approach. But there was only one person who started moving closer to Cecilia, she was Herlin. He was too curious to just shut up and watch, so he came over to him.

"Banshee .. back."

But before he starts moving, Herlin orders Banshee to return to her invisible mode so as not to harm her friends. Banshee disappeared and Herlin walked over to Cecilia.

"Cecilia, what are you doing?"

"I was retaliating against him—no, rather the hundreds of thousands of Spirits that were inside my body were retaliating against him."

"Reflame?"

"Yes, and now the process is working."

Herlin who already knew the meaning of Cecilia's actions did not want to stay silent. He glanced at Iraya's sword lying right beside him and he planned something with it.

**

As for Astaroth himself, the time here had already run for over two weeks. And during that period of time, torment after torment continued to be endlessly given to him. And then came the final torment because the others had already disappeared into a ball of light.

The last remaining spirit was a little boy holding two daggers in his hand. He walked slowly to Astaroth who had been kneeled and drowned due to the torture that never stopped.

Astaroth raised his head weakly towards that little Spirit, with an angry look and held back his cries, The little Spirit forcefully thrust the two daggers he held simultaneously into Astaroth's two eyes.

"HIYYAAAHH !!"

Craaassh…

The two daggers pierced right into Astaroth's eyeball until it pierced through his skull and injured his brain. Astaroth fell down and died instantly. The little spirit then merged with the other Spirits into a ball of light and flew into the sky.

Degh's…

Astaroth who had died had finally come back to life again and returned to his knee position. He was tired of the endless death and his face showed that he wanted all this to end. After all he had died 378,443 times, so it was only natural that he was exhausted.

Tap…

Although he was sure that the torture he felt was over, he faintly heard footsteps approaching him. The flickering of green hair that was hit by the wind made Astaroth quickly recognize the person who approached him.

"At last you came, my creation."

"…."

"Didn't you want to say something after killing me hundreds of thousands of times?"

Cecilia did not answer. Astaroth who was curious why he did not answer then raised his head and looked at Cecilia who was carrying Iraya's broken sword.

"The sword …?"

"True, this is Iraya's sword."

Praanck…

The landscape of the meadow and the vast blue sky then slowly disappeared and broke like glass. Astaroth had returned to the Family Mart where he was supposed to be and before him was not Cecilia, but Herlin.

Astaroth's regeneration stopped and it seemed that he no longer had that ability due to exhaustion in the illusionary realm. But it was not important to Astaroth, as he was curious about the person in front of him at the moment.

He looked at Herlin's face carefully. Straight blonde hair and green irises, as if to remind him of something. Then Astaroth's eyes widened, he felt himself very stupid for not realizing it for a long time. He asked Herlin to make sure of himself.

"You ... then Banshee's, don't-don't …."

"Hm?"

"The Blaircass family ... Herlinia …?"

Herlin's eyes widened as Astaroth mentioned the name. He remembered his dream when someone called him by the same name. Although confused and curious, but Herlin decided to calm himself and closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

After he calmed down, he then opened his eyes slowly and looked towards the face of Astaroth who was still curious about Herlin's true identity. But Herlin answered Astaroth's question with a definite answer.

"No, my name is Ririsaka Herlin."

Craaassh…

After answering Astaroth's question, Herlin then beheaded Astaroth and in the end made him die for real this time along with his body which also collapsed to the ground.

"You can come out now" said Cecilia.

I was also able to control my body. My hair and iris are back to normal. I then approached Herlin who dropped my sword which was almost unusable.

"It's over" said Herlin.

"true."

When I wanted to approach her, Herlin instead moved towards me and tightly hugged me. He hugged me very tightly and certainly made me misbehave, but suddenly Herlin was blushing something quietly that I could accidentally hear.

"We won, Oita-san."

I get it now. She was just thankful that everything was done and wanted to tell Oita-san who was not around, so she took it out on me. I who had hesitated to return her embrace finally hugged her tightly and tried to calm her down.

"It's been, it's been, everything's been fine."

Along with the rising sun, the result of the intense battle between Black Rain and Astaroth was already visible, which was a victory for us.

Seriate