Harbingers of Change

AN: This is a double update so don't forget to read Chapter 7 first

Chapter 8

Empowered by Gravity Control, Momonga and Albedo floated above a forested area. They had been there for the past few minutes, calming their minds, preparing every spell, and powering every skill they could in preparation for the battle. As the designated leaders of the attack, they had to be readied for engagement in battle at a moment's notice.

Two kilometers behind them were the flying undead legions, consisting mostly of skeletal dragons at A+ rank, bone vultures at C rank, and eyeball corpses at A rank. They were the designated suicide units, used to swarm Hinata through sheer numbers and delay her advance should they discover and declare the need to retreat. They weren't cheap, but their expenses were cheaper than their lives.

Furthermore, at approximately four kilometers away and ordered to keep consistent distances from the rapidly approaching enemy, Pero hovered as he flexed his bow. Every movement of his wings shook the forest trees below, his bow ready to offer long-range support and blow Hinata sky-high.

And even behind Pero, two further kilometers away, was the sprite legion led by Yoseijoo, on average C+ to A- rank. They were Pero's honor guard, under strict orders to avoid engagement with Hinata, and were there to monitor the skies for lesser or unknown intruders from behind or from the sidelines.

There was always the chance that Hinata would summon elemental spirits or other summons during the battle to distract her attackers, and they were permitted to handle any entity flying their way.

In front of them all, Buku and Rubedo were stationed about five kilometers before Momonga and Albedo, ready to intercept her target and engage in battle. Buku would initially refrain from the battle, preparing to use Shizu's voice and body as needed along with casting buffs.

Aura and Mare were approximately five kilometers behind Momonga and Rubedo, flying in the air and backed up with their support legions of tamed flying monsters and spirits respectively. They would offer assistance where needed and also act as surveillance against ground-based attacks, particularly against golems.

Momonga had spectated Hinata's approach for quite some time, whether through scrying mirror spells or his own enhanced vision. She had torn her way through the lands and skies, leaving naught but rubble in her wake from her sheer aura alone.

At first, she ran at speeds easily exceeding a hundred kilometers per hour, but considering the massive distance she needed to traverse, this was far too slow to reach Tempest's capital. This was how she left the armies, tearing through trees and hills as her unusual sword blasted her way through.

To compensate for that, once she was out of the humans' visions she grew a pair of black-feathered wings, practically identical to the ones Shalltear's kerai owned. It allowed her to surpass the speed of sound as she flew through the air, greatly enhancing her speed from a good amount of days to mere hours' traveling time. Given the absence of these wings in Demiurge's extremely comprehensive reports about Hinata's abilities, Momonga assumed they had come from the sword, and this worried him.

In fact, she bore an almost eerie resemblance to Shalltear in terms of abilities and appearance, ever since Shalltear had gained her Ultimate skill and Hinata had gained her new sword. This led to a grim possible conclusion - the entity whose name he had ripped out of Shalltear's skill could have likely influenced Hinata as well.

This meant he had angered a being of unknown power and influence by tampering with Voice of the World's given skills, possibly one stronger than what the system could supply him power with to handle. Of course, these similarities all could have been coincidences, but something in the back of Momonga's skull and Omniscience told him otherwise.

Thus, neither Hinata nor Yuuki, possibly even Luminous, were the true masterminds behind the invasion and repeated intrusions into his domain. It would have to be the entity named Ker, which Omniscience quickly told him from Nazarick's library was a destructive spirit or Goddess from ancient Greek mythology depending on the source. Entity or entities that personified violent deaths. Even from what his assumptions told him, Ker was the only likely culprit after having her name removed from Shalltear's skill, working with possibly unfathomable power and lurking beyond his perception. Despite her residing within an immaterial realm, beyond his current reach and abilities, Momonga knew he would never give up his Shalltear to this monstrous Goddess. He treasured his wives dearly, even if they had to fight for eternity.

'So let's see what you have up your sleeve. We will defeat your tool one way or another.' Momonga declared in his mind as far and loudly as he could with Thought Communication, feeling a furious presence spectating just beyond his perception. Ker was watching, but she wasn't the only one. There were other presences as well. They were, to his relief, much calmer and curious ones, which was both reassuring and stress-inducing.

'I guess I'll have to learn how to reach their domain and see what can be done to either defeat or get Ker off my back.'

Another realization came as he contemplated these topics; Hinata ultimately was not after Veldora as they had previously assumed, but him. Ker had likely warped her mind to strive for his downfall just as she had done to Yuuki, although offing the Storm Dragon would also help keep her dominion over the Cardinal World as well if Hinata failed to slay him.

For now, he decided to leave this realization to himself, as Albedo might do something unreasonable if she knew of his assumptions, and it was far too late to change plans.

Hinata was almost within Pero's striking range, his bow primed and ready to fire his strongest shot since Charybdis. Ever since the avian had proven himself as one of the greatest snipers within Yggdrasil thanks to his extremely long hit distances, he was prepared to stop Hinata in her tracks and momentarily distract Hinata to allow Rubedo an opening. And if he dealt some great damage, even better for Rubedo and all of them.

Momonga continued to observe her somehow accelerating movement, simultaneously keeping an eye on allies with his multiple-layer remote viewing. Again, another spell Shuna from mere moments earlier had improved upon. He had a view of Pero, Mare, Aura, Buku, and Rubedo all at once, along with their respective legions.

The moment Hinata was about to enter his range, a laser-like projectile flew towards Hinata at supersonic speed, bright enough to outshine the sun itself for just a brief moment. It packed enough magicules to outright delete Dwargon, a world superpower for centuries, off the map, and its speed surprised even its launcher as it beelined for its target.

Simultaneously, Momonga prepared to use Grasp Heart upon Hinata in hopes of even momentarily stunning her if Pero's strike didn't slow her down. In theory, the vicious spell would work no matter the distance, even from tens of kilometers away with its only requirement being a visible target. And since it grasped through the immaterial realm, extensive testing with various summons had proven it could strike even the spiritual body, which Hinata had.

Just as the explosive arrow was about to collide heads-first with Hinata, a blood-red blur of her Ker-given blade smashed into the missile, much to everyone's surprise. Not even a moment later, Pero's vision went white.

Knowing his ammunition had been reflected back thanks to a high-powered Thought Acceleration, and that he had no time left to create extensive defenses, he threw up the strongest barrier he could around himself. If he perished, a crucial one-third of Tempest's and Nazarick's pillars would fall with him, pouring as many magicules as he could into the shield. His divine invulnerability given to him by God of the Sun would have to cover the rest.

'Here goes nothing.'

The blood-coated projectile ripped through his shields like wet tissue paper, tearing through his semi-divine flesh as agony erupted within his mind as he had never felt before. Losing his strengthened grip and dropping his empowered bow, he felt an agonizing burn all over his body, only slightly lessened in areas where he was covered by armor. Pero could only bless the foresight to obtain proper chest armor specifically for this battle, barely slivering the thought out as the anguish continued.

At no point in either of his lives had he experienced anguish on par with this, even after long hours of testing his abilities against Shalltear and Diablo during his practice spars. The closest he could imagine, no, it wasn't even close, was being dumped into the acid vats and hellfires Diablo preferred to utilize. He felt his Divine Regeneration failing, met with a far greater force, as his eyelids burned and his wings turned to charcoal.

{ Pero! } he heard Momonga scream into his head, his sister hysterical as her emotions flooded his mind, the two keeping him sane in the mere seconds the agony that felt like eternities lasted.

Pouring magicules he didn't even know he had into his skills once more in sheer desperation, he engulfed himself in holy flames, feeling his ultimate skill tap into something he hadn't even known before as the torturous blood dissipated. His wings attempted but failed to regenerate, suffering from the oppressive shackles of … whatever Hinata had placed into her counterattack - he would have to ask Momonga later if he knew anything about it - and barely squeezed out a supporting Gravity Control before responding.

{ I am fine. That hurt like motherfucking shit. Stay clear of her and- }

{ You idiot, you could have died! } His sister sounded close to tears, all but rushing to him if it wasn't for her knowing Rubedo would need her assistance.

{ I'm ordering the non-sacrificial legions and Aura with Mare to retreat! You were not the only one hit! } Momonga shouted, sounding angry and surprised and somehow seemingly breaking his emotional suppression for once.

Pero flipped open his eyes, turning around in an instant as his horror and pain only intensified despite the flames having burnt away all possible residues. His honor guard had been affected as well, terribly so, beyond any of his expectations. The remains of hundreds of sprites rained down en masse to the forested floor, at least a thousand slain in an instant. The rest had been badly injured, fatal if not treated immediately, including his beloved concubine!

"Yoseijoo!" His beloved concubine was tumbling down to the mountain peaks, two of her wings and an arm completely obliterated as her dusted armor was nowhere to be seen as she fell from the heavens.

Pero unleashed a flight and heal spell on her and all the other surviving sprites, many of whom had similar, if not worse, injuries. A quick glance at his own wounds led him to believe that his body had not deflected the entire attack - fragments of his arrow had successfully blasted through his body and attacked his own allies, his own family and friends, as he recognized characteristic burn marks upon Yoseijoo. Worryingly enough, the heal spell did nothing.

He screamed an order, emotion pouring through his Thought Communication as he shrieked, no, demanded, obedience.

{ All of you immediately retreat! Aureole, open the gates, NOW! }

The surviving sprites, all besides Yoseijoo in his arms, promptly fled into dozens of portals. Mare and Aura, taking a cue from Pero's hastily broadcasted messages, ordered their legions to flee as well, legendary named dryads and super-enhanced elemental arch dragons disappearing within moments. Soon, only Nazarick's uppermost echelons remained as Hinata continued her dash forward, blade aimed at Momonga.

The only thing even slightly positive at the moment for Pero was his adrenaline lessening the remaining intense pain he was feeling. For some reason, his regeneration wasn't kicking in, and it wasn't from a lack of magicules.

{ My Lord, I am sorry for failing. } Yoseijoo contacted him, internal voice cracking.

{ Retreat now! And get healing. That is an order! You did nothing wrong. }

There was no time to argue or listen to her baseless apologies as he tossed her through his own personal Gate.

{ Pero, are you alright? Why is your regeneration turned off? } Buku messaged him, frantic with anxiety.

He had never heard of his sister being so worried about him, even when he had been injured in the past. This threw him off, snapping his mind out of the constant grief and distress he felt.

{ I'll live. Fuck, this hurts. If she hurls something in your direction, dodge the fuck out of the way. }

{ Noted. Now heal up, you look like crap!} Buku pretty much ordered him, authoritative older sibling voice pushing him forward.

{ You aren't exactly a looker either. } He jokingly shot back, knowing all was not fine as he searched within himself, trying to detect what was blockading his healing.

{ Watch it, you little shit! } Buku responded in a relieved tone, knowing her younger sibling was back.

The damage Pero received clearly showed that a change of strategy was needed, something Momonga was already working on as he threw Grasp Heart at Hinata and teleported away with Albedo to a nearby mountaintop.

Finally, their attacks displayed some sort of effect as Hinata's momentum crashed, diving head-first for the trees as her wings ripped apart into smithereens. Without needing command, Rubedo instantly charged, swinging her self-designed and self-created poleaxe at the fallen-angel-isque figure.

Unfortunately, Hinata managed to evade it in the knick of time, her wings screeching as they regenerated and deflected what they could against Rubedo's caloric stone. Her main body remained unscathed, however, glowing with power.

Momonga tossed another Heart Grasp at Hinata, only to notice the wings glittering as he felt his trusty ability fail, meaning she, or likely Ker, had developed resistance against it. Likely an incredibly high form of Spiritual Attack Resistance, meaning he would have to leave it to Rubedo from here on out.

X

Whatever that attack was just now, it was unpleasant, to say the least, but not much else compared to her past experiences. For a moment, Hinata thought her heart had been torn to pieces, only to be regenerated moments later. And from such a distance of kilometers meant whoever had cast it, likely the usurper, had a great deal of range for their abilities, something she would have to keep an eye out for.

What's worse, an angel eerily similar to - but not quite - the angels of past Temma wars, at least from what the historical texts described them as, was coming straight for her neck, poleaxe in hand as they plummeted to the ground. Her body moved on pure instinct, her sword-given wings deflecting most of the damage as they near-spontaneously grew back to their standard wingspan.

If they wanted a melee fight, the detestable monsters of the damned lizard and the usurper of righteousness, they would get one!

'That thing!' The sword sounded frantic, more frantic than it ever had before. Normally it was calm, yet here it all but cried for her cooperation. 'Kill it! It is dangerous! Kill it! Kill it!'

As if already knowing Hinata's response, a flood of now-familiar energies from the blade poured into her body, repairing her body to its prime and utilizing her wings to deflect yet another surprise attack from just beyond her fight a moment later.

If not for her sword, the spell used against her for the first time would have been lethal, ending her in an instant. Now, it stung like a needle jammed into her heart, but not much else. She could work with that, and cut down every single one of these monsters in the process. However it meant that the usurper's power could not be nullified completely no matter how much power she received from the sword.

The angel, or whatever creature they had sent - perhaps a golem of sorts? She suspected the elves had similar magitech - didn't leave much room for playtime either. It was extremely strong, easily overpowering Luminous in her prime despite her own massively increased abilities.

On top of it, the angel was surrounded by some sort of dreadful aura, reinforced by dozens of semi-familiar auras as they clashed, unbreakable sword against unbreakable ax. Whatever the abominable creature was, she didn't need the sword to warn her about its dangers. Hinata's instincts screamed for her to flee, to retreat from this entity that had no place in this world. It wasn't a demon peer, it wasn't a Demon Lord, it was … something, yet nothing, and it had to GO!

For the first time since she had obtained the sword from the ruins, Hinata had to switch to defensive maneuvers just to avoid the constant flow of attacks, all while being bombarded by spells unknown as her armor cracked, her powers emptied, and her sword released a hurricane of empowerment. The massive undead's attempt at assassination had collapsed near instantly, and the constant espionage of shadow-like demons had failed to escape her grasp, but this new force from Tempest was unlike all else.

'Kill it!' The sword continued its relentless insistence, currently sending so much power through her arm it hollered and yelled in pain from its magicules and spiritrons.

'I am trying to… find an opening!' She screamed back in her mind.

'So be it, I will give you what you need!' The sword announced.

Another incredible rush of power hit her like a truck, no, a wartime airplane carrier ship. But as her body absorbed more and more, she began to reach her limit. Her mouth quickly tasted the metallic threads of blood, her eyes bleeding, as her mind was overwhelmed with a single, animalistic desire: to KILL.

She rapidly switched to offense, slamming her sword against the incoming poleaxe again and again, brute force empowering her repeated crashes into the same location over and over. There was no need for strategy or tactics, even the brain had to bow to brawn eventually, not that her own dulled mind could as it convulsed in its throes of delight and agony.

Whatever the sword had sent her had blown her past her limits; she needed victory now! No matter the cost!

She had begun to overpower the raw speed of the bête noire before her, landing blow and blow on the abomination, but it wasn't enough!

'I need to kill!' The power flooded her mind, scrapping her last semblances of thought into sheer bloodlust, savage and primitive. If there were violent deaths on the battlefield, she embodied that! She would have her kill!

Finally, a slash shattered the monster's weapon, tearing through its armor like warm tofu and slicing it in half crosswise, a sense of elation combined with her seemingly omnipotent rage as its remains splattered across her.

But her delight was cut as quickly as it had been created by the sword releasing a mind-shattering screech.

'Void Lord! Get it off! Get this filth off now!'

Her rage-filled, clouded urges only offered token responses, throwing the blade as an animal would do when sacrificing its tail to escape. The blade went flying into a nearby tree below, impaling itself into branches as pure black sludge oozed off.

The recovery, if one could call it that, was immediate upon release. Her senses and sapience returned, her body automatically entering regeneration mode as the sword's influence faded, but at that moment she wished she hadn't. Hinata found herself staring into the dark abyss of impossible depths, her very soul screaming in unfathomable agony as her innocence was shattered. Ignorance was bliss, or so they said, and she finally understood why.

She felt her mouth and other orifices melting into blood, her wings failing as they became little more than blood clumps akin to a nosebleed. The void tore at her body, rendering her innate instincts honed over a decade immobile and useless as the abyss stared back.

Gradually, the two pieces of the golem-angel reassembled themselves, recreating the shell of a monster that contained this … rift in reality, Hinata just stared at the process, her mind cracking all the meanwhile.

Falling. Falling. The sense of falling returned her back to reality, if only for a little while. Her body and soul lit alight with pain, pain, pain, nothing but pain.

She shattered the ground upon impact, feeling yet another jolt of unimaginable pain crashing through her body. Hinata dropped to her knees, hunched over and vomiting, as her every orifice expelled the corrupting blood that had festered within for far too long.

Liters upon liters of semi-hardened, clumped-up blood quickly formed around her, staining her clothes as everything from her mouth to her sweat pores violently expelled the corruption of the sword. The sword had corrupted her, corrupted her, and it had done far deeper than she had ever imagined.

Her human mind and wounded soul couldn't take it anymore. Her very being wanted to curl up and cry like a defenseless child who had seen the true cruelty of the world for the first time, her mind crying for her mother whom she hadn't seen in years. She had been so arrogant in thinking she knew the worst that life could offer. How naive she had been.

All she could wish for was to get it all out. The sword had imposed its will upon her for so long that her saint's form simply couldn't take it anymore. What's even worse wasn't all the pain she felt. It was the seemingly depthless wounds, wounds, that the monster, no, eldritch entity - her mind barely scratched that out from her previous world's literature - had left upon her very being. Permanent scars were the result of seeing something no mortal eyes should ever gaze upon, scars her semi-spiritual body simply couldn't fix.

This violent purge continued as a familiar voice invaded her mind.

'Hurry, pick me up! They are almost upon you.'

Death or corruption were her only two choices. Hinata's will to live was strong, and she knew the hardest choices required the strongest wills. She always had been a survivor, and without this corrupting sword, her death was assured.

But her body refused to listen, convulsing and purging all the impurities that had festered within her for so long. They had to go, had to go.

How insidious the sword had been, her body proclaimed. It started slowly. Subtly planting ideas, spreading the roots of corruption, and suppressing her saint's nature as it took hold through otherworldly powers. Her body failed to recognize this filth, filth that had permeated the tiniest of crevices and smallest of cracks.

Her mind strained for the sword that had stuck in the ground a good fifty meters away, reachable with her current abilities, but her body refused. As every moment passed, she felt weaker and weaker, drained of what little remained of her power.

Hinata extended her hand towards the sword, her willpower great enough to gain the recognition of an ancient Demon Lord. Her vision was blurry, only supplying her with a vague sense of direction, where the weapon was waiting for her. A shadow loomed over her. But there wasn't enough strength left in her to even hold up her body. The sword's screams to pick it up became more frantic and aggressive, the shadow growing ever larger.

She collapsed on the ground, barely feeling her wrist shatter under the stomp of a heavy plate boot. This pain was but a small cup in the sea of agony engulfing her.

"Hinata, you brought this upon yourself."

That voice. "Sensei?"

No, that couldn't be, that couldn't be. Her teacher died at the hands of monsters, she was here to avenge her. She felt a hand grab her by the hair and roughly lift her up, giving her vision to view the clearly different opponent. The same monster that wore Shizue's face now held her up by her hair.

"It is time for you to see the consequences of your actions." The monster's face broke into a cruel smile, unbefitting of the woman whose appearance it had stolen. Unable to show any resistance, all Hinata could do was stare where her head was pointed at, for certainly worse since there would be no better from this situation.

X

Exposure to unrestricted Rubedo was terrible. Buku involuntarily shivered as a wave of indescribably dreadful feelings washed over her. She was sure Momonga felt it as well at that moment.

Hinata had just sliced the void being in halves, but it seemed to only temporarily disable Rubedo as she quickly reformed herself, clicking herself back together like two LEGO pieces.

'God damn, I sure hope Momo can keep her in control.' Buku thought as she stared into the darkness while Rubedo slowly pulled herself together. Buku almost dropped her weapon, but quickly regained full control of her mental faculties.

Hinata obviously couldn't take the front-row exposure to the eldritch entity, plummeting to the ground just after her sword. Buku noticed an encasing of blood surrounding Hinata after, but ignored it in favor of activating her next abilities.

As a slime, a high-powered slime at that, plus with her Momonga-given ultimate skill, she had a plethora of consumption- and debuffing-abilities at her disposal, all of which she activated. She began draining as much of Hinata's raw magical powers as she could, including spiritrons and an unusual energy she had only ever accounted for while inspecting her own Ultimate skill. She would have to ask Momonga later about this unusual energy, since he was the one who had given her the skill.

'What the hell!?' Hinata was puking her guts out the moment she hit the ground. { Hey Momo, you seeing this? }

{ My best guess is that it's because of that sword. Be careful and try to not touch it for long. }

{ Got it boss. I'll put it in an item box. Hey, is it wise to give it to Rubedo? I kinda… she is something very very bad. }

{ I know what she is. I have seen and comprehended her true form before. Rubedo is loyal and always will be. }

{ If you say so, boss. } She shrugged. If someone as paranoid as Momonga trusted Rubedo, then she probably wasn't a danger to her or anyone else in Nazarick.

Buku lightly touched down next to the sword, and after retrieving an item box from her inventory, carefully touched the blade. She regretted it almost immediately.

'This… such hatred!' She almost dropped the sword on instinct. Her willpower managed to come out on top despite her body screaming for her to release it, and Buku managed to hold on to the weapon as she dragged it to her container.

The swirling hatred, bright red with bloodlust, whispered incomprehensible phrases into her mind, but their intent still came through. Whatever this… thing was, it despised her and Nazarick, wanting to cause Momonga and his cooperators as much suffering as possible.

'You're going into the box and staying there. I WILL make sure Momo destroys you for good.' She hastily shoved the weapon in the item box and locked it behind a password, randomly generated and securely stored behind Pandora's thousands of cyber securities through their connection with Nazarick. Now, even if an entity were to break into her mind and scour it for the code, even she wouldn't know until she willingly attempted to open it of her own volition, clean of outside factors.

The sword's influence lessened by a noticeable degree, but it was still there as its dark emotions seeped through her skills. The thing, whatever it was, clearly didn't want to be contained as it strained to reach Hinata through space-time tears only a combination of Spatial Manipulation and Nazarick could repair.

Buku waved Rubedo over, the void creature landing next to her. She handed over the item box while sending a message, slapping on every intent of importance she could muster. { Guard it for now, and follow Momonga's instructions on what to do with it. }

Rubedo nodded in response and took off, flying towards where her master was floating in the air, far above the ground. Yet another unnerving thing adding to the list was how, after she broke the sound barrier, there was no shockwave, her angelic wings propelling her forward in total silence.

After witnessing her true form, that detail was a minor concern Buku chose not to think about. She had far more pressing matters at hand.

Hinata, who laid on the ground like a bug as her energies were drained, was helpless. Her now-taken weapon had been her source of might, resulting in the sorry excuse for a lady before Buku unable to even crawl away.

One shattered extended hand later, the fight was all but over. Buku's Shizue side pained at the willing, purposeful harm of her former student, but it paled in comparison to the rage and desire to break Hinata, punish her until she was little more than an obedient pet to be unleashed upon Nazarick's and Tempest's enemies.

"Hinata, you brought this upon yourself." She whispered in Shizue's voice. The only weakness Buku could permit herself, knowing it could penetrate the ruthless agony Hinata was surely feeling.

"Sensei?" The woman gasped.

Buku smirked, grabbing a handful of Hinata's black, oily hair and lifting her off the ground. "It is time for you to see the consequences of your actions."

Hinata failed to resist, her limp body held up by Buku, only a singular mumble escaping her bloodied lips.

"You killed her. How dare you wear her face."

"I didn't. I sense a part of me is your old teacher. Shizue lives on within me." Buku murmured, whispering sweet nothings as if she were Shizue herself.

It was time to watch the main event. Momonga would kill the rest of the invaders in a few moments, and Buku wanted to ensure Hinata saw it. She teleported to a perfect location to see the entire enemy army, far above the forests and in clear view of the fields.

It had been complete chaos for hours down there, for the puny mortals. After everyone powerful or competent enough to unluckily fall on Demiurge's radar had been removed, practically everyone of rank A or with a 'glorious' history, the remaining field commanders struggled to keep any sort of order, with little success.

There was rising violence between various factions, from Falmuth soldiers to miscellaneous other nations' tributes to the crusaders themselves. Soldiers deserted en masse, fleeing towards Falmuth or Blumund in either organized groups or on their own.

The supplies had all been all but ransacked, tents confiscated or stolen as blankets made use for temporary shoes and shields went missing minutes after unequipping them. The priests and healers argued amongst themselves, the wounded left to their own as sheer anarchy reigned.

In short, the field was ready for harvest. Momonga had already removed the veil so all interested parties could see the power he wielded, including the dozens of spies located nearby. The real threat had already been dealt with, and what remained was a soon-to-be example of what would happen to those who dared to threaten Tempest.

"Now watch how all of those people die because of you." Buku seized Hinata by the chin with her left hand while she held her by the hair with her right, aiming her vision straight for her legions.

The sky above darkened, filling up with black, ominous clouds. Once the last vestiges of sunlight disappeared, a translucent image of an analog clock appeared in the sky, counting down a minute.

"But they… they're running away. You don't have to…" Hinata spoke sluggishly, barely holding by the threads to her consciousness.

"All their deaths are on you and on that fake Goddess of yours. Remember, we didn't start this war. You came to kill us all. We are merely returning the favor."

Hinata dragged her eyes up towards the sky. Fifteen seconds left.

"Wait… No. Let … them surrender."

"Like you offered surrender to us? If you come to kill, be prepared to die. And they won't be the only ones. First Falmuth, then Ruberios, then anyone else who stands in our way. We will wipe away everyone who raised weapons against us!" Buku let out a cruel laugh, shaking the limp woman.

"Monster…"

"Karma is a bitch. Enjoy that lesson."

The dial in the sky hit twelve, midnight, and at that moment, every single human below, no matter how far away from the camp, fell lifelessly on the ground, a ball of blue light escaping each body. The visible spiritual energies rushed towards a singular destination as countless thousands perished in a second.

Buku turned Hinata's head towards Momonga. The undead was surrounded by these blue lights, absorbing them like a black hole in the sky as his eyes, despite the distance, glowed for all to see.

Hinata shut her eyes. It was too much. She had always been a cold and calculating person but, ultimately, she cared about humans. As much death as she had seen, everything paled compared to the massacre she just witnessed.

Over one hundred thousand died and gave their souls to the undead monster, and she was the one who led those men and women to their deaths.

Her already wounded soul and mind couldn't take it anymore, temporarily shutting down. Buku began dragging her to Momonga, Rubedo, and Albedo.

Editing by aidan_lo

Proofreading by aidan_lo, Malguis, Sluethen, LightFlan, FantasyTroll, clagan and Cakeeight.

AN: Thank you for reading the story, and if you have caught up to the latest chapter, you can check out my other work or join my discord server (https://discord.gg/WmGKVU3XG2) where additional chapters are available or if you are interested in becoming a beta reader (gives access to chapters months ahead of regular readers).