"Finished? What do you mean, finished?"
Hel stared blankly at the Archbishop, who had suddenly gone mad before her eyes.
That he could discover her connection to Nikki through the Loyalty Trait didn't surprise her at all.
After all, traits that silently alter one's will are best used when the target is unaware — secretly implanted, never noticed.
If that couldn't be done, then at least their memories related to the event should be subtly modified afterward.
Unfortunately, the difference in strength between her and the Archbishop was simply too vast. She didn't dare use magic recklessly — exposing her true power was far too risky.
So instead of hiding, she had chosen the boldest approach: planting the Loyalty Trait on him openly.
That way, she could maintain her mysterious, unfathomable persona — and let him believe she possessed the terrifying ability to alter minds without even casting magic.
Look — I can change your thoughts with ease. Impressive, isn't it?
Now be a good dog and serve me obediently.
That the Archbishop could deduce from Nikki's identity that she was actually the Death Witch — that, too, was something Hel had already expected.
By logic, exposing her true identity should have made it easier for him to justify betraying the Church.
Yet what puzzled her was his reaction.
Why was he so terrified?
Could it be that within the beastmen's ranks, the name of the Death Witch carried some kind of secret horror?
Or was it that submitting to the Death Witch was considered even more terrifying than betraying the Church?
Unless… he's under someone's control.
Thinking this, Hel opened his status interface.
"Let's see what's going on here. Red, red, gold… ah, there's the black trait."
Her eyes lit up — she had found something unusual.
But just as she was about to examine the black trait, the Archbishop began muttering again.
"I'm finished… I'm finished. I've turned to the Death Witch… the Death Witch! She'll come for me. She'll come for my soul. She'll take it, lock it inside her Soul Lamp, and burn it day and night for hundreds of thousands of years… It's over… I'm finished, I—"
Suddenly, his tone shifted.
The fear drained from his face, replaced by eerie calm.
Where before he had been raving, now he seemed almost enlightened — detached from emotion, as though everything had lost meaning.
"I actually betrayed the Holy Church…? I suppose I truly deserve to die."
As he spoke, his pupils turned violet-pink — a sign that some hidden safeguard inside him had just been triggered.
A moment later, his eyes returned to normal — but his tone and demeanor had completely changed.
"I deserve to die. I betrayed the Church. I truly deserve to die. I— betrayed— the— Church! Why haven't I died yet!?"
The final line came out as a furious roar.
"Shut up already!"
Hel snapped, irritation flaring. She had already realized what was happening — there was some kind of control or kill-trigger buried in his mind.
She was about to use her traits to remove the black one when he suddenly shouted again — his voice hoarse and violent.
Hel flinched instinctively, thinking he had broken free of the loyalty trait's control. She yanked her hand back and severed the connection to his trait list.
Scowling, she muttered angrily:
"Damn it, you scared me!"
But her words became the last straw.
The Archbishop's eyes turned bloodshot as he glared at her and roared each word like a curse:
"Then die — with me!"
At that instant, a surge of horrifying energy erupted from within him.
Deathly magic flooded through his body, converging rapidly upon his heart.
[Supreme Death Magic: Echo of the End]
From the farthest reaches of the void came a low hum, followed by the sound of an explosion — his heart had burst.
His flesh, his soul, and his mana all transformed into pure death energy, resonating with some unknown being beyond the void.
Thump… thump-thump.
Hel's face froze.
"No— he's self-destructing!"
The magic had been triggered too suddenly. Even if she tore the controlling trait away now, it wouldn't matter — once Echo of the End began, it couldn't be stopped.
She quickly pulled a Philosopher's Stone from her robe, ready to counteract the spell.
She knew this magic well.
Echo of the End was no ordinary spell — it was a hybrid of necromancy and alchemy, making it one of the strangest among all top-tier magics.
It utilized a special technique known as Delayed Casting.
That meant the user had prepared the spell long ago, imprinting it into their heart using alchemy.
When the time came, they could instantly trigger it — achieving the same effect as an instantaneous top-tier spell.
The cost, however, was absolute.
Because delayed spells couldn't be complex, this one had only a single effect:
To ignite one's soul, flesh, and innate talent, resonating with a terrifying existence in the void.
Through that resonance, the caster would draw upon a fragment of the being's divine power — and then, at the cost of their life, annihilate everything around them.
Living or dead, all would perish.
The entire process occurred in an instant.
That was why this spell was known as the necromancer's final resort.
As a master of death magic, Hel knew this spell well.
But she hadn't come here to die. She had come to extract the Beast Witch's secrets from him.
Letting him self-destruct now would ruin everything.
"To dare ignite your soul in front of me, the Death Witch… do you think too little of me?"
Hel snarled, extending her pale hand toward him.
[Supreme Death Magic: Soul Extraction]
The Philosopher's Stone in her hand turned to ash. In the same instant, a colossal hand of condensed death energy materialized and seized the Archbishop.
Compared to Echo of the End's pseudo-instant effect, her spell was a true instant cast.
Within a heartbeat, a phantom of the Archbishop's soul was torn from his body.
If she hadn't implanted the loyalty trait earlier, it might not have been possible. But with that constraint suppressing him, he couldn't resist at all.
Unfortunately, she was still a moment too late.
The instant his soul left his body, it began to radiate black light.
Time itself seemed to freeze.
Then the light expanded violently — swelling into a vast, devouring darkness.
It consumed everything around them.
A massive black hole formed at its center, mercilessly swallowing the world whole.