To call it devouring wasn't exactly accurate.
The enormous sphere of energy condensed from pure death mana rolled outward. Wherever it passed—whether over the bone-covered hills or the few sixth-tier transcendents below—everything was instantly claimed by death.
The countless skeletons that were already long dead sank into an even deeper state of death, their existence fading to nothing. The faint spark that had maintained their form finally guttered out, and as a single breeze swept across them, the entire skeletal mountain began to collapse into powder.
One wisp. Two wisps. Ten. Then came a thunderous crash—the mountain of bones crumbled, scattering clouds of fine dust into the air.
The sixth-tier transcendents at the foot of the hill had already begun to flee the moment that black light appeared. But how could they outrun the explosion of a saint-rank powerhouse?
In the blink of an eye, they were swallowed by the darkness.
Their fleeing forms froze mid-stride as flesh sloughed away, souls withered, and their bones crumbled into dust.
Even the undead paladins who had already perished long ago were not spared—under that black radiance, their remnants too disintegrated completely.
Where the black light passed, nothing survived. No life, no corpse, not even dust was left behind.
All except—the slender figure suspended high in the air.
Hel hovered above the destruction, the Laws of Death swirling around her. As the bearer of Death's authority, she was immune to any spell derived from death itself.
Even so, her face was far from pleasant.
In her hand, she held a faintly glowing, tattered soul—the same one she had just torn from the Archbishop's body moments before the explosion.
But the soul was severely damaged.
Although she had managed to extract it at the very instant of his detonation, she had still been a heartbeat too late. The Archbishop's soul had already been half-consumed by the flames of Echo of the End, leaving only the innermost true spirit intact.
"A true spirit doesn't hold many memories—only the most vital ones. Hopefully, something in there points to the Beast Witch…"
Hel thought silently as she surveyed the collapsing world around her.
Since the Archbishop's death, this vast heartscape was also crumbling inch by inch. Streams of chaotic spatial currents burst from the broken edges of reality, tearing through every fragment of the world.
Beyond the widening rifts, the real world outside could already be faintly seen.
But escaping through would mean braving those violent spatial storms—a dangerous passage even for her.
Frowning, Hel raised a hand and summoned a Lesser Magus.
She was about to order it to extract her avatar from this dying realm when a mechanical chime rang in her mind.
[Target Eliminated: Archbishop of the Supreme Church, Aira Court.]
[Collecting dropped traits…]
[Death Mana Affinity (Red) – Acquired.]
[Supreme Death Magic (Red) – Acquired.]...
[Seed of Lustful Martyrdom (Black)]: A tool of enslavement created by the Witch of Desire through her authority. Once triggered by a specific event, it twists the victim's mind, compelling them to commit suicide—thereby spreading the Seed of Lustful Martyrdom further.
"The Seed of Lustful Martyrdom, huh…"
Back in her true body within Heim Castle, Hel studied the new trait and then glanced at her own list.
She immediately noticed a faint black trace linking back to her through the network—a contamination that had tried to cling to her through contact.
Without hesitation, she plucked the trait off and dissolved it.
"So it wasn't the Witch of Desire's doing after all. If it were, it wouldn't have been so easy to detect."
"The true mastermind must be a witch skilled in mental domination or corruption—perhaps her authority itself lies in enslavement or control."
Hel shook her head and turned her palm, summoning the Archbishop's soul once again.
"The truth will come when I find the Beast Witch."
Her own symptoms were clearly different from the Archbishop's—but oddly similar to those of the Beast Witch herself.
If she couldn't purge the corruption in time, she feared she might end up just like that witch—a hollow, mindless monster.
"Let's hope his true spirit still holds something useful…"
With that thought, Hel brought the soul to the Reincarnation Mainframe.
Through its immense computational power, she began extracting and reconstructing the memory fragments embedded within the true spirit.
After Niv's data algorithms finished processing the fragments, a series of broken scenes appeared before her.
When Hel finished reviewing them, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
There was good news—and bad.
The good news: there was information about the Beast Witch. Even better—the Archbishop had personally helped construct the Beast Witch's hiding place.
The bad news: that place was located beneath Pestis's domain.
And worse still—it was a sealed chamber protected by Pestis's toxic miasma.
Digging her way in was impossible.
Even if her undead could ignore the plague's poison, the chamber's layered wards and alarms would immediately detect any intrusion. And once triggered, Pestis would appear in an instant.
"Unless… I can lure Pestis away," Hel murmured. "But that's unlikely. The Beast Witch is central to her plague network—she'd never leave her unguarded."
She sighed softly.
"Well… at least I know where the Beast Witch is now."
Hel consoled herself.
"And judging by the Archbishop's memories, Pestis has clearly settled into the Aira Court. She won't leave until she ascends to demigodhood."
Disconnecting from the Reincarnation Mainframe, Hel's consciousness returned to her physical body.
Though the mission hadn't gone perfectly, she had achieved what she came for. And she hadn't walked away empty-handed, either.
The Archbishop's death had yielded quite a reward.
Opening her trait library, Hel's gaze fell upon one dimly glowing entry:
[Fragmented Heartscape of the Bone Hills (Red)]: A necromantic world created by a saint-rank lich through mastery of death magic. However, due to an unforeseen event, the realm was struck by supreme necromantic force—most of its contents were utterly destroyed.