Chapter 515: Paradox

515. Paradox (3)

Thinking back, it was strange.

Isn’t it? To accurately divide something into three with a crude swipe of magic. It was unnatural.

Even though he saw it shatter like glass. Still, Oliver didn’t doubt it.

Pandora and Eve didn’t say much, and neither did Oliver.

However, when he saw the Zombie Golem devouring the broken body parts to restore itself, his thoughts changed.

At that moment, Oliver instinctively knew what Lilith had gone through.

Lilith, who had fallen apart in a smaller, more unstable form than Eve and Pandora, had to survive somehow.

It wouldn’t be different from the Zombie Golem. She must have devoured smaller, unstable fragments (sisters). She didn’t have many choices.

Then, Oliver finally understood.

Why truth and lies both gleamed when she said she devoured Eve.

Lilith said she had devoured Eve (the fragment), but the Eve Oliver knew was still untouched.

It was a kind of wordplay.

And, Oliver understood why she laughed madly when he apologized.

As if she knew exactly what she did wrong, but in reality, she knew nothing. Not even minimal awareness.

Oliver imagined it. Lilith, abandoned and left to survive, devouring her sisters while he was helping Roseburn.

······

Honestly, he didn’t know how to express it.

He thought it was similar to making two Gluttonous Pouches fight each other to improve one’s performance.

But at the same time, he remembered Eve, who sought help in confusion when she first saw Oliver, and Pandora, who approached him first, calling him ‘father’.

So, what could he say? The feeling was━

━Bang!!

A deafening noise in front and a shockwave that blew his bangs back. Oliver returned to reality and looked ahead.

In front of him was a massive Zombie Golem made of hundreds of corpses, and his shadow was blocking its attack.

Oliver’s shadow moved spontaneously, without any command, and held back the massive fist of the Zombie Golem.

It was quite a shocking scene.

The Zombie Golem wasn’t necessarily weaker than a Zombie Puppet, even though it required less skill to create.

Like other dark magics, the strength of a Zombie Golem could surpass a Zombie Puppet, depending on the materials and the skill of the creator. At least in terms of physical strength.

And the Zombie Golem before him, made of hundreds of bodies, was one of those stronger ones.

But, Oliver’s shadow blocked the powerful strike of the Zombie Golem effortlessly with its huge tendrils.

Guuuugugugu······!!

The Zombie Golem tried to crush Oliver, pulling at its rotting veins and tendons.

The trembling air signified the strength it was exerting.

However, not only did Oliver’s shadow not falter against the Zombie Golem, but it also created an eye to look at Oliver.

An overwhelmingly round, clear, sclera-less eye.

The shadow stared at Oliver silently, conveying an unspoken message. At that moment, the Zombie Golem let out a bizarre scream.

“Giiiiiing!!”

The greedy shadow wrapped around the Golem’s fist, ripping the shoulder out and devouring it.

Munch! Munch! Munch!

Like when it devoured Fen’s creature in the New Continent, the shadow ravenously ate the arm of the Zombie Golem manifested by Lilith through magic.

However, that didn’t satisfy it. The shadow created a massive mouth, opening it wide, trying to consume the entire Golem.

It acted entirely out of its own will, without any request or opinion from Oliver. Such behavior truly made it a creature.

“Shadow. Will you please stop?”

Oliver focused his magic on his left hand, preparing an electric magic spell, and made a request to the shadow.

The shadow stopped instantly.

Meanwhile, in Oliver’s palm was a crackling noise, and a blue flash of electricity flickered.

The irregular spark formed on his palm showed its strength just by looking at it.

A level capable of frying the Zombie Golem assembled from hundreds of corpses in one shot.

However, Oliver wasn’t satisfied with that. He exerted control over each irregular spark, refining it into a single blue spark, adding rotation, then threw it.

The blinding flash flew in a vortex form, penetrating through the Zombie Golem, tearing off its arm.

Flash!

The massive chunk of flesh burned, and the sound of ripping echoed in the air, while the Zombie Golem twisted like an accordion with a donut-shaped hole in the middle.

The charred, dark crimson burn mark in the center and the torn flesh outside displayed its power. Yet, Oliver didn’t marvel at his magic.

The true reason for the electric spell wasn’t to eliminate the Zombie Golem, but to clear a path.

Sssss······.

The electric flash Oliver threw pierced through and melted the wall behind the Golem, creating a passage, and Oliver walked through calmly.

He could see Lilith beyond it.

It was a virtual space created with an overwhelming amount of magic, but even that couldn’t escape Oliver’s sight.

Lilith seemed to have realized Oliver found her, so she rearranged the spell connecting the World Tree to block Oliver’s path.

Magic poured out from the wall pierced by the electric spell, filling the hole, while the floor moved to shift Oliver elsewhere.

Then, from the ceiling and floor, waves of zombies poured out, attempting to overwhelm Oliver.

Chaos from the floor, ceiling, and all around.

Until recently, Oliver would’ve gone along with it, but now with his changed mindset, he used the magic stored in his body without hesitation to wipe out the swarming zombies and punched through the wall toward Lilith.

Bang!!

“I didn’t know you had a talent for playing hide-and-seek.”

Inside a vast space in the basement Oliver entered through the collapsed wall, Lilith greeted him, sitting beside the World Tree.

“Thank you for the compliment. I didn’t know I had a talent for hide-and-seek either.”

“Really?”

“Yes, no one played with me in the orphanage, and I didn’t play on purpose in the mines either. If I got caught, the supervisors would beat me to death.”

“Oh, how sad······. Should I shed a tear for you?”

“No, it’s fine. Though it was rough, it was thanks to you that I finally got to try it.”

Lilith fell silent when Oliver casually threw in his words. It was only for a moment, though.

“······Come to think of it, I must keep my promise, right? I said I’d tell you why I devoured Eve.”

“Yes. But I think I already know. It’s because of me, isn’t it?”

Lilith slightly opened her eyes.

“I struck you all down, and being in a bad state, you ate the other fragments, right?”

“······How did you know?”

“I happened upon it. Is that why you captured Eve?”

Oliver pointed towards the World Tree next to Lilith. The Eve he knew was inside it.

“Yes······. To become a complete being. Rather than one of the many fragments, to be whole······. It’s disappointing. I wanted to tell you myself.”

“I’m also disappointed in myself. I think I’ve been too harsh on you······.”

Oliver trailed off.

Normally, he lacked imagination, but in this situation, he could imagine it to some extent.

Lilith, shattered by his hand, devouring her sisters to survive. Perhaps because the orphanage and mines were no different.

In those places, resources like food and clothes were always lacking, so sometimes one had to steal and take from others to survive.

Normally, Oliver wouldn’t have understood why Lilith was angry or resentful because to him, it was ordinary. But thanks to his experiences, he could now understand a little.

“······Do you understand?”

“Maybe.”

Lilith, hearing Oliver’s answer, twisted her lips into a smile. It was a far more human expression than Pandora or Eve.

“That’s a joke. You understand my feelings of having to desperately devour pieces of myself, sisters in a way, just to survive since the moment I was born? And you say ‘Maybe’? That’s really a joke.”

“I’m sorry, Lilith. I don’t even know my own emotions well.”

“Well, it seems that way.”

Lilith, using the cells of the dark mage implanted in her, saw through Oliver’s emotions and replied.

“······Do you regret it? Leaving us behind to go save some worthless kid?”

“Lilith. Let me correct one thing. I went to help Roseburn, not save him. I’m not great enough to save anyone.”

“Ha······.”

“Second, on a personal level, I do regret it. Hitting you all and leaving you behind deserves regret······. But I don’t regret going to help Roseburn itself.”

“So, we, who are the dream of all mages and Druids, are worth less than a servant boy at an inn?”

“Value is relative······. It may sound like an excuse, but back then, I didn’t even know Eve’s specific worth, and I didn’t know who you all were either.”

“Yet you came here now. Have we gained worth? How nice.”

“It’s similar. Because I’ve realized that I created you all.”

“······Now you want to play creator?”

Oliver waved his left hand holding the Quarterstaff.

“No. No. That’s not what I mean. Absolutely not.”

Oliver, who usually didn’t use strong expressions, said ‘absolutely’ as he walked forward.

“Honestly, I still can’t believe I created you all.”

Recalling the conversation he had with Pandora, Oliver kept walking. The distance between Oliver and Lilith shortened by one step.

Even though it seemed certain that he had created them, the grand expression ‘creator’ was still burdensome to him.

Step by step, Oliver and Lilith’s distance shortened again.

And, I don’t think it’s right to command you or claim ownership over you just because I created you.

Oliver took another step closer to Lilith.

Just because I created you doesn’t give me the right to do whatever I want with you.

Before he knew it, Oliver had arrived right in front of Lilith.

So, are you saying you’ll stand by if I devour Eve?”

No. That’s not it. I came here because of Eve, and personally, I want Eve to be safe.

“So, you’re going to stop me?”

“No. I’m thinking of trying to persuade you. In that sense, can I ask you to release Eve?”

Oliver asked sincerely, and Lilith let out another laugh, pulling out her stored magic and emotions at the same time, strengthening her body and pulling her arm back.

***

As Lilith pulled back her arm, enhanced with dark magic and overlaid with energy, the air distorted as if being sucked in.

The visible compression of power.

When that compression reached its peak, Lilith unleashed her fist, faster than a flash, releasing a bomb-like shockwave.

A fist that exceeded the speed of sound. It was possible because she pushed both dark magic and energy to the limit.

As that fist connected with Oliver’s face, a massive shockwave spread out in a circle, sending Oliver flying far away.

‘It hurts. A lot.’

Oliver thought as he lay on the floor, his back hitting the ground after being sent flying by Lilith’s punch, looking up at the ceiling.

There was a fine stain on the ceiling. She even implemented something like that.

Pak!

As Oliver was admiring the ceiling stain, Lilith’s shoe sole came into view as she stomped, leaping towards him.

Having leaped over Oliver, Lilith exploded the energy wrapped around her body and stomped down on Oliver’s chest with both feet.

Boooom!!

With a huge roar, the floor, ceiling, and walls shook.

An impact strong enough that it wouldn’t be strange if the floor collapsed. Yet, it didn’t, likely because this was a virtual space created by Lilith, drawn from the power of the World Tree.

Oliver barely caught his breath, thinking with difficulty.

‘I’m lucky. Really······. If it wasn’t for the Flesh Cook, I might’ve died from that.’

Oliver compared his flesh now with the one before he ate the Flesh Cook’s meat.

The pain was tremendous, but given Lilith’s attack power, it wasn’t much to complain about.

Each blow had the strength to kill an ordinary superhuman.

Crunch.

Lilith grabbed Oliver by the collar and swung her other hand, striking him across the face.

Bang! The sound of a metal club striking his face echoed. Aside from the burn on his right arm, it was the first time Oliver had experienced such pain since the Flesh Cook.

“Doesn’t it hurt?”

Lilith asked while holding his collar.

“It hurts.”

“Ah, really?”

Lilith swung her fist again, striking Oliver’s face. A shockwave burst, shaking his brain and bringing back pain.

Despite his free hands, he didn’t defend himself.

“Then why aren’t you blocking it?”

Oliver replied the same as before.

My hand is burned, and the other is holding the Quarterstaff—”

Bang!!

In the middle of his sentence, Lilith swung her fist again, striking Oliver’s lips.

His lips split open, and the taste of blood spread across his tongue.

“Answer properly.”

“······Because I feel guilty.”

Bang!!

“I said, answer properly.”

That’s my proper answer.”

Even as he got bruised and his lips split, Oliver replied calmly with an expressionless face.

“I don’t know how guilty I should feel, but it’s a fact. At the very least, I realize I did something wrong to you all.”

Oliver spoke the last words with a rare sense of conviction, despite being a person who usually couldn’t be certain about anything.

With a casual hand movement, he had split Lilith, Eve, Pandora, and countless others, and the unstable Lilith had to devour beings like her sisters just to survive from the moment she was born.

The same situation as the orphanage.

Yet even so, Oliver hadn’t realized Lilith existed until he came here, nor had he cared much.

“I truly did something horrible to you all. I really—”

Bang!!

Lilith struck Oliver’s face again. This time, the difference was that she had given up on talking and was focusing solely on hitting him.

Do you get it?”

Bang!!

Do you get it?!

Bang!!

You don’t!

Bang!!

Know!

Bang!!

What it feels!

Bang!!

Like to eat!

Bang!!

Something!

Bang!!

And surviving!

Bang!!

If you did, would you stop me from absorbing Eve?!!

Bang!!

You don’t even understand!!

Bang!!

So don’t speak—”

Snap!

Oliver, whose face had been damaged enough to crack the stone floor, grabbed Lilith’s hand.

Lilith paused her fist, stopped by Oliver’s strength that didn’t match his emaciated appearance.

With a face covered in blood, Oliver met Lilith’s gaze and asked calmly.

“Then why haven’t you absorbed Eve yet?”

······To do it right in front of you. Because I hate you.

Is that so? That’s disappointing. I still want to have a good relationship with you, Lilith.

Oliver, without thinking, honestly expressed the feelings he had inside. Whatever the case, Lilith was a lifeform born because of him. Ideally, he wanted to have a good relationship.

For someone who had abandoned and neglected her, it was an incredibly selfish thought.

As she looked at the brazen Oliver, Lilith’s expression hardened as she opened her mouth.

“As expected, you are so fu—”

—Crash!

Before Lilith could finish her sentence, a massive glass-shattering sound rang out, and suddenly a figure in black appeared, breaking through the air’s magic.

It had a ghostly form, resembling a human yet not at the same time.

Oliver recognized who she was.

······Marie?”