Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 114

“Because I was here the entire time.”

Amelia shook her head dismissively as Ar’elith could only stare in shock. The transformed Lich King tried to process her words, but he couldn’t comprehend it. It made no sense to him. She was saying that she had let him accept the power of the Void— that she had watched as he had beaten the angel senselessly, nearly destroying it entirely.

That was… that was ridiculous! There was no way that could be true. She was lying. She was a—

“Liar!” Ar’elith screamed as he swung his staff at her, unleashing a blast of purple flames.

Her eyes flickered, and her blade glinted with a white light. She swung up, blocking the attack as he backed away. The flames instantly dissipated— it would have completely ravaged the landscape, but she destroyed it with ease. In response, he conjured up a lance made out of purple ice.

“I refuse to believe it!” He tossed the projectile her way, bellowing as the world shook. “I refuse to believe that you allowed my revival!”

The transformed Lich King continued to unleash his onslaught of attacks her way. Each blast he hurled would have been powerful enough to destroy a country— it could have eradicated everything in hundreds of miles.

But Amelia casually sliced through each and every one of his attacks like they were nothing.

Each time her blade struck the oncoming blasts, there was a flash of white light. Her figure flickered with a glimmering aura that coated her entire body. However, it vanished quickly enough— only flashing when she struck down the transformed Lich King’s attacks.

And she slowly approached him. She strode forward without any hurry. One step after another. A gradual pace. Almost too slow. Like she was taking her time on purpose.

Ar’elith raised his staff, creating a rift right above his head. Space itself tore open— a twisted hole in the world that bent light and seemed to pull everything into its fringes. He screamed as he threw it at her.

“You are a liar!”

But Amelia simply sliced the attack in half— just like she did every single one of his attacks. She finally came to a halt right before him as she shook her head, gesturing vaguely in the direction of Arelioth’s Pass.

“I came here as soon as I sensed that ritual going off or whatever. I tried to contact Noele with my [Message] scroll, but she didn’t respond. So I decided to check things out. I just didn’t feel the need to actually do anything until you became this… hideous thing.”

She looked him up and down, before grimacing in disgust. Ar’elith stared at her. He couldn’t believe it. He had transcended the World System— he had become even stronger than its angels. And yet, somehow, she was still so much stronger than him, she didn’t perceive him as a threat?

It was utterly nonsensical. There was no logic to her actions. He had the power to destroy the entire planet— he could eradicate all life across all four continents. But she let him obtain this form. She didn’t just finish him off when she had the chance.

No— she didn’t finish him off even now. His attacks couldn’t harm her. He was utterly powerless in the face of her strength. And when she could kill him in an instant with a swing of her sword, she refused.

“…why?” he asked, completely baffled.

“Why what?” Amelia tilted her head back at him.

Ar’elith ground his teeth together. “Why didn’t you kill me when you had the chance? Why don’t you just kill me now?”

He felt his anger building up inside of him. But it was odd. It was nothing like the desire for vengeance that drove him. It was… almost intrusive. Like the thoughts had to force its way into his mind. But he knew it was him. And the question he asked came from his soul.

“Why did you let me suffer? Why did you let me succumb to the Void? You could have stopped that angel from killing me over and over again! You could have let me die in peace!”

The hole in the transformed Lich King’s chest shrank. The aura coating his body flickered, and he took a step forward. He faced Amelia, the agony clear on his face.

“Why didn’t you just kill me?” Ar’elith asked the question again.

The brown-haired woman stared at him. She no longer wore a bored look on her face. Instead, there was a hint of sympathy there. Or maybe it was pity. He didn’t know.

She just shook her head as she sighed.

“Because I thought you could overcome the Void’s control over you on your own,” Amelia explained simply. “That’s it, really.”

“What…?” He stared at her as the wisping flames in his eye sockets dimmed. He wasn’t sure what to say. He didn’t even know how he was supposed to react.

Amelia shrugged back at him. “Yeah— I really thought you stood a chance. And I still hope that you do. You can still break free from his control, you know?”

Ar’elith opened his mouth in indignation. He wanted to protest— argue that he was better with the way he currently was. But he caught himself. The niggling voice that was screaming at him in the back of his mind returned, and he wondered why he had even come to accept the power of the Void.

Because I can exact my revenge against the world, he told himself. And a moment later, he asked himself why he even wanted that. That was never his goal— he had sought to bring about perpetual peace for all of Vacuos.

The total destruction of everything he ever knew. Why would he want that?

He tried to focus on these thoughts. However, he was overcome by an intense anger, and he simply swung his staff at the brown-haired woman as he snarled.

“Why does it matter?” Ar’elith asked as she easily caught his weapon before it could reach her face. He tried to pull back, but the staff wouldn’t budge. So he let go of it and leapt back. “Why should I reject this power? With it, I have become stronger than I could have ever imagined! Through the Void, I have ascended!”

“You didn’t ascend to shit— you’ve just become a puppet.” Amelia sighed as she snapped his staff in half. “Look at you. Is this really what you want?”

He hesitated. He looked down at himself, and he saw the flesh on his fingertips. He eyed the hole in his chest, before opening his mouth.

“I…”

“Right now, the Voidgod has total control over both your actions and your thoughts,” she continued, cutting him off. “But soon, your consciousness will be fully subsumed, and there will be nothing of you left. You must fight back.”

“The… Voidgod?” the transformed Lich King asked in confusion.

Amelia waved a hand dismissively. “The Fal-Deus. The Voidgod. The manifestation of the Void. Whatever. Point is— you’re merely meant to be its vessel to enter Vacuos.”

“T-that’s—” Ar’elith tried to agree with her, but the hole in his chest pulsed

He stumbled back as a sharp pain ran through his body. He tried to work his jaw. However, he could hardly even muster up his thoughts— and he had to do so in a roundabout manner.

“If that is true, then why don’t you kill me and get this over with?”

“Because then it would be pointless,” Amelia said, shaking her head. “If I kill you here, I will simply be destroying the Voidgod’s vessel. It will return soon enough with another vessel. That is why you must be the one to defeat it.”

“What… do you mean by that?” Ar’elith stared at her as she pointed at him.

“The Voidgod does not exist here in Vacuos. Even if I swing my sword around— maybe stab you a few times— I won’t be able to harm it.” She closed her eyes, before tapping a finger on her forehead. “However, the Voidgod does exist in your mind.”

The transformed Lich King stared at her. It felt like the world was spinning. His head ached. And it was all because of her words. Every ounce of his being tried to force him to attack her— to silence her. But he stopped himself. Instead, he listened through the pain.

“So the only place the Voidgod can be hurt is in your mind,” Amelia explained. “Because of that, only you can harm it. Only you can defeat it. There is nothing else I can do but watch…”

She trailed off, and there was a pause. A moment of silence as Ar’elith took in her words. But before he could formulate his thoughts, she quickly spoke up again.

“Either that, or you fully succumb to the Voidgod. And when that happens, I’ll just kill it when it appears.” She shrugged as she hefted her blade over her shoulders. “But until then, it is up to you to overcome the power of the Void.

And Amelia finished. In response, Ar’elith lowered his head. He stared down at the palm of his hands, before balling them into fists. A million voices whispered in his head, but he ignored them. He couldn’t listen to them.

He knew he was being influenced by the Void. He could not trust himself. Not right now. He had to fight back. His flaming eyes flickered as he looked deep within himself, peering right into the hole where his heart should be.

Amelia waited expectantly as he brought a hand up to his chest.

“I—” he started.

—--

Guardian Angel Z357 hovered in the air, staring at the two figures down below. He had repaired most of the damages he had suffered. While he was still visibly damaged, he could function without any impediments to his processes.

And now, he was certain his eyes weren’t malfunctioning. He hadn’t been deceived at all by what he had seen moments earlier. The transformed Lich King had conjured up an attack that would have completely obliterated Planet 16B.

But Amelia just sliced it in half.

Then she continued to deflect his attacks. It was almost inconceivable. She was an ordinary human facing against a Fledgling God Vessel, but she fought like she was swatting around a mere fly.

So Guardian Angel Z357 didn’t intervene. Instead, he listened to their conversation. He heard Amelia refer to the Fal-Deus as the Voidgod. He blinked in confusion for a moment, recalling something else she had said not long ago. But he ignored it for now.

He focused on the plan she had posited— the method she had suggested to defeat the Fal-Deus.

Is that really it? he wondered. Is that really how the Fal-Deus can be defeated?

It sounded simple enough. Too simple. It couldn’t have been that easy, right? And a moment later, Guardian Angel Z357 was proven right.

The ground shook as a red box flashed before his eyes.

[WARNING! Incalculable Amounts of Void Essence Detected!

Threat Level: Lesser God(?)*

*Danger is rapidly growing!]

And he acted.

—--

Ar’elith peered into his soul— and he screamed as a voice boomed in his head.

“You dare reject me? I have given you the power to fulfill your dreams, yet you try to turn me away?”

He dropped to his knees as he arched his back, facing the night sky. A pillar of purple light shot out of the hole in his chest, and a distorted cry of agony left his mouth.

Amelia narrowed her eyes as his body shifted. Flesh and skin began to grow past his neck, forming a face over his skull. His entire being was drenched in pain, and he felt like clawing his head off. But he couldn’t move.

He had completely lost control of his body.

“I am the True God of Vacuos! I am your creator! How dare you betray me like the rest of them!”

Ar’elith struggled. He tried to break free from whatever was binding him, but he couldn’t even fight back. He wheezed as the depraved face was nearly finished forming on his skull, and the words of the Voidgod echoed around the valley.

“I shall reclaim my—”

And the tip of a lance protruded from his chest, cutting off the voice.

A sharp pain ran through his body. He froze as he craned his neck back. He saw twelve eyes staring down at him, and he tried to regain control of his body. But he spoke as the words of his captor left his mouth.

“So the angel has recovered,” the Voidgod laughed. “Do you believe your feeble power is enough to defeat me?”

The angel shook its head, before letting go of its lance. Not me— not my power.

“You—”

Seal of the System, he said simply.

A glowing spell circle expanded from the lance. The Fledgling God Vessel paused, before flailing to remove the weapon. But it was already too late. A crimson sphere engulfed the depraved figure as Amelia and the angel looked on from a distance.

And both the Voidgod and the Lich King screamed, overwhelmed by pain.