Strongest Demigod System-Chapter 112: Pawns of Destiny

Harold was terrified.

The battle that had happened only a moment ago was beyond anything he could have predicted.

The staff in his hand [Scepter of Lilith] was a C-Ranked artifact that could only be used once by a demigod before it would become nonresponsive for the next ten years, and he had been saving it for a moment when he would need it against a strong enemy.

To think that it could summon a creature that powerful…

The last attack by Jahosabeth destroyed virtually everything in the room, including all the artifacts that had been stored there.

Those artifacts were only D-rank artifacts and lower, so they didn't stand a chance against the sheer destructive power of Jahosabeth's attack.

But even with the creature's power, Harold was more shocked by the fact that it lost.

It had been defeated by the Black Mask, and Harold felt completely powerless as he sat on the ground, watching the masked man.

Harold's Essence had been drained by the Angel's last attack, and right now, he was incapable of moving at all due to the strain that fight had put on his core.

Harold prayed to every being out there that the Black Mask had somehow succumbed to his injuries and died, but it appeared that even the world itself was against him at that moment.

The Black Mask groaned from his place on the ground before he slowly started to sit up.

Half of the assassin's mask had fallen off, and it allowed Harold to get a good look at his face.

Harold's eyes widened.

"… It's you! You're the child of darkness!?"

Harold cried out in anger once he saw who the Black Mask was, and Azrael put his hand up to see that his mask was broken.

Azrael slowly got to his feet.

He stumbled a little, but he gained back his energy as the [Shard of Aradite] healed him, and after a few seconds, he was able to walk normally.

Azrael put his hand out as he approached Harold, and the Oathkeeper blade flew across the room and into Azrael's hand.

Harold felt his body shake.

"Wait! Wait! Why are you after me!? What did I ever do to you!? Who sent you to do this!? Was it Helga!? It was her, right!? I can pay you two—no, four! I can pay you four times whatever they said they'd give you! If it's that artifact you want, then just tell me! Wait!"

Azrael came to a stop in front of Harold and stared him down with an impassionate gaze.

There was a moment of silence between the two men where only Harold's harsh breathing could be heard.

Harold reached into his pocket, and Azrael prepared to cut Harold down, thinking Harold was pulling out a weapon, but Harold told him to wait once more as he brought out a simple piece of glass.

It was transparent, but thick and broken down the middle, like it had been separated from another half, and Harold immediately tossed it on the floor in front of Azrael before raising his hands.

"That's it! That's what Helga wants, right!? It's a B-Rank artifact worth fifty million! It's yours! Just spare my life, and it's yours!"

Harold closed his eyes and leaned his head back desperately as he hoped the glass would be enough to spare him, but then he heard Azrael speak.

"You asked me earlier, what it was that you did to deserve this…"

Azrael bent to pick up the piece of glass, and he only spared it a glance before turning back on Harold.

"In truth, you did nothing wrong. The only sin you committed was the sin of being born with a God Aspect that would give you everything, just like the only sin I committed was the sin of being cursed with no God Aspect. We are two strangers whose paths should have never crossed, and yet here we are; Instruments of fate and pawns of destiny. I hope that in death, you will find a way to understand my actions, Harold Javier... I do not ask for forgiveness because I do not deserve such kindness. I only ask for your understanding…"

Harold's eyes widened when he heard the name 'Javier,' and he immediately spoke up in shock:

"How do you know that—"

SLASH!

[The user has killed [1] Divine Being.]

+2 Strength

+1 Stamina

+150 units of DE

[The user has acquired [1] Artificial God Aspect]

-> Analysis – D

…

Analysis: This Aspect grants the user unparalleled insight, allowing them to cast away lies and see the truth hidden beneath.

Effects of Analysis:

-> The user can view the names, titles, and God Aspect of any demigod of the same Rank or lower.

-> The user can see the true nature of any material crafted using Divine Essence of the same Rank or lower.

…

In the hands of anyone else, a skill like this would be useless. There was nothing that this skill could do to help you in a fight against a daemon.

But in Azrael's hands, when paired with the multiple God Aspects he had already collected and the God Aspects he would need to collect, it was invaluable.

Azrael turned away from his system as he felt a wave of pain travel from his shoulder to the rest of his body, and he turned to see that the Divine Rune Jahosabeth left there was still burning bright.

The runes had burnt through his clothes, and the flames of the Radiant Sun had burnt through the rest of his clothes.

The only reason why his trousers weren't completely ruined was because they were created by Madam Flora.

Azrael glanced at the glass artifact in his hand, and he read through the information on it.

[The User has acquired one-half of the [Twin Shard - B]]

…

Twin Shard: Half of a whole artifact that possesses the mysterious power to manipulate Divine Essence and the Divine Core.

[In order to view the full effects and conditions for this artifact, the user must first combine the shard with its other half.]

Effects of [Twin Shard]

Undisclosed

Conditions of [Twin Shard]

Undisclosed

…

Azrael narrowed his eyes at this and tried to use his newly acquired God Aspect to bypass the artifact's conditions, but nothing came up, and he realized that he couldn't read it because the shard was at a higher level than him.

He had to raise his God Aspect rank if he wanted to be able to read the rest of the artifact information.

Azrael threw the artifact into his [Divine Storage] to be dealt with later, and then he turned around and started to limp away from Harold's headless body.

He needed to get out of here before the entire building came down on him.

"Stop right there!"

A voice shouted from in front of Azrael, and Azrael looked towards the large hole in the wall that had been created by Jahosabeth's attack. There, he saw Jennifer, the investigator, standing with a gun pointed at him.

Azrael cursed internally as he took a single step back.

"I said stop! Black Mask, you are under arrest for the crime of murder and destruction of property! You have the right to remain silent, and anything you say will be used against you in – wait…"

Jennifer's eyes widened when she finally got a good look at Azrael's exposed face.

"It's you… you're the monster that's been killing people!? You looked me in the eye and you lied to me, you devil!"

BAM!

[Frozen Tundra] has been activated!

Azrael immediately activated the skill to counter the shot. He was extremely low on Essence, but that doesn't mean he wasn't strong enough to stop a mere bullet.

But he was surprised when the bullet never came.

In fact, Jennifer had still not fired her gun.

Jennifer looked down at her chest in shock, and she was stunned when she saw a large pool of blood forming over her gown.

She turned around to see who had shot her, and her eyes widened in surprise.

"You…"

Jennifer tried to speak, but she couldn't finish her sentence before she lost all her strength, fell to her knees, and dropped dead.

Azrael looked beyond the dead body to where Maddison stood with her hands shaking around a gun.

There was fear in her eyes, and she was rooted in place like a tree.

Azrael watched as Maddison looked down at Jennifer before glancing back up to him. Her mouth opened soundlessly before it closed into a thin line.

The gun in her hand clattered to the ground, and she took in a shuddering breath.

Maddison was in shock.

She had followed Jennifer when she saw her going to investigate what was happening down here. Everyone in the mansion already evacuated a long time ago, so there was no one else here other than them.

Maddison had taken the gun from one of the men that Azrael killed. She didn't think that she would even use it.

But once she saw Jennifer threaten Azrael… Once she knew that Jennifer was about to take Azrael in, she knew that she couldn't let that happen.