Chapter 52 – The Third Tier

3 blades appeared side-by-side. The current black scythe's form would remind the onlookers of the claws of a beast.

Its size had also grown bigger, making the already originally hard-to-wield weapon to become even more cumbersome

Just like the changes to the black bow, this one's size had also expanded. I can see now why this is called a Mortal Sin weapon as it does something like this without permission.

From the pressure transmitted to my hand alone, I realized that this is a weapon of tremendous power.

When I looked up again, it seemed that Haniel is still focusing on recovering itself.

[We can go on if it's like this!]

『Find where the magic power is focused at』

I quickly scanned the area with the red eye as soon as Greed told me to.

The inside of Haniel's body was pulsating with strands of magical power like twigs branching out of a tree so I tried to trace it back to its origin..

It was just like what I expected. The source of the magic power was the girl who acts as the core. The target I was looking for is actually her heart.

With it as the center, magic power coursed through Haniel's whole body.

If I can split the heart with this sinister scythe, it'll be over.

The problem is Haniel's self regeneration. Even if its head or arms are cut off, it will regenerate back in no time.

However, it seemed that the phenomenal self regeneration had slowed down somehow.

The lower body that Myne had blown off hadn't regenerated yet. Neither did the arms that I had cut off.

[Is it weakened?]

『It forced itself to mature. As a result, its regeneration had slowed down. It's still there though. It just needs more time』

[If that's the case, I'll use this chance to settle this.]

『Why of course.』

I wielded the huge scythe and took aim. I'll slice it apart as we pass through each other.

At that point, Haniel seemed to notice me and prepared to do something.

It briskly surrounded itself with barrier.

The core also began to do something different. This movement…..no way!?

Several blue flames appeared in the confined space..

『Tsk, Haniel wants to drag us along to the grave. It actually burned itself out』

There is no place to escape. Did it try to take me along as I defeated it?

Haniel had tremendous self-healing. Even if it's a bit slow, it can still regenerate itself to full health.

On the other hand, my auto-recovery won't heal fatal injuries. If I touched the blue flame inside such a confined space, I'll die before the skill can even activate.

What to do…should I just call off the killing blow, wasting 20% of my stats and use the original black scythe to cut through? Or…

However, if I do that, there will be no second chance.

[If that's so, then I'll just eat it before it can burn me.]

『You don't mean, Fate!』

The blue fire balls that are floating in between me and Haniel started to expand.

Hot….my clothes are burning and my skin is getting hot.

My field of vision is dyed with blue. But still, I didn't lose track of my target.

『Fate, be careful!』

[I'm alright, watch.]

I've been observing Haniel's body movement for a while now. In particular, the movement of its right arm.

From inside the whirlpool of blue flames, Haniel's right arm stretched out trying to grab me.

I used that as a stepping stone instead and jumped to the core.

『This is it, Fate!』

[Uoooooooooooooooooo!]

The core became furious as I plunged into it.

The white girl kept staring me with her red eyes. Even now, it's still dripping with blood.

At first, she seemed like she was about to do something with her hands, but never quite finished it.

It's as if she's telling me to kill her already.

The black scythe that has turned into a sinister weapon cut to her chest. Without a doubt, the blades passed through the magic power source.

At that moment, the white girl's hand reached out and touched my cheek. "Mind Reading" was activated in that instance, revealing her thoughts.

It was a fragmented memories. Perhaps, her memories before being turned into this monstrosity.

It was about a facility with pure white rooms where she lived with similar children like her. It was lively at first, but the children were being taken away one by one to somewhere else.

And finally the girl herself was also taken somewhere that looks to be a dimly lit room.

There was another girl there who embraced her as she cried in fear…..this particular girl had a strong resemblance to Myne.

However, unlike Myne, this girl had a distinctively richer feeling in her.

What….are this memories!? Meanwhile, the memory feed stopped there as the girl's arms fell off.

When I came to and looked back, I found that Haniel's white body started to blacken.

[Greed, this is!?]

『This is the killing blow of this me's second tier――a sure-kill strike. If you destroy the spot where the magic power concentrates in, it will die no matter the enemy. The scythe inflicts the whole body with a very strong curse that rots everything. It cannot be resisted no matter how powerful the vitality of the afflicted body is』

Certainly, even Haniel who had an amazing regenerative ability seems to be about to collapse soon.

It got blackened, cracked like dried soil….some parts even became dust that dispersed in the wind. The core white girl also met the same fate. She had become stuck like a black statue.

When I landed back on the ground, so is Haniel's remnants.

The remnant fell apart completely upon collision with the ground. Joining the wreckages and debrises of the long devastated village.

The numerous tombstones in this lost village now seemed like it was prepared for Haniel.

"Gluttony skill activated"

"Durability+26000000, Strength+29000000, Magic+24000000, Spirit+28000000, Agility+14000000 will be applied to your stats"

Along with the inorganic voice, an unprecedented amount of stats was added. No skill was added seemingly because of that ERROR thing.

Nhn? It's different than usual. Usually, when I devoured a huge amount of stats, the gluttony skill will act up in delight and tries to overpower me.

However, it remained quiet this time. The hunger is firmly contained, but I don't feel like I'm filled or anything.

However, the stuffiness in my chest still remained.

[What the… what's with this feeling? Is it because the enemy is a machine angel and not a monster?]

『There is such a thing.Although it's a degraded version, it's still like eating your own kin.There is no happiness or sadness. What's left is just...』

Greed didn't touch upon it any further.

While I was looking at the remains of Haniel, Myne joined in.

[You did well. With this, I'll accept Fate as an adult now.]

[That's an honor….but, can I ask you something?]

[What is it?]

At that time, one of the memory flowed from Haniel's core through the mind reading skill.

In a certain facility, the core girl met a girl that resembles Myne.

[That Haniel's core and Myne, did you two know each other?]

[.....No idea, I already forget about those ancient times.]

Although she said so, Myne still kneeled down and stroked the remains of Haniel. I thought so, they were really an acquaintance.

As it is now, I wonder if she's really okay with letting me eat someone she knew. The devoured souls do suffer forever inside the gluttony skill after all.

Myne saw through me already.

[There is no other choice but to think that this is the best. When it comes to machine angels, the only path left is to defeat it. Otherwise, we'll be the ones who die.]

Gallia which was destroyed long ago.

Even though considerable amount of time had passed, its legacies still sleeps. Perhaps, there are still more out there.

And even more dangerous existences might still be lurking out there. Thinking of that made me had a goosebump.

The living natural disaster――Tenryu started to invoke unfamiliar fear inside my mind. I have witnessed at least a glimpse of it through this fight against Haniel.

Myne has been fighting in a world I knew nothing of. And it will remain that way forever. As the holder of similar skill, the time will come for me to fight as well.

But now is not the time. I have more important things to do.

My original goal for coming to Gallia isn't to defeat Haniel.

[Greed, I can unlock it this time, right?]

『Indeed you can. So what will...I don't need to ask, do I?』

[I need even more power. Use up all the stats I've obtained so far, and unlock the third tier.]

『Well said, then let's do it!』

Tens of millions of stats are being absorbed by Greed. It's all the power I've accumulated throughout this journey.

From when I fought at my hometown….from when I fought alongside the sword saint Aaron…and finally, the power I obtained from defeating the machine angel….. All of it has lost.

Although the skills remain, the stats went back to rock bottom. I have to raise it back from scratch.

The black scythe emitted light, and changed shape.

As my power is fully absorbed, the light began to settle. And so, I saw the new form of Greed and got surprised.

[No way…..Greed….this is.]

『Yes,the power you've yearned the most.That's why, the form of the third tier is this: Demonic Shield. Try to master it completely!』

[Yeah, I'll do that.]

My smile grew wider as I look at the shield larger than my body.

This is the power I've been yearning for….the power to protect others!

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Author's note:

The current status after sacrificing my status to strengthen Greed.

(It revert back to my status when I met Greed for the first time)

Fate Graphite Lv 1

Durability: 121

Strength: 151

Magic: 101

Spirit: 101

Agility: 131

Skills: Gluttony, Appraisal, Mind reading, Concealment, Night Vision, Martial Arts, Sniper, Holy Sword mastery, One-handed Sword mastery, Two-handed Sword mastery, Bow mastery, Spear mastery, Flame magic, Dust magic, Illusion magic, Durability strengthening (S), Durability strengthening (M), Durability strengthening (L), Strength Strengthening (S), Strength Strengthening (M), Magic strengthening (S), Magic strengthening (M), Magic strengthening (L), Spirit strengthening (S), Spirit strengthening (M), Spirit strengthening (L), Agility strengthening (S), Agility strengthening (M), Auto-Recovery, Fire Resistance.

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