Chapter 428 – Siblings (5)

Everyone looked at Sarah in shock.

She looked like she had clothed herself for spring.

Just by existing, the air felt so clean, their eyes were clear, and their minds were calm, as if they could fall asleep at any moment. A black flame was burning in their hearts until a second ago, but it was surprising that it all calmed down in an instant.

“Sarah. When did you get such power?”

Isis looked at her in shock, feeling the warmth around her. Sarah didn’t have such power before. It might have been hidden until now, but not anymore.

What was certain was that Sarah was a different person now, and it wasn’t just the extent of her power that changed. She couldn’t say what it was for sure, but Sarah’s existence had now changed.

And everyone else could feel it too.

“What happened? When did Sarah hold such…..”

Ricky was confused.

The mysterious power that Sarah manifested was shocking, but the reason he was confused was because of something else.

‘It is obviously warm and cozy… But why do I feel so reluctant?’

His entire body was rejecting this green aura, and he wanted to leave this place right away. So he couldn’t understand why he was having such thoughts.

He felt out of breath.

His chest felt tight, and his head was dizzy. Ricky felt that he couldn’t use his full strength.

Finally, Diablo….

“You, that power.”

Diablo knew it. He had felt it for a very short time. When Diablo’s dormant power woke up, it was none other than Gaia who helped him awaken. If there was a difference from that time, the power that Sarah was using now wasn’t just a fragment but a complete state.

“Why do you have Gaia’s power?”

At those words, Ricky was shocked.

“Gaia’s power?”

“Is that true?”

Diablo didn’t answer.

With wide eyes, he strode toward Sarah.

It was the first time since he let go of his feelings that he had expressed his emotions to this extent.

“Answer me. Why do you have that power? Depending on your answer, your fate will be decided.”

Sarah glanced at Diablo and then at her hand.

‘… This is Gaia’s power.’

She was Gaia’s Apostle, but this was the first time she became aware that such a power was within her body. Before that, because she was unconscious, she was unaware that her power as an Apostle had already awakened.

Her body was overflowing with power.

Even though she was surprised that she, who only knew how to wield a sword, had this kind of power, there was this unknown happiness that filled her body.

“Answer me.”

Diablo stood two meters in front of her and asked with cold eyes. And Sarah could see it—how seriously distorted Diablo’s mind was.

The image of her brother was screaming inside.

Even though all his emotions had been thrown away, in reality, nothing could be thrown away, and it was regrettable that only his present state of being caught up in delusion and being consumed by madness could be felt.

And now,

“I think I can save my brother.”

At those words, Diablo’s eyes narrowed, and his purple eyes shone.

“Talking won’t work. I will do whatever I want.”

Nothing changed just because Sarah had another power. Even if she was Gaia’s Apostle, she was just an Apostle. Except for Ra, there was no one else stronger than himself in this world.

He would crush her like a worm, and Diablo didn’t use his sword anymore.

His mind was full of thoughts of cutting into Sarah’s body to find a way to get stronger. And the black mana entwined with magi formed a large magic circle over his head.

“I won’t kill you, so don’t worry.”

His lips turned into a smile.

In his eyes, Sarah looked like a treasure, so he had to handle her very carefully.

“I will give you a treat.”

A black light shone. It would invade Sarah’s consciousness at once and stop all her thoughts. There was no way to stop a mental attack.

Ricky and Isis shouted at Diablo, but they soon vanished as they were buried by the sound of the manifestation of his power.

Meanwhile, Sarah mumbled as she watched the black light coming for her.

“No.”

The power that even holy power couldn’t withstand began to gnaw away at her mind. However, Sarah stood there, unhurt.

She looked at her brother with clear eyes, as if she hadn’t lost her will in the slightest.

“That kind of power doesn’t work on me.”

A green light radiated and drove away the black light at once, and Diablo’s eyes widened.

The dazzling light that wrapped around Sarah created the illusion that a tree was standing in front of her eyes. It was a tree that was upright and could stand alone in any storm.

Even in the face of numerous changes and variables, the tree held its appearance and always stood where it was. That was the power that symbolized Gaia, the Mother Goddess, who carried the world.

That was why the power to harass the mind didn’t work on her. Even if it was a power that had already reached the level of the Gods.

“So annoying.”

The nature of Gaia’s holy power was superior to that of ‘Perfect Cell.’

If it was superior to Perfect Cell, which was famous for its immunity, even Diablo’s black magic wouldn’t work.

And if that was the case, it meant that there was no choice but to hurt her in the end.

“I wanted to preserve you as perfectly as possible, but under these conditions, I cannot do that anymore.”

He had to stop using his strength in a way that wouldn’t hurt her body. Because Sarah was resisting, it didn’t work, so he had to use a different method than just touching her mind.

Darkness moved under the shadows. It surged high in an instant, spread wide like a wave, and fell from above toward Sarah.

The pain was fleeting.

Sarah looked at the waves of darkness that fell above her head. It had the power to numb the opponent rather than kill them.

She infused Gaia’s power into her sword. As the power of life overflowed through it, her aura moved, and green leaves fluttered in the air.

“This power blooms in the face of death.”

She swung it in a straight line, and a vertical slash cut the waves of darkness in half.

Without stopping there, Sarah slammed it hard.

A green afterimage followed her like a tail. Diablo wrinkled his nose and waved his hand.

The darkness turned into a huge stream and split into several branches, attacking Sarah from all sides.

Then he summoned Longinus, the spear of death, into the air and shot it.

“I am the enemy of death.”

Sarah mumbled as she swung her sword.

“The Apostle of Life, the Watcher of the Birth of All Things.”

The more she did that, the more the power of life surrounding her body began to grow.

“King of Death.”

Sarah did a sword dance.

As soon as the flying darkness touched her sword, everything scattered.

“Look at the preciousness of life.”

The scattering leaves swallowed the darkness.

“In death, life blooms.”

A while ago, a laurel crown appeared on Sarah’s head. Her brown hair was now green, and she was dressed in white with the wind blowing.

And when the darkness dissipated, Sarah stopped her sword dance and told her brother,

“Brother’s powers won’t work on me.”

Diablo looked at Sarah without saying anything. She looked like a lantern shining in the darkness.

She seemed to be wandering alone, full of hope and unaware of despair. And it seemed that she didn’t know what it meant to carry the burden of the world on her shoulders.

It was like she didn’t know about death.

Diablo narrowed his eyes again.

“Life, huh.”

His body was covered in darkness.

“Are you confident in that power?”

In the darkness that covered his entire body, two purple eyes shone terrifyingly.

“Funny.”

He liked this.

If she was Gaia’s Apostle, she would be watching over her fight from somewhere.

It would be better to grab this opportunity to let her know.

“Brother. You are mistaken about so many things.”

“…Mistaken?”

“Life and death. In the end, it exists as a cycle chosen by the strong.”

After all, living or dying was someone’s choice. That was the logic of the strong.

[I am the ruler here.]

A voice that was buried in the darkness resounded.

[Do not discuss life and death with that power!]

Sarah raised her sword to confront the rapidly expanding darkness. However, instead of being properly blocked in front of a different dimension of darkness, it began to get pushed back in an instant. This also resulted in her being pushed back due to the opposing powers.

‘Kuak… Is this his true power?’

She knew her brother wasn’t doing his best against her, but she didn’t expect the gap to be this wide. She couldn’t do anything. It was as if it was just child’s play.

The power of life was being pushed back in the face of death. If this continued, she would be devoured.

It was then….

“We will make a gap.”

“Go and make one good hit.”

When they appeared, Isis and Ricky stood side by side next to Sarah, pouring out their respective strengths into the incoming darkness.

The darkness subsided, and the speed at which it was approaching slowed down, but that was all.

Diablo’s power was already strong enough to go over these two people. With their power, they could only keep the darkness from advancing further.

However, that was enough.

“Thank you, both of you.”

The gap between the two created a great chance for Sarah. Sarah wrapped her entire body with the power of life and raised her hand above the darkness.

Clench—

She felt the pain of her skin getting burned by the black sparks, but she didn’t let go.

In a situation where the darkness was growing, it couldn’t even be imagined, but it was possible to invade this darkness if there was a brief moment of shock.

“What are you planning to do?”

Isis asked her disciple in a worried tone. Then her disciple answered,

“There is no way I can stand up to my brother head-on. So I need to use another method.”

“Another method?”

“Yes. It is….”

Sarah plunged her arm into the darkness, and she felt a pain that could have made her lose her thoughts, yet she clenched her hands and gritted her teeth.

“I am going to go inside my brother, who is in the darkness.”

She clearly saw it.

How he was struggling inside. This brother wasn’t what she had hoped for.

So she would go inside and awaken his true feelings.

‘Though I don’t know if that is possible.’

If she failed, she would die. If that was the final end of her fate, she would accept it.

But until then, even if she had to die, she wouldn’t give up.

“So please, just hold this until I succeed.”

She felt the pain as if her entire arm would be ripped off, but through the ordeal, Sarah’s mental strength was able to withstand anything.

This pain was just a signal to her brain.

Isis and Ricky looked at Sarah going inside, and they said,

“My disciple can do anything. Go, Sarah. When you come back, Master will be waiting for you.”

“Please take care of him. Save your brother and my friend too.”

Sarah smiled at them.

“Yes.”

Her body disappeared into the darkness, and Isis told Ricky,

“We need to stop the darkness from hurting Sarah so she can survive as long as possible inside that.”

“I will put my life on the line for it.”

So the two began to exert their full powers.