Chapter 157 This Is a Trial!

"A god? Although it is indeed related to that title, it still falls within the category of an Apostle."

Roland pursed his lips, locking eyes with the entity emanating divine might.

Now he could be certain.

The dungeon was undeniably and inextricably linked to the gods.

Moreover, those so-called gods could no longer be viewed through the superficial lens of mere beings possessing divine power.

As an Apostle—a messenger of the gods—it had produced such a marvelous chemical reaction after possessing the dungeon.

Whether it was the intensity far exceeding Roland's impressions, the crimson Absolute Terror Field, or the power greater than that of the unsealed Apollo, all of it proclaimed the terrifying nature of the opponent.

From this perspective, the dying cries of that fool who had been utilized from the very beginning could not strictly be considered wrong; even the gods of this world were not as majestic as the white giant before Roland.

Roland did not continue his attack. Since the A.T. Field was known as the absolutely inviolable territory—though it could hardly be called invincible—its inherent power was still considerable. For Roland at present, he would probably have to burn all his divine power down to the last spark as firewood just to barely catch a glimpse of a slim chance of victory.

Unwilling as he was to admit it, Roland knew that with his current power alone, the best he could do was maintain a stalemate.

Everything happening before Roland was far too anomalous. The dungeon, which was clearly the final boss, had produced ancient monsters with records of solo-killing Artemis, the goddess renowned for her martial prowess among the pantheon; how much more so for the dungeon itself?

Even if sealed, its essence should not have had an entire floor's worth of tissue and so many permissions stripped away so easily, even if the spirit pact was forged with an Apostle from Evangelion.

Yet, knowing the identity of the white giant before him made everything fall into place.

"The Second Angel, Lilith."

Roland spoke the name with a blank expression, and upon hearing it, Mana Ouma beside him instinctively furrowed her brow, reaching out to draw a menacing, dark purple Void greatsword from the River of Lamentations.

Although she had not yet launched an attack, the deep blue spiral of light was already enough to prove that the sword's power would by no means be inferior to Esther in Roland's hand.

This was Mana's own Void, one of the symbols of the Apocalypse virus's highest authority. Although Roland was curious whether a materialized weapon forged from the Light of the Soul could shake the Apostle's Absolute Terror Field, Lilith clearly had no intention of giving Mana the opportunity to attack.

She simply raised her hand quietly.

This familiar posture made Roland's pupils constrict as he instinctively looked down at his feet.

Within this River of Lamentations constructed by the Apocalypse virus, purple crystals rapidly spread out from beneath their feet, moving so fast that Mana did not even have time to evade before she was instantly swallowed up.

Yet, amidst Lilith's look of bewilderment, Roland's figure abruptly appeared at the other end.

Lilith could actually manipulate the Apocalypse virus?

Looking at the crystallized Mana, Roland was stunned. In terms of authority over the Apocalypse virus, Mana should have been the absolute supreme entity.

Furthermore, this was her home turf, but an undeniable fact had just unfolded before Roland's eyes.

Yet Mana, sealed within the crystal, quickly launched a counterattack. The shape of the entire River of Lamentations twisted directly, transforming into a spear that rapidly thrust toward Lilith's heart.

Incredible as it was, facing such an attack, Lilith did not activate her A.T. Field to block it, instead allowing this fierce blow to pierce straight through her heart, pinning her to the dungeon.

At that moment, cracks began to appear around the outer periphery of the crystal sealing Mana, but each time a crack formed, new crystals would fill it in, making the shattering process—which should have been instantaneous—appear agonizingly slow, as if she were fighting against herself.

And within those indifferent crimson pupils, a look of pain actually surfaced.

"I see."

Roland understood everything.

"From the very beginning, a portion of Mana Ouma's defensive line of the Wall of the Heart had already been seized by you. No wonder you can also use the Apocalypse virus; you are using her own authority."

Lilith's possession of the dungeon might have begun many years before Mana descended into this world, but unlike her original world, the absence of necessary conditions left Lilith alone and unable to immediately complete the Human Instrumentality Project for all mankind. Thus, she had simply remained in quiet slumber, accumulating power while quietly waiting for an opportunity.

It was not until the fallen fairy's monsterfication occurred that Mana descended and quickly chose her as the material for her own physical body. Sharing the same mission and compatible powers, Mana had become the ultimate tool.

Roland hardly knew whether to laugh or cry. While the Virus Queen in her complete form was quite impressive, she seemed unable to escape the fate of being utilized, and those who used her had to queue up—from the dungeon to the strange monsters, to Lilith, and even including Roland himself, who had long since planted the Evil of This World to reap the harvest.

After all, the Virus Queen's inclination toward independence meant she did not need the help of others to spontaneously spread the virus and await the moment of resurrection.

During this process, because her physical material originated from the fallen fairy combined with the dungeon, coupled with her own dormant state, Lilith used her authority and power as the dungeon to quickly usurp Mana's defense lines of the Wall of the Heart, initiating a cuckoo-in-the-nest operation.

When the spread of the virus was nearly complete, she also activated her own power. For those lives whose soul power was on the verge of shattering as the virus entered its middle stage, their Walls of the Heart were directly melted, and their thought processes became indistinguishable from the monsters generated by the dungeon, thereby creating a zombie frenzy that swept across the entire DanMachi world.

Utilizing this catastrophe, Lilith also frantically extracted the parts she had created from the River of Souls—which should have belonged to Mana—achieving an even deeper fusion with her and gaining the power to completely break free from the dungeon's shackles, ultimately birthing herself as an individual.

Yet Lilith was clearly not satisfied with this, even though she had attained a sublimation far surpassing her previous state. As long as her essence remained Lilith, she needed to achieve completion.

For her current self, the most suitable subject was undoubtedly the resurrected Mana Ouma.

Lilith, her heart pierced by the spear formed from the River of Lamentations, performed some unknown action. The weapon—formed from the soul crystals of more than half the world—actually began to twist and shrink, layering upon layer stacking together to construct a crystalline wall. After transforming into a flower-like shape, the white giant's wound split open on its own, turning into a mouth-like form that swallowed it whole into its body.

Then, amidst a mind-polluting transformation, the white giant's entire body seemed as though its bones had been extracted, dissolving into a turbid, viscous, and writhing sea of flesh resembling asphalt.

It spread out like a slime, crawling along the walls and covering the original location of the fifty-ninth floor until it finally stopped upon transforming into a white, egg-like shape.

An overwhelming mass composed of endless souls, the embryonic form of a world born from the foundation of countless lives.

This was the World Cocoon birthed by the Second Angel, Lilith, and the Virus Queen.

—And Roland was the sole guest within this micro-world.

For a moment, Roland did not know how to react, but then, he smiled slightly as if he had seen through it all.

From everywhere within this pure white world, dark, gloomy patches of black mud suddenly flashed into existence.

Coiling and twisting like snakes, they converged into Roland's shadow. The integration of each strand of black mud made Roland more vibrant and spirited.

"Even the dark machinations of the Evil of This World have been expelled? ...Yet for some reason, it feels as though it was intentionally released."

Roland stared at everything around him, falling into contemplation.

Fragmented clues continuously pieced themselves together in his mind.

Ever since the bestowal of that King's Power, Lilith seemed to have intended to plunge him into this very situation.

Even though the instrumentality of all humanity had not yet been completed, and even if she truly wished to transform into such a World Cocoon, what was her purpose?

Roland turned his head, gazing at the figure slowly descending from the sky amidst the light of the double helix.

She wore a gown interwoven with pure white and purple, moving with gentle and beautiful grace, like fluttering silk ribbons.

Yet more captivating than these external appearances were her pupils—one glowing with an intense, unquenchable, blazing scarlet, the other as clear as a gemstone.

Though both were heart-stopping shades of crimson, the subtle color difference between the two eyes created a gorgeous yet dangerous feeling, akin to heterochromia.

The pink-haired girl stepping through the air landed before Roland, wrapping her slender arms around his neck, pressing her entire body tightly against his chest while resting her chin on his shoulder in an intensely affectionate posture.

It was hard to imagine that Lilith would make such a move, and Roland in surprise called out the girl's name.

"Mana Ouma... or is it Lilith?"

"Both, you see."

Mana's heterochromatic pupils revealed a light that did not belong to humans, and her emotions were similarly mixed, but as she gazed at Roland, the yearning, gentle, and blazing affection in both eyes was identical.

"After all, whether it is Eve or Lilith, her demand for you is the same. While she seeks to complete me, I am also completing what she lacks. The right to think is equal."

Even while holding the upper hand, completing the process of instrumentality with Mana was no easy task for Lilith. Completely dissolving the Virus Queen's Wall of the Heart also meant that the will belonging to the Apocalypse virus would infect Lilith, who was an Apostle.

The most prominent result of this instrumentality process was that Lilith, who should not have possessed any individual anthropomorphic symbol, simultaneously birthed a personality of her own while coexisting with Mana.

Although still fragile, like a blank sheet of paper, it was truly her own will.

Yet precisely because of this, Lilith did not like to speak, so her body was currently controlled by Mana.

However, for Roland, this could by no means be considered good news.

The young girl whispered softly.

"So, Lilith and I have reached a consensus. We both need to possess you. Of course, before that, you must first complete the instrumentality and become the true [Adam]."

"Would it be too late for me to say 'please find someone else more capable' right now?"

"Heh-heh..."

Mana's pretty face was occupied by a chillingly charming smile.

"Of course it is. Only you are our sole and eternal choice. Rather than saying Adam chose you, it's more accurate to say that you chose Adam."

"Lilin, become Adam."

After Mana finished speaking, another ethereal voice escaped her lips—a voice filled with hope and love.

"Only you possess this qualification. You, who should have been shattered into countless fragments, unexpectedly possess both the infinite possibilities of wisdom and the existence of an individual. Merge into one with us, and after completely fusing life and wisdom, you will become the god of the new world."

Roland understood where this affection came from; this was the tender love of a mother.

The moment he saw Lilith, he had followed his past memories and called her the Second Angel, but in reality, that was not the case.

The Second Angel was merely human definition of her in the original work.

In the Tree of Life, the very first to be born was Adam, the Son of God, followed by Lilith. They respectively represented the two poles of Yin and Yang, thereby giving rise to the race known as the Apostles.

The first seventeen Apostles, including them, had eaten the Fruit of Life from the Tree of Life, gaining formidable power, but only the eighteenth Apostle had obtained the Fruit of Wisdom. Because its weak power was insufficient to maintain its overall form, it differentiated into weak existences, ultimately giving birth to Lilith.

And the eighteenth Apostle was Lilin, which meant humanity itself.

If Adam, who propagated numerous Apostles, was the Source of Life, then Lilith was the Mother of All Things.

When humanity and the seventeen Apostles fused back into one, a new god would be born into this world.

It was precisely around this power of godhood that the entire story of Evangelion revolved.

This was also the reason why Lilith, knowing full well that other Apostles did not exist and even before completing instrumentality in this world, had chosen Roland to undergo fusion with him in advance.

Roland possessed everything Lilith desired: an existence exceeding even the original Adam, containing infinite power, possessing a status like a demon yet immortal and noble like a god, fusing the scattered malice and possibilities of humanity into one—a sublimated Lilin.

Coupled with the fused divine power of this world's gods, herself as Lilith, and Mana as Eve, once she understood this point, Lilith could no longer resist her own instincts.

She embraced Roland, whispering her love with scorching breaths, as if she wanted to crush her entire body and melt into his embrace.

"So that's how it is... No wonder even the Fourth Bomb didn't trigger, and the black miasma didn't react at all."

Neither Lilith nor Mana held any malice toward Roland at this moment. In a sense, they were sacrificing themselves to help Roland complete his sublimation.

Under such circumstances, the black miasma was more than happy to see it happen, offering no interference and even pushing things along.

The Key of All Spirits perfectly satisfied Roland's requirements. The combination of the Virus Queen and Lilith could unquestionably completely mend the flaws in Roland's soul, even helping him revive his divine power and balance Yin and Yang.

Even if the shapes of his body and soul were now absolute anomalies, after the instrumentality, these powers and externals would mold into their true forms according to the light of Roland's soul.

He no longer needed to worry about any redundant impacts that future pacts with spirits might cause him; even with equal status, touching his Wall of the Heart would be exceedingly difficult.

Yet this goodwill was by no means easy to accept. During the instrumentality, if Roland's own will failed to conquer the process, he would end up just like Mana—retaining past memories, but with his personality steadily drifting toward divinity.

"Are you ready?"

The girl's soft lips pressed close to Roland's ear, teasingly inquiring.

Roland silently stroked the ring on his finger; its functions were still perfectly normal. As long as Roland had a single thought, he could leave this micro-world—which was capable of trapping even gods—and return to Type-Moon.

Yet at the same time, this meant he would voluntarily abandon the opportunity to complete himself, and this act of evasion might even become a new vulnerability in his soul moving forward.

This choice was far more difficult than when he had first signed a contract with Yoshikage Kira, letting the influence twist his personality, because Roland had no choice back then, whereas now, he had the opportunity to escape.

Having ascended to the heavens in a single bound, it was as if he had bid farewell to his naive, flustered self from when he had first time-traveled. But now, facing this choice, Roland finally understood that his past self had merely been overshadowed by his own brilliance.

Was admitting one's own weakness the hallmark of a true powerhouse?

"Hoo..."

Roland took a deep breath, gazing into Mana's eyes, and made his reply in a calm voice.

"This is a trial. I believe this is a trial to overcome the past.

—Only by overcoming that childish past can a person truly grow. You think so too, don't you?"

"Then, as you wish, darling."

Mana released her slender arms from around Roland's neck, lifted the hem of her skirt with her hand, bent her knees, and bowed respectfully in Roland's direction.

—When she straightened her waist.

From deep within the World Cocoon, a overwhelming tide of pale orange liquid surged toward the two of them, completely swallowing them whole.

(End of this chapter)