Why must the devil be Defeated?
Chapter 370 - 367 "At least let you be free.

Chapter 370: 367 "At least let you be free.

"Gaahhhh...!"

"Oohhhhhh...!"

Accompanied by such frenzied screams, the full forms of several shadows rushing towards Shane emerged from the black mist of evil energy.

"Humans?"

Seeing the shadows clearly, Shane froze.

The identities of those shadows were indeed people.

Among these people were Elves, Beastmen, and even Dwarves. They looked no different from the typical Human Race, but they seemed to have fallen into a berserk state. Not only were their eyes bloodshot and faces twisted in ferocity, but the drool on their lips betrayed their complete loss of reason.

Yet what surprised Shane was not their loss of sanity, but their attire, which was quite different from people of this era.

The outfits made of beast skins and fur coats, with weapons mostly made of stone they held, suggested less the people of this era and more like ancient Wild Men.

"You..."

Shane wanted to say something but was instead met with the mad onslaught of these Wild Men.

They raged and rioted, swinging their weapons at Shane without hesitation, chopping at him desperately.

Meanwhile, some weaponless Wild Men threw themselves at Shane’s limbs, biting like wild beasts, equally desperate.

"Granting Explosion."

Shane had to fight back, casting magic into the air around him.

"Boom—!"

With the blast, an air explosion took form, sending a gust of wind and shock waves expanding from Shane’s body, hammering into the Wild Men.

"Boom!" "Boom!" "Boom!"...

One after another, the Wild Men were sent flying, tumbling to the ground and rolling several times.

A few Wild Men landed in awkward positions, causing their hand bones, leg bones, and even skull bones to snap with a "crack," spilling their blood in streams.

But...

"Gaahhhh...!"

"Oohhhhhh...!"

The next second, these Wild Men got right back up, completely ignoring their injuries as if they had lost all sense of pain, and lunged at Shane again.

"What?"

Shane couldn’t help but be startled, yet he didn’t dare slow his movements. Using his Evasion skill, he moved like the wind, dodging and weaving through the Wild Men’s assaults.

Moreover, Shane, exploiting the Close Range Evasion skill during his swift dodging, abruptly surged behind several Wild Men and fiercely chopped at their necks with the edge of his hand.

What astounded Shane was that, despite being struck, these Wild Men did not lose consciousness and continued to howl and charge at him.

"...Completely mad, then?"

After several tries, Shane attempted to subdue or knock out these Wild Men, but all efforts proved futile.

They had become like the most ferocious beasts, disregarding their own safety and unable to feel pain, relentlessly attacking Shane without stopping.

Shane even used the Grant Magic of "Fixed" on a Wild Man who, upon struggling in vain, simply cut off his own feet and, with a bloody body, crawled towards Shane.

Realizing this, Shane understood that these Wild Men were beyond saving.

"If that’s the case, then I shall grant you release."

Shane’s figure burst forward with speed many times faster than before, appearing before a Wild Man.

"Splurt!"

The Holy Sword cut through the air, its chilling arc bisecting the Wild Man’s body.

Blood sprayed into the air and scattered around, forming a fountain of blood.

The Wild Man, collapsing into the pool of blood, convulsed a few times before finally lying still.

"Gaahhhh...!"

"Oohhhhhh...!"

Seeing their comrade killed, the remaining Wild Men not only showed no fear but became even more ferociously agitated as they rushed towards Shane.

"Be released!"

Shane no longer showed any mercy, moving rapidly, the Holy Sword in his hand tracing elegant arcs as he struck at one Wild Man after another.

"Splurt!" "Splurt!" "Splurt!"...

In a moment, amidst the flurry of blade and sword, blood flew everywhere.

Shane personally sent one Wild Man after another to their deaths, causing them to fall into pools of blood and turn into corpses.

Looking at the Wild Men that lay scattered on the ground, Shane, with the blood-dripping Holy Sword on hand, frowned deeply.

"Where did these Wild Men come from?"

Are they locals?

But why would locals dress like this and appear here, becoming frenzied madmen?

"Judging by their crazed appearances, they must have been berserk for quite some time now."

Their sense of self seemed to have dissipated in extended bouts of madness, making these Wild Men so fearlessly aggressive.

Furthermore, considering their attire starkly contradicted this era, Shane speculated.

"Could it be..."

Thinking of the possibility, Shane’s expression became rather troubled.

If things turned out that way, then trouble loomed large.

A mishap could plunge the Kingdom, even the world, into chaos.

"Fortunately, these Wild Men seem only able to remain within the reach of the evil energy and do not leave the land it has overtaken."

Otherwise, the problem would indeed be severe.

"It seems that the decision to break the seal without a second thought was too hasty after all."

Shane let out a sigh at last.

But since things have come to this, and Shane had anticipated potential problems and made some contingency plans, the issue was still within the realm of solvability.

"Now, let’s first enter the Temple, or find Iris before doing anything else."

Shane planned to deploy his Perception Skills, then remembered that they were ineffective due to interference from the Evil Energy.

"What a hassle."

At that moment, Shane could only grant himself the "Flying" trait and headed toward the direction of the temple, guided by his memory.

The closer he flew to the temple, the more his heart raced.

Because, he discovered that the closer he got to the Temple, the more Wild Men there were, and not only were there members of the Human Race, Elves, Beastmen, and Dwarves, but Demons and Demon Clans appeared as well.

"Gaahhh...!"

"Woahhh...!"

All the members of the Human Race, Demon Clan, and Demons were entirely mad, descending into relentless insanity, like ghosts, like demons, not only attacking Shane, but also killing each other, bringing destruction to everything they laid eyes upon.

Their madness, compared to the Refined Demons Shane had seen before, perhaps less grotesque in form, was undoubtedly more dangerous and more terrifying.

Shane also saw many who were dressed nobly and showed no sign of combat ability biting and tearing at each other, kicking and hitting, smashing with stones, banging heads, displaying all possible forms of attack.

And their dress and attire differed greatly from that of modern people, or it could be said they looked like they belonged to a very ancient past.

This further confirmed Shane’s suspicions.

Until a moment came when Shane encountered a three-headed demon that he had read about in an illustrated book, which had appeared many years before and was now long extinct, he was finally certain.

"These creatures, engulfed by madness, were not from the modern world but ancient beings."

Indeed.

"They were ancient people who had been robbed of their reason by the authority of the Evil God Lilith, who had completely lost control and descended into sheer insanity."

The Evil God Lilith once spread the Evil Energy across the land, using her authority to turn many creatures into mindless, raging beasts that began a bloody slaughter amongst each other.

These creatures, it seemed, did not recover their sanity even after the Evil God Lilith was sealed but continued their fury and madness, until eventually, the Divine Race sealed them all together.

Now, with the seal of the Evil God Lilith loosening, these beings were the first to awaken, pouring out of the Temple, once again wreaking havoc in frenzy.

They were sacrificials abandoned in ancient times, who due to prolonged madness, had their self-consciousness erased and would never regain sanity, becoming nothing more than walking corpses.

Understanding this, Shane couldn’t help but feel pity.

They had done nothing wrong; they were simply unlucky, no different from victims caught in a natural disaster.

"At least, I’ll let you find release."

Vast Magic Power surged within Shane.

"Granting Fire."

Shane unleashed magic upon the earth.

"Boom—!"

In the next instant, the ground violently shook, and flames burst forth as if the earth itself had caught fire, sweeping up endless waves of fire.

The flames appeared from beneath the ground in torrents, like volcanoes erupting.

The fire consumed each screaming Wild Man and wild beast, burning them to ashes, to dust they returned, and to the earth.

And so, Shane flew in the direction of the Temple while continually lifting waves of fire, burning away Wild Men, beast after beast.

In the land plagued by Evil Energy, amidst the black mist, Purgatory began to take shape, allowing countless mad demons to be devoured by the flames, giving them release.

"Huh?"

At that time, Shane suddenly halted in mid-flight.

He had spotted an acquaintance.

He saw a stunning Catman girl stumbling in pain.

"Ah...!"

Soon after, the girl knelt on the ground, clutching her head in a state bordering on complete madness.

Her face was full of pain, twisted, full of struggle.

Clearly, she was almost at her limit.

Then...

"I... don’t want to become a mad person..."

The Catman girl gritted her teeth and pulled a Dagger from within her chest.

"Goodbye, Lady Iris..."

With a look of resolution, the Catman girl trembled as she pointed the Dagger at her throat and then, with a swift motion, plunged it in.

"Snap!"

In the midst of a crisp sound, the Dagger in the girl’s hand was knocked away by another hand.

"You...!?"

The Catman girl was startled at first, then saw the person who came, shocked and pale.

"Yo, I remember you’re called Mafi, right?" Shane grinned and said, "We meet again, but trying to end it all as soon as we do, isn’t that a bit too rash?"

With that said, Shane reached out toward Mafi.

"Celestial Breathe."

The galaxy sprang to life, as starlight rained down like a shower, enveloping Mafi.

Mafi felt as if her heart, which was about to be consumed by negative emotions, and her spirit were cleansed, the negativity completely erased.

"This..."

The now-lucid Mafi’s expression cleared, her body shook, and her face showed astonishment.

Is it... all better?