NOVEL NEXT Chapter 1503: Maria Versus The Nightmare Demon King
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"I can't… believe this…"
A woman with silvery-white hair sat over a wheelchair, in the middle of the Nightmare Demon King's castle, which was rapidly falling apart, debris of its dimensional fragments floating everywhere, warping and twisting space and time.
But that wasn't the most shocking part of what she saw, as she took off her glasses, which were of no use to her as she didn't actually need them, and stood up from her wheelchair, glancing into the distance.
And there, she saw the unbelievable.
In all these loops, in all these times she had seen the world end and the heroes replacing her sister and her friends die horrible deaths…
This was the first time she saw them fighting back and getting this far.
She had already given up to despair, realizing that with this last loop, it was simply impossible for humanity to win, and that the Nightmare Demons would devour the world.
It was fate, she knew there was no way to win, whoever these people in the last loop were…
It would make no difference anymore.
She gave up her humanity, she betrayed humans, and ensured that her sister would finally rest, her real sister.
Not the fake in front of her.
That fake that smiled so warmly, that treated her with so much kindness, genuine…
Which made her both furious and… happy.
"Is that really you, Maria?!"
Her eyes widened, seeing a giant humanoid fighting the Nightmare Demon King's in his strongest, most aberrant form.
"JUST WHO DO YOU THINK YOU AREEEEEEE?!"
The Nightmare Demon King, who embodies the greatest, most primal fear of all living beings, Death, roared furiously, his entire shadow body expanded as millions of corpses and skeletons manifested, merging into giant bony claws and miasmic tentacles, attacking his foe with everything he had.
"I AM THE NIGHTMARE DEMON KING! I AM THE STRONGEST IN THIS WORLD! AND I SHALL HAVE IT ALL FOR MYSELF!!!"
This was the first time she ever saw him this furious, the Nightmare Demon King was indeed a monstrously strong being, someone that surpassed by far everything in this world… even the strongest Dream Warriors, Artorias and Cheng Xie could never defeat him even when they went all-out in the last loop, after all of those replacing her sister and her friends died tragically.
He was a supreme being, the magnus opus of this planet, the strongest lifeform.
An Apex!
And yet…
Yet!
"Is that all you've got? You're weak. I expected much more of the Final Boss."
An even more terrifying monster had appeared.
She.
That monster.
The monster…
The monster that took possession of her sister's memories and appearance.
"That" Maria!
She was not human.
She was no hero…
No, the thing that possessed her sister's appearance was…
A being beyond this world, an entity born from the void itself.
And yet, despite how terrifying she was…
Why?
Just why was she so kind and human-like?
This slightly humanoid entity, with oily skin as black as charcoal, red and purple veins, and long arms and legs, with even longer claws.
A single crimson eye on her face, and long tentacle hair…
This being.
"Shub-Niggurath…"
She gasped, saying the name of this monster.
Of this Outer Goddess that had descended to save this world.
"Y-YOU THINK I'M WEAK?! YOU DAMN MONSTERRRRRR!"
The Nightmare Demon King, who had won dozens of times through every loop, had grown conceited, he believed himself truly invincible.
Little did he know that he was nothing but a frog in a well inside the Tower.
His monstrous Domain fused into his body, turning into an amalgamation of pure death, rushing towards Maria and pushing her down through the void.
"I'LL DROWN YOU INTO THE NIGHTMARE VOID SEA! THAT SHOULD DO IT!"
He smiled through all his jaws as powerful Tentacles of Miasma and Nether wrapped around Maria's entire body, trying to push her down with his strength.
And yet…
"Oh? You think that'll work?"
Maria extended her tentacles from her head and wrapped them around the Nightmare Demon's limbs, breaking them apart and tearing his body into shreds.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
"GUUUUUAAAAGGGHHHH!"
As he screamed in agony, she quickly kicked him in the skull-like head he had and then pushed him further into the skies.
"{Divine Spectral Asura's Endless Limbs}"
FLUOSH!
Her aura erupted, dividing into hundreds of phantasmal arms and hands rushing towards the Nightmare Demon King.
Thousands of palms were loaded with both Nightmare and Moonlight energy, as they started hitting the Nightmare Demon King from every angle.
"{Selene's Palms Of Judgement}"
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! BAAM!
"AAAAGGGHHH! S-STOP…! STOOOOP!"
The Nightmare Demon King screamed as his entire body was constantly receiving immense damage, what was worse, each blow using her skills allowed Maria to dig through his very soul.
Now that she had absorbed a Nightmare Fragment and had even turned Nightmare Power into a stat, she was more than capable of harming the Nightmare Demon King using the same element against him.
Perhaps at the beginning of her journey here, it would have been much harder, but thanks to all the interactions and challenges she faced in this world, she had grown powerful enough to not just face him…
But humiliate him!
"I SAID STOOOOP!"
The Nightmare Demon King grew furious, and in his agony, he improvised, rapidly conjuring giant beams of darkness out of pocket within his Nightmare Domain, dimensional attacks that he had just come out with in this desperate situation.
"Hmm, that looks troublesome, you're figuring out how to fight, finally? Seriously…"
Maria's crimson eye glowed with a pink and silver glow, as her Moonlight Essence emerged from her body, rapidly manifesting into several Silver Moon Mirrors rotating around her.
Indeed, although she didn't use this power as much nowadays, it was still part of her arsenal, and also her trump cards!
"{Eternal Moon Mirror: Mystical Moon Phase Circle}"
Each mirror glowed brightly, taking upon all the beams at the same time as they rotated, leaving the Nightmare Demong King speechless, before firing the dimensional beams back at him.
"UUGGHH?! NO WAY…!"
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
The Nightmare Demon King was filled with massive holes, his own attacks becoming his approaching demise.
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