999,999+ Max Stat: Even the Gods Can't Stop Me

Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Proud

"Why did you lie?" he asked.

There was silence there. A long pause. Amon looked down as both of them gazed at him. This was why. This was the reason he never came here to visit her.

Use skill, Devourer Darkness.

[Skill used: Devourer Darkness, A Tier skill]

[Darkness detected]

[Devouring: 1%...4%...]

The process started. The darkness around them began to thin in small pieces as Amon kept his head lowered for several more seconds.

He did not move. Claude stood in front of him. Liliana sat a short distance away. Neither of them spoke while the numbers climbed.

Finally he looked up at both of them, mostly at Claude. His eyes were slightly broken. Well, he could not blame him. He was lying then, and he was still lying, and he would keep lying until his job was done.

"Claude..." Amon called, "...I didn’t lie."

"Then what was it? Don’t say you were trying to save me the burden and all that shitty shenanigans."

Liliana sat back. A small smile appeared on her lips. "Now you see him, like I see him."

Claude ignored her. "I know you are going through grief. I didn’t ask about it. I didn’t ask about Nyima."

The room turned tense right then and there.

"Stop..." Amon warned.

"Nyima?" Liliana questioned. "Who the fuck is that?"

Claude walked near him where he stood. "People are dying, Amon. They are suffering. It doesn’t need to happen, if only you’d grieve properly."

Amon gripped his knuckles tight. He looked away from him. Something inside him boiled up. He had thought he’d calmed it down, but her name alone churned something inside him.

Cheering would never... he compared.

He thought as dark thoughts started to gather. He looked at Claude and back to Liliana.

Should I bother with this? Should I just end it?

He huffed, controlling himself. No. If violence and death solved things, the world would already have turned to heaven. But it isn’t.

"Amon..." Claude called again, observing him and his reaction. Those reactions told stories and epics he had seen before. He knew he shouldn’t push further. But—

"If you go through with your plan, gather the keys, then... then what that mission prompt showed will come true..."

"What!" Amon muttered. Him? Destroy the world? He had protected this world, the very land they both stood on, and they believed a prompt more than their master?

Amon knew it then and there. His two disciples—they were not his allies. They chose a system prompt over me, like he’d thought.

"I was going to just leave, but..." Amon said.

[Devouring complete: 100%]

The darkness that Liliana had conjured now belonged fully to him. Amon brought his hand up and simply brought his fingers together. Claude and Liliana knew what he was up to.

"Amon!"

"Wait!"

Both of them screamed.

Snap!

Both of them froze in time. Or whatever was inside the darkness Liliana conjured. Yes, he made her darkness his. As always, darkness was immensely malleable. She could only fast-forward time; she never learned it could also be paused.

"Haaa, why? Why did you make me do this?" he asked, placing his hand on Claude’s head. He would crush it because of the words he’d just said, but he needed him.

So he only did what was best.

[Erasing...]

[Erasing complete]

The process finished in seconds. Claude’s body stayed still. His face remained locked in the expression he had worn a moment earlier. Amon removed his hand and stepped away. Now it was Liliana’s turn.

He walked to her. His hand moved toward her head.

[Erasing...]

[Erasing failed!]

He stopped. It was a waste, honestly.

Huh, she already has defensive spells ready inside her skull... typical Liliana, always ready.

His eyes saw it. Spell circles written on her skull. Marked everywhere. Instead of placing his hand on her head, he placed it on her cheek.

A smile appeared on his lips.

"It was nice meeting you again," he said, taking back his divinity. Her form slowly changed back to normal. Her chest filling out. Her thighs getting thicker. Her face looking more mature and older.

"But farewell..." he said.

[Curse transferred]

[Medium: Baal]

The transfer completed. He felt the connection settle, and then fade from his side.

He sighed and turned back as he held Claude by the shoulder. He looked at him again, at his face, still frozen in time. Clearly panicking.

"Don’t worry, this nightmare is now over."

Snap!

Doom!

The sound faded. The darkness around them collapsed inward and vanished. The frozen state on Claude ended at the same moment.

After some moments, Claude gradually opened his eyes. His body kept shaking. He looked to his side. He was moving. No, the car was moving.

"Finally woke up, numbstick?" Amon asked, his hand on the wheel.

Claude turned to Amon. "Huh? When did I..." he muttered, properly waking up. "I thought we were in that dark forest?"

"Oh, it seems she wasn’t there..." Amon replied.

"Huh? Then how are we gonna get the key?"

Amon smiled as he took out the key. "She wasn’t there, but the key was. She must have known I would come for the key, so she just left it behind."

"Damn, really?" Claude asked. "Nice. So where are we going then? You already know where the other key is?"

"Who do you think I am? I always know..." Amon muttered, turning right. "It’s in Mexico, near the border."

"Ha! Same as always, Amon the immortal, the one who knows everything."

Amon nodded as he smiled, smiling slightly menacingly.

Claude spoke again after a stretch of silence. "So we just... left? No fight? Nothing?"

"She was gone before we arrived," Amon said. "No point staying."

"And the key was just sitting there?"

"Pretty much, yes."

Claude leaned back against the headrest. He stared out the side window for a while. Trees passed in a blur. Then open fields. Then more trees. He asked the next question without turning his head.

"You sure it was the right key?"

Amon pulled the key out far enough for Claude to see the shape and the mark on its side. He nodded, and Amon put it back.

"Mexico," Claude said. "Near the border. Which side?"

"The one that matters."

"Stop speaking like some ancient one," Claude complained.

Amon looked at him, his eyes saying, look at me, I am literally thousands and thousands of years old.

"I get it, I get it. You are ancient, but still, it’s fucking annoying..."

"Haha, my little numbstick, it’s the only answer you need right now."

Claude went quiet again. His hands rested on his knees. Every few minutes he would glance at Amon’s profile, then look away. The expression on Amon’s face did not change. The slight smile stayed in place.

While driving, Amon thought about the earlier scene. The moment Claude said the name. He had thought he would not be bothered much, but the way the air had thickened... The decision to use the skill instead of continuing the conversation.

Claude shifted in his seat. "You still look like you’re thinking about something heavy."

"I’m driving... what’s worse?"

"You always look like that when you’re driving or when you’re thinking of something devious or guilty. I just don’t know which."

Amon did not answer. He adjusted the mirror a fraction and kept the speed steady.

"That forest felt kinda wrong. Even before everything went dark. I thought there was going to be another boss fight. You felt it too?"

"Yeah."

"And she just left the key. Like she knew. I’m still confused about that part. She’s called Mother of Witches. The Lady of Shadows."

"Haaaa, yes, she just did..."

"How?"

"Because she is Liliana. One of my proud disciples."