Chapter 100 – Greatest Error

The purple flames had spread across the walls of the underground hall, their unnatural glow crawling over the stone surfaces like living creatures. Thick waves of violet fire danced and twisted, filling the chamber with an oppressive heat that made the air shimmer. The flames had completely surrounded the abyss, cutting off the Goddess's divine vision from anyone within its boundaries. No longer could her eyes reach into this place, which meant that Lireina could no longer activate any of her Goddess Blessings. Without the Goddess's intervention, she had lost one of her greatest advantages. However, that was the least of her concerns now. The truth she had desperately tried to deny was far more painful than the loss of her divine protection.

The broken pieces of Azazel's mask fell to the ground, scattering across the stone floor with a series of sharp metallic clanks. A few fragments continued to slide across the surface before finally coming to a stop near Shin's feet. The sound gradually faded, leaving behind an unbearable silence that seemed to swallow the entire underground hall. Even the crackling of the purple flames felt distant compared to the overwhelming tension between the two of them. Blood trickled down from Shin's scalp, leaving a thin crimson trail along the side of his face. Lireina's bullet had narrowly missed his head, grazing his skin and drawing blood, but he barely seemed to notice the wound. His attention remained fixed on the woman standing before him.

Lireina's jaw trembled as she struggled to contain her emotions. Her eyes slowly welled up with tears, and her vision became blurred as she stared at the exposed face beneath Azazel's shattered mask. For a moment, she closed her eyes and shook her head, as though doing so might somehow undo what had just happened. She wanted to wake up from this terrible nightmare. She wanted to see Shin smiling at her again, hear his familiar voice, and pretend that the man standing before her was still the person she had fallen in love with. But no matter how desperately she wished otherwise, the truth remained right in front of her. There was no mistaking his face, his voice, or the armor that had concealed his identity. Taking a shaky breath, she forced herself to stand straight and raised her gaze toward the man who had betrayed her trust.

“Shin...” Lireina paused, her voice barely escaping her trembling lips. She swallowed hard, trying to steady her breathing, but the pain in her chest made every word difficult to utter. “I never wanted it to be you...”

“Lena...” Shin's voice trembled as he looked at her. His usual composure had begun to crumble, and even his expression carried a mixture of sadness and resignation. “Yes... I am Azazel. The First Halochassis. The ace of the Iron Bandits. And the one who ended the age of heroes.”

Lireina slowly lowered her pistol. Her fingers loosened around the grip, and the weapon hung heavily at her side as her entire body began to shake. She could feel her knees growing weak, but she forced herself to remain standing. Unable to bear looking at Shin any longer, she wrapped her arms around herself, clutching her own shoulders as though trying to keep herself from falling apart. “You used me. You used Croft. All those conversations, all those investigations... You were only using us to kill my friends.”

“Yes. And as a result, the corrupted Celestial Wardens are gone,” Shin answered with unwavering certainty. He did not attempt to deny her accusations or make excuses for his actions. Instead, he looked at her as though the outcome had justified every sacrifice along the way. “This world shall finally be healed from their evil.”

“I should have apprehended you when I had the chance,” Lireina mumbled. Her voice was quiet, but there was a bitter regret behind those words. She remembered all the opportunities she had been given, all the suspicious moments she had dismissed, and all the times she had allowed herself to trust him. Perhaps she could have stopped everything before the situation reached this point.

“Oh? You knew it was me?” Shin tilted his head slightly, a faint smile appearing on his face despite the blood running down his scalp. His expression suggested genuine surprise, though there was also a hint of amusement in his voice. “Did Croft tell you?”

Lireina slowly shook her head. “I wasn't sure at first. I remembered the way you stopped during the chaos in the Northern Fortress. You had the chance to take my hand, but you hesitated. And then there was the way you almost reached out to me...” Her voice grew weaker as she recalled those moments. “I had a feeling that it was you. Something about the way you acted made me suspicious, but I kept telling myself that I was imagining things. I convinced myself that there was no way you could be Azazel. I really wanted to believe in you, Shin, because I love you.” Her lips quivered, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “But you were lying to us the whole time. You were lying to me...”

Shin's expression softened as he listened to her confession. Her words struck a part of him that he had desperately tried to suppress, and for a moment, the certainty in his eyes seemed to waver. He remembered their time together, the conversations they had shared, and the moments when he had allowed himself to forget that they were supposed to be enemies. He had known that revealing his identity would hurt her, but seeing the tears streaming down her face made the consequences of his deception far more difficult to ignore. Still, he had already gone too far to turn back now. Taking a small step toward her, he raised one hand as though trying to reach for her.

“Please, Lena. Can we end this?” Shin pleaded, his voice growing more desperate. “The war is over. The Iron Bandits are all dead. The Celestial Wardens are all gone. There is only us now. We can forget everything that happened and look towards a brighter future! We can leave all this bloodshed behind and finally live the life we wanted together! We-”

“I'm done with that!” Lireina cried, abruptly raising her pistol and pointing its barrel directly at Shin. Her voice echoed throughout the underground hall, cutting through the crackling flames. Her hand was shaking so badly that the muzzle wavered, but she refused to lower the weapon again. “If you had only taken my hand that time, we wouldn't be here! If you had just stopped what you were doing, everything could have been different! We could have found another way! We could have lived a happy life together, Shin! We could have left everything behind without having to kill each other or destroy this entire world!”

“That's all in the past, Lena! It's over and done with! Water under the bridge!” Shin reasoned, desperately trying to convince her that there was still a future for them. He spread his arms slightly, as though presenting the destruction around them as something they could simply walk away from. To him, the war had ended, their enemies had been defeated, and there was no longer any reason to continue fighting. Yet his words only seemed to deepen the pain in Lireina's heart.

“Water under the bridge!?” Lireina gasped, her eyes widening in disbelief. Her voice cracked as she struggled to process the sheer absurdity of his words. “You killed my comrades! You killed innocent civilians! You ruined this empire! You killed Croft! Do you honestly think I can just forget all of that and pretend nothing happened? Do you think all those lives mean nothing just because you've finally achieved what you wanted?”

“Didn't you kill the dark elves and the demons indiscriminately!?” Shin retorted. His voice rose as he finally pushed back against her accusations, and the sadness in his expression gave way to anger.

“No! Those were different!” Lireina cried, struggling to keep her pistol aimed at Shin. Her arms trembled, and her fingers tightened around the weapon's grip as tears continued streaming down her cheeks. She desperately wanted to believe that there was still some good left in the man she once loved, but the revelations had shattered whatever remained of her trust. “I know you! I know you were rotten to the core! I knew that you killed that priest when you were just four years old! I knew that you killed my friends for fun! I thought I could change your heart, Shin! I thought that beneath all that cruelty, there was still a person capable of love! But I was wrong the whole time!” Her voice echoed through the underground hall, mixing with the crackling of the purple flames that continued consuming the cathedral. “I'm not going to let your twisted, sadistic nature corrupt anyone else anymore!”

“You fool! I told you, this will be the last time!” Shin shouted. His patience had finally reached its limit, and his expression twisted with frustration. He clenched his fists, his wounded scalp still bleeding from the bullet that had grazed him. “If you don't want to start a new life with me, then shoot me! Come on! What are you waiting for?”

Shin pressed his hand against the crimson gem embedded in the chest of his power armor. The gemstone immediately illuminated, releasing a bright reddish-purple glow that spread across the dark armor plates. A series of mechanical clicks followed as the internal systems of Azazel activated. The crimson lights running along its body became brighter, while the surrounding air began to vibrate with the immense energy accumulating inside the armor. A warning appeared before Shin's eyes.

[Activating Self Destruct Mode]

[Halochassis will Self Destruct once the wielder's Life Force is Gone]

Shin smiled as he looked directly at Lireina. It was a terrible smile, one that carried both desperation and a strange sense of anticipation. “Once my heart stops beating, Azazel will explode! This entire cathedral will become nothing but the epicenter of a massive explosion! Everything within its vicinity will be reduced to ashes!”

“Damn you, Shin!” Lireina screamed. Her pistol remained pointed at him, but she could feel her hands shaking more violently than before. She knew how dangerous Azazel was, especially with its self-destruct mechanism activated. The energy gathering inside the armor was enough to destroy the underground cathedral and potentially bring down everything above it. Yet Shin seemed completely indifferent to the possibility of dying, as though he had already accepted that his life would end here.

“I want to make a deal with you, Lena.” Shin said as he slowly spread out his hand, reaching toward her. His voice suddenly softened, and the anger in his expression gave way to an almost pleading look. “Forgive my sins, and let's start anew. We should begin from zero and build a brighter future together. Everything that happened before can stay in the past. We can forget the hatred, the bloodshed, and all the people who stood between us. Just give me another chance, Lena. That's all I ask.”

“Future!?” Lireina roared, her eyes widening with fury. She could hardly believe that Shin was still talking about a future together after everything he had done. Her grip on the pistol tightened until her knuckles turned pale. “You will have no future! Not with me! Not with anyone else! Not even with this baby I have in my womb! I will not let you have a happy ending!”

“Lena, you...” Shin gasped. His eyes widened, and for a brief moment, the anger disappeared from his face. “You are pregnant!?”

He was almost happy. The revelation struck him with an unexpected wave of emotion, and his expression softened as he stared at her. Despite everything that had happened between them, the thought of having a child with Lireina filled him with a happiness he had never anticipated. For an instant, he imagined a different future, one where the two of them could raise their child together and leave the horrors of the past behind. But that fleeting dream was shattered almost immediately by Lireina's next words.

“Nothing that happens now is any of your concern, Shin!” Lireina roared. Her voice was filled with so much hatred that it seemed to cut through the very air between them. “You need to be erased from the face of this universe! And if I survive this, I'll take care of this baby... without you! I'll make sure that this child will never follow in your footsteps! Your very existence is a mistake! Loving you was my greatest error!”

Shin's temper finally reached its breaking point. His expression darkened, and his entire body began to tremble with rage. The crimson energy coursing through Azazel's armor flickered as he lowered his outstretched hand. Slowly, he reached for the magnum secured to his side and drew it from its holster. The metallic click of the weapon echoed through the chamber as he raised its barrel and pointed it directly at Lireina. His fingers tightened around the trigger, while the crimson glow of his armor reflected against the gun's polished surface. For a brief moment, neither of them moved. They simply stared at each other, the two people who had once shared their happiest moments now standing on opposite sides of an irreversible tragedy.

“LENA!!!” Shin screamed, his voice filled with fury and despair.

“SHIN!!!” Lireina screamed back, tears streaming down her face as she steadied her pistol for the final time.

And then, at the very same moment, the two lovers pulled their triggers. Two gunshots rang out simultaneously, their deafening reports echoing throughout the dark abyss as the sound of gunfire mingled with the relentless crackling of the hellish purple flames. The bullets flew toward their respective targets, carrying with them the final remnants of a love that had been consumed by betrayal, hatred, and countless deaths. Somewhere within that abyss, the crimson light of Azazel continued to burn as the underground cathedral disappeared beneath the flames of hell.

[HALOCHASSIS END]