Demi-human Girls Completion Manual Chapter 1574 - 91: Endings Everywhere

"Hmm."

Holan gave a helpless smile, then stretched out his hands, and from his sleeves fell numerous bird corpses flapping their wings. Those birds quickly grasped his clothing with a tacit understanding, lifting him from the ground and flying towards the widely open Seeking Knowledge Gate.

Below, Emhardt watched him leave, clearly still uneasy. Unfortunately, he was just a book and couldn’t accomplish much, so he could only reluctantly fly back into Paimon’s palace to tend to Moli, who was wrapped by the power of the base.

In the palace, Moli kept her eyes tightly closed, struggling with the omnipresent chill. Time seemed thick and sticky in this difficult process, making each day feel like a year to Moli.

At this moment, a whisper suddenly reached her ears, uncertain from where it came. Was it an expression from the depths of her heart, or a murmur from some unknown void?

Moli lowered her head, her broad chest rising and falling with her breaths, soon exhaling a thin Scarlet Mist from her mouth.

"Outside... What’s happening outside... Emhardt... First..."

"Uh, outside... nothing much; focus on yourself. It’s okay."

"Then... where is Mr. Fischer? When will he... be back?"

"Uh, he’ll be back soon."

"How soon is... soon?"

"That, it should be..."

"A thousand years aren’t enough... five thousand years aren’t enough... must it be... ten thousand years..."

"W-What?"

"But... I’m really... unable to hold on... I’m really... becoming..."

"What, Moli... Moli, what are you talking about? Listen, Mr. Fischer is up there now! Calm down, you will see him!!"

"...Really...?"

"Really, you must stay calm!"

But Moli no longer responded to Emhardt. She merely bowed her head, then suddenly spoke in a language Emhardt couldn’t understand,

"どこ...どこにいるの...先生..."

"What-what-what, Moli, what are you saying... don’t speak nonsense, you’re scaring me!"

Emhardt grew increasingly anxious, believing Moli was uncomfortable and speaking incoherently due to agitation, so he nervously flew around inside the palace uncontrollably.

...

...

"Boom!"

With Holan’s ascent, the impending death became even more alarming, though this was merely a sensory perception. The deathly Authority hadn’t fully taken form, and the Death Goddess hadn’t completely awakened yet. Visually, apart from noticing the magma growing more restless, nothing else was discernible.

He soon stopped near an open, ethereal door in midair, standing on the protruding rock walls on either side, contemplating how to close the non-physical door.

After hesitating for a moment, he gently reached into his robe and drew out a revolver. Then, with a sudden leap, he entered the space expanding in midair.

"Dong!"

Yet, as he leaped into the air, a bandage-wrapped scepter shot out suddenly. Upon its emergence, the scepter violently burst, unwrapping the bandages around it and forming a cross-shaped tip, locking Holan’s neck within it, suspending his body from entering the gate.

"Urgh!"

Holan quickly grabbed the scepter’s handle to prevent himself from falling from midair. After all, he wasn’t Mythical Rank like those demons or Fisher, nor did he have wings. Falling would mean being slowly pulled back up by those little birds.

The next moment, a hunched, heavily bandaged humanoid figure emerged from the dark gate, clutching the scepter tightly and speaking in an exceedingly dreadful voice,

"Who is it... oh, another unfortunate soul... Look at you, just like me, stripped of death, left with nothingness by the deprivation of death... truly pitiful."

Upon seeing Holan’s face, Solomon hesitated slightly, then decided to let him go, yanking the scepter along with Holan back into the shadowy space behind the gate.

"But it’s okay, you know, very soon, very soon, our relief will come... because... because that master has truly shown us a clear path..."

Solomon, nearing madness, hurled Holan to the ground. Holan quickly turned to look beside him, realizing they were now in a place enveloped by a rich deathly aura. From beneath their feet, countless chaotic substances connected the open, ethereal doors on all sides, numbering precisely ten.

And as those ten doors opened, the death hidden beneath the chaotic matter began stirring and leaked out mysterious blue light.

Soon after, Holan heard one sound after another, like the powerful beats of some entity’s heart...

"Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump..."

But these heartbeats weren’t singular; soon, another rhythmically distinct heartbeat sounded, followed by a third, and then a fourth...

"Thump... Thump... Thump... Thump..."

"Do you hear it, boy?" Solomon listened attentively, his grin growing increasingly exaggerated. He turned to Holan and asked, "Do you know what these sounds are? Do you know where they come from?"