Ahaha! Pathetic! Just as I thought! Even the almighty Archangel is nothing but another slave to superior power!
Mammon pins the razor-sharp umbrella tip against Raphael's chest, methodically driving it through her body over and over. This woman caused her too many humiliations. She won't give the arrogant Angel the mercy of a swift death.
The golden runes covering Raphael's body grow dim, the gaping wound in her chest tears open again and again only to heal moments later, and the core nestled beneath her ribs flickers weakly. Her clashes with Gray Raven and "Mammon" have drained nearly all her power.
...Stop! Don't you dare... humiliate me like this!
The dying Angel summons her last shred of strength to grab her tormentor's hand, but the defiant palm is instantly skewered by jagged bone spurs jutting from Mammon's knee.
Humiliation? It's just a taste of pain, and you dare call it humiliation?!
The once-elegant lady who always carried herself with perfect grace has discarded that mask, giving away her hatred without restraint.
I'm only giving you back a tenth, a mere tenth, of what I suffered, and already you're crying about humiliation...
The mighty Archangel, how laughably soft a life of luxury has made you!
Aaaaahhh!
Mammon rams the umbrella's razor tip straight into the core. Something tears apart inside the Angel's body with a sickening crack, and Madam Raphael's composure finally shatters. Her agonized scream cuts through the air.
What do you think you're doing? Getting revenge? Your pathetic human impulses disgust me!
Blood seeps between her clenched teeth as she forces out her final words of hatred in the last moments before consciousness abandons her completely.
I gave you the chance to disappear into some new town and live under a false name. But you? You kept picking fights with the Sanctuary, again and again, throwing your soul onto the table like gambling chips for the most trivial desires.
Yes, I stacked the deck against you. But even if I hadn't, some other Angel would have come for you eventually.
Eleanor, you were nothing but trouble and selfish to your core. The path you chose was always going to burn you alive, yet you blame all your failures on my interference.
Your reign won't last! This City of No Return... is doomed to fall!
Shut up. Just admit you're the one who lost this round. That's all you need to do.
Ever since she was gunned down in the Sanctuary's rigged game, all her pent-up hatred and bitter resentment finally find their release in this moment.
I've proven it. I'm the one who came out on top in the end. I deserve every bit of my ambition, every desire I've ever had...
And you, Raphael, die like the mongrel you are.
Done with this emotional debate, "Mammon" reaches out and rips the core from Raphael's chest, then crushes it in her fist.
The pale golden, crystalline heart turns to powder in her grasp, its glittering fragments falling like scattered jewels. Raphael's broken body dissolves with it into points of light that drift away on the wind.
The Archangel meets her end in silence, utterly destroyed by that overwhelming force, reduced to nothing but wisps of smoke.
You witness it all from behind, along with the raven slowly waking on the throne.
Faced with this mad and terrifyingly powerful new form, you can only manage to stammer out a single question.
It doesn't matter. Names are meaningless to me now.
Her hand still clenched from crushing Raphael's core, she turns to face you in a silent declaration of the power she now wields.
Now that she's come this far, there's no need for masks or pretense. She won't run from the lies she's told.
Gray Raven, you're the only person I've ever encountered who hasn't betrayed me. For that, I'm willing to reward you.
Stay here with me. The City of No Return will provide you with everything your heart desires, endlessly...
Isn't that better than the endless scheming and betrayal waiting for you out there?
Sorry, but that promise was never meant to be kept.
She gestures toward the skeletal figure enthroned on the crumbling seat of power. The last Mammon died years ago, yet the Golden Law continues its silent work, endlessly funneling the world's treasures here.
Bound by the Golden Law, every Mammon is trapped here for life and condemned to serve as the living heart of that very law within the City of No Return.
I'll rule the City of No Return from here. At least until the next Mammon comes to claim my throne.
And you, Gray Raven. I want you here beside me, sharing in all this wealth, savoring the ultimate fulfillment of every desire.
But it's nothing more than a trap! This place is barely bigger than a prison cell. What's the difference between staying here forever and being locked up!
Morigan cuts in, shattering the illusion of paradise with harsh reality.
You mean I'm trapping myself? Honestly, I don't care. This crown has finally satisfied the hunger that's been gnawing at me all this time.
She surveys the vast city contained within its bottle. The labyrinthine corridors that once seemed so bewildering now appear as nothing more than simple layouts she can grasp at a glance from her place beside the throne.
Throughout every corner of the City of No Return, unquenchable infernal furnaces blaze endlessly, belching streams of gleaming Mammon coins from their hellish flames.
Through the Golden Law's workings, these coins flow out into every purse across the world. Generation after generation, each Golden King has wielded this very system to control the economic heartbeat of the Scorched Borderland.
She feels a pang of loneliness thinking about the life ahead, but what swells stronger in her chest is something else entirely. It's the deep satisfaction of finally having found her sanctuary.
Out there, I was nothing but a victim, deceived, cast out, powerless. But here? Here, everything rests in the palm of my hand.
If this is what makes me happy... then tell me, why shouldn't I stay?
Pile of bones? Tell me, Gray Raven, what makes you and me so different?
Standing beside the throne, she slowly turns to lock eyes with you, who dared to question her.
You know... I've always been curious about what drives you. What desires are you hiding?
You raise your palm, and you and the raven are instantly seized by an invisible force, yanked violently into the air.
Beneath you, a rust-red chasm tears through the void, widening rapidly until it becomes a hole large enough to swallow a person whole, a bloody maw eager to devour both you and the raven.
With a casual flick of her finger, the Golden King opens the gateway to endless illusions, then slowly claims her place upon the throne.
A human like you, so righteous, so honest, practically incapable of acting in your own self-interest...
I wonder what you'll look like once I peel away that veneer of moral restraint?
Her expression has grown unnervingly calm, stripped of the polished, fake smile she once wore like a mask.
In that fleeting moment, you catch a glimpse of the true essence beneath, the person who was once Lilith, once the Famine Knight.
A kindness carefully hidden beneath layers of lies and deception, fragile and faint, yet undeniably real.
Like a coal buried beneath layers of snow, hidden yet searing hot, dissolving into steam the instant it's discovered.
But before you can even process what this means, she's already hurled both her former Bloodsworn and the raven into the abyss without a shred of mercy.
Go then, show me everything you truly are.
...And don't you dare hold back on me, hmm?
She folds her hands.
Bang!
Clutching the raven close to your chest, you plummet through endless darkness.
The chasm stretches endlessly downward. It feels like you are tumbling through a rabbit's burrow for ages, spinning and falling until finally slamming headfirst into the rocky walls below.
You hold your aching head and shakily pull yourself upright, only to realize this cavern dwarfs anything you could have imagined—
Rows of circular, geometric structures stretch across the barren landscape like road signs, and the empty structures offer no shelter or comfort, existing in eerie silence without pattern or reason.
Beyond these structures, the world offers nothing but silence. No wind stirs the air, no rain breaks the stillness, no plants rustle, and no creatures cry out.
This place seems to exist outside the bounds of natural law, governed by its own mysterious principles.
Caw! That ungrateful little brat! After all we've done for her, she just kicks us down here like garbage!
Morigan follows you, yelling at the usual volume, but even its familiar squawking sounds extra loud against the oppressive silence.
You venture deeper, searching for clues, but the structures reveal nothing, as though they had been built for no reason. This place itself rejects the notion of revealing its secrets to outsiders.
Knocking on the walls proves futile. No dust shakes loose, no echo bounces back. The structure itself seems to defy any attempt at change.
A rare visitor... First time in the Infinite Illusion Realm?
The answer comes in an oddly distorted voice. Turning around, you spot a shadowy figure hovering in midair, its features completely obscured.
Oh my! You actually still have a face. Now that's unusual! I've got to tell Mammon right away. What an unusual guest!
At the sight of human features, the shadow practically vibrates with unnatural excitement, its voice climbing to an almost shrill pitch.
Here? This is my Spiral Graveyard. I was curious what it'd look like to line up buildings like this along a street, so I just went ahead and built it.
The shadow shrugs.
Of course! Wait, you didn't know? You just wandered in here without knowing the rules?
The shadow freezes, then bursts into sharp, unending laughter.
Ahahahaha, oh my god, this is incredible! I absolutely have to go and tell everyone. This is front-page news!
In the dead silence, his piercing laughter spirals upward through the architecture, echoing endlessly until it merges into one chaotic resonance.
Once its laughter finally dies down, it seems ready to explain what it found so hilarious.
Friend, let me tell you something. This is your life's top moment, a once-in-a-lifetime miracle that'll never happen again. The Supreme Heaven just showed you some serious mercy.
Welcome to the Infinite Illusion Realm, a paradise where your every wish can come true. Here, anything and everything is possible... except bringing your Maria back to life.
