"Do you know when people become old?"

"People constantly endure the torment of fate, subjected to the almost infinite malicious suspicion in life."

"Tasted the hesitation of every choice, and the bitter consequences that come after hesitating."

"People finally choose to believe that suffering is endless. Life is an endless hardship."

"That is when people grow old."

"They have become compelled to believe in fate, to rely on past experiences to survive, and to believe that the world is a huge stage where tragedies are constantly replayed."

"They become grumbling, unpredictable, cunning, and skeptical of anyone who shows them kindness."

"I take back what I said, Maria. You have indeed grown old." Oedipus approached Maria, who was kneeling, and gently touched her face with the back of his hand.

"I'm just using the trick of Altria's expert dismemberment magic."

"It's the same trick Pandora just used, remember?"

"The larger the section of the body that is cut open, the more intense the flames sprayed by that magic."

"But you genuinely wished to deify me, thinking that I possess magic that is unheard of by all of you."

"You could have discussed with Pandora in advance how to deal with my plan."

"Remind the Goddess of War not to use her usual hacking and slashing, resulting in such large wounds."

"What a pity, you did nothing. You have let down everyone who entrusted their lives to you, treating them all as mere tools."

"But the most unfortunate of all is Jeanne... tsk tsk tsk, you actually allowed a young and promising girl to accompany a bunch of old people to their death..." Mocking words spilled from Oedipus' mouth one by one.

"It's you who is pitiful, isn't it?" Maria's gaze seemed to have lost its sharpness, staring blankly at Oedipus. Those bright eyes seemed to contain no hint of hatred, as if they were completely restrained.

"A normal human wouldn't keep mocking the losers after winning."

"You believe that through observing intense emotions, you can glimpse some secret human nature and attempt to learn the joy of humanity..."

"Lucifer, I don't know what your ultimate goal is. But with just this emotion, you are never worthy... hahaha." Maria couldn't help but smile lightly, as if mocking Oedipus, but also like self-ridicule of her own situation.

"Just with your inferiority, you dare to mention Joan!?" In the calm conversation, Maria suddenly burst forth like a thunderbolt on flat ground covered in ice.

Instantly, Maria forcefully propped up her riddled body, moved closer to Oedipus' side, and attempted to bite off his ear.

"Is this your final fight before death?" Oedipus fiercely kicked Maria, evading the attack. Oedipus' immense strength cracked the ground.

"You didn't use your full strength, did you? I see, you just want to die."

"Just want to end it all, wanting to escape the sea of suffering."

"Then let me ask you, what about Joan? What about the Goddesses of War? Did they die in vain?"

"You only think about yourself, only care about your own affairs. In reality, you are no different from me, aren't you?" Oedipus turned his sole, wiping off the blood from Maria that had stuck to it.

"You won't die...otherwise, what's the difference between you and fleeing to avoid punishment?"

Oedipus came to Maria, who was lying in a pool of blood.

"But since you failed this time, I can't let you off without punishment, otherwise, what will I do if you challenge me every day..."

"By the way, you just called me by that name, right?" Oedipus casually reached out, and a tentacle-like magician's hand grew out from behind her.

"Including the one just now, you called me five times today, so let's cut off your five limbs."

Oedipus's tentacles flew out like bullets, hitting Maria's arm and smashing it along with a large piece of land, just like hitting tofu.

"Oh, it seems that most of them were called by others...never mind."

"Ah!" Maria's heart-wrenching scream echoed through the entire valley, soon to be drowned out by the gurgling lava around her.

"Although it's five limbs, once the head is cut off, the person is dead. So let's cut off a pair of breasts as punishment."

"Ah ah ah!!!" Another arm burst out of Maria's mouth with large amounts of blood, accompanied by a painful moan.

"Don't even think about healing, okay? If I see you restore your four limbs next time, I may come up with a more severe punishment than this."

"Cough, gurgle pop!!!" Oedipus forcefully tore off one of Maria's left legs. But Maria couldn't make a louder sound anymore, the spring-like blood choked her throat, making it impossible for her to even scream.

"We're only halfway there, so don't go into shock now, okay? I have something important to tell you next."

"Burp, hiss, hiss..." Maria felt that she had completely lost the ability to retain her consciousness. Both the psychological and physical pain had far exceeded the threshold that an ordinary human could bear.

Somehow, Maria suddenly felt a strange feeling of fullness, and started to hiccup blood. And the hissing sound from her mouth couldn't be stopped.

"Hmm, whether you're listening or not, I'll start talking anyway."

"Just now, I thought about it and realized that just letting you go like this is too cheap."

"After careful consideration, I remembered that you seem to be very confident about your relationships with your relatives, your siblings, your aides, and yourself."

"So, after this, I will hang you in front of your home's gate like this for ten days."

"If any of your family or comrades dare to come and rescue you during this period, I will let you go. But what if no one comes? If you can endure the wind and sun for ten days, I will also let you off. How about that?"

While Oedipus was talking, his hands were not idle. He mercilessly tore off Maria's last leg.

"Can't be true? Already unconscious?" Oedipus looked at Maria, who had lost a leg, surprisingly silent.

"I was still thinking about holding you accountable for destroying the carriage I came in. But you fell asleep just like this."

"You really are a sleepyhead."

With that, Oedipus raised his hand and controlled the tentacles behind him to cut off Maria's **.

Leaning close to the dying Maria, Oedipus pressed her head and whispered into her ear.

"Just to avenge Joan, you also want to stay alive, don't you?" Oedipus' whisper, like the quiet murmur of a nightmare, deeply carved into Maria's mind, never fading no matter how much time passed.