Chapter 340: Evil God Subjugation (7) |
On one side, endless light spread out, and on the other side, endless void.
Ice shards shattered with a crisp sound, and embers crackled, leaping like fresh volcanic eruptions.
Explosions occurred from the mere impact of our mana clashing.
Boom!!!
A series of deafening explosions. World-ending level magic clashed multiple times.
Even after using [Ice Moon] to stop time and unleash ice magic, with the Magic Beast Daikan firing cold magic from its mouth, and [Cocytus] being unleashed several times… all I could manage was to neutralize the Evil God’s widespread flames.
Having experienced the level of a transcendent before, I could painfully understand the difference.
I was a human who had not reached divinity.
On the other hand, the Evil God had already attained divinity.
As Stella the Star Fairy had said, there was an enormous gap between the current Evil God and the one in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.
While it was nothing like the timeline where I was utterly defeated by just a flick of her finger, my power still didn’t match the Evil God’s.
Even if I used the ultimate power left by Ozma, the one that boosted my [vs. Race Combat Power] by 1.5 times, it was uncertain whether I could defeat the Evil God.
That power had to remain as a trump card in my plan, no matter what.
The Evil God would definitely find a way to counter it.
If I recklessly reveal my hand without being sure of victory, that would be when all hope truly collapses.
I repeatedly calculated the highest-level magic, spinning the mana within my circuits furiously, constantly racking my brain to choose the best option each moment.
Fwoooosh!!
“Urgh!!”
I soared upwards, resisting the fiercely burning flames of destruction with a powerful chill.
My vision flickered. It was no wonder, disasters were colliding with other disasters.
Kaya had healed me, but my body was already in a terrible state.
Kaya…
By now, Kaya must have fainted.
She had used [Yggdrasil] to immobilize the Evil God, even for a brief moment, which must have consumed her life force.
That was one thing to be thankful for.
Kaya used the seed of Yggdrasil, which she wore like a necklace, as a catalyst for the plant magic [Yggdrasil]. The life force she expended would have been replaced by the life force contained in that seed.
From the moment Kaya used [Yggdrasil], the fusion between her and the seed had begun. The life force she sacrificed would have likely returned to her.
The unfortunate thing was that I could no longer count on Kaya’s exceptional healing magic. She must be at her limit too.
In other words, if we fall now, it would truly be the end.
I had to corner the Evil God here.
Amidst countless explosions, I quickly wiped the blood from my head before it seeped into my eyes.
My whole body was covered in blood from being caught in several powerful steam explosions. It was a miracle I managed to avoid losing any limbs.
But I didn’t hesitate. I also tried not to show any signs of exhaustion.
Fwoosh!!
A massive fire, burning everything indiscriminately, poured down like a rainstorm, but with overwhelming power.
Several black orbs, which devoured space and turned it into nothingness, flew toward me silently. It was void magic.
Each attack, a catastrophe in itself, targeted only me.
Just a single touch would spell certain death.
Boom!!!
Gritting my teeth, I unleashed [Cocytus], sending a cold shockwave in all directions.
But it only worked for a moment. The rain of fire pierced through the explosion’s aftermath and continued relentlessly.
There was no escape. Wherever I ran, I would die. Blocking all of those attacks was beyond my ability.
Using [Ice Moon] consumed a lot of mana. I had to dodge what I could.
I boosted the power of my wings and darted through the air at full speed, dodging the Evil God’s barrage of attacks.
I focused my mind. For attacks I couldn’t dodge, I summoned all my mana and unleashed the 7-star ice spell [Abyssal Glacier] at full power. It was my best spell for neutralizing enemy attacks.
In the harsh atmosphere, I deployed large-scale magic circles around the Evil God, firing hundreds of [Ice Spear] and dropping [Frostfall Comet of the End].
I even used the unique magic of the Frostscythe, [Absolute Zero], which cleaved through space.
But the Evil God skillfully spread and spun her flames of destruction, devouring all my long-range attacks.
It was handling everything methodically.
Of course, she’s breaking down my pattern…
To my dismay, the longer the fight dragged on, the more the Evil God figured out my combat patterns and countered them with increasing effectiveness.
I had anticipated this, but the feeling of it happening in real time was a whole different experience.
Facing it head-on made me want to curse.
But there was still hope. The flames that made up the Evil God’s body and dress were weaker than they had been at the start.
The Evil God glared at me with countless red eyes.
Is she feeling the same as me?
That was good to know because I felt absolutely terrible.
I raced through the air, changing course, barely dodging the rain of flames as I pressed on.
I dodged all the void spheres.
Finally, when I reached the Evil God, the highest-level ice and fire magic clashed up close, each one screaming destruction at the other.
Boom!!!!
Another fierce explosion erupted. My vision was engulfed by a flash, and my eardrums burst with a piercing ringing sound.
If we hadn’t both established our domains, the world would have been destroyed by the sheer force.
We were both swept away by the explosion. I deployed an ice shield wrapped in [Abyssal Glacier], but I couldn’t fully block the shock that pierced my bones.
My body was flung backward, and the Evil God was sent flying in the opposite direction.
We both spread our wings and regained our stances.
“Haah, haah….”
I caught my breath.
I didn’t know exactly how bad my state was, but from the searing pain and the blood pouring out of me, it was clear I wasn’t in good shape.
Fwoosh!!
The Evil God unleashed a fiery whirlwind, forcibly pushing back the aftermath of the explosion.
Looking again, the black flame dress of the demon had shrunk significantly at the hem. It still seemed to have some to spare, but it was clear that I was pushing her back.
As I gathered mana, intending to continue my relentless assault…
The Evil God stretched out her right arm to the side.
Whiiish!
A rift to a subspace formed at the tip of her fingers.
“…!”
I instantly realized the Evil God’s plan.
I flew toward her once more.
***
Whiiish!
In the sky above the island where the battle was raging, a rift to subspace appeared.
From the rift emerged a giant arm wreathed in flames of destruction.
Its six long fingers wiggled, flicking black embers.
Rumble!!
Suddenly, the fiery arm stretched toward the ground, growing endlessly longer.
Amidst the deafening sound of tearing air, the arm’s target was a girl lying unconscious on the ground, Kaya Astrea.
“It’s coming!” the wizard troops guarding Kaya shouted and simultaneously deployed their barriers.
But the fiery arm burned through the barriers without slowing down.
Boom!!!
Crash!!
The already wounded Elemental Kings unleashed powerful elemental magic toward the flaming arm.
At the same time, Dorothy flew in, unleashing her full starlight mana toward the flaming arm.
The dense elemental barrage and 8-star starlight magic [Celestial Explosion] created a brilliant blast, lighting up the horizon and hitting the flaming arm with a deafening roar.
— If I manage to push the Evil God to some extent, shewill likely target Kaya. Kaya is blessed with the gift of life. The Evil God will try to make Kaya her new vessel. So… I’ll leave it to you. Protect Kaya at all costs.
Isaac had said this during the strategy meeting. It was based on the information left by Dorothy from the first timeline.
The overwhelming magic bombardment severely twisted the trajectory of the flaming arm. Yet it persisted, still heading toward Kaya.
The Subjugation Force simultaneously intercepted the flaming arm. The flames enveloping the massive arm gradually weakened.
Its size shrank and shrank, until it could no longer reach Kaya.
Thunk!
The flaming arm, using telekinesis, snatched Kaya’s necklace into its grasp.
“What the…?”
“That bastard, don’t tell me…?”
The Yggdrasil Seed.
A gift from Sylphia, infused with plant mana for Kaya.
Now it was the catalyst for [Yggdrasil], fused with Kaya.
With the flaming arm weakened, the Evil God had shifted her target.
Fwoosh!!
“Uhh!”
The flaming arm emitted a verdant-colored mana, creating a gust of wind.
Dorothy and the Elemental Kings, who had been attacking the flaming arm from the air, were swept away by the gale, crashing into buildings and the ground, leaving craters behind.
The flaming arm dissipated, and the rift to the subspace closed.
“It took the seed of plant mana…” an imperial wizard, his face filled with fear, spoke in a trembling voice as he stared at the closed rift.
The worst had been avoided, but the second worst had not.
***
Crash!!
Inside the [Realm of the Eternal Glacial Palace].
I poured out a chill, desperately trying to freeze and block the rift to the subspace, but something unexpected happened.
I couldn’t help but be shocked.
“The seed…?”
Fwoooosh!!!
“Ugh!!”
As the Evil God seized the new power of Yggdrasil’s seed, waves of mana rippled out, roaring.
I was mid-flight through the air when I urgently halted, raising my arms to shield my face, enduring the wave.
Soon, I witnessed a verdant mana, unfitting for such a destructive entity.
A sphere of life energy enveloped the Evil God and began blending with the flames of destruction.
My eyes widened unconsciously.
The reason Kaya could have been the vessel for the Evil God was because of her life force.
Yggdrasil’s seed was no exception.
This… is dangerous.
Fwoosh!!!
A faint verdant glow wrapped around the crimson-black flames.
The sphere enveloping the Evil God gradually vanished, revealing a female demon.
Behind the demon’s head, rings of verdant light, imbued with the power of life, trailed.
Ten plant magic circles spread out, and from them, wings of flame and life emerged.
Her form, both like an embodiment of evil and a holy goddess, emitted an overwhelming presence that crushed my entire body.
Life and Destruction.
Both forces were now in the hands of the Evil God Nephid.
*******
The Evil God stretched her right arm upward.
A beautiful verdant trail was etched across the sky.
A giant sacred tree rose, its crimson-black flaming leaves blooming magnificently as if to engulf the eternal realm.
A magnificent sight.
The burning [Yggdrasil].
Each branch of that tree revealed nine dimensions in the process of ending.
“What…?”
My mind shook. As I looked around, I saw the crimson-black mana coloring everything.
It was a mental attack. The [Yggdrasil of Destruction] was clearly trying to drag my mind into the abyss.
There was no way to avoid it.
Even for me, I had no immunity against such power.
I hastily formed three [Cocytus] spells and hurled them toward the burning [Yggdrasil], but the Evil God countered by launching three black suns.
Boom!!!!
The Evil God’s magic had also grown in strength.
My body was swept away by the explosion and helplessly rolled through the center of the [Realm of the Eternal Glacial Palace].
“Ugh…! Daikan!!” I screamed at the top of my lungs.
The Primordial Beast of Ice, Daikan, tried to gather ice mana and release it, but the mental attack from [Yggdrasil] overtook him before it did me, and soon, he closed his eyes.
At this rate, everyone will be over.
I punched my head over and over, trying to snap myself out of it, but it was no use.
An unbearable drowsiness washed over me, and my consciousness began to fade.
It felt as if a disgusting hand was grabbing my leg, pulling me into a swamp.
Fwoooosh!!
The Evil God formed another black sun.
That sun, growing larger and distorting time and space, looked like a death sentence descending upon me.
I have to stop it.
But my mind couldn’t calculate any proper magic.
I forced my eyes open, clenching my bloodied teeth, struggling to summon my mana while holding onto my consciousness.
…It was then
“…!”
I sensed a presence outside the domain.
There was one being capable of opposing that tree of destruction.
“You finally came…”
Fwooooosh!!!
Within the domain clashing between the Evil God and me, in the blink of an eye, the ground was covered in a brilliant white light.
The Evil God’s many eyes gleamed.
The ground began to emit a blinding radiance, and behind me, one by one, white pillars rose, forming a temple.
The Domain of Light.
The black sun faded, and the black flame mana dispersed.
For the first time, the Evil God groaned.
[Ugh…!]
“Haah, haah…”
I heard the familiar sound of his breathing.
The man I had allowed to enter [Realm of the Eternal Glacial Palace] dragged his battered body over to my side, staggering.
“Sorry, I’m late…”
Thud!
He drove the Luminous Sword into the ground.
The Luminous Sword emitted a beautiful radiance, becoming the core of the Domain of Light.
Ian Fairytale.
He had defeated Angra Mainyu and made it here.
“…Thanks for coming.”
“Isaac. The final part… I leave it to you.”
Ian, barely able to keep his eyes open, forced a smile at me before collapsing forward.
He had reached his limit.
And so, Ian fainted for the last time.
“Truly, thank you…”
I layered [Frost Barrier] and ice shields over Ian for protection.
Since he was imbued with Divine Power, he would recover quickly and regain his senses.
I looked back at the Evil God, who was writhing in pain.
The Domain Expansion, [Temple of Light].
As long as the Luminous Sword was embedded in [Realm of the Eternal Glacial Palace], the domain of light imbued with Divine Power would remain.
The [Yggdrasil of Destruction] couldn’t function properly due to the interference of the [Temple of Light].
The red light that had filled my vision disappeared, and my awareness sharpened as if I had awakened.
It was still clear that the Evil God was stronger than me, but I could hardly suppress the smile creeping onto my lips.
I spat out the blood pooling in my mouth and spoke.
[Do you know?]
I transmitted my voice into the Evil God’s mind through magic.
The Evil God responded not with words, but with rage and malice directed at me.
Her bloodshot eyes glared solely at me.
It was quite an amusing sight.
With a chuckle in my voice, I continued.
[You have no idea the lengths I’ve gone to in order to hunt you.]
Clink.
I let ice mana rise from my right hand.
Ice crystals floated gently in the air.
[And now, I’m really happy. Because I can finally take you down.]
In my blurred vision, through the crimson-black flames that enveloped the Evil God, I could faintly see someone.
A figure that resembled me, once an extra on a journey to become the protagonist.
He had ultimately fallen into despair and made a drastic choice, but the journey he had pursued with all his might led to Märchen Academy, and eventually, to me.
Every step of the journey you took held immeasurable worth.
“…I’m coming.”
Watch closely.
I will finish the journey you handed over to me.