Seraphina threw herself in front of Leon, absorbing the full weight of that final, lethal blow.
Searing heat scorched her skin, her bones groaned under the pressure, and a crushing agony—as if her internal organs were being pulverized—seized Saint Seraphina’s entire body.
"A... ah... ah..."
Her battered frame lost its strength, and she began to collapse.
In that instant, someone’s arms caught her.
"Seraphina."
It was Leon. He had only just managed to stand, yet he was there to cradle her. It was impossible to read any emotion from his eyes or his voice, and yet...
She felt a faint tremor in his touch.
Whether that was a physical reality or merely a desperate hallucination born of her fading consciousness, she couldn't be sure. Regardless, Seraphina had succeeded. She had protected him.
She had played her final trump card—a move that could be used only once.
The knowledge that she had succeeded filled her with an overwhelming sense of joy. She felt no regret, no sentimentality toward her own impending death. The fact that Hero Leon remained alive and well was everything to her.
Saint Seraphina was going to die.
But before she passed, there was one thing she had to impart.
Slowly, Seraphina raised her blood-stained right hand. Her fingers trembled, devoid of strength, but she managed to brush them against Leon’s cheek.
"Leon-sama... please... tell me your will..."
Her voice was a mere rasp, the sound barely carrying.
The metallic taste of iron flooded her mouth. Blood trickled down her throat, and her lungs creaked with every ragged breath.
"As you are now... you cannot defeat the Demon King... Are you prepared... to discard your humanity?"
She pressed on.
"Divinity Descent—it is a Saint's Secret Mystery, wherein the Hero accepts the power of God..."
She drew in a sharp breath of oxygen and forced out the remaining words.
"However... if you accept this... you will lose your very will as a human. You will be... completely overwritten by divinity... until you no longer know... even who you are..."
Not just his emotions, but his very will would be gone. He would become a divine entity in human form—a vessel meant only to exercise Divine Authority.
The cost was almost too great to bear. If his self was gone, would he still be Leon?
She had saved this as her absolute final option, but time had run out. To win—to emerge victorious in this war—there were no other choices left.
"Will you discard your humanity and fight? Hero Leon...?"
Leon’s answer was instantaneous.
"Of course."
Without a second of hesitation, he declared his resolve as the Hero.
"Ah..."
A single tear escaped Seraphina's eye. This man truly was the one true Hero.
"Then..."
Seraphina summoned the last of her strength, forcing power through her scorched mana circuits. The sensation was like needles piercing her entire body, but she didn't care. She would only be able to feel pain for a few moments longer.
A white light began to spill from her body. It was different from the Blessing of the Holy Heaven—it was deeper, more fundamental. It was a holy, majestic radiance that felt as if it were rewriting the very Logic of the World.
The light flowed into Leon, pouring every last essence of Seraphina into him.
Her vision bleached white.
Sounds began to fade into the distance.
In their place, the image of a young boy with a sun-bright smile appeared in her mind.
"I’ll definitely defeat the Demon King as the Hero! Seraphina, Luna! Let’s work hard together!"
She had wanted to protect that smile. She had failed. The person standing here was no longer the Hero Leon she knew.
And yet—
(I will at least protect your dream of becoming the Hero and slaying the Demon King!)
"You... are the... true... Hero..."
With a final, peaceful smile, Seraphina’s hand slipped from Leon’s cheek. It fell powerlessly to the ground.
That was the end of Saint Seraphina.
Immediately after, Leon’s body was engulfed in light. It wasn't the golden hue of before, but a pure, blinding white.
An overwhelming power surged forth—and then went berserk.
"Uooooooooaaaaaaaaah!?"
Leon howled, still clutching Seraphina’s corpse as he endured an agony that felt like his body was being torn apart from the inside.
The granted power refused to fuse with his flesh. The human memories still lingering within him were acting as a dam, blocking the Complete Descent of Divinity. Those memories were a wedge, keeping the lid tightly shut on the god's power.
Sensing his vulnerability, the Demon King unleashed a volley of energy bullets.
The attack was effortlessly repelled by a Membrane of Light that manifested around Leon.
The Demon King paused. She could feel it—the existence before her was on the verge of transformation.
Purple-black mana erupted from the Demon King’s body. She raised both hands and began a powerful incantation. The air vibrated, and the ground began to groan.
She would destroy this fledgling while he was still struggling to hatch.
"Leon...! Hold on—"
Luna rushed to the side of the agonizing Leon and wrapped her arms around him. She prayed that she could offer him even a modicum of comfort. As one whose life was already forfeit, this was the only thing she had left to give.
(—!?)
In that moment, something flooded into her from Leon. She felt the thoughts of his agony—the way his human memories were obstructing the divinity Seraphina had bestowed upon him. The divine pressure was so immense it was leaking into her mind.
(His memories as a human are the obstacle?)
If his memories were erased, Leon could become a god. He could kill the Demon King.
But how could she possibly erase them?
A voice suddenly vibrated through her mind.
"How truly fascinating. The events of this world are so perfectly orchestrated."
It was a voice like cloying honey—sadistic and dripping with amusement.
(I know this voice!)
She had heard it when she slaughtered the demons in the forest. No—she had heard it long before that.
(Who are you...?)
"Ufufu. I am Shizel, the Will of Ancient Magic. My domain is Mind and Memory."
The voice paused for a beat before continuing.
"Listen, Luna. With my power, I can strip away every memory that acts as his shackle."
Luna swallowed hard.
(Erase... I can erase them!)
It was exactly what was needed in this moment. And yet...
(Is this really allowed?)
Memories were the core of a person—the accumulation of everything that made them who they were. To erase that? A chill ran through her body as if she were touching a terrible taboo.
"I’ll definitely defeat the Demon King as the Hero! Seraphina, Luna! Let’s work hard together!"
The memory of the boy who had laughed and said those words would be gone. That honest voice, those piercing eyes, that innate kindness—all of it would be wiped away. That smile would never return.
But...
(If it is to fulfill his wish as the Hero...)
Luna leaned in close and whispered into Leon’s ear.
"Leon... tell me... do you really... want to win... even if it means losing everything...?"
Leon gritted his teeth, his voice strained but firm.
"Of course. I was born for this. To be the Hero, to save the people. To fulfill that mission, I will discard anything. I will become anything."
His will was absolute.
"Thank you, Leon."
There were no excuses left to hide behind.
(Give me the power to erase Leon’s memories...)
"Ufufu! Marvelous! Oh, the pain and despair in your heart! The taste of the taboo as you destroy your closest friend with your own hands! How sweet! I knew I was right to choose you!"
Dark mana coalesced in Luna's right hand. Shizel’s sadistic glee flooded her mind.
"Now, cross that final line. Shed your tears of blood!"
She wouldn't cry tears of blood. She had long since crossed into the realm of the taboo. Ever since the day she pushed Professor Merlin down those stairs and killed him—all just to clear a path for Albert and gain his favor.
(If these filthy hands can forge a path for hope—!)
Luna pressed her palm against Leon’s forehead.
She felt the memories begin to dissolve. The days of their childhood, the laughter they shared, the times they had comforted one another—every moment they had spent vowing to save humanity—all of it bleached into white nothingness.
"Ugh... Leon...!"
Tears streaming down her face, Luna pulled him into one last, tight embrace.
Their time together. Their shared memories. The sorrow, the joy, the anger, the kindness. All of it was gone.
The person in her arms was no longer Leon. Not the Leon that she and Seraphina had loved. Only a hollow shell remained.
Leon moved his head, looking down at the weeping Luna.
"Who are you...?"
The words were devastating, yet Luna felt a strange sense of satisfaction. She had done her part. By sacrificing her life and Seraphina’s, the Hero Leon had finally been made manifest.
He was now an existence created solely to destroy the Demon King.
Knowing her own time was at its end, Luna whispered her final plea.
"Please... fulfill our wish. Kill... the Demon King..."
Those were her last words.
Seraphina’s body slipped from Leon's grasp, and Luna’s body slid away from him as she drew her final breath. As both girls fell to the earth, light exploded from Leon.
It was not gold. It was a pure, unearthly white.
The Power of Divinity now held absolute dominion over his body. The raging torrent of power that had been tearing him apart subsided instantly.
The Holy Sword glowed with a white-hot intensity. The Holy Script etched into the silver blade ignited, and the blade itself became a solid mass of light. It shone with a divine radiance, appearing as something that did not belong to the material world.
The entity standing there was no longer human. It was the physical embodiment of God’s power.
At that exact moment, the Demon King completed her incantation and unleashed her ultimate spell.
"Purple Flame of Void."
The concentrated, purple-black mana in her hands expanded into a cataclysmic torrent, a Surging Wave of Void that rushed toward Leon to erase him from existence.
Leon swung his Holy Sword to meet it.
Light clashed with darkness. A massive pillar of white and black aura erupted, piercing the overcast sky and scattering the clouds for miles.
The divine power of Hero Leon had shattered the Demon King’s ultimate strike.
"Demon King, it is finished. I, the Hero Leon, shall destroy you."
Under the now-clear blue sky, Leon leveled his glowing blade.
The Final Battle of God and Demon King had begun.