After Titania finished healing the immobilized Luna and Oliver with her magic, she enveloped them in a protective mana barrier. She then spent a moment flexing her fingers, testing the sensation in her hands.
"Ruu-ko, the last thing I can give you is the experience of this Fairy Manifestation. It will undoubtedly become your power one day. So, do not forget how it feels for me to manifest like this—even if your memories of today are lost."
Radiating a divine aura, Titania spoke those words to Luna before turning a sharp, piercing glare toward Beria.
"…To be honest, I intended to manifest you only after the proper preparations were complete," Beria remarked. "But no matter. If I consider that this saves me the trouble of hunting you down to kill you, I suppose it isn’t such a bad turn of events."
Any ordinary human would have been paralyzed with terror before Titania’s majesty. However, Beria, having seen her form once before, addressed the queen without the slightest hint of intimidation.
"Are you not underestimating me? I am the Fairy Queen. From this moment on, the title of the world’s strongest belongs to me, not you."
"Hahaha! Then by all means, prove—!?"
Beria’s mocking retort was cut short as a sudden shockwave slammed into him. He was sent tumbling backward with tremendous force.
Keeping her eyes locked on Beria, Titania raised one hand toward the sky. In an instant, over a hundred White Chalk Swords materialized in the air above. With a casual downward sweep of her hand, the blades responded to her will, raining down on Beria in a relentless barrage.
"…Tsk!"
Clicking his tongue, Beria thrust his hand toward the descending blades. As he activated his ability, the very air around him began to vibrate, freezing the White Chalk Swords mid-flight.
As if she had anticipated this, Titania didn't even blink. She moved immediately to her next strike.
"—White Dragon."
The ground beneath Beria’s feet suddenly split open. He began to plummet into the dark fissure, but used his ability to halt his fall. Just as he stabilized, a dragon formed from brilliant white mana erupted from the crack in the earth.
The White Dragon lunged at Beria, its massive jaws unhinging as it sank its fangs deep into his body.
"As I thought, even this cannot pierce him," Titania muttered tonelessly.
Normally, the dragon’s fangs would have shredded a target, inflicting a fatal wound. Yet, thanks to Beria’s ability, he remained entirely unscathed.
"—【Laevateinn】."
Still caught in the dragon’s maw but completely unhurt, Beria invoked his magic. A sword of hellfire appeared in his right hand. The flames were so intense they would have incinerated anyone else who dared touch them, but Beria was the exception. With a single swing, the White Dragon was reduced to nothing but ash.
Free from the dragon’s restraint, Beria landed lightly on the ground.
"Is that the best you can do?" he taunted.
Titania merely met his provocation with a cold, fearless smile.
Immediately, mana began to gather at the points of the White Chalk Swords still suspended in the sky. Thin, glowing lines of energy stretched out, connecting one tip to another. At first, they looked like a series of random, meaningless strokes. But as more lines were drawn, a coherent, complex pattern began to emerge.
"Don't tell me—!?"
Recognizing the truth of what was happening, Beria’s face paled with panic for the first time. He immediately kicked off the ground, desperate to flee the area.
"Too late. —【Amaterasu】."
From the massive magic circle etched into the sky, a pillar of white light—condensed into a single point of ultra-high temperature—descended. It swallowed Beria and the entire surrounding landscape. The light was so intense it melted through the earth as easily as it pierced the air.
When the heavenly light finally faded, it left a gargantuan, bottomless crater in its wake.
"Amazing…"
Luna, who had spent over a decade on battlefields as an explorer, had never witnessed an attack of such overwhelming magnitude. She could do nothing but stare in silent awe.
As Titania watched the crater, Beria suddenly teleported directly above her. He swung down a blade shrouded in dark mana, but Titania manifested her own white mana into the shape of a sword and parried the blow effortlessly.
"Tsk!"
Beria’s face twisted in frustration as his surprise attack was thwarted. Although he had taken a direct hit from that immense pillar of light, he appeared to be without a single scratch. However, the sharpness of his movements had noticeably dulled.
"You’ve been soaking in lukewarm water for far too long, it seems," Titania said, her voice dripping with disappointment. "You may have become a transcendent, but after several hundred years—a span of time far too long for a human—is that still the extent of your color?"
Titania let out an exasperated sigh as she observed the mana clinging to Beria's blade.
"Do not compare me to you or that person," Beria spat, leaping back to put distance between them.
"It is true that comparing you to my master would be cruel. However, you had more than enough time. It is truly a pity that you chose to waste it. Truly, deeply regrettable."
Titania’s voice was heavy with sorrow, and her eyes held a profound sense of emptiness.
Mana is normally invisible, but it can be seen when gathered in high densities. When visualized, it takes on a specific "color" unique to the individual. However, those who reach the absolute pinnacle of mana manipulation find their colors shifting toward one of two extremes: a pure, unmixed jet-black or a brilliant, dazzling white.
Beria’s mana was not yet a true black; it was still tainted with a muddy shade of red.
"…I couldn't care less about your pity. I never had any intention of seeing eye-to-eye with a fairy. My only goal is to wipe every last one of your kind from the face of this world."
"I see. It was not my choice, but I am currently the queen of the fairies. Therefore, for their sake, I will neutralize you here and now."
As Titania spoke, Beria charged again. Titania met his blade head-on with her White Chalk Magic Sword.
The collision of their swords sent shockwaves of razor-sharp mana flying in every direction, mincing everything in the vicinity as if it had been put through a shredder. Luna and the others remained safe behind the Pixie’s protection, but the Great Labyrinth’s entrance and the teleportation crystals were reduced to rubble.
Neither of them slowed their pace. As they began weaving magic into their swordplay, the battle escalated into a literal natural disaster. They fought on the ragged edge of reality, in a domain where the world itself threatened to crumble.
The ferocious struggle between Titania and Beria raged on. By now, the battle had moved a significant distance away from both the Great Labyrinth and the city of Tsutrail, leaving a trail of literal ash in its wake.
"…As stubborn as ever," Titania muttered.
She rained down a constant stream of strikes with her twin magic swords. Since Beria lacked his left arm, Titania easily held the advantage in terms of attack density. The battle had been in her favor from the very beginning. Yet, remarkably, the only damage Beria had truly sustained was that initial hit from the concentrated light of Amaterasu.
Their blades met in a titanic clash, the impact carving a fresh crater into the earth. The resulting shockwave threw them both backward, creating a brief lull in the fighting.
"Phew… It’s time, then. As I suspected, I couldn't kill you with my power alone."
Beria spoke with a strange sense of finality, his expression shifting from frustration to grim resolve.
"…?"
Titania sensed the sudden shift in the air and tightened her guard.
"Honestly, I wanted to surpass you through my own strength. But time is running out. No more games."
From the stump of Beria’s missing left arm, a jet-black mana began to ooze. It was thick and viscous, like sludge—a power entirely foreign to Beria’s own mana.
"No way… You didn't!"
For the first time, a flash of genuine panic crossed Titania’s face.
"Oh, I did! Last year, in that heartbeat before the principles of magic were rewritten—the moment the Great Hero conquered the Great Labyrinth of the West—I seized it! A fragment of the Evil God's mana!"
Beria’s voice was high with manic exhilaration. The pitch-black sludge began to reshape itself into several Skeletal Arms. They looked like vengeful spirits clinging to the world, radiating an aura of pure, concentrated malice.
"…You’re using your ability to forcibly tether it to your soul?" Titania guessed.
The corners of Beria’s mouth pulled back into a jagged smirk.
"Correct. Though even I have to admit, that thing is a monster. I haven't even taken in ten percent of the Evil God’s total power, and it’s taking everything my ability has just to keep it contained. Of course, it’s been a year since then. My body is finally starting to adapt."
With multiple Skeletal Arms made of ink-black mana sprouting from his left side and his right-hand sword now wreathed in that same jet-black energy, Beria looked like a nightmare made flesh.
"Now, let’s see if I can’t stain that pure white mana of yours!"
With a roar of excitement, Beria lunged at Titania once more.
"…Ugh!"
Titania’s previous composure had vanished. She desperately fired off mana bullets while maintaining her distance, clearly wanting no part of the black sludge in a close-quarters brawl.
Beria swatted her white mana bullets aside with his sword while his skeletal hands snaked toward her. Even as Titania fled, there was no limit to the reach of those mana-arms. Like a pack of wolves closing in for the kill, the skeletal hands began to tighten their encirclement.
Seeing her escape routes vanish, Titania teleported away, reappearing just far enough to keep Beria in her sights.
"—Welcome."
In that split second of relief as she escaped Beria’s grasp, a girl’s voice whispered directly into Titania’s ear from behind.
In the same instant, a searing hand of flame pierced through Titania’s chest from the back.
"…Gah!?"
Titania spun her head around in shock. Standing behind her was a girl with an adorable face and flowing, fire-red hair—Luary Welt, the Third Seat of the Cult, known as "The Incinerator." Luary’s arm from the elbow down had been transformed into a molten lance of flame that now skewered Titania’s body.
Luary wasn't alone. Surrounding Titania were Philly Carpenter, "The Guide," and Gunnar Stern, the "Thunder Emperor."
"When… did… you…"
Titania had been so consumed by her duel with Beria that she hadn't noticed the Cult’s top three executives gathering around her.
"Don't make such pathetic sounds, traitor," Luary said. Her voice was ice-cold, a sharp contrast to her fiery appearance.
"Traitor…? Ghu!?"
"Are you deaf? I told you to shut up."
Luary cranked up the heat of her flames. As she did, brilliant white mana began to leak like steam from Titania’s punctured chest. This mist-like mana began to drift toward a specific point.
It was being drawn into a massive Magic Stone held by Philly.
"I see. It appears she really didn't expect you to have absorbed that person’s mana," Gunnar Stern remarked, walking toward Beria.
"…Yeah. I’m just glad the plan worked," Beria replied, forcing the Evil God’s black mana back into his body.
"So… your goal was my mana all along?" Titania asked, her face contorted in agony as the flame-hand remained buried in her chest.
"No, the goal was always your execution," Philly clarified with a dark, satisfied smile. "It just so happens that mana converted into a fairy is quite valuable, so we’re merely reclaiming it. Don't worry. I’ll make sure the mana that used to be you is put to good use."
Because Titania was a transcendental being, she had no concept of a natural lifespan or death. However, by manifesting in the human world, she had traded that immortality for the ability to use her power directly. The cost of that manifestation was that the death of her physical body would mean the end of her existence.
Her life was flickering out.
"Thank you for manifesting," Philly continued. "The assassination of Orun Doura should be wrapping up about now, so you might as well hurry up and die."
As Philly spoke, a pillar of jet-black energy erupted into the sky from the direction of Tsutrail. It was so massive it was visible even from their remote location. Cracks began to spiderweb across the very air; the world was starting to fracture.
"Did Rasetsu go too far? It’s too early to destroy the world," Beria noted with a frown.
"It will be fine. It’s simply proof that Orun Doura has been pushed to the point of wishing for the world to end. Rasetsu will kill him before the collapse becomes irreversible, which will halt the process."
"…………I suppose you’re right." Beria accepted Philly’s explanation without further question.
"Hahaha…"
Seeing the Cult executives basking in their presumed victory, Titania found she couldn't stop herself from laughing.
"…What’s so funny?" Beria snapped, his brow furrowing in irritation.
"Nothing, really. I just… I couldn't help it. Seeing you all dancing so perfectly in the palm of his hand is just too much."
"…His hand?"
The executives exchanged confused glances.
"First, I think I'll be taking my mana back," Titania declared. "I’ve already decided what its true purpose is."
As if responding to her command, the Magic Stone in Philly’s hand began to vibrate violently.
"…!"
Philly instinctively hurled the stone away and leaped back. Before it even hit the ground, the Magic Stone shattered into a thousand pieces, releasing the brilliant white mana back into the air.
"I’ve spent a long time calling myself a mere bystander," Titania said, her voice growing stronger even as her body faded. "I think I’ll act the part one last time."
Though the Cult members tensed for an attack, Titania did nothing to them. Instead, she threw her head back and shouted a single name to the heavens:
"The winner of this battle is—Cavadele Evans!"
Thank you for reading. The next chapter will return to Orun’s perspective.