“A contradiction, you say?”
“I don’t know what your idea of a ‘King of the World’ is, but you’re planning to devour the Evil God to destroy the demons, right? If you do that, the human race will inevitably be wiped out in the process. And once you’ve killed every mana-based lifeform, you’ll be the only one left. Is that the kind of world you want to live in?”
“Humanity will be... wiped out...?”
Beria seemed genuinely blindsided; it was as if the thought had never even crossed his mind. His eyes wavered at my words.
From the looks of it, he hadn't even questioned the fact that he was working alongside the very demons he claimed to hate.
It had only been a hypothesis until now, but this confirmed it.
He was under the influence of Perception Alteration.
It likely happened back when Philly Carpenter’s predecessor rewrote the memories of all mankind through the world of the Principles of Magic in exchange for her own life.
“To unseal the Evil God, you have to conquer every Sanctuary—every Great Labyrinth. Doing that means destroying the Wall of the Principles of Magic that separates this world from the Outside World.”
“...!”
“Do you really want to call yourself a ‘King’ in a world where no one else exists? Even if you did, it would be a hollow title.”
“Shut up... Be quiet...!”
Beria pressed his hands against his head as if seized by a sudden migraine.
“If I were in your position, I’d hate it. Looking back, the path I’ve walked has been inconsistent, changing directions more times than I can count. But at every turn, there was at least one person who understood me—one person who believed in me.”
During my childhood, there was Shion, who affirmed a dream that others called heresy. In the Golden Dawn, even as my treatment grew progressively worse, I had Luna. In the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, I had my disciples and everyone in the First Unit. Because I had people who understood me at every stage, I was never truly alone.
“I am who I am today because they were there for me. That’s why I want a future where I can keep walking alongside them. So, Beria—”
“—I told you to shut up! It’s nauseating. I don’t want to hear another word from either of you!”
Beria’s roar drowned out my voice.
By ‘you,’ he likely meant me and August.
Beria and August were brothers. Beria had been talented since childhood, but he had grown up in the shadow of an even more brilliant older brother. It wasn't hard to imagine how such an environment could foster a deep-seated, brooding resentment. Beria’s inferiority complex toward August must have made him the perfect prey for a Perception Alteration user.
“—Ah, that’s right... I swore it. I will become the King of the World. If you intend to stand in my way, then I’ll kill you!”
Beria had been clutching his head in agony only moments ago, but the pain seemed to vanish instantly as his aura shifted.
That sudden change. Was he hit with Perception Alteration again? If so, is Philly Carpenter nearby?
I scanned the surroundings for any sign of another presence, but I couldn't detect anyone.
While I was distracted, several skeletal arms formed from the Evil God’s mana erupted from the stump of Beria’s lost left arm.
“Die, Orun!”
The Evil God’s mana was certainly a problem. Ordinary weapons were useless, and even a magic sword made of pure mana likely wouldn't be enough to oppose it.
However, the Evil God was an enemy I would eventually have to defeat regardless. I had spent my time in the Hidden World specifically to gain the power necessary to slay it.
“Beria, I’m sorry, but I’m going to need you to act as my sparring partner for a rehearsal. Final Form: Mont Ende.”
I drew Schwarzhase into my body, integrating the magic sword into my physical form. Then, I combined it with the Ki circulating through my system.
A "power" too immense to be contained within a human frame leaked from my skin. My clothes transformed into a Magic Raiment the moment they touched that surging energy.
Blue-black lightning crackled violently around me.
I swung a newly manifest magic sword. With a single motion, a flurry of slashes obliterated the skeletal hands closing in on me.
Good, I can counter the Evil God’s mana with this. I’ve confirmed that I can strike it. Now, it’s a race against time.
I had used Final Form: Mont Ende to defeat Stieg earlier, and my body had begun to break down almost immediately. Now that I faced Beria and understood the mechanism of Eternal Immutability, I could use it in tandem with Time Rewind to forcibly delay my physical collapse.
Even so, I wouldn't last a minute.
I was suddenly grateful for my time as an Enchanter in the Golden Dawn. The experience of participating in high-speed combat while mentally tracking the precise duration of every buff was the only thing keeping me alive.
I’ll estimate the Rewindable Time (Deadline) strictly: thirty seconds. Any longer and my body will disintegrate. That means death. I can’t waste a single second. I have to end this now!
“Impossible... This is the Evil God’s mana!?”
Beria cried out in shock, as if he had believed the dark power was invincible.
I was more than happy to take advantage of his daze. I would blow that mana away here and now.
I vanished using Shukuchi, reappearing right in Beria's face. Inky mana lashed out to intercept me. Beria’s own reactions were lagging, but it seemed the Evil God’s mana possessed a predatory will of its own.
Thinking fast, I used Shift to blink behind him.
“—Evil-Bane Heavenly Flash!”
I hammered the concentrated power into Beria’s back at point-blank range. Just before the blade connected, several layers of inky skeletal hands stacked themselves into a cushion to shield him. The jet-black shockwave vaporized a portion of the dark mana, but it wasn't enough to clear it all.
I don’t have time, but I have to chip away at it!
Refusing to be pushed back by the shockwave, Beria kept his distance and fired bolts of inky mana at me like harpoons.
“—Evil-Bane Katana!”
I shifted my weapon into a magic katana and severed every single projectile. I immediately followed up with a long-range slash.
But then—
“...Ugh...!”
A wave of vertigo hit me. The damage was already starting to compromise my system. Beria didn't miss the opening; he lunged forward to close the gap.
“—Shot + Spread (Shotgun)!”
I unleashed a hail of mana bullets to force him to halt. Standard magic wouldn't do much damage to him, but it served its purpose as a distraction. To defeat Beria—to defeat the Evil God—I had to land a direct hit with this sword forged from mana and Ki.
I moved to kick off the frozen ground to close in on him again, but—
“Kh...! Dammit...!”
Blood began to pour from my nose. My body was screaming that my time was up.
In the sky above, Beria converged the Evil God’s mana into a single, colossal skeletal hand. He swung it down with enough force to crush me and the entire Royal Capital along with me.
“Ngh! Oooooooh!”
I forced a roar from my lungs to rouse my failing limbs. I intercepted the massive skeletal hand with my magic sword, pouring every ounce of refined power into the blade.
The Evil God’s mana was the antithesis of Titania’s, yet it represented a similar pinnacle of magical energy. My own mana was dyed jet-black, but it still fell short of the Evil God's depth. However, I possessed something else: Evil-Bane, the ultimate realization of Ki—the original power of humanity.
Jet-black mana and the pinnacle of Ki, Evil-Bane.
The fusion of these two opposing forces created a power capable of annihilating all creation. It was also the reason my body was falling apart just by channeling it.
“Disappear!!”
I swung the magic sword with everything I had. The power-laden slash rent the colossal dark arm in two.
“What!?”
“—Bind!”
My vision was staining red as blood leaked from my eyes, but I ignored it and forced the spell to manifest. Chains of jet-black mana erupted from empty space.
“Gah! Get away from me!”
As the chains coiled around him, Beria attempted to use Eternal Immutability to freeze their movement. I wasn't about to let him.
“—Annihilation!!”
I neutralized his force field and locked him in place with the chains. By the time he realized he was caught, I was already in his shadow. I drove my sword through Beria’s chest.
“Gaah...!?”
“Haa... haa... haa...”
The chains vanished as Beria went limp, falling toward the frozen ground below.
“It’s... not over yet...!”
As long as Eternal Immutability was active, Beria wouldn't die even if his heart stopped. To save him, I had to exorcise the Evil God’s mana without killing the host. I converged the surrounding mana beyond all safe limits.
The blue-black magic sword began to warp the very air around it. Space itself began to crack under the pressure, unable to withstand the density of the power. Outside Mana began to leak through the fissures.
I draped that primordial mana over my blade.
“—Tengen.”
I unleashed the most powerful slash in my repertoire.
Jet-black mana swallowed the Royal Capital in its entirety. Within that darkness, every trace of the Evil God’s mana was systematically erased from existence.