Ch.304305. Final Battle (1)

I, who had been quietly watching all the events unfolding in the southern part of the Southern Continent with a “divine eye,” was so shocked by what just happened that I could hardly keep my mouth shut.

‘D-Did a Demon Lord’s fragment really appear…?!’

The appearance of an enemy that shouldn’t even exist in this Basic Middle Fantasy setting—a boss mob that was completely different from anything before—had completely overturned all my plans.

Some might say I’m overreacting about a mere(?) Demon Lord fragment, but… that would be nonsense barely different from truly absurd talk.

To begin with, the Demon Lord is a common element shared across all dungeon & adventure world settings, and in this reality, the main body of the Demon Lord is a monster among monsters who has already consumed hundreds of dimensions and is currently invading hundreds more.

And the combat power of such a Demon Lord’s fragment—a being created by tearing off a part of itself to operate in another world—is… at minimum, somewhere around the level of a top-tier god.

In truth, at this point, how to defeat it isn’t even the main concern.

Rather, we should be worried about whether this tiny Basic Middle Fantasy world might collapse from the collision of godlike beings during the battle.

The scale of each dimension varies greatly—some are truly comparable to the size of our actual universe, while others are more limited, extending only as far as a solar system—

And then there are dimensions like this Basic Middle Fantasy world, which boasts a mere 2-3 times the size of Earth.

Naturally, dimensions with such limited scale have extremely low durability in their boundaries between dimensions, meaning that a catastrophic collapse of the entire dimension could occur if a battle goes wrong.

But I can’t just leave that Demon Lord fragment alone either, because Satan’s fragment has already begun to erode this world into its territory simply by existing here.

‘…What should I do?’

By now, the thought of seriously considering a run was starting to seem appealing.

Of course, that wasn’t even worth considering.

After meticulously planning to stagnate the world’s civilization at a certain point and happily feed on their faith, with all preparations complete, how could I abandon everything and flee just because I was afraid of a Demon Lord’s fragment?

As a god, my pride wouldn’t allow such a disgraceful act—that was my judgment.

So I made my decision—

《—Bjorn, can you hear me?》

‘Yes, my master. What brings you to call upon me?’

《Did you sense it?》

‘…Yes.’

《Good. We’re going to stop it now. Are you afraid?》

‘Not at all, O Bleeding One.’

First, I summoned the most reliable Bjorn, who had been busy closing dimensional gates on the Isle of Albion.

※ ※ ※

The demon legion, burning with endless rage and fury summoned by Satan’s fragment, advances forward amid acrid gunpowder smoke.

The legion of wrath demons, appearing in this world through the fragment’s pull from Satan’s realm—the burning hell, the sulfur hell—spew their boundless rage at each other even as they march forward.

Killing, dying, and raging dozens of times over. While Satan’s fragment is pleased watching the demon legion acting as if this is their proper state, the military might and power possessed by this demon legion is truly tremendous.

Satan’s forces, originally specialized for such all-out warfare, can exert their full power by being positioned on land that is transforming into Satan’s domain, and the demons are further strengthened by the “demonic” energy that the fragment of Satan scatters around.

Moreover, though these demons fight among themselves to release their endless rage when there are no enemies, once an enemy is detected, their rage is directed at the foe, eliminating concerns about self-destruction.

Despite having no discipline or order, these demons were strong enough to face and even defeat the Avenger Legion, the strongest low-tier infantry in this world.

And then, in the next moment…

“”””””…??””””””

A darkness of infinite emptiness, condensed from the abyss, slowly but steadily flowed over the demons’ armor and skin.

This darkness was something that embodied their doom in material form. It was a kind of physical force carrying the concept of uncertainty.

The demons, who had been advancing in rage, completely froze as if ice-cold water had been poured over their skin, feeling the physical presence of this entity.

The overwhelming aura, the presence of “something” had partially crushed the presence of the nearby fragment of “Wrath.”

And finally, he revealed himself.

In a place transformed by the influence of “Wrath” into what could only be described as a scene from hell, Doom appeared with the sound of footsteps firmly treading the ground.

Doom, resembling a fusion of abyss and darkness, advanced with an overwhelming presence, erasing the corruption as he moved forward.

‘Doom’ was completely covered in armor stained with the abyss, and from within his helmet, two red light sources emitted an eerie glow.

Behind him, a crimson cape fluttered majestically even at that moment, and the dazzling crown gleaming at the top of his helmet shone with the influence of his presence.

Doom—Bjorn—walked majestically toward the legion of wrath.

As he gradually approached the completely frozen demon legion, the eerie and terrible abyssal presence intimidating the demons grew even stronger.

As his aura counteracted the presence emanating from Satan’s fragment, the demons no longer felt the pressure from Satan due to this presence.

And immediately after, a bright blood-red flash of light struck down above ‘Doom’s’ head—and a dark red sacred light containing the ‘abyss’ burst forth from around him.

KWAARRRRRRR—!!!!

Sacred power. Exposed to the bright and vivid light as if a god had directly descended, the demons’ physical forms began to boil, then their blurred bodies completely evaporated into dust and vapor in an instant.

The stronger ones, beings that should be called arch-demons, writhed in agony, thrashing their bodies wildly, unable to cope with the terrible pain inflicted by Doom’s power, the sacred light.

Their skin and flesh boiled, their features blurred and faded, then gradually decomposed into powder.

Their eyes, tongues, ears, and all manner of weakened parts vaporized and scattered.

These wrath demons, instead of announcing their fury with rage-filled roars, screamed and wailed like fragile beasts.

[[[[■■■■■■■■■■■■—!!!]]]]

These echoing screams, cries, and lamentations were utterly unsuitable for demons of “Wrath” to utter.

After the aura of wrath that protected them was stripped away by the overwhelming divine power, the final cries of souls being decomposed by the power of chaos were unbearably tragic.

And shortly after.

The demons, realizing their frozen bodies had been released from bondage—these pitiful and wretched creatures born from the abyss—began to turn and flee.

To get even a little farther away from that doom, the demons pushed, hit, killed, and devoured each other, trying desperately to escape in the opposite direction from the approaching doom.

But the overwhelming power unleashed by Doom, upon whom divinity had descended, spread far ahead of these ugly demons’ flight.

There was no way they could resist the power of a god descended to earth.

Black particles, like dust that had once been intelligent beings and arch-demons, scattered in the air—all that remained after all the matter comprising the demons had decomposed.

And in the midst of this scene—

《————!!!!》

As the avatar of Satan appeared before him, spewing rage toward his pathetically dead demons and the local god who dared kill his subordinates, wielding a massive flaming sword—

《Caught you.》

PIYUUUUUUUNG—!!!

With a strange sound reminiscent of an electronic tone, Bjorn-Duke pulled out a red cube from thin air and activated its power.

—CRASH!!!

In the next moment, as the cube—once someone’s divine artifact—shattered, space itself broke apart—and Bjorn and Satan’s fragment were instantly sucked into the broken space.