“If I hadn’t mastered the sword, I would have died here!”
“How dare you be sarcastic after stealing the body of my comrade!”
“Even if I didn’t have this body, I can easily…!”
“Then come at me. I will rip off that mouth from you first!”
Jamie and Zenith clashed. Sparks flew everywhere as a strong wind blew.
They shifted and clashed repeatedly. They collided their swords with all their might as their muscles began to feel numb.
Their bodies were tired.
‘On the contrary, that guy’s body is regenerating.’
Jamie frowned at Zenith, whose arms and legs were slowly growing back. Perhaps in another 10 minutes, his body would be back to normal.
It was clear that Jamie would be at a disadvantage because that body belonged to Diomedes.
‘He is just a reincarnation, but the talent he held will not vanish.’
Even though the body was in a young state, the power and skill it held were those of Diomedes in his heyday.
And if the body were fully intact, then simple sword techniques would not work.
‘Is there only one way then?’
He needed to remove Zenith from the body. He was now just using the body as a vessel. Zenith devoured the soul and used the body as a shell, so his soul could dominate the body.
In other words, if he could touch the soul, he could remove Zenith from the body.
And Jamie was a dark magician who manipulated souls.
‘There are many chances.’
He didn’t want to see his subordinate’s body suffer. But if Zenith were pulled out of the body, he would be much weaker than he is now.
It would be like killing two birds with one stone.
“What else are you thinking about right now?”
Zenith rushed forward, kicking the ground with his foot.
He couldn’t remember when this bad blood started between them. Even before the Resistance started, he had always fought with Zenith.
And after becoming a dark magician, he only fought more fiercely with the God. Over and over, putting their lives in danger every time they saw each other.
So there was something different in him than in the other Gods. Jamie slashed the falling sword and hit the air with his other hand.
The air vibrated and created a shockwave where Zenith landed.
“Kuak!”
As soon as he saw him wince and hesitate, he rushed in with Balisada.
Zenith tried to block the attack sloppily, and their blades clashed in the air.
Jamie jumped as if he were stepping on air.
“Ever since before, you have had no sense of things.”
[Inverse Heaven.]
He could feel his small amount of black mana draining.
It was an interesting thing.
Originally, it would have been described as nothing, but now it seems like he is using everything.
Jamie used the chains to pull the souls out of Inverse Heaven.
Chiik!
Two chains extended toward Zenith, and he hurriedly rolled on the ground to dodge them.
The chains dug into the ground.
“You bastard! You are trying to get me out of this body!”
The chains that fell to the ground came up and moved toward Zenith again. He slashed one chain with his sword, and he kicked the other with his foot.
Thanks to this, he fell to the ground, creating a gap that Jamie used to his advantage.
Puak!
Jamie appeared in front of him before he knew it and pierced Balisada into his heart.
“Now, come out of there!”
Trik!
Behind Jamie, the chains of Inverse Heaven flew toward Zenith.
“Do you think I will be beaten so easily?”
The Land of Victory was crumbling, and with no ground to stand on, the balance tipped over as the chains cut through the air.
Zenith put on an awkward laugh, and he pulled out the sword from his heart.
“Kuak.”
Having your heart pierced is never fun, and it was quite fatal. Some of the holy power he used to regenerate his body was transferred to his heart.
The Gods were so disgustingly persistent, to the point where even if they were trampled by feet, they would still rise up.
‘We are back here?’
The Land of Victory was a place where Zenith had authority.
After releasing it, they were back at the original place, which meant he couldn’t fight like he used to.
Even in the Land of Victory, he almost got pushed back, and if they fought here, the result would have been quite obvious.
“To give up all the advantages in order to come out of a small crisis… so pitiful.”
Even if there was no ground to stand on, Jamie was a magician, and flying was as easy as breathing.
Jamie sped up and quickly chased after Zenith.
‘It would have been better if I could use White.’
White couldn’t be summoned for some time due to the aftereffects of the Level 5 Supreme Demon Ability.
The sword had lightning shining around it with Balisada’s unique flames.
Zenith looked at the oncoming attack and grinned.
“I will acknowledge the words you said to an extent.”
“…?”
“I guess it is true that I lack basic sense. There is such a way too, but I couldn’t think of that!”
It was then…
A bright light shone from the ground, and before Jamie could even understand the situation, Zenith shouted,
“There is so much holy power all over the world. What was I even doing up there?!”
The slash that was about to strike him was cleared up by holy power, causing Jamie’s face to contort.
Zenith began to absorb the countless holy powers from the ground.
“You fucking trash….!”
The soldiers who fought against Pyro’s army were on the ground. All the holy power Zenith was absorbing now was from his fallen followers.
The holy power was being taken away.
“Kuahahaha!”
And his limbs began to regenerate in an instant.
All the minor wounds healed, and he returned to his original appearance. To protect himself, he sacrificed the lives of tens of thousands of his fallen and living followers.
Jamie gritted his teeth.
“You fucking devil…!”
“I am glad.”
“Glad of what? You trash! What the fuck did you just do?!”
“I am glad I didn’t lose power. I would have been in trouble if I stayed in the Land of Victory any longer.”
No matter what Jamie said, Zenith was mumbling about his own importance.
“I had to do this. I couldn’t be stuck in there. Kuekuku. Is this called luck?”
“What are you going on about?!”
Jamie jumped through space and appeared right before Zenith, aiming for his throat.
“You see Diablo. Everything has already ended.”
With just an index finger, he stopped the sword.
Actually, he didn’t have to do that. He wasn’t in a condition where he didn’t have to touch something to stop it.
On the other hand, Jamie was already drained of his power. Even if the sword wasn’t blocked, he couldn’t have cut down Zenith all at once.
Still, the reason Zenith did this was to show Jamie their gap in skills right now.
“Now come and be a part of me. Then I will spare your family and friends. I promise.”
Zenith put on a kind smile and said as if he was a holy being presenting a good option to Jamie.
“… fucking insane bastard.”
To which Jamie answered.
“You will do that either way.”
“Answer~”
A spear was summoned right above Jamie’s head. With his current power, there was no way Jamie could avoid it.
This was the end.
[You did well. I will take it from here.]
A two-toned voice came up in Jamie’s head.
And….
“Kuak—”
The huge spear broke into shards of gold light and fell straight toward Zenith’s shoulder.
Zenith’s eyes widened.
“W-What…?”
His face was clearly shocked. It was too sudden.
And Jamie didn’t miss his chance.
‘This is my last chance.’
[Inverse Heaven.]
One chain stuck out of the space where the Inverse Heaven Gates was.
Zenith tried to stop it, but it was too late.
“…!”
The chains immediately dug into Zenith’s chest.
“Stop… and come out of my friend’s body!!”
With all his might, he used all his strength to get Zenith out.
“N-NO! NOOOOOOO!!”
And his soul was pulled out.
Pachik!
Lightning shone everywhere. Zenith was already coming out of Diomedes’s body.
He tried to hold onto the body, but once the chains caught something, they would never leave it.
“My… win!”
Tear!
The soul and body were completely pulled apart.
And Diomedes’s body, which was only a shell, began to fall down. And things changed.
Jamie smiled as if he was done doing what he wanted.
As he fell to the ground, someone passed by and quickly flew to where Zenith was.
A boy with dazzling blonde hair and a holy sword in his hand.
No, he was a bit too grown to be called a boy, and he was someone Jamie knew quite well.
“Why are you so late?”
As he received the Goddess’s full power, Ricky swung his sword.
[Sword of Judgement.]
The sword that punished the guilty shone like gold in the sky.
“Phew.”
The golden light filled the sky.
Just what the hell was he up to until now?
‘Since he appeared at the moment of crisis, I should look at this.’
It was a pity that he couldn’t end Zenith with his own hands, but his back was wet in sweat as this was the desperate moment of the fight, and he hoped Zenith was scared to death.
No, literally dead would be better.
He absorbed more Gods to grow to a higher level.
If Jamie ended up being a part of Zenith, the God would continue with his murders.
But…
“Damn it… I am so out of strength.”
He turned his head and looked at Diomedes, who was falling a little faster than him.
If he left him alone, he would fall down and turn into a lump of flesh. But Jamie himself couldn’t even move.
It was then….
“I don’t know who that is, but I will take care of him.”
Jamie’s eyes widened at the voice he heard.
“… Hawks?”
Hawks, a member of Frontier and the Bird Tribe, spread his wings wide and headed to where Diomedes was falling.
Did he come here all the way from Frontier?
No, not just him.
The situation below became clear to Jamie for the first time.
“Ha!”
There were female warriors with wings fighting the angels, warriors with jewels on their heads helping the humans fight, and men and women with long ears helping everyone with their powers.
And soldiers wearing the armor of the Seldam Kingdom were everywhere.
‘Everyone came.’
For the survival of this land.
Everyone longing for freedom had reached one place with one hope.
And now, numerous races have joined forces to fight against Zenith.
Just like in the past.
As he thought about it, it looked like the Resistance was fighting down there, and this brought him an indescribable sense of satisfaction.
“People… are never alone.”
“Yes. People aren’t alone.”
And someone gently hugged his body.
Confirming his identity, Jamie smiled for the first time since he joined this war.
“Father.”
“You suffered so much, my son.”
Count Welton looked lovingly at his tired-looking son and nodded.
Only then did the realization hit him.
The long, long war with Zenith was coming to an end.
“…”
No.
Not yet.
In the end, it turned out like this.
‘But it isn’t over yet, Diablo.’
At least not for you.
No matter how much hope you have in your heart now….
All of that will be trampled on.
