Alaric's resolve wasn't anything new. It was the same resolve he had formed 100,000 years ago before his first clash with the Nox Demigod.
If anything, rather than fade with time, his determination grew as it festered for 100,000 years.
In truth, his desire to live had weakened too much. At this point, death was his wish. Whenever he thought about living in this world where generations had passed and the era had changed, he couldn't find it in himself to live on.
He knew nobody, he knew nothing. Although he was aware that another war with the Nox was on the horizon, he wanted to be selfish just this once. After living a life where he constantly sacrificed himself for others, he wanted to be allowed at least this much.
So without hesitation, he burned his life and turned it into essence to promote his attacks to a whole new level. When compared to when a 4th class did the same thing, a Demigod burning their life essence had a totally different meaning.
After all, Divinity wasn't just a status symbol or an increase in power. It was something far more profound and qualitative than that. To burn his life meant to burn his Divinity, his Laws, everything that made up the being that was Alaric Alfheim.
Those shining white beams continued to rain down from the heavens. The pearly white gates summoned through the trunk of the World Tree rose into the sky and flew at the Heaven Swallowing Beast, becoming an attack of his own.
Before the Nox Demigod could start burning his own life essence to compete, he had to end the fight. That was what Alaric was thinking as he moved with fervor.
'Soul Banishment.'
A new property was added into the light beams that were raining from the sky. With every successful hit, the Nox Demigod's Divine Soul was directly scorched.
OOOOOOOOOOH!
The bellows of the Heaven Swallowing beasts became even more ferocious. Half of the 3000 Beast Mountain Range was turned into a massive chasm that led thousands of kilometers into the ground by the sheer amount of mana radiating from his voice.
But with the current assault, the Nox Demigod couldn't do anything else to fight back.
He had been too disadvantaged from the start. And there was a reason for it.
These hundred thousand years, Alaric had been constantly using his power to maintain the Primordial Undying Realm and feed the subtree within it. At the same time, he had to use another portion of his power to reinforce the seal that kept the Nox Demigod trapped.
With this much wastage of Divine Power, it wasn't an uninformed guess on the Nox Demigod's part that Alaric was weakening with time.
But there was one thing he miscalculated.
Due to the events that led to his sealing, the Nox Demigod had never become aware of Alaric's true body. That is, he didn't know that his opponent had become one with the World Tree.
He assumed that Alaric was still in soul form just like he was, and that the subtree was something he created using his Divine Essence as a medium.
He had no way of guessing that the subtree was a legitimate portion of Alaric's body. Alaric had taken special care to make sure the Nox Demigod couldn't peer too much into the outside world for that exact purpose.
So while Alaric had indeed spent a hundred thousand years wasting his power, he had also been cultivating with his main body without the Nox Demigod's knowledge. And with the body of a World Tree that had evolved past its limits as a World Tree, Alaric had actually gained more than he had lost.
In the end, the Nox Demigod's oversight had led to the current situation.
And of course, it was always something Alaric had been planning for.
He was the one who kept the Nox Demigod on a leash all these years. He was the one who watched the 3000 Beast Mountain Range from around his body. He was the one who chose whether or not the Nox Demigod could peer into the outside world.
If it wasn't for his consent, how could his enemy ever learn about the Heaven Swallowing Beasts he could use as a body?
Alaric's kind heart had been tainted by the years, leading him to see the sacrifices of those who would die in this clash as a speck of dust in the vaster universe. But his original chivalrous spirit never disappeared.
Or at least, that was what he liked to tell himself. Perhaps, the reality of the situation was that he just wanted revenge on the man who has left him in such a sorry state, revenge on the one who had caused him to die a dog's death the first time.
But regardless of what his true motive ended up being, the task he had to complete remained the same.
The World Tree's crown shattered. The hundreds of thousands of branches and millions of leaves that made it up flew into the air as if they had wills of their own. Soon, those shining white beams of light impacted them heavily.
BOOOOOM!
A massive explosion rang out, ripping a gash in space that was thousands of kilometers wide. But instead of being harmed, the aura of those branches became ferocious.
'Time flows on like an unending dream.'
Accompanying his inward chant, a formless essence wrapped around the branches, causing them to go through myriad changes in an instant.
The youngest branches became more robust and reached their prime, while the older and more withered ones regressed to the same state.
It was a truly masterful showing of Time Laws that Damien would've killed to see.
After his preparations were done, Alaric moved the flying branches to form a massive chain seal in the sky. It exudes an aura of ancient profundity, as if it was something the mortal world didn't deserve to witness.
'Burn my Divinity, burn my soul. For the price of my life, eliminate the one I recognize as my greatest enemy.'
The chain seal spun rapidly. The vitality emanating from the World Tree started to dwindle at a shocking pace.
[W-What is that?!]
The Nox Demigod panicked. He had never seen something like the seal in the sky before. And from it, he could sense an aura of inescapable death.
[This…this is the ultimate technique of our Elf Clan. Regardless of where in the universe the elves are located, they will all learn this technique as they ascend to Divinity. I shall allow you to witness…the wrath of the World Tree.]
The spinning chain seal moved so fast that even with a Demigod's vision, it looked like it wasn't moving at all. Space ruptured around it and formed an ever-increasing void. The winds whipped and whistled, and a shining white light began to cover everything in the 3000 Beast Mountain range.
[Bastard! How dare you use such a cheap trick to kill me?! I refuse to accept it!]
The Nox Demigod furiously yelled. Using the time when Alaric was focused on enacting his seal, he put everything he had into burning his divinity.
The Heaven Swallowing Talent activated, sucking in all the mana and law essence in the atmosphere and creating a void space around him. The only mana left in the area was what was already inside his body.
And after he completed that, the Nox Demigod began to forcefully change the shape of the Heaven Swallowing Beast's body. The form of a colossus began to take shape. Humanoid arms and legs formed at a rapid pace.
Even before the appendages could fully form, the Nox Demigod pushed his Divine Power into them and launched desperate attacks at Alaric.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Those attacks ignored the concept of distance and punctured through the coagulation of essence that was taking place around the World Tree. They landed on the World Tree itself in an instant, rupturing its trunk and causing massive splinters to shower the environment.
But Alaric paid it no attention. He was already in the process of sacrificing his life, so what did it matter if his body was being destroyed? The remaining vitality of the World Tree was moved to protect Alaric's soul as he worked instead.
The trunk of the World Tree was shredded down within seconds, becoming nothing like the grandiose appearance it once held. If it was any other time, the Nox Demigod's win would have been imminent.
However…
[It is already too late.]
Alaric's voice came from the void. He spoke through the mana in the air, as the only form he had left was his soul.
The light that was gathering through the chain seal spread to cover everything.
Whether it was the remains of the Endless Snow Mountain in the north, or the Desolate Mountain in the south, it was all covered by the shining light.
To the point where the massive gash in space that eclipsed the entire mountain range was hidden within.
[OLD FOOL! EVEN IF I DIE LIKE THIS, THE UNIVERSE WILL BELONG TO OUR GLORIOUS RACE! KAKAKAKA!]
The Nox Demigod roared madly. Seeing the light that had already covered and started burning his body and soul, he readily accepted his death.
He wanted to say something grander, about how he would take Alaric to death with him, but since Alaric had been aiming for that since the start, he had no way to save face in this situation.
But he wasn't angry. He wanted to witness the day when the Nox ruled over everything, but he knew that day wasn't something he could ever see.
So he dreamed it instead. He put his desires into his voice and projected them into the Heavens.
And then, the second all things were covered in that holy light, it vanished without a trace.
Along with everything that was present within.
Cold and silent, like the endless fury of the elf who had cast it.
