Boom――!
The impact felt like a huge meteor crashing down on me. Then, the ground shook unsteadily.
I hurriedly dashed out of the disabled public restroom and ran to the center of the park.
While my heart pounded violently, I prepared my telekinesis and glanced behind me.
You’ve got to be kidding.
Where the restroom had been moments ago, there was nothing; it had disappeared without a trace. It had been destroyed.
Pieces of asphalt, sullied with urine and excrement, littered the area.
The gray smoke at the crime scene twisted and writhed like a serpent, rising into the night sky of the city.
"It's pointless to run away, you know."
Following the confident and alluring voice, another earthquake strikes with a thunderous impact.
Demon witch: Marizia Aswell.
And beside her, the gigantic monster. Until just recently, it was her sister Yurizia Aswell.
A grey, slick body exceeding three meters in height.
Thick blood vessels running all over, with tentacles extending from the head and arms, and various things like giant eyeballs and internal organs hanging haphazardly from the gray flesh as if sculpted by a child.
The thick blood vessels pulsate and glow with a steady rhythm
When the mouth-like part opens in agony, an unfamiliar slime drips onto the ground of the park.
"Fshu... Fshuu--... U, O, OOOOO...! Gooo."
It sounds like a scream coming from the depths of hell.
Upon hearing this, Marizia instantly undergoes a transformation.
Like Yurizia, her lewd body is encased in a jet-black bikini. A skirt that shows no intention of concealing her crotch. Belt straps hang from both sides of her waist. A left side ponytail tied with a ribbon, its end gently brushing against her left breast engraved with the Super Criminal's Mark.
Afterall, both sisters are participants in the Battle of the Defiled Land, they are undeniable criminals.
――On the surface.
"Where is Yurizia… What did you do with Yuri?!"
"Heh. You saw it yourself, didn’t you? Due to the runaway Demon Fusion Magic, which is forbidden even by witch standards, Yurizia is losing… no, having her body stolen away."
"You’re lying…! There’s no way this thing could be Yuri!"
I express my refusal to believe this reality.
Yurizia does not deserve to suffer such a fate.
Having been used thoroughly by her sister Marizia and forced into every kind of heinous crime, Yurizia should never have her freedom taken away until the very end.
That night, Yurizia showed us an unusually playful side to earn our trust.
――Thank you for believing in me. You truly said that with sincerity. Yurizia, who had just learned what trust really meant, looked genuinely happy. Really… truly…
However, Marizia denies even Yurizia’s attitude.
"I was the one who ordered Yurizia to go to Harima-kun’s house that night. —As long as you follow this command to not use the jar, I promised not to make you suffer again."
"…Hmph…!"
"——That girl is really stupid. She followed the order perfectly and became a spy for Harima-kun and your group without arousing any suspicion, remaining in her natural state."
The reason she passed Rain’s examination, despite having witch blood, is because of this.
The Yurizia who visited us that night was in her natural state, without the use of the artifact, the jar—Daunaru's Final Edict.
How much longer will you keep ridiculing others?
How much more will you torment Yurizia before you’re satisfied?
Marizia Aswell.
This is unforgivable. I will absolutely— defeat her.
"Heh. As participants, we are not allowed to harm Harima-kun."
"However..."—while saying that, Marizia raises the jar, flaunting her voluptuous chest.
"…From now on, this monster… will no longer even be a participant."
The jar, Daunaru's Final Edict, shines and releases a powerful gust of wind.
Then with the incantation Marizia chanted, the Second Ability and the Fourth Ability are applied to the demon.
Daunaru's Final Edict requires the target of the ability to have a large amount of blood within the jar. In other words—At this moment, the monster is still recognized as Yurizia Aswell otherwise, the jar’s command cannot be applied.
Crack.
Even as the jar cracks, the Fourth Ability, Divine Realm Access, is first applied to the monster.
Four enormous red magic circles—much larger than Rain’s hand-sized ones—emerge, restraining the monster’s arms and legs. Before the monster can even roar, the giant red magic circles absorb into its gray body, finishing Divine Realm Access.
There are no noticeable visual changes.
The power, however, is dramatically increased.
The monster now bears no trace of Yurizia, only an abhorrent creature driven by an insatiable desire for destruction.
Immediately, the Second Ability, Mental Possession, is applied, and Marizia enters the psyche of the monster that has achieved Divine Realm.
However, it seems that Marizia’s own body does not become a shell, as she appears to control both her own body and the monster simultaneously.
"Guf… Gihibu… Shuruu… Shuu――… Shu――…"
"Hehe. There’s no need to be afraid. You’ll only die after feeling something for just a moment."
As Marizia sweeps her purple hair back, the gray monster advances toward me with a heavy thud.
With just one step, the city is hit by an earthquake, and branches are broken by the wind pressure.
Numerous hearts sticking to every part of the slippery, giant body throb intensely, and the eyeballs dart around aimlessly.
"Don’t underestimate the people of this world…!"
Trying to act brave, I unleash my telekinesis, but the target is so enormous that I can’t even make an impact,
"Gobshu――………………? Gub, bufuu…………"
For the monster, it seemed as if it had only felt a slight breeze.
(Damn――! Why can’t I do anything…!)
Without Aira or Rain, I am entirely powerless. Really, completely.
Despite unleashing telekinesis wildly, I can’t prevent the monster from moving forward.
Splish――.
My energy is effortlessly deflected away by the tentacle-covered, veiny arm, vanishing into thin air.
"How annoying. As punishment for your resistance, you will suffer pain before you die――!"
Then without me noticing, the monster’s thick right arm, now right in front of me, struck my side hard.
Boom――!
The air is violently expelled from my body, and I can’t beath, leading to intense pain as the sky and ground blur together.
My back scrapes against the ground with a harsh sound, my clothes tear, and my bare skin gets scratched, ending with a heavy blow to the back of my head against a tree trunk.
"――Ugh,――ah,――aah,――ugh."
I still can’t breathe. The growing panic makes the breathlessness even worse.
I desperately need oxygen.
Struggling in agony, I claw at the ground with my nails.
My body still doesn’t move as I want it to.
Why? This is my body, right?
Hurry up and let me breathe. There should be plenty of oxygen right in front of me.
Cold sweat.
Goosebumps.
Nausea.
In a pitiful manner, I end up rolling on the ground, holding my stomach.
The feeling of the earthquake grows more intense in my bod
Thud―― Thud―― Thud――!
The footsteps of the monster, which has taken over the body of the girl named Yurizia and reached the divine realm.
Next time, I’ll be killed――.
With this certainty, my mental energy begins to run amok, flowing uncontrollably into my eyes and brain.
A moment of darkness―― like an endless spiral staircase―― something that seems distorted―― ah――?
Unable to even laugh at my own misfortune, I wonder if my sanity is finally slipping away.
"――Hang in there! Yuki-san!"
Immediately, the agony fades, and my breathing returns to its usual rhythm.
If I want to inhale, I can. The same goes for exhaling.
Such a basic thing is so wonderfully reassuring.
When I look to the side, I see――the figure of Rain with her dark long hair swaying.
With my breathing restored to normal, I remain on guard against any further attacks from the monster――but――.
"I’m sorry――! I’m late――!"
――Appearing before the monster is a beautiful girl with a crimson sword: Aira Verfane Quatronix.
The dragon-slaying sword, Ashkelon, is enveloped in crimson magical energy. Aira slashes at the monster, cutting it deeply, then again, and once more, cutting as much as she can.
Despite the ongoing silent sword attacks, Marizia’s expression remains unchanged.
"What!?"
Indeed, the sword is making deep cuts into the monster’s massive body, but the wounds are healing immediately.
Instead, now all attacks are being deflected by what seems like a barrier of magical power.
"How arrogant ……! There is no shield that Ashkelon cannot break――!"
"Is that so? Even the dragon-slaying sword…… cannot defeat a monster that has reached a pseudo-god level."
"The domain of gods…… you say――!?"
Despite this, Aira's attacks keep coming, yet they are all deflected.
As the crimson magical energy scatters into the night sky, the monster, protected inside the barrier, opens its mouth wide in apparent boredom.
Squish――Gush――Squelch! Thud――!
No matter if Aira brings down all her weight from above, sweeps sideways using centrifugal force, or thrusts with the sword's point.
The god-tier monster remains untouched by the attacks.
――However, it was at that moment.
I noticed a pink-colored shadow behind Marizia and the monster.
(What――!? Why―― is Haruka here in a place like this!)
Hinoshita Haruka.
An ordinary person who should be leading a peaceful life as a delicate and beautiful girl, one of the people important to me.
Haruka silently crept up behind Marizia.
What is she trying to do――?
Haruka gazed at me with her lips pressed together and gave a small nod.
I couldn’t shout for her to stop. If Marizia noticed, Haruka would――.
Rain, like me, had also noticed Haruka’s presence.
Then, Haruka wrapped her arms around Marizia from behind and restrained her.
Marizia, suddenly held down by an ordinary person appearing out of nowhere, was surprised with a "!?"
It was the first time Marizia’s confident expression had cracked.
The monster was protected by god-like power, but the main body was not.
Once I saw Haruka had pinned down Marizia, I yelled to Aira, "Target the main body!"
"--Haruka!? Argh--!"
Aira kicked off the ground and swiftly positioned herself in front of the restrained Marizia.
……thud.
A strange, deep noise, resembling the sound of flesh being ripped, rang out before the crimson sword hit Marizia.
――Slash!
The sword sliced upward from below. With a crimson flash, Marizia’s body was cut open, and she collapsed heavily to her knees.
We succeeded. We defeated her. We won!
Just as I was celebrating, behind the collapsing Marizia…
"Ugh…ugh…gah."
"――!?!?!"
Haruka had a huge gaping hole in her abdomen.
There was nothing inside. No organs, only blood staining her clothes, with the park visible through the hole.
Marizia predicted she would be slashed and swiftly cast a spell to kill Haruka behind her.
Collateral damage?
No, that’s not it.
The gray monster approached the stunned Aira.
The monster swung its thick arm down like a hammer, shattering Aira’s head.
Aira’s skull was split open, spilling red blood and brain matter everywhere in a gruesome display.
Clang!――Ashkelon rolls with a clatter, and the monster crushes it underfoot, releasing a foul breath.
Ah, I get it now.
She――Marizia has not completely died yet.
The evil sister’s consciousness inhabits the corrupted body of her younger sister.
As I stand powerless, the park is drenched in blood.
The lives of the two important girls to me have been destroyed.
This can’t be real.
Stop, this must be a mistake.
――It’s getting hot.
Aira can’t be allowed to die.
Haruka can’t be allowed to die.
We must reach the future we envisioned together.
――Something is awakening.
No, no, I refuse to accept this. Because of my powerlessness, my friends are dying. This isn’t right, aaaaaah!
● ● ●
A bottomless spiral staircase extending endlessly.
My eyes identifies it as the very essence of [ ], as I process the information with immense speed.
Locate it.
I use my current strength to cause distortions and seize the approaching spiral staircase.
● ● ●
Aira continues attacking the invincible monster that has reached the divine realm with the dragon-slaying sword, Ashkelon――.
However, Yuki Harima’s gaze was directed at Marizia, who was possessing a part of the monster’s mind.
Haruka Hinata, quietly sneaking up behind Marizia.
Yuki, with his fist clenched, roared "Run!" into the night sky before Haruka held Marizia down.
Receiving the message, Aira vanished from in front of the monster and instantly appeared in front of Marizia.
Marizia, with a relaxed expression, was trying to cast some defensive magic—however, in the next moment, her arms were held down from behind by Haruka.
Immediately after, without a moment’s hesitation, Aira slashed upwards with Ashkelon, splitting Marizia’s body in two.
――A heavy thud
Marizia collapses to the ground from her knees, vomiting clots of blood and falling face down, crushing her large chest.
Then――as Haruka gasps for breath, Aira quickly turns her body and faces the monster again.
The monster, emitting a stench like rotting garbage, raises its large arm.
Without hesitation, Yuki unleashes an exceptionally strong telekinesis, penetrating the monster’s divine barrier and firmly binding its gray, massive body.
Rain rushes to the immobilized monster, smashing a magic circle made with both hands into the so-called Divine Wall, momentarily neutralizing it.
"It won’t last long, so hurry!" Rain shouted, and by the time she finished, Aira’s sword had already split the monster in two.
"Dragon’s Wave Override――!"
The monster, split in two, screamed "Ugoooooooo――!?", while being eroded and disintegrated by crimson magic, exploding into pieces.
In the end, it scattered monster fragments all over the park, and finally met its demise.
Chapter length 6392 characters.
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