Heat, kinetic force, and all other forms of energy rushed toward extinction, vanishing completely. Yet in Beast of the End's pupils, there appeared a trace of confusion and surprise. The attack kept weakening, but it still existed, shrinking rapidly until it could no longer maintain a beam form and finally exploded.
At the moment of the explosion, a thin white glow flashed over its body. The attack had been entirely blocked by a force field and achieved nothing, yet its nature was clearly different. Why had it not disappeared, and why did it still exist at all?
Overlord Ridge moved for the first time, rotating its massive triangular head. the Lord fixed its gaze on Belial as it slowly raised its head, and faint multicolored lightning gathered around the front and side horns. Calling it lightning was not quite accurate, since it only shared the outer form, while its inner nature was unknown.
In the blink of an eye, that lightning transformed into a surging ocean. A thunderous roar followed, the first since the battle began, and terrifying Lightning Magic spread outward. Within Void, more than a dozen shattered Divine Kingdom belonging to Crimson God in the distance suffered varying degrees of destruction.
Some turned into illusions, some collapsed outright, and others were erased as if rubbed away. Across the world, strange phenomena that had only just faded began to reappear. Massive typhoons and tsunamis rose, earthquakes struck repeatedly, volcanoes erupted together, and the Blizzard in the Northlands began to advance southward again.
It was as if the end of days had arrived, with disasters natural and artificial alike unfolding together. Within that single spread of Lightning Magic, countless paths to annihilation condensed into dense white stars. A diamond storm fell from the sky.
Each star carried power enough to shatter the moon into Shard pieces, and their numbers filled the heavens like a universe. Belial stomped the ground without hesitation, raising the Photon Reflection Shield that wrapped around his entire body. A crisp sound like glass being smashed into Shard rang out as cracks spread across the shield.
It was about to Shard, so he raised another layer at once. Before the stars had fully dispersed, he charged forward under the protection of his shields. The stars locked onto him as if guided by auto-aim, because they were manifestations of possible future ends, and whatever exists must hit its target.
"But if you cannot catch me, it means nothing." He spread his wings and accelerated, internal ignition already prepared. Wrapped in layers of shields, Belial plunged into the haze, immediately feeling his shield durability dropping by the second.
He saw his target standing within the shattered haze domain he had created. Belial opened his mouth and fired a Fusion Reaction Beam straight at Beast of the End. Inside the fog, the scale of Heat Ray shrank continuously, and when it struck, it was again blocked by the force field with little effect.
"Then this should work better. Since you are not moving, do not dodge this either." He raised his fist as massive energy gathered under electromagnetic acceleration. He swung with his most familiar move. "Magnetic Field Rotation and Space Blast Punch!"
Beast of the End would normally ignore close combat attacks. All prior assaults based on heat or kinetic force had only met inevitable annihilation upon nearing it. This time, however, something was different.
The heavy punch collided with the force field, and Beast of the End was pushed back a single step. It did not disappear. Anything that did not vanish outright stood in opposition, and mere existence itself denied its concept, which meant it had to be erased.
It swung its massive claw and stomped the ground with its right foot. A tail sweep came from the side and struck Belial squarely. The form of the attack did not matter, only the concept behind it, and an indescribable force burst forth on impact.
Several more stars slammed into Void, detonating with energy like the flash of a sun. Belial's Photon Reflection Shield was smashed into Shard fragments, barely keeping him intact. "That strength is impressive, not bad at all."
He adjusted his posture and flew back in, his surface temperature rising to familiar levels. Red light spread across his body as he formally entered his burning form. With his current stats, activating this state made him far stronger than before.
He opened his mouth and fired another Ultra-Helix Fusion Reaction Heat line glowing red. The scorching breath seemed able to burn even the red fog itself. Empowered far beyond before, it pierced through until it met another white light head-on.
The light blade of the slashing claw met Heat Ray and effortlessly severed it, erasing structure and triggering a massive explosion. Belial immediately spat several more Heat Ray blasts, using the explosion's shockwave to push forward. Lightning surged from his forehead along his back spines and gathered at the Crystal spear at his tail.
In another situation, the Divine Severing Thunder version of Plasma Cutter would have sliced Hedorah into fine pieces. Instead, X-shaped cutting light clashed with the diamond star glow that followed. Burning Plasma Cutter met slashing claws and the diamond storm.
Amid violently interwoven white light, Belial burst out wrapped in Photon Reflection Shield, charging straight through the residual force. He whipped his tail, energy focusing on the spear tip, and unleashed a Crystal detonation. It was blocked again by the force field, yet he pressed on relentlessly, dodging another slash and firing several more Charged Particle Cannon shots.
Those only served as interference. With the force field reducing his energy attacks so heavily, he decided to try beating it down with pure close combat. "Space and Detonation Punch!"
The frontal punch forced Beast of the End to lift its head, cutting light coating its claws as it struck back. Surprisingly, even against Belial's greatly amplified strength, it held its ground without falling behind. Yet Belial's eyes were not focused solely on Beast of the End.
Within its body were more than ten Crimson God souls. He did not care whether this counted as some kind of ultra-fusion. When fighting a machine, taking out the pilot first was always valid.
He examined the fused souls stuck together inside one body. This situation was very familiar to him. His right hand began charging the soul-cutting Divine Severing Thunder, and with Diablo's bonus against souls, he was confident he could shatter several of them into Shard pieces.
He aimed at the boundaries where the souls merged and prepared a separating slash. Instantly, the crimson souls inside Beast of the End panicked, especially those that had already been beaten by Belial before. Being worn down by the concept of the end was bad enough, and taking more hits would mean instant death.
They could not understand why summoning this thing still failed to resolve the fight immediately. Maybe if they endured a bit longer, there would be a chance. The real problem was that Beast of the End attacked friend and foe alike, and every second of its existence drained the Crimson God souls.
If Belial cleared this stage now, everything would be over. Overlord Ridge opened its mouth and roared, releasing conceptual power that could erase anything merely by being heard. White light gathered in its throat, far stronger than any attack before.
Up close, even Belial would suffer badly from this. That was the thought of the Crimson God souls, hoping to at least force him back. Instead, Belial's eyes sharpened, and he moved forward, biting down and locking Beast of the End in a choke with his arms.
"Now is the moment. Next move, you attack, I defend." "Magnetic Field Rotation Dark Eternal Life Art, ultimate secret." "Ultimate true body!"
Another pitch-black figure appeared behind Beast of the End. It was formed from the resentment drifting through Void, condensed into a Diablo Clone. Everyone had forgotten that Belial could use Clone, and no one expected it to matter against a bug like Beast of the End.
The ferocious Diablo clone bared its fangs, white light blazing from its eyes. White light gathered in its throat, and it fired a simple but soul-piercing Spiral Heat Ray. Compressed into a spiraling form, it blasted at point-blank range, breaking through the outer force field and striking the dozen souls directly.
Roaring screams burst from Overlord Ridge, but the sound was not born from its own pain. It came from the more than ten Crimson God souls inside, directly exposed to the soul-targeting hatred of Diablo. Their howls overlapped as the attack burned through them without mercy.
The outer body was not a pure manifestation of the End, but a fusion of Super-Xianglong and more than ten Crimson God souls, so its defenses were not strong. A point-blank Spiral Heat Ray aimed straight through a gap blasted open a small wound. The hatred and light that poured in through that opening were fatal poison to the Crimson souls within.
Overlord Ridge bent slightly backward from the hit, and Belial seized the moment to break through the outer force field. He rushed in close, landing a Space Blast Punch followed by Fusion Reaction Beam at point-blank range. The Heat Ray explosion swallowed both monsters, yet Overlord Ridge only suffered a small notch where the blast struck.
"But that is fine. I will just kill the pilot and see if you can still move."