With sword techniques as brilliant as the stars, endless space shattered along with silver light. The Archangel of Judgment's body was woven into the center of infinite sword light, trapped within the fracturing space. With a thunderous boom, the Archangel of Judgment's body turned into elemental power and dissipated into the air. The surrounding landscape had completely transformed into volcanoes and wilderness. The terrifying angel, capable of destroying heaven and earth, was finally shot down. The immense pressure weighing on everyone's hearts calmed down as the sky cleared. Dawn always follows the darkness.
The girl who landed on the ground bathed in sunlight looked like a hero clad in holy radiance. The crowd began to cheer, as if victory had already been secured.
A man dressed as a priest in the crowd sighed and said, "Truly terrifying... even the Archangel of Judgment was no match. Just how strong is the Sword Saint?"
With a soft sound, his sword pierced the body of the "comrade" in front of him. Simultaneously, a thousand Theocracy knights following The Black Scripture raised their broadswords and began slaughtering their companions. The members of The Black Scripture didn't react in time, only to see a man who was supposed to be one of them sneering as he pulled a blood-stained sword from another member, his eyes full of cold mockery.
"You bastard!"
An expert from The Black Scripture launched an attack at this man. His punch could even shatter rocks and was fast enough to hit a bird flying through the sky. However, the man simply dodged with leisurely ease, and just as he was about to be hit, his sharp sword had already pierced through his opponent's body a step ahead.
"Wha—"
The Black Scripture expert's eyes were filled with horror.
At the same time, he realized that others had also suffered significant injuries, and it looked as if they had started fighting amongst themselves. He hadn't even noticed when this man had dodged from in front of his fist to behind him, or when the sword had pierced his body. Everything just now had been an illusion!
"Gentlemen, it's a pleasure to meet you for the first time. I am the Fifth Bishop. Now, it is time for our final farewell."
The illusion vanished.
The allied forces suffered heavy losses, with only a few dozen survivors remaining. The Platinum Dragon Lord roared and launched an attack on Number 5, but its attack passed right through the opponent's body. Unbeknownst to it, its senses had already fallen under the opponent's control.
"ROOOAAARRRRRR——"!
However, such control could not completely dominate an existence of the Platinum Dragon Lord's level. In fact, every second, the Platinum Dragon Lord's consciousness was breaking free from the illusion's manipulation. It would soon break loose; even the direction of its next attack was exactly where Number 5 was located, forcing Number 5 to choose to flee.
"Anyway, my mission is complete, so I won't stay any longer. Before the Sword Saint rushes back, I'll say bye-bye." Spatial Teleportation Item—Number 5 took out a rare, one-time-use item capable of instant spatial teleportation and activated it without hesitation.
At the instant he disappeared, Tsukasa arrived a step too late using Spatial Transfer, allowing Number 5 to successfully escape. Number 5's movements were very fast; the moment she defeated the angel, he immediately used illusions to manipulate the allied forces into performing "suicidal" acts. She had rushed back as soon as she saw the people in the alliance turning their swords on each other. But because the Platinum Dragon Lord had also been controlled, and the opponent decisively fled the moment their scheme succeeded, Tsukasa was unable to make it back in time even with instant teleportation.
However, there was no use regretting what had already happened. Besides, they had won this battle. Next, they just needed to destroy the ritual—at the very moment Tsukasa thought this, she suddenly realized that the ritual had unknowingly reached its final stage. She looked at her hands—her entire body was glowing. Although her mind was unaffected, her physical body had begun to continuously sublimate upward. She had already obtained a divinity she never possessed before.
The Platinum Dragon Lord and the remaining survivors looked uneasily at the changes occurring in the Sword Saint. Their eyes made it very clear to Tsukasa that she had been exposed. The relationship between them was no longer friendly; one could even say it had reached an incredibly sinister and dangerous level.
But it was strange; clearly, the ritual's effect shouldn't have reached its peak yet. How did the Bishop of the Goddess Cult know that this could be achieved just by reaching the sixth stage? Since they didn't know of her existence, the Goddess Cult should only have known that the Goddess could be summoned when the ritual reached its pinnacle. Yet, the one presiding over this ritual triggered it before then and clearly placed the ritual's effects on her, an "outsider." Doing such a thing meant the opponent had known about her relationship with the Goddess Cult all along. Could it be that Nigun had actually left this trump card behind without her knowing?!
No, although she wanted to refuse this evolution, there was no way to stop it. At that moment, she felt the killing intent coming from the Platinum Dragon Lord. This Dragon Lord had clearly made a decision. Although she really wanted to say that her spirit was unaffected and that she wouldn't destroy the world—no one would likely believe such words. Because she was now the God of the Goddess Cult, and the responsibility for everything the Goddess Cult had done would naturally fall on her head—however—
It didn't matter anymore. Since the evolution itself wouldn't affect her spirit, what she needed to do next was simple: kill everyone present who refused to submit, and then act as if this had never happened.
Afterward, she would still be the Sword Saint.
The Platinum Dragon Lord stepped forward and said, "It seems my premonition was correct. Sword Saint, you truly are the vessel chosen by the Evil God. That unusual power of yours is the proof, and now you have already been possessed by the Evil God."
Huh?
Tsukasa felt a bit annoyed upon hearing this.
She didn't deny that the Goddess Cult played a part in her progress, but what was this about her strength being due to possession by an Evil God? That damn old geezer; nothing good comes out of his mouth, dismissing all her previous efforts. And did he really think she couldn't hear the hidden meaning? That face of Jealousy—by saying this, whenever people mentioned the Sword Saint in the future, they would think she was merely a figure who possessed such power because she was possessed by an Evil God, so it wouldn't be surprising.
Utterly foolish.
Utterly hypocritical.
To use such false comfort to mask his own weak heart—the so-called Dragon Lord was nothing more than this.
"So you plan to make a move against me? Against someone who was your comrade just a moment ago. Without even trying to find another solution. Since you plan to do this, I won't just stand here and let you kill me. If you want to eliminate me, then try it." Tsukasa no longer tried to reject this power but accepted it instead. The awakening happened instantly, like water flowing into a channel; the sleeping power within her body had woken up.
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