"A contradiction?"
"I don't know exactly what you mean by 'King of the World,' but you're planning to devour the evil god in order to destroy the demons, right? In that process, humanity will definitely be wiped out. And if you kill every magical lifeform, the only one left in the end will be you. Do you really want to live in a world like that?"
"Humanity… will be wiped out…?"
Belia seemed to have never even considered that possibility. His eyes wavered at my words.
From the looks of it, he hadn't even questioned the fact that he was working alongside the very demons he claimed to hate.
Until now it had only been a hypothesis, but this confirmed it.
He was under the influence of Recognition Alteration.
The timing was most likely during the period when Philly Carpenter's predecessor had rewritten the memories of all humanity through the world of the laws at the cost of her own life.
"Breaking the seal on the evil god means conquering all the sanctuaries—the Great Labyrinths. That means destroying the wall of laws that separates the outside world from this one."
"…!"
"Do you really want to call yourself 'King' in a world where no one else exists? Even if you did, it would just be empty."
"Shut up… Be quiet…!"
Belia pressed a hand to his head as if suffering from a headache.
"If I were in your position, I'd hate it. —Looking back, the path I've walked has changed direction many times and lacks consistency. But at each turning point, there was always at least one person who understood me, who believed in me."
In my childhood, Shion had affirmed the dream that others saw as heretical. In the Golden Dawn Hero Party, where my treatment grew harsher and harsher, Luna had been there. In the Silver Rabbit of the Night Sky, my disciples and the members of the First Squad had been there. Because I had people who understood me at each stage, I was never truly alone.
"The reason I exist as I am now is because all of them were there. That's why I want a future where I can keep walking together with them. So, Belia—"
"—I told you to shut up! It's unpleasant. I don't want to hear any more… from you people!"
Belia shouted over my words.
"You people" most likely referred to me and August.
Belia and August were brothers.
Belia had been outstanding from a young age, but right beside him had always been his even more outstanding older brother, August.
It was easy to imagine how that environment could foster deep-seated feelings of resentment.
The inferiority complex Belia felt toward August must have been perfect prey for someone with the Recognition Alteration ability.
"…Ah, that's right… I swore it. That I would become the King of the World. If you intend to stand in my way, then I'll kill you!"
After pressing his head and suffering from the headache for a while, Belia suddenly seemed to recover. His entire atmosphere changed in an instant.
(This sudden change… Did he receive Recognition Alteration again? If so, does that mean Philly Carpenter is nearby?)
I searched for any presence around us, but I could not sense anyone else nearby.
While I was checking the surroundings, pitch-black, sludge-like magical power began spreading from Belia's missing left arm, forming countless skeletal arms.
"Die, Orun!"
The evil god's magical power was certainly troublesome.
Ordinary weapons, and even a simple magic sword made of regular magical power, would probably be unable to oppose it.
But the evil god was an enemy I would eventually have to defeat.
I had gained power in the otherworld precisely in order to slay the evil god.
"Belia, sorry, but I'll have to use you as a practice opponent. —Final Form: Mont Ende."
I absorbed the magic sword Schwarzheze into my body.
Then I combined it with the ki circulating through me.
The "power" that could not be contained within my flesh leaked out from my body.
The clothes I wore transformed into a magic garment upon contact with that power.
Azure-black lightning crackled around me.
I swung the newly created magic sword.
Countless slashes erased the skeletal hands that had been rushing toward me.
(Good. With this, I can oppose the evil god's magical power too. I've confirmed I can grasp it. Now it's a race against time…)
When I had defeated Stieg earlier, using Final Form: Mont Ende had immediately begun destroying my body.
Now that I understood Eternal Invariance through facing Belia, I could forcibly extend the time until collapse by combining it with Time Regression.
Even so, I probably wouldn't last even a minute.
I was glad I had served as an Enchanter in the Golden Dawn Hero Party.
The experience of fighting while constantly counting the duration of each buff was proving useful here.
(If I estimate the deadline for Time Regression conservatively, it's about thirty seconds. Once that passes, what awaits is the collapse of my body—in other words, death. I can't waste any time. I'll settle this in one go!)
"Impossible… That's the evil god's magical power!?"
Belia seemed to have believed the evil god's power was invincible. He let out a shocked cry.
If he was stunned, that was convenient.
I would erase the evil god's magical power right now!
I closed in on Belia with rapid movement.
Pitch-black magical power rose to intercept me.
Belia seemed a little slow to react to my movements, but did the evil god's magical power have a will of its own separate from Belia?
While thinking that in the back of my mind, I used Shift Teleportation to appear behind him.
"—Demon-Breaking Heavenly Flash!"
I unleashed the concentrated power at point-blank range.
Right before the blade reached Belia, countless layers of pitch-black skeletal hands overlapped like a cushion to protect him.
The jet-black shockwave erased part of the evil god's magical power, but not all of it.
(I don't have much time, but I have no choice but to steadily chip away!)
Belia did not resist the shockwave and created distance while launching pitch-black magical power at me in the shape of spears.
"—Demon-Breaking Blade!"
I transformed the magic sword into a magic blade and cut down every single one.
I followed up by launching slashes.
—However—
"…Ugh… Kh…!"
Had the damage to my body already begun? A wave of dizziness hit me.
Belia had no intention of waiting. He closed the distance.
"—Shot + Scatter Shotgun!"
I fired countless magical bullets at Belia, forcibly stopping his advance.
Ordinary magic would not deal significant damage.
To defeat Belia—to defeat the evil god—I needed to drive in this magic sword created by combining magical power and ki.
As I tried to kick off the frozen foothold to close in on Belia—
"Kh…! Damn it…!"
Blood began flowing not only from my nose but also from my eyes. My vision was starting to turn red. My body was clearly signaling that time was running out.
While that was happening, Belia, who had moved into the air, gathered the evil god's magical power and created a gigantic skeletal hand.
He swung it down, intending to crush both me and the entire royal capital.
"Kh! Uoooooh!"
I roared and forced my body into action.
I met the gigantic skeletal hand with the magic sword I had poured power into.
The evil god's magical power was the polar opposite of Titania's, but it could still be called the pinnacle of magical power.
My own magical power was also dyed jet-black, but it had not yet reached the evil god's level.
However, I had also reached the pinnacle of ki—the human's original power—known as Demon-Breaking.
Jet-black magical power and the pinnacle of ki: Demon-Breaking.
The combination of these two opposing forces was a power capable of annihilating all things.
The fact that such power was circulating throughout my entire body was precisely why my body was collapsing.
"Disappear!!"
When I swung the magic sword through, the slash carrying that power tore apart the gigantic skeletal hand created by the evil god's magical power.
"What—!?"
"—Bind!"
Blood was now flowing from my eyes as well. My vision was dyed red, but I ignored it and activated the spell.
Chains made of jet-black magical power appeared from the void.
"Kh! Don't come near me!"
When the chains tried to restrain Belia, he used Eternal Invariance to try to stop their movement.
But I wouldn't allow that.
"—Annihilation!!"
I nullified Belia's force field and sealed his movements with the chains.
By then, I had already closed in right in front of him.
I pierced Belia's chest with the magic sword.
"Gah…!?"
"Haah… haah… haah…"
The chains that had been restraining Belia vanished, and his limp body fell to the ground.
"It's… not over yet…!"
As long as Eternal Invariance existed, even if his organs stopped functioning, Belia would not die.
I gathered magical power from the surroundings to the absolute limit in order to purge only the evil god's magical power without killing Belia.
The azure-black magic sword warped the surrounding space, and cracks began to form in parts of space that could not withstand it.
"Outside" magical power flowed in through those cracks.
I wrapped that power around the blade and—
"—Heavenly Abyss."
I unleashed the strongest slash I could currently wield at Belia.
Jet-black magical power swallowed the entire royal capital.
And within the swallowed area, it erased all of the evil god's magical power.