The Final Desperation
The Substitute God War — go go go go go go—!
The God Destruction Cannon of the Substitute God Lord blazed with lethal light. Every last planetary shield had already shattered, so the moment it fired, the blast would strike true. And above his head, the blade of light from the Incompetent’s Guillotine hovered, ready to fall. There was no time left to let rage consume him.
“The opponent is strong. We end this in one strike.”
The leaders of the Root School shared all current battle data and future projections through their collective knowledge. In this state, I can only cast one more spell.
The other leaders had already begun their incantations. But once this final sorcery was unleashed, whether it was the Substitute God Lord or anything else, it would all be over.
The problem is that it might finish me as well. Still, we’ve already come this far.
Worrying about the future could wait until he survived the present.
Now he would sacrifice his remaining right arm to physical magic as well.
I should have done this from the beginning. I stepped back from the front lines for a safer future and ended up being mocked for it.
Go go go go go go go go go—!
Nine circles of magical power, reawakened by offering his right arm as fuel, blazed in response to his resolve.
"Gigantic Meteor."
⟨ 9th Circle — Gigantic Meteor ⟩
Thud—!
The flesh and bone of his right hand instantly converted into pure magical energy and vanished.
I’ve lost both arms, but these are wounds that can be healed.
He focused on teleporting the compressed planets stored inside his body directly into the Substitute God Lord and slammed them home.
Booom—!
“Kreeeeaaagh—!”
The death scream of the Substitute God Lord sounded unbearably sweet in his ears.
The enemy’s scream is magnificent. It’s enough to make me forget the pain of my severed arms.
With his own eyes he watched the interior of the Substitute God’s bio-armor rupture from the clash between its internal defenses and the explosive expansion of the planets.
It’s taking several times the damage I suffered from shedding my own blood.
The sacrifice of his right arm had become the cornerstone of victory, severing the enemy’s last breath.
“Correct the spatial defense gap and dimensional barrier by three units left and two units right. Fire immediately after zeroing in.”
But all he felt was the flow of the other leaders’ magical power. They weren’t moving.
They’re ready, but hesitating to cast.
They had seen both his arms fly off and grown afraid.
“You pathetic fools—! Are you still afraid of physical pain even in death? Is that why you all died before reaching the seventh circle? Surrender the name of former Root School leaders and disappear into the four realms—!”
His eyes now flickered with something beyond killing intent—something demonic—devouring the very space around him.
The former leaders of the Root School responded with bitter laughter.
“Heh. Such reckless combat? He’s eleventh circle, yet he’s completely drained of mana and can only use physical magic that consumes his own body.”
“And he still chooses to fight? Against an opponent that doesn’t die even from a ninth-circle spell capable of destroying entire planets?”
“The enemy is above eleventh circle again this time.”
“A black mage who treats spells that mortgage his own flesh like everyday meals… truly astonishing.”
“He’s no saint, yet he uses self-sacrifice spells as regular magic?”
“This current leader is certainly unique. Normally, when the odds are this bad, the rational choice is to flee.”
“Is it because of the Contract of Karma? On top of that, an unimaginably powerful authority is targeting the current leader, so escape is impossible.”
“This is an unwinnable battle. Still… it’s better than the Root School suffering a helpless defeat.”
The past leaders all bowed their heads at once.
Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud—!
Dozens of bloody flowers bloomed across the void of space. They too had been leaders of the Root School. Setting aside their pride and beliefs for victory, they offered their own bodies as fuel.
“Gigantic Meteor!”
“Gigantic Meteor!”
“Gigantic Meteor!”
Slight variations existed according to each individual’s will, but almost simultaneously they summoned stars and teleported them into the enemy’s interior.
“Kiiiieeeek!”
The Dimensional and War God looked like he would collapse at the slightest touch, yet no matter how fiercely they attacked he endured. The Substitute God Lord’s scream gradually filled with terror as he realized what was happening.
He had sensed the stars slipping through gaps in his massive outer shell and teleporting directly inside him.
Even that enormous surface cannot block every spatial and dimensional teleportation.
Kuuuung—! Kuuung—! Kuuung—!
The stars expanded within him, only to be crushed by the god’s defensive power and explode outward, yet they still tore through the Substitute God Lord’s internals.
But a problem arose.
Even with my knowledge and body, those idiots summoned stars that are far too small!
At minimum, they needed the size of a Main God Star to deliver a fatal blow, yet they had only managed a tenth of that scale.
No matter how equalized their realm becomes, they’re still stuck below the seventh circle.
The sudden weakening of the magic caused the faces of the Root School leaders to twist completely. The cause was the insufficient sacrifice of their bodies.
My arm was completely obliterated from the shoulder down and converted into mana, yet they only went as far as the wrist at best. They made the decision, but the intensity and scope were far too small.
The power of the spell diminished in proportion to the scale of their imagination and the depth of their resolve. That difference now loomed overwhelmingly large.
“To think… we would make such a mistake.”
“We of the Root School unconsciously feared pain and reduced our bodily sacrifice?”
“What shame is this!”
No amount of regret could turn back time. The moment one bets everything, anyone who fails to wager it all is culled. Life’s choices are a gamble. If one keeps seeking only safe victories, they become a coward and eventually cannot even make a choice before disappearing.
That is why you all ended below the seventh circle.
“Kruuuuoooogh—!”
The Substitute God Lord let out a scream of agony and rage from the near-fatal blow.
In the end, even the rapid-fire Gigantic Meteors couldn’t finish off that highest-ranked Substitute God Lord.
All they had managed was to drive him to the brink of death.
What an abominable life force and defensive power. If I hadn’t used the Deathblow of the Gigantes God at the very beginning to block his past authorities and cut his strength in half, we would have been annihilated in the opening moments.
Having invested everything into this final assault, the attack succeeded—yet the enemy remained standing. It was enough to make his teeth grind together involuntarily.
“Ugh—!”
Miscalculations kept occurring in battle.
Optimism about one’s own abilities and expectations placed on allies dull the senses. The weak hope for a lucky victory against the enemy is the real problem.
Only he could sever the enemy’s breath and claim victory.
“Summon the Moon of the Origin and the Sun of the Origin—!”
All that remained to him now was dimensional divine power.
My divine power is still perfect. Fortunately, the saintesses and popes are doing their jobs well.
The very people he had once considered useless and tried to seal away were now the only ones helping him. The world truly was a circus of absurdity.
The Sun of the Origin and Moon of the Origin, summoned from the Survival Magic Tower and compressed to the extreme, floated into position where his severed arms had been. Without hesitation, he connected them directly to his torn shoulders.
Fwoooooosh!
Crrrrraaaaack!
His diminished divine power could not withstand the output of the Sun of the Origin, and once again his body was set ablaze. The Moon of the Origin granted him infinite regeneration even as his entire body burned to ash within the flames. At the same time, he began absorbing the unsealed divine power of the Sun of the Origin—power capable of destroying even a Lord God.
Oooooooong—!
He gathered a wave of divine power in his mouth.
This is an application of that arrogant Substitute God Lord’s own God Destruction Cannon. And I’m pouring Lord Slayer divine power into it as well.
Ziiiiing! Ziiiiiiing!
As the seals on the Sun of the Origin released one after another, the divine power gathering inside him grew in proportion to how fiercely his body was burned and accelerated.
It’s already enough to incinerate a mid-tier Lord God.
The Moon of the Origin, which supplied infinite vitality by breaking its own seals, was now creaking under the strain.
“Kauuuung!”
The Substitute God Lord, on the verge of death, sensed the explosive surge of solar divine power and desperately tried to activate his God Destruction Cannon.
No matter how many Substitute Gods are linked in that wide-area divine power array led by a Creator God, it cannot instantly restore someone on the brink of death. That will be his last attempt.
Gooooooo—!
Oooooooong—!
Billions of desperate Substitute God God Destruction Cannons took aim at him, preparing to fire.
Good. I’m ready too. The one who yields dies. Let’s see the end of this wretched battle.
He opened his mouth and unleashed every last drop of vitality and divine power he had gathered.
Lord Slayer Origin God Destruction Cannon
Kwaaaaaaaaang—!
Oooooooong—!