Chapter 173
Chapter 173
Chapter 173
Uriel (1)
The confrontation between Karon and Rudian, who share the same darkness, hinges on who can bring the phenomenon of 'darkness' more completely into their own domain.
If we were to discuss compatibility, Karon, who manipulates shadows, could be considered ahead of Rudian, but in terms of raw power, Rudian with his activated Black World was overwhelmingly superior.
However...
"...As expected, you're not to be underestimated."
The slash Rudian had just executed could be called a type of spatial cut that used the Underworld Technique to slice through the entire shadow domain.
When used with pure magic, it would require Grand Master-level swordsmanship skills, but the Underworld Technique itself possesses fraudulently powerful abilities.
Like all higher-dimensional powers, the Underworld Technique allows its very force to dominate and transcend space under the user's will.
However, perhaps because the finishing touch was somewhat clumsy, Rudian clicked his tongue as he still sensed Karon's presence, which had not been completely annihilated.
"Tch, persistent bastard."
Within the space devoured by shadows, Karon's body, which had been cut into dozens of pieces, was reassembling itself back into human form.
Certainly, even with the Underworld Technique and the power of chaos, it was unreasonable to kill a high-ranking god who was exerting full power within his own domain in a single strike.
"Tsk, I wish I had a technique that could finish things in one blow like Rebecca did."
While comparing the ranks of Dirmara and Karon would be rather rude to Karon, Rebecca had still finished her opponent in one shot, whereas this side was still struggling, which somewhat hurt his pride.
"I won't be caught off guard as helplessly as I was with that earlier ambush, human."
Karon, who had somehow returned to normal condition, glared at Rudian while gritting his teeth.
"The Black World... It will become the greatest gift to offer North in nearly ten thousand years."
"...Really now, who says I'm giving it to anyone?"
"If you had completely inherited the Black World, there would be no chance of victory, but if you're merely borrowing its power, then there's a possibility."
Karon began dissolving his painstakingly restored physical body into shadows.
In the bizarre spectacle of gradually being consumed by a swamp, Karon, with most of his face melted into the shadows, rolled his remaining pair of eyeballs and declared to Rudian:
-Human, having come this far, I do not think I can eliminate you without any sacrifice. Therefore... I will stake my very existence on erasing you.
"...!"
With those words, all of Karon's form dissolved into shadows.
"This crazy bastard..."
Karon's declaration was beyond Rudian's expectations.
In Dirmara's case, even though Rebecca had stolen all his power and part of his divinity, he could still maintain his existence as a god.
The mummified body was merely a terminal; his true form was still in the heavenly realm.
But now Karon had declared that he would endure the backlash of causality and seriously draw upon his main body's power to strike down Rudian!
"Hey, Karon! What the hell are you doing now!"
Blamir, the God of blood who had been coordinating with Karon, also showed clear signs of panic at Karon's unilateral action.
-You help too, Blamir. If you also follow Lord North... we cannot let this opportunity slip away.
Karon, who had completely assimilated with the shadows, began turning the world dark and transforming into a 'conceptual entity.'
Diablo clicked his tongue slightly at Karon's rampage.
-This is dangerous. At this rate, it will be an even more perilous battle than the one against Marbas.
"Damn it, that's not the problem. If that bastard seriously draws upon his power, this entire continent might be destroyed."
With Karon's power, it would be possible to cover this entire planet in darkness.
That's what it means when a high-ranking god who has resolved to perish and thinks nothing of consequences exerts their full power.
"Karon! Calm down!"
Perhaps never having imagined that Karon would rampage in this manner, Raihon, who had been in the midst of battling Maria while smashing the surroundings, let out a lion's roar in a panicked tone.
"Don't you know what it means for us to destroy the middle realm with our own hands! You, who knows why we took such a complicated detour - what are you doing now!"
From within the shadows, Karon's gloomy voice responded to Raihon's outcry.
-I know... But if it's the Black World, the story is different. If Lord North obtains the Black World, she will become the true ruler of darkness, surpassing even the Underworld King and the Demon God...
"...! Are you saying you'll ignore the alliance?"
-I apologize to Lord Garganta, but Lord North's reason for participating in this matter was to surpass those two beings from the beginning...
"This bastard!"
The Seven-Colored Worlds - that's what they ultimately are.
Ancient treasures so precious that even high-ranking gods like him would lose their minds over them.
When used by someone with the same attributes, the power amplification of the Seven-Colored Worlds is so absurd that even god-class beings can easily leap one or two levels in rank.
When Karon backstabbed them, Raihon judged that continuing the battle any further would be meaningless.
'I had my suspicions, but it turned out exactly as Lord Garganta predicted.'
Moreover, seeing the gods on North's side arbitrarily abandoning their positions to join Karon's side, Raihon began to feel a surge of rage, wanting to beat up those traitors rather than focus on the mission of killing Rudian.
"Hey, human woman. What's your name?"
Despite receiving a coordinated attack from no fewer than five gods, Maria responded lightly without showing much signs of strain.
"...Maria Kepler."
Furthermore, the current situation had become three against two immediately after two gods from North's side defected.
At this point, with Rebecca having joined as well, Maria's side actually had much better odds of victory.
"Right, Maria. As a god of the Pantheon, it's shameful to extend a hand in such circumstances, but... would you consider temporarily joining hands with us?"
At Raihon's unexpected proposal, Maria tilted her head slightly and answered.
"I understand that there's been a split among you, but wouldn't it be more advantageous for accomplishing your original mission to join forces with them against Rudian?"
"A fair point."
Raihon smiled bitterly at those words and shook his head.
"However, killing this Rudian fellow is merely part of the process. In this situation, there's no need to necessarily carry out that mission to the end."
"..."
"Above all, how could we accomplish great things to the end with those who ignore alliances and rampage like that?"
"That makes sense."
Maria crossed her arms and fell into thought for a moment.
With the rampaging Shadow God pressing Rudian hard, it would be difficult to hastily seek advice from Rudian.
In that situation, Maria decided to set her own conditions.
"If you return quietly after this matter is finished, I'll accept your proposal."
"Good. Let us make a covenant."
Raihon accepted Maria's proposal without any hesitation.
It was so clean that it was rather suspicious.
'...Something's fishy.'
If things proceeded this way, the opponent would gain nothing and return empty-handed.
Of course, it was a result of their allies' betrayal, but extending a hand toward this side without much consideration was somehow strange.
'A being of his caliber wouldn't break a covenant, so for now...'
Putting out the urgent fire comes first.
As Maria accepted the proposal, Raihon smiled slyly and let slip a surprising remark.
"Heh, I thought you'd immediately accept my proposal since your partner is in crisis, but unexpectedly, you also have a calculating side."
"Wh-what did you say? P-partner?"
"...!"
Maria jumped back a step in shock.
At the same time, Rebecca's eyes distorted like a ghost's.
Raihon tilted his head, finding the reaction more intense than expected.
"Why are you so surprised? Don't you usually call humans connected by threads of fate like yours husband and wife?"
"H-husband and wife!"
From Raihon's perspective, who could sense the flow of causality and fate, such words were bound to come out naturally.
"..."
When such a strong person lost her composure over a single word, Raihon found it more amusing than expected.
"Is that not right? Did I misread the situation?"
"Th-that..."
Maria hung her head low as if covering her reddened cheeks and stammered.
The piercing gaze from beside her was very uncomfortable.
Eventually, she had no choice but to utter compromising words in a voice as small as an ant crawling.
"Not... yet."
"Not yet?"
Maria seemed to snap back to her senses and glared at Raihon with fierce eyes.
"No, wait - why should I seriously answer your words in the first place? Weren't we just fighting with the genuine resolve to kill each other until just now?"
"I can't help but be interested. If that human called Rudian survives to the end, he will certainly ascend to the heavens with you someday, so it's natural to be curious about the personal details of someone who might become a new colleague."
"T-together...!"
The Maria ship, sunk.
Unable to watch any longer, Rebecca roughly grabbed Maria's arm and urged her on.
"Rudian is in danger - what kind of small talk is this right now!"
"Ah, r-right..."
"Let's go immediately!"
Maria was dragged away by Rebecca's gesture.
"My, my..."
That woman with crimson hair and the strong person called Maria. And Evangeline fighting two gods in the distance, and finally Rudian.
Raihon shrugged his shoulders as he looked at them alternately.
'If I borrow human expressions, would that be called a complete mess?'
If this is what he could see, what kind of reaction would Ruura of Love, who sees the flow of causality best in this world, show?
Raihon briefly thought that even if they didn't try to kill them, they might just self-destruct if left alone.
***
'First, I need to prevent his power from spreading.'
The domain of that bastard drawing in shadows is gradually expanding.
Right now, I'm barely suppressing it with the power of the Black World, but this makes sustained combat impossible.
The moment I release the binding force of the Black World and start fighting that bastard seriously, at least Luuren here will be completely destroyed.
-Dayra, Javis, help me.
"...Got it."
"The aftermath is your responsibility, Karon."
Moreover, as the gods under North's command began joining in, Rudian started feeling the ebb and flow of power.
'Damn, at this rate I'm screwed...'
If the balance of power collapses here, I'll be helplessly pushed back.
'It's tough alone. I need to somehow hold out until Maria or Rebecca can join... huh?'
He thought that Maria, who could quickly assess the battle situation, would surely aim for a short decisive battle.
He was certain she would fight fiercely without holding back... but why are not only Maria and Rebecca, but even Raihon attached to their side coming this way?
'What?'
Before Rudian could frown and assess the situation, Maria landed beside Rudian and began explaining the situation.
"We've formed a temporary alliance. That bastard's rampage seems to be an unexpected situation for them too."
"That can't be...? They're just giving up after coming this far? Aren't we being deceived?"
"A being of that caliber wouldn't have uttered lies."
"..."
If Maria didn't misread it, then that must really be the case...
Kwarrung!
In an instant, with the sound of thunder shaking heaven and earth...
-Krrgh! Raihon!
Toward Karon's shadows, Raihon, the Lightning God, began pouring down widespread lightning strikes.
Kwarrung! Kwagwagwagwa!
Watching the lightning strikes hammering down across several kilometers in all directions, Rudian's expression turned bewildered.
"For real?"
There was no reason to attack allies in a theatrical performance, nor was it ambiguous firepower that would appear that way.
Raihon was truly pounding Karon with the full power he could currently deploy.
"They said they'll construct barriers to prevent damage from spreading, so we should join forces and eliminate the remaining bastards ourselves."
"Well, it's a reasonable proposal in its own way..."
Since we were fighting enemies, there's no way we could suddenly coordinate perfectly, but even so, isn't this too much of a burden to pass on?
"Still, having them on our side does improve the situation."
Regardless of their ulterior motives, we need to somehow eliminate the rampaging Karon first.
Maria stood beside Rudian and said.
"Is this the first time we've coordinated like this since that time?"
"That's right. It feels a bit nostalgic, doesn't it?"
The final battle with Demon King Marbas, who had unleashed all his power.
If Eldorado hadn't been there at the time, both of them would probably have died.
"Please take care of me once again."
"Likewise."
As Rudian and Maria created a heartwarming atmosphere, Rebecca pouted and stood on Rudian's opposite side.
"Hmph, back then you left me out. So mean."
"Ah..."
During the Marbas battle, Rebecca had just awakened, and Rudian had no intention of dragging such a Rebecca into the battlefield.
Though fate somehow flowed this way, after confirming Rebecca's will in the Great Forest, Rudian stopped viewing Rebecca as merely a target for protection.
"Don't worry. You're also a proper comrade now. I have no intention of leaving you out."
"Hehehe..."
When Rudian stroked her hair, Rebecca's expression immediately softened.
"Well then... shall we finish this decisively?"
The opponents include Karon and Blamir, whom we were already facing, for a total of four.
And on this side are humans possessing three Seven-Colored Worlds.
It's a battle between gods and humans, but for some reason, Rudian didn't think they would lose at all.