Chapter 93
Chapter 93
Chapter 93
The Final Battle, Marbas (2)
A black sun had risen.
No, more precisely, the sky had turned black under the influence of the magic emanating from Marbas, and the energy had obscured the sun.
Its appearance was like an eclipse, but from its essence, only a sinister ominousness could be felt.
As Rudian ran toward Marbas, he spoke to the sword spirit.
'Diablo, lend me your power.'
-Kekeke, so even you, little brat, are getting anxious in this situation.
'No time for jokes. If you don't want to see me die, give me your power!'
-Are you confident you can control it?
This was different from trivial powers like stealth.
When Rudian had trained in the Tower of Trials, he had borrowed Diablo's 'real' power just once.
And the result was the birth of a maniac who lost his reason and went on a rampage, ending only when Kimaris used all his strength to sever his neck, forcibly resetting his life.
'I don't know. I couldn't do it then, so I can't say I'm particularly confident now. But I think I can at least distinguish between friend and foe this time.'
Even after Rudian said this much, Diablo hesitated and didn't readily lend his power.
-Now is different from then. If you go berserk now, I'll be in trouble too.
'So, do you think I can beat that guy without borrowing your power?'
-That's not happening.
'Then shut up and give it to me!'
The conversation with Diablo ended there.
From below his navel, a lava-like hot power began to rise.
A 'power' that was qualitatively different from Diablo's magic that he had handled countless times before.
Sensing that power, Marbas laughed madly and rushed at Rudian.
"Diablo! So you really were Diablo's contractor!"
"......"
"You weren't some descendant of a god after all! But this is much more enjoyable!"
At the same time, Marbas exploded with power.
"Let's have some fun!"
CRACK!
A much more powerful pressure than when facing Rigos approached.
Anger responded to the enemy's murderous intent to take his life, sweeping away the pressure.
And simultaneously.
BANG!
Marbas' fist collided with Rudian's sword.
With a short, heavy sound of air being torn, tremendous aftershocks spread out from the two of them as the center.
"Hahahaha! You also prefer direct confrontation?"
"It's not a power I can handle while dodging!"
True to his words, Diablo's power was specialized for direct confrontation.
THUD!
The collision that seemed evenly matched was soon decided.
Marbas pushed back Diablo's sword with pure strength alone, sending Rudian flying far away.
"Well blocked!"
He was about to rush in for a follow-up attack, but Marbas suddenly felt an eerie sensation and looked up at the sky.
When it had appeared, there was a massive sphere in the sky, its color slightly obscured by black clouds.
"Die!"
It was a powerful strike that Maria had prepared using the brief moment when Rudian and Marbas collided.
"...!"
Marbas judged that he absolutely could not underestimate that sphere flying toward him.
Even without looking closely, he could feel unimaginable physical force from it.
Immediately recognizing the sphere's identity, Marbas grinned broadly at Maria and asked.
"Uhahahaha! Exactly how many mountains did you compress?"
"Five!"
When dealing with Gude, she had only thrown a single uncompressed peak, but this opponent required more than that.
Maria answered briefly and dropped the sphere of compressed mountains right onto Marbas' head.
And not just dropped it, but with maximum telekinetic force!
RUMBLE!
The sphere Maria launched hit Marbas precisely.
The aftershock alone caused the ground to crack in all directions like shattered glass, and seismic waves burst forth.
The force was so strong that even Sonya, who was fighting demons far away, detected the earthquake and burst out in irritation.
"Grand Earthquake? What crazy bastard is using 9th class magic near the capital?"
"Focus, Sonya! Their power has grown stronger!"
"I know, Archduke! Damn, what the hell is happening over there?"
It was a strike that would make even Sonya mistake it for magic - a blow that even a dragon would have to give up on surviving if caught under it!
"...!"
But Maria saw the sphere that struck the ground crack with a splitting sound from its center.
"Monster...."
CRASH!
Not only did he withstand the massive strike of five compressed mountain peaks, but Marbas shattered the sphere itself and shot up into the sky.
"As expected, I need to kill you first!"
"Try it if you can!"
Maria rarely showed killing intent as she faced Marbas head-on.
But before the two could collide, Rudian, who had been sent flying far away, returned.
"Your opponent is still me!"
FLINCH!
Marbas realized that the power contained in Diablo's sword spirit had become much stronger than before and hurriedly created distance to prepare.
"As if I'd let you escape!"
But Maria's telekinetic force bound Marbas' limbs momentarily, and Rudian took advantage of that gap to strike.
WHOOSH!
Marbas, who had responded to Rudian's close-range strike by extending his fist as before, soon regretted his decision.
SLASH!
"...!"
Marbas noticed that somehow a long, straight scar had been carved into his fist.
His body, which hadn't even been scratched in the first collision, had been wounded in the second.
Marbas looked at his bleeding hand and spoke with a much calmer attitude.
"As expected, the power of wrath. Diablo's power that becomes exponentially stronger as it burns."
"......"
"But how long have you been handling this power that you're already showing signs of being consumed by it? I'm a bit disappointed."
"Shut... Up."
True to Marbas' words, Rudian was stuttering.
Maria, who had landed beside Rudian, also showed a worried expression at his unstable appearance.
"Rudian, are you okay?"
"I can endure it. Don't... Worry about me, just focus on... Killing that bastard."
"Got it."
Even while anger was eroding his reason, Rudian coldly assessed the situation.
'If I hadn't strengthened my body with Leviathan's fragment, I would have died from the first strike.'
He couldn't borrow Diablo's power infinitely.
Especially now that Adi, who was in charge of coordination, was away!
'If I draw power recklessly, I might be able to damage his body, but that won't be enough for a fatal blow.'
No matter how powerful the strength, he wouldn't just stand there and take attacks swung blindly after losing reason.
'I need a different power after all.'
Rudian drew another sword from subspace and gripped it.
Just by revealing its existence, the air around them that had been contaminated by magic began to be purified little by little.
Recognizing the sword's identity, Marbas asked with interest.
"Oh, a holy sword?"
"That's right."
"You really are a curious one. To handle a sword with Diablo sealed within it while simultaneously wielding a holy sword of that caliber and remaining fine. Normally, the moment you grip both swords, your body should explode from the clash of opposing forces...."
Certainly, Rudian himself had something he was curious about.
Why didn't these many powers conflict with each other but instead harmonize without complaint when he handled them?
Unlike the protagonist Abel, he hadn't received a special ability called 'talent' from the Creator God, nor was Adi particularly coordinating anything.
But Rudian didn't intend to delve deeply into that.
After all, good was good.
"So, aren't you going to... Fight?"
"As if! Of course I will!"
Marbas brightened up and rushed at Rudian again.
The power of wrath grants its user endless strength and stamina.
With Maria's assistance added to this, he was able to fight Marbas on somewhat equal terms.
But at some point, Rudian felt that Marbas' power was growing stronger and stronger.
Despite unleashing all restrictions and wielding the power of his prime, even greater strength continued to spring forth endlessly.
Just like Diablo's power of wrath!
'Damn...!'
Rudian, who knew the original story, understood what that phenomenon was.
"Hahahaha!"
Marbas laughed like a madman as he deflected Maria's pressure.
"If you're Diablo's contractor, you must know my power too! My power is 'Challenge'! The stronger the opponent! The more worthy they are to overcome, the more infinitely my power surges!"
"Ugh...!"
"You are worthy of facing my power! Come, let's have the ultimate battle!"
Maria's complexion was worsening.
It was proof that pushing back Marbas' power was gradually becoming too much for her.
'I can't drag this battle out any longer.'
Due to the magic Marbas was emitting, the surrounding area was rapidly transforming into a pseudo-demon realm.
Plants and wild animals were being affected by the magic and transforming into man-eating life forms, and the contaminated air was rejecting human approach.
Moreover, this place wasn't far from the capital Nevan.
Any further spread would be irreversible.
Rudian shouted to Adi amid the increasingly difficult battle.
'Adi! Are you still far away?'
From a distant place, Adi's telepathy reached him.
-5 minutes, just hold on for 5 minutes, Master!
'It really is 5 minutes! If it goes beyond that, you're responsible!'
The battle was so difficult that the power of wrath was dissipating, causing the strange phenomenon of reason actually returning.
As expected, Daylight's divine power, unlike Pruna's, didn't deal any significant damage to Marbas.
At best, he could deflect a few attacks with the power of foresight, but Marbas' demonic nature was interfering with even that foresight at every turn.
Without even waiting for the 5 minutes Adi had promised, considering the physical situation, the surrounding situation, and everything else, he had to settle this soon!
"Kyaaaah!"
While Rudian had briefly fallen back, Maria's barrier that had been blocking Marbas' attacks shattered, and she let out a scream filled with pain.
Rudian desperately suppressed his growing urgency and gathered his power.
"Huuuu...!"
A fourth power descended upon Rudian's twin swords, which had been surrounded by magic and divine power.
If it was this power he had obtained by offering tribute to Yev in the past, there was definitely a possibility.
A purple-tinged alien darkness began to envelop the divine power and magic.
Marbas seemed to recognize the identity of that power, showing a truly surprised expression.
"Outer Force...? How did you obtain that power?"
"Well!"
The multicolored power that had finished off Rigos.
Chaos.
Because it was a power restricted by causality itself, it couldn't produce the same output as in the Tower of Trials, but this much was enough.
"So that was the power that killed Rigos, who possessed the power of 'Equality'!"
Actually, Marbas had been constantly puzzled throughout the battle.
Rigos, who possessed the power of equality, could temporarily unleash all his power like Marbas was doing now.
But from what Rudian had shown so far, it was far from enough to have killed Rigos and his subordinates.
However, now that question was finally answered!
SLASH!
Marbas' body, which had been protected by the power of challenge, was immediately split open!
"Kueup!"
Among the scars on his upper body earned from fighting countless powerful enemies in the demon realm, a scar larger than any other was carved diagonally.
Rudian's strike had finally landed a proper effective hit!
"Good! Very good!"
Ignoring the wound across his torso, Marbas threw a punch straight at Rudian.
THUD!
The power of wrath was immediately torn away, and Rudian's neck bent backward.
Though the impact on the body wasn't too severe as power canceled out power, both beings knew that the moment either side broke, terrible results would befall the broken side.
"Die!"
"Hahaha! That's my line!"
Therefore, they didn't stop moving their bodies.
BANG!
CRASH!
"Haaaaaah!"
When Maria applied spatial distortion to Marbas' body, a small black hole formed centered on his heart and began to devour Marbas' body.
But Marbas' demonic nature refused to acknowledge the destruction of his body, so ultimately, the spatial distortion that Maria had applied with all her strength was deflected and dissipated futilely.
"Kaak!"
"Maria!"
Maria, experiencing power backlash for the first time in her life, collapsed while coughing up blood.
"Where are you looking away!"
The moment Rudian, shocked by Maria's collapse, briefly turned his gaze, Marbas' fist broke through Rudian's defense and pierced his side.
"Kuhek...!"
The power of wrath prevented his body from rupturing, but that was it.
Rudian dropped Diablo and Daylight from his hands and rolled dozens of meters away.
"Hehe, it's over."
The power of wrath faded, and aura and divine power also vanished without a trace.
"Using alien power was certainly unexpected, but ultimately it's been proven that such measures cannot overcome this Marbas!"
Confident in victory, Marbas spread both arms and burst into mad laughter.
"Kahahahahaha!"
"...What a fucking... Bumper crop of bullshit."
Having lost his weapons and exhausted all his power, Rudian gritted his teeth as tremendous pain finally hit him.
"Oh, you're still alive?"
Marbas approached Rudian slowly with a twisted smile.
"I'd like to spare you, but I need to take at least your head to make excuses to Baal."
Naturally, the ritual to summon the four highest-ranking Demon Kings had already been accomplished with the consent of all four in the demon realm.
Having arbitrarily broken it, Marbas was in a situation where it wouldn't be strange to become enemies with those four.
"I'll make it comfortable soon."
Marbas grabbed Rudian's hair and lifted him up.
It was a situation where he could kill him instantly, but Marbas wanted to enjoy this victorious moment as much as possible.
"Kehehehe...."
"What's so funny?"
Despite bleeding all over his body and being in a situation where one punch could make his head explode, Rudian laughed.
To Marbas, whose expression slightly contorted, Rudian's mockery flowed out.
"Obviously, because I won."