Chapter 778: Second Stage
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 778: Second Stage
It was a golden slit pupil.
Majestic, cold, and brilliant, golden light radiated from the crystalline structure, resembling a magnificent sun hanging in the sky. In an instant, it dispelled every trace of darkness within the Throne Space.
Like living things, the hundred statues trembled once more.
This time, the fear did not stem from some ethereal aura, but from the sheer fact that, by looking at this single golden eye, one could imagine the vast and terrifying scale of the creature hidden behind the rift.
This was the pressure of a higher level of existence—a primordial behemoth from the dawn of time looking down upon the lowly ants beneath its feet.
In a thousand years, the owner of this golden eye had rarely appeared before the world, but every time she did, she sent unimaginable shockwaves across the entire continent.
She was the eradicator of entire races, the unspeakable existence within forbidden zones, or the undefeated villain in legends and fables.
She had left behind countless names, countless titles, and countless records of terror.
But only one title was most remembered by the world.
Calamity.
The Dragon of Death-Calamity, Hamulein.
"Ah..."
Divine Will was once again awestruck by the pressure descending from the heavens. He looked up, his entire body stiffening.
"You... so you have come as well..."
"Hey! Why do I get a 'you' while she gets honorifics? I'm clearly the older one here!"
The loli head, the only one unaffected in the room, began to grumble in dissatisfaction upon hearing Divine Will’s form of address.
But she quickly changed her tune:
"Whatever, there's no point in nitpicking that right now... Go! Get him, Hamulein! Beat the brat up!"
"Shut up, you pint-sized brat."
A cold voice fell from the high heavens like rumbling thunder, drowning out the instigating shouts of a certain old loli. As the thunder roared, the pitch-black rift spanning the ceiling of the Throne Space was forcibly torn wider by a terrifying power.
The Throne Space was buried deep underground. After centuries of reinforcement by Divine Will and the empowerment of several fragmented Ancient Artifacts, even Divine Will himself had to follow the rules of this place to some extent.
However, the Dragon of Death-Calamity seemed completely unaffected. This was because she wasn't tearing through physical earth and stone, but... space itself.
Even the space here was in a reinforced state, something that even Truth-Tier spatial magic would find difficult to shake. Yet, she had forced her way in using such a crude and violent method, declaring her absolute brutality to Divine Will.
"Divine Will, hand over the Eternal Cycle."
Compared to Mela’s "gentle" persuasion, the Dragon of Death-Calamity was far more cold-blooded.
"For her sake, I will leave you an intact corpse."
"...A thousand years have passed, and you are still as short-tempered as ever."
Divine Will tilted his head. His hunched body trembled slightly under the horrific pressure, but there was no fear in his eyes.
He seemed to be listening intently again, and then he smiled.
"Listen. She says she thanks you for your 'respect,' but the Eternal Cycle cannot be given to you. After all, this is her hope for resurrection. Who would be willing to hand over their hope for resurrection to another? If it were you, I'm sure you would understand this feeling."
"Tsk, so much nonsense."
Behind the rift, the Calamity clicked her tongue in displeasure.
"I said a thousand years ago that we should have killed all of you, otherwise you'd eventually become a nuisance. If not for a certain nagging pint-sized brat..."
"Hey, that's the second time you've called me a pint-sized brat!"
Mela wobbled over and picked up her own head, protesting solemnly, "I might be small now, but I'm clearly older than you..."
"No matter."
The Dragon of Death-Calamity completely ignored the useless old loli and said coldly:
"A thousand years ago, a thousand years later—it makes no difference. It's nothing more than a slaughter. In the centuries following that disaster, I've cleaned up too many messes like this. One more won't make a difference."
Space shook.
The pitch-black rift suddenly expanded, ceasing to be a mere "crack" and becoming a massive hole.
Metallic scales shimmered with a cold light, and gargantuan wings blotted out the sky. A figure like a mountain crushed the void as it emerged. The Dragon of Death-Calamity, revered as a Calamity, finally revealed her soul-shaking full form.
Even Divine Will couldn't help but stare and murmur:
"Ah... as expected. Compared to a thousand years ago, you are far more terrifying now."
Though he appeared stunned by the beautiful yet violent silhouette of the Dragon of Death-Calamity, the instinctive warning of death caused Divine Will to react with the utmost seriousness.
A Crown rose.
Crimson radiance instantly enveloped the entire world. Divine Will’s Crown seemed to have been decayed by time; the sun, moon, and stars engraved upon it were rusted, exuding an aura of ruin.
But it was still a Crown bestowed by the heavens, still symbolizing the unimaginable authority of Divine Will, a thousand-year Crown Bearer!
And what struck against this authority was an even more ferocious dragon claw!
The claw was not wreathed in any fighting spirit or mana, yet as it struck simply and directly from the other side of the void, space itself wailed.
Boom!
A dark gray curtain instantly unfurled under the radiance of the Crown. It was like a thick wall of mist, replacing the function of space to stand against the dragon claw.
This was Divine Will’s Domain: the Void Curtain. It had once blocked the endless falling Holy Light above Gutons Fortress, obstructed the bizarre Black Jazz in the lower levels of the Tower, and repelled the attacks of Evil God puppets before countless corpses.
One against three, and it had held without pressure.
But now, as the dragon claw slammed down with unimaginable force, the dark gray curtain began to deform, like clay being pressed into a mold.
The claw squeezed the curtain inch by inch. Through the thick wall of mist, Divine Will could clearly see a lifelike giant claw protruding from his side of the curtain.
"Hmph."
But the Dragon of Death-Calamity was still dissatisfied.
"It actually held."
How long had it been since a human had blocked her attack?
"Is this the source of your confidence, Divine Will?"
"Hardly confidence."
Divine Will exhaled sharply, stopping his body from retreating further. He even pushed the Void Curtain back a short distance. "Having lived this long, one must have at least a few things worth showing off, right?"
"Reasonable."
The golden slit pupil blinked. The Calamity whispered, but her words were like the tolling of a great bell, making every speck of dust tremble.
"But unfortunately..."
Just this...
Is not enough.
Hum.
Hum.
Hum.
A dull sound suddenly roared from the other side of the void.
It sounded like some ancient machine slowly starting up its world-destroying power.
But it wasn't a machine; it was simply the terrifying vibration released when an unimaginable amount of mana was compressed together in a short instant.
Divine Will suddenly looked up. Beyond the curtain, he saw countless points of light rapidly converging and intersecting across the pitch-black body of the Calamity Dragon. Following a profound trajectory, they constructed a blinding spear wreathed in fire and lightning.
Magic.
The dragon, who had crushed everything with raw physical power upon her arrival, was actually using magic!
"Ah... right... how could I have forgotten?" Divine Will murmured in realization.
Of course she could use magic.
And it wasn't the Dragon Language Magic used by ancient dragons in legends, but the structured magic developed and created by humans. Not only that, her mastery of magic had likely reached a level that most of the top human mages in the world could never hope to achieve.
Because she, like the person nearby who was currently clutching her own head to prevent it from being blown away by the aftershocks, had been one of that person's... a thousand years ago.
"I hope your death isn't too ugly."
The cold declaration interrupted Divine Will’s memories once again.
The black dragon twisted her body, gripping the spear of light and lightning with her talons.
Wings flapped, and her long tail swept through the air. The Dragon of Death-Calamity spun gracefully in the sky like a dancer. The gale lifted her massive frame, her dancing form filled with a breathtaking beauty.
It was the beauty of despair.
It was the beauty of death.
There was no lengthy chanting, only a precision of mana control that completely belied her appearance.
In an instant, everything in sight was enveloped by a torrent of destruction. Even the radiance of the Crown seemed weak before it. The dragon hurled the spear, and the curtain that had once blocked everything was torn as easily as thin paper.
It was a spear that seemed meant to end the world, yet at the final moment, it condensed into a single point. After piercing the curtain, it submerged Divine Will’s body. However, neither the spectating Mela nor the skeleton and An upon the throne were affected in the slightest.
"Wow."
Mela put a pair of sunglasses on her head, admiring the apocalyptic annihilation.
Divine Will’s figure gradually vanished behind the flames. The crimson color faded rapidly, and the aura of the Crown could no longer be felt within the Throne Space.
Dust rose, and all was silent.
"Impressive!"
But the silence was soon broken by the sound of clapping. Mela popped her head back onto her neck with a pop and applauded in admiration:
"That move looks much more practiced. Back when you used to play around like that, I’d have to prepare for half a city to be turned to ash. I didn't expect the hot-headed you to one day have such exquisite control over your power."
"Naturally."
The massive dragon vanished from the other side of space. A vibrant dress fluttered down as a fiery figure appeared silently beside Mela.
"Not everyone regresses as they get older like you."
"Who's regressing!"
Mela put her hands on her hips huffily. "I'm still a bit better than that."
"Oh?"
Her eyeshadow was deep red like fire. The now less-piercing golden eyes shifted slightly.
"Was I talking about magic?"
"..."
Mela’s expression froze.
She looked down at her loli body, then stole a glance at the curvaceous, mature figure beside her. Although countless rebuttals swirled at the tip of her tongue—and this stupid dragon was certainly no match for her in a war of words—a strong sense of sorrow couldn't help but well up in her heart.
Dammit, I'm clearly the older one, so why does it feel like I've lost so miserably...
"Don't get cocky. Once my grand plan is complete and I return to my sexy eighteen-year-old self, you'll be the one crying," Mela said, tilting her chin up proudly.
"Talk to me when that day comes. I don't have much time, so I don't want to waste words with you."
Hamulein didn't even have the interest to bicker with Mela this time. she took a step with her long legs—which were nearly as tall as Mela herself—and walked toward the Eternal Cycle.
She couldn't understand why Mela had spent so much time wandering around this godforsaken place before finally coming to find trouble with Divine Will. This matter was clearly very simple: kill Divine Will and destroy the Eternal Cycle. Just like now, it shouldn't have taken even three minutes.
But "revisiting old haunts" with Mela had truly wasted too much of her time.
She couldn't leave that forest for too long, and... this place was filled with a nauseating stench that hadn't dissipated even after a thousand years. It always brought back unpleasant memories.
In short, she didn't want to stay here for a single moment longer...
Gurgle, gurgle...
Hamulein’s footsteps came to a sudden halt.
Her gaze swept across the surroundings. There weren't many living things in this space; besides the Divine Will she had just struck down, there was only her and the young girl on the throne.
Mela didn't count. Judging by the fact that she could pull her own head off and throw it around for fun, this projection probably didn't even need to breathe.
But why... was there this inexplicable noise?
An illusion, or...
Gurgle, gurgle...
"Oh dear."
Mela spread her hands helplessly. "It seems clocking out won't be that easy."
"...Is this what you humans call 'no damage within the smoke'?"
Hamulein looked at Mela expressionlessly. "I thought that only happened in stories."
"Of course 'no damage within the smoke' only happens in stories. After all, mere dust might be enough to blind the eyes, but can it block the senses of you or me? Divine Will was certainly mortally wounded by your strike, it's just that..."
As the dust gradually settled and the eerie noise became clearer, a playful smile slowly formed on Mela’s face.
"Isn't it common knowledge? Final bosses always have a second stage."
Gurgle, gurgle...
Divine Will finally fully revealed himself to the two of them.
At this moment, he was exactly as Mela had predicted: his injuries were extremely severe. Nearly half of his body had been vaporized by the Dragon of Death-Calamity’s world-ending strike. Even with the powerful physique of a Crown Bearer, he was at death's door.
But... it seemed that it was precisely because of this that something else found its opportunity.
Gurgle, gurgle...
A pitch-black, viscous liquid flowed from the shadow beside Divine Will. The blurred shadow finally took physical form, extending bizarre, indescribable tentacles to embrace Divine Will, rapidly merging with him.
"An Evil God?"
Hamulein’s face darkened. "Which one? That 'Disgrace of Evil Gods'?"
"Well, given Divine Will’s obsessive and fanatical nature, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that thing is the Love God. It would be quite logical."
Mela watched the shadow and shrugged helplessly.
"I would very much like it to be Him, because as the Disgrace of Evil Gods, His empowerment to the corrupted isn't that great. He's still running around stealing power himself, so desperate he won't even pass up the Church's Holy Light... but unfortunately, the thing on Divine Will doesn't seem to be that simple."
"Why are you so certain?"
"It's simple."
Mela sneered.
"Didn't you hear what Divine Will said earlier? He’s been deceived by this thing for a full thousand years."
*
"Something... is hiding in Divine Will’s shadow?"
Hearing the girl's words, Muen subconsciously rubbed his chin in thought.
"That damn thing couldn't be the Love God, could it?"
Because he deeply loved the girl before him, he got sniffed out by the Love God and was sweet-talked into becoming the Love God’s lapdog. Now he goes around shouting about 'love' this and 'love' that while doing nothing but disgusting, vile things...
Yeah, the conditions fit perfectly. If there were no other surprises, it was likely the Love God...
"Wait, that's not right."
Muen suddenly remembered his duel with Divine Will back at the Tower.
At that time, Divine Will had split into four, fighting four enemies simultaneously.
The Judgment Archbishop, the Second Seat of the Salvation Society, himself, and...
The Love God’s puppet.
If the Love God had already controlled him, or rather, bewitched him, why would He go through the extra trouble of a sneaky, undignified secret infiltration?
Playing with himself? Has the Love God’s fetish evolved to such a degree?
"Love... God?"
While Muen was thinking, the girl in front of him suddenly tilted her head. Although separated by a layer of blurred phantom, Muen could clearly feel the flicker of confusion she displayed.
"What is that?"