CHAPTER 860: INTO THE MAWS OF THE BEAST

Smiles broke across the faces of Vlad and the warriors of the Xaos Kingdom as they beheld the magnitude of their combined assault. The sky was ablaze with radiant destruction like a supernova, a storm of power that could have shattered continents.

For a fleeting moment, it felt as if victory was theirs. Their combined attack, fired with all the willpower in their hearts, had allowed them to overcome the nightmare.

Or so they thought until the flames and light dissipated, showing the sky once more and letting their hope die in their hearts.

The colossal mantle of mutated flesh, eyes, and twisted body parts still loomed above them. It was wounded—great rents and burns marked its surface—but the injuries healed before their eyes. Muscle fibers knitted back together. Ruptured eyes blinked once more. Bones reformed with wet cracks.

And in mere seconds... all the damage for which they had poured out the last of their strength was undone.

"Ouroboros! Fafnir!" Vlad’s voice cut through the suffocating air like a blade, his eyes burning with wrath and unyielding will. Despair would not take him.

The instant he spoke their names, two empty eye sockets appeared in the center of his forehead, and the True Depravitas of Greed and Envy transformed into beams of light and flew into them. Two new eyes opened upon his brow, their irises glowing with unnatural brilliance.

In the next moment, Vlad’s form transformed, his body adapting to the perfect fusion of four True Depravitas.

"BOOM!"

The aura of the True Depravita of Wrath exploded outward, surging higher and higher, eclipsing even the power he reached in Valhalla. The Brain of Thot allowed him to endure the crushing pressure of their combined might far better than before. But there was no time to dwell on the change.

His grip tightened on his sword until cracks spiderwebbed along its surface from the raw energy pouring into it. Behind him, reality warped and a massive, upside-down pyramid manifested in the void, its impossible presence blotting out the stars.

Seven glowing tiers rose endlessly, each pulsing with a force so ancient, so pure, that every living being instinctively understood what they represented. The embodiment of the Seven Sins themselves had come forth.

Vlad had summoned their full might.

Just as before, only four tiers of the pyramid blazed with light—but now, each shone with an even greater, more oppressive power thanks to the growth of the True Depravitas within him.

"Seven Sins: RAGNAROK!"

Vlad roared the words as he swung his sword with every ounce of strength and will in his being. The Superior Legend Treasure shattered in his hands, but not before unleashing a crescent of energy larger than a continent. The arc tore through the sky, striking the mutated mass with cataclysmic force.

The impact blasted the abomination apart, shattering it into fragments and burning away its flesh. Destruction spread in all directions, fire and void consuming more and more of its monstrous form.

For a moment—just a moment—hope returned.

But then...

From within the unraveling mass, an ancient, malevolent psychic energy surged forth. Black as a starless abyss, it spilled into the battlefield, halting the advance of destruction and knitting the horror back together. Wounds sealed. Severed limbs regrew. Eyes reopened. And in seconds, the darkness once again covered the sky.

Vlad’s breath was ragged. His arms trembled violently. That single strike had cost him a lot—and it had been for nothing.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter came from billions of mouths across the fleshy mantle, each voice overlapping in a maddening chorus. There was joy in that laughter. Thrill. An ecstasy born from the despair of their enemies.

"I am a being unlike anything you have known," the voices spoke as one. "I am a universe unto myself. Billions of minds merged into a single entity. Had you been a Lord, perhaps you could have truly harmed me. But now... you are nothing but ants beneath my steps—waiting to be assimilated."

Its countless eyes turned downward, unblinking. "And I will assimilate each and every one of you. You will taste the true meaning of agony—forever—as part of my existence."

The mantle began to move.

It throbbed like some titanic, diseased heart, then slowly descended toward the battlefield. The thing could have fallen in an instant and crushed them all, but it didn’t. Instead, it seemed to savor the fear in the hearts of those below, drawing out the moment to make their despair complete before the inevitable.

Vlad clenched his fists until his knuckles bled. His eyes darted, his mind burning itself out as he searched for any path—any hope—that could turn this tide. For an instant, his gaze landed on Freya.

If he fused with her, he could push beyond the threshold, reaching the Lord Tier.

But almost instantly, he dismissed the thought. Even with the Brain of Thot reinforcing him, fusing with three True Depravitas was already straining his body to the breaking point. Four would tear him apart before he could even make a single move.

His mind raced. Path after path appeared—and each was a dead end. The realization settled like a weight of lead in his chest. If nothing changed, they would all be trapped in this eternal realm of pain and darkness.

Then... a thought. Dangerous. Unlikely. But it was something.

With a single, sharp breath, Vlad’s body shook. He forcefully unfused from Jormungandr, Ouroboros, and Fafnir, the three True Depravitas materializing in the air beside him. There was no time for explanation.

In the same motion, he shot upward into the air like a crimson comet.

"Hahahahaha..."

The myriad mouths of the entity laughed again at the sight. It was clear that Vlad had a plan—but it made no effort to stop him. On the contrary, it welcomed him.

A massive maw, lined with teeth the size of towers, split open in the writhing mass. Its breath reeked of rot and void.

And without hesitation, it let the young man fly straight in.