The first thing Ryanga felt when she saw Baarma was fear.

Just looking at it made her body freeze and her vision go white.

A hopeless terror.

But even amidst such horror, there were two reasons Ryanga was able to move.

The rage boiling within her body, enough to overcome that distant, overwhelming emotion.

And the sight of Alon urgently moving after having made a contract to give up everything in exchange for killing Baarma.

She knew just how incredible Alon’s deed was.

He had restored the World Tree, which had been completely destroyed by Baarma, to a flawless state that no one could dispute.

Even if Ryanga wasn’t knowledgeable about the world, she could not help but realize in an instant—

How incredible that feat was.

And how powerful the god who had made a contract with her truly was.

However, immediately after creating the World Tree, Alon seemed vulnerable to Baarma’s attacks.

He had his eyes closed even as Baarma charged toward him.

And the moment Ryanga judged that even the giant mechanical hand falling from the sky wouldn’t be enough to stop Baarma’s advance— she immediately gathered strength into her feet.

Normally, it would have been impossible for her to reach Baarma.

Even if she was of the mighty race, born with monstrous strength.

The distance between her—blended in among the refugees—and Baarma was simply too great.

But that was only when Ryanga was still a ‘normal Ghost.’

Kwaaaa—!!!

The ground shattered beneath her, and Ryanga’s view changed in an instant.

In a flash, she passed by refugees and soldiers.

With the next step, she brushed past the commander and the king.

And the moment her final step slammed into the ground— she was directly beneath Baarma.

Raising her gaze, Ryanga gathered power once more into her legs.

What she saw was the massive form of Baarma, the embodiment of despair.

But even in the face of that terror, Ryanga steeled her resolve.

And she remembered.

That night of mad screaming.

The moment she devoured the half-rotted corpses of her own kind, weeping as she did.

The fact that she had waited all this time— for this very moment when she could take revenge on Baarma.

Recalling every emotion and memory, Ryanga released her limit.

An explosive burst of magical power.

If she moved even once in that state, her body would surely shatter beyond repair.

But even knowing that—

KWAOOOOOOOOH—!!!!!!

She leapt without hesitation, shooting straight for the heart.

[Insignificant little creature.]

Ryanga’s attack successfully halted Baarma’s movement— but failed to inflict any real damage.

“Ugh—”

Caught by Baarma’s massive hand right after leaving a scratch on his skin, Ryanga let out a strained groan and glared at him.

A gaze looking down on something utterly pitiful.

A face that invoked primal fear.

“Huh—”

Yet even as she faced Baarma like that, the girl— no, Ryanga smiled.

She already knew.

At the very least, she could not defeat Baarma before her with her own power.

She knew it all too well.

That was why, from the very beginning, she had only one objective.

To successfully stop Baarma’s attempt to interfere with Alon.

And she had achieved that goal with absolute certainty.

With a pained expression, Ryanga turned her gaze toward Alon.

There he was.

Alon, shrouded in a pure white radiance unlike his usual self.

Seeing him like that, Ryanga felt both joy and guilt.

Joy that Alon would exact the revenge on Baarma she never could.

And guilt that she could no longer uphold the contract they had made.

Unfortunately, Ryanga’s body had reached its limit.

Because she had pushed a body that couldn’t endure past its breaking point, it was a miracle she was even alive.

Yet she could smile.

At the fact that Baarma would eventually fall.

At the fact that she managed to land at least one blow on Baarma.

Even as Baarma’s expression twisted with rage, she smiled and closed her eyes.

“…?”

Then, she felt a strange sensation of floating.

The oppressive sensation of being gripped by Baarma had vanished.

And the pain that had threatened to crush her body was gone too.

She forced her eyes open with the last of her strength, and what she saw was—

“……Chi— Chief?”

“Yes.”

It was Alon.

Holding Ryanga in his arms, enveloped in a pure white radiance.

“Thank you.”

After handing Ryanga over to Rine, who had come near, he whispered something to her.

And then turned immediately.

Boom!

Before anyone realized, Baarma stood before Alon.

Eyes wide open, Baarma pulled his leg back to kick the calmly standing Alon.

Everyone gasped at the sight.

“Wa—”

In that moment, just as Magrina—who had been in shock only moments ago—instinctively reached out her hand—

They saw it.

Jjjjjjjjt—!!!!

Baarma’s body freezing over at incredible speed.

And then.

“Lightning God Form.” Get full chapters from NoveI★Fire.net

With those quiet words, the frozen Baarma’s body was blasted away.

Boom! Crackcrackcrack! Boom—!!!

Baarma’s divine form was flung away in an instant, rolling violently across the ground and crushing his own followers.

“Ugh—Aaaaagh!”

“Aaaaaagh—!!!”

The terrified screams of his believers rang out.

Baarma’s frozen body crashed into the trunk of the once-destroyed World Tree.

In the midst of the chaos and monstrous shrieks— all eyes of the allied forces turned once more to one man.

To the man who effortlessly blasted away Baarma, who had seemed utterly untouchable.

A god—

And at the same time—

Wooooooong~!

To the hope that now filled the once-gray sky with stars like a Milky Way, they offered reverence.

####

The shining lights embroidered in the ashen sky formed a Milky Way.

Screams sharp enough to tear the ears rang out in all directions, and Baarma kicked off the ground, charging at Alon.

As if truly intent on killing him, he scattered his pitch-black divine power in all directions.

Mouths that had been frozen until moments ago now opened wide all at once.

And then—

Woooooooooong~!!!

The black divine power, grotesquely condensed, rushed into his mouth—

Then exploded outward in all directions.

KWAAAAAAAH—!

!!!!

A surge of divine power fired out all at once, as if determined to leave nothing behind—not even his own believers.

The tyrannical divine energy that shot out in multiple branches was something that, under normal circumstances, Alon could not have stopped.

No matter how strong his magic was, with his mana alone, he could only block a single stream of the divine power coming at him.

Yes, if it were like usual.

But now was different.

Crack-crack-crack-crack-crack!!!

His technique—

Reverse Heaven—made it possible.

Behind Alon, ten Ice Seals appeared, and he swiftly formed seals with his hands.

At a glance, it seemed like the Six Ice Seals he normally used, utilizing hand signs.

But it wasn’t.

All ten hands were forming the exact same seal simultaneously.

And then—

Water Ice Seal

Ten Techniques Combined

“Crystal, snow, form—eternal fame of snowy peaks, inevitability of the blind.”

Alon softly murmured the familiar incantation.

Crystal Spear—Modified

Glacier

In the ashen world—

Crack!

The glacier descended.

The divine power surging toward the allied forces froze solid.

The glacier that blocked Baarma’s attack didn’t stop there—it imprisoned all the believers present in cold ice.

“Thunder God Form.”

As Alon’s seals changed once more, his body vanished for a moment—

BOOOOOM!!

And turned into lightning that slammed into Baarma’s body.

[KRAAAAGH—!]

Baarma floated in the air, unable to even resist.

Even in that fleeting moment, he tried to gather divine power again, opening multiple mouths.

Unfortunately, he was stopped once more by the oncoming Alon.

And with that—

Crackle-crackle-snap~!!!

The onslaught began.

With every movement of the brilliant lightning, Baarma’s body, which had nearly hit the ground, was lifted back into the air.

Chilling shockwaves spread across the glacier.

“Ah—”

Everyone stood dumbfounded, mouths agape at the overwhelming sight.

Even the allied soldiers who had fallen into despair.

Even the trembling commander.

Even the king, whose face was twisted in betrayal.

Even the believers who worshiped Baarma.

Even the faithful who smiled in the face of death.

All of them— simply stared at that scene.

And so—

[Kaghk—!]

As Baarma’s body crumbled and fell— under the Milky Way that now blanketed the ashen world, in a dazzling instant— when Alon, lightning swirling around him, formed seals once more, Baarma’s falling body froze mid-air.

And then—

CRACK-CRACKLE-SNAP!

The Milky Way collapsed.

The silver river that filled the gray sky shattered into brilliant shards.

The radiant light surrounding Alon’s body vanished in an instant.

“Urgh!”

Blood burst from Alon’s mouth.

It was a development no one had anticipated.

Yet even as he vomited blood, he did not panic.

‘…This is the limit, huh.’

He merely looked up at the fading remnants of Reverse Heaven in the sky and let out a weary sigh.

The principle behind the spell he had created, Reverse Heaven, was simple.

“To reverse the laws of magic.”

That was Reverse Heaven’s core, and the rule governing Alon’s spell.

The moment it was activated—

He could convert all burned-out mana into near-infinite magical power by applying the rule to mana burn.

But the problem was Alon’s mana core.

His small mana core was far too limited to handle the overwhelming mana generated by Reverse Heaven.

Yet to maintain Reverse Heaven, he had to continuously cast spells.

The side effect of that was the orbs of mana, floating like stars in the sky.

Mindlessly stuffed full of mana— he had created hundreds, thousands of mana spheres that failed to form proper spells, battling with brute force.

But Alon’s body easily reached its limit.

Blinking in his blurry vision, Alon opened and closed his eyes.

In less than a second, he processed dozens of calculations— his head throbbed like molten lava had been poured into it.

His blood vessels had burst, turning his eyes crimson.

And dark, thick blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.

His physical condition was far from normal, having poured all his mana and magic into the battle.

Heh—

Floating in the air, Baarma looked at Alon and twisted his lips into a smirk.

It was clear Alon had reached his limit.

In contrast, Baarma—

Though damaged, had not sustained fatal injuries despite the many attacks.

[I’ll kill you!]

He grinned darkly.

But then—

Heh.

Alon, seeing Baarma’s sneer, smiled just the same.

Alon’s goal had never been to kill him.

He already predicted that even with overflowing mana, killing that monster was impossible.

From the beginning, what Alon aimed for— was to inflict the greatest damage possible on Baarma.

And to pin him in place.

Delivering the final blow—

[!]

Was not his task.

Sensing something was off, Baarma quickly turned his gaze behind Alon.

And he saw something.

It was a massive cannon.

So huge it could swallow even someone like Baarma whole—

A massive weapon connected to the World Tree.

And then—

“Ocean Cannon Agathon Arizema, full deployment complete.”

Rine, moving her hand toward Baarma—

“Fire.”

With that small murmur—

[Noooo—!]

Baarma’s scream burst out—

And a white light consumed everything.

Even the ashen sky.