A sphere of golden light flew down from the top of the Magimatic Castle Viovix, hurtling toward them. Goldinus’ hatch was broken and it was missing its pilot.
—Did the tentacles eat her? Or did the Palace Knights kill her? Did she escape? Alicia... Are you alive?
Diablo had no way of confirming Alicia’s fate. If he’d have prioritized saving her, he wouldn’t have been in this position to begin with.
“Goldisword!”
Goldinus began morphing, assuming the form of a gigantic double-edged sword. Logic clearly didn’t apply here. After all, Cross Reverie returned to its former shape despite being broken and melted... And now this humanoid contraption had just become a wielded weapon.
Diablo regarded it cautiously. Just because it was shaped like a sword didn’t necessarily mean the Emperor would use it as a blade; it might have even been able to transform again into something else. He couldn’t let any preconceived notions hold him back.
The gigantic robot grasped the golden broadsword floating in the air.
“Apocalypse Merge, Ultimate God Cross, complete! I praise you, ye foolish sorcerer who would claim to be a Demon Lord... For I will use my ultimate technique against you!”
God Cross’ chestpiece opened, revealing a gigantic tree within its hollow aperture. On the tree’s surface was the old man’s face.
“Feel divine punishment! You will...be ruined! Ragnaroooook!”
“You’ve prattled on long enough, old man,” Diablo stated grandly. “And thanks to that, I’ve had enough time to channel my almighty dreadnought-tier spell!”
This was the strongest technique he could access within Klem’s memories, so he had to bet on it doing the trick. Diablo thrust his hands forward and unleashed the attack with all of his strength.
“Taaaake...thiiiis! 《The Flames of Ruinatiooooooon》!”
This was the most powerful offensive attack in the MMORPG Cross Reverie, and the ultimate technique of the 《Demon Lord of the Eyeball Iankaroz》.
His field of vision was blinded by a flash of light. Emperor Gelmed’s face on the tree was grinning.
“I am a complete God. I have discarded my shell as one of the races and ascended to godhood! What can an elemental sorcerer pretending to be a Demon Lord hope to do to me?!”
The gigantic combined Magimatic Sol God Cross swung down its golden sword, connecting with Diablo’s Flames of Ruination. The two attacks clashed and struggled, beginning to tear the world apart.
“Nggh?!” Diablo clenched his teeth.
“The Emperor...” Klem said, her voice full of panic. “H-He has so much divine power... It’s like the Hero! No, it’s even greater...!”
The blinding light was being pushed back toward Diablo, little by little. He felt his very bones creak, a kind of strain he’d never felt before from the act of casting a spell. The Staff of Annihilation cracked and shattered in his grasp, and the armor plating his arms splintered and broke away with the sound of thick rubber being torn. His flesh began to be carved away as blood splattered from his hands. He felt each and every joint of every finger on his hands bend, crack, and snap off.
“Ugh, ngaaaah?!”
The pain was so intense it nearly knocked him out from the sheer shock. Even so, Diablo didn’t allow his focus on the spell to waver. The two competing masses of overwhelming power were now both closing in on him. It wouldn’t be long before this ball of blinding light, this swirl of angry mana, swallowed him up entirely.
He could hear Emperor Gelmed’s hoarse voice roaring with laughter, confident that he’d won. Diablo turned his eyes upwards.
“Well, well... So you’ve become a complete divine being, have you?” Diablo whispered. “In which case... I win.”
A lone figure leapt down from one of the cracks in the Magimatic Castle Viovix standing high above them. A pair of triangular, fox-like ears flapped in the wind.
It was the former captain of the Magimatic Sol unit, Aira Arjana. Gripped in her hands was that weapon — the Lance of Helvetia.
“Emperor Gelmed!” she bellowed. “For my enslaved comrades! Feel the hatred of my comrades...!”
Countless small eyeballs appeared on God Cross’ armor, all glaring at Aira.
“Helvetia?! How do you have this lance, cur...?! Stay away from me!”
The gigantic Magimatic Sol’s sharp shoulder plate flexibly changed shape. The sharpened metal extended upwards like a branch, piercing through Aira’s body.
“Nghhaa?!” Aira howled in pain.
“You mere beast unworthy of being counted among the mortal races! You dare revolt against a God?!”
“You...dirty bastard...!” she said through clenched teeth, swinging the spear over her head.
The moment the tip of the spear touched it, God Cross’ armor talons turned to dust and crumbled away.
“With just one blow?! Is my divinity too great?!”
Aira’s swings were slow and unwieldy, so God Cross could have dodged them easily. That is, if this were an ordinary situation. It was not, however; not when he was in combat against Diablo. The ultimate attack was still fighting against the most powerful spell.
This created a small opening in his defenses that lasted only a brief moment, but the blood of many had to be spilled to allow for it. Diablo had to literally cut away at his own life to give her this opportunity.
She pushed onward. The Lance of Helvetia reduced God Cross’ armor to dust, and pressing ahead, she finally plunged it into the tree sitting in the center of its chestpiece.
Emperor Gelmed let out a loud, pained scream.
†
“Diablo!” Aira called out. “Finish him!”
The Demon and God Slayer weapon was pierced into the tree that was Emperor Gelmed’s true form. God Cross’ aura faded away and the gigantic robot fell silent, like a toy that had run out of batteries. Losing power rapidly, its limbs came apart and fell to the ground.
He no longer had the divine power needed to produce miracles. God Cross’ Ragnarok and Diablo’s Flames of Ruination finally canceled each other out and disappeared. One couldn’t say Diablo matched him... Had Aira jumped down any later, he would have been consumed by the light and defeated.
Diablo’s hands were crushed to a pulp. Just looking at them made him sick, and the pain was consuming his mind.
“Diablo, can’t you shut off your sense of pain?” Klem asked him through the agony. “Your mind keeps screaming that you’re injured. It’s a racket in here.”
“Hmph... This doesn’t even register as pain for me,” Diablo replied. He never thought the day would come when he would have to role play as a Demon Lord even within his own headspace. If she could tell he was hurting, there wasn’t really any point in putting on airs about it.
While he thought she’d poke fun at him, she just said, “Oh, is that so! I knew this wouldn’t bother you, Diablo!” sounding surprisingly impressed. He’d have used an HP potion, but with his fingers all mangled, it was too difficult.
“But the Emperor is still alive, even with the lance stabbing into him!” Klem told him.
“Why won’t he just give up...?” Diablo whispered to himself.
“The Emperor changed himself using divine power, but his soul is still human. If we don’t crush his existence to the core, he will eventually recover.”
“In other words, my strongest magic...”
“Do it, Diablo!” He could imagine Klem thrusting a fist into the air in his mind’s eye.
There was no pitying the Emperor now. His ambitions had cost too many lives, and his empire had deprived too many people of peace. But he had a reason to hesitate.
—Aira’s still in range...
She was driving the Lance of Helvetia into the divine tree that served as Emperor Gelmed’s core. If he used a powerful spell, it would invariably hit her. The pilot of Burix the Red, Erina Rufelia, had begged him to help Aira Arjana.
And more importantly than that, Aira stabbing the spear into God Cross saved Diablo’s life. He owed her. He wanted to save her.
But Aira was willing to accept her death.
“Diablo! Finish him! The Emperor isn’t dead yet!”
“Kuh... You’re in my way, girl! Get away!” he bellowed at her.
She stared at him with surprised eyes. She realized he was worried about her, which shocked her. But she wore a resigned expression.