Van had lost track of what was happening between the growing intensity of the lightning flashing around them and the blinding effect of the cyclone.
“Well...I know gramps would be fine on his own, but can you do something about this, Alexia?”
“He already decided he would fight the monster himself.”
For a while, Van and Alexia watched the cycle of the storm, lightning striking to vaporize the water, and ice forming cold enough to freeze even the water superheated by the lightning. The strange storm continued for a while, but when it finally abated, Mitsuki was naturally standing entirely unharmed.
“That’s not going to work...” Despite what he said, it seemed Mitsuki still intended to fight the monster one-on-one.
A moment later, the frozen surface of the ocean ruptured as an enormous mass shot up from below. It was hard to believe an entirely different creature would appear at this point, so Van had to assume it was still Ein, despite the significant transformation he had undergone. Now sporting tentacles, scales, and a shell, perhaps obtained by absorbing life living in the water, he had grown to a size that made Van and the others look tiny. A crack split the creature, separating top from bottom. That was likely its jaw. Within the maw were rows of countless teeth and a growing light.
“So that was all buying time for this, then?”
Ein roared. The howl split the ocean beneath them, forcing Van and Alexia to retreat hurriedly back to the sky. This was still just preparation.
Opening his jaw as wide as he could manage, Ein fired an enormous beam of condensed heat. The sea was immediately vaporized, the air itself ignited, and half the island was annihilated. The beam had lasted for only a fraction of a second, but it had been enough to erase everything in front of him.
“Wow... Are any of them still alive?” Van muttered to himself. The pyramid was situated at the center of the island, so naturally half of it had been blown away by the attack. Even the adventurers in the surviving half of the structure would be struck by a terrible shock wave.
“Hmm. I kind of feel like I should apologize. I guess this is proof that even if all the Dark Gods worked together, they still can’t stand up to me.” The cloud of steam created by the attack slowly dissipated, revealing Mitsuki, totally unharmed, exactly as Van and Alexia had assumed. Neither of them had been worried about him in the least.
Perhaps having finally exhausted himself, Ein had stopped moving.
“You were trying really hard, so I thought I’d see what you had to offer...but I’m tired of fights like this. I think it’s about time you came back to your senses.” If he so wished, Mitsuki could meet power with power and create a rather magnificent clash. But by the time Van had been born, the Great Sage had already grown out of such things.
Mitsuki held out his right hand towards Ein. The tentacles protruding from the creature’s mass slipped off and fell to the water below. His shell, his scales, and then whales and sharks followed suit. Everything he had absorbed from the ocean split off and fell away. The creature’s mountainous form gradually shrank, returning him to the form they had seen on his first arrival.
But the changes didn’t stop there. A crystalline spider, a dragon, a bird wrapped in flames—one by one the Dark Gods that Ein had absorbed were torn away from him. Each and every one of them held a grudge against Mitsuki, but as if understanding they were outmatched, they all disappeared with no more than a hateful glare. In the end, only Ein remained. Floating powerless in the water, he seemed otherwise in good health. He had returned to being an ordinary human.
“I feel like I just watched someone unboil an egg,” Van commented. “Or turn café au lait back into milk and coffee.”
“If Lord Mitsuki desired it, such would happen,” Alexia replied. “That is the law of this world.” Normally, there would be no way for such a chaotic mess of beings to return to normal. But what was impossible for others was easy enough for Mitsuki.
“Now you should be sane again. We should be able to talk properly now,” Mitsuki said as he approached Ein.
“Give her back... Give Ariel back!” With a splash, Ein disappeared. Van looked around to find him standing a small distance away on the surface of the water. The water was still, flat and motionless like the surface of a mirror. It was as if all of Ein’s power had been directed inward.
“He awakened, huh?” Van mumbled.
There were times when new powers could arise when one transcended the limits of the Gift. Having exhausted everything he had but still unable to measure up to his opponent, overcoming that despair and choosing to fight on, his true power as a hero had manifested. Even watching from a distance, Van felt a cold sweat forming. He was confident he could deal with almost anyone, but he wasn’t so sure he could beat Ein in that state.
Ein vanished again, appearing in front of Mitsuki, already swinging his Holy Sword. It was an attack that was backed by all of his being, every ounce of energy in his body and spirit condensed into a single blow. The holy blade struck Mitsuki’s head, a perfect attack. If this had been a battle between Hero and Demon Lord, it would have spelled certain victory for the Hero.
But this was the Great Sage, the ultimate ruler of this world. The Holy Sword snapped in two, the broken blade flying off in a random direction. Dropping the shattered weapon, Ein struck with his fists. As his right fist struck Mitsuki’s face, Ein’s arm crumpled, a fate matched by his left fist, right elbow, and then left knee.
Not slowing down in the least, Ein’s broken limbs continued to lash out, pulverizing themselves into dust. Even so, Ein continued, throwing himself on the Great Sage and biting at his neck, his teeth shattering. Having run out of body parts to use, he roared and struck with a headbutt. As with the other parts of his body, his forehead shattered. No longer having the strength to even cling on to his enemy, Ein fell to the water.
But even as he floated helpless, he continued to flail and scream.
“Now you can see the gap in power between us. Sadly, it’s not a gap you can ever cross, though if you can come up with some sort of miracle to beat me, I’d love to see it.”
As Mitsuki looked down with a sad expression at him, Ein finally stopped. He had surpassed all his limits, exhausted every shred of power he possessed.
“Please...give Ariel back... Make her normal again...”
His heart had been broken as thoroughly as his body. He had tasted for himself how useless any amount of effort or perseverance was against Mitsuki. He knew now his only hope was to beg for the mercy of his opponent.
Van didn’t find it pathetic. That was exactly what he expected from someone who fought the Great Sage. In fact, he felt Ein had actually worked pretty hard to get to where he was.
“I told you already, she’s not trapped. She can leave whenever she wants. Hey, Alexia.”
“Yes?”
“Take him back to my place and look after him for a bit. Let him and his sister talk things out.”
“Understood.” Alexia descended to Ein’s side before vanishing along with him.
“Okay, shall we go back?” Mitsuki floated up beside Van.
“What do I do about that?” Van looked at the broken pyramid, at a total loss.
“There’s no way they can keep going through the pyramid, so why not give a pass to everyone who’s still alive?” Mitsuki suggested.
“Hmm...I guess it’s a bit late to be worried about the rules I set out at the start.”
“Also, here. You need this, right?” Mitsuki held out a transparent, round stone.
“Ah, that’s the one the dog had, right?” It was a Philosopher’s Stone. Apparently, Mitsuki had retrieved it after it had been blown away by Ein’s attack. “I wonder what I should do with it. It was supposed to be used to prove you were eligible for the last boss fight... Maybe I should give it back to Takatou?”
Van started floating back to the pyramid, Mitsuki following slowly behind him.