The attack carried out by Vitalianus, the star of the sword, at the cost of his own life was enough to fill the deep abyss.
It had, in the end, delivered the final blow to Kreutzwald, who had already been driven to his limit.
A golden light burst forth between the black forms that had assimilated with the abyss and covered the entire sky.
Kwaaaaang—!
Like the roar of a lion, it shook the abyss.
It did more than shake—it erupted.
The abyss scattered into fragments.
The presence that had been constricting space vanished in an instant.
Shattered into pieces, it disappeared without a trace.
The overwhelming presence of the master of the abyss, who had ruled over it, could no longer be felt.
What that meant was all too clear.
Complete annihilation.
The master of the abyss, Kreutzwald, had finally been utterly annihilated.
Kuuung—
Of course, the single immense presence that had stood against him also fell and vanished with him.
* * *
Before the passage where the Allied Forces were stationed.
Misfortune descended upon the Allied Forces as they fought a desperate battle against the monstrosities in the night.
“Why… why is the divine power…?”
The divine power that had been firmly supporting their rear had thinned in an instant.
They soon understood why.
“The Saintess and the priests…!”
Along with a sudden surge of violet light, Irina and dozens of high-ranking priests vanished.
And that was not all.
A large number of skill users, who had played a major role in defending the area, also disappeared.
In terms of the whole, it was an extremely small number of people, but the problem was the roles they had been responsible for.
The abilities they possessed.
Needless to say, the absence of priests who handled divine power was significant, but the absence of the skill users was just as great.
Divine power and skills had been the most conspicuous things to begin with, so there was no way it could go unnoticed.
“Hold them back! Just hold them back for now!”
The Allied Forces were thrown into confusion by the sudden disappearances and the gap in their strength.
“Nothing has changed! Do not panic!”
“This is the final night! Hold on just a little longer!”
However, some of the trusted commanders knew about the final operation, and they urged the Allied Forces on even more fiercely.
It meant the final operation had begun.
One way or another, a conclusion would be reached before long.
They only had to endure until then.
That was what those who knew about the operation believed, and Antipus was no different.
What he had been asked by the Supreme Heavenly Demon concerned the Allied Forces after the final operation began.
That was the nature of the request.
He could not bring himself to tell Antipus to join the expedition. He had merely asked him to take good care of the Allied Forces.
He had said things like how this was what allowed them to carry out the operation, but Antipus himself knew very well.
That his own ability was insufficient to join them there.
It was not only Antipus; all the possessed ones were lacking. But what did that matter?
What mattered was that Antipus himself knew it all too well.
His insufficient strength and ability.
That was why he had been unable to say a single word before the Supreme Heavenly Demon when he made that request.
That he, too, would join the expedition.
That he, too, could land a blow on that bastard called Kreutzwald.
If it had been in the past, he would have said those words as a matter of course, but he could not bring himself to utter them.
What was the reason?
Lowered self-esteem?
His gradually diminishing strength?
He did not know, but now, he even thought perhaps it had been for the best.
Because he was a pathetically weak man who could not even take down a single colossal monstrosity that appeared here.
Even if he had gone, he would have been of no help and would only have died a dog’s death.
“Hold on just a little longer!”
Even as he thought that, his hands and feet moved busily.
He spread his skills over a wide area, filling the gaps left by the skill users and substituting for their power.
However, there was nothing he could do about the divine power that had thinned with Irina and the priests gone, nor about the shrinking of the battlefield that resulted from it.
Most of them would be devoured by the abyss if they were not protected by divine power.
How many minutes had they endured like that?
Kurung—
The sky rumbled, as if thunder had struck.
Golden light flashed like lightning, and the black sky split apart.
Kwaaaaang—!
The sound was certainly not loud, yet strangely, it could be heard clearly even before the passage where the Allied Forces stood.
The ground beneath the Allied Forces began to tremble violently, and everyone—Allied soldiers and monstrosities alike—had to struggle to keep their balance.
That was not the only change.
The abyssal energy that had filled every direction grew thinner.
It had been such an unpleasantly dense black that there was no way they could fail to notice.
—Kieeek!
—Gguuuhhh…
Black smoke streamed out from the bodies of the monstrosities as well.
The monstrosities began to shrivel.
Just as moisture drained from a human body, the abyss drained from the bodies of the monstrosities.
“The monstrosities…!”
“The monstrosities are collapsing!”
The bodies of the monstrosities shriveled until they turned to ash and scattered.
What that signified was all too clear.
The master who had ruled the abyss had been annihilated, and the abyss was losing its power.
In other words, the victory the Allied Forces had awaited so desperately.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“Victory! The expedition has won!”
Not every monstrosity vanished, but the vast majority turned to ash and disappeared, and the remaining ones had been drained of so much strength that they were in a worse state than the monsters of the continent.
“Their energy has weakened too! Get out there and sweep them away!”
The Allied Forces immediately left the area protected by divine power and charged toward the surviving monstrosities.
As if venting all their pent-up resentment, they hacked apart the weakened monstrosities indiscriminately.
Had they not spent eight nights doing nothing but being attacked?
They had been unable to leave the divine domain, and against monstrosities they could not oppose, they had only been able to flee.
The casualties that had occurred in the midst of it all were beyond description, and they had not even known how long they would have to endure.
And now, the abyss was clearing away.
The monstrosities scattered as powder, and the abyssal energy that had made their breath catch just by looking at it had also thinned to a tolerable level.
“Now, finally… we can go back!”
“Hahahaha! Kill them all!”
The Allied Forces forgot their usual decorum and rejoiced with all their might.
Regardless of nationality, casting aside affiliations, they embraced one another and cheered with pure elation.
The possessed ones were not much different.
The abyss was collapsing.
Did that not mean they had stopped the end of the world?
It meant they had been freed from the Abyss Monsters, the monstrosities, and the abyssal energy that had been eating away at the world.
How could they not be glad?
“It’s over…”
“It’s finally over.”
“We don’t have to see these bastards anymore.”
They sank down on the spot and watched the monstrosities collapse powerlessly.
For the possessed ones as well, the emotion could not help but feel new.
Even in the game, they had only been helplessly beaten by them, unable to find any solution, and now they had completely eliminated the source.
They no longer had to worry about destruction, and their homelands would no longer be ravaged by monstrosities.
How could they not be happy?
“It really is all over, right? We can go back now, right?”
“The Supreme Heavenly Demon went, didn’t he? The Sword Saint was there too, and from what I saw at the end, it looked like he took the Saintess and all the high-ranking priests with him. They must have finished it for sure.”
“Ha… So we don’t have to come to this sickening world anymore.”
Joy and relief mingled together.
In a world that had grown brighter, the Allied Forces pushed the monstrosities back with shouts.
Most of the monstrosities had turned to ash, and the few that barely remained had weakened to the limit, so there was nothing that could stop the Allied Forces.
“Advance to the Ashen Zone at once!”
“Make a path!”
“We must open the way for the expedition to return!”
“Waaaaaaaah!”
Their morale had risen to its peak, and the mood was that everything would end once they finished things up like this.
Antipus thought so as well.
That was how the situation was flowing, and that was the atmosphere.
The Allied Forces spread out in every direction amid cheers of joy.
Just as Antipus was about to move after them—
—Krr…
A voice suddenly echoed inside his head.
Somehow, the eerily low voice rang within Antipus’s body with a familiar feeling.
—Hio Pavlenko…! You worm, how dare you…
Antipus’s body froze with a flinch.
It was him.
That voice.
—To think I would end up like this because of a brat like that.
The voice that had taken over Antipus’s mind from the 56th floor onward.
The one that had told him to hand Hio Pavlenko over to him.
—He could not have known this either.
That thing was now inside his body.
Perhaps because of that, his frozen body would not move easily.
Only his lips slowly parted, and he barely managed to ask.
“Are you… the master of the abyss?”
It was a thought he had harbored ever since he had heard the name Kreutzwald, master of the abyss, from the Supreme Heavenly Demon.
Had the voice he had heard inside his head back then been Kreutzwald?
And now, at last, he could hear the answer.
—Heh heh. You managed to realize it.
“How are you… inside me?”
—Did I not tell you? You are destined to become a ruler.
It had been strange from the beginning.
On the 71st floor, at the Door of Memories, everyone had glimpsed experiences or memories related to themselves.
And what Antipus had seen there was none other than the previous master of the abyss.
Why, of all things, had he seen the memories of the master of the abyss?
—Rejoice. You will soon become one with the abyss.
“…I will?”
—Kekeke. Was that not what you desired? Power to rule over everything. Once you obtain it, you will easily overwhelm someone as inferior as Hio Pavlenko. You will become a true ruler.
“I…”
Antipus tried to say something, but—
—Enough.
Kreutzwald did not allow it.
—Unfortunately, this is not a leisurely situation, so I will hear your story later.
Why was his own body refusing to obey him?
Why could he not even speak?
—You need only entrust your body to me for a little while. I will take care of the rest.
Wriggle—
Something seemed to writhe inside Antipus, then rapidly swelled in size.
What took over his body and invaded his mind was the abyss, thick and dense.
Since when had something so ominous been residing inside his body?
—While those fools are caught up in their excitement, we will cross over to the continent together. And then we will close the passage.
Antipus could see the rejoicing Allied Forces in his field of vision.
Their backs came into view as they shouted in triumph, broke through the weakened monstrosities, and advanced toward the Ashen Zone.
Close this place?
Then what would happen to them?
—Is that not obvious?
They would all die.
There was only one passage, and the Supreme Heavenly Demon’s skill could not move all of them.
—I did not expect to leave this place in such a manner, but this will do in its own way.
‘What… do you want from me?’
—Want? I am trying to grant what you desire, am I not?
‘…What I desire.’
A gloomy, chilling laugh echoed through his mind.
—Kekeke. Yes. Power to overwhelm Hio Pavlenko. Everyone on the continent will kneel before your power and worship you.
His body still would not move an inch.
In that state, he imagined it for a moment.
The entire continent kneeling, and even the Supreme Heavenly Demon, who had always been an insurmountable wall, despairing before him.
His resolve formed on its own.
—How is it? Can you feel it?
‘…What should I do?’
—Simple. You need only leave through that passage. I will handle everything after that.
‘Will you remain with me like this?’
—Of course not. Even this will only be for a short while. The moment we leave for the continent, I will separate from you.
‘I see. Good.’
Was that not incredibly simple?
He only had to walk out through the open passage.
Although he had a monster within his body, if he simply walked forward like this, he would obtain the greatest power on the continent, called the abyss.
—Heh heh heh. Yes. The ruler trait you possess will also be completed.
Kreutzwald knew about his ruler trait as well.
—It is a trait that can never be completed with a human body. As long as you are human, you cannot help but feel fear.
‘That’s true.’
—But do not worry. As long as you are with me, you will finally become complete.
To Antipus, they were words far too sweet.
For him, whose goal had always been to become the best, this was a chance to restore everything of his that had been crumpled until now.
‘…I understand.’
And so he calmly accepted.
—Kekeke. Good.
Along with Kreutzwald’s deep laughter, his body, which had not budged before, began to move according to his will once again.
—Head straight for the passage.
He moved one arm, bent and straightened his legs, and then, just as Kreutzwald said, walked toward the passage.
“Waaaaaaaah!”
“The war is over!”
“It is our victory!”
“Long live Verden!”
Leaving behind the shouts that filled the abyss, he took step after step.