Chapter 1299: End of the Malice?

What in the world just happened?

Yuvel somehow summoned a divine sword? I know Jean was lending him some power, but is that even possible? Perhaps it was reproduced from memories, similar to his own existence…

My consciousness, which had been clouded by a mysterious pain, felt a bit cleared up now from the surprise.

The scene of Yuvel fading away into particles of light was stunning. He looked straight at us in his final moments. No, perhaps his eyes were on Fran in particular?

「Yuvel was amazing. Truly a hero.」

Fran muttered her thoughts on the scene. But it seems the Evil God’s Malice won’t give us any time to bathe in sentimentality.

（Huh? Something black is coming out!）

Evil energy… no, evil-divine energy!

The clash between the divine sword and the fragment had carved countless fissures into the earth. And now, evil-divine energy was pouring out of those cracks like smoke.

The Malice had already started its counterattack despite being lodged deep underground.

It must be attempting max output now since it failed to control us earlier.

I immediately responded by absorbing the evil-divine energy, but the pain made it impossible to concentrate, so I couldn’t erase it all at once. Our companions quickly distanced themselves with pale faces.

A single touch from the sinister haze was enough to affect their minds, however slightly.

I continued sucking in everything over a wide area, but the pain was building up rapidly.

Honestly, it’s already worse than anything I’ve ever experienced. Am I reaching my limit? But stopping is not an option. I refuse to let the fragment take any of Fran’s friends.

The Evil God Fragment within me can likely keep going, but I’m in tatters.

『Ugh…』

「Master! Master!」

『I’m… fine.』

「But…!」

Fran had paused her offensive, so the Malice attempted to resurface. That said, the others weren’t going to let it out that easily.

「Uncle! We gotta do our job too!」

The magic sword Zelos Reed emitted a high-pitched ringing sound in response to Sierra’s voice. Both the boy and sword were enveloped in a dense aura of evil energy, no, evil-divine energy.

They likely absorbed the evil-divine energy released by the fragment earlier, and stored it until the perfect moment. Doing so must have placed an enormous burden on Zelos Reed, but he managed to pull it off.

All to support Sierra. I can understand the sentiment.

「Urooh! Evil Collapsing Slash!」

Sierra shouted the chuunibyou-esque technique name completely seriously, but the power it contained was not laughable at all.

What he did was incredibly simple: a slash infused with his entire store of evil-divine energy. His blade inflicted a deep wound onto the Evil God Fragment.

Sierra and Zelos Reed had combined everything they had into that single hit.

The result was a powerful blow comparable to the trump cards from Sibylla and our Rank A adventurer friends.

The Malice promptly fell back into the hole, and Amanda launched a follow-up attack.

「This whip is amazing, I can really go all out! Haaah! Triple Deva Crusher!」

Amanda’s hand blurred for an instant, so I couldn’t even see what she did. Meanwhile, countless whip strikes had been pounded into the Malice with insane speed.

Not only did she prevent the Malice from resurfacing, but she had also shattered the top portion, delivering major damage.

The reason being that her whip was infused with divine energy. Amanda had the Divine Whipmaster job for a while now, but she must have been holding back to avoid damaging her whip.

That changed once she got her hands on this top-tier whip, presumably crafted by the divine blacksmith Alistair. Combined with her new title of Hariti, she could now freely use divine energy.

The Malice roared again from the bottom of the hole, and its voice sounded frustrated.

The next one to step up was Forrund.

He held in his hands a blazing flame that radiated immense heat. We recognized the identity of this weapon.

「Burn, Ignis!」

Forrund had used his Divine Sword Imitation to recreate Izario’s Ignis. He pointed Ignis towards the heavens as the blade’s flames turned golden.

「Urooh!」

Forrund leapt over the hole and threw Ignis inside at maximum speed. Considering how his Favor of the Sword God works, using it as a projectile is likely the optimal form of attack.

The imitation Ignis plunged right into the mouth of the Malice.

Red light overflowed from the Malice’s giant maw, before detonating in a huge explosion. The resulting pillar of flames reached hundreds of meters into the sky, as the surrounding earth melted into a gooey mess. The already huge hole in the ground had been transformed into an even wider pool of lava.

The flames continued spilling out of the Malice’s mouth without end. A majority of its countless jagged teeth had melted away, and its surface had been scorched black.

OROGRH…!

The Malice was screaming in pain, yet its spiteful voice still echoed for all to hear.

『GO MAD! BICKER! MASSACRE!』

The voice had the same screeching tone as the other fragments we’ve encountered. But it’s futile! I’m sucking in all your evil energy!

『Gwah…』

Shit! I tried to act cool, but it really hurts! Still, we’re screwed if it manages to dominate one of us! I have to endure it even if it means my destruction! For Fran’s sake!

『WHY!? REVEAL YOUR WICKED NATURE! HATE YOUR FELLOWS! MASSACRE THEM!』

As I thought, the Malice was completely specialized in its domination ability. Once it realized this had no effect on us, it could do little but panic.

Right as the Malice began its rant, Maleficent had finally finished his preparations. While flying in the sky on top of Persona’s barrier, the man pointed a gate-like shield at the fragment floating in the red lake.

「Nethergate, open! Overflow the rivers of hell! Condense into a poison for corroding gods!」

A single purple droplet fell from the gate.

Yet it radiated a frightening power unlike anything I’ve ever seen before.

I could tell right away that this was the ultimate poison that surpassed even divine poison. A single, deadly drop intended for killing the gods themselves.

Fran could do nothing but freeze in place. Her face was pale, with goosebumps all over her body. She intuitively understood the terror behind this attack.

The purple droplet slowly fell onto the head of the Malice and…

OOOROOOOOORGH!

The roar brought about a tremor that shook the earth. Not even Fran could remain standing.

Meanwhile, the Malice’s entire body was covered in purple stains, which spread while melting its flesh into goo. The tattered body of the Evil God Fragment sunk slowly into the pool of lava.

After who knows how long, it all came to a sudden stop. The roars, the tremors, and the aura of evil had vanished.

We all had the same thought. Was this the calm before the storm? But no. The sinister presence coming from the pool of lava could no longer be felt.

The evil energy levels in the air also diminished greatly. That roar must have been the Evil God Fragment’s death throes.

「…」

「…」

Fran and I, as well as everyone else, were dumbfounded. After all, we were fighting a fragment of the divine, no matter how deep it may have fallen. And the end was so anticlimactic? Could that truly be possible?

It just felt too surreal. Moreover, additional roars reached our ears before we could fully grasp the situation.

It seems our allies have been making progress against the other fragments as well. I could see several flashes and explosions off in the distance.