The space opened, and the artillery batteries revealed themselves.
Hundreds of gun barrels gleamed with the eerie light of subspace, from which fire erupted at their ends.
The flames flickered and bloomed atop the subspace.
The flames rose high enough to fill the grayish subspace and more.
Within the flames, the Supreme Divinity took a breath.
An immense amount of heat followed, so powerful that not even the Supreme Divinity, who had fully grasped divinity, could easily brush it aside.
Unable to inhale or move, the Supreme Divinity was hindered by the surging heat and shockwaves.
Yet the barrage did not cease.
The artillery batteries that had appeared, tearing through the space, continued their bombardment.
At point-blank range, armor-piercing rounds and heavy shells rained down.
Explosive shells shook the air, battering the Supreme Divinity with physical force alone.
Staggering, the Supreme Divinity realized the intent behind this barrage: to weaken them.
Given the Supreme Divinity’s regenerative powers, innate nature, and divine power, suppression might be impossible, but incapacitation seemed feasible.
And indeed, the Supreme Divinity was being weakened.
A simultaneous salvo from cannons equivalent in size to a decent-sized planetary vessel had the power to pulverize lesser divinities.
These were the same guns that, during the final captain’s reign, had scoured the universe clean of evil deities.
Amidst writhing black mist, the Supreme Divinity formed a mouth brimming with blazing fury.
The massive maw split open as the black mist parted, revealing its colossal form.
As it opened wide, all oxygen within the vicinity vanished in an instant.
“―――!”
A roar followed, shaking the very fabric of space and unleashing a devastating shockwave that shattered reality itself.
In its wake, something approached.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
Something advanced, encased in a soundproof barrier, closing the distance with its ponderous bulk.
It resembled a colossal giant clad in armor-like plating.
The ultimate weapon—a Deus Ex Machina—designed for decisive battles. This was the last resort used by the final captain to overthrow the Veil of Benevolence, later restored just enough to function after sustaining damage.
The steel giant closed the gap.
In tandem with its heavy footsteps, a blazing white longsword extended from behind the giant.
Despite its seemingly slow movements, it was astonishingly swift.
Blinding white divine power coursed along the blade’s edge.
Kwaoooooo!
The soundproof barrier shattered, and purity struck the closing maw.
With a crackle, dark ichor sprayed as the Supreme Divinity’s mouth tore apart.
The steel giant, leaning due to inertia, steadied itself. Aslan’s will blazed within.
The giant, having swung its sword mid-lean, struck the Supreme Divinity with a force akin to felling a mountain.
The thunderous crash echoed far enough to reach Ho-13.
What followed was sheer violence.
Violence meant to cast off failure—to shed the ignoble weight of repeated mistakes.
This violence pressed forward, disregarding any openings left by the Supreme Divinity’s counterattacks.
With another swing, dozens of tentacles belonging to the Supreme Divinity were severed.
Weapons launched by the Supreme Divinity toward the steel giant were intercepted and destroyed before reaching their target.
[150 regional annihilation fusion warheads, launch.]
[Order confirmed.]
[America-class tactical nuclear deployment.]
Tut-tut-tung! Over a hundred missiles erupted from the sides and rear of the steel giant upon the captain’s command.
They battered away the Supreme Divinity’s weapons.
Taking advantage of the opening, Aslan’s will drove the steel giant forward to attack the Supreme Divinity.
Its massive metallic arm swung like a human limb.
A movement no mere machine should have been capable of.
But this steel giant, designed as Aslan’s ultimate weapon for the final battle against predators, moved effortlessly under Aslan’s control.
Without hesitation, Aslan wielded the giant’s weapon with ease.
Bang! Kwaahhhhhh!
The swing of purity struck with the dull thud of a massive object.
It was a one-sided beating.
When the Supreme Divinity unleashed countless bows and flails, Aslan blocked them with purity.
Seizing the moment when the Supreme Divinity’s upper defenses were exposed, a heavy blow descended from above.
A fiery explosion resembling nuclear blasts engulfed the Supreme Divinity.
Pummeling the confused Supreme Divinity with a massive steel fist, Aslan pursued the retreating figure and struck its side with purity.
Hull-shaking naval artillery barrages pummeled the retreating Supreme Divinity. Flames covered the subspace.
Attempting to freeze the giant with spreading black mist,
[Anti-veil sequence activated]
[Night’s Touch extracted]
[Entropy reversal initiated]
A massive shell encasing the purity enveloped the steel giant, divine energy flowing from its longsword.
It worked similarly to how the Veil of Benevolence had been shattered.
The black mist ignited upon contact with the giant, which then charged forward with heavy steps.
The momentum-laden sword strike reverberated with a thunderous crash.
The black mist tilted under the assault.
The sound of the Supreme Divinity collapsing was so immense that no words in existence could describe it, yet Aslan did not stop.
As the blazing purity ascended, the Supreme Divinity saw it.
The displaced air screamed in an explosive roar, and the Supreme Divinity felt the burning emotion of anguish.
Aslan was not originally prone to anger.
If Aslan’s character had changed, the reason lay elsewhere.
The Supreme Divinity, once a man named Aslan, reflected deeply on the reasons.
Certainly, it stemmed from what they had endured.
They had been betrayed.
They had also lost their companions due to their own mistakes.
Acts done to gain trust had inadvertently summoned new calamities.
To put it simply, the Supreme Divinity was the most failure-ridden version of Aslan.
The Calus Empire had fallen.
All comrades were dead.
Angie had fallen into the hands of the Dark Ram and had to be defeated after a painful struggle.
Choosing to become the Supreme Divinity at the end,
Driven by rage,
Resolution faltered, will was mocked, and goodwill was cruelly betrayed.
Only the rage directed at oneself for leading to such an ending remained.
Without it, they would collapse.
—!
The sharp metallic clang mixed with the whistling sound of the massive swing of purity.
The purity rebounded.
A storm arose, and at its center stood a sword.
The Supreme Divinity’s original form—black mist, tentacles, and indistinct shapes.
Even that was abandoned.
The Supreme Divinity, discarding even the origin of Aslan, assumed the most suitable form of nothingness.
The countless, previously vague tentacles transformed into arms.
The body, once like black mist, now resembled a muscular humanoid figure.
Though the head and legs remained shrouded in black mist, Aslan recognized the form.
It resembled the Asura from Buddhism that Aslan had seen long ago.
But this Asura had more arms and was far more mysterious.
Countless arms sprouted swords, each gripping one.
The face made of black mist twitched, and Aslan perceived it through omniscience.
A star cleaving was coming.
The innumerable arms moved without interfering with each other.
Aslan, sensing the approaching star cleaving through their omniscience, moved the great steel giant.
The only thing that could counter a star cleaving was another star cleaving.
[Remaining spirit: 17]
However, unlike the Supreme Divinity who could unleash star cleavings with all their arms, Aslan’s star cleaving was limited to one.
[Remaining spirit: 8]
Still, they moved. Doing nothing was not an option.
[Remaining spirit: 0]
When Aslan’s transcendent concentration was depleted, the steel giant swung its sword simultaneously as the Supreme Divinity’s sword strike surged forward.
“Star Cleaving.”
Subspace split apart. Everything caught in the sword strike disappeared, hurtling toward each other.
In perfect symmetry, the sword strikes flew.
The two identical sword strikes collided, sending out a massive wave of purity.
Though the Supreme Divinity’s arms that faced the purity shattered completely,
Kwajijijijjik, Kwagagagagaang!
The remaining star cleavings pierced the steel giant.
Arms were severed, legs split, and mechanical parts and metal scattered as the giant fell.
The sword strike aimed to annihilate existence itself.
Simultaneously with the hatch at the back of the giant opening, the captain emerged in their original form, pulling Aslan away.
Kwaahhhhhhhhhhh!
Thus the decisive weapon exploded. A fierce blast swept upward, violently shaking the subspace.
Using all its onboard nuclear arsenal to push back, yet the Supreme Divinity’s sword strike penetrated even the nuclear explosion.
Broken mechanical parts falling faster than expected, the star cleaving raced toward Aslan.
Upon seeing the attack, Aslan realized:
The veteran divine essence, the spirit, had been replaced by the Supreme Divinity’s own divine essence.
Thus, the storm of star cleavings was limitless.
Having completely forsaken humanity, the Supreme Divinity Aslan had channeled the ancient deity’s divine essence, achieving complete divinity.
Aslan understood that the perfected Supreme Divinity’s sword path would focus entirely on them.
An infinite sword path. A continuous combo that erased existence itself.
A simultaneously fatal blow.
Aslan had no way to block it.
Until the space split.
Suddenly, space split above Aslan, accompanied by the unique chaotic sound of the cosmos.
The sound of oxygen being sucked into the vacuum of outer space.
Although the expanded subspace lessened the pressure, Aslan instinctively looked up.
Beyond the split space, something was falling.
It was enormous.
A massive spaceship with a gray-hued hull.
If seen from afar floating in outer space, it might have been mistaken for a planet-sized whale.
It was plummeting vertically into the subspace.
Its purpose was obvious.
Aslan’s eyes widened as a voice whispered in their ear.
[Farewell, Captain.]
A mechanical female voice devoid of emotion.
Familiar—not just familiar, but intimate—American-accented English.
As the ship was sliced apart by the descending star cleaving, blossoming into flames, a distorted predator’s voice followed.
[Safe Trav―]
Safe travels.
The predator’s last words were a farewell.
A casual goodbye as if saying nothing significant,
A light greeting one might offer to a sailor disembarking from a ship.
With those parting words, the predator’s divine essence disappeared.
Kuuuuuuuuhhhhhhh!
An explosion occurred. Fiery white-blue flames erupted where the sword strike hit the center of the ship.
It was the explosion caused by the direct impact of the divine engine’s divine essence colliding with the star cleaving.
The death of an AI civilization dedicated solely to victory across multiple universes.
The captain flinched, and the star cleaving halted.
The sword strike wielded by the Supreme Divinity dissipated, and the subspace created by the predator closed.
Jjeek, jjeojek, kwa-jijijjik!
Collapsing space. As Geladridion covered the area, fragments of the predator spaceship began embedding themselves into the ground.
Shattered remnants of the spaceship, mostly vaporized.
Among these fragments falling like meteor showers, Aslan saw the sword lying in the middle.
The sword that had flown away when the captain first opened fire.
A trace of Aslan’s presence in this ruined Geladridion.
Broken purity.
Seeing the Supreme Divinity preparing another star cleaving, Aslan ran forward.
The distance was not far.
The Supreme Divinity was unhurried.
With the ability to destroy even Geladridion, there was no escape, so they calmly prepared their final attack.
Thus, Aslan managed to grasp the broken purity.
Instinctively expecting answers to lie within.
Therefore, Aslan felt relief.
For at the moment Aslan grasped the purity, they understood why it had broken.
Specifically, the principle and process.
‘This is the only way.’
The Supreme Divinity paused, preparing the star cleaving.
The towering colossus ascending impossibly high.
As it readied another star cleaving, Aslan assumed a stance.
Compared to the Supreme Divinity, Aslan’s smaller frame took a position similar yet slightly different from a star cleaving.
The final stance of the sword dance Aslan knew the Supreme Divinity had once performed.
And soon, the ultimate art that had fractured the purity unfolded in Aslan’s hands.
