299 The Elf Village Defense Battle ⑪

How much time had passed.

By my perception, I had fought for an extended duration.

Yet that was merely my subjective experience of time dilation. In reality, the interval might have been surprisingly brief.

I launched another attack—how many times this had occurred, I no longer counted.

My piercing hand struck the robot’s chest. The Heretic Magic activated, destroying the soul embedded within the machine.

The robot trembled once, like a convulsion, then froze completely.

I withdrew my hand. The wound did not regenerate. The body, deprived of support, collapsed silently to the ground.

A surprisingly light *chink* echoed—like the sound of an empty shell, now bereft of the weight of a soul.

It was over.

No—still not yet.

This robot was Potimas’s trump card, but not Potimas himself.

The end has not come until Potimas himself is dispatched.

Still—this is tough.

My appearance remains flawless, unmarred by a single blemish. But internally, I am shattered.

The effect of Humility has stripped away my soul.

I managed to buffer some of the energy stolen from the robot, but that is all.

What happens now if I release the effect of Humility?

A candle's light is brightest just before it burns out.

Please—hold on until Potimas finishes me.

—Once it is over, step outside—

A voice echoes directly within my mind.

A message from Shiro?

I wish you wouldn’t casually send this kind of signal while the magical interference field remains active.

It undermines my confidence.

Still—Shiro calling me specifically means I should go outside.

Force the door open with physical strength as it closed upon entry.

As expected, given it was built to imprison a god, it took considerable effort to open.

Panting heavily, the door creaked open. Panting again, he ascended the long slope, then stepped outside.

What met his eyes was beyond anything he had imagined.

A forest burning in every direction.

In areas where flames rose, an unfamiliar, enormous spherical object rolled about.

Amidst this hellish scene, a striking silhouette stood out.

A vast, circular object soared through the sky, obscuring the heavens.

From Shiro’s memories, one word described it perfectly: UFO.

The object rumored to carry aliens.

Yet, that description was not entirely inaccurate.

The floating, circular shape was, in fact, a spacecraft.

Potimas could not be unaware of the current state of this world.

The reason Potimas holds such attachment to this star, a castle built on sand, is because a system exists.

She had spoken harshly of the system just moments before—only because her expectations had been unmet.

Potimas had expected it from the system.

Perhaps they could make themselves a god.

But Potimas did not become a god.

Still, clinging to a single thread of hope, Potimas remained seated on this world.

Wishing perhaps that one day she might become a god.

Potimas himself must have been aware that it was merely a faint hope.

Therefore, it was expected that preparations be made.

The way to escape from this world.

Potimas can depart from this planet at any time.

That is precisely why they can remain calm even if the stars were to perish.

The means of escape from that world is the thing floating in the air right now.

Yet the means of escape is currently bound tightly, like a fly caught in a web of white thread.

It resembles a moth trapped in a spider's silk, awaiting consumption.

Hmm.

Indeed, it is exactly that—so absurd it borders on laughter.

Syrilis, you’re incredible.

What have you been doing while I’ve been playing with the robot?

Outstanding. No words can express it.

Potimas is definitely inside there.

When I fought the robot, I stopped hearing Potimas’s voice midway.

He abandoned the robot and fled without hesitation.

Even though the robot was carefully constructed, to Potimas it was merely another tool.

Choosing between his life and the robot? No dilemma at all for Potimas.

One of the threads binding the spaceship is attached to the ground just beside me.

The thickness of the thread is sufficient for a person to walk upon without issue.

A casual glance around reveals no sign of Shiro.

Yet the thread lies here so blatantly, as if urging me forward—probably that’s the intention.

Step onto the thread and use it as a foothold to ascend.

Seems like I’ve been climbing nonstop since earlier.

I scanned for possible counterattacks from the spaceship, but none came. I reached the vessel quickly.

Likely already neutralized by Shiro.

I step onto the ship’s surface and search for something resembling a hatch.

Soon, I locate it—force it open with brute strength—and enter.

The interior is astonishingly dark.

No lighting present.

Not that it matters to me. I possess Dark Vision.

Walk.

Even as large as it is, the corridor stretches impossibly long.

Walk.

Through the glass, facilities resembling factories, gardens, and other structures were visible.

Designed so that human life could be sustained entirely within this spacecraft.

Possibility of drifting through space for centuries, perhaps.

Not just reliance on the system—perhaps the uncertainty of the future was one reason Potimas never left this planet.

Only one god exists here, Gurye—but other stars may hold many more.

Considering that, recklessness is not an option.

Walk.

Defensive robots emerged in swarms, but they were negligible compared to the ones fought underground earlier.

Kick them aside.

When facing other robots, the distinction becomes clear—what made the Gloria-type Ω encountered underground so exceptional.

Walk.

A fragment of Potimas lunged forward, emitting a distorted cry.

Its refined features twisted grotesquely by frustration and fear.

Up until now, Potimas had never let a fragment’s face distort like that, even when the fragment was destroyed.

Fragments may be discarded endlessly. The main body, however, cannot be destroyed without consequence.

As expected.

Dispatch the fragment swiftly.

Regardless of any mechanical augmentation, the level at which a fragment poses a threat has long since been surpassed.

"Which means you're finished."

Walking, walking—arriving at last at the destination.

Inside a transparent cylinder, the body of an elven elder.

Countless tubes connected to the body.

Inside the cylinder, the elder’s body remained motionless, as if solidified by some special material.

“Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it! I don’t want it to end! It shouldn’t end! I must live forever! Please! Stop! Stop!”

The speaker emitted continuous screams instead of movement.

A constant stream poured forth—pleas of “stop,” mixed with senseless shouts.

No breath meant the voice could continue indefinitely.

For Potimas, the body was merely a vessel for existence. So long as it lived, that was sufficient.

When movement was desired, he used his fragments.

This body, motionless within the cylinder, sustained only life—this was Potimas’s true form.

One could imagine such a state, but seeing it with one’s own eyes revealed only sorrow.

This is the end of a man who clung only to life—obsessed with it, pursued nothing else.

" Don’t want to die! Don’t want to die! No! I don’t want to die! No, no, no, no!"

" Regrettably, Potimas, you’ll endure something far worse than death."

No pity for Potimas’s screams.

Nor is it satisfaction—no, not quite.

Something deeper should have risen. But to my own surprise, nothing does.

"Abyss Magic."

Potimas hears the whisper and erupts into further frenzy.

Abyss Magic is a specialized spell.

Where Heretic Magic destroys the soul, Abyss Magic disassembles it and returns it to the system.

Simply killing him is insufficient.

This man’s soul will repay the world for what he has done.

Preparation for Abyss Magic begins.

Unlike Heretic Magic, Abyss Magic requires a sophisticated magical construct.

I believe D-sama is doing this intentionally.

Heretic Magic was designed to oppose the divine.

Abyss Magic was created to judge between beings of this world.

It strips away the option of reincarnation and reduces the soul to the system.

This judgment was made because the system determined it would benefit this world more than reincarnation.

The delay before activation and its impracticality in combat—this is likely the evidence.

"Then, Father……"

Without uttering any meaningful words, she activated Abyss Magic toward the core of Potimas, who only screamed incoherently.

Only silence remained.