Chapter 75 : Final Chapter

Violet’s atmosphere changed.

His face was now distorted beyond recognition, lacking even a trace of humanity.

“Interesting.”

Violet, his face contorted, ordered the soldiers to attack us.

“What are you doing..!? Hurry up and attack..!”

Despite his command, the soldiers on the battlefield hesitated to rush at us.

Watching them, I spoke to Violet.

“Take a look at yourself before you speak, Violet.”

“…!”

His one arm, hideously blackened and rotting, and his already blackened eyes made it impossible for anyone to think he was an ordinary human.

Even the Spirit Masters who had respected and followed him more than anyone lowered their swords upon seeing his grotesque appearance.

“That thing isn’t Violet-nim..”

He was no longer the Spirit Master Commander Violet they had followed.

He was just an unidentified creature with black eyes and parts of his body horribly decaying.

“..Let’s go.”

Since he had already given up hiding his identity, there was nothing to hold back.

With me leading, all the team members drew their weapons and rushed towards him.

Luna and I engaged him from the front, while Yuri and Carne attacked from behind with follow-up strikes.

Unlike our desperate efforts, his expression remained relaxed.

“…Is this all?”

As expected of Violet, once called the strongest among Spirit Masters, he overwhelmed us easily with just his physical abilities.

Blocking his longsword sent a force strong enough to rattle my bones.

Luna, whose strength should have rivaled his, was also pushed back significantly by Violet’s attacks.

Moreover, Violet was fighting with only one arm, not using his rotting arm at all.

As if mocking our expectations, he spoke to us with a relaxed expression.

“Even with full force, it wouldn’t be enough, but this is like child’s play.”

Violet’s demeanor, which had been defensive until now, changed.

Noticing this, Invidia sent a thought.

[Be careful..!]

He disappeared from my sight.

Violet, moving at a speed impossible to follow with the eyes, suddenly appeared behind Carne.

“Though not related by blood, are you trying to strike down your father, Carne..?”

He grabbed Carne and threw her forcefully against a distant wall, hard enough to create a shockwave.

“Keoheok..!”

Carne, hitting the wall as if embedded in it, let out a pained groan.

Even though he had simply thrown her, her body didn’t look okay.

Blood dripping from Carne’s head where it hit the wall confirmed it.

“You haven’t changed at all in a year and a half..! What have you been doing all this time…!?”

Enraged, Yuri and I charged, but he pushed Yuri far away, then grabbed my neck and lifted me high.

In his grip, which surpassed human strength, my breath was painfully squeezed.

“Saya… Saya Barnaba, was it?”

Violet’s face twisted even more hideously as he brought his face close to mine.

He licked my earring and muttered.

“Following the surname of some dirty whore whose face you don’t even know..”

At his provocation, I grimaced and said.

“It’s not… dirty…”

The harder I struggled to break free, the stronger his grip on my neck became.

“Do you know why you can never see that face, Saya?”

Both corners of his mouth curled up into an extreme sneer.

After the first massacre of the Sarkas clan by the Empire’s Spirit Masters, the remaining clan members scattered across the country, clinging to life.

Except for me, who was abandoned like trash by my parents in a private house at the time, even the remaining clan members scattered throughout the regions could not escape the massive massacre.

“Because your mother died at my hands..!”

Even Chris and the other comrades who survived like me eventually met their end by his sword.

“I thought I had killed all the direct descendants, but I never imagined a brat like this was hidden somewhere in Luden..”

I glared at him even more intensely and said.

“Son.. of a… b*tch…”

“Answer me. How did you survive in that cursed land? What truly astonishing vitality..!”

Luna, holding her saber, ran towards us.

“Saya, don’t listen to him…!”

She charged with her sword drawn, but Violet used me as a shield, forcing her to stop.

“….!”

“Are you going to cut down your friend?”

“You despicable b*stard…!”

…

In my fading consciousness, I saw a blurry figure that looked like Luna.

Desperately trying not to lose consciousness, I called out to Invidia.

“…Not yet, Invidia?”

[Almost restored.]

Because I had used most of my power in the fight against Yuri, I hadn’t been able to use the power of Sarkas until now.

[Completed, Saya!]

Invidia exclaimed confidently, and I channeled strength into my arm.

“Unification…!”

The blade extending from my hand instantly pierced Violet’s eye, and in reflexive pain, he roughly let go of my neck.

“This b*tch, my eye again……!”

This was the second time I had stabbed Violet’s eye.

“Keoheok……!”

Simultaneously, something huge from behind sent Violet flying.

Hit twice by unexpected attacks, Violet tumbled unsightly on the ground.

“Well done, Gigantas..!”

Yuri’s Gigantas, having recovered its strength around the same time, revealed its massive majesty.

Violet reset his twisted joints back to normal and spoke.

“I thought something was strange; you were hiding your strength…”

Both Yuri and I hadn’t fully recovered from the aftermath of our fight, so we had engaged mainly in close combat to regain our strength.

That very point had led to Violet’s carelessness.

“Dark Bullet…!”

I created a sphere of darkness in my hand and fired it towards his face.

As I gradually began to regain my strength, the picture began to look more like a real fight.

“Cled must have taught you wrong. Did he teach you to treat your superior like this..?”

“We’re model students..!”

Unlike before, when he easily blocked our attacks with just one arm, Violet was eventually forced to wield his sword with both hands to parry the attacks relentlessly coming from four directions.

“…Thanato..”

Whenever he tried to fire a spell with his hand, Carne’s spell bound his hand, interrupting him.

“Carne..! How can you not understand your father’s great will..!”

At his pathetic words, Carne grimaced and shouted coolly.

“Cut the bullsht, you perverted bstard..!”

Sensing that the opportunity was finally approaching, I shouted to everyone.

“Everyone, to your positions!”

As Violet completely lost his composure, all four of us moved to our respective positions.

It had been a year and a half since we fought together, but all four remembered their roles in battle.

Yuri and Carne were in charge of binding with spells, while Luna and I handled close combat.

“…Osteon of the Earth..!”

Carne used intermediate magic, restraining Violet’s movements with huge vines.

As he tried to cut the vines restricting his movement, Yuri’s Gigantas strongly gripped Violet’s arm.

“Never let go, Gigantas!”

From both sides of Violet, Luna and I ran towards each other.

After reaching maximum speed, we each thrust our blades deep into the vital points we were aiming for.

“…Keok…!”

Pierced through the back and abdomen by Luna and me, Violet spat out a large amount of blood.

“These b*tches…!”

He struggled violently, trying to break free, but Luna and I held firm, keeping our blades embedded in his body.

“Luna…!”

Drawing out all the power we possessed, we pushed hard, concentrating force at the tips of our blades.

The blades, which seemed unyielding, accelerated and crossed.

The blades crossed, tearing his body apart cleanly, and his body split into three parts, scattering on the ground.

Everyone, including me, focused on Violet’s condition.

Although his body was torn into three, he was still wriggling in separate parts.

[Did we get him..!?]

“…Ah.”

It seemed Invidia had cast a resurrection spell.

The wriggling body parts began to move towards each other, finding their original positions.

“Damn persistent…!”

Just as I was about to fire a spell bullet to disrupt his recovery, Invidia shouted.

[It’s working, Saya. Look at that!]

The pieces of Violet trying to reform were failing to mesh, pushing each other away sluggishly.

The piece with his face attached gaped its mouth and spoke.

“My body…! The human body I’ve preserved for so long…! Because of these damn b*tches…!”

“He was obsessed with his human body..?”

He tried desperately to piece his body back together, but the perfectly sealed fragments refused to rejoin.

Thinking this was our chance, I shouted to Yuri.

“Yuri, have you recovered enough!?”

To my question, she answered with action instead of words.

“Gigantas, Unification!”

Gigantas’s body glowed and was absorbed into Yuri’s sword, forming a massive ice greatsword.

With Violet’s remains between us, what we had to do was clear.

“”Full Release!””

Both Yuri’s and my blades grew enormously, casting shadows over the battlefield.

Three blades, looking dangerous even to brush against, pointed at Violet.

“This is the end, Violet—!”

Just as Yuri’s and my blades were about to strike his remains—

“!?”

An immense surge of black tissue erupted from his body fragments, covering the surroundings entirely with his bio-mass.

“Withdraw your blade, Saya..!”

Following Yuri’s words, I hastily withdrew my blade.

“…..!”

And then, I was speechless at the sight before me.

The massive bio-tissue extending from Violet’s body split into dozens of tendrils, sucking the soldiers on the battlefield into its own mass.

“No way…”

In this process of consumption, Luna and Carne were no exception.

Though they resisted together, they were eventually drawn in by the tentacles attacking from all directions.

“Even Luna and Carne…..!”

Yuri swung her sword, cutting down the tentacles reaching for me.

“…What in the world is that..?”

As Yuri and I continued to resist being consumed, it retracted its tentacles and began to grow in size.

Having absorbed almost all life on the battlefield, it roared towards us with its colossal body.

[It’s Gula…!]

The ancient species Sarkas, once called Gula of Gluttony, broke through Violet’s body and revealed itself to the world.

[That’s the true identity of the Sarkas inside Violet, Saya..!]

Gula, whose translucent body still held the silhouettes of the humans it hadn’t fully digested, roared furiously towards us.

<I could have remained human for my entire life…! And it’s all because of you damn b*tches…..!>

His ambition to live forever while maintaining a human form had collapsed just like that.

Enraged by this fact, Gula attacked us indiscriminately.

I barely dodged his massive body, but the attack wasn’t over.

“Holes in his body…!?”

Dozens of holes appeared on his huge body, and from each hole, dozens of spells were unleashed.

Both Yuri and I were helplessly hit by the spells coming from all directions.

Hit by the spells, I let out a groan.

“Ugh…!”

Magic of all attributes mixed together and attacked us.

I tried hard to block them with my unified blade, but it was nearly impossible to block all the spells coming from every direction.

“Where does that power come from…?”

Invidia, who was closely watching his movements, spoke to me.

[He’s drawing power from the Spirit Masters he absorbed..!]

Unlike Invidia, who analyzed targets and imitated their power to make it his own, Gula swallowed targets and consumed their power until it vanished.

For instance, using the Spirit Masters he just swallowed as his own ammunition.

[If you delay, he’ll digest all the humans he just swallowed.]

If he was allowed to rampage like this, even Luna and Carne, who were captured, would be consumed as his spell bullets.

Just as the spell barrage ended and my body was tattered, his huge mouth lunged at me once more.

“I can’t dodge that…!”

Then, something strongly pushed my body away.

“Yuri….?”

She pushed me hard with her hand and disappeared into Gula’s mouth in my place.

“Yuri….!”

[He’s coming again, Saya..!]

Leaving the vanished her behind, I rolled to avoid the spells flying again.

“…This is beyond common sense.”

With the power I currently had, I couldn’t beat Gula.

Forget approaching him; even dodging his attacks was overwhelming.

[..Saya, now is the only time to release Ira’s core.]

“..Ira’s core..”

In the past, Invidia and I had hunted another ancient species, Ira of Wrath.

The core obtained from Ira had been stored intact within Invidia’s body and never activated.

“Now, there’s no other way..”

The reason I hadn’t used the power until now, despite obtaining it, was Invidia’s warning that if two Sarkas cores circulated within a human body, the body would quickly overload and collapse.

[If your mind breaks, it’s all over. Focus only on enduring!]

After a moment’s thought, Invidia activated Ira’s core, which he had stored inside his body.

As the core of Ira, the ancient species responsible for wrath among the seven deadly sins, it would undoubtedly place an unbelievable strain on the body while granting immense power to the user.

“Aaaaaaahk…..!”

To endure the strain, I planted both arms into the ground to anchor myself and let out a painful scream.

The pain of having every organ in my body burned alive washed over me.

After the mind-shattering pain passed, physical changes began.

Half of my body was replaced by Sarkas tissue, and wing-like structures extended from my back like blood vessels.

[Remember, Saya. If time delays, your body will uncontrollably collapse.]

“…I know.”

It grants immense power, but the time I could maintain sanity was extremely short.

There was no time to delay; I had to kill Gula quickly.

<You possess something interesting….!>

Once again, dozens of spells flew from Gula’s holes, and I spread my wings and soared into the air with a tremendous roar.

The incoming spell bullets seemed to have tracking, as numerous spell bullets changed direction haphazardly, relentlessly pursuing only me.

“Speed up, Invidia….!”

[Accelerating..!]

A momentary electric current ran through my body, leaving a golden trail as I shot through the spell bullets like a projectile.

With propulsion far exceeding all objects, the spells following me lost their way, wandered, collided with each other, and exploded in mid-air.

<Is that Ira’s power..! Mouth-watering!>

Gula, watching me, laughed unpleasantly and said.

[To Gula, even this seems to be nothing more than a meal.]

“Creepy b*stard…”

Having gained immense speed, I set my blade and charged at him.

“How dare you swallow Yuri, Gula….!”

Electricity filled my entire body, and before I knew it, I became a streak of light, piercing through Gula’s body.

After penetrating his torso unbelievably fast, I stopped only after doing a full rotation in the air.

“…..!?”

However, Gula’s body was surprisingly intact.

Instead, he drooled and looked at me, as if disappointed that I had only grazed him.

“The attack didn’t work at all..?”

Gula, who had devoured countless types of creatures over eons, had already developed resistance to attacks of every nature existing in the world.

No matter how powerful Ira’s lightning was, to Gula, it was merely a delicacy.

He seemed unable to resist how appetizing I looked and cried out to me in a yearning voice.

<Follow Freesia and become my meal quietly, Saya..!>

Judging by how skillfully he called my name, it seemed that Violet’s mentality was mixed in Gula’s mind to some extent.

But after Gula’s voice, a familiar female voice echoed.

“Who… is your…. meal…!!!”

Through the gap opened in Gula’s mouth, someone’s silhouette could be seen.

[That’s….?]

“Could it be…..”

There was Yuri, holding on with just her arm strength, her greatsword deeply embedded in Gula’s gums.

“Yuri….!?”

She was forcefully prying open the mouth that was about to close, screaming at the top of her lungs.

At the unbelievably astonishing sight, even Invidia shook his head.

[That woman’s mental strength is astounding..! Can a human with such mental fortitude exist…..?]

Actually, when I wrote the original novel, I had poured all the stats into mental strength.

“You have to be that strong to be the protagonist..”

<It’s just a meaningless struggle…!>

The holes all over Gula’s body emitted light once more.

Dodging the incoming spells, I approached Gula’s mouth and lifted Yuri up.

Rescued from Gula, she asked me, gasping for breath.

“..Saya, the situation?”

“It couldn’t be worse.”

Despite taking the risk of unleashing Ira’s power, which could destroy my body, I couldn’t inflict even a slight blow on Gula.

To her question about the situation, Invidia conveyed the information directly.

[Gula has resistance to all substances existing in Armonia. As it is, there’s no way to attack.]

Hearing that, Yuri frowned once and asked us.

“What about composite materials? Have you tried both?”

[Useless. Any mixed substance would have been created inside his stomach as everything mixed together.]

Yuri observed my form for a moment, then said.

“…You said all substances. What about Sarkas and Osteons?”

To her question, Invidia answered, seeming dejected.

[There are substances in the world that absolutely do not mix. Those two entities will never…]

Invidia stopped speaking there, noticing the incongruity in his own words.

I also felt something strange in his words and said.

“Then, what about our form, Invidia?”

“…!”

My current form was a perfect blend and harmony of Daengdaengi and Invidia.

However, Yuri’s theory was refuted by Invidia.

[Even if we are mixed, the attacks so far haven’t caused Gula even the slightest damage.]

“The two entities are mixed, but they couldn’t create a new substance..?”

As I thought about it, something flashed through my mind.

“Ratio….!”

[Ratio?]

“A proper ratio is needed to create a new substance. Our ratio wasn’t right…!”

Until now, I thought that because Invidia, the Sarkas side, had overwhelmingly stronger power than Daengdaengi, even if the two entities were mixed, they couldn’t cause a proper reaction.

“Compared to you, the Sarkas, the Osteon side’s power was too weak!”

[…That makes sense.]

Invidia, who was in charge of movement, abruptly stopped in mid-air and turned to face Gula.

At the sudden stop, Yuri looked this way, surprised.

“What are you planning to do, you two..?”

Invidia calmly explained to Yuri.

[Lend your strength to Saya. A large amount of your Osteon power is needed.]

His detailed instructions were as follows: Yuri and I would perform Unification together, sending out a combined strike of Osteon and Sarkas power respectively.

“…Let’s do it.”

Yuri raised her sword straight towards the sky, and I placed my hand over hers on the hilt.

[If the ratio is even slightly off, it will fail.]

“..What happens if it fails?”

To my question, Yuri answered instead.

“We all go straight into his stomach together.”

We channeled strength into the sword held together with Yuri and shouted together.

“”Unification!””

On Yuri’s sword, the two powers that should not mix caused a violent resistance and piled up.

Ice tinged with black light covered the blade, seeming to mix gradually, but a strong repulsive force began to be felt in my hand.

“The repulsion….!”

[Damn, the Osteon side’s power is too strong..!]

Because Invidia had lost considerable strength, the power of Yuri’s Osteon was overwhelming it.

“Then what do we do..!?”

[No. It’s actually better this way; let’s send Ira’s core along with it!]

As he sent Ira’s core, which was circulating within me, into the sword, my transformed body also returned to its original form.

The blade, appropriately infused with Sarkas power, no longer pushed me away and steadily built up its strength.

Gula, watching us, opened his mouth, cheered, and leaped forward.

<A luxurious meal——!>

Feeling the power fully contained in the sword, we pushed in the same direction and brought the blade down.

“Full Release……!”

A colossal light, seeming to swallow the entirety of Semal, erupted from the sword, digging down into Gula’s massive body.

Gula’s voice, shocked that a substance congestion couldn’t devour existed, echoed.

<A substance this body has no resistance to…..!? What have you done..!?>

Invidia answered him on our behalf as we exerted ourselves.

[It’s the birth of a new substance the world has never seen, Gula.]

Gula, slowly being consumed by the light, shouted towards us.

<I truly cannot understand you…! I promised eternal peace for your human race…! Foolish creatures……!!!>

“…Peace?”

We, having listened to Gula’s speech, shouted loudly at him.

“”We don’t need that sh*t………!!!””

Saving our comrades right in front of us is thousands of times more valuable than peace.

“I’ll erase your existence, Gula…!”

Pouring all the sorrow accumulated so far into one sword, I unleashed it fully towards Gula.

The dazzling light compressed into a single point again, splitting Gula’s massive core in half.

The energies he had devoured over thousands of years exploded from that single point and scattered intensely.

<Damn it… Damn it…!!!>

The immense energy formed from the sword also dispersed, and the power maintaining Yuri and me vanished, causing us to fall towards the ground.

Gula, about to perish, hurled a hateful cry towards Invidia.

<Invidia..! Didn’t you also just want to use humans to achieve immortality..!>

[Immortality? I lost interest in such boring things long ago.]

Invidia, transformed into Daengdaengi’s form, caught the falling Yuri and me.

[Because there is death, life has value, Gula…!]

“Invidia..?”

For a moment, in Invidia’s thoughts, I felt something I had never felt before.

Gula’s core split completely in half and perished spectacularly.

The Spirit Masters Gula had swallowed but not yet digested spilled out, and Invidia landed hard on the ground, shielding us.

“…Ah, I see.”

I finally realized the source of the incongruity I had felt from Invidia.

It was emotion.

From him, who had always been colorless, I felt color for the first time.

The long 18-and-a-half-year story of my life, a struggle for survival, reached its punctuation mark.

From the cracks of the collapsed ground, Yuri and I were helped up.

Towards me, unable to even open my eyes properly, I felt Luna’s fierce embrace.

“It’s all over, Saya…..!”

Honestly, it felt like dozens of my bones were broken—no, they actually were—but right now, I just smiled and enjoyed her hug.

Yuri seemed to be in bad shape too; unable to even lift her head, she stumbled sideways and collapsed face-down on the ground.

“Yuri..? Are you okay…!?”

Carne, turning pale at the sight, shook Yuri awake but stopped when she heard snoring sounds coming from her.

“…Sleeping? In this situation..?”

Truly, no matter what anyone said, she had to be the craziest woman in the world.

“Move the injured this way..!”

From among the collapsed ground, the voices of Spirit Masters who came for rescue were heard.

Luna, listening quietly to the sound, tilted her head and said.

“..But, don’t you feel like we forgot something..?”

“….”

The three of us looked at each other and shouted simultaneously.

“Instructor Cled……!”