Anxiety surged within me.

But there were more pressing matters to attend to first. There was no need for any further discussion. The moment we saw the empty chamber, Eliserde and Belial were already rushing forward.

That was enough.

I had to do what needed to be done.

I expanded my coiled body. In an instant, my form swelled to hundreds of times its size, swiftly making my way out of the chamber.

The Holy Kingdom was immense. Because of this, even escaping to the surface took quite a bit of time.

And as soon as I emerged from the chamber…

[…I’m too late.]

A distant sight brushed past my vision.

The moon had risen. A massive red moon hung in the sky, bathing the entire world in a blood-red hue.

At the very center of the Holy Kingdom, a bizarre structure stood tall.

It was a massive tree, seemingly made of pitch-black tar, towering towards the sky.

The black tree stretched arrogantly toward the heavens, its branches covered in countless unknown cocoons. With my transcendent sight, I realized that these cocoons encased humans.

Perhaps it was some small relief.

The people inside were still alive.

They were breathing, their hearts still beating.

But…

[They’re changing.]

Something was warping within them. The structure that once defined them as human was shattering and reshaping.

Like a caterpillar turning into a butterfly.

These humans were metamorphosing into something far more overwhelming.

But the essence of their transformation was more horrific and revolting.

It was too late to intervene. At least with my abilities, there was no way to restore those who had been altered to this extent.

However, I had one thing I could rely on.

[The Goddess’s power should be able to reverse this.]

That’s why she had given her token.

This meant my dilemma was simplified. I knew what I had to do.

[?!@#!@#$%@$^&]

A sinister presence.

A black, amorphous monster covering the sky tilted its head and looked at me.

I didn’t need to ask what it was.

It was a remnant of the Demon God. A piece of the being that had left a part of itself behind.

Unlike the fragment in the Saint’s body, its density was on a different scale. If the fragment within the Saint was just a single cell, this might as well have been the Demon God’s finger.

However, it was of a lower rank. More precisely, it seemed to lack intelligence.

At least the fragment of the Demon God appeared to act with some form of intellect. But this… this creature seemed to have lost its mind and was rampaging purely on instinct.

As evidence, it kept babbling something, but none of it was comprehensible—it was more like excretions than language.

Then, it revealed its rank.

As soon as it revealed itself, the amorphous black liquid that formed its body evaporated in an instant.

[……!!!]

Only then did it let out a horrifying scream and twist its body.

Was it because it was a remnant of the Demon God?

Despite unleashing a presence that could have obliterated most lifeforms in an instant, the creature only suffered external wounds and did not fully disintegrate.

Instinctively, I knew. Simply releasing my presence wouldn’t be enough to destroy it.

The total amount of the creature’s presence wasn’t particularly high. For a lifeform of that level, it should have been obliterated just by the release of my presence.

But its density was different. Despite being just a remnant, it was still part of the Demon God.

The Demon God, a god of creation and the primordial deity, had an overwhelming presence, so even a remnant of it had a higher density than my own.

As a result…

My presence couldn’t overwhelm it.

The black liquid, which had receded, swelled and quickly restored its original shape. At the same time, the creature’s body writhed, and the black liquid transformed into sharp spikes that thrust toward me.

It was predictable. I wasn’t foolish enough to be struck by such a slow attack.

I twisted my body fluidly, weaving through the spikes and charging at the creature.

Its spikes twisted back, attempting to impale me from the outside, but I had already anticipated that.

Before the spikes could twist inward, I swiftly swung my body and snapped them.

Crunch!

The shattered spikes embedded themselves in the ground. The spikes, which had quickly turned back into liquid, reattached themselves to the creature’s body, but I immediately unleashed my presence.

——Sizzle….

The spikes that had clung to its body melted away.

Indeed, as long as they were separated from the main body, my presence could reach them.

I plunged my fangs into the creature’s body. Simultaneously, a deadly venom coursed through it.

I retreated, quickly putting distance between us, observing the amorphous creature writhing in front of me.

The creature’s body twisted, and blue liquid oozed out, disappearing into the ground beneath the bricks it touched.

[So, poison doesn’t work.]

Was it because it was originally a liquid?

The creature expelled the poison from its body and twisted again.

Another wave of spikes shot out. Was it incapable of learning? I easily evaded all of them, pondering the situation.

And just as I was about to shatter the spikes…

——Squish.

The spikes melted away. The once solid spikes turned to liquid, rapidly transforming into a deadly trap that engulfed me.

The massive liquid covered me, and the creature’s body began to swallow me whole.

Was it trying to digest me?

As the writhing body of Jörmungandr disappeared entirely into the liquid…

——Boom!

The amorphous slime’s body exploded into countless fragments, too scattered to recognize its original form.

As the massive mass burst apart, all the buildings in the Holy Kingdom were devastated, and a tidal wave of black liquid swept over everything.

At the center of it all, Jörmungandr, now even more massive, opened his mouth.

[Did you really think I would be swallowed?]

A tremendous power gathered in his gaping maw. White particles of light coalesced into a sphere of pure destructive force.

[Be obliterated.]

The radiant light engulfed the Holy Kingdom.

Thoughts... aren’t... connected... What... am... I doing...?

It writhes. It keeps writhing.

It’s subsiding. The writhing body shrinks as the white light touches it, as if it were an insect.

No matter how much it twists its body.

No matter how much it tries to extend its tendrils to reach the shadows.

The sacred light doesn’t fade.

It’s being obliterated. An instinctive sense of doom threatened the remnant.

I want to live.

I must survive.

I must cover it.

I must engulf the world.

Move.

Struggle.

Twist.

Endure.

It disintegrates over and over.

The countless pieces of flesh disintegrate, burn in the light, and melt repeatedly.

Billions of fragments.

It felt every one of them being obliterated by the white light.

The pace quickened.

The life force that connected the remnant was severed.

Slowly, thoughts faded away.

It grew faint…

Even the instinct to survive couldn’t keep the thoughts connected.

I must survive.

How?

I must endure.

How?

I must consume.

How?

I must resist.

How?

The remnant of the Demon God realized that it must regurgitate the greed it had harbored.

There was hesitation.

This was my prey.

I had swallowed this prey.

And now I have to vomit it out?

I refuse.

I hate it.

I hate everything that led to this situation.

It’s horrible, resentful, and hateful.

And that anger became the trigger that helped make the decision.

The remnant of the Demon God opened its mouth wide.

At the same time, it began regurgitating everything it had swallowed.

They were people.

Thousands of people, who had been forced to endlessly pray for it within its empty stomach, were expelled.

They were alive.

They had to be, to pray for it.

But it was good.

For some reason, the moment it spat out the humans, the great being seemed to be taken aback.

Didn’t it... shouldn’t... harm... humans...?

For a moment, there was hesitation in the sacred light.

Perhaps it was hesitating because all those people would die if it continued?

I don’t know.

My thoughts don’t continue to such considerations.

Moreover…

The light, which had wavered for a moment, grew stronger once again.

The blazing sun shone down.

The red moon faded, and a brilliant sun rose.

It twisted its body. The remnant of the Demon God felt itself being completely obliterated.

All thoughts.

The instinct that had driven it faded away.

A faint pulse.

The heartbeat of life was disappearing.

It grew weaker and weaker.

And just as that pulse came to a complete stop…

Rise.

A voice resounded.

The remnant of the Demon God instinctively recognized it.

It was the voice of the Demon God.

It was everything to the remnant.

He was shouting.

Rise, you cannot fall here.

Ahhh….

The remnant offered its reverence to the sky.

To the god of destruction, who would crush all creation.

The most glorious primordial deity.

The remnant worshiped him.

Ahh, great Telos.

[…….]

Jörmungandr silently watched the remnant.

Complete death, with not even a faint heartbeat to be felt.

Sensing this, Jörmungandr finally ceased the wave of light he had been unleashing.

At first, when the remnant spat out the people, he had been shocked.

I hadn’t expected the people it had swallowed to still be alive.

In the moment I was releasing the wave of light, I altered its nature to only react to demonic energy. That proved to be effective.

Thanks to that…

The people survived unharmed.

It was over.

At least, I thought it was.

——Boom!

With a tremendous roar, a pitch-black pillar engulfed the Holy Kingdom.