Embed the Goddess's token in the deepest part of the Holy Kingdom.

This was a direct request from the Goddess herself, and Eliserde believed that this token was the key to resolving everything. It might not be the perfect solution, but it was an essential step toward achieving that perfect resolution.

"This way!" Ellie called out as she ran, answering the Saint's summons.

The massive chamber of the Holy Kingdom. The Saint's divine light illuminated the dark interior, lighting the path ahead.

A deep rumbling echoed through the chamber. Even at this very moment, something unsettling was happening outside. It had only been about 20 seconds, but the waves of energy she felt seemed to overlap dozens of times per second, making her realize there was an immense difference in the passage of time between Jörmungandr and herself.

What she felt as one second might feel like an hour to him.

Moreover, the fact that Jörmungandr was causing such a commotion meant he was undoubtedly engaged in battle.

That made her run even faster, determined not to waste a single second.

The Saint, as if knowing where they needed to go, hastened her pace. With each step she took, a white divine light blossomed beneath her feet, driving away the darkness.

[Groooaaah...]

A monster emerged from the darkness. Its flesh rotting, its jagged teeth hanging in shreds.

It was a ghoul, mindlessly charging forward.

But it wasn’t a significant threat. Before Ellie could even draw the dagger she carried, the ghoul disintegrated upon contact with the Saint’s divine light.

"Run faster!"

"Yes!"

As they drew closer to the center, the surrounding darkness grew thicker.

Even the Saint’s divine light began to wane, so Ellie unleashed the divine power given to her by Jörmungandr.

A soft blue divine light radiated from her hand, pushing back the darkness and repelling the advancing undead.

How long had they been running? In the center of the Holy Kingdom, on a dark altar, a shape emerged that was perfectly suited to the token.

"There it is!" the Saint shouted.

There was no time to hesitate.

Eliserde immediately ran forward, reaching out to embed the token in the altar.

And at that moment...

[Grrrrr...]

A monster hiding in the pitch-black darkness behind the altar revealed itself.

It was a massive, stitched-together lump of flesh, as if it were a patchwork of countless corpses.

The creature extended a huge hand toward her.

If she continued on this path, she would be struck by it.

The moment she realized this...

Boom!

A powerful flash of light blasted the monster's body away.

"Thank you!" Ellie exclaimed as she embedded the pure white token into the altar.

White light erupted from the altar, following the engraved patterns of divine symbols.

A brilliant beam shot up, piercing the sky.

A massive pillar descended.

It was larger than anything Jörmungandr had ever seen, falling towards the Holy Kingdom.

Wrapped in a black, ominous aura, just looking at it made one feel uneasy.

It was so colossal that he initially thought it was a pillar, but it wasn’t.

[It’s a finger.]

It was a finger.

The gigantic column that filled the sky was nothing more than the Demon God’s finger.

It felt as if the laws of physics had been twisted. The sight of a finger that large, falling toward the Holy Kingdom—or rather, the planet—was surreal.

If that was just a finger...

What would happen if the Demon God manifested in full?

Instead of fear, curiosity arose within him.

Just how massive and powerful was this being known as the Demon God?

The questions continued to arise. It wasn’t resignation. It was more like a warrior’s spirit. Even a single finger of that colossal being possessed such overwhelming power. How immense and mighty would the full entity be?

Jörmungandr's body swelled. In an instant, he became enormous, filling the sky as he opened his mouth wide.

What would happen if he swallowed that finger?

Would it rage inside his stomach?

Or would it be digested without resistance?

There was no way to be certain.

He had never swallowed a divine being before.

And this was the Demon God, the mightiest of all gods.

An ominous aura surged from the finger. It was a lethal poison, potent enough to kill any living being.

That’s why he was curious about the taste.

What would the ultimate poison, capable of destroying all life, taste like?

Just as he was about to act...

A brilliant flash of light burst from the underground of the Holy Kingdom.

The beam of light not only enveloped the entire Holy Kingdom, but it also shot towards the sky, striking the Demon God’s emerging form.

Boom!

The light touched the Holy Kingdom, erasing all traces of destruction and restoring everything to its original state.

Even the citizens wrapped in cocoons...

The citizens who had died in the aftermath of the battle with the Demon God’s remnant were revived, their time reversed. It was an awe-inspiring sight.

It was an overwhelming display of divine power.

There was a reason the Goddess, who created the world alongside the Demon God, was revered as the primordial deity.

Her power was so immense that it could even reverse death.

But the power didn’t stop there.

The divine energy that shot towards the sky touched the portal from which the Demon God’s finger was emerging.

With a massive shockwave, the enormous portal began to close rapidly.

The Demon God tried to withdraw his finger, but it was too late.

As the portal shrank, the finger was severed in an instant.

What remained was a severed finger, falling towards the Holy Kingdom.

"Wh-what...?" A citizen who had just regained consciousness looked up in confusion, their mind still reeling.

Gripping their head in a daze, the citizens of the Holy Kingdom were horrified by the shadow that suddenly loomed over them.

Something incomprehensibly vast was plummeting toward them.

If it struck the Holy Kingdom, their fate was all too clear.

"A-ahh..."

"The Goddess has forsaken us..."

The citizens of the Holy Kingdom prayed towards the sky.

Like the final prayers of humanity facing the apocalypse, they knelt reverently, eyes filled not with fear of death but with sorrowful repentance.

It might have seemed sacred at first glance.

But it was also absurd.

The thing they feared so much... it wasn’t going to happen.

[Is it my turn now?]

Everything had fallen into place.

He had battered the remnant enough that the Demon God couldn’t manifest his true form, nor could he gain the time or strength to do so.

And thanks to the token sent by the Goddess, they had severed the finger and restored the ruined Holy Kingdom.

Now it was his turn.

It seemed the Goddess hadn’t worried about the aftermath of that enormous finger falling.

That was natural.

If the massive finger were to fall, the Holy Kingdom would be completely destroyed.

Instead of obliterating the finger with the beam of light, she had closed the portal, allowing the finger to fall.

As if even that finger...

Was planned as part of something larger.

Jörmungandr chuckled.

It didn’t matter whether the Goddess had orchestrated this situation or not.

What mattered to him was...

His greed now desired that finger.

Jörmungandr’s size grew.

Beyond his original limits, his enormous form stretched across the horizon.

A new sun rose.

As divine energy radiated from his gigantic body, it was as if another sun had appeared in the world.

The largest sun, burning away all unholy things, was about to devour it.

[Thank you for the meal.]

And that was the end.

The massive calamity that filled the sky was nothing more than a single bite for the serpent that coiled around the planet, swallowing its tail.

The finger vanished.

He felt it writhing inside him, but it was futile.

Jörmungandr’s body coiled tightly.

In an instant, his stomach, which corresponded to an interdimensional space, expanded into a vast subspace.

An interdimensional space that swallowed everything.

Not even a god’s finger was an exception.

The Demon God’s finger thrashed about.

It unleashed its terrifying aura, transforming into monstrous beings, each capable of destroying the world. But even those creatures were caught in the subspace and their existence was erased.

How much time had passed?

Was it countless eons, or a mere fraction of a second?

Within that time...

The Demon God’s finger had long since been completely obliterated.

Jörmungandr felt a deep sense of satisfaction.

How long had it been since he last felt such fullness? The tangy taste of the demonic energy reminded him of drinking cola.

At the same time...

Jörmungandr felt his body becoming cramped.

As if his body was trapped in a narrow, confined space.

[Shed my skin again, huh?]

Once more...

The giant serpent had grown.