The Nightmare Dragon’s abdomen split more than half way open, and through the crevice, a fierce coldness rushed in.

The dragon’s body froze solid and helplessly plummeted into the sea of ice.

Alice’s body suffered the same fate. The unique skill of the Frostscythe, [Absolute Zero], wasn’t constrained by space.

A powerful chill had seeped through the cuts in her body.

Alice’s body quickly froze over. It happened in the blink of an eye.

The crimson wings extending from her neck scattered, and the grotesque arms behind her back turned into ashen dust and scattered in the wind.

The marks on her neck and face gradually faded.

Mephisto, no longer able to wield Alice’s mana, began to fall.

Thud.

Isaac swiftly flew to catch Alice, like a princess.

The power and fragments of Mephisto’s personality turned into ashen dust and vanished, as Alice’s body, having suffered a mortal wound, was entirely frozen, her bodily functions completely halted. She was practically like a frozen human.

The last thing Mephisto could do was to create a grotesque eye and mouth around Alice’s eye that had mana.

Now, that demon could no longer exert any power.

Mephisto looked at Isaac with an eye created by mana. The eye held a chillingly cold gaze that seemed to freeze even the heart.

Mephisto let out a hollow laugh.

[It’s a pity…. I couldn’t defeat you with the body of the Queen of Hearts…]

As Mephisto’s mana waned, the demon minions could not exert their full strength. This led to the dominance of the disaster-level ice beasts and the Düpfendorf army.

The shouts of Düpfendorf grew louder. Eventually, Freya the Dark-Winged, having sustained a fatal injury, plummeted into the ice sea, and Hamon the Gluttonous collapsed. They all turned into ashen dust and disappeared.

The war would soon be over.

…It seemed so at that moment.

[But you know… this isn’t the only trick I have up my sleeve.]

Mephisto chuckled with the last mouth it had left.

[Oh Nameless Hero, please listen to this story…]

Whooooooo!!!

Suddenly, an immense dark mana filled the space above Isaac’s head. The color was pitch black.

Isaac squinted and lifted his head.

Paaaaaat!

The dark mana swelled and quickly spread in all directions, driving away the White Night.

Isaac swiped away the level-up system window that appeared before him and quietly observed the dark mana filling the sky.

Despite the Düpfendorf army having wiped out the demon army, they didn’t shout but instead looked up at the sky in silence. Tension rippled through the sea of ice.

[Among the humans who made a contract with me, there was a foolish woman who desired to become the most beautiful in the entire world…]

Mephisto licked her lips.

Through our contract, the woman gained exceptional beauty, became famous, and won the heart of the emperor. She later became the empress.

Only Isaac illuminated the pitch black sky. was the only one shining in the pitch-black sky.

It was a radiance of sheer solitude.

Mephisto continued in a hoarse voice.

[Then, the mirror answered. It said that Princess Snow White was prettier than her… she was her daughter. Angered by its response, the woman sought to kill her daughter, simply because she was prettier… But after repeatedly failing in her assassination attempts, she came back to me. Her heart, already stained with anger, resentment, and inferiority, wished for her daughter’s eternal misery…]

Dorothy, who defeated the Phantom Cat Cheshire, Kaya, who defeated the Tiger Dragon Bandersnatch, Luce riding the Thunderbird, and many others at Märchen Academy, all looked up at the sky.

A profound sense of dread washed over them.

“Isaac!!”

“Isaac…!”

“Sir Isaac!!”

Their instincts warned them of the impending danger.

No matter how capable Isaac was, in the face of such a force, his survival couldn’t be guaranteed.

Dorothy, who was in the sky, flew toward Isaac. Luce, riding the Thunderbird, and Kaya left the protective barrier deployed over the island and flew towards Isaac as well.

It was a reflexive behavior. Their instincts screamed that they must quickly grab Isaac and flee.

“Kugh!”

“Ugh!!”

They were forced to stop and hold on as the pitch-black sky unleashed an astronomical amount of mana like a storm.

That was just from releasing mana.

[Lastly, I gave the woman a clock. This clock contained a terrifying demon capable of subjecting Snow White to a fate worse than death. Sealed within it… was a demon endowed with the power to live forever in a bottomless prison… The woman was really pleased. To think her daughter would remain in eternal agony. Haha… Thinking about it again, it was truly a delightful reaction. I gave it to her thinking she could leisurely release the creature before the resurrection of Lord Nephid, as she was a human who had pleased me…]

The pocket watch that Mephisto gave to the Empress.

It was the platinum watch that Snow White had treasured as a gift from her mother.

[But I didn’t expect someone like you to appear. So I decided to release it earlier than planned… It took some time to loosen the reins because that creature was something even I couldn't control…]

Joy sparked in Mephisto’s eyes.

[As soon as it’s released, it will devour Snow White. It will devour other humans too, and finally, you, who will fall into despair…! It’s too late to stop it now. Hehe, what a delightful turn of events…!]

Mephisto grinned with the last mouth it had left.

Farewell, Oh Nameless Hero… May you have a pleasant journey… in the eternal prison…

Isaac lowered his head and looked at Mephisto again.

Caught up in her own story, Mephisto saw Isaac’s expression and widened her remaining eye. Mephisto’s fading mouth couldn’t continue speaking.

On Isaac’s face looking back at it… there was, somehow, a faint smile.

Whooooo!!

The pitch-black sky spread a biting wind filled with dark mana.

Dorothy deployed a powerful starlight protective shield, Luce, along with the Thunderbird, created a highly condensed [Thunder God’s Barrier], and Kaya used the power of blood and plants to form the [Blood Tree] to protect those around her.

However, the biting wind of darkness effortlessly penetrated even those defenses, leaving numerous cuts on their bodies.

The island was precariously protected by Isaac’s frost barrier.

Isaac, who was closest to the pitch-black sky, endured the powerful cold with the increased [Wind Elemental Resistance] from his bracelet, maintaining his position.

The elemental bracelet had been set that way from the beginning, because Isaac didn’t know when “that demon” Mephisto mentioned would emerge.

Isaac had anticipated this situation.

“Didn’t I tell you?”

Isaac’s voice was as cold as frost.

“That I would find you and kill you.”

[You can’t be serious…?]

Even feeling this transcendental mana… you’re saying you’ll defeat the “Abyss”?

“Wait for it.”

Isaac looked into Mephist’s eyes with murderous intent.

“I’ll kill that bastard first, then I’m coming for you.”

Whaaaaack!!!

From the pocket of Isaac’s robe, a thick dark mana seeped out. Many eyes flashed as the pitch-black mana carved into the air, targeting the bodies of Isaac and Alice.

Why was the “Abyss”, which was supposed to emerge by devouring Snow White, springing out from Isaac? Mephisto felt tremendous confusion.

[Why do you have that clock…?]

As if he knew all along what would happen, Isaac had the clock containing the Abyss that was meant for Snow White.

Amidst the intense torrent of questions, Mephisto’s last remaining eye and mouth could no longer endure and completely disintegrated into ashen dust.

Only Alice, whose body was frozen, remained in Isaac’s arms.

Isaac tightly embraced Alice with one hand and with the other, he pulled out the pocket watch. It was Snow White’s watch. Once platinum, it had now turned black.

The watch, which had sealed the demon known as the Abyss, was the leash. Finally, that leash had been set free, and the creature had regained its freedom.

Isaac released the watch. Emitting a stream of dark mana, it floated up into the sky.

Eventually, the pitch-black sky opened wide like a gaping maw.

[Om the Eternal] Lv: ■■■ Race: De■ Elements: Darkness, Wind, Eternity Danger: Ext■ Psychology: [■]

The demon “Om the Eternal”, commonly known as the “Abyss”.

One of the highest-ranking demons. It was an enemy that should not have appeared yet.

Isaac recalled his memories.

White’s clock was already preparing to release the Abyss.

As Mephisto himself had said, it was because of the Nameless Hero.

Upon hearing that the Floating Island had died, Mephisto began to release the seal of the Abyss prematurely to keep the Nameless Hero, Isaac, in check.

Isaac had been regularly checking the clock as the seal was being released. He judged that it was about time for the Abyss to emerge.

The timing was perfect. Mephisto had probably planned for the decisive battle today.

Seeing Mephisto’s reaction, Isaac was completely sure that the Abyss would burst out today.

Isaac looked at the pitch-black sky, at the Abyss. His eyes were filled with a fighting spirit.

The Abyss, a pitch-black entity, was excited to face Isaac, a delectable prey and a formidable adversary. That emotion was conveyed to Isaac.

Isaac spoke calmly.

“Alright let’s fight.”

「Act 9, Alice Subjugation」.

Let the final battle begin.

Guuuuuu!!

Crack!

The Abyss, Om the Eternal, engulfed Isaac and Alice.

A deep shadow fell on the faces of Dorothy, Luce, and Kaya as they flew toward them.

In an instant, the enormous mana surrounding Isaac disappeared as if it were a lie.