"The Archangel has fallen!"

"We need to restart the ritual again!"

"Will we make it in time? The Demon Lord will be here any minute now!"

Back in the Archbasilica, the thousand clergymen responsible for summoning and providing energy to the Archangel went into a frenzy. Their connection with the Archangel had been severed by Baishe's fearsome jaws, and their locations were now vulnerable to an attack. Desperate to make a play to save their lives, the members of the Holy Church all talked over each other. To stop the entire congregation from steering off course, the Pope stamped his foot down and roared:

"Quick, restart the ritual!!! We are protected by God! A mere Demon Lord is nothing against the wrath of our Lord and Saviour!"

"T-That's right! Let's not waste any time! Restart the ritual."

A Cardinal stepped in and reinforced the Pope's orders. And with the two highest-ranked officials in the Holy Church laying down the law, every clergyman in the prayer group calmed down and went into their positions.

"We'll need visuals on the Demon Lord. Father Amorth will maintain the barrier and our protection. He can buy us a few crucial minutes. During that time, we must re-summon the Archangel."

"But Your Holiness, the medium we used has been shattered. We don't have time to find a replacement."

A Cardinal's words made the Pope pause for a brief moment. In order to summon an Archangel, one needed the prayers of nine hundred Priests, ninety Bishops and nine Cardinals, all chanting in unison. However, that was just one of the requirements. The following essential prerequisite was to use a suitable catalyst to connect the Faith Dimension with the Archangel.

It could be relics of Saints or ancient artefacts that had been with the Holy Church since its inception.

And of the numerous relics stored within the Archbasilica's vaults, only a handful had the power to withstand the power of an Archangel.

"... Let's use the Holy Cross."

"Your Holiness! If the Holy Cross breaks, we'll lose half of our Holy Power!"

"We don't have time for arguments!" The Pope's face turned red, shutting the Cardinal up with a jolt. "If the Demon Lord destroys the Archbasilica, we'll lose our lives anyway. Besides, we can always regain our lost Holy Power!"

"B-But…"

"I know," the Pope whispered in despondence. "It might take a hundred, no, a thousand years to regain our lost Holy Power, but we have no choice."

"..."

Both sides were right in their choices. The Holy Cross was the emblem, the symbol of the Holy Church. Every human who believed in the Holy Church worshipped the Holy Cross. The Holy Cross absorbed more Faith Energy every second than any other relic or artefact. If the Pope used it to summon an Archangel, they would have enough firepower to end the Demon Lord for good.

However, it was risky to use the Holy Cross. Just like how Baishe was able to destroy their previous medium, there was no telling if the Demon Lord would destroy the Holy Cross similarly. If the Holy Cross was destroyed… The Holy Church would effectively lose half of its power overnight, rendering it incapable of battling against the threats of humanity for centuries to come.

Alas, the Pope was the one who came out on top.

"Let's use the Holy Cross! All of you to your positions! We're going to start the ritual right away!"

"Y-yes!"

Although they were apprehensive about the matter, every one of the clergymen went down on their knees and started praying. At the same time, the Pope raced to the massive golden cross at the centre of the cathedral and channelled his Holy power into it.

The connection was established; the ritual was about to commence.

However, before fully surrendering himself to summoning the Archangel, he asked one final question.

"Has Baishe begun its assault?"

"..."

Silence. The operator who was supposed to give the Pope updates every second remained completely silent as if someone had a death grip over him. A vein popped in the Pope's forehead as he hollered out his question.

"Has Baishe begun its assault?! Don't make me repeat myself!"

"Y-Your Holiness… Baishe is…"

"What is it?!"

"Baishe… Is fighting against the new Vampire Progenitor."

"... It's doing what?"

The Pope couldn't believe his ears. He immediately rushed to the operator and watched the live satellite feed with his own eyes. There, he saw the impossible.

Baishe, the Serpent of the Skies and the menace to humanity, was beaten down by this one Vampire. Compared to its battle against the Archangel, Baishe clearly had a disadvantage. Not only did it have a significant injury to its chest, but the beast couldn't contend with the Progenitor's deadly strikes.

One minute, there would be a meteor falling down from the heavens. The next, a flaming column of light pierced through the Demon Lord's weakened body. Numerous spells fell upon the silver serpent, so much so that the Pope felt bad for the Demon Lord for a moment.

Baishe desperately tried to fight, but it was utterly helpless against the dominance of the Vampire Progenitor. A purple God of War, one that possessed the defences of Eyghon and the martial ability of history's best fighters, completely outmanoeuvred the Demon Lord in its own element.

Was this the same Demon Lord that bodied the Archangel just minutes prior?

The Pope and the witnesses couldn't help but think that way. Baishe was meant to be a dominant force, a freak of nature that couldn't be rag-dolled and bullied. And yet, the Demonic Dragon was nothing more than a lizard before the Vampire Progenitor.

"Y-Your Holiness… What do we do now?"

The Pope watched Jin continue to single-handedly force Baishe into positions the Archangel never could. His face was pale, and unconsciously, he stopped putting on the persona of a religious leader who led a nearly three billion strong faith. Unable to form words, the Pope remained silent as the battle between Jin and the Demon Lord had reached its ultimate conclusion.

111

Surprisingly, the fight with Baishe was easier than the one I had with Cthulhu.

One reason for the ease of battle was Baishe's gaping injury that didn't seem to be healing anytime soon. The fight with the Archangel was helpful for all kinds of reasons. Not only did I learn much about the Holy Church's and the Archangel's capabilities, but Baishe had come out of the battle severely injured.

Weakened and battered, it became easy to overwhelm the Demon Lord with spells and physical damage. Especially when it came to targeting the hole ploughed through its chest. Bit by bit, I poured destructive magic into its vulnerable parts, all while it was busy figuring out my identity.

[Who are you?!]

Baishe's mental transmission reached my mind, prompting me to stop my assault for a fraction of a second. However, that pause was quickly replaced with a new barrage of spells.

Compared to Cthulhu, I didn't want to prolong the battle too long. If Baishe was hell-bent on escaping, keeping the agile yet astoundingly quick Demon Lord in one place would be a hassle. Additionally, compared to the desolate desert or the vacuum of dead space, some human settlements were nearby. If I allowed Baishe to fight back, an untold amount of collateral damage would be inflicted on the population.

They may be loyal to the Holy Church, but that was no reason to let innocent lives come at risk.

Therefore…

"ORA!!! ORA!!! ORA!!! ORA!!! ORA!!! ORA!!!"

The Purple Battle God I'd summoned continued its infinite punching technique, severely damaging the Demon Lord's fractured body. To prevent the Dragon from escaping, I created chains that could bind God himself, forcing the massive Demon Lord to stay in one place. And not to mention, I had slipped particles of destructive energy into Baishe's open wound.

Even if I couldn't kill the Demon Lord with my spells, I could at least destroy it from the inside.

[Bastard!!! BASTARD!!!]

Baishe's agonised voice echoed in my head, and my brain was tickled with an annoying ache. Biologically speaking, a Dragon was at the top of evolution. It had a perfect body, with scales tougher than any defensive fort humans could ever make. It also possessed a serpentine body that could easily escape any tight situation. Its speed and physical strength were also beyond most flying creatures, making it the undisputed King of the Sky.

And adding its innate magical powers that trumped over every single living being… Baishe was a Demon Lord that had never tasted defeat in its life.

Until now that is…

As time passed, my magic slowly corroded and decomposed the Baishe's innards. This time, I didn't have to wait for Baishe's magic power to run out as its body was creeping closer to death by the second. And the Demon Lord knew it best.

But before it could fall into the graveyard, the Demon Lord stopped its frenzied barrage.

[It's you… You're the man the Goddess feared.]

I paused and returned Baishe's fervent gaze. This Demon Lord seemed a little more talkative than its counterpart.

[Again with this prophecy. You and Cthulhu are one and the same.]

[Cthulhu… So you killed that slimy bastard.]

[See for yourself.]

I snapped my fingers and took out one piece of Cthulhu's corpse. Seeing the unmoving tentacle, Baishe's eyes widened briefly before the Demon Lord finally resigned to its fate.

[I see… We were too late.]

[What was your Goddess' vision? Why does she fear me? So much that she'd sent your entire race to invade my planet?]

[What else? She saw a future where all Demons would be your slaves. A future where we won't be able to defy your words, and we grovel at your feet. Why else would the Goddess force us to invade your planet to stop your birth? We did it all… To prevent you from destroying our future.]

[...]

I see… So in the future that the Goddess sees, I became a tyrant and enslaved the Outer Demons. But according to Sora, I was the one prophesied to lead the World Tree into eternity.

So who was the right one?

Ahhh, it didn't matter.

I never cared much for prophecies anyway. Fate and destiny were all irrelevant to me. For I would forge my own path.

[How ludicrous… All those years of planning, all those lives lost and yet… We failed to stop your birth. And now, you're strong enough to kill Demon Lords. Fucking Goddess, she should have taken my advice and eliminated humanity the moment we invaded. If we had killed off humanity, you wouldn't have been born, and my perfect self wouldn't be reduced to this state.]

[...]

In its dying moments, Baishe revealed its true character. A bitter, archaic fossil that never once thought of change. Even after cursing their exalted Goddess a few more times, the Dragon never changed its true nature.

And the mighty Demon Lord's last words were…

[I hope you all die. Goddess, Demon Sovereign… All of you.]

Closing its eyes for the final time, the Serpent of the Skies breathed its last breath as its battle-worn body crashed down from the sky.