[Is this a defensive use of Annihilation energy?]

A twisted grin appeared on Asura’s face, which was split in half. He was overwhelmed with a sense of joy that transcended anger and pain.

He was truly happy.

Contrary to his expectations, Grid was unharmed. This taught Asura another way to use the Annihilation energy.

[I won’t be hurt again from now on.]

Asura stroked the wound on his face as if savoring it. Under his careful touch, his split face stuck together again and the scar healed. The purple energy rising from Asura was hardening. It quickly took the form of armor that covered him entirely except for his eyes.

[Shit.]

Braham gritted his teeth. He tried to join as reinforcement and lend his support, but Asura placed an iron wall around him. The spell Braham had hurled at Asura struck the ghost cultivators instead.

Changing the target of a spell that had already been cast was impossible. If anyone saw that, they wouldn’t believe their eyes, but the people present were too great. Asura and Grid’s group took for granted Braham’s miracle, and so did Mumud.

[......]

Mumud’s gaze was serene after Braham rescued him from among the ghost cultivators. The teacher he had been planning to kill one day had changed entirely according to Marie Rose. But could Mumud really trust him?

Mumud stared at Braham, who had appeared out of nowhere.

[Mumud?]

Braham was also surprised to find his former disciple. Mumud’s eyes became sharp. He was wary that Braham planned to sweep his past misdeeds under the rug. This idea was unfounded.

[You are safe...! I’m glad! I’m really glad...!]

Braham’s eyes glazed from the tears that were forming. He was about to cry. Mumud couldn’t have imagined this ever happening in the past. Braham came to his senses after seeing Mumud’s bewildered reaction. He glared at Marie Rose for no reason.

[It’s because of you...! Since you ignored my signal for a while, I am so angry that I am on the verge of tears...!]

The dimension-shifting spell created by Braham had the potential to cross between divine worlds. However, it was a spell with a great effect, so it took a long time to trigger.

Braham was nervous after seeing Grid’s epic being overrun by Asura, so he eventually gave up on his pride and asked Marie Rose for help. He planned to use their shared blood as a medium to speed up the activation of the spell.

However, Marie Rose had been silent for a while. It wasn’t easy for her to accept Braham’s request. This delayed Braham’s arrival. Unfortunately, he arrived at around the same time that Asura equipped his Annihilation energy armor, so Braham was unable to do much.

It was true that Braham was extremely angry with Marie Rose. Of course, this wasn’t enough to bring tears to his eyes. He was shedding tears because he saw that Mumud was safe. Mumud, the student who had met a stupid and greedy teacher and only knew suffering during his life and even after death. He had been reincarnated as an angel, so Braham was worried that Asura had killed him.

[...In any case, I guess you survived thanks to Grid’s help. Mumud, you have been reborn as an angel. In this life, no disease will bother you. I hope you will be healthy and happy for many years to come.]

Braham cast a dimensional-shift spell on Mumud with the coordinates pointing to the Overgeared World.

[Most of all, I am sorry. I will dedicate a part of my life to atone for you. Leave this matter to us and take refuge...]

Braham’s expression stiffened when he noticed that the dimensional-shift spell he wrapped around Mumud was dispersed by Mumud himself.

[Do you think you can force me out of here with a spell with such a long activation time? You must think that I am still just as helpless as I was when we met in Siren.]

[N-No. I’m not disregarding your skills. Uhm... Wait, did you get back all the memories of your past life?]

[Coincidentally, I did,] Mumud answered coldly, waving his hand.

By waving his hand, Mumud finished casting several spells.

He cast a magic acceleration spell, a target-tracking spell, an enhancement spell, a defense-weakening spell, and a concealment spell. Mumud’s magic power had always glowed iridescently because it had so many effects.

[You don’t deserve my forgiveness.]

It wasn’t easy for an Absolute to lie since the manifestation of intent exposed their inner thoughts. Everything Braham said to Mumud, whom he met by chance, was true. His willingness to accept death at this moment also wasn’t a lie. Mumud knew this as well.

The magic spear he fired didn’t hit Braham, but instead grazed Braham's cheek and smashed the head of a ghost cultivator.

[...You seem to be misunderstanding something.]

Mumud created a storm in the area by linking an AOE spell with the spell that exploded as it hit the cultivator. Braham was a bit stunned when Mumud spoke firmly to him.

[Teacher, you shouldn’t be so willing to die. Please live to atone for the rest of your life.]

[Yes... I will.]

This was the greatest forgiveness that Mumud could offer. Braham considered his former student’s position and made a vow. But, first of all, he had to focus on the situation in front of him. Braham fired a purple thunderbolt at the rainbow-colored mana storm sweeping over the ghost cultivators.

Implanting and combining one’s own spell with spells cast by others was also impossible. This time, even Mumud’s eyes widened in surprise.

Marie Rose smiled strangely.

“Aha, so...”

Braham and Mumud’s spells became one. It looked perfect, as if the spell had been completed by one person from the beginning. In addition, it was several times more powerful than it should have been. Not even Absolute-level cultivators could endure the damage inflicted by such a spell. They were torn apart along with their protective shields.

[This...?]

Mumud was unable to close his gaping mouth and his eyes shook. He was slightly dizzy. Just then, he noticed the famous Braham-style enhancement spell. Some of the formulas that it was made of had been chosen to synergize well with Mumud’s, so that their spells would be stronger together...

Braham blushed with embarrassment and explained, [...I thought that if I kept on living, I would be reunited with you someday.]

No matter what Mumud would be reborn as, Braham would definitely find him. Then Braham would accept him as a student again and they would pursue perfect magic together... This was Braham’s desire that he couldn’t confess to anyone. It was a desire he felt after meeting Grid and realizing the importance of relationships.

Mumud’s expression relaxed for the first time. [Is that so...?]

He suddenly felt very motivated. He vowed to defeat the God of Fighting Asura and restore peace to the world for the sake of his teacher’s desire.

But reality was too harsh. Asura, clad in the armor of Annihilation energy, was unbelievably strong. Every time he collided with Grid, a part of Asgard collapsed. It felt like Mumud was witnessing the end of the world.

[I don’t see any opportunity that we can use to intervene,] Braham reluctantly said.

The number of ghost cultivators had been significantly reduced, but Asura, who needed to be defeated, was still alive and well. It was hard to come up with a method to reverse the unfavorable battle.

[Marie Rose, you can do something, right?]

In the end, Braham gave up his pride. He acknowledged that Marie Rose’s skills were better than his own and had high expectations from her. But it wasn’t worth it...

Marie Rose shook her head. "No. In this situation, it is impossible to absorb blood.”

From the very beginning, Asura had been wary of her. Every time he bled after Grid wounded him, he repeatedly burned his blood so that it evaporated. Marie Rose never had any chance to absorb it.

Grid was the same. He didn’t ignore the possibility that Asura had learned Marie Rose’s blood absorption ability and evaporated his own blood every time he bled. This was good decision-making on his part.

“Blood magic doesn’t work. Attempting a physical attack became meaningless the moment he wrapped the Annihilation energy around himself.”

Impossible, impossible, impossible...

Marie Rose also failed to find a way out of this situation. Braham would’ve normally laughed at her, but his expression stiffened.

“However, now things have changed.”

Marie Rose suddenly smiled. The ground made of golden clouds shook loudly. Something soared through the clouds—it was a black spire, the tower built by Eat Spicy Jokbal.

They had finally reached Asgard. Kraugel hurriedly jumped out of the tower and reached out to Marie Rose.

“Marie Rose, my blood.”

Marie Rose didn’t refuse. Her red, plump lips parted and she bit his wrist. Her red eyes seemed to turn black at first glance. She held a sword made of blood-red magic power in both hands and raised it above her head. Muller, the former Sword Saint who arrived at the scene after Kraugel, was impressed.

“What a perfect posture.”

[Space Sword.]

A sword that could cut the world into two was unleashed from Marie Rose’s fingers. This was the ultimate move of the Sword Saint. The weapon was as powerful as the Falling Moon Sword and its range was even greater.

[......!]

Asura was shocked as he was exchanging blows with Grid. He sensed the sword energy flying behind him and tried to leave his position, but Grid grabbed him and refused to let him go.

[Your struggle is useless...!] Asura cried out, but couldn’t complete his sentence.

The Space Sword hit and shattered his armor made of Annihilation energy. The impact was too great. To Asura, It felt like his organs were twisting. He coughed up blood and urgently tried to restore the Annihilation energy. However, there was no response.

The flow of the Annihilation energy was extremely slow after being slashed by the Space Sword. This was the only weakness of the Annihilation energy. It was a resource that consumed as much as its power. Using it defensively and wearing it as armor? The effect was great, but it was hard to maintain it for too long. Even if Asura could maintain it for a long time, it would completely scatter the moment it was destroyed.

Grid had already experienced this. This was why the new armor that Khan and Hexetia had crafted for him was so valuable.

[Dammit...!]

A chill went down Asura’s spine as he belatedly noticed the shortcomings of the Annihilation energy. He quickly tried to find another method, but it was too late.

Grid’s six-fusion sword dance completely slashed Asura, digging in, slashing up, slicing down, and tearing through his insides. It was a good blow.

Braham and Mumud also helped out. The two of them combined their spells to show unprecedented power that significantly reduced Asura’s HP bar.

This was dangerous. Asura, who was isolated in the divine world he had destroyed, had a bad feeling the moment he saw the Tower members, Apostles, and Overgeared members.

The final boss raid was coming to an end.