"After that, I spent a lot of time refining it—and finally completed the final version!"

  "Now the Calamity Beasts are far more powerful, retain more sanity, and obey my orders absolutely as their master!"

  As if responding to Merkphis’s words, the Rank S Calamity Beasts all roared toward the sky in unison.

  "Once everything was ready,"

  Merkphis continued,

  "I deliberately cut off a small piece from the main body parasitic in my heart, letting it become an independent entity. Then I sent it to the East, pretending to be the culprit behind everything......"

  "Oh my! Just as I expected, everyone let their guard down! What made me even happier was that because of that incident, Lady Terra decided to pay more attention to this world. She left the town and even entrusted that magic tool to me~!"

  "You despicable bastard...... Do you know how many innocent lives you’ve killed so far!? "

  "Heh~!"

  Merkphis smiled indifferently.

  "What does it matter if all these worthless lives die? No—wait...... Being able to die for my cause of becoming a god is their great honor~!"

  "You——"

  "Hehe, do you still have the time to care about those meaningless beings? You can barely protect yourselves, can’t you?"

  Merkphis shot them a mocking look.

  "Just stay there and watch—the moment I become a god! Ah...... Of course, it’s very likely you’ll die before that~."

  Merkphis’s body slowly floated into the air.

  "Time’s up. World Tree, stop struggling and surrender your power——!"

  Hum——!!!

  The red glow emanating from the sacrificial ritual circle covering the land reached its peak at that moment.

  Waves of indescribable, immense power surged toward Merkphis’s body.

  "Power...... What wonderful power~! This is the power of a god! Hahaha——!!! I, Merkphis, shall become the god of the new world——!!!"

  Up on the World Tree,

  "Ah——!!!"

  Semiris wore an expression of extreme pain. Her Fairy Essence bore the cost of usurping divine power, and cracks began to spread across it......

  Crack, crack......

  More and more withered branches and leaves fell from the World Tree. Its withering accelerated rapidly.

  Everything seemed to be reaching a point of no return......

  But the Seven Sages refused to give up.

  Even if they died here, they would stop Merkphis’s plot and save Semiris.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  At that moment,

  Winnie’s attack—infused with an unintended power—struck one of the tentacles.

  The once extremely resilient tentacle, as if encountering a force of equal magnitude, was greatly weakened, then completely destroyed by the aftershocks of other attacks.

  Watching this, Winnie immediately realized something.

  She delved deep into her consciousness, summoning a certain power.

  Then, a precious orb slowly rose above her head, transforming into a transparent barrier that enveloped her. The surrounding tentacles were directly blocked by this barrier, unable to penetrate it.

  "Everyone——! Come to me!"

  Winnie shouted loudly.

  She then darted across the ground, rescuing the other members of the Seven Sages one by one.

  In the end, all seven of them were inside the barrier formed by the Immortal Spirit Orb.

  "Winnie, you saved us!"

  "I never thought the Immortal Spirit Orb had such a use."

  "Everyone, now is not the time for this,"

  Winnie said quickly.

  "I will distribute the Immortal Spirit Orb’s power to all of you. No matter what, we must save Semiris!"

  "Right!"

  "Of course!"

  "No need to say it!"

  "Let’s go——!!!"

  Hum——!

  The power of the Immortal Spirit Orb split into seven, surrounding each member of the Seven Sages.

  The pitch-black tentacles could no longer hinder them.

  "Merkphis——!!!"

  "Hmm?"

  Feeling the rapidly approaching aura, Merkphis—who was savoring his constantly growing power—glanced downward.

  He snorted coldly:

  "Persistent nuisances......"

  "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar......"

  Under his control, countless Calamity Beasts charged madly at the seven.

  "I’ll clear the way."

  Ogrum said in a deep voice, rushing to the front of the group before transforming into his true form.

  Boom!

  A Mountain Giant the size of a mountain appeared out of thin air on the earth.

  The impact of its appearance alone triggered a violent earthquake.

  Then, the Mountain Giant bent down, tensed his legs slightly, and charged forward fiercely.

  Thump! Thump! Thump......

  Everything in his path was sent flying by the charging mountain.

  "Roar!"

  It wasn’t until a Rank S Calamity Beast slammed into his right foot, slowing him down slightly, that countless black tentacles erupted from the ground, wrapping around his legs.

  After that, countless Calamity Beasts swarmed the Mountain Giant like ants, frantically smashing the rocks on his body.

  "Next, I’ll take over!"

  Scherfil took over, rushing to the front.

  Whoosh!

  With a wave of his hand, dense pitch-black slash lines filled the air.

  Whether in the sky or on the ground, the Calamity Beasts were torn to pieces as the slash lines swept past.

  Countless fragments fell to the earth like rain.

  "Roar!"

  A Rank S Calamity Beast flying in the sky flapped its wings vigorously, summoning a black storm that collided violently with the dense slash lines.

  "My turn! Roar——!!!"

  Galamand transformed into a giant dragon and flew to the front.

  His breath swept across the land, leaving a river of molten lava in its wake.

  Hum!

  A huge magic circle unfolded above the dragon.

  A burning meteor fell from the circle, crashing toward the direction they were advancing.

  Boom——!!!

  It was as if the sun had risen on the earth. The massive flame instantly engulfed countless Calamity Beasts.

  Thump!

  A huge Rank S Calamity Beast covered in thick armor blocked the way.

  "Roar——!"

  The dragon roared and charged directly at it, engaging in battle.

  Taking this opportunity, the remaining four rushed past the obstacle, advancing toward the not-so-distant Merkphis.

  "Hmph!"

  Merkphis snorted coldly.

  "Futile resistance! Stop them!"

  "Roar!" "Roar!" "Roar......"

  All remaining Rank S Calamity Beasts and most Rank A Calamity Beasts blocked the four’s path, forming an impenetrable wall in the sky and on the ground.

  "Allow me to go first!"

  Aurora flew toward the wall of Calamity Beasts, condensing an extremely bright light particle between her hands.

  "Origin Burst!"

  The seemingly insignificant light particle sank deep into the horde of Calamity Beasts, then erupted in an extremely brilliant glow. The Calamity Beasts touched by the light evaporated into nothingness like snowflakes.

  A huge gap appeared in the wall of Calamity Beasts after this attack.

  "Next, me!"

  Sylph rushed into the gap, raising her hands high above her head.

  A storm orb compressed to the limit—its color turning black—condensed above her.

  "Get out of my way——!!!"

  The terrifyingly powerful black storm orb flew toward the Calamity Beasts ahead.

  "Destruction Wave!"

  Boom——!

  In an instant, the extreme destructive storm unleashed by the storm orb turned all affected Calamity Beasts into dust, vanishing without a trace.

  "Winnie! Avery!"

  After unleashing her ultimate attack, Sylph shouted.

  "Go——!!!"

  Splash!

  Winnie rushed ahead of Avery.

  "Avery, I’ll clear the final path for you!"