Alright, I got him……not that it was an actual challenge though, I had several opportunities and openings that I could have used, he's just so unskilled that I didn't have to. He may be one of the most powerful beings to ever exist, but……he's no threat to me.

  Fighting him this time was so much easier than the first time, I got used to his already-average movements in no time, having experienced them before. Not to mention that he's slightly weaker this time since I managed to steal his Clone Magic, while I've gotten stronger because of that.

  And so, as I sunk my claws into his neck, it didn't feel like an accomplishment or a victory, it felt more like an inevitability……

  "It's over, Sant A.C. Laus……time to die," I remarked icily, as I drained his life force.

  Huh, usually, this only takes an instant, but he's got several times more life force than anyone I've absorbed from in the past, so it's taking a bit longer. But that said, it shouldn't take more than a handful of seconds.

  Divine life force……it feels amazing, unlike anything I've absorbed before. He had all this immense power and still lost? Talk about pathetic. He'd been so determined to kill me that he didn't even think twice about sacrificing all those under him in the process, and for what?

  You'd think he'd have at least spent some time training or coming up with new attack combos, or……something. But, no, he didn't even have a plan for defeating me, he just assumed that he could, out of nothing but a sense of sheer, baseless arrogance.

  And that arrogance is about to be the death of him, he never even stood a chance against me. From beginning to end, this didn't feel like a fight, not even for a moment. This whole thing has just felt like a waste of time.

  Alright, just a little more and it's over……I could feel it, his life force was almost completely drained, I've almost consumed it all……huh? What the……?

  "Hey, uh……is this supposed to happen?" Inquired Sylvar warily.

  "No……definitely not, something isn't right……," I muttered in response, as Sant's halo began glowing brightly, the light rapidly enveloping his entire body.

  What……what is this? I can't absorb the last drop of his life force, something's getting in my way. It's like when you're drinking a fruit juice with little chunks of fruit through a straw, and a chunk gets stuck in the straw, making it difficult to drink through it anymore.

  This feels like that, but I couldn't dislodge whatever was blocking me. Damn it, what is this!? I was so close too, just a tenth of a second and I'd have been done, Sant would have ceased to exist completely!

  "Y-you fool……," Laughed Sant with a cocky smirk, as he began glowing brighter and brighter, his body starting to fade, "Do not think that you have won just because you have defeated me, you have not won yet, for soon, I will be one with the greatest being to ever exist……the fact that I have failed certainly means that this is the end for me, but I will not die by your hands! Take me, Lord Samsara, I have failed you and am unworthy, but please, use what is left of me and empower yourself! I will not cease to exist……I will live on, inside of Lord Samsara!"

  And with that, he vanished, turning into nothingness as the blinding light faded……

  ———————————————————————————


  Point-of-View: Belia Lasmodeus

  ———————————————————————————


  This is so much fun! Seriously, after like half a year of absolutely nothing happening, it feels so good to be back in action, to be in a real fight again! This is the fucking best!

  Persia shot towards me with a roar, as she fired out a massive swirling fireball, slicing blades of wind wrapped around it as it blazed towards me. I countered it with a wave of Weathering Magic, the mass of flames and wind dissipating before they reached me.

  Huh? Where'd she go?

  I then stiffened and quickly evaded as she slashed at my head from behind……I managed to react in time though, avoiding a serious hit and only taking on a small scratch on my cheek. She used that big flame attack to get herself out of my line of sight and then, while I was busy canceling out her attack, she wasted no time in slipping behind me.

  But, unfortunately for her, she was too sl……suddenly, she twisted her body across like a snapped rubber band, her leg whipping towards me at a blinding speed. I couldn't even get my portal defense up in time, as her foot slammed onto the side of my head and sent my flying across through the air at a breakneck pace.

  I could see her zipping towards me, looking to strike again while my balance was off……well, now, that was not bad at all. I quickly opened a portal behind myself, before emerging several meters away from her, to give myself the chance to regain my bearings.

  Damn, that was some insane flexibility, the momentum through that kick was no joke, she definitely cracked my skull, and the visibility in my right eye was shot too. Had it been even slightly more powerful, I'd have been forced to use Restoration Magic.

  But I can just about manage with a normal healing spell, though just barely. Alright, she's coming this way……aw, man, I'm having so much fun right now, this is seriously the best!

  "Bring it on, time for round tw……!" I began to taunt her, before stiffening as my halo suddenly began glowing brighter, "Huh? The hell is this?"

  What's going on? This feels weird……like my consciousness and body are being separated. My consciousness feels like it's getting cloudier, as if it's starting to fade……and wait, is my remaining Divine Magic starting to drain?

  Seriously, what is this……suddenly, my line of thought was cut off as Persia appeared right in front of me, before grabbing my face and rapidly swooping down towards the ground, slamming me down with immense force, as I felt my skull split open upon impact.

  "If you're powering up, you shouldn't leave yourself wide open," She stated coldly, as she formed a spinning wind blade around her hand.

  Oh, she must have thought that the glowing was me powering up, huh. Well, it's not……in fact, if anything, it feels like I'm getting weaker.

  I don't know why I did what I did next, maybe it was a gut feeling, but before I knew what I was doing, I was using my Observation Magic, which was targeted on the Wind Sage.

  And that's when I saw him, with a bewildered look on his face……I could also hear Sant's voice, screaming hysterically……

  "……just because you have defeated me, you have not won yet, for soon, I will be one with the greatest being in to ever exist……the fact that I have failed certainly means that this is the end for me, but I will not die by your hands! Take me, Lord Samsara, I……!"

  "Oh, shit!" I exclaimed in horror, as I realized what was happening.

  "Wha……!?" Responded Persia, startled by my sudden outburst.

  Shit, shit, shit! This is bad, really fucking bad! Wh-what do I do? No way am I going to die like this……not in such a pitiful manner! Damn it, Samsara……I'm not going to let you do this to me!

  Suddenly, an idea flashed through my head, a rather risky idea……it'll probably work, but……is it really my only option? No, I don't have time to think about it, I'll disappear at this rate!

  From the way my life force feels, there's not enough time to cast it……in which case, I'll just have to do this to buy myself some time!

  "Pardon the intrusion, but I need to borrow your body for a bit," I said to Persia, before grabbing her collar and pulling her close to me, pressing my lips onto hers.

  "Mfphhh!" She responded in surprise, trying to pull away as I used my tongue to force her mouth open……before activating a divine spell as fast as I could.

  To put it simply, I was transferring my consciousness and as much of my remaining Divine Magic into her body, abandoning my own body in the process. Somehow I could tell, that what Samsara was truly after was my body, not my consciousness.

  That body had been constructed entirely using Divine Magic, and a lot of it at that. After all, it was essentially a container for what started out as an obscenely enormous amount of Divine Magic, a normal mortal body wouldn't have been able to handle it.

  Samsara's been extremely low on Divine Magic for the last couple of years, so he must have decided to reintegrate the Divine Magic he used to create my body back into himself. But why now? And from what I saw with my Observation Magic, he did the same to Sant too. Just what the hell is he upto……?

  _____________________________________________

  Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to vote, and feel free to leave a comment, I appreciate any and all feedback and criticism!

  Also, check out my Instagram account @aimdaqs for posts relating to this book.

  Join the Discord server, I plan to tease upcoming chapters and future story arcs here, and you can also discuss or ask me any questions about the story and characters. Use the invite link to join:

  https://discord.gg/sRbx9VbTVP