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"O Great Will…"
"Why, why is this happening?!"
Wailing in despair, the priests of the Church collapsed one by one in futile death.
But no salvation or response came for them from anywhere.
"Ah, aah…"
Meaningless.
What is a death devoid of all value and purpose?
Amos Aster saw it clearly now.
"..."
His eyes turned to the figure standing atop a mountain of corpses.
At a glance, it looked human.
But by now, it was all too evident that it was anything but.
CRACK!
The Immortal crushed the head of a twitching priest underfoot without hesitation.
It didn't seem done out of malice—more like irritation at something that got caught underfoot.
The being's gaze, so detached from the concept of life, now fell upon Amos Aster.
"…The Immortal Apostle."
One of the most powerful among the many Apostles sent to this world by the Great Will.
How could such a being now bare its fangs against fellow believers of the same Will?
"Blasphemy... pure blasphemy…"
Three Blessings simultaneously surged from Amos Aster's hands.
But alas, none of them had any effect.
Immortal.
As if proving the meaning of the word itself, the Immortal stood untouched amidst the overwhelming barrage from Gaishara.
To continue fighting now would only mean needless losses.
That's what it meant to face a being that could not die.
"..."
Amos Aster looked beyond the Immortal.
There had to be a reason for this sudden, unprovoked attack on the Church.
"To move an Apostle…"
Not even the Church, which worshipped the Great Will, could willfully move an Apostle.
Yet here the Immortal Apostle stood—blocking their path as if under someone else's will.
"This too… must be a revelation from the Great Will."
Nodding solemnly, Amos Aster offered a brief prayer.
The Great Will spoke no words.
But the next step was clear.
"We retreat."
"What? But if we fall back now, the Apostle—"
"We must accept some losses. This too is the plans of the Great Will."
The assistant bishop still looked confused—but only that.
Lesser beings were never meant to comprehend the Will of the Divine.
"We return."
Amos Aster turned away.
Even as the priests' screams echoed in his ears, he did not falter.
All of it was the Will of the Great.
* * *
Could a spear that could pierce anything truly exist?
As if answering that very question, the Judgment of Ankelenth plunged mercilessly into the Bone Lord's heart.
Fsshh...
There was no sound of bone meeting bone.
Only the faint sound of dust scattering—and everything before me dissolved into it.
Shhh!
The Bone Lord's tendrils lashed in from every direction to protect its heart.
But Janus, guarding my rear, did not stand idle.
[Gigit───!]
Janus unleashed its long-hidden savagery, intercepting the encroaching tendrils.
So greatly had Janus evolved in strength that even the Bone Lord, fighting for its life, could not overpower it now.
FSSHHH!──
The Bone Lord's massive heart, struck by the Judgment of Ankelenth, began to dissolve.
[GROOOOOOOOO!────]
The Bone Lord thrashed violently, trying to stop me—but it was in vain.
The Turncoat King and others pressed in from outside, while Janus blocked it from within.
FSSHH...
Even a monster comparable in size to a colossal beast—its heart now crumbled into dust.
The Bone Lord's flailing grew more desperate, but with its heart exposed, there was little it could do.
"Let's end this."
The Judgment of Ankelenth drove deeper into its heart.
Dissolving, breaking apart again and again.
The bone dust of what was once the Bone Lord drifted and was devoured by Janus.
[Gigitgigit!]
Janus devoured the fragments of the Bone Lord's heart voraciously.
Feeding, feeding, and feeding again.
And now, nothing remained that could be called the Bone Lord's heart.
[Grrrooooooo...]
Even heartless, the Bone Lord did not cease its rampage.
Of course, a being like the Bone Lord wouldn't die just from a destroyed heart.
Still, for a swarm-based entity like the Bone Lord, the loss of its core organ was not insignificant.
And that fact was becoming vividly clear before our eyes.
[GRRK, GRRRK──!]
The Bone Lord's tendrils, once unified, now writhed out of control.
A natural result of having consumed and carried too much.
Its main body had held it together—but with its heart gone, control was lost.
CRACK, CRAACKLE...
CRACKLECRACKLE!
The Bone Lord went berserk.
Just like the Turncoat King had before his death, it now abandoned even its survival instinct—the strongest drive of any living creature.
["We have to get out! It's dangerous to stay inside!"]
And of course, the greatest threat now lay where I stood—inside the Bone Lord.
To the Bone Lord, I was the most dangerous and unwanted presence.
But there was no need for concern.
When it came to escape, I had mobility unmatched by any other.
[Activating 'Rift Shift'.]
Through the dimensional rift, my body exited the Bone Lord's interior instantly.
The outside world revealed itself—and Esther gasped.
["What is this…"]
Bone. Bone. More bone.
Everywhere the eye could see, bone tendrils had gone wild, rampaging across the Bone Lord's domain and turning the world into a field of bone.
["So, this is how it ends—so disgraceful."]
The Turncoat King appeared beside me, eyes bitter as he looked on.
["Perhaps this too is the ending we deserve."]
But there was no time to mourn a fallen rival.
Even now, uncontrolled fragments of the Bone Lord were spreading across its entire domain, becoming walking disasters.
Hmph...
I watched like an observer—but I couldn't ignore it.
The Bone Lord's rampage—
It was proof that unrestrained power was the most dangerous.
Its fragments, untethered from control, burned through their own life force to destroy and consume everything around them.
We can't let this go on.
If this rampage continued, it wouldn't just endanger the Turncoats.
It would also mean that Janus and the others might lose the energy they should have absorbed from the Bone Lord.
We needed to subdue it—quickly—while the essence of the Bone Lord remained intact.
'And worse still...'
There was a real risk that some fragments might escape beyond the domain entirely.
Most would self-destruct—but a rare few might survive.
They might no longer be called the Bone Lord—but they would remain dangerous variables.
'In that case...'
Inside the [Rift Space], I retrieved the Zeus-444 Railgun and readied it.
[Lv.5]
Loaded with a 120mm High-Caliber Special Alloy Shell.
The most reliable and powerful kinetic option for a situation like this.
Tsst, Tsstsstsst...!
SHEE-SHEE-SHIK!
With each pull of the trigger, blinding flashes shot out, intercepting the rampaging bone tendrils.
The Turncoats too sprang into action—working to suppress and consume the rogue bone tendrils.
"Just drop dead already!"
The Turncoat Rook roared, hurling bone tendrils in all directions.
Empowered by this endless battle, he cut through the chaos like a blade.
["Let's end this old grudge."]
"If that's Your Majesty's will—gladly."
The Turncoat King and Queen moved to cleanse the Bone Lord's fragments spreading across its domain.
CRAAAACK!
CRACK!
The entire domain resounded with destruction.
But even as every Turncoat fought at their limit, they couldn't cover the entire expanse.
The Bone Lord's domain was vast.
Its power was immense.
Losing some fragments was now inevitable.
But I wasn't worried.
Even this had been anticipated.
'They're here.'
I saw it—far off in the sky—Horus.
Soon after this battle began, Horus had departed.
And now returned.
He must've delivered the message.
Esther shook her head.
She, who had delivered that message, knew exactly who the recipient was.
["...I thought it was a long shot. But they really came."]
There was a reason Horus had abandoned the field mid-battle.
He had a task.
To bring someone here.
'I don't need to say what to do.'
As if to confirm it, a massive Ether Storm stirred across the entire Bone Lord's domain.
There was no need for explanation.
They knew why they had come.
[Ah, aaah...]
[Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going? Where going?]
[No one… no one leaves──]
[Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go. Don't go.]
[Heehee…]
Only a few in all of Ark could summon such an enormous Ether Storm—even temporarily.
One of them was the shadowy leader of the Ark's underground, a high-level Ether-adapted operative—
Isabelle.
The Young Lady of the White Line had arrived—
To bring an end to this battle.
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