"Crack!"
Thunder shook the air, lightning flashed. The Divine Abomination Suah's arm, braced against the rift, crackled with electric light.
The bolt wasn't enough to injure it, but it did tangibly affect its movement, causing it to stall for an instant.
"Hahahahahaha!"
The three Conquerors roared with laughter, wild and mocking.
Their prey had lost its composure at the most critical moment, baring its soft underbelly, and as hunters, they simply couldn't hold back their laughter.
The joyful hunt was about to begin.
The spear formed of purple flame completed its final materialization at that very moment, and Silas's body had already tensed to its absolute limit.
What was there to wait for?
In the next instant, the three semi transparent angels grabbed hold of Silas's hand together, helping him hurl the burning purple flame spear.
The flame blazed magnificently, flashing by in an instant.
"Hmm!"
The light was so blinding it seemed to darken the sky over the entire sea, leaving only the fire's glow shining bright.
A tremendous explosion followed a moment later.
The Divine Abomination Suah's body was already completely engulfed in deep purple radiance, utterly impossible to make out.
The ball of fire continued expanding, taking on a perfect hemispherical shape, devouring the island even as it radiated blinding light.
The shockwave and howling winds followed close on the heels of the roar.
The ferocious gale swept up everything on the island, blasting through with violent force.
The bowl shaped barrier that had once covered the sky above the island was destroyed with ease, and the pirate ships lingering near the coast were sent flying, skipping across the water's surface like stones skimmed across a pond.
The grand spectacle of the explosion slowly came to an end after little more than ten seconds.
"Splash!"
Out at sea, a great expanse of dazzling, radiant foam suddenly surged up out of the void, and once that foam burst apart, two massive ships had already appeared safely on the water: the Black Emperor of the King of Five Seas, and the Dawn of Queen Mystic.
Bernadette stood at the bow, her chestnut hair somewhat disheveled.
She caught her breath as she looked toward the center of the explosion.
"Sizzle..."
The air itself was burning, sparks scattering through it. The rising heat warped her view, twisting everything she saw out of shape. Black Lake Island...
No, there was no Black Lake Island left. At the center of the explosion, thick smoke billowed and the seawater boiled, vast portions of the island had been destroyed, and where the center of the lake had once been, great masses of red magma now churned and surged upward.
A long dormant volcano had been reawakened by that single strike!
Atop that magma:
The Divine Abomination Suah's body lay coiled there, convulsing.
A massive hollow had been carved into the main trunk of its form, and within it wriggled things beyond description: organs, limbs, plant tubers, an infant's crying face... the lingering aura of destruction still ravaged the wound, ceaselessly decomposing and destroying everything within it.
Most of its filth cursed arms had already vanished, and what little remained had turned scorched and rotten, crumbling at the slightest touch.
The earth shattering strike of the Spear of Destruction had dealt tremendous damage, but unfortunately, it had not been enough to fully take the Divine Abomination Suah's life.
Such tenacious vitality...
Bernadette couldn't help but think.
Wait, where was the Blood Reverend?
The moment it occurred to her, Queen Mystic hurriedly scanned the sea, and fortunately she soon spotted that figure in front of the three masted galleon, the Black King.
Silas's body was in a truly miserable state, looking almost as bad as Suah across from him. His spirituality was nearly drained dry, his body covered in wounds, like a porcelain doll on the verge of shattering apart.
He was still frozen in his throwing stance, and he simply toppled forward like that.
Behind him, the red angelic spirit had already reformed, merging back into a single whole. Medici watched, eyes wide, as the weakened Silas collapsed, his expression unmoved, though something seemed to be stirring deep in his gaze.
But very quickly, a pair of slender, pale hands reached out and caught Silas.
Antia gently held Silas's body upright.
The Sequence 2 angel lifted her eyes toward that crimson spirit, her gaze cold and wary, as though silently demanding: what do you think you're doing?
"Heh heh..."
Medici let out a dry chuckle at once, withdrawing his gaze and swiftly diving back down, obediently returning inside Silas's body.
Thank goodness, he was still alive...
Bernadette let out a breath of relief.
Just then, she suddenly heard a tremendous commotion from the center of the explosion.
It was the Divine Abomination Suah!
Despite suffering such grievous wounds, it could still move!
Under some strange and mighty power she couldn't identify, its terrible injuries had somehow stopped spreading, even allowing it to drag its badly ruined body back up again!
The remaining bloodied eyes of that leader of the Rose School of Thought all turned toward Silas, burning with hatred, fixed on the very culprit who had brought all this about!
Not good!
Just as Bernadette's heart tightened, fearing the Divine Abomination was about to strike back in vengeance, it merely shot Silas one last look, venomous with hatred.
After that, dragging its remaining shattered body, it climbed upward without so much as a backward glance, and departed through the rift.
The damage it had suffered this time was simply too severe. If it lingered any longer, forget about taking its revenge, it might well lose control of itself or even die outright!
"Whoosh"
The sea breeze blew, and as the Divine Abomination Suah departed, the pitch black sky gradually faded in color, returning to its original clear blue.
Black Lake Island was reduced to nothing but a few raised outcroppings, like reefs jutting from the water.
The crater at its very center still continued spewing forth magma, and perhaps in a few more decades, this place would once again become an island.
The Divine Abomination had retreated, the King of Immortality had been defeated, and with that, the battle had truly come to its close.
It was Silas's victory.
At the same time, the pirate ships that had been scattered by the violent gale began to gather back together.
"Captain!"
The sailors aboard Silas's ship cheered, steering the Doe toward Silas's side, though they didn't dare approach too closely, awed by the powerful presence radiating from Antia.
Anderson, too, leapt down from the Black Emperor, the flagship of the King of Five Seas, and gathered together with the sailors, celebrating their victory over yet another terrifying foe.
As for the other pirates, they too gradually gathered around, led by the few remaining pirate generals, their expressions complicated, filled with both awe and wariness.
"Huff, huff..."
Supported by Antia, Silas gradually caught his breath. He first raised a hand to his own men, signaling them to stay calm, then turned toward Queen Mystic Bernadette and the King of Five Seas, Nast.
"Queen, we meet again... and my regards to you as well, my lord Earl."
He nodded toward Bernadette, then turned to look at the King of Five Seas, whom he was meeting for the first time.
"Your actions left quite an impression on me, Blood Reverend."
Nast looked the Black King over from top to bottom.
He seemed to have recognized, from the design of this black three masted galleon, that it was Roselle's flagship, and a hint of some indescribable emotion crept into his eyes as he spoke to Silas.