Battle! Begin!
The moment Aiden gave the command, Nyarly launched herself at Mundus. Even as only an avatar, her strength could not be underestimated.
Reaching Mundus's face level, she lashed her whip fiercely. Two purple rings instantly appeared, binding the arms of Mundus, who had just forced his upper body through the portal.
These purple rings had no killing power, but they instantly slowed Mundus's movements. Nyarly then flicked her whip again.
Behind her, countless ornate magic arrays appeared, hurling forbidden-level spells at Mundus's upper body as if they cost nothing.
For a moment, at this place where Hell and the human world intersected, violent magic power surged wildly.
At the same time, Aiden had already leapt with his scythe onto Mundus's arm. Thick black gas surrounded his body, protecting him from the erosion of magma and blazing fire.
Then, stepping on the jagged rocks protruding from Mundus's arm, he rushed along the arm toward Mundus's head.
Of course, Mundus's body not only had magma and fire, but also disgusting tentacles. From time to time, grotesque arms stretched out from the flowing magma to obstruct his advance. But Aiden cut them down like weeds with the scythe in his hands.
Because Mundus's two arms had already been bound and restrained, his movements were incomparably slow.
Even if he wanted to swat Aiden, who was charging upward along his arm, he was always a beat too late.
In the blink of an eye, Aiden had already reached Mundus's shoulder. Looking up at Mundus's gigantic head, he saw it was already riddled with wounds.
Besides being torn beyond recognition by Dante with the Rebellion sword, it had also been blasted with magic from Trish and Nyarly, leaving it full of craters and scars. From afar, it looked like a pockmarked face ruined by disfigurement.
Seeing this, Aiden began to move as well, swinging his scythe to unleash waves of black light. His power gave this black light the attribute of cutting, and instantly it carved a deep wound into Mundus's neck, which was dozens of meters thick in diameter.
At the same time, two pitch-black giant hands appeared behind Aiden.
Without him even needing to command them, under his control the two hands pressed back-to-back and thrust into the wound he had just cut open. Then, with a violent pull to both sides, the wound was torn open even wider.
Roar!
Demons also possess pain. Mundus perhaps now had little conscious will left, but pain still made him roar out.
He raised one hand, wanting to press against the wound. But he forgot that Aiden wasn't the only one attacking him up close.
Demonized Dante, after unleashing a dazzling combo across Mundus's face, also leapt onto Mundus's other shoulder.
He drove the Rebellion sword into the other side of Mundus's neck, and stepping on the protruding rocks along the neck, began to sprint quickly.
Stab! Stab! Stab!
The sound of the greatsword cutting through stone rang out. When Dante finally stopped, there was already a wound several dozen meters long across Mundus's neck, and it connected seamlessly with the wound Aiden had made.
The gigantic wound looked shocking. And under the influence of a strange power, there was no sign at all of it healing.
The mindless Mundus roared and bellowed again. He abandoned the magic he was best at, and instead wildly slapped all around with his two hands.
At this moment, the two pitch-black giant hands flew behind Nyarly, transforming into two pairs of black wings that attached to her body.
"Here comes the finishing move!"
"Final, Oblivion, Collapse of the Dimensional Wall… enter the black hole, you ugly monster that dared oppose my lord!"
The extremely chuuni skill name shouted from Nyarly's lips, yet paired with her childish voice, it felt as if that was exactly the right way it should be called.
Then, in front of her, a beam of light condensed, so dazzling and ornate that no words could describe it. Pushed forward by her two hands, the beam shot straight toward Mundus's chest.
When the beam struck Mundus's chest, there was no explosion, no blinding flash. Aiden and Dante, standing on Mundus's shoulders, only saw Mundus's chest collapse and cave inward at a speed visible to the naked eye, with enormous gravity sucking in all the shattered fragments of his body.
Seeing this, Aiden and Dante immediately leapt down from Mundus's shoulders.
However, while Dante landed safely on the ground, Aiden was caught mid-fall by one of the black giant hands that reformed.
Standing atop the pitch-black giant hand, Aiden turned to look back. He saw that aside from his head, almost nothing of Mundus's upper body remained, just a shoulder left to support the head.
But perhaps the head itself was Mundus's true body. Under the threat of death, Mundus's consciousness actually showed signs of returning. The three eyes atop his head changed from murky to gleaming bright.
"I will come back again."
The angry roar came from the mouth on the head without a body. Mundus's head turned and flew toward the portal. As long as his soul was not annihilated, he had the chance to resurrect.
"Trying to run? Not that easy."
Just as Mundus's head was about to touch the portal, a tender shout rang out. Nyarly suddenly lashed her whip at Mundus's head. The whip stretched infinitely, tightly binding his head.
"Come back, ugly monster. Offer your life for my lord's victory. This is your fortune."
The chuuni line came out of Nyarly's mouth as she fiercely yanked on the whip, actually dragging Mundus's head back by force.
But demons are the greatest experts at manipulating souls, not only human souls, but their own as well. Seeing himself being pulled farther and farther from the portal, Mundus chose to abandon his physical form.
Obscure, incomprehensible incantations spilled from his mouth. Immediately after, a gray mist surged out from his head and in an instant passed through the Gate of Hell.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it… Nyarly finally came all this way, only for the enemy to escape. How can my lord still trust me after this!"
Nyarly angrily tossed her whip aside and stomped her feet in the void, shouting in frustration.
On the ground, Aiden's attention was on the fallen head. This head belonging to Mundus, after losing its soul, actually turned into a chunk of stone. But soon, the stone cracked apart, and a male body was revealed.
"Mundus's human incarnation?"
Looking at the male body, Aiden thought for a moment, then raised his scythe, ready to destroy this soulless vessel.
But just as he was about to swing the scythe down, above his head, two colossal figures appeared.
The Chaos God Aesir, and the fusion of Light and Darkness… Omne.
While Aiden and the others were fighting Mundus, above them the black-and-white witches and Balder were locked in equally fierce combat with that blue being, the Evil Thought Body of the Chaos God, Loptr
However, because events hadn't gone according to the flow of the original plot, Loptr, hidden in the shadows, captured the fleeing Loki on the holy mountain and directly absorbed the Monarch Power of the Chaos God that resided in him.
At first, before fully merging with the Monarch Power, Loptr could only fight the combined forces of the black-and-white witches and the sage to a draw. But as that Chaos God's power was completely absorbed, the three of them were no longer his match.
However, in this universe, besides the Lord God of Chaos who created everything, and the two supreme Lords of Light and Darkness, there was also another deity born from light and darkness, the legendary all-knowing, all-powerful Goddess Omne.
When they saw Loptr reveal the majestic form of Chaos God Aesir, Bayonetta and Balder, father and daughter, displayed astonishing tacit understanding.
Using the power of light and darkness, they summoned the hidden Goddess Omne from the void.
Two towering figures now faced each other at this intersection. This place, not belonging to Heaven, the human world, or Hell, became chaos itself.
Countless twisted vortices appeared all around, and looking closely one could see behind those vortices, world after world.
"Aiden, this trip was worth it. I'd be happy even if I didn't get paid."
Dante released his demon form. Looking into one of the vortices, he faintly saw that inside was another half-demon exactly the same as himself.
He exclaimed again in wonder, "So parallel worlds really do exist!"
Hearing his voice, Aiden and Trish lowered their heads for a moment to glance into the vortices. Trish saw herself in those worlds. But Aiden saw nothing, only the vortices themselves. In his eyes, there was nothing inside.
But he didn't have time to think about it now. He turned back toward the sky and asked Nyarly, floating at his side, "Against that big guy glowing blue all over, how much chance do you have?"
"Ten out of ten!" Nyarly answered without hesitation.
Aiden gave her a surprised glance, then heard her continue, "Provided that my true body comes."
"…." Aiden was speechless for a moment, then sighed, "Let's just hope that goddess can beat him!"
"She definitely can. That glowing blue guy is nothing but outward bluffing." Nyarly curled her lip disdainfully.
"If my lord's power were a little stronger, and I could use a bit more of my strength, I could beat that guy myself."
'… So it's my fault, huh!'
While Aiden was talking with the succubus, the two towering gods finally ended their standoff, they struck at the same time.
No flashy divine arts, no resplendent sacred tools. The two strongest beings in this universe simply swung their fists at each other.
But in those simple motions were contained their fundamental powers, silent, without a sound, yet enough to destroy heaven and earth.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The two gods exchanged three blows, and the entire interstice of worlds shook violently.
But Aesir's power was not complete. Though Loptr absorbed the Monarch Power from Loki, he had not gained Chaos God Aesir's most terrifying force of Oblivion.
So when the Goddess of Light and Darkness, Omne, swung her fist the fourth time, Loptr could no longer endure. His body was blasted away, leaving only his eerie blue soul.
"No!"
Loptr's soul reached toward his body. But at this moment, Jeanne and Bayonetta summoned Madame Butterfly and Queen Sheba from Hell.
These two high-ranking demons, seeing the body infused with Chaos power, exchanged a gleam of joy in their eyes. Without even needing words, they each devoured half of the body.
Loptr watched as his body was swallowed, his heart filled with rage. But in soul form, he was countless times weaker than before.
"I am Aesir's Evil Thought Incarnation. As long as this world still has good and evil, I will never truly die. Just wait, I will start again, and I will make you all bow before me."
After spitting this curse of hatred, Loptr used the last of his Monarch Power in soul form to open a portal. He intended to cross over and begin anew.
But just as he was about to step into the portal, Balder flashed in front of the entrance, intending to use his own body to seal Loptr's soul.
However, Loptr, though much weaker than before, was still the Chaos God's Evil Thought Body. His soul clashed violently with Balder's inside his body. Everyone around could see a blue soul trying to escape from Balder's grasp.
Seeing this, Bayonetta and Jeanne instantly understood why the Balder they had met before had acted that way.
But now, Bayonetta was far more worried about her father. Yet at this moment, she was powerless.
"Cereza, my daughter, if I stray from the right path, only you can kill me!"
At this moment, Balder spoke with the last trace of his reason.
He remembered what Aiden had told him before, and realized that the Balder who had been killed on Vigrid's Sun Island was himself under Loptr's control.
Balder closed his eyes, thinking, 'What a pity! I still haven't seen Bayonetta marry and have children. But, at least he isn't a bad man… Ah, Aiden, my son-in-law, I hope you'll take good care of her… Rosa, our child…'
But just as he was thinking this, Aiden's voice rang in his ear.
"Father-in-law, hang on!"
That shout pulled Balder's thoughts back to reality. He struggled to maintain his consciousness, opening his eyes to look at Aiden, supported by two black giant hands. He was about to ask when suddenly Nyarly lashed her whip and drew Balder's soul out of his body.
With Balder's soul gone, Loptr completely seized control of his body, and then leapt straight into the portal, the timeline of history in that instant closed its loop. But Balder had survived.
"Father!"
Seeing Balder's soul remain behind, Bayonetta's eyes grew moist. This might have been the first time since growing up that she truly wanted to cry.
Never having truly enjoyed a father's love, she rushed to him. But in soul form, Balder could not embrace her.
At this moment, Aiden threw a corpse onto the ground and said to Balder, "Dear father-in-law, this is a human body Mundus created. Possessing someone else's body might disgust you a little, but at least it works. Make do for now. Later, I'll find a way to get your body back."
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