Chapter 132: The First Magic
Rhodes's gaze was fixed on the goddess's upper body, on the spot where her heart should be, a spot that was now covered in black mud. And there, in that endless darkness, was a faint, almost imperceptible, golden flicker of light, a light that was small but unyielding, a stark contrast to the darkness that surrounded it.
The original divine power of the Goddess of Life!
His heart lurched. He understood. This body was still hers. Even possessed, even corrupted, at its very core, the purest essence of her power still remained, a flame that had not yet been extinguished. A flame that was now pointing the way to victory, a flame that was now resonating, however faintly, with the sword in his hand.
"Serie! Her chest!" he roared, struggling to hold back the writhing vines. "There's still a light! The original divine power of the Goddess of Life! Aim for it!"
Hearing his words, she focused her gaze and, peering through the black mud that covered the goddess's body, she saw it, the tiny spark of light. Is this the last of her power? she thought. To defeat this goddess who had embraced the darkness, she had to strike at her very core. But how? Ordinary magic and physical attacks were useless; they would just be swallowed by the darkness before they could even get close.
Just then, a ray of sunlight fell upon her face. She looked up. The rift in the sky that the God's Chain had torn open had not yet closed. For the first time in a long, long time, sunlight was shining down on the Godfall Land.
And in that warmth, a bold, even foolhardy, idea began to form in her mind. It was a spell he had taught her, a long time ago, his own killing blow from their first battle with a demon. To swallow the light and then release it.
A new resolve, a resolve she had never felt before, burned in her eyes. There was no time to hesitate. "Buy me some time!" she shouted to him and Olivia, and then she abandoned all defense, and poured all of her focus, all of her mana, into the spell.
A complex magic circle began to form around her, and a power of pure, unadulterated energy began to gather. The very air grew heavy, and the light began to dim, as if it was being pulled into an invisible vortex. Their vision began to darken.
"What is...?" Eirik said, hacking at a vine, and then looking at her in horror. Where she stood, the very light was disappearing. Even Olivia looked over, confused. The holy light of her own spell was also being pulled towards Serie.
But he, he understood. It was his own spell she was casting. And so, he gave her his full, unconditional trust.
The light of Org flared, and the goddess's attention was fixed on him, buying Serie the precious few seconds she needed. Even with her mind consumed by darkness, she still remembered the god-slayer, still felt the burning hatred. And he was making himself an even bigger target. She abandoned all other attacks and sent a wave of black, world-ending power crashing down on his small, insignificant form.
And just as he was about to be swallowed by the darkness...
Her spell was complete.
There was no sound, just a strange, soul-shuddering stillness.
At the center of it all, a dark sphere had appeared, and was now rapidly expanding, swallowing everything in its path, the light of his holy sword, the holy light of Olivia's own spell, even the sunlight from the world beyond. The entire battlefield was plunged into a darkness like the primordial chaos before the dawn of creation.
And in that darkness, she struck.
Aiming at the goddess's heart, at the last remnant of her predecessor's power, she began to compress the sphere. The black hole of consumed light was forged into a spear, a spear that was black on the outside, but at its core, was the purest of holy powers.
And then, she threw it.
It ignored the goddess's own dark barrier and, with a speed that surpassed even light, it plunged into her chest.
Thump.
A small, almost inaudible sound.
And then—
BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
The spear of light struck the goddess's own inner light, and it was like a match thrown into a barrel of oil.
But the explosion was contained, a silent, internal detonation that tore through the goddess's dark form. A wave of pure white light, the last remnant of the Goddess of Life, now reinforced by all the other light in the space, began to consume the darkness from within. The black mud hissed and steamed, and began to disappear at a visible rate. Even the black tsunami of vines, their master now in agony, began to crumble into dust. Only a few remained, a last, futile act of resistance.
And the goddess, the one who had embraced the darkness, was now, for a brief moment, free of it. The blackness in her eyes receded, replaced by a flicker of clarity. And in that moment, her form returned to what it had been before, just after Norne had wounded her, her legs now human again, though still stained with a bit of the black mud.
And as she lost the power of the darkness, the God's Chain flared, the cracks in it sealing themselves, and it once again held her fast.
(End of chapter)
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