Chapter 268 Just For This Moment
Inside the dome of the [Calamity Sealing Formation], which had turned into a scorching hell, Fiona finally released her tension after swinging down the "Black Moon" and muttered in a dazed voice.
"Did we... defeat her?"
"Don't let your guard down yet, Fiona."
Aaron, who also relaxed his tension, remained alert and said this. Fiona nodded in response, saying "Yeah"—
""!?""
The two of them turned their gazes toward the wall of the dome at the same time.
A loud cracking sound echoed.
Looking closely, cracks were spreading all over the black dome, and it looked like it was about to shatter.
On the other side, the false goddesses were still launching fierce attacks.
"Why...!? We defeated the [Evil God], but they're still here...!!"
Fiona was shocked that the false goddesses were still alive.
However, Aaron quickly realized the reason.
"They weren't created by the [Evil God]'s ability; they were created by the labyrinth's function. So it doesn't matter if the [Evil God] is dead or not...!!"
"Does that mean... even if we defeat them, they'll keep coming back!?"
Fiona worriedly thought that it was very likely they would respawn immediately and keep attacking them──this possibility seemed far from low.
And if that was the case, it would be much more troublesome than the [Evil God].
While dealing with the endlessly spawning false goddesses, they had to reunite with their teammates who were teleported somewhere by the Chronosphere, and then defeat the Chronosphere to escape the labyrinth.
That was a challenge that was beyond difficult.
It's much harder than fighting [Evil God].
"Well, to be honest, I don't really know. We just have to try it out."
Aaron said as he pulled out the "Black-White" that was stuck in the center of the black dome, pouring in his aura with a loud, "Hummm!!"
Fiona readied her "Black Moon" and nodded.
"Yeah...!!"
"Alright. So, Fiona... first, let's take them down and see if they respawn!"
"Got it!"
And in the next moment, with a loud crash, the black dome was shattered.
Shards of broken aura rained down like confetti──but before they hit the ground, they vanished into light.
Hiding among the falling light, the two quickly closed the distance.
──[Flash Strike]
"""!?"""
The fake goddesses were slightly surprised as the two appeared from the rain of shattered aura.
Seizing that moment of confusion, Aaron and the others swung their swords.
My ultimate technique──[Calamity Absolute Flash Blade: Star Eater]
The pitch-black aura transformed into a massive blade, sweeping through the Space ahead.
Many fake goddesses were easily sliced in half.
──But that's not all.
The aura's slash didn't disappear; it left a shape in Space. It looked like a thin, huge black sheet.
Then, in the next moment, the black sheet quickly spun around, pulling in dozens more fake goddesses, compressing into a small black sphere.
The compressed black sphere shrank down to the size of a fist and vanished with a sharp sound, "Zing!"
From the spot where the black sphere had been, particles of light were released, as if to prove that the false goddesses had indeed been defeated, or perhaps as remnants of that battle.
──That moment.
A faint sense of discomfort filled Aaron's mind.
It's the light. The light of magical energy.
(──Wait. Just now...)
He remembered. When he defeated the [Evil God], there had been a cloud of blood and it was hard to see, but there was definitely a faint scattering of the unique light of magical energy.
However, the [Evil God] should have already regained the [God's Remains]. In other words, she should have a real body, not just a 'recreated' temporary form.
And then──his thoughts raced.
──Cain didn't respawn.
Why? What if the answer was that, using the resources of the 5 Cains, another being had been 'recreated' instead?
If that were the case.
That thing was.
No way.
"──Fiona!!"
A chill ran through his entire body.
Aaron quickly turned around and called out Fiona's name, and he saw it.
Just now, Fiona had struck one of the false goddesses with [Heavy Blast Blade: Twin Fangs of Darkness], blowing it apart at the cellular level and returning it to particles of light──and behind her.
────[Evil God]
A being that looked exactly like the false goddess was right behind Fiona.
He hadn't noticed. Why? Had his [magical energy sense] weakened? No, that wasn't it. Even now, he couldn't sense any magical energy from that being at all.
It was only a moment later that Aaron and Fiona were able to detect her magical energy.
Far from being a mere false goddess, even the [Evil God] that had been battling until just a moment ago──an entity that seemed to be on par with, if not surpassing, the horrifying torrent and intensification of magical energy──was in no way comparable.
Before Fiona’s expression could even warp with astonishment during the attack, the instant that genuine surprise appeared in her eyes,
"──I've caught you."
The [Evil God] who had embraced Fiona from behind whispered this.
* * 8
──From the beginning, the [Evil God] had no intention of fighting Aaron Gale.
At least, not until she obtained Fiona’s body.
That’s why she was cautious, that’s why she searched through countless possible futures with [Possibility Perception], seeking a way to approach Fiona without having to fight Aaron, and then carried it out.
Using the functions of 'Terrafomer007', she increased the cost and created a ‘reproduction’ of her "current self" to mislead Aaron and the others into thinking it was the real [Evil God] by having it fight them.
That was a special version, enhanced based on the 'reproduction data' of the 50-layer guardian false goddess, with some of their own memories and ego information re-entered.
Its performance was high──several dozen times that of a regular false goddess. Even so, it wouldn’t come close to the real self.
But that was sufficient.
While the false self fought Aaron and the others, the real self hid among the false goddesses surrounding Aaron.
To completely conceal her presence from Aaron and the others, the [Evil God] used a certain skill.
Hermit final skill──[Unmoving Awareness Perception]
A skill that allows one to remain still and not be perceived by others, assuming no hostility or intent to kill.
The downside of this skill is that one cannot take any actions to defend themselves, let alone attack.
[Evil God] was inside the dome of [Calamity Sealing Formation] during the battle with Aaron and the others.
Unable to defend against the high heat from the [Prominence] released by her fake self, she simply endured.
After the battle between Aaron and the fake self ended, and the aura dome shattered, [Evil God] waited for the moment when Aaron and the others would turn their attention to the fake goddesses.
They might have been suspicious, but they would relax just a bit, thinking they had defeated [Evil God].
Taking advantage of that slight relaxation, [Evil God] aimed to shift their focus to the group of fake goddesses.
It was cruel to call it carelessness, but just a tiny bit of relaxation was created──for that alone, a fake version of herself was prepared.
The fragments of aura raining down also worked in favor of [Evil God].
It blended the approaching figure of [Evil God] into the light of the aura, making it harder to sense the faint magical energy that began to move.
Even so, [Evil God] remained cautious.
Hermit skill──[Stealth][Soundless Blink]
Scout skill──[Aura Camouflage][magical energy disguise]
Activating multiple skills, [Evil God] quietly moved as Aaron launched an attack at the fake goddesses.
And when Aaron noticed something and turned to Fiona──everything was already too late.
"──Fiona!!"
Aaron shouted.
From behind, [Evil God] hugged Fiona in mid-air.
"──I've caught you."
Just for this moment.
"──Huh!?"
Fiona was startled as she heard a whisper in her ear, and she instinctively stiffened her body. However, she didn't hesitate for even a moment.
She stopped the sword technique she was about to use on the new enemy from "Black Moon." Instead, she released the aura she had built up from her sword, and it surged towards the Evil God behind her like a powerful wave. She also covered her body with a protective armor made of aura.
A heavy and powerful aura was approaching her.
However, at this close distance, the Evil God was faster.
"──Let's go somewhere we can be alone, just the two of us," the [Evil God] said.
The [Evil God] wrapped Fiona and herself in magical energy.
The magic activated instantly.
Space magic──[Space Transfer]
And in an instant, Fiona and the [Evil God] disappeared from Aaron's sight.
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