"Enough of your futile resistance."
After completing the final preparations, Shido turned his gaze toward the Zy'tl Q'ae, which was clawing at the last strands of its survival.
"ROOOOOAR!"
The evil tree roared again, its unwillingness echoing through the forest.
"Just disappear from this world."
"Sholsha Rakia."
Shido clenched his left gauntlet, and the three aligned sigils flared. A massive pillar of blackish-violet light burst toward the sky, splitting the clouds with a luminous violet crack. The heavens themselves seemed to shatter, a rift opening like fractured glass under the weight of his attack.
From the rift, three titanic blades slowly descended, each one condensed from dark Reiryoku, radiating a suffocating pressure. As they fell, the air trembled, twisting and warping under the crushing gravity that pressed down like the palm of Buddha.
The evil tree roared, enraged yet trembling with fear at the approaching enormous blades. In desperation, it flailed its massive branches and fired bullet-like seeds, trying to repel the descending weapons. But it was useless. Its branches shattered, and its seeds were obliterated the moment they touched the enormous blades.
The colossal blades continued their descent toward the Zy'tl Q'ae.
...
"…S-Should we start to run, Shalltear?"
Aura gulped, feeling the crushing pressure from the descending titanic blades. The air itself felt heavy, and she could sense the attack's range would be massive, likely enough to reach their position. She turned to her side, waiting for a response.
But when she looked, the spot where Shalltear had been standing was empty.
Aura blinked, stunned for a moment. Then, as she glanced back, she saw Shalltear already a hundred meters away, fleeing at full speed without a single word.
"AH! Damn you, you vampire bitch! Wait for me!" Aura's lips twitched uncontrollably as she shouted after the retreating figure.
But despite her annoyance, Aura knew she couldn't afford to linger even a second longer, or she would be caught in the attack as well. With a frustrated huff, she turned and began to flee first before she ask for answers from Shalltear.
...
The moment the blades touched Zy'tl Q'ae's body, the world fell silent.
A pillar of black-violet light exploded upward, swallowing Zy'tl Q'ae entirely. Its eyes widened in terror as its tendrils disintegrated, shredded into nothing by the consuming darkness. The pillar expanded, its base cracking the earth in a triangular sigil that glowed with ominous purple light before collapsing inward with a thunderous boom.
BOOOOOM!
The silence shattered as a vortex of shadows devoured everything that was Zy'tl Q'ae flesh, void, and soul, until not even dust remained.
When the darkness finally receded, there was only Shido, standing alone, his gauntlet pulsing softly, trails of black mist rising around him as the winds of the world returned.
Below him, was a deep hole that the end of the could not be seen, as if an entrance to the abyss itself had opened. The crater spanned nearly 600 meters across, while its true depth was unknown.
Shido stood in silence, his eyes sweeping over the destruction he had wrought upon the forest. Though the crater itself was massive, the true devastation extended far beyond it, within a radius of three kilometers, the forest had been wiped clean, not a single tree left standing, showing the sheer power of the attack.
"....Ugh, so tired...."
The divine ring floating behind him could supply him with Reiryoku and mana, but it could not replenish the stamina drained by the last attack. In truth, Sholsha Rakia was currently one of Shido's most powerful techniques with his dark gauntlet, but unleashing it placed an immense strain on his body.
Shido was barely holding himself back from passing out, but in the end, he couldn't.
He fell from the sky like a meteor.
BOOOOOM!
He crashed heavily into the ground, sending dust and debris exploding outward.
When the dust finally settled, Shido's figure was revealed. He remained in his Spirit Form, sustained only by the divine ring supplying him with Reiryoku. However, his angels and the divine ring itself had vanished, unable to maintain their form while he was unconscious, leaving him in an utterly defenseless state.
Just then, the sound of footsteps grew nearer, crunching softly over the debris as they approached Shido's location.
"S-So handsome!" Shalltear couldn't help but exclaim, her eyes lighting up the moment she finally saw Shido's face clearly. Until now, his back had always been facing them, shielding his appearance from view.
Aura stood beside her, speechless at Shalltear's exaggerated reaction. She was still angry that Shalltear left her behind earlier but she couldn't deny her words either. The man lying unconscious before them was truly handsome, perhaps the most handsome man she had ever seen. Her heart skipped a beat, and a faint flush crept onto her face feeling her body became somewhat hot.
"Ahem! Sorry about that." Shalltear coughed lightly, realizing her unladylike behavior, and quickly straightened her posture. Inside, however, she was having a mental conflict.
'No! No! Shalltear! You can't be swayed by someone you just met! You already have Ainz-sama! You can't look at another man!'
Aura also regained her composure, though she couldn't deny that she was still charmed by Shido's appearance, especially the small mole under his eye that somehow made him even more captivating. She glanced at Shalltear's odd behavior but chose to ignore it, turning her attention back to the unconscious man before them, studying him curiously.
Though they were undeniably affected by his natural charm, their strong magic resistance dampened the effect, preventing them from completely falling for him on the spot or jumping on Shido while he lay defenseless.
"So… what should we do with him?"
Aura's quiet question broke the silence, pulling Shalltear from her internal conflict. For a moment, Shalltear was silent, her eyes flickering as if weighing her options, before a mischievous smile curled on her lips.
"Let's take him back."
Shalltear's words made Aura freeze, her mind blank for a heartbeat before she realized Shalltear's intention.
"HUH?!"
Aura's voice cracked as she shouted, unable to process Shalltear's decision.