Watching the two people below standing together, talking and laughing, Lev Lainur shook his head pityingly.
Go ahead and play around. This is all the time you have left.
It was a case of Wyverns riding right up to their faces; Lev couldn't think of any possible way he could lose now. Showing a little lingering elegance as a superior being didn't hurt..
"It's time to end this, humans. Allow me to put a period on your brief journey," Lev said, raising his hand and aiming it at the two below.
To deal with Lin Qi and Nero in their current state, he didn't even feel it necessary to reveal his true form.
Even in this form, he could easily crush them.
A continuous barrage of magical blasts poured forth, mercilessly striking the golden-red barrier the two below had deployed.
Looking as if it would shatter at any second, just how long could it possibly last?
As one of the 72 Demon God Pillars, the total amount of magical energy at his disposal was one of his proudest assets.
A magical barrage of this level was nothing more than a trifle to Lev.
'End it. This way, for both you and me, it will be—'
"O Oppressor!"
A loud, clear shout came from above, accompanied by the sound of rushing wind.
The massive commotion interrupted Lev's train of thought.
Something big was coming!
The next second.
The roof, already mostly destroyed by Romulus's Noble Phantasm, was violently smashed apart.
A large amount of rubble mixed with dust scattered downwards.
A "mountain of flesh" descended from the sky, landing squarely in the path of Lev's attack.
It used its own body to completely and utterly block every last one of Lev's blasts.
Because it happened so suddenly, Lev subconsciously halted his attack.
"General Spartacus!"
Amidst the cloud of dust, Nero got a clear look at the newcomer and immediately cheered.
"As expected of the Berserker General whom I trust most! To arrive to rescue us at such a critical moment!"
"With this merit, if you and I were from the same era, I would truly bestow upon you an official position so grand it would make everyone jealous!"
Lin Qi didn't speak, but he was equally stirred.
His eyes burned as he stared at Spartacus's broad back.
He remembered the words Spartacus had spoken back at the military camp; he just hadn't expected Spartacus to actually come during this final battle, and to arrive so timely at that!
Spartacus did not respond to Nero's words. As a Berserker with a not-so-low Madness Enhancement rank, he didn't possess such clear conversational logic.
Moreover, the intensity of the fighting he'd experienced before arriving wasn't low either; faint traces of unhealed halberd wounds were still visible on his body.
His body had become bloated, a sign of his Noble Phantasm at work.
The foreign magical energy accumulated within his body made his already chaotic mind even more muddled.
But even so, he could clearly distinguish—
"The weak, I will protect!"
He looked at Lin Qi and Nero, who were supporting each other as they stood up.
"The oppressors, I will destroy!"
He looked up at Lev.
Without hesitation, he swung the greatsword in his hand, launching a fierce slash upwards.
The spot where Lev was standing was destroyed, forcing him to land on the ground at the same level as the others, his face gloomy.
"I see. So this is your hidden card, is it?"
"It seems I've underestimated you once again."
Hidden card? What hidden card?
Nero was taken aback for a moment.
But she quickly caught on.
"Correct! General Spartacus is precisely our hidden card! The absolute savior prepared specifically for a cunning, treacherous individual such as yourself!"
Never mind the details for now, just claim it first!
Spartacus laughed uproariously and once again swung his greatsword, smashing it towards Lev, making Lev's expression even uglier.
"A mere familiar, and you actually treat him as a hidden card."
"But just as well. Allow me to let you witness our true form!"
Lev grinned, the magical energy within his body surging.
Accompanied by a gust of wind and a flash of magical light.
Lev's body continuously distorted and expanded wildly, transforming in an instant into a massive, fleshy pillar covered in eyes.
The Demon God Pillar manifests—Flauros!
"Uwah, what an unsightly form! My eyes, meant for appreciating beauty, are nearly blinded by the ugliness!"
Nero exclaimed loudly.
Although Flauros now had no face, for some reason, Lin Qi still felt its face instantly turn dark.
"Hmph! It is precisely this ugliness that shall utterly destroy you!"
Flauros snorted coldly, and a magical barrage far more powerful than the previous one poured forth, aimed directly at Spartacus.
"Haha, Oppressor!!"
What made Flauros's eyes widen was that Spartacus seemed to be bathing in the magical blasts.
Not dodging or avoiding them, he charged straight through the barrage and slashed at Flauros with his sword.
The damage was minor, but the insult was extreme.
Flauros immediately reddened with rage.
"A mere familiar—!!"
Without another word, Flauros began gathering magical energy. After a brief pause, an extremely dangerous aura manifested from its body.
The very air seemed to grow viscous because of it.
Seeing this, Lin Qi and Nero felt a sudden sense of foreboding. They hurriedly activated their Noble Phantasms together once more, taking shelter beneath the banner.
"Be reduced to ashes!"
[Incineration Ritual: Flauros]!
Blinding heat capable of melting even rock shot forth, bathing Spartacus and turning everyone's vision into a blank whiteness.
Only after the scorching light faded could Lin Qi and Nero open their eyes and look towards the battlefield.
They were not the primary target of Flauros's attack, so they had only withstood a small portion of its power.
In contrast, Spartacus, who had taken Flauros's skill head-on and at full power, was now burned beyond recognition. His entire body had turned an eerie red, like a boiled prawn, with steam rising from his head.
Judging by the color, the outer layer of his muscles had likely been cooked through.
But—Spartacus was not dead!
Not only that, fresh flesh surged wildly across his body, replacing the charred parts, and continuously proliferating, causing his frame to grow even more massive.
With every passing second, his body swelled another size larger.
"The attacks of the oppressor shall only become my strength!"
"O Oppressor who scorns life, prepare to receive my fatal blow!"
The laughing Berserker rose from the ground.
Flauros grew even more incensed. Believing Servants to be nothing more than lowly life forms, how could it endure such a monumental insult?
"You dare to say that! You are nothing but a mere familiar, bound to the will of others..."
"No! Spartacus is not the familiar you speak of! He is a hero! A hero who fights for freedom, for the weak!"
Lin Qi suddenly raised his right hand high, interrupting Flauros.
The red marks on the back of his hand shone brightly.
A Command Spell—
"So..."
"Please, help this hero crush all the oppressors standing in his path!!"
A flash of red light. The power of the Command Spell was bestowed upon Spartacus, making his already colossal form even more terrifying.
Receiving the support of the weak made the smile on Spartacus's face even more unrestrained.
"Using a Command Spell on this guy... It seems you've truly exhausted all your tricks."
Flauros sneered.
After a brief period of calm thought, it had discerned that Spartacus likely possessed a super-strong recovery-type ability, one that could absorb damage and convert it into magical energy, with the external manifestation being his increasingly powerful body.
But no matter how powerful a Noble Phantasm, it would have an upper limit to what it could withstand and absorb.
As long as it continuously poured on powerful attacks, surpassing the limit he could absorb, it would be enough to finish him off!
Thinking this, Flauros had already begun firing its maximum-output magical blasts at Spartacus, one after another.
Like a machine gun, they frenziedly struck Spartacus's ever-expanding body.
Knowing about Spartacus's Noble Phantasm, Lin Qi and Nero huddled together, trembling as they hid beneath the banner.
With this rate of output, plus his own Command Spell...
Lin Qi had no idea just how much destructive power Spartacus would be able to display later.
Flauros was not wrong; Spartacus's Noble Phantasm did have an upper limit. Once that limit was reached, he would die.
But what it failed to guess was that once Spartacus's Noble Phantasm reached its limit, just before death, it would erupt with a level of destructive power rivaling an Anti-Fortress Noble Phantasm!
Flauros roared in fury.
The Berserker laughed madly.
Countless magical blasts pounded against the Berserker's body.
Finally—Spartacus's Noble Phantasm reached its limit.
[Crying Warmonger]!
Under Flauros's horrified gaze, the foreign magical energy accumulated within Spartacus's body reached its peak, flooding the entire palace like a bursting dam.
Light and high temperatures melted everything before them with overwhelming force.
The alliance's capital was as if struck by a cataclysmic disaster. Starting from Spartacus's position, a fan-shaped torrent of light, which melted and vaporized everything in its path, cut across half the city and slammed directly into the hill behind it.
Utterly obliterating the entire hill into fine fragments.
This unparalleled radiance could be seen clearly and distinctly even by the soldiers still fighting on the other side of the city.
...