With Crom Cruach
In another region created by Georg's [Dimension Lost], two figures could be seen facing each other.
Standing before one another were two beings with extraordinary auras. One was Crom Cruach, the Crescent Circle Evil Dragon, and his opponent was Balberith, one of the Artificial Demons created by Hades.
"So, you're my opponent?" Balberith asked calmly.
Crom Cruach's eyes narrowed as a grin spread across his face.
"Got a problem with that, Devil?" Crom Cruach asked with a fierce smile.
Even so, the Evil Dragon kept his guard up. The demon before him was certainly no ordinary being, and Crom Cruach wasn't even sure if he could be called a "demon."
An overwhelming aura with infinite depth and crushing force emanated from Balberith. Despite himself, beads of sweat formed on Crom Cruach's forehead.
Seeing Balberith's aura in this way, with such immense power, reminded Crom Cruach of the aura Gilgamesh had during their first battle.
Though the Evil Dragon noted that Gilgamesh's aura had grown exponentially by their second encounter.
"I am what you'd call a [Super Demon]. Think you can give me a good fight?" Balberith asked as his aura enveloped him.
His threat wasn't baseless. Since his creation, Balberith possessed an aura so massive that he considered himself a [Super Demon], completely transcending ordinary demons. He was an irregular existence, like Sirzechs Lucifer, Ajuka Beelzebub, and Rizevim Livan Lucifer.
But Crom Cruach wasn't intimidated. Since fighting Gilgamesh, the Evil Dragon had trained relentlessly to challenge the King of Heroes again.
"Let's do this, then!" Crom Cruach roared as a black and gold aura surrounded his body.
Seeing this, an abyssal aura enveloped Balberith as his body was reinforced.
Both Demon and Dragon charged at each other, their fists colliding.
Balberith's fist, cloaked in his absolute [Demonic Power], struck Crom Cruach's fist, which was coated in a massive draconic aura.
To the Evil Dragon's surprise, he was being pushed back.
Seeing himself being overpowered, Crom Cruach quickly repositioned and attempted to strike again.
But Balberith swiftly delivered another blow, reinforced by his immense power, against Crom Cruach.
At the last moment, the Evil Dragon dodged the strike and landed a punch reinforced with his power on Balberith.
Even unprepared to defend, Balberith took the full brunt of the blow and was sent skidding back several meters.
Before he could react, Crom Cruach advanced, his arm transforming into an immense dragon claw bathed in his aura, striking Balberith as he tried to defend.
The moment Balberith was hit, the ground shattered from the impact, and the aura struck the Demon, wounding his arms.
With a swift movement, Crom Cruach delivered a kick, sending Balberith flying.
Seeing this, the Evil Dragon narrowed his eyes. Balberith was undoubtedly strong, both in the quantity and quality of his demonic power, and his physical capabilities could temporarily rival Crom Cruach's.
But that was it. He lacked experience. Balberith had literally just been born, created, and immediately thrown into battle.
Balberith only had raw power but didn't know how to fully wield it, relying solely on instinct and talent.
And that was disappointing to Crom Cruach.
If Balberith had just one more year of life, one more year of experience, this battle could have been challenging for the Evil Dragon.
But as it stood, Balberith posed no real challenge to a seasoned fighter like Crom Cruach.
The Evil Dragon rapidly expanded his power and charged toward his enemy.
Seeing this, Balberith extended his hand, unleashing massive blasts of his demonic power at Crom Cruach.
These were no joke—each attack had the power to take down a god.
But Crom Cruach advanced, crossing his dragon-claw-transformed arms, and charged fearlessly.
He obliterated every attack before they could harm him and, in an instant, was in front of Balberith.
The Super Demon had no time to react as Crom Cruach struck him with a blow infused with his absolute aura.
When Balberith recovered and saw Crom Cruach, his eyes widened at the sight.
Before him stood a majestic black Western dragon, surrounded by a black and gold aura, with two massive black wings.
Balberith couldn't react as Crom Cruach, in his dragon form, coated his fists with a massive amount of draconic aura and struck.
The impact shook the entire artificial dimension with its force.
When the dust settled, Balberith's lifeless body lay defeated on the ground.
Looking at the Super Demon's corpse, Crom Cruach sighed.
"It was a good fight. Though, with more experience, the outcome might have been very different," the Evil Dragon said, sighing.
As the artificial dimension slowly dissolved, Crom Cruach returned to the battle against the Reapers and Artificial Demons.
**With Vali**
Meanwhile, in another artificial dimension, another battle was unfolding.
The fight was between the heir of the Original Maou Lucifer, the White Dragon Emperor Vali Lucifer, and Verrine, one of Hades' Artificial Demons.
The White Dragon Emperor wore white dragon armor adorned with blue jewels—his Balance Breaker, [Divine Dividing: Scale Mail].
While in his Balance Breaker, Vali flew acrobatically, dodging Verrine's attacks.
The jade-haired Artificial Demon launched dozens of spheres filled with her powerful demonic power at Vali, who evaded them calmly.
Even so, Vali knew that a single hit from one of those attacks would be his end. Even when missing, the attacks continued, obliterating mountains kilometers away.
Such was the power Verrine possessed, surpassing most God-class beings.
"Stop dodging!" Verrine shouted childishly, increasing the number of her attacks.
Seeing the powers coming at him, Vali extended his hand.
"Divide!"
[Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!]
Verrine's demonic power suddenly began to plummet as it was continuously divided by Vali.
"Don't steal others' power!" Verrine shouted, panting.
Seeing his opponent exhausted, Vali realized his strategy was working.
"Albion…"
[Yes, it seems your plan is working,] said the Heavenly Dragon.
One thing Vali noticed during this fight was that, despite her immense talent, Verrine had little combat experience, and her stamina management in battle was immature.
In other words, she didn't understand stamina management for battles involving simple exchanges of attacks and responses, or for executing multiple combined techniques.
Verrine wasted large amounts of power on ineffective attacks, rapidly tiring herself out.
Her lack of battle experience led to this state, and even her vast power couldn't compensate for it.
If Verrine had faced multiple opponents countless times and fully manifested her special ability, the outcome of this fight would be uncertain.
But even so, Vali lacked an attack that could defeat Verrine in one blow, so he resorted to his trump card.
The power he developed to one day fight Gilgamesh.
After his crushing defeat against Gilgamesh during the Three Factions Meeting, Vali had found a way to grow stronger.
And this power was the answer.
"Let's end this. I wanted to use this power against the Red Dragon Emperor, but you're a worthy opponent," Vali said, smiling.
A massive silver aura enveloped Vali's body as Verrine looked in shock at the unleashed power.
Wings of light spread from his body, radiating demonic power. The pure white armor was enveloped in brilliant light. Then, from each jewel…
"I, the one who awakens. I am the White Dragon Emperor who will take the law to the darkness."
The shallow thoughts of past White Dragon Emperors flowed from the jewels to all.
(What we strengthen is the height of the Heavenly Dragon!) (The path we tread is the road of domination of the White Dragon Emperor!)
(We halt the infinite and devour the dream!)
These beings bore no grudge or hatred as expected from the curse of the Juggernaut Drive; instead, they were filled with a pure, irresistible will to fight.
"I walk the road of domination with infinite destruction, piercing the imaginary dream. I shall become a pure Dragon Emperor…"
((("I shall obey the silver-white illusions and the perfect evil paths.")))
(Juggernaut Overdrive!)
What appeared before Verrine was clad in silver-white armor, emanating an aura so immense it seemed to come from an entirely different world. Without touching anything, the surroundings were crushed. The aura radiating from his body was enough to crush the environment.
"Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive. It's similar but different from Juggernaut Drive. An enhanced form only I can use. You'll taste its strength with your own body!"
The [Empireo Juggernaut Overdrive] is an improved version of the [Juggernaut Drive], considered as powerful as the Juggernaut Drive, with the added potential for further enhancement.
A different version Vali created to one day fight Gilgamesh. In this form, Vali's power was undoubtedly God-class, making him a Super Devil by all rights.
In an instant, Vali charged, covering the distance in a second, crashing into Verrine before she could react.
"Let me go!" Verrine shouted, escaping and unleashing her power.
But seeing this, Vali extended his hand and clenched it.
"Compress."
[Compressor Divider]
[Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide! Divide!]
Verrine's body, lifted high, began to compress in length, then width, then length again… Over and over, her body was divided in half!
"What is this?!" Verrine screamed, unable to believe what was happening.
Vali said mercilessly, "Perish."
The Super Demon, her body reduced to a size invisible to the eye, began to fade into nothingness. As the air vibrated, the Super Demon died. That was the end of Verrine.
This was the power Vali gained with this new transformation—the ability to continuously divide his opponent until they vanished from existence.
After executing his attack, Vali collapsed to the ground, panting, as his armor dispersed.
"Looks like I need more training," Vali said, breathing heavily.
As the dimension faded, Vali sighed from exhaustion.
**With Sebas**
In another region of the battlefield, this time outside a barrier, two figures were seen fighting.
One was the Ultimate-class Reaper Pluto, and his opponent was the man who trained Gilgamesh, the one the King of Heroes respected most—Sebas.
The butler faced his enemy with no emotion in his eyes, not even considering the being before him a worthy opponent.
"Damn you!" Pluto shouted, enraged.
Leaping forward, the Reaper attacked with his scythe, displaying immense skill.
Multiple strikes were launched at Sebas—overhead, from the sides, from below, with various feints and techniques Pluto had developed over his life.
A single strike from that scythe would be dangerous. The [Scythe of Death] of the Grim Reapers could drain the life force of those it cut, and the stronger the Grim Reaper, the more powerful the attack.
But even seeing the attack coming, Sebas dodged calmly.
No matter the form of attack or the skill and technique Pluto used, Sebas evaded effortlessly, as if reading all of Pluto's movements.
Without even moving his hands from behind his back, the butler dodged everything thrown at him.
"Damn you! Stop dodging!" Pluto shouted furiously.
Seeing this, Sebas merely sighed.
"Very well."
As the butler stopped, Pluto charged with his scythe to cut him, and Sebas simply raised his arm to defend.
But defense should have been impossible. That scythe, personally crafted by Hades and given to Pluto, his most loyal follower, was a blade capable of cutting even a god.
Yet when it met Sebas' arm, the impossible happened.
The scythe broke.
Pluto's eyes widened as his scythe shattered before him. Sebas' body had no magical protection.
This meant Sebas' skin alone was strong enough to withstand a weapon capable of cutting a god without a scratch.
"H-How?!" the Reaper stammered, unable to comprehend what he'd seen.
"Very well, I suppose it's my turn," Sebas said, advancing.
The Reaper began to tremble, realizing nothing he did could save him.
"This will be the first time I've shown this to anyone. Not even the Young Master knows of this. So, I hope you appreciate it," Sebas said calmly.
Calmly, Sebas raised his right hand, and a purple sphere surrounded by immense black energy appeared.
The moment it was summoned, space itself seemed to collapse under its mere presence.
One might mistake it for Sebas' [Destruction Magic], but this was far beyond that.
This was the power Sebas had awakened long ago, even before Gilgamesh was born, born from his desire to "destroy all who stood in Gilgamesh's way."
It was Sebas' Ultimate Skill, unknown even to Gilgamesh.
The Ultimate Skill [Shiva, God of Destruction].
An Ultimate Skill born solely from the desire and purpose of destroying everything.
A skill embodying pure Destruction, granting the ability to annihilate anything and everything the user desires. Even immortal beings have their bodies and souls erased from existence, and even intangible beings or those with resistances are permanently wiped from reality.
Even concepts like "Time" and "Fate" can be annihilated, including "Death" itself.
A power created to destroy even the indestructible.
In terms of power, it rivaled Gilgamesh's [Azathoth, God of the Void], which held power over the [Void], the [Nullification] Skill.
The ultimate and supreme skill called [Nullification] produced the primordial energy needed to create worlds. As its name suggests, it's pure, super-dense energy that destroys everything.
A super-class skill that allows the destruction of an existing world and even the creation of another.
Among all existing skills, the Ultimate Skill [Shiva, God of Destruction] was the closest to such power.
The small sphere in Sebas' hand slowly advanced toward Pluto, engulfing his body and erasing him from existence permanently.
Sebas sighed as his [Shiva, God of Destruction] deactivated. Even after possessing this skill for years, it was still troublesome to use.
Sebas watched as the space around him shifted, and Cao Cao, Tobio, Vali, and Crom Cruach returned from their battles.
"Looks like everyone won," Cao Cao said, approaching.
But before anyone could respond, their attention was drawn to Hades' palace as two figures came running out.
It was Enkidu and Karna, sprinting from the palace.
Sebas looked surprised. Moments ago, he had felt Gilgamesh's power surge exponentially, with the full release of [Metatron, King of Purity], but that was it.
"What happened?" Crom Cruach asked, crossing his arms.
"We have to escape! Gil is going to annihilate the Realm of the Dead!" Enkidu shouted desperately.
Everyone looked shocked, but knowing Gilgamesh's power, they knew it was no joke.
Cao Cao was the first to act.
"Georg, get us all out of here!" Cao Cao shouted.
Hearing his leader's command, the wielder of [Dimension Lost] amplified his Longinus' power.
The mist of [Dimension Lost] enveloped all members of the Avalon Faction, the Hero Faction, Vali's team, plus Lavinia, Crom Cruach, and Tobio.
As all of Gilgamesh's allies vanished, teleported away, they could hear two words echoing through the Realm of the Dead before they disappeared.