The warmth radiating from Kogarumaru was a comforting sensation that gave me the illusion that Kogarumaru, which should be made of metal, had literally become my limbs, and that blood vessels were about to connect and start pulsing at any moment.
(Kogarumaru... could it be!)
Having noticed the source of the heat, I remembered that there was an entity who had cast the magic I desired more than Solomon and Namitarou, the ideal magic I sought.
It was magic cast by a being who had stolen something precious from me back then, driven me to despair, and made me feel so much anger that I thought it wouldn't matter if I threw my life away. It boasted some of the most powerful magic I knew. In other words,
(The Dragon Zombie's 'breath'...)
Among those I had encountered, the Dragon Zombie was a disaster so terrible it could be called the worst. Moreover, the breath it had released back then was from a black ancient dragon whose consciousness had been stolen by a woman, turning it into a zombie and significantly reducing its power from its peak.
(If it's just me and the current Kogarumaru, we might not reach the peak of a black ancient dragon, but we should be able to surpass the breath of that Dragon Zombie from back then... no, we will definitely surpass it!)
I was convinced that through Kogarumaru, which had merged with me, I could release a dragon's breath that couldn't be understood by intellect alone. I didn't know why, but I felt certain I could do it. Not only that, I also knew the best timing and angle to release it. Perhaps the sensation of being merged with Kogarumaru was making it possible.
(Not just all my magic power... but I'll use the surrounding magic power too.)
Since my course of action was decided, there was no need to just stand here and let the magic power around her come to her.
I didn't know to what range I could gather magic power, but since we were both demigods, there was no way she could do something I couldn't.
(It doesn't seem to be as much as she can gather, but I'm managing more than I thought, aren't I?)
The woman apparently noticed that I had started gathering magic power, and the speed at which she gathered magic power suddenly increased. As a result, the speed and amount I gathered were only a fraction of hers, but what was originally not supposed to increase was doing so, albeit slightly, while hers was decreasing.
In that sense, it was worth doing.
(I'll pour the gathered magic power and my own magic power into Kogarumaru, pushing it to its limit...)
Seeing me start to pour magic power into Kogarumaru, the woman grew alarmed and increased her gathering speed further. As a result, I could hardly gather any magic power from the surroundings. But, the two of us had been gathering it so dramatically up to this point. The surrounding magic power should be nearly exhausted soon.
(In other words, once there's nothing left to gather, her preparations for self-destruction will be complete...)
I didn't know whose preparations would be finished first, but rather than firing in a half-baked state, I would wait for the moment when I could unleash the maximum power, to be certain and stop her breathing for good.
The woman seemed to share the same thought, as the force restraining me had weakened considerably. That was likely because if I prioritized breaking free from the restraint, she would immediately set off her self-destruction. In this situation, if I let my attention waver even slightly, it could lead to irreversible consequences.
The stalemate continued, with neither of us breaking eye contact... until the woman made the first move.
(The restraint tightened... Is she coming?)
The binding that had weakened suddenly surged back to full strength, and at the same time I was yanked hard toward the woman. The force was so great that I felt the bone in my thigh crack, sending a spike of searing pain through me. To make matters worse, I lost my balance and ended up with my back turned toward her. And in the very next instant, I felt an immense surge of Magic Power erupting from the woman.
By the feel of it, her reserves might actually exceed mine—but I remained calm even in this disadvantaged position. That was because I had absolute confidence that I could win.
Even if her total Magic Power was greater, her attacks radiated in all directions while mine were concentrated into a single point. In terms of density at the point of collision, I had the advantage.
And above all, Kogarumradi nothing but the unwavering belief that victory was possible, even in this situation. Kogarumaru, who carried the soul of a black ancient dragon tempered through a hundred battles, felt that way. There was no reason for me to fear her now.
(Kogarumaru will tell me the timing. All I have to do is unleash the black ancient dragon's Breath at that exact moment!)
I drew a deep breath, and at the signal from Kogarumaru, when the blade's tip was angled squarely toward the woman—
"Take this... Catastrophe!"
I unleashed the Breath at full power.
This technique meant "to defeat" for me and "ruin" for my opponent—a fitting name for the black ancient dragon's Breath. Its power, naturally, was equally fitting.
The woman triggered her explosion a fraction of a second before I did, but well before it could reach me, Catastrophe collided with the shockwave and for a single instant the two forces stalemated—
"Go!"
Then it smashed straight through and struck the woman dead on. Catastrophe didn't stop with her—carried by its momentum, it gouged a deep, massive furrow into the earth. Combined with the force of the woman's explosion, the resulting crater in the Great Old Forest was over a hundred meters deep and had a radius exceeding a thousand meters by the time everything settled.
"I took her down... No, I can't see her, but she's still here."
I could sense a faint trace of the woman's presence—so faint I would never have noticed without being a demigod—and descended into the deepest point of the crater while dispersing the dust clouds with wind magic.
The wind magic had been taxing; both my stamina and Magic Power were heavily depleted. But the woman was far worse off than I was, so there shouldn't have been any danger.
"So that's how she deceived the eyes of the gods last time too."
The woman's physical body had been annihilated by Catastrophe, yet she still existed in an intangible, ghost-like state—invisible but not gone.
If her presence was only detectable at close range, it was no wonder the Creator Gods had overlooked her, mistaking her for someone existing in an entirely different dimension.
"Uuu… Aaah…"
If I had overlooked her here too, this woman would have spent time regenerating, and centuries later she would have repeated the same thing all over again.
But now that I had found her, she wouldn't be able to do what she did last time, nor could she cause an incident like this one ever again.
"You possess the ability to create and control zombies as a Demigod, but I also gained a special ability when I became a Demigod… Well, it's not exactly useful in combat, nor is it the kind of ability that helps with daily life—it's very limited, but still."
As I spoke, I directed Kogarumaru toward the woman's presence, and a faint, translucent outline of her form materialized. Cradled against her chest was what appeared to be a human skull. That was most likely the skull of the reincarnator whose death had caused her to cease being a god.
Perhaps they had been lovers, but even if that were the case, I felt not a shred of sympathy—and there was no need for any.
In order to ensure this woman could never cause something like this again for all eternity,
"Right here and now, I will erase your existence for good!"
I declared to the woman with a sharp shout. However, she merely glared at me with anger, not listening to a word I said, and she still seemed to have some composure about her. But then—
"My name as a God is the 'God of Reincarnation.' A god who governs the cycle of life and death… Well, I'm still an apprentice, though."
Hearing my words, the woman finally showed a look of panic on her face.
"With that divine power, I will send you through reincarnation. I'll strip your soul of its memories and its power as the God of Death."
By its very nature, my divine ability was virtually useless in combat—it only activates when a living being loses its life. But for the woman, it must have been a terrifying power. Of course, with my current inexperience, I couldn't reincarnate her immediately. However, as a Demigod who possessed the Blessing of the God of Death, I could at least send her to the domain of the current God of Death, the one who governs death.
As long as I could send her away, the other gods would keep watch over her until I officially became a god. In the realm where the gods resided, a mere Demigod like her would be completely powerless.
"St-Stop…"
"I don't know whether it will be decades or centuries before I reincarnate you, but until then, spend your time surrounded by the Gods of Death and reflect on what you've done."
With those words, I swung Kogarumaru down, and the woman's presence vanished entirely.
Her zombie minions and the rebel army still remained, but the root cause—and the greatest threat—was gone. With this, my battle as a Demigod could finally be called over.
"All that's left now is to rejoin everyone…"
Using Catastrophe had drained most of my Magic Power and stamina, and I had expended what little remained to deliver the finishing blow to the woman, leaving me barely able to move. But becoming a Demigod had significantly boosted my recovery, so I should be able to get moving again before long.
"Guess I'll take a short rest before moving on... huh?"
Standing was hard enough as it was, so I went to sit on a convenient rock nearby... when I noticed the ground had started getting wet, with puddles forming all over the place. The 'Catastrophe' I'd used to pierce the woman apparently had affected even the underground water veins in this area.
"There's no way there's enough water to fill this crater, right?"
When I lived in Kukuri Village, I'd never heard about any massive water veins around here... but I'd never thoroughly explored the Great Old Forest, and there was also the example of the lake inside Seigen's dungeon.
"If those water veins had become dungeon-ified... I'd hate to drown to death right after winning! Seriously!"
Pushing my exhausted body onward, I desperately tried to move toward higher ground, but... the crater was too large and the water was gushing in with increasing force, leaving me no way to escape. Giving up, I steeled myself and decided to float on the water while waiting for my Magic Power and stamina to recover.
"I should be able to move soon. Still... I can't believe it increased this much in such a short time..."
It took me thirty minutes to escape the crater, and after resting another thirty minutes on shore, I had finally recovered enough Magic Power and stamina to fly all the way to the Royal Capital.
The recovery speed was incomparably faster than when I'd fought the Lich before, but the healing of fatigue and injuries didn't seem much different from before.
If I headed for Seigen now, even flying nonstop I'd probably arrive in the middle of the night, but I chose to go without hesitation. However, not even an hour after I started flying, an overwhelming drowsiness suddenly struck—one I couldn't push through.
Since continuing in this state would be dangerous, I hastily changed my plans, used earth magic to create a safe zone, and decided to get some sleep.