"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sabnock, burning with rage and killing intent, charged forward.
Rest dodged the putrid saliva sprayed at him like a water laser, then rose into the air.
"[Invisibility][Levitation][Wind Manipulation][Skyride]"
A quadruple magic cast.
Rest used illusion magic to conceal his appearance, then kicked through the air to fly.
(Trying to close in and attack from here... he won't let me, will he) "GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Having lost sight of Rest, Sabnock began attacking the area wildly.
It had probably figured out that Rest was hiding himself with magic.
If he carelessly got close, he'd end up taking a direct hit from a Lucky Strike.
(In that case... I guess there's only one way) "[Wind Manipulation]"
Rest flew over Sabnock's head, ascending high into the sky.
His altitude climbed steadily. The air pressure dropped, making it difficult to breathe. The temperature fell as well, and the cold began to set in.
It took about 180 seconds to reach a point roughly four thousand meters above the surface.
It was far lower than the cruising altitude of a commercial airliner, but high enough to look down upon Mount Fuji.
The wind was stronger than at ground level. Even straining his gaze downward, he couldn't make out a single human figure, but he could just barely confirm Sabnock's massive form.
"...This should be about right."
Rest hovered in the air, coming to a stop.
Below, Sabnock rampaged about searching for Rest, but from this position there was no chance of being hit by its attacks.
Rest looked down at Sabnock and, deliberately speaking aloud, confirmed what he needed to do next.
"...Sabnock has tough fur, and even high-level magic or a quadruple-cast composite spell can't deal any real damage to it. [Star Eater] can carve into its body, but the spell has a short range. While using [Star Eater], I can't cast any other magic, and I can't use body reinforcement either. There's no way I can close the distance on a rampaging behemoth like that and land a pinpoint strike on its weak point."
So then, what should he do?
One conclusion: hit it with an attack from long range that matched or exceeded [Star Eater]'s power.
Unfortunately, none of the magic Rest had mastered could accomplish that.
Rest's mana pool was indeed infinite... but when it came to magic output—that is, raw power—he was nothing more than average.
"[Star Eater]."
The most powerful spell Rest could cast.
It was, as always, this spell that created a Dark Star.
A black sphere materialized at the tip of his right hand, and simultaneously the spell he'd been using to fly was forcibly dispelled, sending him plummeting downward.
Skydiving without a parachute.
It was a bit late for that now, but the terror of freefall washed over him.
"This is... surprisingly rough...!"
No magic. No special equipment. A freefall from four thousand meters.
Both the fear and the cold were unbearable, but... he was in no position to be voicing complaints.
Rest channeled his mana into the Dark Star and resolved to calmly carry out what needed to be done.
"Devour the light... Dark Star that consumes all!"
In that instant, the entire plains fell into darkness.
The sun's light waned.
As though a total solar eclipse had occurred.
Both humans and monsters were surely thrown into confusion by this abnormal situation... but the one responsible was Rest.
What Rest had commanded the Dark Star to absorb was the sunlight across the surrounding area.
[Star Eater] was originally an original magic he had created with the image of a black hole.
If so, then it was only natural that this magic could devour light, just as a black hole captures light and refuses to let it escape.
"Anything absorbed into the Dark Star is unconditionally annihilated... but this time, I won't let that happen. I'll stop the absorbed light one step before annihilation and condense it."
The ground was rushing ever closer.
Three thousand meters, twenty-five hundred meters, two thousand meters, fifteen hundred meters...
As he neared the surface, the figure of Sabnock—once no bigger than a bean—grew larger and clearer.
"GYAO...?"
Sabnock had been rampaging, searching for Rest... but perhaps suspicious of the sudden darkness that had fallen, it looked up at the sky.
The sky, robbed of most of its sunlight, was sealed in darkness... but it appeared Sabnock could see in the dark.
Separated by over a thousand meters, the gazes of Rest and Sabnock met.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"It seems you've found me... but it's already too late."
In Rest's hands was a sphere already brimming with sufficient light energy.
From a height of four thousand meters down to one thousand meters, falling at two hundred kilometers per hour for approximately one minute.
It was only one minute, but... it contained the majority of the light that should have rained down upon the vast plains.
Just how much energy this truly held, honestly, even Rest didn't fully understand.
"It's an improvised application of magic... but can you defend against this?"
If this didn't work on Sabnock, then there was nothing more he could do.
Rest would either die or be forced to flee with his tail between his legs.
(Since I'm at it, I might as well give this magic a name...)
"
Amaterasu "
Rest gave directionality to the light he had sealed within the Dark Star and released it.
A blinding arrow of light descended toward the earth... aimed squarely at the colossal beast standing below.
An aurora from the darkness. Like the sun god emerging from behind the heavenly rock cave, it was a single strike condensed with the power of the solar disc.
"GYAOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Sabnock fired a torrent of saliva at Rest as he descended from above.
However, it was truly an act of spitting at the heavens. There was no way it could deflect the divine punishment of a sun god.
"GYA...!"
The saliva was evaporated in an instant, and Sabnock's body was swallowed by the light.
It pierced straight through the center of its torso, evaporating it without the slightest mercy.
King of the plains. Lord of the demon realm.
The monstrosity that had proudly called itself a "king" was impaled clean through its massive body by a divine hammer struck down from the heavens.