A storm of dark purple magic exploded from my body.
Not released.
Exploded.
The instant my transformation completed, the entire battlefield ceased to resemble reality. Mountains shattered apart from pressure alone while the frozen sea below evaporated into spiraling storms of steam. The chamber beneath the Death Tundra Raguel collapsed instantly beneath the weight of my magic.
I roared.
The sound barely resembled a human voice anymore.
Blood poured from my mouth alongside the roar itself, dripping from my eyes and arms as countless wounds ripped themselves open across my body. My flesh couldn't withstand the amount of magic flooding through me.
But I didn't care.
Pain meant nothing anymore.
All that existed was rage.
The pig-faced woman stared upward as I ascended into the sky with one violent flap of my wings. The massive draconic appendages stretched wide behind me, blacker than the void itself, lined with glowing purple veins that pulsed like living magma.
My instincts had fully taken control.
Hundreds of magic circles unfolded across the sky around me.
Layer after layer.
Thousands of symbols rotated within them simultaneously, all generated through Magic Creation without conscious thought.
My daggers twisted in my hands.
Metal warped.
Reshaped.
Two compact submachine guns formed instantly, their barrels glowing with unstable arcane light that pulsed in rhythm with my heartbeat.
Or perhaps—
with the thing awakening inside me.
I slowly raised both weapons.
The woman's grotesque grin widened below.
"ACCEPT YOUR DEATH GRACEFULLY AND SMILE!"
My voice boomed across the tundra like a demonic prayer.
Then I fired.
The world disappeared beneath purple destruction.
Thousands of condensed magic bullets erupted from the circles simultaneously, each beam capable of vaporizing entire mountain ranges. The frozen continent below cracked apart instantly beneath the bombardment.
But she avoided all of it.
She danced.
That disgusting woman moved through the storm of annihilation with impossible grace, weaving through beams of destruction like she was performing on stage.
Every miss erased portions of the landscape behind her.
Every dodge widened my rage further.
Then—
she vanished.
Pain exploded through my stomach.
I looked down slowly.
Her claws protruded through my abdomen.
The impact alone nearly folded my body in half.
Before I could react—
she moved again.
SLASH.
My chest opened.
SLASH.
My shoulder split apart.
SLASH.
Bones shattered.
Blood sprayed endlessly through the sky as she tore through my body faster than my mind could process.
The guns slipped from my hands, reverting into daggers as they fell into the abyss below.
Everything blurred.
My body was breaking apart.
Organs ruptured.
Muscles torn.
The beast inside me screamed louder.
But amidst all that agony—
I smiled.
Because she misunderstood something.
She thought survival mattered to me anymore.
It didn't.
Not after Yura.
Not after Shina.
Not after everything taken from me.
"If I'm dying here…" I rasped weakly through blood, "…then I'm dragging you to hell with me."
Golden light ignited across my body instantly.
Pure.
Radiant.
Violently divine.
The woman's expression finally shifted.
Not fear.
Concern.
"Heaven's Last Grace."
The forbidden sacrificial spell activated.
Every remaining drop of my life force began converting directly into raw magical energy. Gold spread across my shattered body like cracks in porcelain while my skin started disintegrating beneath the sheer output.
I grabbed her leg tightly.
Locked her in place.
The surrounding space distorted violently as the spell continued escalating beyond control.
Yet even now—
even while dying—
my thoughts reached Satre.
Space magic erupted weakly around the dimensional barrier trapping her, reinforcing it instinctively.
She would survive this.
She had to.
The pig-faced woman suddenly stopped struggling.
Then—
a different voice entered my mind.
Elegant.
Cruel.
Ancient.
"Oh my… I wasn't expecting you to go this far for others."
The voice purred softly against my consciousness.
"I'll enjoy breaking you."
My eyes widened slightly.
That wasn't her voice.
This presence felt infinitely worse.
Older.
Hungrier.
Before I could react—
the spell detonated.
Light consumed existence.
Not metaphorically.
Actually consumed it.
The mountain vanished first.
Then the continent.
Then the oceans.
The planet itself shattered apart beneath the expanding wave of golden annihilation before collapsing into pure particles swallowed by the void.
Even nearby stars dimmed beneath the blast.
And then—
nothing.
No sound.
No pain.
No body.
Only darkness.
I floated endlessly within an empty void, unable to tell whether seconds or centuries passed.
Was I dead?
Had I won?
Did Satre survive?
Did I finally kill that monster?
Then laughter echoed through the abyss.
Male laughter.
Sharp.
Mocking.
"Kwahahaha! I seriously hope you don't think you're dead already."
The darkness rippled.
"Because I'm your next skill."
Deep purple light erupted through the void instantly.
Not outside me.
Inside me.
It spread violently through my consciousness like an awakening beast finally opening its eyes.
Then glowing white text appeared before me.
BEAST OF DESTRUCTION
The words burned themselves into my soul.
Power exploded outward.
My awareness snapped violently back into existence.
I drifted through the cold vacuum of space surrounded by fragments of shattered worlds and dying starlight. My body was broken beyond recognition, barely held together by threads of dark purple energy.
But it was regenerating.
Slowly.
Violently.
Something deep inside me had awakened completely.
The eight voices inside my head erupted into chaotic laughter.
"Ohhhh, this one woke up first?"
"Hahahaha finally!"
"The destructive one fits him best!"
"Shush! He's listening again!"
"Now the fun actually starts!"
I clenched my trembling hand slowly.
Purple-black flames ignited around my fingers.
And for the first time since arriving in this world—
I understood something terrifying.
The power growing inside me…
wasn't magic anymore.
It was something far worse.
And somewhere deep within the infinite darkness of space—
something ancient smiled back at me.