CHAPTER 63

Transcendent

The Demon Lord who now stands before Seiya is a new life-form that can only take physical damage.

“Dark Assault.”

Ultimaeus draws back his fist, which is enshrouded in a black mist. It’s clear his arm is infused with Chain Destruction. While I expected such a large monster to move sluggishly, I blink, and he’s already standing before Seiya with his arm raised.

Wh-what speed! Seiya…!

But Ultimaeus only passes through air. Seiya has vanished as well.

“He dodged…,” Ultimaeus mutters.

I follow his eyes and see Seiya off in the distance, taking a deep breath and then exhaling.

“Berserk: Phase 2.7.”

He’s raised his berserker phase to its highest level! He becomes cloaked in a dark-red aura overflowing from his body.

“Oh? Your aura has grown even stronger. So that’s how you defeated Grandleon.”

Seiya and Ultimaeus face each other, waiting for a chance to strike…and then, they both vanish. A clash rings out in the distance, causing Kiriko and me to jump. I can only see snippets of their battle. One moment, I see Seiya dodging Ultimaeus’s punch. The next, I see Ultimaeus blocking Seiya’s fist with his arm. With every passing blow, their attacks become faster and faster until all I can see are two clashing red and black blurs.

Then, after a particularly loud crash, they snap back into view and face each other from separate parts of the room. Confirming that Seiya is okay with my own eyes, I let out a sigh of relief. Meanwhile, Ultimaeus’s arms seem to have turned a dark-reddish color.

“I’m impressed you were able to damage my body, even with its iron defense. How did you do it?”

“I applied moves I learned from the Goddess of Destruction, which work only after surpassing the target’s defense.”

“Interesting. Very interesting. It appears I’ll have to get serious, then.”

Ultimaeus’s body starts to change! The skin below his arms begins swelling until two new, bloody arms tear their way out of his body. Our eyes shoot open wide at the sight of the four-armed beast.

“Tsk…! The Hero was already struggling, yet the Demon Lord wasn’t even using his full power!”

I get a bad feeling in my stomach as Ultimaeus fiercely charges the Hero!

Seiya…!

As the two auras meet once again, I hear a collision unlike any other. My heart pounds against my chest as I wait to see what happened. The first to come into view is Seiya.

Th-thank goodness he’s okay… Wait! Is that…?!

I’m shocked by what I see in Seiya’s hand. It’s a silver, glittering sword with a saw-like blade.

That’s Seiya’s killer sword.

“H-he did it!”

Jonde, standing by my side, marvels at the sight, so I look back at Ultimaeus and see…he doesn’t have a head! It’s rolling on the ground by his feet as violet blood spews from his neck.

I can’t believe it! Seiya cut off Ultimaeus’s head with the killer sword!

…Wait! He used a sword?! Ultimaeus said this was supposed to be hand-to-hand combat! W-well, if the sword worked, then it worked! Who cares about some silly rule the Demon Lord made?

“Heh-heh-heh. What a cruel man you are.”

In spite of everything that’s happened, the Demon Lord laughs, which causes fresh goose bumps to dot my skin. The head rolling on the floor cackles as it speaks to Seiya. The headless body then picks up its head and places it back on its neck. The flesh seamlessly knits itself back together.

“What…?! Are Seiya’s attacks not affecting him?!” I scream.

Aloof as always, Seiya replies:

“I’ve already killed the Demon Lord several times, but he possesses multiple lives.”

Ultimaeus only had two lives last time! Now that he’s more powerful, it seems he has even more!

Seiya continues speaking like it isn’t a big deal.

“The number of lives you have matters little.”

“Hmph. You’re rather confident, I see. I will offer three lives to the Dark God, then.”

Wh-what?! He’s going to transform again?!

“Stage Three—Defined Domain: Ghost.”

The flesh melts off Ultimaeus’s muscle-bound frame until he is nothing more than a jet-black skeleton with horns. His new form looks extremely familiar. In a way, it looks almost identical to the Death Emperor Sirrusht’s final form.

“Only spirit attacks will affect me now… Oh, and let me increase my domain another stage so you won’t be able to use the same trick on me.”

Huh?! Wh-what did he just say?!

The Demon Lord raises his skeleton hand high into the air.

“Furthermore, I shall offer four more lives to the Dark God.”

Ultimaeus’s sternum opens up with a creak, revealing another horned skull inside! It’s as if he combined the Death Emperor’s appearance with the Vengeful Empress’s wickedness. The skull inside his sternum cackles.

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh! Stage Four—Defined Domain: Curse!”

“Hmm.” Seiya grunts while looking at his killer sword. Thousands of years seem to pass by in seconds as the blade rusts and starts to disintegrate. The rot travels down to the grip until the entire sword turns into dust.

“Destroy, destroy, destroy! Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh! All your weapons have been destroyed!”

The skull in the chest continues cackling.

“S-Seiya’s sword…!”

“Don’t worry, Goddess! The Hero has many spares for this sort of scenario!”

“O-oh yeah!”

“I’ll grab you another!”

Jonde turns to fetch the Hero a fresh weapon, but Kiriko is already behind him shaking her head and shaking the item pouch while holding it upside down.

“J-Jonde, all of the swords… Even the spares’ spares’ spares are gone!”

“Impossible…!”

“Heh-heh-heh-heh-heh! I told you all of your weapons have been destroyed! That’s what Defined Domain: Curse does! Ha-ha-ha-ha-haaaa!”

“A-an ability that makes all weapons disappear?! How cheap can you get, you coward?!” I scream, unable to hold back, but it isn’t the skull in his chest that responds. It’s the Demon Lord himself.

“Heh-heh-heh. That’s payback for earlier.”

He then gets into his attack stance, extending his skeleton arms at Seiya. A dull sound echoes as both arms transform into sharp blades.

“I still have a weapon, though. These are the swords—the Bone Glaives—I will use to end you, Hero.”

Ultimaeus takes an offensive posture after his arms finish transforming. Sweat drips off my cheeks and lands on the floor.

Seiya used Drain: Charged Attack, then Ghost Buster Overdrive to defeat the Death Emperor’s final form, but he won’t be able to use it this time without a weapon! Can he even fight like this?!

As Ultimaeus charges toward the unarmed Hero, Seiya swiftly raises his right arm into the air.

“Fourth Valkyrja: Astral Break.”

An Astral Chain emerges from his palm. It extends while forming multiple arches as it floats around Seiya’s body to protect him.

“Using spiritual magic to defend, hmm? However…”

Ultimaeus closes the distance between them before swinging his arm like a sword. While the chain ends up saving Seiya from a direct attack, the Demon Lord’s blade easily cuts through it like butter.

“You cannot defend against my Bone Glaives’ half-spiritual, half-physical attacks with that. You won’t be able to damage this body, either, of course.”

Ultimaeus’s voice oozes with confidence, but I notice that the chain, which I thought had been severed, is still floating in the air. It curls around a Bone Glaive like a snake and constricts his arm.

“Hmph. Enough with your petty tricks.”

“It isn’t a petty trick.”

Seiya then snaps his fingers, causing a chain of destruction to appear by the Demon Lord’s feet, which binds itself around his ankle.

“The second our battle started, I’ve been using every spare moment to lay this trap. There’s nothing petty about it.”

Chains materialize on the floor, walls, pillars—every single surface in the Demon Lord’s throne room. The chains of destruction coil around Ultimaeus’s arms, legs, torso, and even his neck. New chains then wrap around the old ones, despite the fact that he can’t even move. It’s just like when Seiya firmly bound Celemonic to defeat her. Seiya stares the Demon Lord dead in the eyes as he is cocooned.

“From now on, I’m going to grant my spiritual energy to Chain Destruction, which I learned training under Nephitet.”

A white mist creeps from Seiya’s body and spreads a few meters around him. I shudder.

“Wh-what power! Your spiritual energy is even stronger than when you fought the Death Emperor!”

“I haven’t missed a day of spirit training ever since Nephitet trained me. Incidentally, I took first place at the Best Astral Body Competition for lean and toned athletes the other day while we were in the spirit world.”

“…?! You entered that contest after all?!”

I clearly remember him mocking me and saying, “Do you seriously think I have time for that?” when I asked! Even though I’m dumbstruck, Seiya’s spiritual energy must have been really amazing to get first place at the contest.

“Astral Break: Revised.”

The spiritual energy being emitted from Seiya’s body runs through the chains of destruction like lit fuses. The chains glitter white as a steam-like substance rises from them.

“The attack’s working! So you’re going to be able to disintegrate him like you did with Celemonic, right?!”

“No, things are different this time. Spiritual energy alone probably isn’t enough to destroy a half-spiritual, half-physical body. That’s why…”

Seiya approaches the bound Demon Lord while he speaks.

“…I’m going to punch him.”

“You’re what?!”

Seiya draws back his arm and starts pummeling the chained Demon Lord. Deeply contrasting his calm demeanor, his every relentless punch causes the cocoon of chains to tremble. He’s abusing it like a worn-out punching bag with his increased berserker power.

He finishes with a powerful high kick that sends the bound Demon Lord flying into a pillar. After he removes Astral Break, the chains vanish, revealing that the Demon Lord is nowhere in sight.

“You vaporized him!”

“Did the Hero win?!”

Jonde and I strain our voices, but Kiriko points at something.

“L-look over there! Ultimaeus is…!”

…Clapping. Before anyone even realized it, Ultimaeus was slowly clapping on the throne in the back. I stare at him with a look of utter amazement. The Demon Lord is holding a staff and wearing the same clothes he did when we first met him.

“Magic, hand-to-hand combat, spiritual energy—all of it has exceeded my expectations.”

Still sitting in his throne, Ultimaeus gives Seiya an admiring smirk.

“Rejoice, Hero. You have defeated the Demon Lord Ultimaeus.”

“Wh-what do you mean ‘defeated’?! You’re still alive!”

“Heh-heh-heh… I suppose I should say, ‘You defeated the Demon Lord before he received advice from the Dark God and fell into a deep slumber.’ We are in unprecedented territory now.”

Ultimaeus slowly rises from his throne.

“I offer five lives.”

Ack! What in the world is he going to turn into now?! Seiya doesn’t even have a weapon anymore!

“Stage Five—Defined Domain: Infinity.”

Ultimaeus begins glowing like the sun. It’s so bright that I can’t look directly at him… And it’s not just bright.

“Mmm…!”

“I-it’s so hot…!”

Jonde and Kiriko groan in agony.

Th-this is clearly different from Ultimaeus’s other forms! What’s going on?!

I squint to catch a glimpse of what is happening, but what I see sends a chill down my spine. In the light, white swan-like wings spread from Ultimaeus’s back!

Th-this aura…! It’s almost like he’s…!

I can’t believe what I’m seeing, but the aura flowing from Ultimaeus’s body is all too familiar to me. It’s something I have felt countless times in the unified spirit world.

“D-divine energy?! Th-this can’t be happening!”

Ultimaeus, radiating a divine aura just like a high-level deity in the spirit world, sternly announces:

“I am the God Emperor Ultimaeus. The demon’s power has warped my very existence as a Demon Lord.”

Jonde closes his eyes in the blinding light and clicks his tongue.

“Tsk! Damnable Demon Lord…! The scumbag thinks he’s a god now…!”

“Jonde… No, he’s… That’s…”

My voice trembles as I continue.

“That divine energy is real…! Ultimaeus really has become a god!”

“Wh-what?! Impossible!”

Ultimaeus smirks.

“Now that I’ve achieved divinity, the only thing that could possibly damage me is a dark-type weapon, which unfortunately cannot be used by humans. Then again, you no longer possess any weapons, regardless.”

Ultimaeus knows we have no way to defeat him, especially after Defined Domain: Curse destroyed all of Seiya’s weapons. That’s why he’s so calm. Ultimaeus slowly approaches us.

I-is defeating him even possible now?!

“S-Seiya…!”

I shift my eyes toward where Seiya was standing, but he’s no longer there.

Wh-where did he go?!

The Hero has vanished into thin air, and before I even realize it, Ultimaeus is already standing right in front of me.

“Eek?!”

“The Hero appears to have gone into hiding. No, he is probably coming up with some sort of plan—a futile ploy to defeat me, no doubt.”

I try to run away but can’t move for some reason.

“Now, my kin, it is time to become part of my power.”

I’m not your family! is what I try to scream, but my voice is gone. Unbeknownst to me, my divine aura was being swallowed by Ultimaeus’s, as if it were being assimilated. I’m…losing strength. My mind goes blank. Lacking the energy to resist anymore, I sink to the floor.

“R-Rista!”

“Goddess!”

Kiriko and Jonde scream my name, but Ultimaeus’s divine aura is making it impossible for them to get any closer as I gradually lose consciousness.

O-oh… So this is how I die. Seiya predicted this would happen, which is why he was waiting for me to come to terms with it and prepare myself in the spirit world.

I’m not afraid to die, but I’m worried. Can Seiya defeat Ultimaeus now that he’s a god? He did say he was perfectly prepared before we left the spirit world, though. That has to mean there’s a chance he’ll win, no matter how small.

Good luck after I’m gone… I’m counting on you, Seiya…

I close my eyes, praying for Seiya’s victory when…

“Gwah!”

I hear a deep grunt, and my sapped energy returns.

Wh-what’s going on?!

I open my eyes to find Ultimaeus’s face contorting as Seiya stands before me with a sword in hand.

“This body can still take damage even after becoming a god…?”

Ultimaeus clutches his chest. He looks unnerved for the first time since their fight began.

“A dark-type weapon…? Impossible…! There shouldn’t even be any weapons here! All your weapons should have turned to dust!”

But for some reason, Seiya is holding a sword with a dark-crimson blade. I can’t process what’s going on, either! Seiya calmly explains:

“I considered the possibility I might lose all weapons effective against Ultimaeus before or during the battle, so I hid this here.”

“You what?! Wh-when?!”

“One year ago.”

“…What?”

“To be more precise, it was when Celemonic put a curse on you and Chronoa reversed time.”

“You mean when we went back in time?!”

“Yes. There was plenty of reason to believe the final battle would be fought in the throne room again, so it would have been a waste not to use the time-traveling opportunity to my advantage. I wouldn’t have been able to sneak inside the throne room otherwise.”

D-does that mean he was already preparing for the final battle when I was about to die because of Celemonic’s curse…? When I was bawling my eyes out, he was comforting Princess Tiana…and calculatingly hiding a weapon in the Demon Lord’s throne room?!

“Incidentally, I hid everything in that pillar. While it goes without saying that I hid weapons of every elemental type, I also included kits for Synthesis from raw materials just in case all my weapons became unusable for some reason.”

“Synthesis kits, too?!”

“I temporarily dismantled a Dark God’s Amulet and a Drain Sword and turned them back into raw materials, which came in handy this time.”

“W-wait! Then the sword you’re using—”

“Yes, and I was able to improve it by adding the Ristarte Hair Doll to the item Synthesis. I call it…”

Seiya points the tip of the dark-crimson blade at Ultimaeus.

“The Holy Power Draining Sword: Revised—also known as the Great Granny Rista Sword.”

“What kind of name is that?! It makes me sound like I’m a really old lady!”

“More importantly, Rista, stand back. The Great Granny Rista Sword’s power to absorb divine energy is incredible. Not only will it turn you into an old woman, you’ll probably die almost instantly.”

“Eek!”

After I leap as far away from Seiya as I can, I cast a glance at Ultimaeus.

This sword would work on Ultimaeus even though he’s a god! How does it feel, Ultimaeus? I bet you weren’t expecting the Hero to go back in time and make a comeback! This is Seiya Ryuuguuin!

Every enemy Seiya has ever faced has been taken aback and flustered by just how overly cautious he is, so I was sure Ultimaeus would be panicking and confused by now, but…

“You even prepared a sword that can absorb divine energy and defeat Defined Domain: Infinity. I can see why that demon was so worried about you. It’s as if you are a completely different person from the Hero I vanquished a year ago.”

Ultimaeus grins audaciously.

“Nevertheless, you still cannot defeat me.”

Wh-where is that confidence coming from?! He was hurt even after becoming a god…!

“Allow me to show you something. After becoming a god, I can learn what you may call my ‘ultimate attack’ by offering the rest of my lives to that Dark God. While I will only be able to use it once…I will possess the ability to briefly stop time.”

“‘S-stop time’?!”

What?! Ultimaeus can use a skill that only the Goddess of Time, Chronoa, can use?! That’s impossible… B-but he seems so confident! And I doubt he would bluff about something like that now!

“I offer my last six lives.”

“S-stop him!!”

Jonde shouts. No matter how strong or cautious Seiya is, he will be helpless if Ultimaeus stops time! But Ultimaeus is already raising his arms high into the air!

“It’s too late! Stage Six! Defined Domain: Time Traveler!”

No…! Don’t tell me… Don’t tell me the Demon Lord can really stop time…!

To become a god and control time and space—this is why the Demon Lord fell into a deep slumber. He wanted to make sure he could kill the Hero without a shadow of a doubt.

I tremble before the Demon Lord’s obsession with victory. Seiya, Kiriko, Jonde, and I probably won’t even recognize we’re dead because Ultimaeus is going to kill us after stopping time. Despair draws closer, and then…

“Why…?”

Ultimaeus’s voice echoes. Cracks runs down his arms raised toward the ceiling, and his face violently twists.

“Why?! Why won’t Defined Domain: Time Traveler work?!”

“You said it was already too late. And you weren’t wrong. It was too late…for you.”

Seiya speaks with his usual emotionless tone.

“Anti-Clock Field went into effect the minute I stepped inside this throne room.”

“A-are you saying you can control space and time as well?!”

Jonde and I exchange glances. I face Seiya once more and yell:

“Wait! Seiya?! I thought Chronoa said humans couldn’t manipulate time!”

“She did. However, I was able to learn a skill that ensures the enemy can’t, either. That’s what I studied while training under her. As long as Anti-Clock Field is in effect, Ultimaeus cannot stop, reverse, or advance time.”

“Hero…! Does that mean you even predicted that the Demon Lord was going to attempt to stop time during the final battle?!”

“Ultimaeus was trying to become invincible, and there actually aren’t that many ways to do that when you think about it. It essentially boils down to eternal life, nullifying both magic and physical attacks, and manipulating time. So I prepared for each of these options.”

Seiya slowly approaches the Demon Lord.

“Th-this… This can’t be happening…!”

Ultimaeus’s attitude does a one-eighty. His face turns pale, and he is clearly panicking as he backs away from Seiya. I watch the Hero with bated breath.

The Demon Lord became a god and even tried to stop time…yet Seiya was still able to prepare for every eventuality.

I’m so blown away that my lips naturally curl into a smile. He’s always a step ahead of the enemy! Seiya has overcome his past failure, considered every possibility, and made sure to prepare for absolutely everything! All that he has done has been in preparation for this day!

Ultimaeus turns and tries to escape, but Seiya is already in front of him.

“Atomic Split Slash.”

While in Berserk Mode, Seiya uses an earth skill with a sword that absorbs divine energy— The unparalleled attack slides right between Ultimaeus’s brows, followed by an explosion. The floor in the throne room shatters along with it.

“Gwaaaaaah!”

Ultimaeus grabs his head and howls in agony. A crack appears on his forehead, then spreads down the rest of his body. His insides expand, and his cheeks tear open. Before long, he has transformed into a monster with multiple arms. The giant beast draws ragged breaths. However, this isn’t a new form. This is Ultimaeus’s true form, which Seiya drew out with his attack. The Demon Lord has returned to the same hideous beast we saw in the crystal ball. Seiya glares at the monster.

“It looks like I won’t have to use Gate of Valhalla this time.”