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Translator: Vine
Chapter Title: The Final Stand
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Thud!

The Star-Light Chimera Apostle, as vast as the sky, finally collapsed, unable to withstand the relentless assault.

Above its collapsing body,

the boys and girls cheered in unison.

It was a cheer offered to the Goddess by those who had brilliantly broken through to the final floor of the Demonic Palace—a place they had once thought unreachable.

Amidst the resounding cheers, five figures gathered.

Isabel Luna.
Sharin Sazares.
Seron Parmia.
Nikita Cynthia.
Iris Hysirion.

As they gathered, the cheers slowly subsided.
Instead, everyone watched the path they were about to take.

The five women advanced forward.
Their steps finally halted at the Abyssal Lord's Gate.

Isabel had seen this gate long ago.
The unsettling aura seeping from within still sent shivers down her spine and constricted her body.

A feeling surged within her that this gate must never be opened.
The other four felt the same.

The Abyssal Lord's power instinctively provoked revulsion.

"What are you chickening out for?!"

Everyone agreed with Seron's shout.

They had desperately descended through the Demonic Palace to reach this place.
No one here was afraid; instead, they straightened their backs with dignity.

"Let's free Prince Sweet Potato safely!"

At that moment, Card's voice echoed from behind them.
And it wasn't just Card.

"That's right, you can do it!"
"We brought you this far. If you can't win, we'll jump in next time."
"Stay strong!"
"Just a little further!"

One by one, the children lent their voices, giving them strength.
That strength pushed their shoulders forward more powerfully than anything else in the world.

The five women straightened their backs.
Though their lives and times lived were different, their resolve was the same.

To defeat the Abyssal Lord and save him.
With that shared determination, they all placed their hands on the Abyssal Lord's Gate.

"Open."

At Isabel's signal, they all put all their strength into their arms.

Rumble!

At that moment, the gate began to open, and black mist flowed out from within.
Simultaneously, Sharin, who had her hand on the gate, flinched.

"Wai—wait!"

She looked up, seeing something in the air.

"Wait—"

But before Sharin's voice could reach them, a pitch-black hand burst through the gate.

It was an unexpected moment for everyone.
Only Iris drew her sword and swung it.

Clang!

But it only left a scratch, and the black hand snatched Isabel.
Isabel unfurled her wings, but the black hand pulled her inward faster.

CRASH!

As Isabel was dragged inside, the gate slammed shut.
Nikita's sword, Sharin's magic, and Seron's axe were all swung too late; the gate was completely sealed.

Everyone stood there, dumbfounded.

"Lin!"

But there was no time to be dazed.
Sharin immediately channeled her divine authority and shouted.

"Break it open! It's the Abyssal Lord! The Abyssal Lord has returned to the Demonic Palace!"

A message Zenia had managed to send, piercing through the Abyssal Lord's magic and the twisted space, had reached Sharin: the Abyssal Lord had returned to the Demonic Palace.

Their eyes widened, and they drew their weapons in unison.
They had to open the Abyssal Lord's Gate before Isabel was harmed.

***

Inside the Abyssal Lord's domain.
Isabel boosted the output of her Goddess's Wings and shook off the black hand.

Thud.

Landing on the ground, she caught her breath.
Then, she looked up, and the interior strangely resembled outer space.

It was a bizarre cosmic space, just like during Zenia's rampage in the past.

Isabel's eyes landed on the place where the black hand had extended from.
There, a pitch-black figure with long, dangling arms stood.

A chill.

Isabel gritted her teeth against the chill rising from her gut.

She knew instinctively.
That was the Abyssal Lord.

A divine being fallen from the heavens.
The immense presence emanating from it was enough to muddle Isabel's mind.

Thus, Isabel unfurled her wings even more.
It was her will to never crumble under the Abyssal Lord's pressure.

Soon, a red eye began to appear on the Abyssal Lord's form.

A single, massive eye, large enough to fill its entire face.
It stared intently at Isabel.

"How utterly tiresome."

Immediately, the Abyssal Lord's voice echoed.

"Not content with casting me down from the heavens, you torment me like this, using mere creations. I don't know why the Goddess has such little decency."

Isabel was the most dangerous existence to the Abyssal Lord.

The Goddess's Wings.
The Goddess's Warrior, directly blessed by the Goddess herself, was created solely to defeat the Abyssal Lord.

Naturally, she was a threat to the Abyssal Lord.

"But a mere creation remains a mere creation..."
"Stop blabbering and give him back."

Isabel cut off the Abyssal Lord's words, revealing her deep anger.

There was only one reason she had come here.
To reclaim Vikamen.

At her shout, the Abyssal Lord squinted its eye.

"What are you speaking of?"

Instead, it raised a long arm from within its form.
Immediately, its finger transformed into Vikamen's head.

Isabel's eyes widened.

"Are you referring to this, already disintegrated by me?"

But her eyes didn't waver.

"Don't try to deceive me with your lies."

Instead, her Goddess's Wings shone even more brilliantly.

"Do you think he would lose to something like you?"

Isabel knew Vikamen well.
And she trusted him more than anyone.

Vikamen would never be defeated by the Abyssal Lord.
This was an unshakeable conviction.

The Abyssal Lord stared at Isabel for a moment.
It also realized that no matter what it said, it couldn't shake the Goddess's Warrior.

So, it crushed the illusionary head of Vikamen.

"Very well."

The Abyssal Lord's eye curved.

"Then, prove it."

The cosmos twisted.
At the same time, darkness surged in from all directions.

A dense darkness, without a single gap.
Isabel swung her sword towards the encroaching darkness.

The blessing seeping from the Goddess's Wings fully imbued Isabel's sword.
The brilliant light directly clashed with the darkness.

BOOM!

Even though it was formless darkness and light, a thunderous roar echoed.
Isabel boosted her output even further, piercing through the darkness and advancing.

Her goal was to reach the Abyssal Lord.
But the Abyssal Lord moved freely within the darkness.

It could attack Isabel from all directions.

Darkness suppressed Isabel.
Isabel's light pierced the darkness.
Darkness suppressed her again.
Isabel's light pierced the darkness.

This began to repeat infinitely.

An endless assault, without a single opening.
Isabel felt as if she were fighting the world itself.

But the resolve in her eyes didn't dim in the slightest.
Instead, it blazed even more brilliantly, increasing its output.

The area illuminated by light expanded.
Isabel's perceived range also increased.

However, the moment the Abyssal Lord exerted its power once more, the space she had claimed was swallowed whole.

A pure test of strength against the Abyssal Lord.
She could only madly swing her light-imbued sword.

But she was not an infinite being.
Though her Goddess's Wings shone brilliantly, her stamina was constantly being eroded.

Her breath hitched in her throat.
Her lungs felt as if they were being hammered, about to burst.
Her heart screamed.
Her muscles and bones creaked in agony.
The heat radiating from her body felt like it would melt her brain.

Yet, Isabel didn't stop swinging her sword.
She would never give up.

Time flowed.
Isabel swung her sword, over and over, in a waterfall of darkness that seemed to have no end.

CRACK!

Her sword, unable to bear the power, began to crack.
Isabel discarded her sword and forged a new one from her Goddess's Wings.

And she swung it again.

She continuously pushed through the darkness, searching for the Abyssal Lord.
But the Abyssal Lord was nowhere to be felt in the infinite cosmic space.

Instead, only the darkness she had frantically pushed back filled the space.

A small lantern.
A lantern too small to erase the world's darkness flickered.

The darkness continued to steal the lantern's power.
The lantern burned brightly, consuming itself, but the darkness was endless.

Burning things eventually come to an end.
Life is a finite existence.
Thus, it is natural for it to extinguish once everything is consumed.

On the other hand, darkness is not alive.
It is a principle that has existed since the beginning of time.

Where there is no light, darkness exists.
The lantern could push back the darkness, but it was not infinite.

CRACK!

Another cracking sound echoed.
Not only Isabel's sword, but also the brilliantly unfurled wings began to crack.

Her will still blazed.
But her body did not.

She had long since surpassed the limits her Goddess's Wings could endure.
Yet, she continued to swing her sword.

It was solely her desire to save him.

Things in the world don't always go as one wishes.
Isabel had known that for a long time.

If she could overcome things with just her will, she wouldn't have collapsed at Lucas's death.

But because of that, she knew.
People don't stand up alone.
It was by carrying the help of countless others on their backs that people rose.

Isabel swung her sword.

In the past, when she had endured to the very edge of collapse after Lucas's death,
Vikamen had led her back to life.

One cannot overcome things alone.
Because one cannot overcome things alone, one sometimes leans on others.
And that is what allows one to stand even firmer.

Isabel knew that fact better than anyone.

Isabel swung her sword again.
She endured, and endured, and endured.

The resolve in her eyes blazed fiercely amidst the flames of frenzy.
The Goddess's light enveloped her completely, shining brightly.

Her vision was blurred.
Her ears must have given out long ago, for she heard no sound.

Only darkness and light existed all around her.

Was this how she would die?
That question arose in Isabel's mind, but she didn't stop swinging her sword.

She would not abandon her faith.

That was Isabel Luna.
The mindset of the main heroine.

CRACKLE—

But regardless, her limits had reached their end.
Isabel's Goddess's Wings crumbled into dust.

It was the result of burning away even the last embers of strength within her.

Isabel's consciousness faded.
Consequently, darkness rushed over her.

Had it all been a meaningless struggle?

Isabel didn't know.
She simply gripped her sword with all the remaining power of her Goddess's Wings, trying to hold onto her consciousness until the very end.

She cried out against the darkness.

Goddess's Declaration of Victory.

For a fleeting moment, the frenzied blaze pierced through the darkness and surged forward.
The darkness quickly filled the void again, but the light reached the sky, shining brilliantly.

Isabel's body collapsed.
Soon, the darkness opened its maw to swallow her.

That is, until starlight tore through the darkness.

"Bell!"

A woman caught her collapsing body.
Isabel laboriously raised her head to look at her.

Her long-time best friend, who had now become her rival in love.
It was Sharin Sazares.

Beside her, Seron, erupting with crimson flames, pushed back the darkness.
Iris, wielding a red aura, cleaved through the darkness.
Nikita's Cold Dragon's chill froze the darkness.

The time Isabel had endured and held out for bought them the opportunity to break down the Abyssal Lord's Gate.

"We're here."

Sharin said, embracing Isabel.

"What meaning is there in your arrival?"

At that moment, the Abyssal Lord's voice echoed.

"The Goddess's Warrior, your sole hope, has exhausted all her strength."

As it said, Isabel no longer had an ounce of strength left.
The Goddess's Warrior had used up all her power.

Even with four of them, they couldn't defeat the Abyssal Lord without Isabel.
The Goddess's Warrior was that crucial, their most important card.

"Fear not the darkness."

The darkness, having swallowed the brilliant light, once again engulfed the five women.

"You will soon find peace."

Nightmares are not to be feared.
If you forget reality, even nightmares can become the most comfortable world.

"The same goes for those on the surface. They too will follow by your side."

The Abyssal Lord slowly clutched the world in its hand.
The world was trapped in its grasp, and only darkness remained.

"Embrace your rest."
"Bullshit!"

At that moment, a girl's shout rang out.
She blazed crimson flames fiercely on her axe, her eyes wide.

"I'll never give up, not even if I die! Because Prince Sweet Potato would never give up either! Prince Sweet Potato, come out right now! I know you're in there!"

Useless stubbornness.
The Abyssal Lord found her stubbornness pathetic.

"You're right."

However, only the Abyssal Lord found her pathetic.

"Senior, it's time to wake up from your nap now."

Nikita poured forth her cold energy, smiling faintly.
She was like a playful junior waking up a senior who had just fallen asleep.

"Big brother, don't just sleep by yourself. If you're going to sleep, sleep with me."

Iris cleaved through the darkness with a red aura.
She called out to him, who had protected her from nightmares for so long.

"Hubby, you're oversleeping."

Sharin's divine authority magic's starlight embroidered itself across the darkness.
The time spent with him was far more enjoyable than sleeping.

"You."

Finally, Isabel, with difficulty, squeezed out her last bit of strength.
A tiny pair of wings sprouted from her back.
They could barely be called wings anymore, but they undeniably held light.

"You must be dying to see us."

Light creates a lighthouse in the darkness.

"Wake up soon."

We're here.
Their calls reached the Abyssal Lord.

The Abyssal Lord still merely regarded them as pathetic.
Its reaction implied, "What meaning could that possibly hold?"

Vikamen, Wolfram, had ultimately been crushed within the darkness and had vanished.
His consciousness was no longer felt anywhere.

"Pitiful creatures."

"If so, I should quickly finish this and rejoin the surface."
The Abyssal Lord extended its hand to end it.

And just as it was about to bring its hand down,
it realized something had appeared at its fingertip.

The Abyssal Lord's eye slowly narrowed.
When it confirmed what it was, the Abyssal Lord finally recognized it as a ring.

A sudden, out-of-place ring.
It had never materialized such a thing, so why had a ring appeared?

The question was fleeting.

Thump—

The sound of thunder from within the dark clouds echoed from somewhere.
The Abyssal Lord slowly raised its head, following the sound.

And finally, it discovered dark clouds looming within the darkness.

The moment it wondered what it could be,

deep within its body,
someone buried within the darkness forcefully raised their hand.
Come, Lightning Caller.
A lightning bolt pierced through the darkness.

Chapter 278