Chapter 396: 374 [Death is the End of All Things]
"......"
Absolute Deathantilene had no idea how to describe her feelings at that moment.
She could only stare blankly at everything unfolding before her. Although she could vaguely see what was happening, her brain, contrary to her excellent dynamic vision and senses, seemed to refuse to accept this information, presenting a state of blankness.
There was only one thing she could understand.
That was, the scene unfolding before her eyes was an extraordinary situation that she could never have imagined under normal circumstances.
The terrifying group of monsters that had filled her with fear and even despair, in front of a boy who wore no armor and carried only a sword, was effortlessly disintegrated.
The boy, who had been like the God of Thunder, had now become the Fire God. Carrying flames that could purify all evil, he slashed through the powerful monsters that symbolized terror, one by one.
No, it wasn’t the Fire God, but the Sun God.
Only the sun, which could drive away darkness, could purify evil like this, incinerate demons, and make the rampaging monsters fall as sacrifices to the godlike sword emitting intense heat, their blood sprinkling as they plummeted from midair.
The firelight reflected in Absolute Deathantilene’s heterochromatic eyes.
The roaring fire dragon still bellowed, bathing the boy holding the divine sword in flames.
The monsters’ screams were so piercing, yet to Absolute Deathantilene’s ears, they dispelled the fear and despair in her heart.
Recognized as the guardian of humanity, at this moment, she was being protected by a boy much younger than herself, giving her a profound sense of security.
The image of Reiger, bathed in firelight and wrapped in flames, was deeply engraved in Absolute Deathantilene’s eyes, impossible to forget.
But, the battle was far from over.
"Damn it ahhh...!"
Covered in blood, her wounds burning like flames, and still sizzling, Shalltear screamed as she activated her special skill, "Time Reversal."
As time reverted, the severe wounds on Shalltear’s body began to disappear as if being wiped away, restoring her to her original state.
"Lord Ainz!"
Albedo, drenched in blood, also screamed as she activated her special skill.
As a defensive NPC character, Albedo didn’t possess the time-altering abilities that Shalltear did, but she still had a special skill to avoid defeat.
It was a special skill that could transfer all the damage she received to her armor—"Damage Transfer."
Because of this special skill, Albedo, unlike Shalltear, was not equipped with a divine weapon, but with a set of divine armor—"Hermes Trismegistus."
Hermes Trismegistus was a full-body suit of triple-layered armor, specifically designed for substantial physical durability.
When Albedo activated "Damage Transfer," if the attack exceeded the durability of the Hermes Trismegistus, the armor would begin to break from the innermost layer until all three layers were damaged, and only then would Albedo’s body sustain injuries.
Theoretically, this meant Albedo could withstand three attacks of limitless power without any damage to her body.
Now, Albedo had activated this special skill, transferring the damage to her armor.
"Bang!"
With the sound of shattering coming from within the armor, Albedo’s severe wounds quickly healed, and she appeared completely unharmed.
But Demiurge and Cocytus lacked the convenient abilities of Shalltear and Albedo.
The Breath of the Sun emitted energy akin to the sun itself, dealing massive damage to demons, causing them to suffer as if their insides were being scorched by fierce flames, gradually disintegrating their bodies beyond regeneration—it was the strongest breathing technique.
Though neither Demiurge nor Cocytus were demons, Reiger was not an ordinary user of the Breath of the Sun. Not only did he have a special ability to attack evil beings, but because of his skill "Pioneer of the Solar Wheel," he had essentially acquired a spiritual physique that humans shouldn’t possess, aligning him with naturally born spirits.
In using the Breath of the Sun, the solar energy Reiger released along with the special ability brought by "Pioneer of the Solar Wheel" had a purifying effect. Combined with the power of the hermit’s divine sword, without special abilities like Shalltear and Albedo to potentially overturn their own defeat, the damage was truly no joke.
Thus, the two guardians were directly smashed from the sky onto the ground, creating two deep, dust-filled pits and staining the ground beneath them red.
As an insectoid, Cocytus was still hanging on, but as a demon, Demiurge, undoubtedly an evil race, had suffered immense damage, reducing his life to a critical state, barely clinging to life.
"Cocytus!"
"Demiurge!"
Shalltear and Albedo watched this scene, their eyes widening as they once again lost their rationality.
If even they were affected like this, there was no need to mention Ainz, who valued everything in Nazarick most. His forced calm had completely failed.
"Skill!"
Still being scorched by flames, Ainz endured the pain and roared loudly.
"’Death is the End of All Things’!"
When this voice, like a devil’s chant from hell, reverberated throughout the space, a chill ran through everyone’s hearts.
Including Reiger, it was the same for him.
"Finally, he has used it."
Reiger abruptly turned, looking toward Ainz.
Hanging in mid-air behind Ainz, a golden life-sized clock face appeared.
"Click—click—"
It was the sound of the clock’s hands moving.
The hands on the clock face began to move, tick by tick, slowly heading towards twelve o’clock.
Clearly, when the hands on the clock reached twelve, Ainz’s ultimate skill would activate.
In "YGGDRASIL," there was a saying used to describe this ultimate skill.
"Only the true ruler of death, who exhausts death itself, can use this skill that devours all life like an eclipse."
This was the power Ainz was about to unleash, a special skill usable only once every one hundred hours that allowed him to ignore anyone’s resistance to instant death, making all beings susceptible to death instantly—[Death is the Endpoint of All Things].
With this special skill activated, Ainz became the most terrifying necromancer Magic Singer, capable of instantaneously killing even inanimate objects with his death magic.
"[Magic Effect Amplification·Banshee Scream]!"
Following Ainz’s unhesitant chant, a wave-like ripple of sound, reminiscent of a woman’s sobbing and screaming, echoed under the night sky.
[Banshee Scream], an area-of-effect instant-death magic that triggers death effects in all living beings within its range, was now cast by Ainz.
He had also expanded the range of this magic, enveloping Absolute Death within the range of the screaming soundwaves, causing a sensation as if their souls were frozen, stiffening their bodies on the spot.
Next, she would die.
Absolute Death realized this.
Even Reiger couldn’t guarantee that he could withstand Ainz’s instant death magic next.
Previously, he could withstand Ainz’s instant death magic not because he was immune to mental or physical interference, but because he possessed the highest level of developmental ability known as "Abnormal Resistance" and had resistance to dark forces due to the "Sun’s Pioneer".
Ainz’s instant-death magic effects were considered a negative state, a dark force, which were blocked by Reiger’s "Abnormal Resistance" abilities and skill resistance.
This demonstrated that Ainz’s instant-death magic effects were neither mental nor physical interference, and could not be immuned, only resisted forcibly.
And Reiger did not believe that under the effect of [Death is the Endpoint of All Things], he could still forcibly resist Ainz’s instant-death magic next.
That he could ignore anyone’s resistance to instant death, making all beings susceptible to death instantly, this was the overt effect of [Death is the Endpoint of All Things].
That meant, Reiger’s resistance to instant death was very likely to be broken through by this skill.
If so...
"Then I’ll stop you from casting it!"
Reiger activated [Higher Order Transfer] magic, preparing to teleport directly beside Ainz.
But Ainz appeared to be prepared for this.
"[Transfer Delay]!"
He cast a spell that could temporarily block teleportation magic.
This spell could interfere with teleportation magic, causing a time lag of several seconds between disappearance and appearance, and it predicted the target’s teleportation location, informing the caster where the opponent would appear.
Thanks to this, Reiger distinctly felt his teleportation delayed, not appearing immediately beside Ainz but several seconds later.
"[Hovering Mega Landmine]!"
Ainz immediately released landmine magic, causing the transparent landmine magic that sensed Reiger’s appearance to explode instantly.
"Boom!"
The explosion erupted abruptly around Ainz, not only blowing him away but also blasting the delayed Reiger a good distance away.
"Breath of the Sun..."
Reiger, who had resistance against high temperatures and fire attacks, was not injured by the landmine explosion, and was merely blasted away; he was immediately prepared to use his sword technique to continue attacking Ainz.
"Don’t think of harming Lord Ainz again!"
"Enough is enough! Lower life form!"
Just then, Shalltear and Albedo, both using teleportation magic, arrived and appeared in front of Reiger, blocking his path.
Reiger subconsciously paused.
Then, the clock behind Ainz, in that very second, completed its full rotation.
"————"
The world lost its color thereon.