Zémira: "It is through the love I bear for Erasa that I will grant her an immense chance of victory."
Zémira released again a phenomenal amount of aura, which poured all around Erasa, enveloping her completely.
Erasa: "Wow… It's warm and gentle. Maybe it's a bit cheating, but oh well!"
Seeing this aura burst from Erasa's body, Gilead thought she did not control it. He ignored that this energy was actually Zémira's, reflected onto her.
Erasa rushed at Gilead at lightning speed. He reinforced his multidimensional defenses but still took the direct impact of her fist. It was incomprehensible: normally, Erasa could never physically touch him. His multidimensional protection instantly diverted all attacks to the void. Yet this time, the blow landed.
Taking advantage, Erasa bound him with spiritual chains, then summoned diamond swords.
Gilead, stunned, opened wide eyes.
Gilead: "How is this possible? A demon… using the spiritual chains and sacred swords of the Dungeon Dragons?!"
Erasa: "I am Erasa Arlongue. And yes, I wield the powers of dragons, demons, and spirits thanks to Boaz. You thought I ignored his origins? That his source was not from the spirits?"
Gilead's face twisted with anger.
Gilead: "Impossible! Only gods control spirit powers, not demons!"
Erasa: "We demons all possess spiritual abilities. The only problem is that we don't like to use them."
Gilead: "How dare you?!"
Erasa then pointed the sacred swords of the Dungeon Dragons at him.
Erasa: "These weapons have the legend of reducing their targets to the first dimension, preventing them from ever rising higher. A god like you will then be worth no more than a one-dimensional structure. But that's not all: the Dungeon Dragons' swords lower the target to the level of their user. In other words, you will become my thing… and obey me."
Without hesitation, she pierced him with the sacred swords. Gilead's body darkened, collapsed, dissolving into a first-dimensional entity.
Erasa smiled, convinced she had won. She was about to erase her powers, but unexpectedly, Gilead exploded… for no apparent reason.
Erasa: "Where did he go?!"
Behind her, Gilead's voice rang out.
Gilead: "The effects of the dragon swords don't work on gods… Do you know why?!"
Erasa's eyes widened.
Gilead: "Because these swords submit their target to the order of the gods themselves. But gods don't need their 'being' to exist. We depend on nothing. So striking my being… has no effect on me."
Erasa: "That's… impossible!"
[Everyone has a being: gods, demons, spirits, animals, humans… Those who live by their being are immune to physical, spiritual, soul, or narrative attacks. But those who exist above their being… are immune to attacks targeting the being itself. These entities have no weaknesses and are considered invincible.]
Gilead: "Indeed. I can regenerate my being from nothing, with all it encompasses. Open your eyes, Erasa… you have lost this fight."
Erasa shook her head, murmuring to herself:
(Calm down, Erasa. Nothing is decided yet.)
Gilead: "Fool… imagining defeating me with such a simplistic attack… You must really be at your limit!"
Erasa whispered through clenched teeth:
Erasa: "Come on, Zémira… I trust you."
As Gilead lunged to erase her, Erasa vanished, reappeared right beneath him, and delivered a violent kick to his throat. She followed with a blow to his stomach, then concentrated energy in her fist and struck Gilead squarely in the face. The impact sent him hurtling light-years away from the battlefield.
Erasa: "Wow… Zémira's ability is really incredible."
Without delay, she dashed like lightning to where Gilead had landed.
She saw him sitting on the ground, but he immediately reappeared to her left.
Gilead: "None of your attacks can truly threaten me. Even those that reach my being have become insignificant."
With a gesture, he created three magic circles around Erasa.
Gilead: "Morlük Disintegration!!!"
Erasa's body disintegrated into a strange light.
Gilead: "Goodbye, Erasa. This light projected by my magic circles disintegrates even the smallest fragments of concepts… and far beyond. You will never regenerate from this."
But suddenly, Erasa reappeared and punched him violently in the face. The magic circles vanished.
Gilead: "Hurg!!"
Erasa regenerated immediately. Gilead's eyes widened.
Gilead: "That's… impossible!"
Erasa: "You're clearly not well informed. Demons transcend the laws and concepts established by you gods. Since each concept logically belongs to you, we have learned to ignore them… to the point of surpassing them. Such attacks now only tickle us."
Gilead: "That was Morlük Disintegration, idiot!!"
Erasa shrugged.
Erasa: "Whatever. In Hell, we live in an environment saturated with mana explosions, evil energy, and aura. All that disintegrates matter, makes it insignificant, turns it to smoke, even cancels magic. Yet all demons survive it without problem. We've all learned to immunize ourselves against it."
Gilead exploded with anger and shouted:
Gilead: "Demons of Hell… there's nothing more exasperating than you. You wanted to be like gods, to the point of imitating us! Manipulating matter, energy, laws in their entirety, even concepts in their totality… Those things are reserved for gods, not demons! It disgusts me! You're just vulgar imitators. Who do you think you are, wanting to be like us?!"
Erasa stared coldly before replying:
Erasa: "We don't imitate you, on the contrary… We evolve. We learn not to obey you, no matter the circumstances!"
Furious, Gilead rushed to attack Erasa. But strangely… he passed right through her as if he were a gust of wind.
Erasa, surprised-she hadn't seen it coming-simply felt Gilead's presence pass through her like an object sliding through the air.
Gilead stopped abruptly, bewildered:
Gilead: "How is this possible…?"
Erasa immediately turned and struck him without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Lilith watched the scene through a sphere, sipping a drink that looked like a mix of lava and blood-a hellish cocktail distilled from several souls captured in Hell. She seemed delighted by what was happening until her vision was interrupted by GAaron's appearance.
GAaron: "Mother… I'd like to ask you a question, or several."
Lilith, without even looking at him, replied annoyed:
Lilith: "Yes, what do you want to know?"
GAaron: "I mainly wanted to understand… Mom, what exactly is Zémira's technique?"
Lilith took a sip of her burning brew, then answered:
Lilith: "Zémira's technique mainly relies on luck… And it's extremely effective! [Zémira]"
GAaron looked up, thoughtful.
GAaron: "I don't understand… What do you mean by 'effective'?"
Lilith sighed.
Lilith: "The power of the four-leaf clover is a gift from the mythical world. Like all gifts from that world, it goes without saying that Zémira's clover ability transcends the concept that inspires it-the concept of luck-and goes far beyond. Once fully activated, it favors those it loves!"
GAaron: "So there's no way to avoid this huge farce…?"
Lilith burst out laughing.
GAaron: "Mother… What's so funny?"
Taking another sip, she replied:
Lilith: "The only total immunity to this thing is to exist as a meta-conceptual entity."
GAaron: "I'm not sure I understand…"
Lilith: "A meta-concept is much bigger than a simple concept. I'd even say: disproportionately bigger-like a god is to a human. That's an accurate comparison. Meta-concepts are notions that go beyond the universe, even beyond giant dimensions. Technically, beings that exist at this level start from OmniGod 4 and beyond. Below that… it's useless!"
GAaron laughed.
GAaron: "Haha, this god really has something to worry about… So that's the only way to escape this skill?"
Lilith shook her head.
Lilith: "No… There are others, but they're very rare. About three methods. Otherwise, you can't do anything, unless you're like Gilead, and even then. To get out of it, you'd have to use one of the means I'm telling you about. You only have two options left… because the first is impossible: being an Omnigod 2, he will suffer terribly!!"
GAaron (jealously): "Erasa… how lucky she is!"
Lilith: "Yes, but if I help her, it's for a specific purpose. Logically, I had no reason to do so…"
GAaron: "Uh… I see."
The battle still raged in Gilead's kingdom. The fighters' speed was such that they became impossible to perceive. They literally transcended time and space.
Gilead: "These demons are quite interesting to fight, I find!"
Erasa said nothing. Silently, she pulled a strange filament that wrapped around Gilead. Surprised, Gilead immediately summoned huge golden centipedes.
The colossal beasts pounced on Erasa. She then released her aura, which fully encompassed the creatures.
They were transported to a place of absolute darkness: the {Tombs of Suffering}, a typical demonic attack that deprives victims of all senses, including sight.
Unable to feel anything, even touch, and no longer able to see Erasa, the creatures were trapped.
Erasa: "Dissolution!!"
A gas rose in the darkness, dissolving the organs of the monsters summoned by Gilead.
She exited this dark place, generated by her aura, and made the centipedes, now reduced to liquid, disappear.
Gilead immediately reacted by creating strange creatures shaped from the concept of strangeness itself. He gave them form so these entities adapted to anything they perceived as "strange."
Erasa stepped back, then shouted:
Erasa: "Astral Reflection!!!"
The creatures then saw their clairvoyant eyes shattered into a thousand pieces. Unable to perceive Erasa, who was a spiritual being, they were heavily penalized.
Taking advantage, Erasa absorbed them.
Gilead: "Astral Reflection… This demonic skill destroys someone's clairvoyant eye, preventing them from seeing spiritual beings… Such horror is truly worthy of demons!!"
Erasa (coldly): "Spirits use it too!"
Gilead: "Shut up, idiot!"
He freed himself from the filaments Erasa had cast on him.
Gilead: "We mythical beings have no weaknesses. We know neither bodily fatigue, nor that of the mind, soul, or story. This fight could last millennia!"
Erasa: "No, because I will eliminate you long before that!!"
Immediately, Gilead and Erasa engaged in a furious close combat, causing enormous damage on a universal scale.
Erasa's assaults were extremely violent. Gilead couldn't dodge them, which he found strange. Conversely, Erasa easily dodged all his attacks. His blows inflicted less than 0.0005% damage.
Erasa quickly approached, chaining left, right, left, right, again and again, before delivering a violent punch to Gilead's stomach, sending him flying.
He crashed violently to the ground. Erasa, carried by the frenzy of battle, seemed unable to stop.
Erasa: "Wow… Zémira's ability is really overpowered… Since the start of the fight, I've barely used it, and yet I still have an overwhelming advantage!!"
Gilead slowly got up, his face marked by anger. His battered body regenerated immediately. He declared in a cold voice:
Gilead: "You're impressive... but I never said this fight was over."
Erasa watched him closely, trying to anticipate his intentions.
Gilead clasped his hands, concentrating a terrifying mass of energy.
Gilead: "Look at this little thank-you gift. You won't escape it. It will inevitably hit you, reach your being, and pulverize it. It's absolute destruction."
Erasa, unfazed, replied simply:
Erasa: "Go ahead. I promise not to move an inch. Believe me."
Gilead's eyes widened.
Gilead: "What??? Are you mocking me? Very well, let's see what you'll do... hurg..."
The energy he gathered visibly swelled: first the size of a house, then a hundred-story building, finally the size of an entire city. Lightning crackled around the sphere, as if panicked, ravaging everything in its path.
Gilead: "Die, demon!!!"
He unleashed the energy. The titanic projectile annihilated Gilead's kingdom, plunging it into indescribable chaos. In an instant, the sphere rushed toward Erasa.
She didn't flinch. She raised a hand, and the sphere split in two while continuing its path, destroying everything around it with devastating heat. The energy was so powerful it cracked the multifaceted reality barrier separating the world of existence from Gilead's kingdom.
The sphere crossed this barrier and entered the world of existence. Its heat made billions of billions of universes shudder before reducing them to ashes, even causing distant multiverses to disappear.
Erasa immediately grasped the gravity of the situation.
Erasa: "Damn... this attack is wreaking havoc. If I let it continue, it will end up annihilating the giant dimension!"
Gilead laughed.
Gilead: "You think you can stop it? This sphere is the inverse of the Big Bang. It erases everything, leaving only the void behind!"
The number of universes and multiverses destroyed grew exponentially.
Erasa raised her hand above her and said:
Erasa: "Absorption."
([this ability belonged to Mü Thanatos])
The energy stopped abruptly. The attack, along with the wave of destruction, was entirely absorbed. The sphere completely disappeared.
Gilead then charged at Erasa and tried a kick. She leapt and struck him squarely in the face, sending him flying in a brutal fall.
In a fraction of a second, she materialized before him.
Gilead: "Kof... kof... filthy child of the devil..." he said, spitting blood.
Erasa smiled.
Erasa: "I thought you didn't feel pain... Don't you find that strange?"
Gilead: "I don't, you little...!!!"
Erasa put on a mock thoughtful expression.
Erasa: "This fight has lasted long enough. It's time to make you disappear for good."
Gilead lowered his head, murmuring bitterly:
Gilead: "Damn... what humiliation..."
Erasa extended her right hand toward him.
Erasa: "You may be resistant, Gilead, but what use is that if you can't avoid disappearing or taking my attacks? Absorption!!"
A purple aura swirled around her hand. She looked at Gilead with a hint of empathy.
Erasa: "Say goodbye, Gilead. I'm going to absorb you, hoping you never come back."
But Gilead raised his head and shouted:
Gilead: "Useless! Even absorbed, I can materialize again, create a new being from nothing! This fight is far from over. You will die, Erasa!!"
His body gradually fragmented, like a collapsing statue. Gilead's already devastated kingdom split as well. Space, time, reality, even the ground beneath Erasa's feet cracked. The atmosphere, more apocalyptic than ever, heralded total chaos. Gilead had unleashed Hell.
Erasa: "Oh no… this doesn't smell good at all!"
Strange voids appeared, sucking in concepts and surrounding elements.
Erasa was pulled into one. Inside, colors fused, mingled, and clashed: billions of shades, some nascent, others tangled. The sight was horrific for eyes and mind. A chaotic horror, almost demonic-to the point Erasa thought she saw the work of her own father. This chaos was a source of madness, curses, and unknown diseases.
The space in which Erasa fell seemed animated by a dark will. She saw a summit tear apart, separated by gigantic hands, then turn into a blood-red sky.
Zémira: "Erasa, what is that?!" she asked, terrified.
Erasa, herself seized by fear, answered uncertainly:
Erasa: "I have no idea..."
Zémira began to tremble.
Zémira: "Erasa, I'm scared... I'm scared... I'm so scared..."
In panic, she left the spiritual zone Erasa had created and fell into her arms.
Erasa: "No, Zémira, it's dangerous here... You should have stayed in that space, you would have been safe."
Zémira snuggled against her.
Zémira: "I'm sorry, Erasa... But I'm really scared of what's happening!!"
Erasa fully understood how she felt. She was scared too. But she forced herself to stay calm.
Erasa: "Alright... Hold on, we'll try to get out of here."
She placed Zémira on her back and shielded her from the spatial distortion effects caused by the raging chaos. She accelerated... but suddenly a giant hand appeared before her and struck her full force.
Erasa hit the debris of Gilead's kingdom, floating in this void.
She quickly got up, checking on Zémira.
Erasa: "Zémira!!... Zémira!! Are you okay?!"
Zémira nodded.
Zémira: "Yes, of course, like you."
Erasa sighed, relieved.
Erasa: "Perfect. Hold on tight, Zémira."
Zémira hugged her tightly.
Zémira: "Okay!!"
Erasa looked up and saw a gigantic humanoid silhouette made of smoke… a mysterious mist with shimmering lights. It was the true form of Gilead's Fury, now anchored in the world of existence. Its mere presence altered time lines, causing irreparable damage. Everything it touched seemed doomed to destruction.
Erasa: "Hm… With my current perception, I no longer sense any universes. It's as if they no longer exist… neither in the past nor in the future. Nothing."
Zémira: "What?! So… Jérôme and the others are… dead?"
Erasa closed her eyes for a moment, then answered:
Erasa: "I hope not."
But Gilead spoke again, mocking and sinister:
Gilead: "Zémira!!! You're still alive? I thought I had already killed you… Now I understand. That's why this demon is so powerful."
Terrified, Zémira buried her face against Erasa's back, eyes closed.
Zémira: "Erasa… I'm scared. Protect me, please!"
Erasa, with a confident voice, replied:
Erasa: "Don't worry, I'm here."
Then she turned to Gilead.
Erasa: "From what you say, you already knew Zémira's powers… That's why you killed her, isn't it?"
Gilead answered without hesitation:
Gilead: "Of course. Zémira is a real problem. I eliminated her because I had glimpsed her power, even though it hadn't awakened yet. I was afraid it would… and that she would become attached to Boaz or Arlongue. With her power, she could raise a mere human to the rank of a god… or even an Omnigod 4 or higher. I don't have the luck of being meta-conceptual. Gods don't evolve… They only gain wisdom. No wonder I'm going through this trial. But you, Erasa… do you know that the true form of gods totally destroys order and appearance? How do you plan to resist it for long? I'm curious…"
With a wave of his hand, Gilead struck space. An extremely violent shock resulted, crossing time lines, pulverizing everything in its path.
Erasa barely protected herself, but immediately noticed that Zémira seemed exhausted.
Erasa: "Zémira… are you okay?"
The situation was becoming critical, chaos threatening all that remained of reality…