Turning back around, Greg lowered his head and glanced down at the 【Dark Abyss Armament】 flowing with shadows over his body. He clenched his fist covered in the hideous gauntlet, feeling the surging power within that far surpassed before, secretly shocked in his heart.
He had completely unexpected that swallowing a finger in that lake could bring him such immense progress.
And the skill that had undergone transformation wasn't just this one!
"I thought I was going to be buried alongside you, but I didn't expect... why did your power suddenly surge so much?"
Nightmare's somewhat agitated voice suddenly resounded in Greg's mind.
"I..."
Greg originally wanted to briefly explain the terrifying things he had seen and heard in that pool of blood.
However, the moment he uttered a single syllable, his throat felt as if it were tightly choked by an invisible hand!
All descriptions concerning that blood-red space and the Red-Haired Girl were firmly locked away by an invisible force, unable to be expressed in any form!
Greg's heart sank abruptly, a chill sweeping down his spine.
This made him even more uneasy than suffering direct harm.
Because this meant that swallowing that severed finger had not only brought an increase in power, but was also a mark—or rather, the rudimentary form of a contract.
That offhand promise to "take Her out" was probably... not going to be so easy to brush off as a joke.
If he failed to fulfill it, who knew what consequences the thing left in his body would eventually bring?
It seemed he had really gotten himself into deep trouble this time...
He changed his tone in his mind to Nightmare:
"...I don't know what happened specifically either. After being swallowed, I lost consciousness. When I came to, I felt my power surge immensely, as if... I broke through naturally? Maybe my potential was unlocked at the moment of life and death?"
"Unlocked potential?" Nightmare's voice was full of doubt.
"ROAR—!!!"
A roar packed with rage and mania interrupted Nightmare's further questioning.
The Thirsting Maw had already stood back up; there was no time to explain further.
Greg took a deep breath, temporarily pressing down his anxiety regarding the Mother of Fragmentation. He turned his head and said to Vivian behind him, whose breath was still unsteady:
"Leave the rest to me. You're badly injured, so rest in the back for now."
Vivian raised her head, her ice-blue eyes taking a deep look at him. The despair and emptiness from before were gone, replaced once more with calmness and resolve.
She didn't push herself, only giving a gentle nod.
Silent trust at this moment was more powerful than any words.
"BANG!!!"
Using its even more massive yet bulky mutated body, the Thirsting Maw slammed its feet onto the ground, charging toward Greg like an out-of-control flesh-and-blood chariot with a crazy momentum aimed at crushing everything! Wherever it passed, the ground cracked and rubble flew!
Greg neither dodged nor evaded. His legs covered in the 【Dark Abyss Armament】 bent slightly at the knees before forcefully exploding with power. A wave of air blasted outward beneath his feet, and his whole body shot forward head-on like a black cannonball leaving the barrel!
The two closed in instantly!
The Thirsting Maw's split, massive flesh petals opened to their limit once more. The spiral teeth and purple-black fleshy tongue inside quivered frantically as destructive energy converged wildly within.
"ROAR!!!!"
It let out a massive roar, causing the surrounding space to vibrate slightly.
But this time, the black armor on Greg was unaffected in the slightest, let alone breaking directly as before.
"Did you really think the same trick would work a second time on your Dark Saint Lord!?!"
With a low shout, Greg twisted his waist and drove his shoulder forward. His right fist, covered in the 【Dark Abyss Armament】, carried a momentum that seemed capable of smashing through any obstacle ahead as it struck heavily against the inner side of one of the Thirsting Maw's flesh petals!
"BANG—!!!"
As if hit head-on by an invisible giant hammer, the Thirsting Maw's massive body flew backward at a speed even faster than when it had charged!
Its giant body crashed with a loud thud into the headless stone statue of the Mother of Fragmentation behind it, which was already in ruins.
Under this impact, the ancient stone statue that had already suffered severe damage completely shattered into a ground full of rubble, half-burying it.
Moments later, the rubble rolled.
The Thirsting Maw struggled and crawled back up from the ruins.
But it immediately noticed that the fleshy throat petal Greg's fist had just struck now displayed a bizarre dead-gray color, completely losing vitality and sensation as it hung limply down, as though all life force and energy inside had been utterly devoured in an instant.
"Hiss... Roar... #%&!"
It let out a screech in the Ancient Language mixed with pain, fury, and unintelligible meaning. Its remaining flesh petals spread wide open to their limits simultaneously, frantically drawing on the thin mana in the surrounding space without regard for anything, even burning its own life essence to begin channeling its final and most powerful 【Fragmentation Screech】!
Dark red energy converged deep in its throat, spatial cracks multiplied in the surroundings, and the entire prayer hall began to tremble!
Although he couldn't use the Silent Covenant to nullify it this time, Greg wasn't flustered in the slightest.
Suddenly, a ball of black, extremely ominous flame appeared in his hand. This was dark-attribute magic evolved from Void Erosion: [LV3 World-Devouring Black Flame].
Its effect was: It could inflict additional mana-draining debuffs during the original debuff accumulation process while dealing a small amount of fire damage.
He threw the black flame in his hand directly toward the Thirsting Maw, which was still channeling.
Upon hitting, it wrapped around its entire massive body and began to burn fiercely.
Though it was in agony, the Thirsting Maw did not stop channeling because of it.
Meanwhile, Greg had already dispelled the Dark Abyss Armament, crossing his arms over his chest as he quietly watched it perform alone.
Within the Thirsting Maw's chaotic consciousness, it seemed to understand this contempt; its already chaotic rage and madness were instantly ignited to the extreme!
It aimed all of its destructive energy—enough to reduce the entire hall to dust—at that black figure standing with crossed arms, and then—
"ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR ROAR—!!!!!!!"
A massive wave of sound swept toward Greg, but...
It was merely a wave of sound, containing not even a single trace of any other power.
After the roar abruptly ended, Greg hadn't suffered a single injury, nor had his feet moved even an inch from where he stood.
Meanwhile, the Thirsting Maw's split flesh petals hung down limply. Its giant body trembled violently from power overexertion and skill backlash before crashing heavily to its knees.
It tried to gather power once more, but its interior was completely empty, with hardly even enough energy left to maintain basic life functions.
Only then did Greg unhurriedly retract the black flames, glancing at the system prompt that had been floating in the corner of his vision:
[Target has fallen into "Mana Attrition"!]
[Target has fallen into "Mana Drain"!]
[Target has fallen into "Mana Disorder"!]
[Target has fallen into "Mana Depletion"!]
"Heh, maxing out the debuffs from 【World-Devouring Black Flame】 completely drained your mana bar."
"Without mana, even the most terrifying skill can't produce a single bit of effect."
No longer looking at the dying monster, he turned around and walked with steady steps to Vivian, whose breath had calmed down significantly.
Then, he extended his hand.
"Can you still move?"
His voice held a reassuring warmth:
"The final blow—let's do it together."
Although he had made it in time, he had almost gotten her killed after all, so Greg felt it was only right to give her a bit of extra compensation.
"..."
Vivian was stunned.
The tall figure extending a hand to her slowly overlapped with a distant memory deep within her mind.
Back then, she had hesitated, and in the end, she hadn't taken that hand.
But now—
A very faint yet genuine smile slowly appeared on Vivian's pale face.
Then, she raised her somewhat cold hand, still bearing bloodstains and dust, and gently took hold of that large hand.
The soft touch coming from his palm seemed to carry warmth capable of dispersing all haze.
Exerting a bit of force, Greg pulled her steadily up from the ground.
Side by side, the two walked toward the Thirsting Maw, which couldn't even manage to struggle anymore.
Vivian raised her other hand. Ice-blue mana flowed once again—though weak, it was exceptionally condensed.
A crystal-clear ice longsword rapidly took shape in her hand.
Holding her hand, Greg guided the ice sword, aiming it at the Thirsting Maw's final core of life.
"Pfft."
Cleanly and decisively, the ice sword pierced into the core of twisted flesh.
The Thirsting Maw's massive body convulsed violently, letting out a hiss like a sigh, before all vitality vanished in an instant.
As if all support had been pulled out, that mutated body went completely limp, its color rapidly shriveling until it finally turned into a pool of dark red ash that continuously evaporated.
Golden text suddenly floated clearly in the center of Greg's vision:
【Redemption of the Villainous Noble: Phase Two Complete! Phase Three Pending Unlock.】
Rate on N.U.
