It’s over.

That was everyone’s thought when the terrifying flames swallowed Seol Jihu.

“Ah…. Ah…!”

“No…!”

Gasps and lamentations escaped the mouths of the allied force.

[Finally…!]

The Parasite Queen gave a smile of satisfaction.

It was then. Seol Jihu suddenly shot out of the flames, which were seemingly devouring him.

The Parasite Queen snorted. As far as she was concerned, this was only a desperate final struggle. There was no way Seol Jihu would escape after being trapped in that boundless fire.

However, the Queen’s conviction soon turned into disbelief.

Seol Jihu began to shake like a willow branch as he was shooting into the air. The flames that enveloped him from the sides brushed past him without being able to touch his body, and when Seol Jihu swung the Spear of Purity while spinning, the flames vanished into thin air.

When he turned his body halfway in the next moment, a flame that dropped from the sky narrowly grazed past him. With the Spear of Purity already on the right track, the flame was cut in half by the spear blade.

Seol Jihu continued to soar and then changed course right before he clashed with the flames that were swarming in from all sides. It was as if he drifted hard to turn a corner.

Having lost their target, the flames crashed into each other and exploded.

That wasn’t all. An intense heat rushed in from the front.

Seol Jihu did not try to dodge it. In fact, he spun even faster and jumped into the eye of the storm.

A storm brewed inside the storm. The storm of heat expanded like a balloon, unable to handle the storm that was growing inside.

Soon, the heat storm exploded. Seol Jihu appeared, doing an upright spin. The surrounding flames swirled following the direction of Seol Jihu’s spin and quickly disappeared.

[What…!?]

The Parasite Queen gasped. Her shocked eyes followed Seol Jihu’s movements.

Seol Jihu did not stop. To be more precise, he did not let even a single part of his body stay unmoving, not even for a fraction of a second.

He changed direction every time he turned his head and changed altitude every time he moved his legs. Meanwhile, he continued to shoot out reinforced sword qi with his left hand and swung the Spear of Purity with his right hand.

His body shook constantly.

Water flowed from top to bottom, in one direction only. However, going beyond flowing, the current was moving as Seol Jihu pleased. It drew a gradual curve at times, going up and abruptly falling; it seemed to turn left but then took a sudden right.

It was indeed an unnatural scene, almost like watching a fighter plane piloted by a genius shoot down dozens of enemy planes.

Seeing the flames subside gradually, the Parasite Queen’s eyes trembled faintly.

Seol Jihu’s movements had changed noticeably. Just like how a software update allowed powerful hardware to bring out its full potential, there were no superfluous movements in Seol Jihu’s fluid motion.

He almost looked like a child playing around in the fire.

Hwaaaarrrrr!

With the final bit of flame flickering off, the sky that had turned red regained its azure color. At the same time, feelings of joy and sorrow befell the two sides.

A loud cheer erupted from the ground. The incredible aerial battle was one thing, but everyone was overjoyed that Seol Jihu had overcome the Parasite Queen’s attack.

“Wheeeew.”

Seol Jihu heaved out a heavy sigh.

—See? I told you. You can do it.

Black Seol Jihu’s voice rang out in his head.

Seol Jihu nodded before gazing down. His eyes gleamed after witnessing white smoke rising from the Parasite Queen’s body.

Though she was still standing firmly on two legs, the smoke was making her body look hazy. It was proof that she had pushed herself to carry out the previous attack.

—Good, good. With this, now both sides have used their trump cards. That’s big.

‘Trump cards?’

—The Parasite Queen must have expended most of the divinity at her disposal with that attack. On the other hand, you activated Spear God for the final time.

Black Seol Jihu continued.

—What’s important is that your Spear God is still active. You’re at a clear advantage right now.

In other words, Seol Jihu now held the initiative.

—Stay on your toes. There’s no way of knowing what will happen later.

Meaning, Seol Jihu had to end this fight while Spear God was active.

‘But how long will it last…?’

Seol Jihu tensed up when he thought this battle would end soon.

Who would be the one standing at the end of this fight?

—The Parasite Queen will put up a fight until the very end...

Suddenly, his arm moved. Seol Jihu blinked. His spear blade was pointing at the allied force’s main unit.

—Use them.

“?”

—Use them as your meatshield. They should be able to buy you a few seconds at the very least.

Seol Jihu furrowed his brows. He was instinctively turned off by the proposal. However, he didn’t say anything. Though cruel, he knew it was the realistic choice.

—I know what you’re thinking, but they’re going to do it even if you say no.

Black Seol Jihu spoke, sounding pleased.

—It looks like they realized what they have to do.

It was just like he said.

Hugo, who barely recovered from the brink of death after taking the Parasite Queen’s attack, had a complicated expression.

He was scared. He was afraid. And a sense of despair filled his head as he realized it would be impossible to win.

However, his mind changed after watching Seol Jihu. His mindset had been wrong from the beginning. How could they not defeat the Parasite Queen with their numbers?

He wanted to live more than anything else. He wanted to survive this final battle, return triumphant, and lead a life in Paradise.

‘No.’

He shouldn’t have thought that way. Because the enemy wasn’t someone he could hope something like that from.

Even Seol Jihu was fighting with his life on the line, so unless he put his life at risk too, he would not be able to even set a single foot in battle.

Of course, that didn’t mean that Hugo wasn’t looking at things realistically. At this point, he fully acknowledged that he was not the Parasite Queen’s match.

Never mind fighting her, it was a question of whether he would be able to injure her.

But he didn’t care. Compared to the Parasite Queen, he was lesser than an amoeba. If he could hold a god of her caliber back for even a second, or at the very least distract her for a moment and give Seol Jihu a tiny window of opportunity… then he would have done well beyond his value.

Resolved, Hugo gripped his halberd. It was then.

“Oi, Hugo.”

Chohong, who similarly recovered from her injuries, got up while shaking off the fireflies on her body.

“We haven’t died yet, right?”

Hugo’s eyes widened.

“Then wouldn’t it be fine if we died once?”

Hearing this, Hugo grinned. It seemed Chohong thought the same thing.

“I’m a bit worried about the death penalty, but…”

Hugo nodded.

“It should be fine.”

And he spoke assertively.

“Seol promised to revive Dylan and Ian once this war ends. Then he’ll revive us too, definitely.”

“Yeah, I just can imagine the number of contribution points that bitch will provide.”

“We even acquired four divinities from this war. There should be nothing for us to worry about.”

Chohong and Hugo cackled.

“...Alright then….”

Soon, seeing the Parasite Queen stretch her hands out to the front, Chohong gripped her Thorn of Steel.

“Let’s go die.”

“Just don’t get yourself killed before you can do anything.”

“I should be saying that to you!”

Chohong and Hugo kicked off the ground simultaneously. At the same time, orbs of light gathered on the Parasite Queen’s palms. No, they stopped just as they were about to.

[Kuhuk—!]

The Parasite Queen dropped her head and coughed out a mouthful of bodily fluid. Her hands fell, and her body staggered. The steam rising from her body also became a bit thicker.

This appearance fanned the allied force’s flames. The seemingly undefeatable enemy had shown weakness.

UWAAAAAAAAAH!

Despite being afraid to even approach her before, the soldiers of the allied force began to charge toward the staggering Parasite Queen.

[Keu….]

The Parasite Queen frowned.

[Lowly insects…]

Rather than backing off, she took a step forward.

Kwang!

Her foot stomped down on the ground. The earth cracked and rumbled, and dozens of people lost their balance and fell.

[You dare to act so arrogant in my presence…!]

The Parasite Queen swung her arm. A fierce gale cut through the air and sent dozens of people flying.

She tilted her head up, howled, and then spread out her wings. The fourteen pairs of wings stretched out, curling flexibly like whips and fluttering in the air.

“Kuhuk!”

Struck squarely in the stomach, Chohong’s body bent at a ninety-degree angle as she flew back. Even that was only because of Chohong’s sturdy body. An Archer who was hit with her was cut in two halves.

“Aaaaack!”

A bone wing pierced Hugo’s thigh. It did not stop there and continued to move. With how many there were, over a dozen people were skewered in a split second.

The Parasite Queen shook her wings. Then, the ones groaning on the wings poured down on the charging enemies. An empty hole appeared wherever the wings swept through, and members of the allied force were hooked up like fish every time the wings struck down. They were then sent flying in all directions or slammed down to the ground.

Hundreds died in the blink of an eye.

Still, there were tens of thousands remaining. They rushed in like a tidal wave as soon as a gap was created, and they steadily got closer.

Eventually, they reached the Parasite Queen. Then, just as she was about to kick the soldiers who dared to point their spears at her, the Parasite Queen furrowed her brows.

A string of spiderwebs came flying in from the left, binding her legs. A reinforced sword qi emanating the power of holy water was flying in from the back. That wasn’t all.

[You!]

The Parasite Queen instantly raised her arm and clenched her fist.

[You dare!]

“Ack…!”

Eun Yuri, who was preparing a spell in the sky above her, flinched. Despite being a long distance away, she felt the sensation of being squeezed by a terrifying pressure.

Feeling like she would be squeezed to a pulp at this rate, she quickly canceled Roselle Recital and escaped using Teleport.

Tak, tak, tak, tak!

The Parasite Queen managed to take care of the biggest concern, but that resulted in the enemy landing their attacks from the front. Although the spears of the soldiers were blocked by her outer carapace, the fact that their spears managed to touch her hurt her pride.

The problem was that she had to move before she could vent her frustration.

She pulled on the spiderwebs to take care of the Apostle of Pride, but the quick-witted Agnes cut off her webs and escaped.

[I won’t let you escape!]

The Parasite Queen twisted her body with great force.

Plop!

Baek Haeju, who was aiming for the back of the Parasite Queen’s head, let go of the Tathagata Spear and fell to the ground. When she raised her head, bone wings with fang-like tentacles on their tips filled her vision.

And...

Clang!

She also saw a huge spark of lightning scattering in front of her.

[You pesky brat!]

The Parasite Queen screamed in a high-pitched voice.

—Up, down, up, up, down!

Black Seol Jihu also shouted. Seol Jihu cut in between the goddess and the woman, five metallic rings resounding from the top and bottom.

—Lower your center of gravity! Move diagonally!

Seol Jihu bent his knees and took an abrupt left turn.

—Aim for her Achilles’ tendon!

The Spear of Purity aimed for the Parasite Queen’s ankle.

[Keu…!]

The Parasite Queen raised her leg in a hurry. This was the first time she had avoided Seol Jihu’s attack out of necessity in close-ranged combat. Although she stomped down immediately afterward, Seol Jihu already had the Spear of Purity up by that point.

[...What happened?]

The Parasite Queen gritted her teeth while locked in a contest of strength.

[Just what did you do?]

She asked again.

[Why does it feel like I’m facing a joint attack?]

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened.

“Oh, that?”

Then, the corner of his lips curled up.

“Alright, I’ll tell you.”

[?]

“Here’s what happened….”

At that moment, the Parasite Queen flinched.

Craaaack!

She felt a sharp sensation cutting through her side. Baek Haeju had retrieved the Tathagata Spear before she noticed and was swinging it fiercely.

So he was just buying time!

[Damned brat!]

The Parasite Queen turned her body to minimize the damage, but her side had been cut deeply and poured out blood. She swung her palm in a fit of rage, but it was blocked by Seol Jihu’s Spear of Purity.

And above him, a jade-colored sword qi came piercing in.

Kwang!

Struck on her chest, the Parasite Queen was pushed back. This was the first clean hit she had suffered from anyone besides Seol Jihu. Not once, but twice.

She quickly opened her wings again, but even that was not successful.

“Keeeuuuuu!”

Wu Lei had slashed down with his greatsword, covering her body at the same time. Then, everyone else gathered together, throwing their weapons on the ground and clinging onto her with their lives on the line. They figured this was better than approaching her without a plan and dying.

Seeing this, White Tiger also jumped in and clung onto a wing.

Hundreds of people joined the group in an instant.

Eun Yuri’s magic, Agnes’ threads, and Cinzia’s Valkyries all aimed for the wings.

It was a simple yet effective method. As members of the allied force continued to cling onto her no matter how many were killed, the bone wings swirling around the surroundings slowly began to creak.

A look of shock began to fill the Parasite Queen’s eyes. And when some of her wings became so damaged that she could no longer ignore it, she quickly retracted them and fell back.

Her eyes widened as she distanced herself.

I, the Goddess of Parasitism, am running away?

The moment she realized this, she stopped moving back.

[...Alrriiiight.]

Standing tall, her eyes gleamed.

[Such a desperate struggle. Do you really think that is enough to take me down?]

She put her hands together as if to offer up a prayer and then straightened out her wings. As she roused the remainder of her energy, blood spurted out from her seven orifices and gaping wounds, and the steam rising from her turned into smoke and soared into the sky.

However, the Parasite Queen ignored it completely. In the next moment, the tip of her wings curved in before the ends opened up slightly.

The opened holes created 30-centimeter-long magic circles from which a large palm-shaped tentacle sprouted out.

Goddess of Parasitism — Infinite Buddha.

[Let’s bring this to an end!]

Along with the Parasite Queen’s shout, twenty-eight magic circles shone simultaneously.

Seol Jihu’s eyes widened.

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