Still, there were two small mercies.
First, even a starving camel was still bigger than a horse. After all, ORT was a Mercury Spirit, a genuine UO.
So even though Marduk had dealt with the giant spider blocking his path, he had not come away unscathed. His body was damaged in several places, nearly seventy percent of his stellar ring had collapsed and shattered, and even the stellar patterns across his surface had dimmed considerably. He had clearly paid a heavy price as well.
Second, the vast angelic army had been worn down by battle after battle, and by Marduk's own devouring, until almost nothing remained. It could no longer fully restrain the power of the Ten Ages of Gods.
At last, the major Ages of Gods could free their hands and join him in resisting the invasion of the White Giant.
It was still a drop in the bucket, but it was better than nothing.
As Samael's thoughts raced and his brow tightened in contemplation, Marduk, whose reactions lagged by several beats, finally recovered somewhat from his severe injuries. His cold gaze lowered toward the World Tree, which was burning and beginning to fall apart, yet still held up heaven and earth.
Everything should end now!
Insects, meet the end of the world. Meet Ragnarok!
The White Giant spread his arms in the air. A spine-chilling Magecraft array gathered and formed once more, locking its grim focus onto the World Tree.
"Heimdall!"
Seeing disaster about to descend, veins bulged on Samael's forehead as he turned and roared at the flickering Magecraft array behind him.
At once, the guardian god in the horned helm gritted his teeth and opened the Bifrost, projecting two dazzling beams of light toward the empty sea.
"Roar! Roar!"
Savage roars burst from within the curtain of light. A burning giant and a growling pitch-black venomous dragon broke free from the runic chains binding them, unleashing Ether in every direction.
Surtr, the Flame Giant King, and Nidhogg, the Venomous Dragon. Aside from Samael and his two siblings, they were the two strongest beasts of calamity in the Scandinavian Age of Gods.
Unlike Samael, however, they clearly lacked both intellect and any room for negotiation, which was why they had been imprisoned one after the other.
And now, those two vicious beasts had been reduced to rare cannon fodder, delivered straight in front of the White Giant to take the blow.
After suffering setback after setback, Marduk had lost all patience. Filled with aggression, he focused his fire on the two unlucky victims without the slightest hesitation.
But after only four or five exchanges, Surtr and Nidhogg, who had only just been let out for a breath of air, did not even have time to curse or accuse a certain serpent of treachery before they were torn to pieces and burned to ash by the terrifying White Giant.
Even so, that brief delay gave the gods enough time to act. Under the command of the Ten Great Age of Gods Kings, they launched a desperate charge at the White Giant, trying to stop the monster from invoking its Noble Phantasm.
Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss!
Even then, tens of thousands of Mana beams shot out from the stellar ring arrays spread around the White Giant, sweeping across the sky.
Valkyries with broken wings, mindless Nymphs, shattered Heroic Spirits, decapitated deities. One vanguard after another fell from the pale sky like extinguished comets, plunging into the empty sea and dispersing into pure spirit particles.
But dragon cavalry beating their wings, roaring Berserkers, sunships crossing the sky, deep-sea fleets breaking through the waves. One successor after another filled the gaps without hesitation and charged bravely forward.
This was a battle for survival that none could escape. A war in which they relied on one another to reclaim the future together.
"You suicidal fools. Burn to ash!"
Surrounded on all sides, the White Giant flew into a rage. Mana beams radiating terrifying heat poured out its fury without restraint, madly reaping the lives that had risen in resistance across this planet.
Watching the swarms of moths throw themselves into the flames and burn away in the inferno, Samael's eyes turned completely bloodshot. The fire in his gaze neither faded nor died, drying the tears of grief and wavering before they could fall. He stared fixedly at the pale sea, his fingers digging into his palms, motionless as a frozen statue.
Before long, the unsustainable assault began to slow. Freed from pressure, the White Giant could no longer contain the murderous intent raging in its chest. Countless bands of light frantically drew together and condensed, forming a crown-shaped ring once more, ready to deliver the final blow to the remnants of this planet.
"Despair! Repent! Bear witness to the end of your journey, to Ragnarok, to the end of human history. Witness the moment my great work of reforging this star is complete!"
Marduk raised both arms with a savage expression, as though welcoming the rebirth of the world into his embrace.
The thinning ranks of gods, worn to the limit by successive great battles, no longer had the strength to stop the blazing white ring of light from slowly rising behind Marduk, a light that could destroy heaven and earth. They could only close their eyes in anguish, unable to bear the arrival of fate's end.
Just then, a desolate, distant song rose from the empty sea.
"O Supreme Eternal Heaven, thank you for your blessing, for bringing us the warrior of the gods.
Altera, eagle of the steppes, our undefeated king.
Your long sword overwhelms all dark and evil spirits,
Your horsewhip wins fertile pastures for us,
The Whip of the Gods strikes fear into enemies and makes beasts kneel!
Your radiance shines upon us, your obedient people,
Destroying rebellious tribes completely, raising the banner of victory, and fulfilling our auspicious wishes..."
The song grew louder and clearer. The left eye of the White Giant, which had remained silent from the very beginning, suddenly flared with golden-blue light. The figure curled within the Mythra membrane shook violently, and the two arms that had gathered countless Magecraft arrays trembled without end.
That towering head stiffly turned toward the source of the song against its will.
There, drifting across the pale, empty sea, was a battered ark. Grief-stricken Hun women and elderly people too old to walk held children shorter than the height of a wheel in their arms. Enduring the instinctive terror that shook them, they kept rowing closer to the giant, singing the songs of their tribe and calling out to the king who had once saved them from catastrophe.
Their fathers and brothers had all died in battle protecting the land their King had left behind. Their grassland had burned to ash in the flames. Their cattle, sheep, and possessions were gone.
In this world, they were the last bloodline of the Huns, the final trace of their people.
O King, if you can hear us, please open your eyes. Please lead us into the true paradise.
For a moment, the golden-blue Pyra in the White Giant's left eye flickered violently. That uncontrollable power was frantically battering against the restraints of the Sacred Covenant, trying to burst out of its body.
"Get away! Get away!"
The light patterns on the White Giant shattered one after another. It could not help covering its left eye with one hand, utterly alarmed, avoiding the elderly, women, and children aboard the ship as though they were venomous snakes.
"Eternal Heaven above, Great King! Please open your eyes! The grassland is gone, the tribe is gone. Without you, we cannot live..."
The elders reached out in grief, the women wiped away their tears, and the children curled in their elders' arms, their wide, bewildered eyes fearfully taking in this world that had been changed beyond recognition.
"To think a mere weapon could shake this King. Ridiculous!"
Marduk did everything he could to stabilize the rioting Ether. With surging resolve, he frantically suppressed the other power rising within him. At the same time, he raised his right arm in fury, his sinister eyes falling on the ants below who had caused this disturbance, killing intent spreading in every direction.
"Die, vermin!"
Just as that sky-supporting giant palm was about to crash down onto the ark with crushing force, a sharp sound tore through the air at the final instant and pierced straight through the White Giant's chest.
"Command, Flame of Destiny. Suppress!"
At that moment, a roar that had long been gathering erupted like thunder. The blazing Flame of Destiny burned fiercely, forming an inverted cross of Pyra that bound the White Giant's limbs in place.
Not good!
Warning bells exploded in Marduk's mind, and he instinctively struggled with all his might.
Pfft, pfft, pfft, pfft!
On Avalon Island, under the violent clash of divine might, bursts of blood mist exploded from Samael's outstretched arm. He dropped to one knee on the Stone Tablet, coughing up mouthfuls of blood, while two horrifying trails of bloody tears streamed from his eyes.
Even so, the Ancient Serpent stubbornly withstood Marduk's struggles, gritting his teeth as he let out a hysterical roar.
"Now!"
"Shhk!"
At the same time, from atop the shattered ark, a shadowy figure that had blended invisibly with the air shot into the sky. A keen blade of light slashed forward, as if to cut the mortal world apart.
It was as though time had stopped. Marduk lowered his head in shock and saw the dark blade strike, with perfect precision, the tiny gap Moses and Ramesses II had opened together.
Crack...
With a clear, trembling sound, the Sacred Covenant inside the White Giant was neatly split in two.
All because of that tiny imperfection, he had actually...
"Laaaa!"
The next instant, a piercing sacred chant burst uncontrollably from the White Giant's abdomen. A tidal wave of consciousness broke through the layers of shackles Marduk had laid down.