And so, we arrived at the place where the World Tree was, where Elysium was waiting.
"What in the world…"
However, the sight that welcomed us was that of the World Tree whose trunk had stretched out to cover the sky itself and had undergone a transformation that could only be described as 'aberrant'.
No, it was no longer the World Tree.
The texture of the trunk and branches was like that of an ancient dead tree, and they intertwined to form a gigantic humanoid upper body.
On the whole, it looked almost as though it was towering over us like a steep mountain, and we couldn't find a single trace of the World Tree we knew from it.
"How horrible…" Terra-sama couldn't help but avert her eyes from the sight before her.
The giant that the upper half of the World Tree had taken the form of then looked at me and said, "I have been waiting for you, Savior."
"Elysium…"
"—Nay. I am not 'Elysium'," Elysium denied with a deep booming voice, then continued with a sense of intimidation, "I am 'Genesis Tree'—'Hades Elysium'"
"Genesis Tree… Hades Elysium…?!" I echoed in shock.
"…I see. Since you have merged with the World Tree, which is connected to the earth veins, you have become a being that is in control of the world itself—is that what you are saying?"
"Correct."
"And you name yourself 'Genesis Tree', declaring that you are the replacement of us, the Goddesses of Genesis. You are quite bold, son of demi-human. I have always been tolerant, yet even I find your deed somewhat intolerable. —Know your place!" said Igniver-sama with a rarely heard anger in her tone.
"Kukukukuku…" But Elysium—no, Hades Elysium only chuckled as though he found it funny and said, "You are the ones who should know your places. –Kneel."
—Crack!
『Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?』
At that moment, black lightning suddenly pierced through us, forcing everyone out of my body in their clone forms and slamming me to the ground.
"Kh…"
What surprised me was that even Fluga-sama, who—although her body was made from flames—governed over thunder, was also sent flying with a single blow.
It seemed that black lightning was no ordinary lightning.
But since it came from the power he gained after absorbing monsters, it most likely originated from 'filth'.
In that case, I released my flames of purification at full throttle and kicked off the ground.
Then, Hades Elysium said somewhat boringly, "What a small light."
"…What?"
"You made the wrong choice. To appear before me, Genesis Tree, with your power divided… Realize just how foolish that is!"
Whoom! Hades Elysium raised his right first.
But with that size, I doubted it'd be fast.
I'd created quite a big distance between us too, it wasn't going to be easy for him to hit me—or so I thought, but…
Just then.
—Swoosh!
"—?! —Uoh?!"
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAG! The fist appeared above me out of nowhere, hitting me directly and sending me slamming back into the ground.
『Exa(-sama)!?』
"Ah, I'm okay…" As the worried voices of the girls entered my ears, I moved aside the rubble on top of me and sat up. Glaring at Hades Elysium, I muttered, "I see, so that's what happened…"
It seemed the others understood what had happened as well, Igniver-sama and Fluga-sama appeared by my sides with a 'blaze' sound, then Igniver explained, "'Attack across space', huh? Certainly, this tactic allows him to attack without moving away from his position."
Fluga-sama clicked her tongue, "Tch, it made me remember something unpleasant. When you helped me before, you forcefully broke through space that way, didn't you?"
"Yeah. The principle is similar. In which case, the presence or absence of distance is nothing more than a trifle to him. Rather than wait and see, we should turn to offense."
"Yes, I think so too. Not to mention, now he's acquired strength that far exceeds our imagination. We must go all out to have a chance to take him down," I said, getting up.
—Blaze!
"Fumu, then let's all go," said Arca.
"Yes. Fortunately, the target is so big that it's more difficult to miss our attacks than otherwise. Let's use our strongest moves to bring him down," said Magmell.
"Oh, I like the sound of that! I love brute-forcin' things the most! I don't have to think about anythin'!" Ophir shouted.
"I hate to admit it, but this time I agree with your opinion. There's no need for us to think about complicated stuff when we're up against that kind of opponent," said Zana.
"Mm, throwing our strongest attacks at him is all we can do." Tirna nodded.
"Fufu, I will do my best to protect you. Leave your backs to me," said Shiva-san, chuckling.
"Yeah, counting on you. That big guy isn't just going to stand around taking our attacks, after all," Elma remarked.
Holding their Hallowed Sacred Treasures, the Saintesses entered battle stance.
The same went for the rest of the goddesses, all of whom also had already appeared by my sides in their clone forms.
"Okay, let's go!"
『Roger that!』
Then we soared into the sky and began our offensive.
"Grand Lunar Force—Meteoriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiite!!"
—BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!
Arca made the first attack.
The Hallowed Sacred Treasure of the 'Spear' thrown with her all became a single line of light that pierced through Hades Elysium's body and dispelled the dark clouds in the sky in a circle.
"It is futile."
But it lasted only for a moment, as in the blink of an eye the hole in Hades Elysium's body closed, and the exposed blue sky was covered by dark clouds again.
"Then how about this! –Elma!"
"Yeah! –Grand Éclair Ballista!!"
SLASH! Without a moment's delay, Elma's thrusting opened a hole in Hades Elysium's throat, where Ophir—after rotating her body several times—delivered a horizontal slash with her axe.
"—Grand Tempest Break!!"
—SLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!
Hades Elysium's head flew off his body, which gave Ophir a short moment of joy, shouting, "How's that, you fucking bastard!"
"I told you, it is futile."
""—Wha?!""
Hades Elysium extended one of his hands, catching the head and then reattaching it to his neck.
"Uwa, that's disgusting?!" Elma cringed, but of course, our offensive hadn't ended yet.
"Move away, Elma! If you stay there, you'll get caught up in the blast!"
"Eh, wai-?!"
Next up were Zana and Magmell, who surrounded Hades Elysium with the goddesses.
"—Grand Full Elemental Descent!!"
—BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!
A huge five-colored arrow stabbed into Hades Elysium's chest with tremendous force, the arrowhead popped out from his back.
"Here I go!"
—Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiine!
Immediately after, a spell of light stretched out above him, and the strongest Magic Art fell down on him like divine punishment.
"Unending circle of transmigration! Phinis-Olg-Origina!!"
—BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANG!!
A torrent of dazzling light swallowed Hades Elysium, and his giant body vanished in the blink of an eye.
But.
"Laughable."
—BANG!
『Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!?』
All of a sudden, a black energy wave burst out from inside the light, sending all the girls nearby flying before destroying their clone bodies.
"Tirna!"
"Mm!"
Meanwhile, I, along with Tirna, raised our fists and released a blow at the part of Hades Elysium's body that was in the process of regeneration—where his 'presence' was the strongest.
""—Grand Prometheus Full Burst!!""
BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZE!! The super powerful flames of purification caught the 'presence'.
Hades Elysium had been completely unperturbed even after taking the girls' ultimate moves bombardment.
In that case, he most likely didn't mind most of his gigantic body being destroyed.
However, it was hard to imagine that he could control such a massive body remotely.
Then this only meant one thing.
—Somewhere inside this gigantic body, there was the main body that controlled it.
I had no clue if it was Elysium himself, but thanks to everyone, I was able to hit the place where his 'presence' was the strongest.
The only thing left to do was to wait for his reaction, but…
Right then.
"…You are so predictable."
—BAM!
"Guwah?!" "Kyaa?!"
Out of nowhere, gigantic palms closed in on us from the left and right as if to squash us; Tirna's clone was sent flying and extinguished…
"Kh…"
『Exa(-sama)?!』
However, I fully release my flames of purification, somehow keeping the palms a couple of inches away from squashing me.
Then, 'filth' began to enclose me like a cage at a speed that surpassed my ability to purify them, and at the same time, the trunk slowly opened, revealing Elysium's upper body.
But perhaps because of my and Tirna's earlier attack, half of his body seemed to have been burnt out.
"Elysium…"
"Now I caught you, Savior… I had figured that if I didn't risk my life, I would have no chance of winning… You are surprisingly perceptive, after all…"
"Gh…"
Gigigigigi! The pressure of the cage made from 'filth' got stronger.
Perhaps due to the cage, the girls couldn't go out of my body, either.
"How foolish you are, Savior… If you hadn't tried to protect the people, you wouldn't have suffered such an unsightly end… I will say it again… You made the wrong choice."
"No! Saving them is not wrong!"
"Is that so? Then let me prove it to you, foolish Savior. That the people you are trying to protect are just trash that can only serve as hindrances."
"Wha!?"
Immediately after Elysium said so, the earth rumbled.
As I frowned, wondering what he did, he said, "Just now, I erupted 'filth' around all the barriers you have put up. The barriers will likely keep protecting them as long as you are conscious. But the moment your consciousness slips away, the people you are protecting will be swallowed up by 'filth', then they will die suffering from diseases. Now, let's see how long you can last."
—Squeeze!
"Guh…?!"
『Exa(-sama)?!』
The cage's pressure increased even further, and solidified 'filth' wrapped my flames, trapping me in complete darkness.
Then, as Elysium's figure was disappearing into the other side of the 'filth', he left these words:
"Farewell, foolish Savior. Your choice was wrong, after all. Do enjoy dying away in regrets."