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"RAAAH!"
Darius' gigantic fists reached Henrietta, pushing her down onto the floor with a meteoric strike. The power of such a blow was so immense that a gigantic shockwave was unleashed all around the entire surrounding landscape, cleaning snow off the ground.
BAAAM!
"Leviathan!"
However, Gabriel roared from within Henrietta as her eyes flared with divine golden flames. Her entire body erupted with divine fury as they overpowered Leviathan's gigantic lion fist and destroyed it into pieces with a single swing of their divine sword! Leviathan screamed within Darius' body as he quickly stepped back to regenerate his arm back to normal.
However, that's where Jack appeared.
"I'm not letting you catch a break, friend."
Jack swung his gigantic black sword with all his strength against Darius' back, imbuing the force of hundreds of monsters and demonic humans he had devoured before, as the aura of such a sword slash shaped into a chimeric mass of countless, groaning, and agonizing souls, a sight that could only compare to the nether depths of hell. Darius glared back at Jack with his furious lion eyes, opening his jaws and unleashing a massive beam of black flames of abyssal darkness—one of his Unique, Innate Skills!
Jack was caught in point blank, being blown into the floor with a loud explosion. The black flames covered his body, beginning to drain his vitality and mana constantly. This was one of Darius Innate Skills, and his strongest one, the [Abyssal Flames], was an S-rank skill!
These flames had the power to drain a target's mana and vitality once they touched them, while also weakening their magic power and lowering their stats. It was his strongest tool, which he used to rise quickly into a national figure in America.
However, for Jack, who possessed the SSS Rank Gluttony Skill, this wasn't something that would stop him. Yeah, they hurt like hell, and they drained away his energy. but there was nothing he couldn't devour.
"{Gluttony}!"
His entire body was distorted into a mass of shadows and jaws, devouring his own burning parts and the flames themselves. At the same time, he absorbed the flame's power to an extent, although he would need more than that to copy the skill. His mana and health recovered by a small amount as well.
"How long are you planning on doing this? This bastard is not going down any time soon!" Said Fenrir. "You haven't leveled up enough to get to kill him! Henrietta's killing herself there."
"I know! I know, Fenrir!" Sighed Jack. "But what else can we do than keep trying?"
Jack jumped into action once more. His entire body shifted into a giant black wolf as he leaped over Darius wrestling against Henrietta and used his entire body to push him down! Leviathan roared furiously from within Darius as his giant claws slashed through Jack's giant wolf body. He kept regenerating his wounds as he devoured the flames covering him, biting Darius' neck tightly. The rest of his body shifted into a mix of jaws and tentacles, wrapping around his chest!
"Henrietta!"
Henrietta quickly realized Jack was risking his life once more. Wrapping around Darius' body with all his strength, she gathered the power into her sword as Gabriel imbued more and more of his divinity into it!
"{Star of Justice}!"
FLASH!
Henrietta activated her Innate Skill [Star of Justice], which allowed her to temporarily enhance her stats, damage dealt, and total power while fighting evil-aligned foes. Angelic wings made of light emerged from her back as she descended towards Darius' chest, attempting to pierce his chest with the sword!
Gabriel and Jack roared at the same time, trying to damage the goliath sufficiently with everything they had. The bright, incandescent light of the divine blade of Gabriel slowly started piercing more and more through Darius' chest, piercing through his heart seconds before the accumulation of divine light exploded, blowing his insides.
Leviathan's scream echoed across the entire landscape, and as Henrietta and Jack were blown away by the explosion, a sudden distortion in space itself happened as the bright divinity of Gabriel clashed against the demonic authority of Leviathan!
BOOOM!
Everything was covered in red and guts, and the snow was tainted with the smell of blood. When Jack and Henrietta opened their eyes seconds after falling to the ground, they glanced around their surroundings. Darius' body was blown from the chest to his head.
He was surely dead.
Yet… why? Why is this powerful, almighty presence still present even now? His body was destroyed from the chest up to his head. There was no way he could remain alive after his brains blew up into pieces!
However, his body slowly started to distort, melting apart and then reassembling itself. In a stupor, Henrietta and Jack saw that, in just three seconds, an aberrant mass of heads, tails, and legs appeared in front of them. The presence of Leviathan became even stronger than ever as a crystallization of his demonic power grew in the middle of his stomach.
"This can't be..." Henrietta muttered. "No…"
"This bastard… He used Archdemon Embodiment on his own body." Jack asked.
The only way Darius could have survived was by, at the last second, using his own body as a sacrifice to summon the Embodiment of Leviathan! Much like Jack had seen before, necessary materials were needed to summon them as "sacrifices," and Darius, in his last seconds, became that sacrifice.
Even after his death, he was reborn as the embodiment of the Archdemon Leviathan! His aura of Demonic Power was so strong that it made the entire Dungeon tremble and shake. This embodiment wasn't at all like the ones Jack had ever fought before.
It contained a Demonic Core of incredibly rich quality, and based on this core's quality, the powers it could exude from the Demon were even stronger.
"Hahah… HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
The laughter of Leviathan as his myriad of wings of all shapes and sizes stretched into the air spread across the dungeon. His overwhelming, demonic aura paralyzed the weakened Jack and Henrietta, the latter of whom was already undergoing backlash from being possessed by Gabriel.
"I've attained it! A powerful vessel! This is no longer just an embodiment! This is like my second body! I shall rule this world! I will begin by destroying your precious city! Then the entire country, the world!" Leviathan laughed; his aura was already that of a devastating S-Rank monster, if not higher. "I will devour you, Hunters, until my belly is bursting! Your world shall become mine to govern!"
Absolute despair.
An event that should have never happened. Something that Anna never saw in the original novel.
Was this what changing fate provoked?
Because of this, she had to take responsibility.
A small flash of bright, golden light surged above Leviathan, unfazed by his demonic authority and presence. As the surroundings and the skies darkened, her presence alone illuminated everything, like the sun itself.
"{Anubis' Judgement}"
"HUH?! W-What the…?!"
Leviathan suddenly felt the overwhelming authority of Anubis encompassing his entire being. Like a shot of bright golden light coming from the heavens, he suddenly felt his enormous body way too heavy, hitting the floor and shaking the entire Dungeon's surroundings!
[Player Anna has begun the [Weighing of Hearts Ceremony]!]
[While the Ceremony is in effect, both members cannot move or use any of their abilities.]
[Player Anna has decided to balance the target's powers and sins in comparison to her own, which are reflected in the Feather of Truth.]
[Due to the Feather of Truth being assimilated by Player Anna's body, her heart will be taken instead.]
At the same time as this happened, in front of everybody, the illusion of a balance made of gold emerged in the middle of the skies. Anna's heart flew to one side, while Leviathan's heart was torn apart from his body and placed there, much to his own disdain. He was unable to stop this.
The gigantic heart of Leviathan far outweighed the tiny heart of Anna; a sinful entity such as an Archdemon was the very embodiment of sin. So sinful he was that he made the entire balance lean to the side of his heart.
[The [Weighing of Hearts Ceremony] has finished.]
[Archdemon: Leviathan] has been judged by his terrible sins.]
[The difference in power between both users is incredibly high.]
[Due to the difference in power exceeding 50%, proper compensation and debuff will be applied to both parties, respectively.]
Leviathan's entire body was suddenly encompassed by an even weaker force. He was paralyzed, incapable of doing a single thing. His giant, lion-like face's jaws opened wide in shock.
"W-What is happening?! Who are you? Anubis' Divinity is here?! WHY?! M-My power!"
[Player Anna's total Power has increased by +800% for the duration of this battle.]
[The target's Total Power has been lowered by -80% for the duration of this battle.]
[As compensation, a {Guardian of the Balance} has been summoned.]
[Cooldown until next Skill Usage: 24 Hours]
RUMBLE!
The snow, stones, and dirt below the ground began to shape into a gigantic titan made of frost, resembling something straight out of Norse mythology. A Frost Giant appeared, holding a gigantic axe made of ice!
[The {Guardian of the Balance}: {Frost Giant of Decapitation} has been summoned!]
"W-What… WHAT SORT OF BULLSHIT IS THIS?!"
Leviathan, once finally freed from this divine power, immediately fought back, targeting Anna from above! His countless jaws opened. Even with a -800% debuff to his stats and power, he was still incredibly powerful.
"YOU DAMN KID!"
His jaws closed in front of Anna as Leviathan tasted the sweet taste of blood. For a second, he was sure he had bitten her and was now crushing her between his teeth.
But that taste of blood was his own jaws breaking and dislocating as Anna's entire body suddenly began glowing brightly, the powerful buff she received condensing into a divine aura of overwhelming power.
She had punched him once, and caused tremendous damage all over his various faces… However, this was far from his surprise today, as Leviathan saw the girl suddenly transforming.
"That is enough." Her entire body transformed into her [Half-Beast Demonic Transformation] form as her stats started skyrocketing!
She was using the power he lent to his Demonic Humans, yet she had no contract with him! To make things worse, her transformation and powers created a completely unique form, making her resemble a Divine Cat.
For a moment, Isis and the various other Constellations watching this scene saw through her the dignity and authority of an Ancient Egyptian Goddess that had fallen many years ago in the war between the Egyptian Gods.
That Goddess's name was Bastet.
Anna's Aura changed into hundreds of divine light swords, falling over Leviathan's entire body as he landed on the ground with a catastrophic explosion.
"S-STOP! NO… THIS CAN'T BE!"
Leviathan screamed in agony and frustration as his entire body was being sliced and torn apart into pieces by an endless rain of divine golden swords, his blood and guts splattering everywhere. But that wasn't the end of his agony, as the Frost Giant started attacking him with giant axe attacks that could slice mountains!
"N-No…! STOP! STOOOOP! M-MERCY!"
Leviathan started begging for mercy as he cried in agony, trying to drag himself out of this punishment. His countless eyes started crying pathetically! The many constellations started laughing as they saw the Demon's ridiculous state!
"A-After everything I've done… T-This… IS UNFAIRRRRRR!!!"
"Let's just call it retribution for all the innocent lives you and your Demonic Humans have taken! It was because of me that you managed to get this far. But I won't let you disrupt the story again!"
Anna furiously attacked Leviathan with countless punches all over his body, tearing him down to pieces constantly as he attempted to regenerate, burning through him until he started to turn into ashes.
An eruption of golden flames reached the skies, cleaning up the dark clouds atop the Dungeon. At the same time, with this divine power, Anna saw through something she had yet to even comprehend and grabbed a phantasmal trail left by Leviathan, grasping it and then shattering it.
CRAAASH!
[You've shattered a piece of [Archdemon: Leviathan]'s Soul!]
[Archdemon: Leviathan] has grown too weak and has retreated back to Hell!]
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