Chapter 153: Behold My Power of the King!

The moment that cryptic fluctuation swept past, the crystals within anyone infected with the Apocalypse Virus instantly activated, thoroughly devouring their hosts. The crystallization spread across their entire bodies until they shattered, turning into powder and vanishing into nothingness.

During previous investigations, once crystallization symptoms appeared, a person was essentially deemed beyond saving. Even the highest-grade panacea could only barely suppress the condition, serving merely to prolong a miserable existence. To create something capable of actually alleviating the symptoms required rare genius on the par of Dionysus, coupled with ample samples and time.

The fact that Finn and the others only began showing symptoms of crystallization at such close range was a testament to their exceptionally upgraded, anomalous souls and physiques.

The diffusion of this fluctuation had not stopped. Before Roland could launch an attack, the purple crystals shattered of their own accord, transforming into blinding pillars of light. Seeming incorporeal, they pierced layer after layer of the underground strata, as if intent on skewering the vault of heaven.

Immediately following, an even more terrifying fluctuation rippled outward from the light pillars.

Emanating from the pillars was a murky, monotonous chant.

"aaa——aa——"

The melody contained frequencies entirely incomprehensible to human cognition. Beyond its sheer grating harshness, it carried a palpable sense of anxiety and restlessness. Even Roland felt a degree of inner turmoil, while a notoriously hot-headed brute like Bete grabbed his infected area and began to riot even more violently.

"Ahhhhh!"

Even for high-level adventurers, screams rose one after another. Compared to injuries sustained in combat, the pain of flesh turning into crystal, binding to the body, and undergoing continuous erosion was far more excruciating than many forms of torture.

"Quickly drink the panacea! At the very least, preserve our combat readiness as much as possible!"

"Calm down! The virus isn't spreading that fast!"

Finn, Riveria, and the others completely disregarded their own injuries, doing their utmost to pacify the emotions of their surrounding companions. Gareth also displayed his typical dwarven irritability at this moment; he rushed over to Bete, who was frantically and erratically attacking the surrounding walls, knocked him down with a single punch, and forcibly shoved a potion down his throat.

Roland, however, could spare no attention for them. He stared with rapt concentration at the pillar of light before him, gazing at the imagery emerging from its overlapping strata of colors.

It was a bird's-eye view of the city from the sky, akin to the perspective of a god. As the song symbolizing the apocalypse descended, the world plunged into lamentation.

Countless lives rapidly crystallized, shattering into powder that scattered like snowflakes, only to be gathered into the air by an invisible force. Facing a disaster that began to annihilate the city block by block, the sky was quickly dyed in murky, dim hues. Sunlight was blocked by the powder, leaving only a refracted, hallucinatory glow.

Serpentine rivers of purple cut through the air with twisting trajectories, striking Orario and gradually merging into the purple pillar of light.

At that moment, an intricate array of diverse emotions abruptly descended upon Roland.

Fear, malice, numbness, pleasure, grief... Innumerable malicious and negative emotions stimulated the rapid growth of the All-World Evil that had been disseminated alongside the Divine Wine. Although, due to an insufficient quantity of individuals, they could not escape being swept up in this returning current.

Yet within an environment composed of countless soul fragments, these greedy entities still gorged themselves, growing rapidly and feeding that guilt and agony right back into Roland.

Feeling his mind flooded with negative emotions, his guilt acting like a whetstone constantly grinding against his will and soul—

Gazing at this spectacle, Roland's eyes narrowed, and he let out a murmur akin to sleep-talk.

"A truly cliché ending. So cliché... it borders on despair."

The singing continued, growing ever more piercing. The divine power of the sheep within Roland flickered incessantly. As the song progressed, this was no longer merely a matter of awakening and activating the dormant virus; rather, sound was being used as a medium to warp the genes of uninfected human bodies.

If things continued this way, forget the upper domains of the gods—the very game known as the Lower World would have its servers shut down.

"Just how long do you intend to keep putting on such pathetic displays?"

Roland sighed, casting an icy gaze at the group behind him.

"Since you aren't dead yet, snap to it and move! At this rate, the gods on the surface and the metropolis will be destroyed long before we are."

Hearing these words, Ottar was the first to stand up. Maintaining his usual cold expression, he pulled up the members of his Familia who were beside him.

"Indeed," Finn gritted his teeth against the pain, wiping the sweat from his forehead as he steadied his trembling frame. "Rather than turning into crystals, shattering, and dying, falling in battle against monsters holds far more value."

Yet, contrary to expectations from these top-tier adventurers, the very first person to reach Roland's side was the golden-haired girl.

"This sound... it hurts..."

Ais lowered her gaze slightly, her usually flat tone carrying a trace of genuine sorrow.

She, too, looked toward the pillar of light, as if sensing something.

"Ais, are you alright?"

Roland looked at Ais with some surprise. On the surface of her exposed skin, he saw no trace of purple crystals.

He was resisting it through his own inherent power, but how did Ais manage it?

Connecting this to her lineage as a spirit, her earlier anomaly upon hearing the fetal orb's song, and Riveria's reference to her as "Aria," Roland gained a rough understanding of who the Virus Queen, this spirit-possessing entity, had targeted.

"Mn," the perceptive girl noticed Roland's gaze and shook her head. "It just feels a bit uncomfortable to listen to."

"Then let's move out. Without a doubt, the final battle is upon us."

Roland strode without hesitation toward the spot where the man-eating flower had previously emerged, and sure enough, he quickly spotted the entrance to the stairs.

The final chapter of everything would be unveiled at its exit.

Meanwhile, within a mysterious, isolated space, a man in white robes woke up with a gloomy expression from a cockpit-like chamber woven from purple crystals and plant tendrils. Casually pulling out the tendrils that had pierced into his head, he pressed his still-throbbing skull and let out a venomous voice.

"Damn heroes..."

Everything should have gone smoothly. He never expected such a disruptive element to appear. Fortunately, he had successfully initiated the resurrection ritual beforehand, otherwise it would have been troublesome.

"Where on earth did he pop out from? How can such an orthodox hero still exist in this era?" The man in white muttered with a dark expression. "Fortunately, the spread of the Apocalypse Virus went smoothly, and the materials for the ritual have been fully gathered."

He gazed at the purple crystalline powder floating in the air around him—all of it material formed from those who had perished. Unlike Riveria's combat-focused faction, he leaned more toward understanding the intrinsic properties and power of the virus.

When it came to knowledge of the Apocalypse Virus, not even the gods in this world were more authoritative than him.

"The materials for the ritual are fully gathered, and the vessel has broken away from its host. Soon, I will awaken you."

Watching the massive surge of soul energy converge in the air and gradually pour into the pink-haired girl sleeping within the crystal, the man in white spoke to himself with eager anticipation.

Once this soul energy was thoroughly injected into the crystal before him, that girl would awaken. She would completely master this river of souls in the sky, allowing the terminal apocalypse to fully descend and obliterate this old world.

And he would survive in the new world as part of the new humanity and its prophet.

As for the ambitions of that idiot Riveria, they ended right here.

The man in white sneered derisively at his deceased companion, staring fixedly at the flawless visage of the girl inside the crystal.

His ambitions did not stop there.

He wanted to become a god of the new world, guiding the evolution of the new world alongside the one he adored. But by himself, it was impossible to make the Virus Queen make such a choice.

Therefore, upon discovering that external force, not only did he fail to expel it, but he cooperated with it, embedding it even deeper into the ritual.

Even if he did nothing, the slumbering Virus Queen could not resist this essentially beneficial fusion, so why shouldn't he ride the coattails and reap the benefits for himself?

"Hey," he frowned, speaking loudly into the empty space with a tone of awe and desire. "I have done everything you asked. Now, it's time for me to get my reward!"

The silent space offered no echo, but a massive wave of emotion suddenly manifested amidst the gathering purple powder.

That emotion carried hesitation and doubt, as if witnessing something utterly inconceivable.

The instant he felt this emotion, the man in white grew even more uneasy, assuming the entity was about to renege on its promise, and roared angrily.

"You gave me your word! That power belongs to me! You must also understand that no matter what, you have to hand over this power! Is there anyone else besides me who can pull this off?"

He spread his arms, exposing his twisted face entirely, locking eyes with the blurred shadow in the air.

"Do you seriously have any better choice suited for this?"

At his words, the emotion in the air seemed to be reminded of something, and it nodded.

Then, a deep blue radiance bloomed out of thin air, bearing a bizarre double-helix structure akin to genetic strands, spiraling around each other like serpents before surging directly into the body of the man in white.

"Ahhhhhhh—!"

The next moment, a tragic shriek born of overwhelming pain echoed once again through the silent space.

---

"According to the records left behind by the Loki Familia provided by the Guild, the fifty-ninth floor should be a world of glaciers... Of course, with an anomaly like this occurring, we can't take that information entirely for granted."

"Not take it for granted? What on earth happened to the fifty-ninth floor? We're almost at the exit and we can't feel a shred of cold air. Doesn't that mean bringing these Fire Dragon coats was a complete waste?"

Soon, murmurs broke out among the adventurers due to this anomaly, only to be met with an even more exasperated reply.

"Do you really think this is a good thing? To be able to cause anomalies across an entire independent floor... It looks like we're in for a brutal fight."

"Mn..." Finn exhaled, biting his thumb to suppress the unease gnawing at his heart.

Suddenly, he noticed Roland freeze beside him, adopting an expression of utmost solemnity.

It was a look he had never seen on Roland's face before. Even when commanding the expeditionary force, Roland had always maintained a calm and collected demeanor. For him to wear an expression like this meant something unprecedented must be happening ahead.

"What is it?"

"Not entirely clear... However, it seems some new changes are taking place."

This time, Roland had no intention of hiding it, though his answer remained thoroughly ambiguous.

He stared at the back of his right hand. Once again, a dull ache was throbbing there, reminiscent of the precursor to the Command Seals forcibly bestowed upon him by the Holy Grail.

Roland vaguely sensed that right ahead, at the stairwell, a powerful soul fluctuation was emitting a feeling akin to yearning, resonating directly with him.

"Then let's go."

Finn didn't press further. With a resolute expression, he stepped out of the tunnel first.

The adventurers followed closely behind, stepping forward to meet the unknown with a mix of vigilance and anticipation. Then, the scene that imprinted itself upon their eyes wiped away all words save for gasps of shock.

The fifty-ninth floor held no ubiquitous ice, no biting cold winds. There was only a cavern vastly more colossal than the fifty-eighth floor, and a purple, elliptical sphere that covered nearly the entirety of the cavern.

More shocking still was the surface of the crystal, upon which rested a female humanoid monster with the lower body of a gigantic plant. It bore a striking resemblance to the fetal orb Roland and Ais had encountered earlier, save that both its aura and scale utterly dwarfed that predecessor.

"How could this... What is that?"

"No way..."

The instant they laid eyes on the monster, the adventurers no longer cared about the fact that the monsters here had also been parasitized. They simply stared blankly at the uppermost section of the female humanoid monster.

There hung a figure with flowing, beautiful long hair and a slender physique. Her green skin matched a green dress, and she possessed a breath-taking beauty rivaling that of a goddess—yet her face was utterly devoid of life.

"A spirit has turned into something like that?!"

Indeed, before that overwhelming majesty, anyone could recognize the true identity of the humanoid monster. It was the messenger who assisted heroes, the darling of the gods—the entity closest to divinity itself.

A spirit.

Many gazes turned toward the sword Este in Roland's hand, still unable to comprehend why a noble spirit would transform into the likeness of a monster.

And why, at this moment, she had already become an empty shell?

"What kind of existence could possibly strip a fallen spirit out of its vessel... It's almost like an ascension..."

Anxious whispers rippled continuously, yet the adventurers gripped their weapons tighter.

"In any case, breaking that barrier will allow us to find the mastermind and put an end to this disaster, right?"

Finn narrowed his eyes, stringing together the preceding clues to arrive at a conclusion.

"It would appear so... Riveria."

Roland took over the conversation, calling out to the mage beside him. Following a rapid incantation, Riveria quickly unleashed a spell targeting the barrier. Yet it left not a single trace, and in response to her action, the earth along the perimeter of the barrier churned violently. Countless huge flower buds emerged from the ground, transforming into man-eating flowers, amidst whose roots swarms of writhing worms writhed.

The crowd was unsurprised by this outcome, quickly raising their weapons to face the tide of monsters. At that moment, an arrogant voice rang out.

"Stubborn, foolish wretches! I never expected you to actually make it all the way here..."

Above the purple crystals, a section of the crystalline structure gradually grew transparent, revealing the figure of the man in white. However, compared to before, his right arm was draped in bloody crystalline vines.

Those vines, growing directly from his flesh at a slow yet steady pace, pierced deep into the man's body. With the visual acuity of the adventurers present, it was not hard to spot crimson blood being ruthlessly extracted by the vines from within the crystals and channeled into that arm.

Yet the man in white acted as though he felt nothing, continuing his excited, frantic shouting.

"But now, I must thank you for your foolishness. After all, how could a spectacle of the power belonging to the new king lack witnesses?"

His mental state seemed increasingly unhinged as he roared continuously.

"Now then, witness my power!"

The man in white sneered. Under Roland's thoughtful gaze, he raised his right hand and thrust it straight into the nearby river of purple. The swirling crystalline powder reacted as if summoned, gathering into the shape of an elongated stone before shattering with a boom.

When the outermost layer of powder dissipated, his hand gripped an astonishingly sci-fi-esque, cannon-like vessel.

Raising this hand cannon, the man in white fired a shot directly toward the adventurers. Not only did it obliterate Riveria's attacking spell, but the residual force punched a massive crater straight through the monster horde.

"Hahahaha—! This is the power of the Void! The power belonging to the King!"

Watching the purple-black bombardment explode and spread, the man in white let out a triumphant, maniacal laugh.

Then, his venomous gaze locked onto Roland.

The two exchanged a silent stare. Once again, the man in white raised the muzzle of his cannon, time seeming to freeze in that instant.

"Your turn! Sword Hero!"

Faced with this threat, Roland merely shook his head helplessly and raised a single hand.

Within the vast cavern, only his calm voice echoed leisurely.

"That power is indeed impressive. However, you got one thing wrong. While you can utilize this power, at best, you are merely the outer packaging meant to hold the gift. This power—"

Roland's expression shifted. Releasing the protective barrier of the Horse Talisman, he responded to the fluctuation and resonance echoing from the air.

"—belongs to me!"

Suddenly, a silver spiral rapidly manifested from the right hand of the man in white. Shattering the surrounding crystalline vines and his entire arm into fine dust, it transformed into a streak of rainbow light, hurtling toward Roland's raised hand like a swallow returning to its nest!

"No, no..."

Disregarding the agony in his body, his eyes splitting with rage, the man in white could only watch in despair as the silver double helix coiled tightly around Roland's raised arm before obediently melting into a peculiar crest on the back of his hand, slowly fading from view.

It was completely different from the state he had experienced after receiving this power—a state of agonizing struggle where every usage required the Void power to devour his own life force just for him to barely manage it.

Following the departure of the silver spiral, the unstable Void in his hand dissolved back into powder, leaving the man in white without even the chance to fly into a rage and launch an attack.

"My hand... My arm..."

Clutching his severed limb, he directed a soul-piercing wail of anguish toward Roland.

"My King's power!"