Blood-red lightning dyed the surrounding area in crimson.

Like a massive firework exploding in the center of Isla Machina, where only small flickers of light had been visible in the darkness, a magnificent spectacle of lights visible from the entire island.

It was just a momentary flash, but people were captivated by its tremendous power and beauty.

Black iron fragments, partially swept up in the crimson, changed to red and scattered like powder.

Through the fluttering red fragments falling through the air, a voice reached Rudger's ears.

-I told you to save that power. Yet you've gone and used it anyway.

Grandel's voice came through the dissipating red fragments.

Not only did she use magic from such a distance, but she even managed to transmit her voice.

It wasn't for nothing that 8th-tier magic was known as "legendary."

The distance between Leathervelk and Isla Machina was at least 2,000km.

The accuracy to hit a desired target instantly from that distance...

'Even orbital bombardment wouldn't be this precise.'

Rudger chuckled and asked Grandel:

"Does this mean you're planning to become active again?"

-I've always been the same.

"How did you know I was here?"

-Not only could I sense the wave of that power, but you spilled blood without my permission.

Could it be that she sensed her disciple was in danger just from the smell of blood?

They say sharks can smell a single diluted drop of blood from 1km away, but this was on a whole different level.

-The fact that you unleashed that much power means you must have completed your mental preparations.

"......"

-Are you trying to dismiss it with silence? You clearly made a promise to me.

"Yes, I did."

Rudger recalled the promise he made with Grandel in the past.

Someday, to definitely kill her using the power of a god.

That's what Grandel had told Rudger when he was young.

There was no way he could forget that promise.

-Are you still hesitating? What a foolish disciple you are. It seems your coldness is merely a façade.

"Master."

-Enough. It was foolish of me to make such a request to a weakling like you. So let's consider that day's promise void.

At the words about canceling the promise, Rudger's eyes widened.

"What do you mean?"

-Exactly what I said. Just pretend you never heard about that day's promise.

"Does that mean you've found another way?"

-What good would it do you to know? You simply no longer need to forcibly keep a promise you dislike, so just put your mind at ease. Consider this help now as a final gift and farewell from a former teacher.

"Farewell? What are you talking about?"

-That's how it is.

"Master!"

Rudger shouted, glaring at the crumbling red fragments.

-...A person who wouldn't even shout once when facing death has grown so much.

What was this fondness in her voice?

Rudger was about to argue with Grandel but stopped.

Speaking like that meant she had already made up her mind about something.

A person who always emphasized the importance of promises suddenly says there's no need to keep it?

Something else must have definitely happened.

"Let's discuss the details when I return."

He spoke to Grandel, but there was no reply.

The red fragments that had been swirling around had already vanished without a trace.

But Rudger believed Grandel had heard his words.

"I already had reasons to go back, but now it seems I need to return even faster."

Rudger muttered this while fixing a cold gaze on the God of Machinery.

The God of Machinery had been severely shocked after being hit by Grandel's blood lightning.

The God of Machinery trembled like someone with paralysis.

But if it was only in that state after being hit by none other than Grandel's attack, it was practically unharmed.

However, that left a momentary opening.

Rudger, wearing Teralon's arm, charged toward the God of Machinery.

Seeing Rudger approach, the God of Machinery gathered all its remaining mechanical arms.

After two arms were destroyed by Teralon's arm, and another two were swept away by the blood lightning just now, only four of the original arms remained.

All of them flew at Rudger from different directions.

Seeing the mechanical arms approaching sequentially from different directions, Rudger didn't back down.

The God of Machinery mocked such reckless behavior.

The double halo was still shining above his head.

It meant he couldn't use that space-distorting power.

Just as it was about to crush Rudger's body...

A black knight with a dark red slash swung his sword toward the mechanical arms.

Since they were focused solely on Rudger, one mechanical arm was defenseless against the attack from the side and was cut off.

There were still three mechanical arms left, but Verom wasn't the only one who appeared to stop the God of Machinery.

"Now I'll really destroy it!"

Whiron, emitting pure white steam from his body, threw his right fist that flickered with blue light.

It was his most powerful strike, squeezing out all his magical power.

"Supermassive Impact!"

Whiron's fist completely shattered one mechanical arm.

Two arms remained.

"Please, Andras."

"I don't really like this, but I have no choice."

Rotheron and Andras each activated their magic.

"Great ancient spirit, my ancestor who has accumulated karma, please answer this descendant's call and lend me your strength."

[Become stronger. Forget the pain. Squeeze out all your magical power. Do not hesitate.]

Rotheron filled his body with one great spirit after another while Andras cast spells on Rotheron using both hands and even the mouths on his hands.

Pure white energy rose like a mirage around Rotheron’s body, and his long hair turned white.

With his hair color changed, Rotheron charged toward the last two mechanical arms with beast-like eyes and swung his hands in a crossing motion.

Crash!

The remaining two mechanical arms were diagonally torn apart as if slashed by a giant beast from Rotheron’s hand gesture.

With that strike, Rotheron’s hair color returned to normal, and he slowly fell to the ground as his energy drained.

"Please, Teacher Rudger."

With Rotheron’s final words, Rudger reached right in front of the God of Machinery.

The God of Machinery tried to flash its eye lights at Rudger after losing all its prized mechanical arms, but something covered its face first.

It was Teralon's hand.

"Aaargh!"

The God of Machinery struggled as soon as Teralon's hand touched it.

It even kicked its two legs as if in pain despite wearing a solid suit.

Drip.

A black, viscous liquid flowed like blood from the gaps in the mechanical god's suit.

The solid suit armor completely decomposed and fell to the floor.

Inside was only a human body with muscles and a black sphere embedded in the heart.

Teralon's arm, having used its final power, became completely rusted and disappeared into powder.

"Now it's over."

Rudger stretched out his arm and grabbed the divine core.

And with all his strength, he forcefully pulled it out.

Whoosh!

With its divine core extracted, the God of Machinery fell powerlessly to the ground without any resistance.

Rudger held the divine core in one hand and looked down at it quietly.

The steel clouds that had filled the surroundings fell to the ground under the influence of gravity as their master disappeared.

"I-Is it over?"

"Yes! We won!"

The tower mages, defense force, and even black mages...

When the natural disaster-like situation ended, they all burst into cheers without anyone taking the lead.

"That teacher really finished it off."

Sitting on the rooftop of a half-destroyed building, Cravat rolled his eyes searching for Rudger.

The figure of Rudger, who had taken down the monster that could have destroyed this island, was nowhere to be seen.

"Damn it! Damn it! What the hell is this!"

Nikolai had fled.

Though he had been severely beaten by Gabriel and escaped, he still left an unforgettable gift for the guy before leaving.

It was unfortunate that things didn't go as planned, but with the God of Machinery, he was practically invincible on this island.

That's what he firmly believed.

Until he witnessed the divine core of the God of Machinery being pulled out by Rudger's hand.

John Doe. It was him again. He didn't know what method he used, but that guy had killed the god.

A chilling fear crept up Nikolai's spine.

The god he created had met a miserable end.

He was hostile to the magic tower, and all his forces had been dismantled.

Nikolai had no foundation left on Isla Machina.

'I need to escape.'

Nikolai decided to flee from Isla Machina.

He had prepared means to escape from the island in case of an emergency.

He could just go to the mainland and establish a new foundation.

Nikolai's thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a beast echoing from beyond the dark alley.

-Growl.

What emerged from between the darkness and faint steam was a large wolf.

It had caught Nikolai's scent and immediately pursued him as he fled.

"G-Get away!"

Nikolai tried to drive it away by activating magic, but due to internal injuries from the fight with Gabriel, his magical power couldn't be properly utilized.

The wolf, seeing Nikolai like this, was about to bare its teeth with a sneer when it suddenly stopped.

"My, Nikolai. I didn't expect you to be cornered like this. I thought someone like you would maintain a relaxed smile until the end."

Nikolai's face was covered with astonishment and then joy at the sight of the newly appeared person.

"Lord Zero Order!"

Zero Order was smiling casually as usual.

Though he looked harmless on the outside, the wolf immediately recognized Zero Order's true nature.

That's why it showed uncharacteristic tension.

Nikolai, who had been delighted by Zero Order's appearance, belatedly realized his situation and his face twisted in despair.

He knew what it meant for Zero Order to appear before him after he had failed his mission.

"L-Lord Zero Order. I can explain everything."

"What difference would an explanation make?"

"Th-That's..."

"Nikolai. You were quite a capable man. And you wanted my recognition more than anyone else. You were deeply loyal, I would say."

Zero Order shook his head as if he had already assessed the situation upon arriving on this island.

"But that too is now over."

"W-Wait! Please give me one more chance!"

"Chance? Oh, did you think I came to punish you?"

"Is-Isn't that the case?"

Zero Order laughed, shrugging his shoulders at Nikolai's question.

"Of course not. When have I ever held you responsible for failing a mission?"

"That's..."

Come to think of it, he never had.

Wasn't he the kind of person who knew about and tolerated conflicts between First Orders?

A light of hope blossomed on Nikolai's face.

"Then you came to save me...!"

"Ah, that's not the case either."

"What?"

Nikolai's face turned blank.

"Th-Then why did you come to Isla Machina...?"

"I didn't come to this island to see you. I was slightly interested in the item you created. But even that turned out to be nothing more than a toy that ended up broken. I might be a bit late, but anyway... my business on this island is completely finished."

"Lord Zero Order?"

"I will not punish you."

Zero Order showed a benevolent smile to Nikolai, but spoke completely opposite words.

"But I won't save you either."

Those words fell on Nikolai like a massive boulder.

Nikolai's mind was devastated by the reality that he had been abandoned by the one he served.

"Mr. Protector of the Ulburg family. Sorry to interrupt your meal. I'm just passing by, so please continue what you were doing and pretend I'm not here."

The wolf stared at Zero Order with eyes full of wariness and suspicion.

Zero Order shrugged and stepped back.

He naturally melted into the darkness of the alley and disappeared.

After confirming Zero Order had left, the wolf glared at Nikolai and lunged with its mouth wide open.

-Aaaaargh!

Along with the sound of flesh being torn, Nikolai's scream echoed in the steam.

After finishing everything, Rudger urgently arrived where Rene was.

He momentarily felt anxious seeing traces of destruction and fighting nearby, but remembering that Cravat had come to provide support, he calmly entered the hideout.

Entering the room on the third floor, he saw Rene sleeping soundly.

The removal of holy power must have been completed successfully, as her expression looked more peaceful than before.

But the rapidly fluctuating spatial attribute magic power inside Rene's body indicated that things weren't over yet.

"You came?"

Gabriel was already in the room.

From his tattered appearance, it was clear that Gabriel too had fought a difficult battle.

"The materials?"

"I brought as much as I could. Including the most important one, the World Tree cells."

"Wait."

Rudger immediately took the materials Gabriel had prepared and headed to the laboratory in the next room.

Using tools prepared in advance, he made a recovery potion according to the combination formula he had thought of beforehand.

Gabriel followed Rudger into the room and watched the process carefully.

A refined medicinal liquid was created in a small reagent bottle.

It was a faint light green liquid.

Rudger's expression wasn't good when he checked it.

"What? What exactly..."

Originally, this light green color should have changed to a transparent color over time.

But no matter how long he waited, the current medication showed no signs of changing color.

Something was wrong with the combination formula.

Rudger immediately opened his notebook and re-examined the combination formula written inside.

"Stabilizer. Yes, we need a stabilizer."

The World Tree cells possessed such powerful vitality that, if not handled properly, could cause side effects to the consumer.

Just as excessive regenerative power can increase cancer cells.

A very powerful stabilizer was needed for that, and that was what was missing now.

"I'm sure there should have been a stabilizer in the lab too, wasn't there?"

"Stabilizer..."

Gabriel recalled the list of items in the laboratory and shook his head.

"No. There wasn't any."

Gabriel's expression also became serious.

Wouldn't Nikolai, who had experimented with World Tree cells, have had a stabilizer?

But if there had been one, he wouldn't have missed it.

'Could it be?'

Gabriel suddenly had such a thought.

What if Nikolai, who had fled at that time, had disposed of all the stabilizers?

"...What ingredients are needed for the stabilizer? At the very least, what goes into it?"

"Greenbelle roots, Alaure petals, Mantanis sap. These three are needed, but one comes from the northern snow mountains, and the other two are only found in the southern tropical rainforests, so there's no way to get them right now."

-Crunch.

The page Rudger held crumpled under the force.

"There's... no way."

"No."

Rudger silently turned to look at Gabriel.

"There is a way."

"You..."

Seeing Gabriel's eyes full of determination, Rudger instinctively realized what he was planning to do and widened his eyes.

"Are you now..."

In response to Rudger's question, Gabriel just grinned as if this was their final farewell.

-Tick.

The sound of the hour hand turning echoed and like that the world stopped.