Chapter 1075: NO．198：Innocent Endgame

NO．198：Innocent Endgame

In the Final Fantasy series, Ifrit has always been a model worker among model workers.

Although each generation's appearance differs, and each generation's setting differs, they are undoubtedly fire gods, manifestations of some kind of summon beast.

Such model workers abound in the Final Fantasy series, for example, the dragon card once displayed in the hands of a certain dragon manager——Bahamut/Bahamut.

Besides not being a fire god, it enjoys the same three treatments, and in the generation of the Ifrit form that Ifrit transforms into, as the strongest summon beast, only the fusion of Ifrit and Phoenix can counter it.

In many people's view, this is the Bahamut/Bahamut kind of mythical creature born from the misspelling of 'Bahamoh/Behemoth', the pinnacle achievable in game creation.

But in fact, there are still masters!

At this very moment, the silver giant wings, like blades spliced together, wrapped in the flowing gloomy deep purple light, and at the instant its power bursts forth, they transform into a striking emblem as grand as a heavenly standard.

That is the moment when the substance of the dimension where the demons exist meets reality, the instant of annihilation that destroys everything, and at that very instant, countless Faction members rush forward one after another, seeking to oppose it with unparalleled vitality, the purple‑silver wings manifest from the distortion and erosion.

【Aberrant Bahamut】

Undetectable by NPCs like Wang, yet it appears as large‑text titles in the eyes of players including Aomo, synchronized with the prelude of a religious‑like choral hymn.

【BGM：EndofRagnarok】

Ragnarok, as an English noun, is also a specific allusive term used to describe the twilight of the gods—the world destruction caused by the great good‑vs‑evil battle in Norse mythology.

It is destruction, it is ending, yet it simultaneously brings forth the will of rebirth.

It is the deity once linked to the heavenly gate of Heaven's Gate City, the god of the floating‑island world where all things drift in the sky——Bahamut/Bahamut.

It is the supreme dragon that is both α and Ω, governing creation and destruction, and embodying countless fragments that accompany the development of innumerable worlds.

Thus, that world possesses many versions of Bahamut.

Those Bahamut can all be traced back to the same origin, each being a fragment of the creator god called the Primordial Dragon; no matter which fragment, it inherits to some degree the original entity's concept of existence.

Even this Aberrant Bahamut, overwritten by madness and malice, thus appearing more aberrant and ferocious than most Bahamut versions, likewise traces back to that most fundamental concept:

RebirthandDestruction/Rebirth and Destruction

Now, it arises from annihilation and vitality, and from the very moment of its manifestation, shaped by the demons' mode of existence, it has already been twisted into an aberrant form.

From its original black‑silver wings to the present purple‑silver wings, the aberrant entity has been, since its birth, an unparalleled beast that destroys everything; even the demons cannot control it, for it possesses neither emotion nor fear.

Only by obeying the instinctual will of destruction does it seek to exterminate everything it sees——

——Fortunately, among those who witnessed its birth, there is a monster enthusiast who can, at the moment of seeing its form, guess and deduce its identity.

Besides, he is also a demon god bearing a half‑demon body and endowed with high divinity.

Deep within him lies a non‑discriminatory void intent that devours everything, good or evil.

Precisely now, it must be now!

Demon God Zero extends toward the four wings; the erupting demonic figure thrusts out giant claws, which at the moment of contact turn into black mist that blankets the sky, swarming with the demonic figure as they collide with the howling Aberrant Bahamut.

Just like the dragon in Monster Hunter that must roar upon debut, the Aberrant Bahamut, just about to clear its throat and grab a human vessel to serve as an anchor for its manifestation and help stabilize its existence, is directly pierced in the crimson chest.

Uninvited, yet it fits perfectly.

Because even the Aberrant Bahamut is likewise a fragment of a deity, and can even be called a deity outright.

Its manifestation requires a medium; the so‑called human vessel should actually be written as a human pillar, for it is easily corrupted and controlled by it to carry out the duty of rebirth and destruction.

Therefore, the ritual by which it anchors the human vessel is called 'Divine Descent', a type of god‑lowering ceremony that possesses the demonic quality of easily devouring the spirits of the weak‑willed.

Then, if a resolute, void‑hearted individual who perfectly fits the god‑lowering ritual appears—even one whose self‑control can suppress the darkness of the Demon God Zero incarnation—can the Aberrant Bahamut still fulfill the duty entrusted to it upon its birth?

The result is already clear.

Surging power gathers in the twin wings, endless heat condenses into flame, all converges in the chest, then rises along the neck into the mouth, where countless undulating purple flames coil.

【Innocent Endgame】

The withering heat, capable of melting and piercing even the demon existence bound to astral space, together with that very astral space, means——even the land blanketed by the black snow remnants of annihilation, which ought to be a lifeless wasteland, is likewise burned to scorched earth.

At first glance it seems more thoroughly destroyed, but this is merely the ordinary phenomenon of scorching, carbonization, and then crystallizing with sand and gravel.

From this very moment, Aomo realized.

He felt as if he had touched the true core capable of resolving this apocalypse.

In game terms, that is the key item that allows perfect clearance of the extreme‑difficulty mechanism.

Unlike Geliza, which only devours and ignores everything else, a mere muncher.

The power of the Aberrant Bahamut is truly the key to reversing everything.

Destruction and rebirth differ only in order; the power itself holds no right or wrong—even a mutated Bahamut, if wielded, can be regarded as a normal Bahamut.

Precisely now.

The Divine Strike Technique drawn from the true Bahamut, which he has again accumulated, now pours forth upon the demons' total defeat, and at the same time, his whole body ablaze with purple light, accumulating ever more visibly, signals all who stand in that direction to scatter.

Unfortunately, the demons lack such judgment.

Although upon sensing Aomo's aura they merely become frenzied or instinctively flee— the latter could have saved them—but alas, after Aomo, carrying Demon God Zero, takes possession, their bodies instantly swell; to countless players they have already become the 【Maguna Bahamut Aberrant】 purple‑silver dragon, and in an instant they turn into a super‑speed flowing light that the demons' scattering speed cannot resist.

【Divine Craft Wings】, also called Cute Star Flying Crash.

This is the power‑burst aerial dash commonly used in Aomo's demonic form; with a height of hundreds of meters, plus a tail length nearing a kilometer, the giant form instantly becomes a howling gale.

And in the next instant after sweeping through countless demons, it erupts in a sphere, intertwining in all directions as impenetrable purple lightning!

【Phenomenon Arc Light】

Meanwhile, the Faction members who ought to have been swept up together in everyone's eyes instead, each as if prescient, consciously moved to the flanks even before the Aberrant Bahamut arrived.

This is precisely the Faction's most troublesome, delay‑free synchronous command when they act as enemies.

As long as the superior issuing the command anticipates quickly enough, they can direct the Faction's actions.

Frankly, for Isamara, this is nothing less than a real‑time strategy game, or more precisely, StarCraft.

He plays the Zerg.

During the phase when bound by the demons, lacking the energy to handle much, he had always been issuing F2A‑style commands; now, thanks to the blessing of Eye Q, his operations have begun to break free from cancer.

Although losing a few fewer Faction members is not important to Aomo, it is evident that for the ordinary soldiers still struggling in the divine melee, who can at most take double‑digit heads even with all their effort, the extra surviving Faction members are a great help.

———Although most of them found it hard to accept that the Faction, which had previously been fighting to the death and even killing their own comrades, had suddenly become their comrades.

But even if they didn't accept it, the Faction didn't care what they thought.

Only the masses carrying out the Initial Birth Order continued to conduct the siege and cleanup work.

If it is said that the destructive and regenerative power of the Bahamut Variant effectively eliminated the annihilation phenomenon caused by the contact of subspace with real space, then to truly restore this world, we still need to rely on the Faction to fulfill their original duty at birth.

But before that, they must together with all people, beasts, and gods face the half of the Wasteland sky that was dragged down from midair by the countless demons that had gone mad again.