150 Annihilated

Within the mental world, Roa executed a series of precise maneuvers, yet the results were negligible.

"..."

As he watched Roy emerge unscathed from his soul-based attacks, an eerie silence enveloped the scene.

"Oh? Is that all you've got? Show me your best tricks. You might not get another chance."

Roa's face twisted in horror, utterly baffled by what was unfolding before him.

How is this possible? Not a single scratch!

The soul was supposed to be the most fragile part of any being, and Roa prided himself on being a magus who specialized in targeting it.

How could anyone withstand such a concentrated spiritual assault without even flinching?

But the more frightened he became, the more chaotic and desperate his actions grew. In a blink, Roa vanished from Roy's sight, reappearing at different angles to launch a torrent of relentless spiritual attacks.

To Roy, however, these attacks felt like nothing more than a warm breeze brushing past him... gentle, almost ticklish, and entirely harmless.

Roa circled him for what seemed an eternity, his attacks growing weaker with each passing moment. His expression contorted into one of frustration, and his spectral form flickered, becoming more and more translucent. His spiritual energy had clearly reached its limit.

"Is that all?" Roy raised an eyebrow, casually brushing at the spot Roa had been attacking, as if dusting off his shoulder.

The gesture, though simple, carried an air of utter disdain... its psychological impact far exceeding its physical one.

"Impossible! Why are my spiritual attacks useless?!" Roa finally broke, his face a mix of panic and disbelief. "What is your soul made of?!"

The once-menacing Roa now looked utterly shaken, his gaze fixed on Roy as if he were staring at a monster.

Through repeated attempts, Roa had come to grasp the truth of their disparity.

If his soul was a river, then Roy's was an endless ocean. No matter how hard he tried, his attacks vanished into nothingness, leaving not the slightest ripple. This was not a matter of skill but an overwhelming difference in magnitude.

Roy's soul was at least a hundred times more powerful than his own.

It was at that moment Roa realized he had made a grave mistake.

"Had enough fun? Then it's my turn."

Roy raised a hand, his tone light yet charged with finality.

"Let me introduce you to an old friend, Roa."

With that, black flames surged from the depths of Roy's soul, erupting into the mental world. The once-flourishing field of flowers ignited, consumed by the infernal blaze until the entire realm was enveloped in darkness.

And then...

"It's been a while, Count."

From within the black flames emerged a figure... a Heroic Spirit known as the King of the Cavern.

"Krahahahahaha! Was it you who summoned me, my accomplice?"

"But what's this? A foul-smelling serpent slithering around here?"

The Count's fiery gaze locked onto Roa, his expression darkening with an unmistakable killing intent.

The black flames in his hand flared brighter, their heat searing the air around him.

"Impossible! This cannot be! Why are you here?!" 

He recognized this man... his murderer in a past life. The memory of his soul being scorched by those black flames, the excruciating torment, and the despair... it all came rushing back. No amount of reincarnations could erase the nightmare.

Why was this man, this nightmare, here?

"Count, shall we fight side by side once more?" 

"Of course, my accomplice."

"Let's drag this wretched serpent into the abyss together! Krahahahahaha!"

Roy smiled faintly, standing beside the manifestation of the King of the Cavern, a construct of his spiritual energy.

Together, they turned toward Roa, whose escape routes were sealed by the encroaching flames.

What followed was chaos.

The fiery battlefield saw two figures moving at impossible speeds, their attacks relentless. Roa, overwhelmed and trapped, was seized, flung, and relentlessly pummeled.

As the black flames continued to ravage his soul, Roa was filled with regret. Why had he ever dared to enter this man's body?

To ensure there was no escape, Roy had erected barriers within his mental world, locking Roa in a realm where he could do nothing but endure the torment.

By now, Roa fully understood the depth of his miscalculation. This man, both in body and soul, was an insurmountable monster. All his schemes had amounted to nothing more than digging his own grave.

"Trying to run?"

Seeing Roa muster every ounce of strength to escape the mental world, Roy had no intention of letting him succeed.

With a wave of his hand, countless golden portals appeared behind him.

Gate of Babylon!

From within the portals, dozens of golden chains shot forth at incredible speed, catching up to Roa and binding his limbs, dragging him back with irresistible force.

"Enkidu."

The golden chains proved remarkably useful. Having experienced them countless times in simulated battles, Roy could easily replicate their power and unleash them with mastery.

Then came the next phase.

Roy summoned the Gordius Wheel, trampling Roa beneath its wheels, followed by wielding the Excalibur, enshrouded in black flames, to sever his limbs with a precise strike.

"AAAAHHHHHH!!"

The searing pain of the black flames, coupled with the relentless barrage of noble phantasms, pushed Roa's soul to its breaking point.

Watching the now-fractured remains of Roa's form, Roy knew it was time to conclude his experimentation with the noble phantasms. While he hadn't yet tested the Rhongomyniad, he decided it was unnecessary to take things further.

If the Rhongomyniad struck Roa's current state, it would likely obliterate him entirely. But Roy was keenly aware that destroying Roa's soul might leave fragments behind, potentially allowing him to escape and plot revenge. That would be unacceptable.

He needed to purge this loathsome serpent once and for all.

"Enough of this tedious play. It's time to end this farce."

Looking down at the mangled, unrecognizable form of Roa, Roy spoke with chilling finality.

"This is where your journey ends."

"Finally... you're going to kill me?" Roa, still suspended by the chains of Enkidu, let out a weak, derisive chuckle. His pallid face twisted into a mocking grin, and his shadowed eyes bore into Roy's.

"It's pointless. Even if you destroy my soul here, I will be reborn in the future... hehehehehe..."

"I've already prepared backups of my soul elsewhere. The moment you kill me, my next consciousness will awaken and find a new vessel. Not even those flames can completely erase my soul. Your efforts are futile."

"Mm. I'm aware of that."

Roa's petty schemes had been obvious to him all along. They were similar to Touko's resurrection techniques... cunning but ultimately predictable.

"And that's precisely why I won't let you die so easily. I said I would erase you completely, didn't I? Erasure is not the same as death."

"W-What? That's impossible!"

Roa's pupils contracted in terror as a dreadful realization dawned upon him. If Roy intended what Roa feared, then his fate would be far worse than death.

No, this can't happen!

Overwhelmed by panic, Roa mustered what remained of his strength, attempting to self-destruct his soul in a final act of defiance.

But nothing happened.

He could feel his magical energy, but no matter how he tried to shatter his own soul, he remained alive. His existence had been forcibly stabilized.

"What's the point of struggling?"

"I've added an immortality buff to your soul. No matter how you try to harm yourself, you won't die."

The truth was now clear.

When Roy detected Roa's contingency plan, he had taken steps to block any possibility of escape through death. By locking Roa in a state of half-life, half-death, he ensured that his consciousness couldn't transfer to any backup soul fragments. Roa was trapped.

"Enough chit-chat. While I won't destroy your soul entirely, there are plenty of fates worse than death awaiting you."

With those words, Roy raised his hand and placed it on Roa's head. A radiant white light began to emanate from his palm.

"No! Stop! You can't do this to me!!" Roa shrieked, struggling in vain against the chains that held him.

"Release me! Let me go, you monster! I beg you, please!!"

But Roy remained unmoved. He would not show mercy to such a vile creature.

"Heaven's Feel – Soul Transformation."

Unlike the delicate precision Roy had used to save a child's life with this technique in the past, Roa's transformation required no such care.

Maximizing the process, Roy reshaped Roa's soul, stripping it of all emotion and desire while leaving his consciousness intact. What remained was an undying soul, condemned to endless torment, incapable of reincarnation or harm.

"Stop! Don't touch my soul! Don't put that inside my head! AAAAHHHHH!!"

As Roy's hand glowed brighter, the mutilated parts of Roa's soul began to reconstruct, their colors fading into pale, translucent whites. A shimmering film of light enveloped what remained, erasing every trace of his individuality.

Finally, Roa's struggles ceased. His eyes dulled, his emotions vanished, and his sense of self was obliterated.

What remained was a featureless white form, dripping from the chains of Enkidu like liquid, before coalescing into a human-like shape. It stood silently, devoid of any semblance of life or will.

The transformation was complete.

Roa's emotions, desires, and identity were gone. Although his consciousness lingered, his existence was now hollow... worse than death itself.

Satisfied, Roy opened his Reality Marble, pulling the transformed Roa inside.

Like the angel bound by the Third Magic, Roa became another piece of Roy's domain... a tool to be used, nothing more.

For a monster that reveled in manipulating life, becoming an object of manipulation was the most fitting end.

And so, the game concluded.

"The EX-seat Dead Apostle Ancestor, Serpent of Akasha, Michael Roa Valdamjong is hereby declared utterly annihilated."

___

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