When Steve's explanation came to an end, an act began that could scarcely be called a "battle"—a one-sided execution was about to unfold.
Before the colossal figure, standing a thousand meters tall and representing "the apex of a planet," which slowly descended from the crimson sky, the seventy-one demons began their last and most futile resistance. Now devoid of magical power, they gambled in despair, burning away their very existence as fuel, unleashing every attack method within their control.
"The time for drifting has come! Observatory, activate! Purify and erase all traces... [Restore the Buddha Temple]!"
"[The time to cross the road has come! Control tower, light the beacon! Knowing all, therefore lamenting all... [Revised Barbatos]!]"
"[Time for expansion is here!] Armory, resupply! Let's fight, loving and hating each other... [Revised Halphas]!"
"[The time for rebirth is come!] Star of Awakening, open your eyes! Grasp all countless afterimages and traces... [Formal Aamon Restoration]!"
"Time for growth is here! Forge and unleash! Seek the drop of truth...[Repair Naberius]!"
"[The time of destiny is here!] Biological Research Institute, prove yourself! All existences are equal and ought to be corrected... [Repair Alloces]!"
"[Time of ruin is upon us!] Ruined holes, collapse! Discard all that is unneeded!!"
...
The hellfire that scorched the land, the absolute zero that froze time and space, the causal blades that tore apart reality, the countless curses that devoured souls—attacks that once destroyed even the armies of the Age of Gods—now seemed as trivial as a child tossing pebbles at the sun.
Every single attack was neutralized, dissolved by an invisible, distorted field of light before it could reach TYPE-Venus's gigantic white body, erased without a trace. This was a force that accompanied her body, a set of "otherworldly rules" belonging solely to Venus herself.
Before these rules, every mystery within Gaia—the Earth's system—was like incompatible code: it collapsed the moment it was used. Even the divine magic, which the Demon Pillars prided themselves upon, left not a single mark on their opponent's outer shell.
They had absolutely no effective means of resistance.
This was not the distant future known as the Land of Steel, so there existed no Ether Liners: Knights who wielded the energy of "Space Dust (Grain)" to destroy stars or damage extraterrestrial beings.
There were no treasures from Atlas Academy to lend aid, nor did anyone wield the "Black Barrel," one of seven world-destroying weapons capable of killing gods, which could pierce cosmic law and temporarily shock even the living god of Venus from the sky.
All they had was the divine magecraft that marked the apex under Earth's laws, yet even that meant nothing before a true "visitor from the stars".
At last, the true form of the Heaven's Corpse descended.
There was no thunderous roar that shook the earth—only a tooth-aching, pained scream echoed, and the space itself seemed to be under crushing pressure.
A towering green plant, like a mountain, was gently "placed" upon this steel-coated land—slowly, yet with an unstoppable force. This seeming gentleness, though, brought with it a mass and conceptual pressure that completely surpassed physical law. Nearly half the demon pillars below were instantly pressed into two-dimensional magical patterns… Their gigantic bodies, along with the very space they occupied, were crushed, flattened by these alien laws, leaving behind nothing but odd, abstract energy traces on the cracked steel earth, utterly erased into non-existence.
The sight was both absurd and terrifying. It was as though a massive speeding truck rolled casually over a line of brittle plastic speed bumps—the demon pillars could not muster any real resistance and were utterly annihilated.
Yet this was not the end—this was only the appetizer.
When, in the distance, the "destroyed" demon pillars began an unstable attempt at regeneration thanks to their connection to the Temple of Time, TYPE-Venus's massive plant form launched its true "offensive."
Simultaneously, countless giant flower buds like branches and leaves upon her back blossomed quietly. What emerged from their stamens was not pollen, but countless "angels" shining with golden light—beings whose forms faintly echoed TYPE-Venus's own conceptual body.
In this way, billions of these "angels" were "born" from their mother. Each boasted a spirit foundation on par with a low-tier Servant, creating a golden sea of life and a storm of light vast enough to engulf the world.
"Go, my children... Sing the song of victory for your lord!"
With TYPE-Venus's cheerful, girlish voice as their guide, the overwhelming legion of angelic spores charged forward, their bright singing like birdsong, overwhelming the demon pillars just as they had completed their regeneration and before they could react.
A total slaughter began.
The number advantage once boasted by the demon pillars had become a farce—seventy-one against one billion. Each pillar faced the onslaught of millions of "angels," who wielded spears of light, flung blades of energy, or even detonated themselves in reckless collision, igniting a string of intense golden explosions governed by the laws of Venus.
Like a giant whale beset by a swarm of piranhas, the massive bodies of the demon pillars were swallowed by golden light in an instant. By the laws of another world, their bodies—aggregates of magical energy—were torn asunder, their regeneration corroded and suppressed, the gap between death and rebirth growing ever longer, and with each revival, their forms became weaker and weaker.
Their collective consciousness network was now filled with anguished wails.
"Why… Why is this happening!"
"King Solomon! Do you see this? Is this the enemy sent to fight us?"
"Unfair! This isn't a battle at all!"
...
Steve floated in the distance, serenely savoring the grand symphony of destruction he had orchestrated, still capable of calm theoretical reflection.
Yes, it was unfair.
Lev Lainur, the escaped remnant, still longed for reunion with the seventy-two demons. Even King Solomon, merged with machine and man, had at last permitted the resurrection of Demon King Goetia, the Beast I that could burn away all Human Order.
Yet, from the looks of it, victory was still out of reach.
That was because Goetia's greatest power rested on the foundation of Human Order. His anti-summoning authority, which returned Heroic Spirits to the Throne of Heroes, would have no effect on TYPE-Venus, who was neither a Servant, a product of Earth's myth, nor a terrestrial lifeform—but an alien from Venus.
Trying to use that authority would be like attempting to detect hardware failure with antivirus software: it simply targeted the wrong kind of problem.
Even Goetia's Noble Phantasm might deal catastrophic blows to terrestrial life under that massive halo, but could it truly damage an Aristoteles on par with Gaia?
That remained a big question mark.
For now, there was no chance to test it—for the seventy-one demon gods that formed its foundation were, before Steve's eyes, being swallowed up beyond hope of return in the angelic golden sea.
…