Buzz, buzz, buzz!
Elefseria poured more and more magic into the spell, as if he were locked in a tug-of-war with Viernes himself.
But in this strange half-existing state, the Gold Dragon God could not use his full strength.
Bit by bit, Elefseria pried him loose.
"Come out!"
With Elefseria's shout, golden light burst across the area.
Even though only Viernes's soul had been dragged into reality, his magic was still dazzling.
That strange, brilliant power was the source of his Gold Magic.
Buzz!
The instant Viernes's soul was pulled out, Marco attacked.
He had been waiting for this!
"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"
Marco had no intention of giving Viernes even a second to recover.
They did not need to let the Gold Dragon God rebuild a body. If anything, Viernes was easier to deal with while he was only a soul.
Boom!
Accumulated Corpse Qi surged toward Viernes. In his exposed soul state, he had nowhere to dodge.
The blast struck him head-on.
"It started!" Gray shouted.
They could not see Viernes's soul, but they had seen this once already with Aldoron.
Marco had bombarded the Wood Dragon God with Sekishiki Meikai Ha until he tore the dragon's soul apart.
"Bastard! Aren't you human?! Why are you working with dragons?!"
After taking Marco's attack, Viernes immediately dropped the air of a calm mastermind.
The pain cut deep into his soul, and he roared at Marco in fury.
"What does that have to do with you?"
Marco looked utterly unimpressed and fired another Sekishiki Meikai Ha.
Viernes's soul seemed more solid than expected.
The alchemy he had practiced really did seem to involve some understanding of the soul.
"Stop! Stop! I'm on humanity's side!"
After being hit again, Viernes felt the pain become unbearable and hurriedly tried to call for peace.
"Huh?"
Marco paused.
That was not what he had expected Viernes to say.
What was this guy's deal?
"Everything I've done has been for the sake of erasing dragons from history completely! I'm trying to create a world without dragons!"
Viernes shouted desperately, and the more he spoke, the more confused Marco became.
'Wait, now we're talking about creating a world without dragons? What kind of plot twist is this?'
Marco could not tell what Viernes was actually trying to do.
Still, the line felt oddly familiar.
The last guy who talked like that had wanted to create a world where Rin existed.
"I created Gold Owl and studied alchemy so I could transmute history itself! By transmuting history, I will erase all dragons and reshape the world into one of peace, a world that never had dragons and never needed to fear them!"
Viernes's words hit Marco so hard that, for a moment, he honestly could not tell whether the dragon was being sincere or doing some kind of insane performance.
"Sekishiki Meikai Ha!"
Since he could not decide, Marco simply hit him again.
Even if Viernes sounded like he was standing against dragons, that did not mean he was standing with humanity.
The history he wanted to "transmute" was not only the history of dragons. It was also the history of humans, the history of their resistance, and the history of their victories.
What was the point of erasing that?
Humanity did not need that part of history wiped away.
Erasing it would not benefit them.
Humans had already won, at least in the broader sense. Only Guiltina still had some unfinished business left.
If anything, Viernes's plan was far more dangerous than Ignia's.
If he actually succeeded, dragons would vanish, but so would the history of humanity's struggle against them.
Dragon Slayer Magic would likely disappear too. Everything from that era would be cut away, leaving only one being untouched.
Viernes himself.
What Viernes wanted to do was far more sinister than Ignia's blunt dream of dragon rule.
This was the real holy act of cutting everything loose.
He wanted to sever the entire past, cut away his whole race, and then leave himself hidden behind the curtain while taking every benefit for himself.
If that happened, whether Viernes chose to rule humanity or treat them kindly would no longer matter.
Humanity would have very little left that could resist him.
After all, this was a dragon who claimed he could transmute history.
"Why?! Why won't you understand?!"
Viernes screamed as his soul kept taking hit after hit.
He could not accept it.
He had already explained himself, so why was this human still refusing to let him go?
Even Mercphobia had been spared, so why not him?
"Because you're dishonest," Marco said flatly. "You dress it up like some grand, righteous mission, but if you actually pull it off, the damage you cause will be worse than all the other Dragon Gods combined."
Marco would never accept something like "transmuting history."
Viernes claimed he was only targeting dragons now, but who could guarantee that once he truly succeeded, he would only erase the existence of dragons?
The safest way to prevent that disaster was simple.
Remove Viernes at the source!
Boom, boom, boom!
Gray, Elefseria, and Mercphobia could all feel Marco's attacks grow harsher.
It was obvious some kind of argument had broken out between him and Viernes, because the terrifying Accumulated Corpse Qi was now flooding the area like a storm.
Before long, Marco finally stopped.
At the same time, the strange presence that had clung to this land vanished completely.
"Done."
Marco clapped his hands, looking refreshed.
Viernes was exactly the kind of person Marco disliked most.
He shouted noble slogans and pretended to stand for justice, but the thing he wanted to do was worse than what the openly vicious ones had planned.
Marco checked the system panel.
Sure enough, Viernes's name had also been marked off.
The strange, slippery Gold Dragon God was finally dead for good.
These Five Dragon Gods really did each have their own tricks.
If Marco had not unlocked the Cancer Gold Cloth before this, dealing with them would have been much more annoying.