"Sunlight's Blessing."
Still the same technique, but the power was worlds apart!
BOOM——!!!
Igniz's magnificent battle armor shattered instantly! His entire body was sent flying as if struck by a star, smashing violently into the temple wall.
Even that wall, made of special alloy, melted and disintegrated under Sunlight's Blessing!
"Urgh—!"
A mouthful of golden blood, containing vast energy, sprayed from Igniz's mouth.
He had lost.
In his own prized "Divine Throne," he had been steamrolled head-on by an even more "unscientific" method!
"Impossible... absolutely impossible!"
Igniz struggled to rise from the rubble. That handsome face, godlike in its beauty, was now twisted with madness and refusal to accept defeat.
"I am the chosen new god! I am the creator meant to guide humanity's evolution! How could I possibly lose to you... to this kind of primitive, savage old god!"
He couldn't accept it!
His "divine body," composed of the most cutting-edge technology and perfect energy, had lost to an "antique" who gained power through such an outdated method as "bloodline"!
This was an insult to "science"!
"The endpoint of technology is metaphysics." Cloud hovered in mid-air, looking down at him with eyes that said "look at this chuuni idiot." "Your prized technology, before my inherited theology, is nothing but a child's building blocks."
"I DON'T BELIEVE IT!!!"
Igniz completely lost control! He connected the entire space station's energy supply to his own body!
Countless blue energy conduits connected to him from all directions, pumping power sufficient to drive an entire planet into his body!
"Let me show you! Technology is the true principle of the universe!"
He spread his arms wide, and the entire "Divine Throne" began to tremble violently, deform, and restructure!
Cold metal transformed into living metallic beasts!
Pure white light condensed into a Sword of Damocles to judge all things!
But he wasn't satisfied. He activated another program in his mind!
[Plunder command confirmed! Target: Cloud! Data analysis beginning...]
[WARNING! Target data structure abnormal! Unknown memetic contamination present! Forced analysis will cause our AI Hera Core to crash!]
[Override warning! Force execution!]
Igniz was actually attempting to use NESTS's prized technology to "copy" and "plunder" the Orochi power within Cloud!
"Foolish."
Cloud watched Igniz's final frenzy and simply uttered two words.
"Plunder," was it?
Did he think he was the only one who could do that?
A cunning gleam passed through Cloud's eyes. Not only did he not stop the attempt, he actively opened a sliver of Orochi's origin data to the enemy's AI system.
And just as Igniz's AI system, like a greedy glutton, was frantically devouring this "pie falling from the sky"—Cloud, in his mind, issued the final command to his own system.
"System, activate Final Protocol—[Imperial Plunder]!"
"Target: The entire NESTS organization, all core technology!"
"Leave... nothing behind!"
[Final Protocol confirmed! [Imperial Plunder] mode activated!]
[Initiating reverse intrusion through data channel established by enemy AI... Intrusion successful!]
[Breaking through Divine Throne space station highest-level permissions... Breakthrough successful!]
[Downloading all NESTS organization research results accumulated over decades...]
[Genetic technology database... Download complete!]
[Clone technology core code... Download complete!]
[Zero-type battle armor design blueprints... Download complete!]
[Artificial Intelligence Hera Core source code... Download complete!]
[...]
[All core materials have been packaged and downloaded to System Space!]
All of this happened in the blink of an eye!
Igniz was still immersed in his fantasy of "copying" divine power, perfectly combining technology and theology to become the universe's one true god.
He had no idea that while he was trying to "steal" from his opponent, his entire "home" had been packaged and "moved" by the other party!
"Hahahaha... I feel it! The power of a god! I..."
Igniz's maniacal laughter cut off abruptly.
Because he discovered that his prized AI system had suddenly... blue-screened.
On the screen, only a single line of mocking text remained, composed of countless garbled characters:
[Thanks for the rocket donation, bro! Wishing you a long and healthy life!]
"This... this is..."
Igniz was completely dumbfounded.
And Cloud was no longer willing to give him any more opportunities.
"Game over."
He slowly raised his hand. In his palm, a sphere of pure "nothingness"—deeper than a black hole—slowly coalesced.
"All things... return to nothing."
Facing this incomprehensible, unstoppable, even unthinkable ultimate strike, Igniz's face finally showed an expression of true... "despair."
His final conscious thought only managed to form one unwilling question in his mind:
"I... was clearly the final BOSS... why... do I feel like... I'm just a starter-zone mob?"
BOOM——
No sound.
Igniz, along with his laughable "new god" dream, was completely "erased" from this universe by that sphere of pure nothingness.
Body and soul annihilated, not even a single data byte left behind.
...
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