Boom!
The Shadow Space shattered.
Number 9's life or death was unknown.
Suzuki Satoru appeared at the center of the ritual, radiating a terrifying aura. He didn't see Princess Lakyus or the little knight. Without any hesitation, he cast a spell; lightning instantly engulfed the ritual apparatus, and with an explosion, the device was destroyed.
"It's over now."
Just as Suzuki Satoru thought this and was about to share his feelings with Albedo, the magic circle on the ground suddenly lit up—the ritual was destroyed, but the effect was not affected because the ritual itself had already been successfully activated—cold sweat broke out in Suzuki Satoru's heart. In other words, they were still one step too late; had the Goddess of Dusk already been summoned?!
"Momonga-sama, what is this?"
"The ritual has been activated. We were a step too late. It's a great pity, but it seems we must face the Goddess. However, the sacrifice requirements for the ritual haven't been fully met. Even if that Goddess is summoned, she shouldn't be in her complete form. Let's head up and see the situation first. If it's truly impossible, we'll have to retreat."
Suzuki Satoru took Albedo and used space teleportation to reach the outside of the ruins. The Goddess Cult's magic circle was floating in the sky—or more accurately, the Goddess's mana. The air was filled with a divine and vast mana, even more so than when the Archangel descended. There was no doubt that the Goddess had indeed been summoned. What he needed to do next was confirm exactly how much power that Goddess possessed.
"Over there... is that Dragon Lord fighting the Goddess? And this feeling... I see. The Dragon Lord really was holding something back in the previous battle."
Suzuki Satoru brought Albedo and teleported near the battlefield. He saw the Platinum Dragon Lord spreading his massive wings and soaring in the sky. The eerie magic circles on his body radiated an incredibly terrifying aura that made Suzuki Satoru's bones feel numb. That thing was dangerous.
When the two of them looked at the Platinum Dragon Lord's opponent, both instantly showed expressions of disbelief. That Goddess was actually the Sword Saint? The Sword Saint was currently glowing all over, her aura undergoing earth-shattering changes every second.
"So that's how it is. Summoning the Goddess's Main Body directly is an incredibly difficult task, so they considered using this method to summon the Goddess's spirit down? But if that's the case, they would need to prepare a body capable of withstanding divine power in advance. And in this world, there is probably no candidate more suitable than the Sword Saint. This is likely the Goddess Cult's true goal—not just to summon the Goddess, but also to make the Sword Saint, who was originally the world's greatest Guardian, lose her position..." Suzuki Satoru did not step forward to assist the Platinum Dragon Lord. Currently, he needed to analyze more information, and the fact that the Platinum Dragon Lord had hidden his power made him feel very uncomfortable.
If he had used his full strength earlier, they might have been able to destroy the Goddess Cult's plan.
But looking at the Platinum Dragon Lord's current state, it seemed he had known all along that the Goddess would descend in this manner and had been saving his strength specifically to deal with her.
Since the Platinum Dragon Lord had this intention from the start, then he would witness the Dragon Lord's methods. If he stepped forward to interfere now, he would be called tactless, and he didn't want to be labeled like that.
Suzuki Satoru even felt in the mood to joke in his mind. In fact, he was letting himself go; after all, the situation had already turned so bad that it couldn't get any worse, so he might as well accept reality cheerfully.
"Ainz-sama!"
Demiurge and Victim rushed over. The Undead army had been completely exhausted in the previous battle. Earlier, to share the Platinum Dragon Lord's pressure, Demiurge had commanded the Undead army to form a wall. After being baptized by the Archangel's rain of fire, nothing was left. Furthermore, when Number 5 was executing the plan, he hadn't
included them in the targets.
"Demiurge, Victim, give me a brief explanation of the current situation." Suzuki Satoru sighed in relief seeing that the two Guardians were safe. Shalltear and Cocytus had already been sacrificed; he didn't want to see any more Guardians die.
He didn't know yet if those two could be resurrected using the guild's resurrection mechanism. After all, they were absorbed as sacrifices. He wondered if the souls absorbed as sacrifices could be liberated if the Goddess was repelled. These were all things he was considering now, because he truly couldn't bear the sacrifice of the Guardians—his feelings were like those of a parent facing children who had died in an accident. He wanted to resurrect the Guardians!
"Yes. After Ainz-sama and the others went deep into the enemy camp, the Sword Saint killed the Archangel alone. Right then..." Demiurge recounted the situation to Suzuki Satoru. When he heard that the final move was lost due to a traitor, Suzuki Satoru couldn't help but shake his head. No wonder they lost this battle so miserably.
The interior was full of spies.
How could they not lose?
What happened after was simple.
The Sword Saint was chosen as the Goddess's vessel.
Then the Platinum Dragon Lord decided to eliminate the Goddess and revealed magic he had never used before, which was incredibly powerful. According to Demiurge's analysis, that magic was similar to the power displayed by World-Class Items, and World-Class Items seemed to be immune to the Dragon Lord's magic. That was all the information he knew. Suzuki Satoru fell into thought after listening.
However, he wasn't given much time.
The Platinum Dragon Lord was defeated. The "Goddess" directly tanked the Platinum Dragon Lord's magic. The mana that looked like a stream of light fell upon the Goddess, yet it couldn't even break the layer of light shielding her. Then, the Goddess simply rushed over and threw a punch, smashing the Platinum Dragon Lord into the ground. Instantly, the Dragon Lord's life aura weakened to the extreme.
Suzuki Satoru: "..."
Maybe I should just go back.
The red light in his eye sockets vanished in shock, his jaw dropped, and he stood there dumbfounded (skeleton version).
In that state just now, Suzuki Satoru felt the Platinum Dragon Lord could have fought him on equal terms. But the Dragon Lord's attack, which was comparable in power to a World-Class Item, couldn't even break the Goddess's defense. So what was the point of fighting? Moreover, the Goddess had just smashed down with a light punch, and even a physique like the Dragon Lord's couldn't take it, let alone his small frame. Albedo's defensive power probably wouldn't hold up either.
Suzuki Satoru waited for a while, but the Dragon Lord didn't crawl out. Meanwhile, the Goddess had casually summoned a thirty-meter-long flaming demonic sword. He could feel the mana aura of those Goddess Cult fellows on it; clearly, it dealt true damage. Furthermore, that sword looked extremely powerful. If the Dragon Lord took this hit, he might really be finished.
This really can't be fought.
Can't fight it, can't win, I'll die.
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