In Azarath, the sky and earth crumbled. Lava erupted violently, the atmosphere turned pitch black, and with the moon knocked out of orbit—combined with the devastation from Bardi and Trigon's battle—the entire planet was becoming increasingly unstable.
The temperature soared dramatically.
Earthquakes rocked the land, cracks oozed molten lava, and the planetary plates shifted violently, colliding and splitting apart.
The sky was choked with wind and sand, and colossal tornadoes raged like pillars connecting heaven and earth.
The polar ice caps melted, the oceans churned, and tsunamis—thousands of meters high—swallowed vast stretches of land.
"Bardi!"
In the smoke-filled sky, a pitch-black energy construct—shaped like a crow—spread its wings and let out a piercing screech.
The energy crow soared across the heavens, streaking toward Trigon in an instant.
Moments ago.
The sight of Trigon swallowing Bardi whole filled Raven with grief. She unleashed her soul energy, manifesting as the dark crow, and shot through the sky, prepared to strike Trigon with everything she had in a final, desperate attack.
But just as she reached him…
Trigon's massive form suddenly froze. The crimson glow in his eyes flickered and vanished, reverting to a dull, lifeless yellow.
His monstrous red body wavered.
Then, with a thunderous crash, the nearly hundred-meter-tall demon collapsed to the ground. Dust and debris erupted into the air, blanketing the surroundings in a suffocating haze.
Silence followed.
No movement.
No reaction.
Raven shifted back into her human form, her expression one of shock and disbelief.
She stared at Trigon's tower-like body, his bright red back, his taut, vein-covered muscles—yet… something was missing.
The overwhelming aura of evil, the oppressive darkness that had seeped from him before… was gone.
"This… Is he dead?"
A thin, dark figure hovered in the sky. It was Zatara.
He exhaled sharply as he laid eyes on Trigon's fallen form for the first time. Even in silence, the sheer size of the demon's corpse was terrifying. Nearly a hundred meters tall, the bright red body radiated an aura of power so immense it sent chills down his spine.
This was a true demon lord, a being capable of world-ending destruction.
Suddenly.
A tremor rippled through Trigon's abdominal cavity.
Then—like a nuclear detonation—a surge of consciousness exploded outward, its force indiscriminately sweeping across the battlefield.
"I'm going to kill you!"
The furious, monstrous consciousness erupted, warping reality itself. A shockwave of dust surged outward, rising hundreds of meters into the sky before rolling into the distance.
The sheer force of the mental explosion struck Raven and Zatara directly, their minds overwhelmed by a deafening, ringing void.
For an instant, their thoughts went completely blank.
But they were no ordinary beings, their minds and souls were powerful. Though the attack was devastating, it hadn't been deliberately targeted at them.
Raven recovered first, her thin frame trembling as she steadied herself.
"Bardi killed him!"
Her voice was filled with shock.
Trigon's consciousness had vanished.
That meant… Bardi had pulled him into his spiritual world and erased him from existence.
This wasn't Trigon's true form, merely a projection.
A fragment.
A mere fraction—less than one ten-millionth of his real power.
Within this projection, Trigon's will was weak, if not entirely absent. Tearing a piece of his soul from his original body just to insert it into this lesser form would have been a waste.
Clearly, he hadn't designed this projection with any high-level contingency.
And just as they had planned from the beginning, if they could drag Trigon into Bardi's spiritual world, Bardi could destroy him.
But from the very start, Trigon had seen through their deception.
He had forced them into a direct battle, a fight that had spiraled out of control.
And now, Azarath was paying the price.
Zatara shook his head, still dazed from the mental backlash. His soul and spirit were not as strong as Raven's, and the lingering shock left him disoriented.
"Is he really dead?"
He pressed a hand to his throbbing forehead, exhaling slowly. His heartbeat was irregular, his vision blurred, nausea gnawed at his gut.
He felt utterly drained.
"Bardi! Bardi's still alive!"
Raven's voice rang out suddenly, sharp with urgency.
She rushed toward Trigon's fallen form, scrambling up his massive torso.
Upon reaching the abdominal cavity, she summoned a blade of razor-sharp wind energy and began cutting into the demon's flesh.
"Come help me! I know how to save Bardi's life!"
…
The Spiritual World.
This was Bardi's domain.
A world of his own making. A world that belonged to his heart.
Everyone has the ability to create their own spiritual world. For example, Raven possesses one as well, though it is entirely different from Bardi's. In fact, no two individuals construct their inner worlds in the same way.
In Bardi's domain, conventional power holds no meaning. Here, only the purest form of willpower determines the victor.
Without a will at least a thousand times stronger than Bardi's, no one could hope to resist him in this realm.
Darkness stretched endlessly, devoid of even the faintest glimmer of light.
Then, suddenly—Trigon appeared.
His six eyes widened in terror as he beheld the abyss before him, an infinite expanse of pure, overwhelming darkness.
His twisted expression was one of defiance, his sharp fangs bared as he clenched his teeth hard enough to draw blood from his gums. His crimson claws curled into fists, nails digging deep into his palms.
Unwilling.
He was too unwilling to accept this.
At this moment, he could not devour Bardi. He could not fight Bardi on the mental plane. At this fundamental level, Bardi's will utterly eclipsed the will of this mere projection, a fragment drawn from a single drop of blood.
"AAAHHHH!!!!"
Trigon roared in fury, his face contorted with unwillingness and despair.
"Do you even understand what you've wasted?!"
"Damn it!!"
"That was the only one!!!"
"Do you know what you were destined to become?!"
"Damn it!!!"
"Damn it!!"
"Damn it!!"
"AAAHHHH!!"
Trigon howled, his voice filled with agony. His fists pounded against his chest in bitter frustration.
Now, there was nothing he could do.
Just as Bardi had been helpless against him in the physical world, now he experienced the same powerlessness within Bardi's domain.
It drove him mad with rage.
But he could do nothing but wait.
Wait for Bardi to destroy him.
His genetic structure would collapse. His soul would be obliterated.
What a waste.
What an unimaginable waste!
This was the most exquisite, the most powerful, the most maddening delicacy in all of existence!
Odin. Zeus. The Jade Emperor. Ra. Darkseid. Yuga Khan.
The gods of Asgard. The deities of Mount Olympus. The entire Pantheon. The divine rulers of the Maya, the Oceanic Gods, Mesopotamian deities, the lords of Ancient Egypt…
All of them would have gone mad for this meal!
This was the ultimate sustenance, the kind that could drive the supreme god of any pantheon into a frenzy, even beyond their lust for the Source itself.
And now…
Because his projection's will was not strong enough…
He couldn't devour Bardi.
Instead, he could only watch as Bardi's soul collapsed on its own.
Such a waste!
His fury was enough to drive him insane.
Suddenly.
A vast torrent of darkness poured down from above, engulfing everything.
Then, from the depths below, the same boundless void surged upward, swallowing all light.
The abyss stood before him once more.
A shift in perspective revealed the truth.
The so-called "darkness"…
Was the deep pupils of Bardi's eyes.
Compared to them, Trigon's form was as insignificant as dust.
"So… this is all you amount to."
Bardi, now returned to his normal size, stepped forward from the darkness.
Behind him, the void remained endless.
Trigon's body trembled uncontrollably. He collapsed to the ground, writhing in terror. His crimson, sinewy form twisted grotesquely, veins bulging like writhing serpents beneath his skin.
This was Bardi's world.
Here, he had no strength to resist.
His six furious eyes burned with hatred as he glared at Bardi.
Then—his body began to shrink.
His limbs shortened. His elongated mouth protruded forward, his tongue involuntarily lolling out.
He…
Had transformed into a dog.
A ragged, common mutt.
But its six eyes, glaring with malice, were hideous to behold.
Bardi frowned slightly, then reached out and blinded four of them.
"Yelp~~"
Trigon clutched his wounded eyes, snarling hoarsely as he glared at Bardi with the two he had left.
"You dare do this to me?! No one dares to treat me this way!!"
Bardi gave a casual nod.
"Hm."
Indeed, no one had ever dared humiliate Trigon like this.
But before his death, Bardi could afford to indulge in a little satisfaction.
He waved his hand.
A massive iron cauldron materialized before him. Steam rose from the bubbling water inside, and firewood crackled beneath it.
Without hesitation, he lifted Trigon and tossed him into the pot.
"Enjoy a hot spring bath."
Bardi's voice was calm as he gazed into the boiling water.
"I need to understand this world. The 'food' you speak of… The 'only one'… Everything."
Despite the bubbling liquid, the water was not hot.
On the contrary, it was soothing.
Trigon did not feel pain.
He only felt… comfortable.
"Fool. You have no idea of your own worth."
Trigon sneered, his dog-like snout curling with disdain.
He lazily leaned against the edge of the cauldron, his two front paws sprawled out, his body half-submerged in the steaming bath.
It was as if he were simply soaking in a relaxing hot spring, though the hatred in his gaze remained undiminished.
Bardi observed him silently.
Even after being reduced to this form, even after being thrown into a boiling pot, Trigon still remained arrogant.
A slow smirk tugged at Bardi's lips.
He reached out.
And added codonopsis, star anise, peppercorns, and dried tangerine peel to the pot…
(To be continued.)