The concussive noise that followed lagged behind the devastation that the Negative Margin Buster had left in the wake of its activation. It was so intense that Rias shuddered and looked up hurriedly. He couldn’t believe his eyes.

’The Lich...’ he thought and frowned. ’Something defeated that thing so easily, and it came from inside the Egg?!’

It was inconceivable. 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

...But it was also a disgrace.

’So much for all that bravado...’ Rias was disgusted.

How could Soizar have mouthed off about him being no better than a regular Lich when he could be taken down by an attack that—

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRR!"

...!!!

The guttural, wet scream sent goosebumps riding up Rias’ neck. His neck snapped towards the source.

’NO!’ he thought, horrified.

For a self-proclaimed student of death, nothing could have scared him more than death’s assured tease from the distance. It was coming for him.

It had taken one moment of negligence and distraction, one moment where Rias waited for the Egg to complete itself and devour his enemies.

...That was when Pherdanta struck, wringing out all the strength she could.

Dance of the Necrotic Butcher had not left her side since she was incapacitated. Clasping it tight at all times was the only assurance she had that no matter what Rias did, she would retain full access to her polished ability, [Infinite Sword God, Sardonic Latitude].

She’d recovered stamina enough for one last gamble, and that was all she needed. Rias was quick in responding, beads of sweat running down his face along with the blood falling from his ears and nose. He prompted Aimon as quickly as he could.

...But the Infinite Sword God was faster.

Cogent Stark Order, the Majestic Territory, no, the absolute domain of the Commander of the Stark Troops awakened and fired from her being to encompass everything inside the Egg... and the Egg itself. It was no longer a mere false imitation of a real world crafted for the beasts of Aigas. It was something more, a haven, a fortress for those who allied with the Stark-Soul Order.

...It was more akin to Suzamete’s Sky domain now.

The only source of light within the gloomy domain was what looked like a town square with houses of different shapes and sizes, all of them branded with different names – the names of everyone who had ever slipped into Pherdanta’s domain while they were alive.

(A/N: Refer to Ch.1510.)

Kintar.

Vali.

Maxim.

Uyuniya.

They had been inside the domain before the final assault against Rias and the Order of the Trodden Rose had been mounted.

Grim.

Savast.

Baddan.

Yuyui.

Their names were branded to some of the houses in the square right then, as their lives were still hanging by a thread. Rias had been right. They were tenacious. They had to be. It was an aspect of the plan.

’Don’t you worry. I can handle it!’ Pherdanta thought, her body quickly losing the strength everyone had died to help her recover.

...And she did handle it.

Kintar, Vali, Maxim, Uyuniya, Grim, Savast, Baddan, and Yuyui were revived within Cogent Stark Order, fully restored to good health, armour, and all.

Indeed, that was the whole point of Cogent Stark Order, and the point of the plan Kintar had devised.

After mulling over everyone’s abilities – most of which are really useless – I’ve come up with a plan that uses each of said abilities to confuse this bastard. The rest of us are only good enough for buying time, I’m afraid. Hurts to say, but killing that masked dickhead with a single attack is only something you can do, Kintar had told Pherdanta first and foremost.

In the case that something goes wrong for whatever reason – ruining the nitty-gritties I painstakingly calculated – though, the prerogative doesn’t change. We’ll buy time with our deaths if we have to. Let that bastard think he’s slowly whittling us down, and let him get that sick satisfaction he wants. Just don’t you dare fall, Pherdanta. I analyzed your Territory earlier. It can revive the dead, right? Probably not everyone who dies inside it, but some, correct? That’s good enough. As long as you remain, Commander, we won’t truly be defeated. Don’t let that dickhead defeat master’s ideals. That’s all that matters.

That had been Kintar’s plan, but...

’I can handle it!’

Pherdanta indeed didn’t have enough power to revive everyone who’d been killed, but she could resurrect more than a few. She might have been deathly exhausted, but she was stronger.

She’d accepted her new role, tamed her sword’s soul, and settled on what kind of leader she would be, after all.

...But she wasn’t invincible, still. Sacrifices had to be made.

She selfishly chose her own above the fodder combatants that had followed after Vali and Maxim. (They could have been revived as well.) She managed to revive about half of the Stark Troops that had been killed, along with Rudus Morde, and Agnees Kudobtu. The rest of her strength had been expended when reviving the Unlimited Stars.

As all of this happened, Aimon churned. Rias still had Amras to spare.

’I knew you would awaken! Don’t look down on me!’ he thought, eyes lancing Pherdanta’s.

...Yet fear crept into his skin when he met Pherdanta’s eyes. She must have been mad. No sane human had eyes like those.

Sweeping serpents made of a kind of Aura streaked from Dance of the Necrotic Butcher. They were biting into Rias before he understood what was going on.

’Serpents’ Graces!’ Pherdanta had him.

...!

Rias’ reflexes kicked in, and he made to sever the serpents with his Amras-coated hands in a flash, but it was no use. The serpents had already fulfilled their purpose. There was no lag in their activation when the target was someone who had been slashed by Pherdanta before, and lived. Serpents; Graces allowed Pherdanta to predict the future actions of resilient opponents by reading the flow of their energy. In this case, they read Rias’ Amras, and...

CHAA!

’She cut—!’ Rias’ face fell.

Pherdanta had seen it. She’d predicted what he intended to do, and she... severed his connection with his Andori, however temporarily, with Universal Error – a slash that targeted inanimate objects. Rias had used a version of it before, but his paled in comparison to this!

’Get her directly!’ Rias thought. He was dashing over to Pherdanta before even he knew it, before most of the revived enemies could register that they were alive again.

However...

Rias realized it too late. Pherdanta was slashing at an impossibly savage speed.

The Egg of Future Dawn was riddled with net-like marks all over.

...And so was Rias himself. He was fenced into thirty pieces by the slashes. Suddenly, he felt terribly cold.

’Already...?’

Pherdanta’s technique couldn’t be replicated completely. Rias had known. It was monstrous.

It was already powerful when she wasn’t using Cogent Stark Order, but inside the domain, no Divine being had yet to survive the onslaught of her slashes, after all, the Broader Existence might’ve been hard to target, but the body and soul weren’t. With enough attack power, both of them could be decimated in rapid succession, especially without a competent Immortal Physique to reinforce them.

Cogent Stark Order barely endured for a microsecond more. It vanished, as did the Egg of Future Dawn, which crumbled away, having taken too much damage.

Pherdanta felt herself grow deathly weak once more, but someone caught her.

Everyone was on the battered Edagon now.

The Unlimited Stars pounced on Rias’ bleeding remains without a second thought. Pherdanta had done her part, and now it was their turn.

They would make sure Rias was truly dead.

They would avenge Allora.

They would...

<Please wait!>

Suzamete was standing over the severed and bleeding Rias before any of them could reach him with their bloodlust. At first, they were confused, but then... they weren’t.

All of a sudden, the sight before them made their killing intent slacken, replacing it with pity.

Yuyui understood first. She donned a complicated look before racing towards Elita and Aurolio.

Vali understood the most. She hadn’t been sure it would work. Perhaps it might not have if Rias hadn’t suffered a series of other attacks and circumstances before and after she demanded Aimon to do as she’d bid.

Even Kintar clicked her tongue in annoyance and looked away from the savaged necromancer.

"That’s not the man who killed Allora anymore, is it?" she said.

"No," Vali confirmed.

And indeed, it wasn’t.

Suzamete spared a moment, relieved that the Unlimited Stars saw it – the truth. Then, she turned back to Rias. Her face broke. It wasn’t her son anymore, like she’d hoped, but still...

"PLEAAAASE! I DON’T...WANNA DIE! NOT LIKE THIS! FATHER...FATHER SAID THIS WAS THE ONLY WAY! PLEASE SPARE ME! I WANT TO LIVE!" cried the soon-to-be corpse.

---

[Author’s Note]

For further reference for Pherdanta’s abilities, you can check out the Master Index on Chapter 1517. There are so many abilities, I know, but I promise they are going to narrow into more condensed, recognizable collections that you can point to one character.