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He could have preserved Rakad's soul imprint, just like Ratahn did, and then found an opportunity to resurrect him later.

"No, he needs to pay the price for what he did."

Lani rejected Zicomo's offer firmly.

Zicomo shrugged; it seemed Laqad was doomed.

P.S.: I think I previously wrote "Shattered War" as "Fragmented War," but it doesn't affect the viewing experience. Just know that they are similar.

Chapter Ninety-Seven: The End of Raccard, Tanis and Laya

Upon returning to the volcano mansion, Zicomo did not go to find Tanis, but instead went to the first room on the right side of the guest room area.

For some reason, there was a corpse lying in the corner.

Sometimes Chicomo finds it strange that they just leave the bodies there unattended. Don't the bodies in the border area decompose?

However, that wasn't his purpose in coming here; he came for the passage behind the corpse.

The "Guiding Spell" reveals that the road to Rakad's location is right here.

After passing through the passage, Zicomo arrived at the Church of Egret and found a portal on the second floor.

Through this portal, Zikomo successfully arrived at Laqad's audience chamber.

That is, the place where Tanis tricked the so-called heroes into coming to see Raccard.

In fact, Tanis could teleport people in directly, but Zicomo was commissioned by Laya to investigate the unknown secrets of the volcano mansion.

After Zicomo told Laya about the secret passage, Laya set off to find out the truth about her origins.

She should be somewhere in the Egra Church right now; Zicomo plans to kill Lacard before going to find her.

Passing through the mist, we arrived at the audience hall, where a giant snake, tens of meters tall, came into view.

The snake's body was covered with many skinless human limbs, their bright red color resembling blood.

The giant serpent remained dormant in the lava.

A large spear was stuck in the body in front of Zikomo.

Zicomo stepped forward, pulled it out, and saw its name through the system: the Great Serpent Hunting Spear.

Hmm, he roughly understood the purpose of the spear.

Zicomo took it in his hand and tested its combat skills.

A visible vortex of wind gathered at the tip of the spear, which shot straight out and struck the giant snake in front of it.

Zicomo was taken aback. Had he accidentally triggered the monster?

The sleeping serpent awoke and charged at him, carrying lava.

Zicomo quickly summoned his clone teardrop, then pulled out his flying broom and took to the air.

With air superiority, only a fool would fight him on the ground.

Um, he didn't mean to say that the Teardrop Imitation Brother was an idiot.

Incidentally, Zicomo has already obtained the magic "Comet Yazler".

Seeing the avatar teardrop below holding back the serpent's aggro, Zicomo held Luther's Radiant Staff in his right hand and the Serpent Hunting Spear in his left.

Thus began his dual anti-aircraft gun strategy, combining magic and physical attacks.

A short while later, the giant snake collapsed, motionless, seemingly having lost its life.

Suddenly, the giant snake lowered its head, stood up again, turned around, and revealed a huge human face on its back.

This human face is located at the location of the snake's heart, and it looks like this is Rakad.

He extended two large hands from the parts of the serpent that were covered with human limbs, and one of them went into the serpent's mouth.

She pulled out a greatsword tens of meters long, covered with images of humans who looked like they had been digested by the serpent's stomach acid—the heroes Tanis had mentioned.

“Damn! This Laqad is disgusting!” Zicomo couldn’t help but swear.

"Tsk, willingly being swallowed by the serpent, attempting to use the serpent's power to devour gods, turning himself into this despicable figure, is truly disgusting. My king, please deal with him quickly."

Lani, equally unable to bear the scene before her, decisively severed her connection with the petite Lani and returned to reality.

Zicomo, in conjunction with the bio-tear, launched a fierce attack on Lacazette.

Lacad brandished his greatsword in an attempt to retaliate, but despite the wide range of his attacks, he could not hit the agile Zicomo.

So he changed his attack method, using magic to summon underground magma to attack Zicomo.

Unfortunately, Zicomo's immunity to lava was already maxed out, so his attack was destined to be ineffective.

As Zikomo's twin anti-aircraft guns bombarded the giant serpent, its body was gradually worn down.

In the end, all that remained of Laqad was his face, which looked like a large chunk of flesh.

At this point, Laqad was no longer able to use any offensive methods.

His cheeks bulged with fleshy growths, and he made a weak, feeble sound.

"I am not controlled by anything, the snake is eternal~".

Zicomo approached him, looked at him, and said, "You mean you can recover by constantly consuming others?"

Laqad glanced at Zikomo but did not refute.

He was just a little disappointed that someone as outstanding as Zikomo couldn't voluntarily be eaten by him and become part of his people.

Relying on his special status, he was not afraid of what Zicomo might do to him.

These demigods, though long abandoned by the supreme will, are not people that these ordinary faded beings can kill.

Didn't you see that Lani and the dead prince Godwin both died because they used the power of destiny to cause their deaths?

Moreover, while one of them died physically and the other died of soul, neither of them were truly dead in the strictest sense.

However, Lacazette is going to be disappointed this time; Zicomo really can take him down.

Zicomo took out a golden crystal and stuck it into Lacad's face.

This is the second magic crystal he created, intended to reclaim the power of the various demigods in the borderlands.

"What's this……"

Before Lakad could finish speaking, his remaining serpentine body, with its remaining face, turned to ashes and vanished into the world.

Zicomo's magic crystal this time was an upgrade.

The absorption speed is greatly accelerated, and it is possible to control whether the soul imprint is absorbed into the crystal.

This time, Zicomo chose the "no" state for absorption, so Lakad's soul imprint lost the support of soul energy and was completely dissipated.

"Hmm...Is that so? Our king has been defeated."

Tanis's voice came from behind Zicomo, probably because she heard the commotion had stopped and wanted to check on the situation.

“I’m sorry, but Lani made me have to kill him,” Zicomo said, offering only a token apology.

"It's alright. Even if it weren't for the Moon Princess's request, I wouldn't blame you. On the contrary, I'm grateful to you for making me realize that my king's power is still somewhat insufficient."

Defeat is not the end. Our king is immortal, and one day he will be resurrected as an even stronger being. I must prepare for this.

Please prepare to leave as soon as possible. I too must depart this place and embark on my journey to find my king.

Zicomo stood there in silence for a moment, but ultimately did not tell Tanis that Lakad was completely dead.

This woman was also a pitiful person. Her beloved lord was corrupted by greed, yet she remained loyal and fought for his great cause.

Now she's embarking on a journey to find Lakad, which is for the best.

Leave her with something to remember her by, so that she might find a new meaning in her existence someday.

Zicomo turned to leave, and Tanis suddenly spoke up: "By the way, hero, I entrust my child Zerayas to you. She is the child I conceived with the king using a forbidden method."

I'm not a good mother. It's a good thing she's opened up to you. Please take good care of her. She's hiding somewhere under the Elegant Church, struggling to accept her past. I hope you can comfort her.

Zicomo nodded, agreeing to the matter.

The Zerayas that Tanis mentioned is actually Laya.

Zicomo once stumbled upon another of Laya's appearances, a snake-woman.

They weren't half-human, half-snake, but rather snake-people with hands and feet, capable of walking upright; more accurately, they resembled lizards.

She resembles an animal from the real world called a blue-tongued skink, a type of giant skink.

The well-informed Zicomo didn't pay any attention to Laya's appearance.

This made Laya think that Zicomo was a very gentle person, and because of this, she opened her heart to Zicomo and told him her real name and her past.

Laya is an innocent child who is well protected by Tanis.

Tanis did not tell Laya about her background.

But Laya, who lives in the Volcano Mansion, is bound to hear the secrets hidden within it.

After all, even Tanis could hear the sounds of Zikomo and Lacad fighting behind the Volcano Mansion.

Laya heard sounds coming from behind the walls of the mansion, and even saw a serpentine shadow moving in the corridor one night, so she asked Zicomo to investigate.