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While purging the death power from his body, Maricus also had to fend off the siege from the soul army.

Meanwhile, Zicomo was still occasionally slapping Maricus from a distance.

For a moment, the mighty Shadow Beast, Marika's sworn brother, and the Beast Priest of the Ancient Dragon appeared utterly disheveled.

His body was covered in wounds.

Of course, many of the souls summoned by Zicomo were also destroyed by Maricus.

However, Zicomo was not heartbroken, for the origin of these souls was the ashes in Zicomo's hands.

As long as there are no problems with the ashes, you can summon them indefinitely.

So whenever Maricus destroys a group of souls, Zicomo will summon those souls back from behind.

Finally, Maricus couldn't take it anymore and unleashed the full power of his black sword.

The power of his destined death erupted, wiping out the souls and spirits around him.

Maricus looked up at Zicomo and said, "Bring on whatever other tricks you have!"

Zicomo raised an eyebrow and said, "How about we try this?"

With that, Zicomo brandished his Death Staff, and a colorful tornado coalesced in front of him.

And it was expanding at a visible rate, before sweeping towards Maricus.

This was inspired by Maricus's previous moves.

The difference is that Zicomo incorporated all the powers he possessed, including the power of death, the power of blood, the power of curses, and the power of time.

And so, a colorful tornado was born.

It swept through almost the entire shattered hall, leaving Maricus with nowhere to escape.

Maricus had no choice but to curl up and build a defense around his body with his destined death.

However, the predetermined death only offset Zicomo's death power; the remaining power was almost entirely applied to him.

The power of blood stripped him of his blood, the power of curse weakened him, and the power of time left him in a state of dissonance, with his thoughts racing while his actions became sluggish.

There was even a sun flame originating from the Golden Crow that burned him.

Maricus's agonizing roar echoed from the tornado, nearly resounding throughout half of Famyazra.

When the storm subsided, Maricus knelt on the ground, barely alive.

If it weren't for the black sword in his hand supporting him, he would probably have fallen by now.

He said weakly, "Faded One, you have won. Come and take your destined death."

Zicomo walked up to Maricus and was about to reach for the black sword in Maricus's hand.

Maricus suddenly said, "By the way, there's something you don't know about Queen Marica, is there?"

Zicomo asked, "What is it?"

Just as Zicomo was listening curiously to what Maricus was about to say next.

Maricus suddenly sprang into action, thrusting his black sword at Zicomo.

In a flash, a stone shard suddenly appeared in Zicomo's hand, deflecting the black sword that was aimed at him.

With his other hand, he drew the Moonsword and stabbed it at the unarmored area on Maricus's abdomen.

"Pfft!"

With a sound like a sharp blade piercing flesh, Maricus's eyes widened, filled with incomprehension and disbelief.

He seemed surprised that Zicomo could react in such a short time.

And it can also retaliate against itself.

Zicomo understood the look in Maric's eyes.

"I'm curious why I was able to react?"

Zicomo said, “Those who are not of my kind are sure to have different hearts. I never believe the words of beasts, especially when that beast is my enemy.”

He remained vigilant as he approached Maricus.

Years of experience with Souls-like games taught him that he must never let his guard down until all the enemies are dead.

Even if they're all dead, you have to try to finish them off with a couple more blows to ensure your safety.

Otherwise, the enemy might come back to life after being killed, just like the Dead Ones.

Meanwhile, Zicomo was finishing off the enemy.

Zicomo activated the combat technique of the Darkmoon Greatsword, and the cold Darkmoon Essence erupted within Maricus's body.

It froze his last glimmer of hope.

Chapter 288 The Death of the Shadow Beast, the Journey Nears Its End

Finally, Maricius closed his eyes in resentment.

The next moment, Maricus's body transformed into countless white specks of light and returned to the Golden Tree.

His armor and black sword remained on the ground.

Without the suppression of Maricus's power, the doomed death residing within the black sword was completely released.

A stream of black energy surged from the black sword.

Surrounded by black currents, a strangely shaped object slowly emerged.

The object is shaped like a sword made from the spine of some kind of creature.

The sword was enveloped in a layer of red and black energy.

This is the death of destiny.

Zicomo reached out to touch it.

The predetermined death transformed into red and black flames, mixed with the golden light of the golden tree, sweeping outwards.

Its power split into three parts, one of which entered Zikomo's body and merged with the power of death within him.

One of them flew out of the shattered hall.

The last one dissipated into this world, returning to the border region.

Even though Zicomo had no intention of becoming king, he inadvertently restored order to the border region.

The fundamentalist law of gold was established after the removal of predetermined death.

And isn't the return of death a kind of complement to the new law?

…………

Eun-ah, the "Old Woman Who Unravels Fingers" who was far away in the round table hall, seemed to sense something.

She said, "...The death runes have been released, and the gloomy fate of death has spread across the borderlands."

"However, that flame also burned the thorns of rejection."

“It’s time to say goodbye to the unguided, amusing faders.”

"Your achievement today is no less miraculous than becoming the King of Elden. I hope you can continue your legend."

After saying that, Enya slowly lay down on the chair and closed her eyes forever.

As an old woman who had lost the ability to decipher her fingers, she could no longer hear the guidance of her two fingers.

Enya was merely putting on a brave face, waiting for someone who could grant her an audience with the Elden Ring.

Now the thorns that the golden tree refused to accept have been burned away, and death has returned to the border.

This means that anyone can enter the Golden Tree, challenge the Beast of Elden, and become the new King of Elden.

Enya's mission ends here.

Her life also came to an end.

…………

The camera then returns to Zicomo's side.

The predetermined death and the power of death are merging within Zikomo, giving birth to a new power of death.

Zicomo ignored the situation inside his body; he was more curious about where the Destiny that had flown out of the shattered hall had gone.

Zicomo carefully put away Maricus's armor and black sword, and chased after the direction in which that destined death had departed.

Not far away, Zicomo spotted a familiar figure.

The moment he saw her, Zicomo understood why his destined death was divided into three parts.

The figure was Melina, and the power of her destined death was swirling around her.

Possessing some of the characteristics of the Queen of Night-Colored Eyes, she has a natural attraction to destined deaths.

It wouldn't be surprising if it came to Melina.

To Zicomo's amazement, Melina grew rapidly after absorbing the power of the Predestined Death.