Chapter 1969: The Battle is Over

Jack saw Satan notice them. The devil was about to do something but stopped in his tracks once Jack activated Time Stop.

"John and the others are also not moving," Peniel told Jack.

"Not everything is possible with mana awakening," Jack said. "The spell still only lets our time flow while everything else stops. I can't alter that, but I can extend its duration."

"What about Hope's Light?" Peniel asked.

"Don't worry. The energies of their Hope's Sanctification had already passed onto me," Jack answered. He was pointing his finger in Satan's direction, which was a speck in the distance. Under normal conditions, Hope's Light couldn't reach a target from such a great distance. Thankfully, Jack, who had control of the trigger, was not under a normal condition. The multicolor aura from mana awakening blanketed the bright light in his chest. This multicolor aura slowly seeped into the light. The white light of Hope's sanctification mixed with this colorful aura.

Jack guided the two energies so they didn't oppose one another. Once he sensed the two merged, he released the trigger. The light on his chest abruptly vanished.

Far away, at the spot where Satan was. A ball of light appeared. This ball of light grew rapidly to a size that looked massive, even from where Jack was. Inside this huge ball of white were swirling multicolor waves. At the center of it all was Satan.

Satan was not visible from outside the ball of light, but Jack's dragon eye, augmented by mana awakening, could pierce through the light and see Satan. The devil remained still. The power of Hope's Light and the swirling multicolor waves slowly scraped Satan. The devil was erased one layer at a time. At first, the thin fiery layer enveloping him was doused. Then, his crimson scales turned to dust. His massive horns dissolved, starting from their tips. Satan was slowly getting erased, similar to what happened to the Eldritch Beholder when Broidrireg cast Permanent Delete.

Satan's time was stopped. He wasn't aware of what was happening. From his point of view, he was about to use a skill that could cover a great distance and disrupt the outworlders. The next second, he ceased to exist. If he retained his consciousness in the afterlife, he wouldn't be able to explain how he died.

Satan's body was scraped until it was only its heart left. Then, this heart also turned to dust. He was completely gone, as if he never existed. Jack summoned his Runestone of Luck when that happened.

The ball of light slowly faded before disappearing altogether, leaving only a clear sky. The time stop also ended.

"... use it!"

John resumed his words, but he then noticed he could no longer see the speck in the distance, which was Satan.

"Huh? Where is Satan? Did he use a movement skill?" Paytowin asked. His vision while wearing the Alpha Techno Suit was enhanced. He could see long-distance targets. His visor could also scan his field of view to detect hostiles. He looked around, but his visor didn't pick up Satan's presence.

"You are no longer under mana awakening," Jeanny said when he noticed Jack was no longer covered in the multicolor aura.

"Has Satan been defeated?" Grace asked. Jack didn't lose consciousness after losing mana awakening. This meant he ended it deliberately.

Jack turned to them with a smile. "Yes. The devil has been defeated. The battle is over."

John and the others looked at each other. They were having difficulty accepting that. One second, the devil was there. The next, he was no more. Those here knew Jack had Time Stop, but it was still difficult to wrap their heads around it.

Jack noticed the battling armies in the opposite distance. "Sadly, the war is not yet over. Let's go help them."

"Leave them to us. You must be exhausted," Jeanny said.

When the four were about to leave, Jack said, "Satan should have dropped loots. Let's go and pick them up first."

"They are yours," Jeanny stated.

"I couldn't have defeated Satan on my own," Jack said. "It was Hope's Light that defeated him, so we defeated them together. The loot should be shared."

"You fought Satan alone the majority of the time. We only assisted a little. The loots are yours," Jeanny returned.

When John was about to say something, Jeanny shut him up with a hard stare.

"Well, if you all insist. All right," Jack said.

Jeanny and the others turned and headed toward the battling armies. As they did, they crossed paths with a native healer. This native healer flew to where Honuren was and started casting a spell.

When Honuren fell, John sent a message to Tip and Linda, asking if they still had a spare resurrection potion. Unfortunately, they ran out of resurrection potions. Tip and Linda put on a broadcast to the armies. Most healers with the resurrection spell, which were not many, still had those spells on cooldown. Many fell during the war, so the spell was always cast whenever it was off cooldown. Fortunately, one healer with the resurrection spell from the Council of Elpo had the spell available.

After receiving the news, this healer hurriedly flew to Honuren. Honuren was their faction leader, after all.

It was not yet one hour. Jack was glad that Honuren could be saved. The old man was the third native Jack met since the world turned. The first two were Goddess Serenity and Peniel. But to most outworlders, Honuren was the first native.

Jack first went to the spot where he slew Dajja. It was closer. He rushed to battle Satan after killing the eyeball demon. Penny was in danger of getting killed, so he didn't waste time picking up the loot. When he arrived, the loots were still there.

Dajja dropped a considerable number of coins and mana cores. Many equipment, materials, and ingredients littered the ground. As a top demon, he dropped many loots even without Jack using the Runestone of Luck. Most of those drops were super rare, unique, and a few legendary. Jack did not need them. His equipment was all legendary grades except for one ring. There was no legendary ring among the pile, sadly.

However, one loot drew his attention, a technique book. He picked up the book and learned that it contained an eye skill called Mind- annihilating Gaze.

"Is this...?"

"Yes, that is the eye skill that hit you earlier," Peniel said. "It is the stronger version of Azzralith's Mind-dooming Gaze where it has no level restriction."

"Yeesss...!!" Jack jumped in celebration. Now, he no longer needed to rely on others to trigger Mana Awakening.

He didn't waste any time. He immediately learned the skill on the spot. The skill didn't have levels. At zero star, it had a cooldown of twelve hours. Peniel informed Jack that at ten stars, the cooldown was halved to six hours.

Jack stored the other loots before moving away. He looked over and saw Honuren had been resurrected. Honuren understood Satan was no more after looking around. He nodded to Jack, who nodded back. He then flew with the healer back to the battlefield.

Before Jack went to where Satan's loots dropped, he first went to Eoranth. The dragon was still lying weakly on the ground. Like other natives, Eoranth had to either go to the Church of Creation or drink a Reconstruct Potion to regrow his limbs.

"How are you doing?" Jack asked.

The dragon was not in immediate danger. Grace had healed Eoranth to almost half his HP. His HP continued to recover slowly. His max HP, however, was reduced to 70%. He needed to

regrow his limbs and wings before his HP bar returned to 100%.

"I'm still alive. That's something, I guess," Eoranth answered.

Eoranth was eyeing Jack with mixed feelings. He agreed to be Themisphere's country guardian to honor Broidrireg's dying wish. He had no interest in the role otherwise. He never understood why Broidrireg accepted the role previously. He was even more at a loss about why the elder dragon showed such respect toward Jack.

After he lost the ability to fight, he never stopped witnessing the battle between Satan and the others. Like Satan, he couldn't comprehend how Jack gained such power. He also didn't understand how Satan perished. The devil was there, then he was not. Yet, Eoranth did not

doubt it was Jack's doing.

"Good job," Eoranth told Jack.

"I wouldn't have pulled it if you didn't hold Satan at bay," Jack said. "Stay put and rest. You have done enough. Once the war is over, I will have my guild member give you a Reconstruct Potion. We gained a recipe for that legendary-grade potion recently. It requires many high- grade ingredients, but my guild has them. Once we finish brewing it, you will get one."

"... Thanks," Eoranth said.

"Don't mention it," Jack replied. He took out his King Badge and said, "I will send you back to

Thereath, where it is safe."

"Send me later," Eoranth uttered. "Here is safe. I want to see the aftermath of the war."

"All right," Jack respected Eoranth's wish. He left the dragon and went to the place where

Satan fell.