Chapter 597 - 597: The Self-Destructive God

Larcade threw his head back and laughed with unbearable arrogance while Ankh silently studied his new form.

A coat woven from white-gold radiance draped over his body, while his very skin seemed to glow from within.

Standing there, he looked almost like the center of the world itself, drawing in and circulating Elentear's immense Magic Power with every breath.

"And that's enough for you to call yourself a god?"

After examining him for a few moments, Ankh shook his head in disappointment.

"That isn't true infinite Magic Power."

"You've crudely turned yourself into a relay station for an entire world. The moment you leave Elentear—or the moment your body can no longer withstand the world pushing back against you—not even I could save you."

It hadn't taken Ankh long to understand the principle behind Larcade's supposedly infinite heart.

However long he had spent preparing it, Larcade had ultimately replaced Elentear's natural magical circulation with his own heart, turning himself into the new core through which the world's Magic Power flowed.

His so-called ultimate demon body allowed him to wield an enormous amount of that power, but even such a body still had limits.

Alta Face's special properties, meanwhile, allowed him to reabsorb much of the Magic Power he released, creating what looked like a cycle without any meaningful expenditure.

In simpler terms, Larcade did not truly possess infinite Magic Power.

He had merely acquired the authority to control the magical circulation of an entire world.

Because the amount involved was so absurdly vast, he had mistaken that access for infinity.

Larcade clearly heard the contempt in Ankh's voice.

"The Magic Power of an entire world is in my hands!"

His face twisted with anger.

"You're far too arrogant!"

Suddenly gaining overwhelming strength had inflated his ego beyond recognition, and whatever warnings Zeref had once given him were clearly long forgotten.

Larcade slowly raised one hand.

White light flooded the entire underground world.

A tidal wave of Magic Power surged forward with enough pressure to make the cavern itself groan.

Ankh didn't move.

Black divine power erupted from his body and met it head-on.

The power of death, carrying the presence of absolute finality, burst outward and forced the white radiance back.

Black and white collided.

The opposing forces tore through the underground world like two unstoppable storms, shredding rock and pulverizing everything around them until the massive subterranean structure finally began collapsing under the strain.

Jellal and Kagura immediately grabbed the injured Natsu, Lucy, and the others before retreating toward the surface as fast as possible.

The battle had abruptly escalated beyond anything they could safely interfere with.

BOOM—!

A deafening explosion shook heaven and earth.

The clash between black and white punched straight through the underground layers and erupted onto the surface in two enormous pillars of force.

The resulting magical pressure spread across nearby cities, smashing buildings apart and reducing entire streets to rubble.

Wrapped in brilliant holy light, Larcade shot into the sky.

He spread his arms and reveled in the immense strength Elentear was providing him.

A satisfied breath escaped his lips.

"This is infinite Magic Power!"

He laughed wildly.

"I am the god of this world!"

Then half the sky turned black.

Death Divine Power rolled across the heavens like an ocean.

Ankh emerged from underground without a single visible injury and brought his weapon down without mercy.

Empowered by divine death energy, the blade expanded into an enormous black edge that seemed capable of splitting the sky itself.

For a moment, the sight genuinely resembled divine punishment.

Larcade merely smiled.

He raised one hand and swept it aside.

The earth beneath him answered.

A mountain suddenly erupted from the ground, surging upward to intercept the descending blade.

Ankh's divine weapon cut straight through the peak.

The mountain split apart with a perfectly smooth scar running through its center.

Larcade immediately followed with another gesture.

Several tornadoes tore upward from the ground and spiraled toward Ankh.

"High Enchantment—Impact."

Ankh casually waved one hand toward the approaching storms.

Crimson light flashed across the air.

An even more violent pressure wave erupted from the enchantment and blew the tornadoes apart before they could reach him.

Larcade showed no intention of slowing down.

He continued moving his hands as though Elentear itself had become clay for him to reshape.

The ground rose and rolled like waves.

Thunder crashed endlessly across the sky while hurricanes tore through the atmosphere.

Space itself occasionally folded and collided under the strain.

The entire world descended into chaos.

And the more Larcade manipulated it, the more intoxicated he became with the sensation of controlling everything.

What he failed to notice was how pale his face had become.

Ankh calmly broke free from every attack the world threw at him.

As he watched Larcade's increasingly unnatural expression, his suspicions were confirmed.

Even with power approaching that of a false god, Larcade simply wasn't capable of controlling it properly.

The consequences were already beginning to destroy his body.

Larcade remained drunk on the sensation of divine power.

Ankh, however, could clearly feel that the strength radiating from him was steadily declining.

The efficiency with which Larcade's body circulated Elentear's Magic Power was beginning to collapse.

More and more energy was leaking from the cycle.

Nature itself was reclaiming what belonged to it.

At this rate, Ankh barely needed to do anything.

Larcade would destroy himself.

"God…"

Larcade muttered under his breath.

"I am a god…"

He continued throwing enormous quantities of Magic Power around as though it cost him nothing, completely ignoring the fact that the energy returning to him could no longer keep pace with what he was spending.

The illusion of infinite Magic Power had already begun falling apart.

Yet Larcade seemed oblivious.

Something had invaded his mind.

His personality was disappearing beneath it.

Large patches of skin suddenly cracked open.

Strange, flickering blood seeped from the wounds.

Blood began running from his eyes, nose, ears, and mouth.

Larcade didn't even seem to notice.

Elsewhere in the sky, Ankh sliced apart the lightning raging through the clouds in a single strike.

Then he vanished.

He appeared directly in front of Larcade.

His fist slammed forward.

The next instant, the man who had been standing above the world like its sovereign was sent crashing down like a meteor.

Another enormous mass of Magic Power burst from his body upon impact and flowed back into Elentear.

Ankh looked down.

"Elentear's angry with you, kid."

He shook his head.

Far below, Larcade lay inside a massive crater.

His pupils had lost focus.

The manic arrogance had vanished from his face, leaving only a blank expression as he repeated the same few words over and over.

Rather than saying Larcade had obtained infinite Magic Power and become the ruler of Elentear, it was more accurate to say that Elentear's own world-instinct had entered his new body.

Calling it a true consciousness would have been an exaggeration.

It was closer to the instinctive behavior produced by an unimaginably vast mass of Magic Power.

Once Alta Face was destroyed and Elentear's Magic Power entered Larcade's newly created body, that instinct had effectively taken the place for a test drive—

checking whether this new vessel could become its next home.

Unfortunately, Larcade had clearly been far too confident in the "ultimate demon body" he had built from Natsu's blood.

It was nowhere near strong enough to survive Elentear trying to move in.

Put another way, Elentear had decided the new house was terrible and wanted to move back into the old one.

Unfortunately for the new house, moving out tended to leave a bit of damage behind.

And that was exactly what was happening now.

Larcade's consciousness was being crushed by Elentear's magical instinct, while his body was beginning to collapse under the strain of containing power it had never been capable of bearing.

Ankh descended from the sky.

Several cities in the distance had been nearly flattened.

The surrounding landscape had been torn beyond recognition.

Then he looked down at Larcade, whose body was already beginning to crumble into fragments, and sighed.

Chasing overwhelming power without ever considering the consequences…

This was what happened when you skipped the due diligence.