There was a galaxy embroidered in the darkness.
A cascade of starlight fell from the top of the tower.
Behind it, a figure crouched.
An old man cloaked in a robe.
His gaunt fra exposed prominent cheekbones, his hollow face entirely devoid of flesh, evoking sharp, glaring eyes even while closed.
The 3rd Apostle, Oblivion Orion.
Just as Shiron knew him. However,
The shimring stars enveloped his entire body, the staff in his hand reminiscent of a cross, and the shape of a scepter. In the endless darkness, these lights illuminated the laws and patterns of the universe, forming the folds of his robe.
This was a form Shiron had never known.
It wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. The starlight cascading in the background resulted from the demonic deity’s power eroding space.
Destruction and annihilation.
Literally, the power of the demonic deity that erases everything. Yet, to the eye, it rely looked like a night sky adorned with a galaxy-shaped robe.
Beautiful. And therefore, not imdiately threatening.
Instead, it felt inviting, as though one might willingly approach.
The overwhelming presence gave an illusion of ease. Like a predator in the deep sea waving bait, luring prey to dive into its gaping jaws.
That was the result the 3rd Apostle desired.
“I thought you’d simply throw your spear at .”
Shiron only pointed his spear but neither threw nor lunged with it.
“Are you being cautious? Or rely assessing my strength…”
“…?”
“Surely, it’s not fear. I can’t imagine soone who ca here voluntarily, having vanquished other apostles, hesitating out of fear.”
A taunt that required no response.
Shiron smirked faintly and withdrew his aid spear, tapping it on the ground. Thud—! A crackling burst of fla rippled across the darkness-infested space.
‘The flas aren’t entirely consud by the authority. It hasn’t fully rged yet?’
Shiron evaluated the Apostle’s prowess with optimal precision.
The space revealed after opening the door was saturated with the demonic deity’s power.
That authority had the power to reduce everything to nothingness. Even the ripples of fla he had just created should never have occurred.
Facing divinity, Shiron was overwheld, but his human strength—enhanced only by [Ornot], not the holy sword—managed to leave a trace.
The implication was clear: he had to act quickly. Shiron smirked slightly.
He was now certain Orion had not yet mastered the authority.
“Hey.”
Shiron murmured, exhaling a deliberate sigh. The response he gave to Orion seed intentionally delayed.
“Behind , there’s soone called the Demon King’s Daughter.”
This wasn’t an attempt at conversation but an outright declaration.
“Go die to her.”
“…Suggesting suicide out of the blue?”
Orion’s expression twisted, a mixture of shock and anger. In stark contrast, Shiron smiled lightly.
“Since you’re going to die by my hand anyway, let’s make it quick and easy.”
“…You are ridiculously arrogant for soone trembling with fear.”
Orion spoke in a low voice.
“Fear?”
“I sense hesitation within you. I’m unsure whether it’s fear of the upcoming battle or sothing beyond it, but the Eye of Contemplation has pierced your essence.”
Orion recited as though gazing into Shiron’s core.
“What awaits you is annihilation. A fate I will deliver here and now.”
“Annihilation, my ass.”
Shiron narrowed his eyes and retorted. What Orion said about fear was accurate. But the essence of that fear and hesitation was far beyond his understanding.
What concerned Shiron was what lay beyond Orion’s death.
The opponent before him was formidable but not an insurmountable obstacle. The battle would simply take more ti and effort without an easy solution.
Orion could not grasp Shiron’s depths.
The essence of a deity was to observe the world. Even the demonic deity was bound to that frawork. Yet, observation, by its nature, was a downward gaze, incapable of perceiving an equal.
As long as Shiron remained favored by the deity he served,
As long as he wielded the holy sword, Orion’s eyes could never probe his core.
But Shiron knew Orion’s essence. He had already discerned the totality of the authority dwelling in that frail fra.
The disparity in information was insurmountable. Battles, as always, were decided before they even began.
Boom—! Further conversation was unnecessary. Just as Shiron had done, Orion struck his staff against the ground. Crash! A ferocious energy erupted from his emaciated body. In that instant, without any preamble, the group moved.
The sound of wind slicing. Lucia had already drawn her sword and charged forward. Sirius’ faint energy shimred in her grasp. She instinctively anticipated a prolonged battle and acted with an understanding of Shiron’s strategy.
It was but a fleeting mont.
The blade rushed toward the hooded neck.
It did not cut the neck. Nor was it blocked by the hood. In mid-air, the blade was halted by an invisible force. The energy around Sirius grew sharper, but tendrils of darkness creeping from the void began to devour the blade’s energy.
From behind Shiron, Seira struck the ground with her staff.
Her magic created distortions in the coordinates targeted by the spellcaster.
Like tangling a ticulously spun web, she wove irregularities into the order, tearing apart its coherence. The 3rd Apostle’s teleportation was sealed.
‘This is…’
Orion’s eyebrow twitched. Impurities had infiltrated the space consud by his authority.
‘How vexing.’
Driven by an instinctual desire to resolve the disorder, Orion divided and accelerated his thoughts. He sought to reverse and dismantle Seira’s magic.
This was no ordinary spell or technique. Nevertheless, he deciphered it quickly. The reach of a mage who had partially ascended to divinity was imnse.
There existed a realm unreachable by re mortals, no matter how much effort they exerted.
Seira knew this well. She promptly dispelled her magic and prepared her next move.
A new kind of disruption—a pattern entirely different from the previous one—introduced chaos, tangling the space. Before her previous disorder could be countered, she added new layers of disruption, turning the space into a patchwork.
The tattered space restructured itself. Whatever processing speed Orion possessed, Seira was ready with the next disruption. Or more precisely, within her divided consciousness, a new chaotic pattern arose at just the right ti.
If Orion devoted all his capacity to analyzing Seira’s efforts, they might eventually be undone. But Seira was satisfied with this outco. She, too, was strained, and the lethal intent bearing down on her slowed her reactions.
Yet, that was fine. Even as Orion’s gaze brimd with annihilation gripped her neck, she focused on further disrupting the space rather than escaping his grasp.
This was because soone stood against Orion’s authority: Shiron Prient. The divine energy imbued in his spear severed the threads of death with a re swing.
And he didn’t stop there. Shiron clutched the brilliantly glowing holy sword. The once-ordinary radiance of the sword now flared with intensity, as if reacting to the Apostle’s aura, erasing Orion’s authority with violent brilliance.
Sacred flas roared to life.
Whoosh! The polluted air filling the space burned away, leaving nothing unholy in the path of the holy sword. Orion, overwheld by the imnse killing intent, let out a faint groan. That mortal power could so effortlessly erase divinity-infused magic astonished him, even as he sensed death.
‘Even so.’
The warrior had not ascended to divinity.
He was rely a human borrowing the power of a god.
‘I can withstand this.’
Orion spread his hand, stirring the space. The air tore apart, and darkness that veiled reality like a curtain descended.
Boom! The holy sword clashed against the curtain. Blazing flas erupted violently, their ripples spreading through the already chaotic space. The curtain held, but the shockwave transmitted.
Despite blocking and deflecting the attack, Orion’s form staggered backward. His body left a trail across the ground marked with sacred imprints, and for a brief mont, his consciousness flickered from the impact.
“Ha.”
Shiron shook his tingling hand in the air a few tis. Dissatisfaction seeped through his sigh.
He had swung the sword with the intent of severing Orion’s arm in one strike, yet the result was rely forcing him back.
This battle was distinctly different from those before. Even previous apostles, empowered by demonic authority, had been ripped apart indiscriminately by the holy sword. Yet, Orion, having ascended to divinity, had blocked its blow.
Without hesitation, Shiron lunged forward again. He repeatedly reminded himself not to give Orion ti to recover from the shock. At the sa ti, Orion barely managed to perceive the movent.
His emaciated hand swung the staff, scattering starlight infused with annihilation into the air. The starlight surged outward, threatening to consu everything.
Tendrils of starlight pierced from all directions. Shiron twisted and slashed through the reckless violence tearing through the space.
Fwoosh! His blade incinerated the tendrils and consud the scattered starlight. Yet the remnants of annihilation that weren’t erased pierced his red cloak, corroding the area.
“Lucia!”
Shiron shouted a warning. Lucia knew exactly what she needed to do. She discarded the unnecessary. Slipping out of her tattered outer garnt, she weaved through the tendrils with ease.
A surge of divine energy embedded itself in Sirius. Although she hadn’t fully ascended, she once had, and her instincts retained that experience.
Light, sacred and near-divine, infused her blade.
A colossal pillar of light shot through the starry night sky. It seed large enough to pierce the tower’s ceiling, but it didn’t.
The space eroded by authority had no limits.
Lucia swung her blade downward in one swift motion. The curtain of darkness swirled and was drawn in. But it wasn’t enough. Lucia clenched her teeth as mana from her energy core poured out unevenly, heating her body while fiery energy surged through her.
Boom!
This ti, the curtain didn’t hold. It began to tear apart and was sucked inward.
Orion’s gaze turned frigid. He realized that rely draping darkness as a barrier would no longer suffice.
——!
The darkness failed to consu the strike.
Rumble!
A deafening roar shook the tower.
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