Two God-rank beings instantly followed, the Angel of Death and the Fallen Angel of Death, their auras chilling the very dream-reality around them.
"He’s already consud the death of his own existence," one of them said, their tone like a whisper from the grave. "He no longer possesses a death to claim."
"We will force death back into him. Instill it in his existence."
Swoosh!!
Michael thrust his sword toward Esquin’s forehead, chanting sacred scriptures. Behind Eztein, an enormous silhouette began to take form, radiating an overwhelming presence.
ARGHHHHH!!
A deafening, ear-splitting scream tore through the air, enough to drive any mortal to madness.
On either side, the Angel of Death and the Fallen Angel of Death pressed their palms forward, their combined power surging like a tide.
Esquin froze, his gaze vacant. mories of the past flooded his mind... monts with his sister. He whispered, almost to himself, "Esriel... you’ve grown. I... I’ve failed in my campaign. I’m sorry I couldn’t fulfill my oath to you."
...
Outside the Tomb of Gluttony.
Doranjan, Eztein, Vashno, and the rest of the Lion’s Fang had retreated far from the battlefield. They stood in tense silence, witnessing a colossal surge of power erupting at its center.
Pillars of dark energy tore through the ground as a massive disk, a swirling mix of white and shadow, began to fracture. Countless golden chains shot through it, and a jagged tear appeared in the sky itself. The dream realm was opening, blurring the line between reality and illusion. Around it, countless apparitions began to materialize. They were strange, eerie, and otherworldly.
"Indeed... we can’t stay here any longer," Eztein muttered.
The others nodded in agreent.
The land between the angels and fallen angels lay in ruins, ravaged by the scale of the war.
"I wonder... what’s happening out there," Vashno whispered, his voice tinged with unease.
None of them truly understood what was happening. Only the God-rank beings knew the full details of the current situation.
"If things get worse, we’ll leave imdiately," Doranjan said. "If not, we’ll stay a while to gather information before we make our move."
...
Sowhere in an unknown space
Esriel knelt on the ground, tears streaming down her face. mories of the past flooded her mind, every detail painfully vivid.
Her tears fell to the floor, her sobs echoing faintly in the emptiness.
"B-Brother... why?! Ahhhhh!"
Her voice trembled, her body shook, and her heart ached with unbearable grief. All she had ever wanted was to live by her brother’s side. Nothing else mattered.
"Ahhhhhh!" she cried again, her emotions spilling over uncontrollably.
She and her brother had been victims of the endless skirmishes between angels and fallen angels. Their parents had died in the chaos while they hid, terrified, sensing the overwhelming energy of the powerful beings around them. Always, her brother had protected her.
She rembered his words: "I’ll protect you no matter what. I’ll do everything to stop this kind of war."
He trained day and night, growing stronger with every passing day, doing everything he could to give her a safe and comfortable life. He even joined shadowy groups, and when she discovered it, she had been furious but he had done it for her.
Eventually, her brother beca a well-known figure in the Angel Faction. He endured countless battles, always shielding her from harm. Even in the Tomb of Gluttony, he never abandoned her. He sacrificed a part of himself, burying it within her, granting her a way out of the realm when all seed lost.
"I..."
Esriel didn’t want her brother to beco this. All she had ever wanted was for him to stay by her side, to live for himself, not be consud by the world.
Esquin, however, had chosen to walk a different path. He knew that as long as he was with her, she would only be in danger. He swore to himself that he would grow stronger strong enough to bend the world to his will, to protect her, and to create a place where she could live freely, following her own desires.
He suppressed and controlled countless criminal organizations, becoming a figure feared by all. He rose to power as one of the Seven Deadly Sins, a na that struck terror into the hearts of many.
He did it all to ensure she would never beco a casualty of the endless conflicts between factions, as their parents had. Esquin committed acts so dark and horrendous that even he had never imagined himself capable of doing them, all to achieve his goal.
"Brother!!"
Esriel’s cries rang out, desperate and unrelenting. Yet, in her heart, she still felt him protecting her.
...
The battle raged for three long days, the energy fluctuations from the white-and-dark disk gradually beginning to subside. During that ti, hundreds of ssengers of Gluttony swept across the land, slaughtering countless living beings in their wake.
On the fourth day, a God-rank being from the Fallen Angel Faction finally made their move. In an instant, the hundreds of ssengers of Gluttony were obliterated, leaving nothing behind. The two Holy Lands imdiately announced that the Ruler of Gluttony had been defeated.
The news sent shockwaves across the world.
After months of unrelenting rampage, the Ruler of Gluttony had finally been stopped. The war against him was over. One of the dreaded Seven Deadly Sins had fallen.
Factions across the lands rushed to verify the claim. When they confird it, the Ruler of Gluttony was truly gone, they all withdrew in stunned silence. The details of the battle remained a mystery, but the fact could not be denied: the infamous Ruler of Gluttony had fallen.
The seven continents trembled at the news. Even those who had long remained hidden, watching from the shadows, could not hide their astonishnt.
It was the biggest news in months, second only to the mysterious appearance of the Thirteenth Sign. Yet, regarding the Thirteenth Sign itself, the factions knew almost nothing. The land had been ravaged by the power of Infinity, its very spatial structure shattered. If the Thirteenth Sign had fallen there, tracking him would be nearly impossible. And with the breach between reality and the dream realm, there was always the possibility that he had been lost within that strange, shifting plane.
The remnants of the Gluttony Army scattered across the lands, many hunted down by those nursing deep grudges.
anwhile, at the battlefield where the Ruler of Gluttony had fallen, people surged in, desperate to claim any fragnt of opportunity.
Even a single drop of his blood, brimming with imnse power, was enough to rival the highest-grade potions and pills. Bloostones rained down across the field like teors, waiting for the fortunate or the reckless to discover them.
The battlefield lay in utter ruin, littered with countless fragnts of shattered space. Navigating it was treacherous, the damage from the battle making every step uncertain. Yet so of the ssengers of Gluttony had survived. They lurked among the debris, striking without warning and slaughtering anyone unfortunate enough to cross their path.
...
Doranjan, Eztein, and Vashno lingered for a while, scrambling alongside others for opportunities. The aftermath of the great battle had caused all the hidden secret realms in the area to beco accessible, drawing many eager to explore them.
Vashno spoke with Raven as the Lion’s Fang remained on site, working to protect the locals from the chaos that still lingered. Raven, an Eight Shackle Realm expert, offered guidance to both Eztein and Vashno, helping them understand her current level of mastery.
The Seventh Shackle Realm enhanced an individual’s body, strength, and energy, providing a qualitative boost up to ten tis. At the seventh enhancent, one could sense the threshold of the next shackle and decide whether to proceed with proper preparation. However, any enhancents beyond the seventh would forego the typical boosting effects of each level above it.
In short, an expert who advanced to the Eight Shackle Realm with only seven qualitative enhancents was weaker than one who had reached it with eight enhancents.
The Eight Shackle Realm was entirely different from the previous level. While the Seventh Shackle Realm enhanced overall strength, the Eight Shackle Realm focused primarily on refining the physical body. It was divided into four stages: Initial Mortal, Interdiate Transcendent, Advanced Archon, and Peak Divine. Once an individual broke through to the Eight Shackle, they could progress through these stages.
At this level, advancing through each stage required sacrificing a quarter of one’s mana pool, repeated four tis in total. Each sacrifice elevated the body to a higher level, preparing it for the next stage of the shackle. For this reason, most Eight Shackle Realm experts gathered vast resources to significantly increase their energy reserves before attempting further advancent.
Currently, Raven was at the Advanced Archon stage. Her physical body surpassed that of any Seventh Shackle Realm expert. Her physical body was capable of withstanding an Initial Fifth Stage Monster.
Breaking through the Eight Shackle Realm granted more than re physical enhancent. The newfound characteristics were deeply tied to one’s inner consciousness, elevating not just strength or speed but the mind itself. This profound growth explained why most Archmages were found in the Eight, Ninth, or Tenth Shackle Realms.
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