‘Arkenis. You glimpsed the future, didn’t you.’
The endless battles had been enough to let a strange kind of attachment take root.
And what he came to realize was—
Arkenis was surprisingly talkative.
Within the Church, everyone revered her, adored her. Because of her position, she always had to meet those people’s expectations and match their tone.
There had never been a moment when she could freely confide her own hardships.
The small grumblings she occasionally directed at Suruna were merely a backlash from such an environment.
He had once wondered why a Saintess would share such things with a demon like him, but after a few repetitions of her rambling, that doubt faded away.
Arkenis talked about many things.
Most of them were about the futures she had seen through her authority.
—You know, in the future there are strange iron carriages that move without horses! Oh, there are horses too—but they’re made of steel. People now only make golems out of stone, but someday they’ll make them from metal.
Arkenis spoke with excitement, claiming to have seen such things.
At that time, Suruna hadn’t understood a single word she meant.
Back then there were no such concepts as automobiles, steam golems, or magitech engineering.
Thinking about it now, it was astonishing. It meant that Arkenis had foreseen nearly a thousand years into the future.
Perhaps that was why, unlike the people of her primitive age, Arkenis was kind to everyone.
‘Did you see all the way to this point? This war breaking out... and even me acting like this?’
Arkenis had said that her authority wasn’t omnipotent.
Even if she saw the future, she couldn’t change the great flow of events, and if she tried to alter even the smallest detail, the resulting backlash would bring forth something far worse.
Moreover, her power didn’t allow her to see any future she wished at any moment.
She could see near futures as # Nоvеlight # easily as breathing, but the further ahead she looked, the less accurate her visions became.
Even the future she saw a thousand years ahead had been nothing more than scattered fragments of disjointed scenes.
Explaining such things may not have had much meaning—
but in those moments, as she excitedly chattered about what she had seen, she seemed so full of joy—
that he simply listened silently.
—You know, someday I’d like to live in that kind of world too. Not as a Saintess, but just as one person named Arkenis.
At least in those moments, she could shed the title of Saintess and simply be a girl of her age.
Perhaps...
perhaps that was why he kept challenging her even knowing he would lose—because he wanted to see that side of her again.
To meet her under the pretext of battle.
Suruna erased those old memories from his mind.
The past was the past, after all.
Now was the time to focus on the present.
“How long until the Relic’s power is fully charged?”
“That’s hard to predict even for me. But it won’t take long. The problem comes after that. There are still many walls left to overcome.”
“I figured as much.”
“Are you ready?”
Ludger asked, his transparent eyes fixed on Suruna.
“It’s almost time. This will probably be the last calm conversation we’ll ever have.”
“Already?”
“As I’ve said before, I can’t help you. I can’t afford to waste power while Salesin is still out there. He’ll be waiting for an opening, and he will strike.”
“I know. I never expected help in the first place. This has to be my fight.”
Suruna said the word fight as if he already knew what he was about to do after this conversation.
“Since it’s the end, I’ll say it clearly. I don’t think what you’ve done is right. Whatever your reason, your actions have only spread chaos across this world.”
“Now you’re lecturing me?”
Suruna smirked.
“Still, you’re not wrong.”
“Your actions can never be forgiven. But now I understand what you’re fighting for.”
And with that, Ludger continued,
“So at the very least, I’ll be rooting for you to achieve that goal.”
The two were different.
In birth, in the paths they had walked.
The means they used to reach their goals differed, as did everything they had experienced and learned.
Ordinarily, they would never have understood each other.
But there was one thing—
Knowing what each desired was enough to create a single point of understanding between them, enough for them to sincerely wish one another success.
“It’s starting.”
Ludger sensed that the ritual had entered the fourth stage.
In the fourth stage, no changes occurred within the fortress.
Instead, the change came from the massive pit in the ground left when the fortress had ascended.
A gaping black hole formed where the giant structure had once stood—
and from that abyss, something writhed before shooting upward at tremendous speed.
The pale mass was a gigantic tree.
Its entire body was white, stripped bare without a single leaf.
The tree burst from the hole and shot upward until it connected with the airborne fortress Galaharad.
Crraaaack.
The branches speared into the downward-pointing spires of the underground citadel.
The fortress, which had seemed to soar endlessly, suddenly stopped.
A tree tall enough to seize a fortress that had pierced the clouds—
the sight was so surreal that those still on the ground doubted their own eyes.
Rine was no exception.
‘It’s the same.’
The scenery she had seen in her dream was unfolding exactly before her eyes.
Explosions erupted everywhere, deafening booms resounding.
Soldiers, having spotted the advancing Cryptids, opened fire with guns and hurled bombs.
Above, the gigantic dragon summoned by Helia appeared.
On the ground, a localized storm conjured by Lutus raged.
Hans’s grim howl echoed as he fought Phantos.
It was the same.
Exactly the same scene from her dream.
And what had she done then?
“Ah.”
Rine realized it in that instant.
That even after seeing this, she had taken a step forward.
It wasn’t a conscious decision—her body had simply moved by instinct, as if trying to fulfill the decree that the given future must not be defied.
At that moment, someone grabbed her shoulder.
“What are you doing here?”
“Julia.”
Rine turned naturally toward Julia.
Julia was glaring at her with wide, furious eyes.
“Are you crazy? Do you even know where you are? Why the hell are you with the Saintess!”
“......I have my own reasons. But doesn’t this situation look familiar to you?”
“Familiar...?”
Only then did Julia realize what Rine meant.
“It’s exactly like the scene from your dream, isn’t it?”
“The prophetic dream I told you about, yes. I think it’s because of this special power I have.”
“So what are you going to do? Go charging straight into that chaos?”
“If I came here, maybe it’s because something—some fate—is guiding me.”
Rine’s gaze turned toward the fortress ensnared by the white tree.
“It feels like I have to go there. That’s where I’m meant to be.”
“So you’re really going? That’s not somewhere ordinary people can even reach!”
“You’re right. But I can. With my power, it’s possible.”
Above Rine’s head, her magic formula manifested.
The complex, multidimensional sigil Julia had once seen in class made her shoulders flinch.
“......You know I’m on Professor Ludger’s side. Strictly speaking, I’m here to help my friend who follows him.”
“I know. You mean his assistant, right?”
“You plan to stop Professor Ludger? That’s why you joined hands with the Saintess?”
“I just came to understand. To learn why I was born with this power, why I’m seeing these visions. And...”
Rine’s voice firmed with resolve.
“To see with my own eyes what the Professor is trying to do.”
* * *
KRRRRAAAHHHH!
A colossal dragon roared, spewing fire from its jaws.
Its breath streamed out in a blazing line, illuminating the dark world as it engulfed Catherine.
But Catherine tore through the dragon’s breath with an even stronger light and power, charging straight at it.
Her wings carried her with blinding speed.
Her fist, wrapped in light, struck the dragon’s massive body.
Before Catherine’s fist, even the dragon’s iron-hard scales were useless.
CRASH!
The scales shattered; the dragon’s torso caved inward. It twisted its huge body and swung its tail, but Catherine was already climbing up its back toward its neck.
In her empty hand, a sword of pure divine power materialized.
Without hesitation, she swung—its neck was severed, the body collapsing like a fading mirage.
Helia, seeing that, maintained an outward calm but was inwardly horrified.
Illusions manifested by authority were naturally weaker than the real thing.
But weaker compared to reality didn’t mean weak—each dragon phantom held the might of an entire legion.
She had summoned three of them.
Long ago, when she was a child, those dragons had been her uncles who played with her.
They had been mighty dragons of their kind, warriors who always took the lead when trouble arose.
Even with three such dragons attacking together, Catherine hadn’t budged.
Rather, in a show of power unbefitting a Saintess, she had already slain the second dragon.
Now, only one remained.
Helia summoned flying beasts to cloud Catherine’s sight, but it was pointless.
Catherine’s sky-blue eyes saw through everything.
Ignoring the summoned illusions, she lunged toward the last dragon.
“You fight so damn dirty!”
Helia shouted, grasping at straws.
It wasn’t her place to say so, being one who deceived opponents with illusions, but she couldn’t help it.
No matter what she prepared, Catherine saw through it all with her eyes that pierced the future.
Considering Helia’s powers specialized in deception, it was the worst possible matchup.
Even powers that could overturn most opponents were useless before Catherine’s overwhelming might.
Helia had never seen anyone who could shatter dragon scales with bare fists.
And that reckless, fearless way of charging in—
it sent chills down her spine.
Even now, after felling the dragons, Catherine moved on to her next target without hesitation, as though merely doing what needed to be done.
“Stop her!”
At Helia’s command, the flying beasts opened their jaws and unleashed attacks.
Acidic liquid, black mana, deafening sonic waves—
all kinds of deadly assaults flew at Catherine, but before her overwhelming divine power, they were nothing.
Catherine bulldozed through them all.
The moment Helia realized she was in danger—
Catherine suddenly stopped.
‘What is it?’
Helia quickly saw the reason.
From beneath the Galaharad fortress, a massive white tree burst forth, soaring toward the sky.
The pale, twisted tree that reached for the fortress looked like the gnarled hand of a colossal ancient giant grasping at something.
“This is...”
Catherine looked at the white tree, a trace of confusion on her face.
Helia caught the shift in her emotions instantly.
“What’s this? Didn’t see that coming, did you?”
Hearing Helia’s taunt, Catherine turned to her.
She said nothing, but that was enough.
Catherine’s authority was not perfect.
She could see the future—but not everything.
Her shock at the sight of that white tree proved it.
“Of course. It’s only a fake made using the Saintess’s power.”
Helia sneered, trying to shake Catherine’s composure.
“In the end, you’re nothing but a counterfeit that could never become real. It’s only natural that you and your so-called sisters can’t escape that fate.”
“You kept your mouth shut all this time, and now you talk back? Do you think I’ll let you walk away unharmed? Or should I tear that cute little mouth of yours open from ear to ear?”
“Oh my. You really are a fake Saintess—listen to that vulgar tongue. How frightening.”
Despite her mocking words, Helia knew full well that Catherine’s mood had turned dangerous, and her heart pounded with tension.
She had managed to buy some time and learned that Catherine’s authority wasn’t absolute—
but that didn’t mean the battle’s outcome would change.
‘Still, I can stall her for a while.’
Catherine, as if seeing through Helia’s shallow ploy, drew forth even greater divine power.
The radiance spread through the air in great rippling waves, forcing the flying beasts to shriek and retreat.
Helia sensed that Catherine was about to come at her with full force.
“Fine. Let’s see which of us dies first.”
All or nothing.
Helia summoned her most powerful illusion.
Behind her, astride the dragon’s head, appeared the head of an even greater dragon—many times larger than those before.
If the dragons she called her uncles were about a hundred meters tall, this new dragon was at least five times that size.
If those before had been young warriors, this one was an ancient elder.
The long beard streaming from its chin proved it.
Its presence dwarfed the younger dragons beyond comparison.
“What in the world...”
Catherine’s eyes widened in shock for the first time.
It was only natural—she was facing the mightiest of dragons, the supreme ruler of their kind from the ancient age.
The King of All Dragons.
The Great Ancient Dragon, Heliodor.
With eyes gleaming with deep, vertiginous light, the dragon looked down at Helia—
and slowly opened its jaws.