‘Here.’
Ludger opened his eyes.
He saw the sky—wide open above him. It was still dark and packed with storm clouds, but it was unmistakably the sky.
‘This was the makeshift chamber inside the fortress, so why...?’
The answer was simple.
The chamber, along with everything above it, had been blown away—evaporated completely.
What in the world had happened?
Ludger clutched his throbbing head and pushed himself upright.
His blurry memories overlapped with what his eyes were now seeing, and the scene from a moment ago resurfaced on his retinas.
‘I definitely thought I killed Salesin.’
He had erased everything except Salesin’s right arm. That should have been the end.
But Salesin’s right arm had suddenly moved and unleashed a massive burst of energy.
And then—
‘We ended up like this.’
Ludger looked around.
He was searching for survivors. With an explosion of that magnitude, even among this many powerful people, casualties were likely.
But what Ludger found was unexpected.
“What? You’re just waking up now?”
Not far from the blast’s center, Surna stood calmly.
He was smiling at Ludger, but Ludger understood immediately.
“You... did you block that explosion with your own body?”
Right before Salesin’s severed right arm exploded, Surna had been the first to move.
He had squeezed out every last shred of strength he had and unleashed defensive magic, guardian swordsmanship, barrier talismans, and black arts in rapid succession.
Then the explosion struck.
Normally, the blast should have swept through the entire surrounding area, killing more than half the people there.
But Surna had blocked it, preventing even a quarter of its original power from being unleashed.
The remaining force had been forcibly diverted upward into the sky.
Even then, the destruction was this severe.
But more important than relief at their survival, and more than the shock of Surna protecting him, was one thing.
‘Where is Salesin?’
At that moment, a silhouette rose behind Surna’s back.
“So damn persistent.”
WHAM!
With a dull strike, Surna’s body was flung sideways.
Ludger could only watch.
“You dare wound my body?”
Salesin was alive.
His body, which had been reduced to nothing except a single right arm, had regenerated in an instant, returning to its original form.
Because Dark Thunder had blown away his clothes, he stood naked—
but divine light shimmered across his skin and reformed into his familiar robe.
As if he had returned to the state before the battle began.
But unlike before, Salesin’s expression was filled with fury and disgust.
Of course it was.
He had believed he would win without question, only to be dealt a massive blow. No one would be pleased.
Just as no one feels good after being stung by an insect, the so-called absolute being felt irritation boiling within him.
A deep, vicious hatred toward Ludger—who dared put him in such a state—rose like bile.
This was the true face behind the smiling mask he always wore.
“Heh.”
Ludger let out a hollow laugh at the sight.
Even a lizard can regrow a severed tail—but seeing a severed tail regrow into a lizard was a first.
“You laugh? Looks like you do not understand your situation.”
Salesin strode toward him.
“You thought you could kill me with that pitiful spell? Do not delude yourself. This body is merely a vessel to show my form. As long as you cannot damage my essence, I cannot die.”
“Even so, when a vessel is broken, the inside must take some damage.”
“That is only when one has a single vessel. Did you forget? I have stacked vessels for over a thousand years. How many lives do you think I have accumulated over that time?”
“Is that so? Then if I destroy all of them, I can kill you.”
“Do you know why I am telling you this myself? Because you do not have the slightest chance of doing so!”
Salesin kicked Ludger in the abdomen.
Ludger flew back, rolling across the ground.
“Tsk.”
The metallic tang of blood filled his mouth.
Still weakened from the explosion, the blow was much more painful than it should have been.
“Give up the idea that you’ll die cleanly. I will toy with you until I am satisfied, tear off your limbs, and make you watch as this world becomes mine. I will gift you despair and hopelessness you will remember for the rest of eternity.”
Salesin approached again.
He raised his fist and punched downward.
WHUD!
Ludger barely managed to cross his arms to block, but in his unstable state, he could not hold.
He tumbled backward again.
His arms trembled violently. He could feel the cracks spreading through the bone.
The divine power imbued in Salesin’s fist was another problem.
It clung to Ludger’s forearms along with the remnants of his own shadows, burning both fabric and skin.
He was strong.
Even after taking Dark Thunder head-on, Salesin was fine.
One of his prepared vessels had been destroyed, but he simply switched to another.
Perhaps what Ludger had shattered with Dark Thunder was not a vessel at all—
but rather the shameless smiling mask that hid Salesin’s true nature.
The thought almost amused Ludger.
“Salesin. You know something?”
“What.”
“You look much better now than when I first met you.”
“So you have reached the point where only your mouth works.”
Salesin growled and stepped forward again.
Ludger merely stared back blankly.
He could move at supersonic speeds if he wished, yet he deliberately advanced slowly—
clearly intending to toy with Ludger.
‘Is this the end?’
No matter how he racked his brain, he saw no way to overcome this situation.
And at that moment—
“You still have not fixed that barbaric habit of striking people with your hands, I see.”
A woman’s voice echoed softly through the ruined chamber.
Salesin stopped.
Her voice struck the mind like a clear bell ringing in the fog before dawn.
‘Who?’
Ludger turned his head.
The chamber had been carved out of Galaharad Fortress; because of that, some passages remained like hollow tunnels along the walls.
From one of those passages emerged a woman with ash-gray hair.
‘Rine?’
Ludger thought of Rine for a split second—
but immediately shook his head.
‘No. She only resembles Rine. She is not truly her.’
But it was a face he had seen before.
To be precise, it was a face he had glimpsed long ago—
through the World Tree’s past memories.
“Arkenis.”
Salesin spoke her name in a voice dripping with disdain, confirming Ludger’s suspicion.
“So you have awakened?”
“You still remember me. Considering how many times you inherited memory, power, and soul—your mind is surprisingly intact.”
“Even without an excellent necromancer, inheriting my own soul is trivial.”
Salesin—no, the ancient wraith wearing his body—frowned.
“But this is strange. You should have been sealed in the Catacombs. How are you perfectly fine? The aftermath of the battle alone should not have undone the seal.”
His gaze snapped toward Surna, who lay where he had smashed him.
“So that is where he was injured. That demon’s doing, was it.”
“Surna.”
Arkenis also looked at Surna.
Her gaze toward him was complicated.
Surna had already been a wreck, and after blocking Salesin’s earlier blast alone, he now hovered on the edge of death.
“So, what brings the great saintess here? With the seal undone just enough for you to cling to life, you should have run.”
“Of course I came to stop you.”
Salesin laughed at that.
“Stop me? How absurd.”
Divine power surged around his body.
“Do you still think you are the saintess of a thousand years ago? Your authority was stolen, your strength has decayed from centuries of sealing, and your power was fragmented to manufacture those fake saintesses. You are not even a tenth of your former self. You think you can fight me like that? You sound like someone begging to be killed.”
“I will not deny it. Compared to my peak, what I have now is barely scraps. Even so, scraps that reach the realm of superhumans—but you are beyond me.”
“And yet you stand before me?”
“You seem to have forgotten—
I am not alone here.”
As she spoke, Catherine stepped out from the darkness of the passage to her side.
Salesin’s eyes widened.
“I am here too, you bastard.”
Catherine extended her hand, and Arkenis took it.
The vast divine power within Catherine flowed into Arkenis.
Wind roared outward.
Divine power was not something that could usually be transferred.
But Catherine’s power originated from fragments of Arkenis.
It was only natural that power should return to its original owner—like water flowing downhill.
Receiving her power back, Arkenis glared at Salesin with eyes sharper and brighter than before.
“With this, I am your equal.”
Her form shifted into pure light and vanished.
That was simply how fast she moved.
In an instant, she appeared before Salesin and thrust her fist.
BOOM!
Salesin was blasted high into the air.
Arkenis’s body turned to light again to pursue him, and Salesin gathered himself midair to clash with her.
Explosions of light erupted in the sky.
CRRRRRRRRASH!
The heavens shook as if lightning struck clear skies, and the roaring noise tore at the ears.
Space warped and twisted again and again.
Such was the clash of beings beyond even superhumans.
“Are you all right?”
Catherine hurried to Ludger’s side and supported him.
“You... why did you not go back?”
“Are you stupid? How am I supposed to leave from here? There is not even a way down.”
“With your power, you could have returned easily.”
Catherine smiled awkwardly.
“It was borrowed power. I needed to return it to its owner.”
“And more importantly—are you all right?”
“What do you mean?”
“You returned your power to Arkenis, but....”
Ludger trailed off.
Catherine gave a bitter smile.
“You really have sharp instincts. Yes. Even though I returned my power, it was not enough. Arkenis can fight like that only for a limited time. Too much time sealed away.”
“And knowing that, she came anyway—to buy time.”
In the end, even Arkenis could only stall Salesin. She could not truly defeat him.
“Is there a way?”
“At first it felt hopeless, but now... a few things are coming to mind.”
He had thought Dark Thunder would finish it, but now that it would not, he needed a new method.
Ludger pushed himself up, staggering slightly.
“Are you sure you are fine? Your body—”
“Do not worry.”
Ludger wiped the blood at his lips with his thumb.
Using mana, he rapidly healed the internal injuries and wounds.
He still looked worn out, but he walked toward Surna.
“Ah. You came?”
“What is your condition?”
“The worst. I probably only have one chance left.”
“If that one chance can be used meaningfully, will you do it?”
“Haha. As expected, you work people hard. If you ever become headmaster of Seorn, you will be the most ruthless one # Nоvеlight # they have ever had.”
“So? Can you do it or not.”
“I must.”
There was no hesitation in Surna’s voice.
It was not ‘I can’—it was ‘I must.’
“If someone has to do it, then it should be me. That is only right.”
He had lived his entire life with his hands dirty.
For someone who had transcended humanity, human laws and concepts of morality or good and evil should mean little.
But Surna knew.
He had lived so long that he had learned—whether he wanted to or not—through the very nature of his authority.
He had learned human conscience, morality, ethics, good, evil, and religion.
He had learned them not just with his mind—
but with his heart.
[Attainment]
That was his authority.
And knowing all that, he still committed every crime he had committed—
for the sake of resurrecting Arkenis.
He had thrown the world into chaos, revived the Holy Kingdom, triggered a holy war.
And in the end—
Even knowing it would lead to his death—
“I must go.”
“Understood. But we need one more.”
“Then what about me?”
Helia stepped forward.
“You seem fine,” Ludger said.
“Thanks to someone who protected me.”
Helia spoke lightly, but fatigue she could not hide showed on her face.
Catherine watched Helia quietly, and Helia returned only a brief glance.
“You have no reason to keep fighting here,” Surna said.
Helia pouted.
“What are you talking about? The reason is not yours to decide. If I say I will fight, then I will.”
“Why?”
“Oh, I do not know. We were fellow apostles, and whether we liked each other or not, we knew each other for a long time. I can at least see you off on your last walk, right?”
“How touching.”
Helia held out her hand. Surna took it and stood.
Crack—
Even as he rose, fragments of his skin fell to the ground like shattered porcelain.
A sign that he did not have much time left.