The attack that had passed through the heart of reality was no longer just an "attack." It was a piece of Law sent to erase its target.
The spatial rift, like a blade cutting through dimensions, approached Daniel with a speed that had even left time behind. Its edges had neither light nor darkness, only absence.
The attack was on a level beyond physical attack, as if on its way it had already destroyed and erased countless dimensional layers.
This simple attack alone would have been enough to completely destroy dozens of S-rank Awakened and turn them into dust with nothing left behind.
But Daniel didn’t even look. He simply raised his hand, not in a hurry, not with force, he just... raised it.
And at that moment the rift stopped.
A few centimeters away from his body, the entire destructive structure froze in place. Not because its power had run out... but as if "permission to continue" had been taken from it.
Time inside the rift stretched, the mana around it went out, and the Law itself was trapped in an incomplete state.
Daniel slightly curled his fingers, and then the rift, without sound and without explosion, collapsed on itself, like something that had never fully formed.
An attack that could have killed Alaric and Varnos on the spot and even had the power to destroy the entire capital was stopped this easily.
Silence covered everything for a moment, but this silence didn’t last.
The sky... cracked.
Two massive rifts stretched from horizon to horizon, as if the sky itself couldn’t bear whatever was about to enter. Lines of light and darkness twisted along these cracks, and then two "presences" appeared.
The first one came out from deep darkness. A tall man with absolute black hair, eyes that had no reflection of light, and an aura that separated from his body like calm smoke, but every particle of it carried the weight of a world.
Valkraz, the first Heavenly King of the Goblin Guild and Alaric’s father, as well as the previous leader of this Guild, who was currently the strongest Heavenly King in the country.
He didn’t even take a step, but the space around him sank, as if the real void had just been formed.
The second one appeared from the other rift with a different but equally heavy presence.
A more muscular body, dark gray hair, and eyes with a purple glow that looked more like a suppressed flame than light.
Morkan, the second Heavenly King of the Goblin Guild and Alaric’s uncle.
If Valkraz was a devouring silence, Morkan was the darkness that clenched into a fist and wanted to break everything.
Daniel shifted his gaze between them and, for the first time since he had used the Transcendent Self skill, he paused and frowned.
"...Two?"
Their auras, each one alone, were as heavy as his own. But together, their pressure was too much even for someone at his level.
As far as he knew, the Goblin Guild was only supposed to have one Heavenly King, and that was something Varenos had told him.
A well-known and officially recognized truth at the country level, but now two Heavenly Kings from the Goblin Guild were standing in front of him.
"So that’s why they dared to attack. Their real plan is to take over the entire country," Daniel’s eyes shone with understanding as he figured out the Goblin Guild’s true plan.
Valkraz locked his gaze directly on Daniel.
"We didn’t expect... to see something like this here." His voice was calm, but every word carried weight.
"A kid... at the Heavenly King level?" Morkan gave a faint smile and said with surprise.
"And I didn’t expect the Goblin Guild to be so desperate that they would bring two Heavenly Kings to deal with one kid," Daniel said without changing his expression, full of mockery.
The space grew heavier.
Not far away, Alaric stood. He let out a breath of relief. Fortunately he had been saved. He had been worried that this bastard would really kill him.
But his gaze unconsciously fell on Varenos. His body was half-destroyed and lying on the ground.
"...I could have killed him." His frown deepened. Unfortunately he had missed such a good opportunity.
The two Heavenly Kings took a step forward. There was no hurry in their movement, but with every bit of movement space collapsed and the flow of mana moved aside.
Reality... was gathering itself. Their intention was clear.
To end it. Their presence meant the final stage of the war had officially begun, and this was the battle that would end the war and finally determine the winner.
Of course, with the damage both sides had taken, whichever side won would still have a long road of recovery ahead.
But before the attack could begin, space... compressed, as if the entire dimension had been crumpled into one point.
And from within it, a massive, shadowy hand made of moonlight and something beyond it appeared, as if it was not energy but "will" that had taken shape.
Without warning, it rushed directly toward the two Heavenly Kings.
The collision happened without sound, but its effect... caused several layers of space to crack at the same time.
Valkraz, without changing his expression, raised his hand. Darkness gathered around him and twisted into an endless abyss. The hand made contact with it and began to be pulled in, as if every particle of it wanted to be swallowed.
Morkan, from the other side, drove his fist into the darkness and delivered a strike that caused the structure of that hand to disintegrate for a moment.
But it didn’t get destroyed, it just... stopped.
And then the sky split open again. This time, however, without violence and without sudden pressure, but like a curtain being calmly drawn aside.
Schneitz.
He took a step forward as if he had always been there. His long hair moved gently in a space that no longer had wind. His eyes shone with a moonlight glow, and his beard had grown even longer than before.
And with his arrival, space calmed down.
His gaze lowered and fell on Varnos. A calm breath left his chest.
"...He’s alive."
Fortunately his son was alive. He had taken a lot of damage, damage that could never be fully recovered, but the fact that he was alive was enough.
Then his gaze reached Daniel, and for a short moment surprise appeared in his eyes, but it immediately disappeared.
"...Interesting."
"We’ll talk about it later."
"Congratulations," Daniel said without any change, simply congratulating him for reaching the Heavenly King level.
"Take him to the Moon Spring," Schneitz then said.
Daniel nodded. The Moon Spring was a place deep inside the Guild, a kind of healing location where Lana’s body was currently located as well.
Without any extra movement, he picked up Varnos and disappeared.
Schneitz fixed his gaze on the two Heavenly Kings in front of him.
"It’s been a long time..."
"We thought you were dead, old man... It would have been better if you had really died. It would have made our job easier," Valkraz replied in the same emotionless voice.
"Now we have to deal with an old man and a kid," Morkan added with a sharper look.
"You broke the balance. I doubt the Federation and the government will stay silent," Schneitz said calmly with sarcasm.
"They will have to stay silent, and if not, they will be destroyed too," Valkraz said with confidence, which caused his enemy to frown.
At the same time, Daniel returned and Schneitz took one step forward, with Daniel beside him.
Facing Valkraz and Morkan.
No one spoke, but mana was released and Laws were disrupted. Space could no longer endure it.
And the first strike happened.