The man who had been the symbol of magical knowledge for centuries now left no trace of his existence behind.
No one spoke his name, because everyone knew what had happened. He hadn’t been killed. He had seen a truth that the world was not built to witness.
For the first time since the battle began, there was no trace of a smile on Ragnar’s face.
His gaze fixed on Daniel, on the man still standing in the center of the ruins, calm and indifferent, as if the death of the greatest mage in history was nothing more than a leaf falling from a tree.
He looked at his sword, doubt creeping into his thoughts about his own power. All of them together had still not been able to defeat this monster.
"Is there really no way?" His eyes gleamed with darkness. Now he could understand why the continent was so terrified and helpless against this monster.
Yet he still refused to surrender.
A cold wind blew through the ruins. Seraphina closed her eyes. She knew better than anyone. There was no longer any hope of victory. No one in this field still believed Daniel could be killed.
They had only one goal left: buying time. Just a little more time, so that perhaps before that birth was complete, a way could be found, and perhaps those bastard Half Step-Divines would finally intervene.
Seraphina’s silver eyes opened. Thousands of runes began to spin in the depths of her pupils.
"So this is where it ends..." Her voice was quiet, but behind it lay centuries of exhaustion. There was no point in holding back any longer.
Either they used all their power, or they died.
And then she raised her hand. The entire sky trembled. Not from the pressure of mana, but from the reaction of the world’s laws. Thousands of silver runes appeared from nothing.
Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions. The entire sky turned into an ocean of glowing symbols.
The runes spun and connected like living stars. A massive structure took shape, a structure that even Ragnar fell silent upon seeing.
[Throne of the World Manuscript.]
The Crown of Silent Origins was still active, helping her control all the fundamental laws of the world.
The Lady of a Thousand Laws summoned a manuscript of the world’s fundamental laws.
All of space changed. Time did not stop, but it deviated from its normal flow. Distance no longer had a fixed meaning. Light did not follow the usual laws.
Gravity had turned into a living entity. The entire region became a domain where the world itself obeyed Seraphina.
At the center of that domain, Seraphina stood like a goddess, like the absolute ruler of reality.
But Daniel just looked at her. Not worried, not afraid. He simply didn’t care what this woman was doing, as if it didn’t matter to him at all.
And that made Seraphina’s heart grow heavy for a moment.
Sel’nora stepped forward. Green winds began to move around her. The white branch of the First World Tree in her hands began to glow.
She understood that this was no time to hold back. They stood no chance against this monster alone. The only way, the best thing they could do, was to sacrifice everything.
But this time, she did not intend to preserve anything. She released all her power, her entire life, all her connection to nature. And with the help of the [Seed of the First World Tree], all the nature in the world heeded her call.
[World Tree Requiem.]
And at that moment, the entire continent trembled. Distant forests screamed. Seas became stormy. Mountains vibrated. The spirit of the First Tree roared. A colossal being appeared behind the sky.
A shadow so vast that even the horizon could not contain it. Roots as large as mountain ranges emerged from the void.
They covered the sky and hid the sun.
And then they fell toward Daniel. But at that same moment, from an invisible distance, white roots appeared from behind, as if representing the concept of death and the end.
Roots that had extended from thousands of kilometers away. The two currents clashed.
Two concepts: the nature of the world, representing life, and death, representing the end. All of reality screamed under the pressure of their collision.
"How? How can he control death to this extent?" Sel’nora stared at the white roots in horror.
She had enough insight to know that those roots were the embodiment of death themselves. But how could a living being control death? This should not be possible at all.
"This isn’t enough. We need more help!" Seraphina shouted. By controlling reality in this region, she was trying to weaken the monster’s power and render his abilities meaningless.
But the monster, using abilities she could not comprehend, had practically erased reality around himself, as if he was no longer in this world. And clearly, Sel’nora alone could not accomplish anything.
The Holy Emperor no longer waited. [The Divine Heart] shone, and golden light swallowed the sky.
[Kingdom of Ten Thousand Saints.]
With the help of the Divine Heart, he created tens of thousands of luminous figures condensed from the faith of believers. But these were not ordinary figures. They were taken from the most beloved people among the masses.
Saints, heroes, martyrs, legends of the church’s history. They formed an army of a thousand years of faith. And then, all together, they charged at Daniel.
A wave of light covered the entire sky. A power that could wipe a civilization off the map of the world.
"They feel desperate and are using destructive attacks. Such an attack could practically destroy thousands of dimensional layers. If these layers weren’t here, the entire continent would be destroyed."
"Actually, even with these layers, the continent might be destroyed." Daniel thought to himself and frowned slightly. It seemed these fools had completely forgotten about innocent people.
He didn’t care about those people either, simply because they weren’t real.
But everyone assumed Daniel’s frown was out of worry and noticed it.
The Holy Emperor held his breath. Perhaps this attack could break the monster’s defense!
"Use all your power! Even if it means the death of all of us, we must kill that monster!" The Divine Prophet shouted.
And then a black sword appeared in Daniel’s hands.
The Heaven’s Honor.
The blade quietly left its sheath. All sounds disappeared. Even the wind, even heartbeats, even the vibrations of mana. For a moment, the world itself fell silent.
And then the blade was fully revealed. It was as if everything recognized the presence of that sword.
Daniel quietly raised his sword. The power of Eternity, Death, and Destruction gathered in the blade. And for the first time, he decided to use divine power, the power of divinity itself.
And then, a simple movement. Just one slash. But the world split before him.
Boom!
Seraphina’s domain was torn in half. Millions of runes exploded. The army of saints was destroyed.
Sel’nora’s world roots were severed. A wave of silence swallowed the entire field.
Seraphina coughed up blood. A silver drop dripped from the corner of her lips.
Everyone’s eyes widened. The Lady of a Thousand Laws had been wounded. But she did not retreat. Sel’nora did not retreat either.
They looked at each other, and without needing words, they understood. This was their last chance.
Their hands rose. The power of nature and the laws of the world merged.
[Origin Covenant: Eden’s Seal.]
Light covered all of reality. A massive seal formed. A seal that had once imprisoned ancient beings.
Not meant for killing, but for erasing, for expelling from the cycle of existence. They had used this skill only once before, centuries ago, against a very powerful beast of corruption.
The reason they did not use it often was that it came at a great cost to them as well.
The light fell, and the entire world turned white. Even Ragnar could not see anything. For a moment, the Holy Emperor felt hope.
But when the light disappeared, Daniel was still standing there. His sword was still in the same position.
As if nothing had happened.
As if all that power had never existed. And then... Seraphina trembled.
The runes around her went out of control. Some went silent, some turned against her. Her eyes slowly closed, and she finally understood.
Sel’nora also raised her head.
For the last time, she heard the voice of the forest spirit, and in that voice, she felt defeat.
Not her own defeat, but the defeat of the world itself. A tired smile settled on Seraphina’s lips.
"So... this is the thing that nothing can describe..."
Sel’nora also whispered quietly.
"Nature... had lost from the very beginning..."
Their bodies began to glow, and then they were split in half, each half falling to one side. It was clear that a sword strike had killed them.
And two great legends of the continent passed away in silence. There was no scream, no final resistance. There was nothing they could do.