Due to the aftermath of erosion caused by Taiheo’s descent, the world remains shrouded in darkness. The sky rippled with open cracks, and the ground was dead, darkened to black.
On land made of the pure color of black, all objects lose their boundaries and become one. But now, countless lights floated above it.
People with the light of heaven in their chests. The lanterns that bloomed on the blackened land of destruction, ironically, resembled the universe spread across the ground. They looked up at the sky while holding their wishes.
A streak of lightning was fighting there. It was a sublime and beautiful light. The light confronted the darkness. That darkness was an incarnation of destruction that devoured the world's light and even distorted space and time.
The two collided ceaselessly, and whenever those blurry things brushed past, the world cried out.
Kwaaang!
Taiheo's body, struck by Osian's sword, was pushed back greatly. It was an impact strong enough to push him back even though he barely defended with his gravity sword. It was clear proof of a difference in power. Osian did not slow his momentum. His form became a streak of light and chased after the flying Taiheo.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He sent Taiheo flying, caught up with him again, and sent him flying repeatedly. Taiheo stopped as if fixing his body in midair. Massive darkness erupted from his gravity sword. A black hole with an accretion disk spinning ferociously was created and fell toward Osian.
If he dodged it, the black hole would strike the ground. If that happened, this planet would be finished. Osian emitted intense light. That light was not absorbed even by the black hole's powerful gravity. Without wavering, it extended straight in a direct line.
The massive black hole split in half. The core with the highest mass at the center split and the black hole vanished. Osian collided with Taiheo as both their forms soared upward.
"Disappear. From this world."
Massive light jetted out behind Osian's back. Countless star dust scattered through the air. The two forms, carrying tremendous acceleration, cut through the sky and flew beyond the crack.
Advance. Keep advancing like hammering iron.
The view changed. The passage of endless darkness stretched long, then at some point light exploded forth.
Beyond the crack for the first time, they had come to the outer world. A world full of substances called by all sorts of strange names: unidentifiable matter, dark matter, ether, the outer sea. And a place where beings beyond human perception dwell.
The place reached after crossing the passage of silence was quite noisy.
War was in full swing there too. Pitch-black darkness surged in. A black nebula. Looking closely, it was an army of void like a swarm of bees. Their numbers were so great they looked like dark clouds.
Counting their numbers was meaningless. The ones they had fought below were only an extremely small portion of them. What opposed such a void was the veil of stars. Countless stars formed a single veil and were driving back the darkness.
Looking closely at that too, they were ascenders shining like stars. They, of different races, ages, and appearances, maintained their prime forms and were fighting the enemies outside.
Amid a truly mythical grand battlefield, everyone's gaze turned toward Osian and Taiheo who had exited the crack.
Some ascenders appeared surprised. There was also considerable agitation from the void side. None other than Taiheo, who had descended to the ground though as an avatar body, had been forcibly pushed out. The god they served, who could never be pictured in defeat, had been overpowered in strength.
What they were shouting among themselves was transmitted through waves. Regardless, Osian stared straight at Taiheo. Taiheo also looked at Osian. Precisely at the light he emitted.
The gravity sword moved. It cut through spacetime and came flying simultaneously from multiple directions. The entire space was densely filled with Taiheo's attacks. It wasn't an illusion. All those attacks were real. And even if he blocked the current attack, he had to block the sword that would come flying while interfering with the past.
The previous Osian would have been hit.
Kagagagagagang!
A massive collision sound rang throughout the entire outer world. Osian blocked or deflected all of Taiheo's offensives using his sword and shield. Present attacks, past attacks, and even future attacks.
For the first time, bewilderment was felt from Taiheo. It was a reaction showing he never thought Osian would grow this much in such a short time.
The surging void army stopped. All of them were looking at Taiheo exchanging blows with Osian.
A few more massive presences were felt among the pitch-black clouds. Those must be the Star-Crushing Generals. Indeed, the power of their main bodies felt in the outer world was tremendous.
Even such beings couldn't interfere in the fight and only watched the battle of Taiheo whom they served. The ascenders who had risen to the veil of stars also all watched Osian.
In that grand colosseum, Osian fought Taiheo.
Sword lights that were hard to look away from ran rampant. Offense and defense were exchanged to the point of breathlessness, and sword techniques of immeasurable level crossed.
In the quieted battlefield, only two beings continued their fierce fight. While exchanging swords with Taiheo, Osian felt his entire body heat up intensely.
An intense pleasure he had never tasted before struck him. The more he crossed swords with him, the sharper he was honed. His senses became keen and his movements became fast and smooth. Becoming stronger was good. His technique advancing toward the ultimate had an irresistible addictiveness.
It was so enjoyable that for a moment, he even forgot the solemnity of war. He even had the foolish thought that he wished this fight would continue for eternity.
But eternity does not exist. Regrettably.
-Segeok!
As the light of myriad stars split Taiheo's chest, the match was finally decided.
Osian quietly looked down at Taiheo floating in the air, having lost his balance.
He asked Taiheo.
"Was it enjoyable?"
[Enjoyable?]
Taiheo seemed puzzled as to why Osian was asking that. But in the end, understanding the meaning, he nodded his head with his eyes shining.
[I see. I was enjoying it.]
Taiheo saw his past self overlapped with Osian. He must have been curious about what kind of ending he would meet, whether he would walk a different path from himself.
The result was right now. Unlike himself who failed while shouldering the world alone, Osian fought together with everyone. Thus Taiheo was defeated. The fact that it was an avatar body could not be an excuse.
[It is my defeat.]
Taiheo humbly accepted his defeat. At the same time, the avatar body cracked and shattered into pieces and scattered. Osian looked at Taiheo's scattered corpse, then raised his head to gaze beyond. Beyond the cosmic scenery filled with pitch-black clouds stood a massive being, a giant loftily looking down on everything while draped in pitch-black nebula on his body.
It was Taiheo's true body.
Having lost his avatar body, he was looking down this way. It was pressure intense enough that even a decent ascender would disappear to atomic units just from that gaze touching them.
But Osian did not. He confidently raised his head and met his gaze.
"Come. If you want more, I'll be your opponent."
At the even arrogant words, the darkness around Taiheo rippled. Those countless black clouds were beings following Taiheo. The subordinates were angered at Osian who had humiliated their master.
But Taiheo was calm. There was no reaction whatsoever. He just silently looked at Osian, at the lights he carried behind his back.
-Kuuuuung.
Taiheo's massive body moved. Because of his overwhelmingly powerful force, the universe trembled just from his movement. Just as a giant whale sweeping its fin once was like a disaster for plankton.
Part of the clouds gathered around Taiheo were swept up in it. Easily over a hundred million void soldiers vanished from that. But Taiheo didn't care. They weren't beings who came because he told them to follow in the first place.
Taiheo turned his body and departed beyond the vast darkness of the universe. At Taiheo's movement, the void legion was startled and watched the situation before following after him.
The Star-Crushing Generals also glared at Osian and the ascenders before withdrawing. The main bodies of Ken-Ush, Agraphilia, and Glamhator were the same.
Thus the countless darkness withdrew, and what filled that empty space was the scenery of an ordinary universe. It was a world full of beautiful stars of various colors.
However, Osian knew that those stars were not just part of celestial bodies. Each of those stars was a living, breathing life form. They were beings of stars that emitted light.
They had been watching Osian and Taiheo's fight while holding their breath. And they must have seen Taiheo withdraw.
Emotions were contained in the light they emitted. Surprise, astonishment, cheers. Amid those spectators' reactions, Osian slowly turned around.
The ascenders who had risen to the veil of stars were looking at him.
"This world no longer needs a veil."
Osian stated decisively. The veil of stars was a means to conceal and protect the inside from enemies outside. Its disappearance meant that this planet would be exposed to external dangers as is.
The ascenders appeared hesitant. They had risen to this position each bearing a noble mission. All were great heroes, and possessed convictions just as firm.
Therefore, they could not easily follow Osian's words.
"Then look."
Osian pointed to the planet, the world where they were born and raised.
"Do we look weak enough to still need protection?"
There was light there. The light from the ground was so intense it could be seen even from an immense distance. The light they emitted never fell behind that of the heavens. Everyone was a being of stars, and even those who were not had that potential.
Not a single ascender could refute. They had all watched how desperately they had fought against the outer gods who rushed in through the gaps in the collapsed veil.
What meaning did a veil have for a planet that no longer needed protection?
"I'm not saying to quit everything. Your roles aren't finished with this."
Osian decided to ease the ascenders' worries.
"Our world has always lived with the risk of invasion. So we created a veil to hide its appearance. But now it's different. Since we've been discovered like this, hiding further is meaningless."
The solution Osian presented was simple.
"So now it's time for us to invade."
Waves of agitation flowed in from the ascenders.
"In this vast universe, there are many planets hiding besides us. There are also those watching. Those trembling in fear not knowing when their turn to be eaten will come."
However, not everyone bowed their heads like cowards.
"There will be those with the will to fight but unable to do so. Far more of them. Because in this universe there are countless stars beyond counting."
The outer world was far too dangerous. In the vast outer sea were beings like Cthulatlap, and the Red Eternity who had retreated after being defeated by Taiheo also ruled a massive red zone.
What about Taiheo who roamed the universe? The void legion was very threatening. Besides that, everywhere was full of all sorts of outer beings. Even if not to Taiheo's level, there were beings similar to him.
Within that, what was the way for them to survive?
"Mount your horses. Raise your flags. Go on expeditions and bring about an alliance."
Build bridgeheads connecting planets to planets, exchange intentions with each other, and combine forces. That was how to form an alliance.
"That process will be arduous. Who knows what fights await? There will be those trying to obstruct us. So I need very excellent warriors. Many of them."
Osian looked at the ascenders. The accumulated faces of the lofty heroes throughout the planet's history entered his view.
"Who will fight with me?"
And among all those ascenders, Osian, by far the strongest, was saying let's fight together.
The ascenders were all those who had seized victory at the end of their own fights. Desire for improvement and competitiveness were absolutely indispensable words for them.
The stars shone hot and intense. Osian knew that meaning better than anyone. He smiled satisfactorily and said.
"Look forward to it. I will present you all with the greatest battlefield."
And the rider running at the very forefront of this alliance would be claimed by the strongest heavenly knight.
"Until then, everyone rest."
The ascenders exchanged glances with each other then nodded their heads.
Some of them fell asleep tired from the long fight, and some headed to the ground to tour the world.
Stars poured down.
The veil composed of stars disappeared. Simultaneously, the crack also disappeared. A crack carved in the veil was bound to vanish along with the veil's existence.
They saw that scene from the ground.
The sight of the sky instantly being dyed pitch-black darkness, and countless starlights falling across that darkness. Burning in midair, light of various colors shone like a beautiful aurora. Everyone existing on the planet saw it.
In the place remaining after countless shooting stars crossed the world, more brilliant stars than ever seen before were visible.
Not false stars composed of ascenders, but true stars beyond the veil. People watched that scene as if they were entering.
The allied forces that jumped into the battlefield, people facing destruction in their respective homes, those offering prayers, beggars sitting down in alleyways, everyone looked up at the sky through windows or by going outside.
And from the distant outside, Osian felt those people's gazes.
Just as they looked up at the light of heaven, Osian also looked down at the light of the ground. It was a beautiful spectacle in a different sense from the sky.
Perhaps he would never forget this scene until he died. Osian, who saw this sight before anyone else on the continent, thought so.
However, this scene was not his privilege alone.
As time passed, the number of people who would see this scene would increase. And they would advance toward even more distant places.
The lifespan of a star is not eternal. But the will that continues on would advance toward the future forever.
"Let's return now."
Osian also descended toward the ground. A pleasant wind blew. Cutting through clouds, the ground was finally visible. People bearing their own lanterns were waiting for him. Osian felt warmth looking at them.
They also discovered Osian. Someone pointed with their finger, and someone else even sat down in surprise.
Osian draped in light finally landed before everyone. From the tips of his soles, waves of pure white light spread, drawing concentric circles. The contaminated land was instantly purified and regained its original color.
In the world filled with color, his companions smiled and welcomed him.
The night sky withdrew. Light burst from beyond the eastern ridge and the sun was rising. The sun illuminated everyone gathered in place.
Everyone looked at Osian. Within that, Osian quietly raised the sword held in his hand.
A cheer loud enough to shake the world burst forth together.
An ending is merely a point where one stays. Time flows and the world is some kind of line not knowing where it will head.
A line is made by gathering countless points. Even someone's ending, from a certain perspective, is merely a passing process and past that has flowed by.
Therefore, an ending does not exist because the story continues even after that and the line keeps being made as new points are marked.
This is my story. A story that advances beyond the given limit called an ending and even after that. It is how to live as a knight after the ending.