Destruction destruction destruction
Guillever stood at the balcony of the tower, watching the distant lands crumble and roll aside as storms clashed against each other.
The Empire shuddered with the destruction ravaging the far reaches—earthquakes racing across the land. Every shockwave swept over to this side, shattering fragile things.
At one point, the ground had suddenly cleaved from that distant place all the way to here and to the ocean. People tumbled into the gaping hole, yet the Knights and civilians helped each other, so the damage was nothing compared to that of the flood.
Perhaps the people of Luinngard had learned a vital lesson from the flood. Now that this devastation was unfolding, they worked together.
But Guillever knew this was nothing like the flood. There was a presence in that clashing storm that, in his entire goddamn life, he had never felt.
There were things out there, and what was even more unbelievable was that actual people were fighting those things.
He wanted to grip the terrace railing, but it had cracked pitifully from relentless shockwaves. He stared at it with doubt—not doubting the terrace’s ability to hold one more time.
Instead, he shook his head and leaped.
He landed gently with the grace of a leaf. As he did, several knights approached him.
"Tower Master, we have found no sign of Lady Henai. There is no doubt—she has been abducted by those people."
Guillever stared into the distance and clenched his fist in fury.
He focused on the knights before him.
"How long before the wall collapses?"
There was already an enormous fissure separating it, but somehow the entire wall still stood.
One knight shook his head.
"I am not sure, Tower Master. It seems the next shockwave will bring the entire thing down."
Guillever suppressed the urge to clench his fist again. Instead, he turned back to the Knights.
"Well, evacuate everyone as fast as you can—don’t sit around!"
The knights sprinted away, shouting the Tower Master’s command to every other knight, who in turn did the same.
A knight clad in dark armor reached Guillever. As he did, the Tower Master looked at him with a sigh of relief.
"Sir Sheer."
"Sir Gilly. What in the world is happening?"
Guillever shook his head.
"I have no idea, but I am certain that all this is just collateral damage from what’s happening out there... in that distance."
The man followed Guillever’s gaze toward the distance beyond the wall. His own face paled.
"If you call this collateral damage... Are storms battling each other? Did Ul descend? Because what kind of collateral damage is this? It can’t be possible!"
Guillever shook his head grimly.
"I know you won’t believe me, but I have been in the presence of powerful people, Sir Sheer, and I have never felt anything like those things clashing with each other. Those things must be pure vessels of destruction—nothing more, nothing less."
The Knight looked down, then suddenly remembered something.
"Oh, good Fach!"
Guillever looked at the Knight Commander.
"Is all well?"
The Knight nodded.
"Yes, it’s just that... I just remembered what a young boy and some strangers who came ashore a few hours ago had said."
Guillever frowned slightly.
"What did he say? What was that?"
Knight Commander Sheer said:
"He said the fate of the world was at stake and he didn’t have time to play chase with some rook. I believe I was the rook?"
He hesitated.
"After that, he soared straight into the air. Others followed him. Jeci, and even Lynus were among them."
Guillever’s frown deepened ominously.
"Please, Sir Sheer, describe this... young boy."
The Knight gestured slightly as he described.
"He was this tall... he had white hair, snowy like Lady Henai’s, and blue eyes, beautiful like the ocean. But they also held a strange and unsettling hostility he was suppressing."
Guillever’s eyes widened, his face drained of color.
The Knight Commander caught him as he staggered back.
"Tower Master, are you all right?"
Guillever nodded and steadied himself.
"Yes... I’m fine... it’s just... ah, damnation."
The Knight Commander still watched him carefully. Guillever sighed.
"Whatever is happening there, I’m not certain, but I think Lady Henai’s son is part of it."
The Knight Commander’s gaze sharpened with hostility.
"Again? That boy—I heard he came and caused trouble some months ago during my absence. And he stood his ground against the Emperor."
Guillever nodded.
"Well, yes, sort of... but this time, everything seems to be on a vastly different scale."
The Knight Commander’s brows furrowed mildly.
"Would you care to explain..."
The Tower Master trembled slightly.
"Perhaps he is saving the world?"
The Knight Commander stared thoughtfully. They were silent for a moment. Then he suggested:
"Shouldn’t we reach out to the Emperor then?"
Guillever shook his head.
"I’m afraid it will make no difference."
The Knight Commander raised his brows.
"What do you mean, Tower Master?"
The Tower Master responded with a slight tremor but straightforward tone.
"I think we would be endangering the Emperor if we dared..."
The Knight Commander’s frown darkened.
"Tower Master, I understand that last time he stood his ground against the Emperor and even helped save the city. But aren’t you placing too much faith in him?"
Guillever, still pale, looked at the Knight Commander with a puzzled expression.
"Well, he couldn’t fly last time, could he?"
***
Nothing was working. Absolutely nothing was working. No matter what he hurled at the Origin of Chaos, the bastard simply walked through it all.
Northern didn’t want to admit it. But this guy—he was fucking invincible. Nothing could touch him.
Not Absolute Heat, not Absolute Zero, not using Eclipsing Dread to rewrite the laws of his attacks. None of it was working.
Koll, the bastard, was above the laws of reality and simply strolled through everything.
He was even enjoying it. He was smiling at some attacks, looking at Northern like, "Oh? This is new"—grading his assaults with leisure while Northern worked desperately to bring down the damn Origin.
Northern would have loved to say he could go all day, that they could just keep trading blows back and forth. But sadly, that wasn’t the case.
He had a limit. And the crushing truth was that after the relentless torrent of attacks he had unleashed without pause, he was rapidly approaching that limit.