Earth shone brilliantly in its alluring blue, standing out magnificently amid the dark expanse of the cosmos.
The Ninth High Seat—Nito—hovered above the atmosphere, neither too close nor too far, as he unleashed his overwhelming attacks downward, targeting Gehrman and those with him.
However, the sudden intervention of Snow Lionheart forced him to halt, leaving Amon to fight alone.
"You have something that belongs to me down there," Snow said coldly.
"Traitor of the Pantheon."
Bathed in his radiant aura of light, Snow flew upward until he reached Nito’s level. Nito turned toward him.
"And who might you be?"
Nito did not recognize his opponent at all. Snow’s long-lost war form was utterly unfamiliar to him.
An armored warrior clad in golden armor—
pure light aura flowing from his body.
"You resemble the Lightbearers... but you’re different," Nito muttered, analyzing him with his feral green eyes.
On the other side, Snow gripped Vermithor tightly, ready for battle.
"You don’t need to know who I am," Snow replied calmly.
"All you need to know is that I am your enemy."
"Well then... Very good ."
Nito’s savage grin widened as his sky-blue hair fluttered violently behind him.
His physique was overwhelming .. well over two meters tall, packed with inhuman muscle mass no human could ever possess.
Nito raised his Slitherine Sword high, allowing the Aura of the Light Soul to engulf his body .. the world-breaking power granted to him by Agaroth, the Demon King.
"The farther the distance between me and my enemy, the stronger my sword strikes become," Nito declared.
"But you are not an opponent worth keeping distance from."
His eyes lit up as he slashed downward, releasing a colossal shockwave of Light Aura toward Snow.
"After all... you’re far too weak."
Nito was confident. His opponent was clearly inferior to him in raw power.
Snow saw the attack coming through the narrow slits of his golden helmet—
yet strangely, he made no attempt to defend.
He didn’t even raise his shield.
He simply stood there... watching as the attack engulfed him completely, detonating in a spectacular explosion that illuminated the darkness of space.
Nito frowned.
"Did he really come all this way just to die?" the Ninth Ascendant muttered—
—and then received his answer.
An answer that made his eyes widen and his brows knit together as something completely unexpected occurred.
As the overwhelming Light Aura dissipated...
Snow stood there .. unscathed.
Not a single scratch.
In fact, his armor now shone even more brilliantly than before.
Beneath his helmet, Snow smiled.
"Just as I expected..."
Hearing this, Nito raised his sword toward Snow.
"What just happened?" he demanded.
"How are you still unharmed?"
But the answer never came.
Snow vanished.
In less than a second, he closed the distance and struck.
Vermithor clashed against Slitherine, triggering a violent collision of auras.
And yet .. the truly shocking part ..
Snow held his ground evenly against Nito.
"This is impossible..." Nito scowled.
"He’s far weaker than me .. yet he can fight me on equal footing?"
Frowning deeply, Nito released even more of his Light Soul Aura.
This power was truly overwhelming—the reward he had received from the Demon King after betraying his own race and selling them to the demons.
Thanks to the Light Soul, Nito’s power had increased dramatically after being bound within Midir’s shadow for an extended period.
Until today, this world-breaking ability had never failed to destroy .. or at the very least wound .. his enemies.
But today... that changed.
No matter how hard he pushed it, the Light Soul Aura failed to harm Snow in the slightest.
Nito was completely thrown off.
Snow seized that moment, tightening the pressure flawlessly.
"What’s wrong?" Snow taunted calmly as he attacked again.
"Don’t tell me that’s all you can do."
Nito responded with greater force.
Their swords collided at extreme speeds, locking them into a ferocious, high-velocity duel that showcased both of their swordsmanship.
Snow was the superior duelist .. precise, refined, and efficient.
Nito relied instead on raw destruction and brutality.
For a moment, they appeared evenly matched.
But that was an illusion.
Nito’s initial scowl faded, replaced by calm composure.
Seeing this, Snow narrowed his eyes—realizing his opponent was no fool.
Unlike Vayne, who was easily provoked, Nito was a veteran. He was already connecting the dots.
The Ninth Ascendant released even more Light Soul Aura, illuminating vast stretches of space.
Despite the sheer destructive output, Snow emerged unharmed once again—and counterattacked immediately.
But this time, Nito deflected the blow effortlessly.
Snow’s attack was too weak.
And after only a few more seconds—
Nito’s grin returned.
"I see now..."
Instead of swinging his sword, Nito extended his hand toward Snow.
An immense mass of fire aura formed in his palm.
The flames were sky-blue.
The Ninth Ascendant condensed an astonishing amount of that aura ... and detonated it point-blank toward Snow.
For the first time since the battle began, Snow raised his shield, retreating as he defended against the attack.
Nito was a Fourth-Stage SSS-rank combatant.
Naturally, his aura output far exceeded Snow’s.
Although Snow blocked the attack, the flames visibly scorched his shield, eroding a portion of it.
Seeing this ..
Nito burst into wild laughter.
"Ahahahaha!!! What a surprise!"
Nito roared, utterly unable to restrain his laughter.
"You! ... You’re the Pure Vessel, aren’t you?!"
At those words, Snow said nothing ..
but he clearly wasn’t pleased that his opponent had uncovered the truth.
"That silence, and your refusal to deny it, means I’m right... damn it, what kind of nonsense is this..."
"Ridiculous as it sounds... it’s the only logical explanation for what’s happening."
"You’re far weaker than me—you haven’t even reached the SSS tier—yet you can withstand the Light Soul without suffering any damage."
"There’s only one situation where that’s possible..."
Nito’s expression turned serious as he stopped laughing.
"And that is if you are the original bearer of that power."
The Six Fundamental Soul Bearers are fundamentally different from all others:
Light Soul.
Death.
Darkness.
Blood.
Reincarnation.
And the Demonic Soul.
These powers are lethal .. possessing catastrophic destructive potential and techniques that transcend the limits of the world itself.
And yet—strangely enough—
They do not function on their first bearers.
In other words, no matter how overwhelming the Light Soul may be...
it does not work on its original host.
That was the conclusion Nito had reached.
"Even if that’s the only logical explanation... I still find it hard to believe," Nito continued grimly.
"Are you truly the Pure Vessel... or merely a copy of him? The First Lord of Light could never be this weak."
The First Lord of Light had been an incomparably powerful warrior—
one who reached the pinnacle of the SSS tier and wielded multiple world-breaking abilities.
Snow, however, didn’t appear deadly enough to match that description.
Realizing his opponent was far from simple, Snow immediately abandoned all restraint.
"Since you’ve already figured it out... there’s no point in hiding it any longer."
Snow extended his sword ...and unleashed the power of the Light Soul himself.
Nito’s eyes widened in shock.
"What the fuck"
The Ninth Ascendant frowned deeply.
It was clear he had never known that the Light Soul he possessed was only half of the original power.
The other half... belonged to Snow.
"You’re right, Ninth ascendant," Snow Lionheart said calmly as he assumed his combat stance.
"The Light Soul doesn’t work on me .. because I am its original owner."
"But unlike me..."
Snow’s gaze hardened.
"You’re still vulnerable to it, aren’t you?"
The moment those words left his mouth, Snow released the full force of his Light Soul, sending a violent wave of radiance crashing toward Nito.
Nito countered the attack with an attack of his own ..
this time relying on his raw power, not the Light Soul.