Chapter 1162: Fate of Demise (13)

Two giants, clad in different forms of armor, clashed in the heart of the sanctuary.

Aronbaiger Kabahim, who had transformed himself into a giant, draped in resplendent, pure white armor.

And the remains of the Cold Comet, cracked and groaning over frost-covered, frozen armor.

The fists of the two colossal beings, accelerating with immense mass, transmuted into an impact capable of tearing apart even space.

Kwakwagwagwaga!!!!

A frantic slugfest, heedless of any defense, as their two fists relentlessly pounded and crushed each other.

Aron’s and the colossal being’s armor crumpled with shockwaves, indiscriminately scattering fragments.

Each time, the frozen sanctuary was pushed back in all directions as if exploding, scattering a massive blizzard.

“Urgh…!!”

“All Ten Royal Knights. Hold your ground!!”

“We intervene the moment His Majesty creates an opening!!!”

Merely standing firm and enduring the shockwaves, the knights’ bodies were crushed and torn apart.

Armor tattered, knights sprawled everywhere, covered in blood, gasping for breath.

Amidst shockwaves that even high-level physical superhumans couldn’t withstand, the two colossal beings simultaneously twisted their torsos.

Vwoooom-!!!!

A powerful, chest-shattering throb, like the rotation of an airplane engine.

Immediately after, the ice spear in Aron’s hand and the Cold Comet’s fist simultaneously pierced each other’s chests.

The intersection of black and blue shockwaves erupted almost simultaneously from behind Aron and the Outer God’s remains.

Fragments of the heavy armor, worn by both colossal beings, shattered and scattered across the sanctuary’s sky.

As the heavy armor fragments flew, Aron’s and the colossal being’s movements simultaneously froze.

High-ranking knights, instinctively realizing this was their only chance, charged forward with all their might.

“Oooohhh!!!”

“Sacrifice your lives for His Majesty!!!”

“Just buy us a little time. Everyone, forward!!!!”

The moment they faced the Manipulation Spellcaster’s Unmarked Succession Knot Domain, the high-ranking knights understood the role they had to play in this battle.

An 8-level Grand Sorcerer, transcending all conventional hierarchies. A monster who had reached the pinnacle of the Trait-type Spellcraft, said to be the most anomalous of all spellcraft systems.

Not only was he capable of facing hundreds of high-ranking knights alone, but he was also the master of an unreal ability that could toy with them like toys.

But precisely because of that, they had to sacrifice their lives here to buy time.

Time for Aron to perfectly control the Forbidden Armament he had obtained and draw out its full power.

Kagagagak!!!!

Knights, clambering onto the remains of the dead colossal being, raced vertically over the cracked armor.

Spinning their bodies in mid-air to increase speed, they swiftly closed the distance and approached.

Sword light flashed from all directions around Lennok. A converging attack, inescapable from 360 degrees.

“If you still don’t understand, I’ll show you again and again.”

Click.

With the sound of gears turning, the positions of the knights rushing along the colossal being’s shoulder were scrambled.

Unable to overcome their inertia, they collided and crashed, their fiercely swung blades plunging into their comrades’ vital points.

“N-no…!!”

“Aaaaargh!!”

Knights, screaming and letting out death throes from all directions, were flung away, their positions shifting in mid-air.

Reconstruction of spatial coordinates using the Unmarked Succession Knot Domain’s ability.

Hundreds of bodies were scattered in all directions from the center of the sanctuary where Aron’s and the colossal being’s bodies met.

Crunch!!!

Aron’s chest area, which had been colossal, shattered, and a new Aron, returned to human form, burst forth.

Aron, clad in pure white armor, slid along the giant’s arm and charged towards Lennok.

As Lennok raised his glass-like gauntlet, their sword lights clashed simultaneously, erupting in a shockwave.

Boom!!!!

Lennok’s and Aron’s new forms fiercely collided upon the bodies of the two colossal beings, now frozen in the sanctuary’s center.

In a fleeting moment, spellcraft and Miniature Universe clashed dozens of times amidst the knights flung about like toys.

Manipulating matter and space without even Mana Thread, Lennok launched attacks, and frozen sword energy savagely tore through the air.

When the glass-like gauntlet gripped, crushed, and exploded space, a tingling chill burst forth from the mangled space.

Pabababababat!!!

Hundreds of knights, flung between the two colossal corpses, haphazardly swapped positions.

Reconstruction of spatial coordinates using the Unmarked Succession Knot Domain’s ability.

The bodies of the knights, flung in all directions, flashed, swapping positions dozens of times in a single moment.

Amidst these knights, Lennok’s form appeared and disappeared, wielding spellcraft before and behind Aron.

In the fleeting moment he swung his gauntlet, Lennok Flickered behind Aron at incredible speed, changing positions.

Before Aron could react, Lennok crushed his icy armor, pierced his flank, and tore out flesh.

Crack!

Aron’s expression hardened at the gut-wrenching pain, and he drew upon his magic.

‘It’s not a matter of speed or repetition. Even knowing how to counter it, it’s practically impossible to react…!!’

The Unmarked Succession Knot’s spatial coordinate reconstruction was not an ability that merely swapped the positions of already existing matter.

However, because it arbitrarily reconstructed and arranged spatial coordinates within the Domain, it was equally impossible to know where the target knights and Lennok would appear from.

If he manipulated spatial coordinates dozens of times per second to change positions, and even used Flicker spellcraft to play mind games, even a Transcendent would struggle to gauge the starting point and direction of the assault.

Such power, even with a remarkably simple reconstruction of spatial coordinates, not even drawing upon the full power of the Domain.

But—

Crack!!

Aron twisted around, gripping the gauntlet that had ripped his flank with his bloodied left hand.

A ripple of force erupted as he kicked at Lennok’s ankle. As Lennok lost his balance, Aron drew upon his magic.

“Miniature Universe: Multi-Open.”

Severing Enhancement. Trajectory Concealment. Sword Light Acceleration. Five types of Miniature Universe deployed simultaneously, enhancing and supporting Aron’s sword energy.

He swung his sword, adding seven types of Miniature Universe specialized in physical enhancement, and three types supporting his center of gravity.

A superhuman’s Miniature Universe was the power to make one’s body a world unto itself, altering the physical laws applied to the flesh.

As the Miniature Universe preserved among the royal assets descended upon Aron’s body, his form temporarily reached the realm of a demigod.

The scorching white slash cleaved Lennok’s body diagonally and then imploded at the cut surface.

[White Vortex]

[Heavenly Greed]

CRASH!!!!

A chilling cold that tore through space the moment the sword was swung.

A curved, pure white slash spun across the sanctuary’s sky, summoning a powerful north wind.

Lennok’s body shattered and dispersed on the spot, instantly reconstructing on the opposite side.

Lennok, atop the shoulder of his giant clone, and Aron, descending onto the colossal being’s shoulder.

“So you abandoned your giantized body and sculpted a new one out of ice.”

Lennok immediately understood the principle of Aron’s technique and tilted his head.

“Was it Osien, your son? It greatly resembles the application of the bloodline ability he displayed.”

“…”

Aron’s movements, which had been rapidly repairing his body using Miniature Universe, ceased.

At the mention of that name, he would understand what had become of Osien.

“I thought you wouldn’t feel any familial affection. Should I offer my condolences?”

“No. It is not that.”

Aron slowly shook his head.

Through the gaps in his helmet, there was not a trace of emotion in his expression.

“It is simply… regrettable that, despite inheriting the royal blood, his talent was so limited.”

“…”

“Ultimately, blood ties hold no meaning in this era. This king will not irresponsibly pass this task to future generations.”

Aron’s face, as he looked at Lennok, was cold and settled.

“As one who wields the knowledge of the Empire, this king shall take the power of a god, if necessary, to inherit their will and seize the world.”

“Indeed. The Empire, huh…”

Lennok raised his gaze with a faint smile.

“I can’t empathize, but there must be those who face the world’s end in such a way.”

Aronbaiger Kabahim was quite different from the Transcendent’s or Seeker’s Lennok had encountered until now.

He was not someone who pursued enlightenment and Ascension alone, or dreamed of surviving to the very end to move on to the next.

He merely coveted glory greater than what he possessed, using the preparations left for the Demise as a means to that end.

If Aron had been like any other Transcendent or Seeker, he wouldn’t have been able to achieve this much in a baseless Kabahim.

He was here because he shamelessly sought forbidden power, even borrowing methods from the Central City and the Cult, using any means necessary.

Even this moment, fighting to wield the Forbidden Armament from the Dead God’s Remains and seize the Mandala, was merely a process for him.

A subtle difference in his approach compared to others, even on the brink of the Demise. His indifferent attitude towards the outcome amidst an endless series of processes.

Even his desperation to look into and make others’ methods his own, regardless of the means.

Because of this, Lennok could faintly see someone else reflected in Aron.

“Perhaps, long ago, I was like you.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Perhaps, in the time I have lived by chance, there was a moment like yours.”

Lennok muttered, walking in mid-air without Mana Thread.

“To become a possibility by any means necessary, offering humans as sacrifice, even borrowing the power of a god… waiting, knowing I would break?”

“…”

What about a version of himself, who had awoken alone in a timeline with no foundation, no secrets, no origin?

One who, like Lennok himself, dreamed and wished for the next, and tried to save, but ultimately failed.

And in the end, perhaps, reached out to unforgivable forbidden arts, worshipped Outer Gods, and was broken in that way?

The answer remained unknown.

Whether even this thought had reached him by chance was unknown.

But Lennok thought that Aronbaiger Kabahim’s method might resemble the irreversible broken end that an alternate Lennok had once faced.

The Theocratic Nation that existed in the Second World. The savior who ultimately failed even there.

The failed god, receiving all the hatred and love of the angels who perished with the world.

But, precisely because of that—

“I cannot determine if the path you have chosen is right or wrong.”

Lennok adjusted his mask and drew upon his magic.

“But it is a path that someone has already failed ‘twice’. No matter how skilled you are, can you truly do better?”

“As I said, that is not your place to decide.”

Aron, clad in pure white armor, said coldly.

“Everything that exists in the royal capital is this king’s possession. Right and wrong are merely standards this king personally dictates.”

“…”

“Just as the Emperor once did, this king shall gain the right to manage this world as his own courtyard.”

Crack!!

Aron’s hand gripped the Cold Comet’s Remains he was standing on with force.

“Only that will be the reason why Ars Nova’s Archive exists and persists even after the Demise…!!!”

Crrrrrack…!!!

The cracks etched into the armor deepened and trembled, and the Frost Ring floating behind Aron expanded.

The reason Aron endured instantaneous damage to stand atop the Outer God’s remains.

The moment he absorbed all the remnants within the Cold Comet and ‘completed’ its power.

“Eight Cold Hells, Open.”

Aron, gripping the Frost Ring in one hand, declared.

“Olbara, Manifest.”

CRACK-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK!!!!

A storm of cold, unfurling around Aron, tore apart and devoured the sanctuary’s spacetime.

The moment it encroached upon and semi-permanently altered spacetime, even collapsing the sanctuary where Lennok and Aron stood.

A colossal sphere of ice enveloped Lennok and Aron, shattering the sanctuary and violently soaring into the sky.

KWOOOAAAHHHH!!!!

An ice comet, adorned with a grand ring of light, shattered the sanctuary and manifested high above the royal capital.

With every increase in altitude, the atmospheric pressure rapidly dropped, the temperature plummeted, and the environment drastically changed.

Only Lennok and Aron remained within the massive ice comet with its trailing tail, ascending into the sky above the royal capital.

“This is—”

The Unmarked Succession Knot was a Domain that did not alter reality immediately upon deployment.

As the Domain itself operated centered on the caster, its abilities would not disappear simply by changing the battlefield.

Despite that, had he intended to clear out other knights and create a one-on-one scenario to suppress ‘reconstruction’ as much as possible?

Lennok, instantly discerning Aron’s intention, momentarily lost his words upon seeing the scene unfolded within the ice comet.

“…A spaceship?”

Goooo…!!

The ice comet, made of ice. The illusion of a vacant spaceship reflected within its mirror-like transparent walls.

Frozen corridors. Numerous humans, cryogenically preserved and dormant in countless test tubes.

Olbara, one of the Eight Cold Hells.

A Forbidden Armament crafted from the Dead God’s Remains. The manifestation of a Demonic Realm, its power unleashed to its limit.

A different kind of Imaginary Dimension manifestation from the sanctuaries used by the Cult’s Apostles. Its true identity was—

[This is an ancient memory, remaining within the soul of the Cold Comet.]

Within the illusion of the spaceship unfolded inside the ice comet, Aron stood, looking at Lennok.

Aron, slowly rising while vehemently spraying cold air through his pure white armor, spoke.

[It is one of the many worlds he traversed, wandering the Sea of Darkness… one of the ends an Outer God remembers from a certain time.]

“…”

The last moments of another world, remembered within the Cold Comet, embraced by destruction.

But the spaceship scene reflected within the comet felt different from the Demise Lennok had imagined.

A vacant and desolate spaceship, like a mausoleum, where frozen death had settled.

A scene as if something had been ‘prepared’ until the very end and attempted to go into hibernation, only to meet its ultimate end.

It felt less like the Demise of a world, and more like—

[The causality of the end, drawn from a past timeline. Even if my capabilities can only project fragments of it as an illusion—]

Boom…!!

Aron, who had approached right in front of Lennok, asked softly.

[Would this not be enough to contend equally with the Unmarked Succession Knot Domain you possess?]

“If you manifest a dead god’s memories into reality so strongly, you won’t be unharmed either.”

Lennok said, his thoughts ceasing.

“As you imprint memories onto reality, your body will also transform into an inhuman form, following the god’s memories. Is it fine, even if you can never return?”

[I have attempted everything possible in a human body. What reason would there be to cling to this flesh?]

Boom!!!

Crrrack-crackle-crack…!!!

With each step down the frozen corridor, Aron’s body melted, then froze again, reforming.

A process of complete unification between the Frost Ring’s power and Aron’s existence.

Unable to withstand the immense fluctuation of causality, Aron’s body was collapsing and regenerating as if exposed to radiation.

Metamorphosis, projecting the causality of the Demise as an illusion into reality, even changing Aronbaiger Kabahim’s origin.

[You, too, will not be able to maintain such a Transcendent Domain in its complete form indefinitely.]

The soaring ice comet. Lennok and Aron walked in a circle down the vast spaceship corridor.

[Time is running short for both of us. This will be the last.]

“At least it won’t be my last.”

The memory of hell, powered by the strength of a dead god, unfolded centered around the Frost Ring.

The moment the frozen corridors and ceiling shattered and decomposed in all directions, beginning to violently rotate.

The two, having breached each other’s gaps, simultaneously unleashed their magic.

KWOOOAAAHHHH!!!

Lennok, tearing space apart without Mana Thread, and Aron, scattering cold, their powers intersected.

Thousands of armaments, forged from ice, surged from beneath Aron’s feet, rushing like a wave,

Lennok’s form rapidly Space Transfered, leaping through the bombardment of vast weaponry.

Kwoogwagwagwagwagwa!!!!

The battlefield became distorted and tangled as the Unmarked Succession Knot Domain and Olbara’s Eight Cold Hells intermingled.

Twisted black distortions and frozen hell rotated in a bizarre, complex manner, scattering abilities and Will-thought.

Amidst them, Lennok and Aron clashed, frantically changing positions, almost simultaneously breaking and slashing each other.

CRASH!!!!

[Even if your Domain holds Transcendent authority, it must surely come with a corresponding price or condition…!!!]

Falling down the shattered spaceship corridor, Aron said.

Thousands of cryogenically frozen humans lay dormant in various places throughout the spaceship corridor, their illusions.

Aron, smashing through those illusions with his fist and rising, glared fiercely.

[I can guess. Once something is made a target of reconstruction, it must necessarily be reassembled and ‘configured,’ correct?]

“…”

[You have never directly decomposed or destroyed matter while manipulating all sorts of concepts until now.]

Aron twisted his gaze at the silent Lennok.

[Indeed, your Domain is not an ability specialized in destruction. It must be closer to the pinnacle of more complex and advanced spellcraft.]

The Unmarked Succession Knot’s ability to forcibly reconstruct all matter and laws within the Domain.

But precisely because of that, once something was targeted by the Domain, it had to be ‘configured’ into a form.

Aron had, through this fleeting battle, discerned this point and realized that the Unmarked Succession Knot was not specialized in destruction.

Just as Manipulation Spellcraft, despite its near-omnipotent versatility, did not possess inherently strong destructive power.

No matter how Transcendent the Unmarked Succession Knot’s Domain was, Aron’s body would not be forcibly decomposed or annihilated and disappear.

Instinctively understanding this, Aron unleashed his magic at full power, tearing through the air like a fighter jet and slamming into Lennok.

TAAAANG!!!

Lennok, flung against the mirror-like transparent wall, shattered the surrounding ice and deployed spellcraft.

He reconstructed the ice fragments scattering everywhere, changing their direction and properties, sculpting them.

He transformed them into new projectiles to counter Aron’s bombardment and fired them indiscriminately.

[Six-Finger Air Lock]

[Glacier Seal: Monstrous Wall]

Countless ice bullets and armaments pierced and shattered into the frozen ceiling and floor of the spaceship.

Lennok and Aron’s forms, accelerating and transitioning through space, fell through the shattered floor.

Another corridor unfolded beneath the spaceship corridor. An endlessly stretching storage of cryogenically frozen humans.

KWOOOAHHH!!!

Cold energy vehemently jetted from behind Aron, adding propulsion, accelerating freely through the frozen hell.

Behind Lennok, a black distortion rotated, sucking in light like a black hole, reconstructing his body and spatial coordinates.

As they accelerated through the endlessly continuing corridors and ceilings, Lennok and Aron’s forms intersected. Space distorted in all directions, and waves of cold flashed.

Racing across the battlefield at supersonic speeds, they countered with spatial manipulation and transformation in a fleeting moment.

Aron’s and Lennok’s armaments and gauntlets almost simultaneously pounded and fell away from each other’s bodies.

Intense shockwaves and magical light flashed, distorting behind them.

[Hahahahat!!! Marvelous. Truly unbelievable!!!]

Aron’s mad laughter echoed from inside his frozen helmet.

[At this very moment, this king knows no limits…!!! Yet you can match this sword dance so perfectly! Just what is Manipulation Spellcraft…!!!!]

Crack!!

Gripping his spear shaft in reverse, he plunged it into Lennok’s shoulder, then swung his sword, slashing at his waist.

Catching a dagger falling from above, he slammed it into Lennok’s neck and heart at incredible speed.

A battlefield plunging without discernible up or down.

He haphazardly grabbed armaments accelerating at subsonic speeds and wildly swung them at Lennok.

Each time, Aron’s boundless magic and Will-thought responded, unleashing a violent barrage of Miniature Universe corresponding to the armament.

Miniature Universe: Blade Severance Miniature Universe: Extreme Strike Miniature Universe: Ten Thousand Roots Miniature Universe: Paired Wings

[Seven Thousand Hells]

CRASH-CRASH-CRASH-CRASH!!!!

Before the cutting sound finished, the joints froze, exploded, and distorted.

They continuously contracted in the extreme cold, then collapsed, shattering themselves.

Lennok, manipulating and reconstructing matter and laws within the Domain, deflecting and flowing with attacks.

And Aron’s tyranny, suppressing Lennok’s Manipulation Spellcraft by unifying all martial arts and divine authority.

[This was the moment this king needed…!!!]

Not the stabilization of divine power, but the infinite inspiration flowing in the moment of fighting with full force.

Aron’s inner self assimilated with the remnants of the Cold Comet, gradually transforming his very existence.

Frozen flesh fell away, revealing veins and nerves like transparent ice.

The cold, reaching to the marrow, completely rewrote and transmuted his cells and genetic traits.

A Metamorphosis transforming Aronbaiger Kabahim, born human, into something close to the Demise itself, swimming in the Sea of Darkness.

[Not Seekerhood, but infinite struggle—there is a ‘rest’ to be found only before the Demise of causality—]

Aron’s voice twisted into an incomprehensible language, and the thousands of armaments he wielded began to compress into one.

With each twist and glow of the Frost Ring, its form condensed further.

It became a single sword, gleaming like a pure white gemstone, grasped in Aron’s hand.

Clang!!

The moment he gripped the sword, forged from the extreme compression of his Ice Condensation authority, Aron’s hierarchy completely transcended humanity, undergoing a cataclysmic change.

Like a replacement for the already dead Cold Comet, a frozen white knight born inheriting its remnants.

Without any trace of his former self remaining within the armor, Aron, having completed his Metamorphosis, drew upon his magic, and the entirety of Olbara responded.

The colossal ice comet yawned open like a beast’s maw, surrounding Lennok as if to devour him whole.

[More than any Transcendent who dreams of Genesis and seeks their own answer, this king stands closer to the Outer Sea at this moment.]

Aron whispered slowly, as if in rapture.

[In this world, there is no orthodoxy, no royal road, no single right answer. There is only outcome.]

“…”

[Then this king shall become the sole outcome that ignores all other processes.]

“That is impossible.”

Lennok closed his eyes.

“An outcome that ignores the process already exists. And even that one has yet to succeed, waiting for the coming Demise.”

[What did you say?]

“Even preserving the death of a god is insufficient, leading to worries and anguish.”

Lennok muttered, making hand seals with both hands.

“That is why I do not destroy, but construct.”

The Branching Point of Corruption, obtained in Kundara by drinking the Elixir of Ascension, was the power of destruction that dismantled everything.

It was a point of arrival achieved through Manipulation Spellcraft by an Ascendant who had taken a failed future as their Root Mindscape.

The Unmarked Succession Knot Domain was proof that Lennok had chosen a different path from ‘him’ and stood here.

A path Lennok chose after dealing with his Domain, looking into his memories, and holding the preparations he left behind.

It was a Branching Point Creation of a different timeline from Ban-gung, presented by Lennok as a Manipulation Spellcaster.

“The Unmarked Succession Knot Domain’s ability is the reconstruction of all things using Manipulation Spellcraft. Therefore, that ability—”

Lennok whispered.

“Even seizes and shatters the fate of others, and constructs it anew.”

[What…!!]

“Domain Deployment.”

Another Domain Deployment incantation, following an already active Domain.

But no change occurred around Lennok, who had made the hand seals.

Change came from afar, reaching here.

Unlike Ban-gung’s Manipulation Spellcraft that reduced existence to nothing, the ultimate essence of the Unmarked Succession Knot created existence from existence.

If the dismantling of Ouroboros had been stretched to its limit to reach Ban-gung’s Branching Point, now he intended to do the opposite.

The convergence of Ouroboros. At the pinnacle of Manipulation Spellcraft, reached by fully extending the Mental Image of acquisition and absorption.

Even the causality of taking the Dead God’s Remains as a Forbidden Armament was seized and made his own.

Therefore, that ability was not Lennok’s existing ‘observation’ of Branching Point, but—

Kiiiing…!!!

The moment Lennok, with his eyes closed, reached out his hand towards the Frost Ring rotating above Aron’s head.

With Lennok’s soft whisper, the Frost Ring began to transform into a golden Kaleidoscope.

“Branching Point Creation.”