By Zephyria 
※ This WNC contains content related to bloodshed, violence, and death.
A portal opened precisely beneath me, swallowing the Thousand-Faced Devil along with me. I was momentarily surprised, as the portals I had encountered usually appeared in the open air, allowing one to walk into them. I was also worried that I hadn’t found Soho Cheon-nyeo yet.
Still, there were two gods beyond the portal. For now, I didn’t need to worry about Ruben. Soho Cheon-nyeo had also received a miracle from Spiritus, so he would surely capture her. It was fortunate that Soho Cheon-nyeo didn’t have the ability to teleport like the Thousand-Faced Devil.
I didn’t fall for as long as I expected. I landed with a thud and looked around. Was this the heart of the Magic territory? The first thing that caught my eye were the walls and ceiling, stained entirely black. Red silk carpeted the floor, and a dais stood further ahead.
Everywhere, there were traces of delicate human craftsmanship. The walls bore vivid murals depicting a shepherd leading various beasts and a girl gathering herbs into a basket.
Eight chandeliers were placed around the central, large chandelier, all of them devouring the black light. It would have been quite magnificent if it weren’t for the pervasive Contaminated Mana.
This must be the audience chamber. Floyd’s royal palace?
The red silk beneath my feet stretched straight ahead, all the way to the throne eight steps high.
There was a shadow within a shadow. I plunged my sword into the back of the Thousand-Faced Devil, crawling towards the darkest spot on the dais. It writhed like an insect but couldn’t move further forward.
More than the satisfaction of finally ending one of my grudges, I felt discomfort at the gaze that looked down at Ikyun with indifferent eyes.
“S-save me… Ah, God…”
“…”
“…”
The Thousand-Faced Devil was the only one making noise in this hall.
Even that didn’t last long. After its breath finally ceased, I pulled out the sword embedded in its body. All the while, my gaze was fixed on Wesley Kiadris. A colossal presence, similar to when I first faced Spiritus, filled this hall.
Now, if I kill this one, there will be no one left who can threaten this continent.
Wesley, seated on the red throne and looking down at Ikyun, had his straight hair disheveled as if it were a wild mane.
He rested one hand on the armrest, propping his chin, while the other hand held the sword hilt resting diagonally on the chair. He wore a form-fitting black uniform, its cuffs and collar adorned with lavish gold embroidery that enhanced its elegance.
He was draped in a black and red cape and wore black boots that reached just below his knees. The glasses perched on the bridge of his nose added a chilling impression to his indifferent face.
The glasses hanging on his tilted face… they belonged to Glotin Tenner. This was proof that not everything he possessed was his own.
With a cold expression, he slowly opened his mouth.
“It’s been a while, Michael.”
This was the first time I had spoken to him.
His voice was uncharacteristically, terrifyingly affectionate.
The weight of the Mana filling the surroundings felt suffocating. I walked through the dense, dizzying Mana. If I hadn’t already possessed a part of him, I wouldn’t have been able to stand here. Thinking that, I supposed Gano Paquin, despite his lack of sense, had foresight.
I didn’t reply. There was still not a trace of a smile on his face. Yet, he continued to whisper in that affectionate tone, softly murmuring,
“I should have called you a little earlier. I couldn’t find the door to your world yet, so I wandered a bit… The friends who crossed over with you are desperate to go back every day. How about you?”
“…”
“Jeongyeon.”
“…”
“Go back to your world.”
Our eyes met.
His Crimson Gold eyes, resembling Edwin’s, were hidden by his softly curved eyelids. His affectionate smile and gentle demeanor were more akin to a scholar than a swordsman. The sword resting in his hand showed no signs of age. Did it originally belong to him? No, it couldn’t have.
“I was wrong. I only intended to borrow some power from the adjacent world for a very brief moment and then return it… I didn’t expect you to survive this long and interfere with me.”
“…”
“Now go. Stop coveting what is mine.”
I was taking a step closer to defeat him.
“…Yours?”
I couldn’t help but retort. I knew who he was referring to.
“Rubel, I mean.”
“That name is not fit for your filthy mouth.”
“What to do. It’s a child born from this filthy mouth.”
Wesley, no, the Ninth God, straightened up as if stretching.
I scanned his physique with my eyes. His neck and wrists were slender, his shoulders angular. His large, long cape trailed on the floor. Despite that, he appeared incredibly imposing. Was it because he stood on the high dais, or his condescending gaze, or the writhing Mana that enveloped him?
“You saw it too. Rubel is the reincarnation of my person. He has forgotten me for now, but… he will remember soon. We promised to be together for eternity.”
“Ha. Nonsense.”
“Why? You also believe that your past self and your current self are the same person.”
“Because I haven’t forgotten.”
I walked step by step, stopping right below the dais. If I leaped now, I felt I could sever his head. No, that was a mistake. Revealing my opening like that was precisely the trap he had set for me.
I decided not to act rashly. One must be more cautious when facing a strong enemy.
“My name is Michael Ernhardt. As a loyal knight of the Sierran Empire, I have come to punish the sinner Wesley Kiadris. If you confess your sins willingly…”
What good would it do to take him alive?
“I will leave your corpse intact.”
I’ll just take the head.
That’s what I decided.
With every swing of my sword, it felt as if it were being drawn into the opponent’s blade.
Yet, I could still stand my ground and wield my sword. It was thanks to the Ninth God’s efforts not to destroy Floyd’s royal palace. It wasn’t that he deliberately chose this place for the fight; it was likely because he was trying to rescue the Thousand-Faced Devil from where I was, but such a confined space was more advantageous to me than to him.
I cut, I blocked.
I blocked, I cut.
Up close, he wasn’t as large as I expected. He was half a head shorter than me, with a lithe build, and he dodged nimbly. Since he wasn’t unleashing Sword energy, I conserved my internal energy as well. I didn’t want to exhaust myself in a fight that might last for days.
Was it because of that?
What I was doing now felt less like a fight for my life and more like sparring.
The swords clashed so rapidly that the heat rising from the blades felt like holding a burning branch. My stiff body grew warm. Sweat began to seep through, and my damp shirt started to cling to me. While speed alone doesn’t make a sword good, it was undoubtedly a realm beyond human capability.
Hah, I exhaled a ragged breath, and he grinned.
“Tired?”
I didn’t want to be drawn into his game. So, I decided to ask what I was curious about. Honestly, it was a thoughtless utterance, close to a random question, as my mind was in a daze.
“Why did you set up your base in Floyd?”
“It’s the center of the continent. Did you know? This land was shaped by the First Goddess, and my sister draws terribly. She wanted to make a heart shape… Your world had a heart shape too, didn’t it?”
“…”
“Jin Wi-heon said so.”
“…Jin Wi-heon?”
“The guy you just killed.”
Was that Thousand-Faced Devil named Jin?
I found myself smiling involuntarily, hearing a story I had no interest in.
My concentration wavered, and his sword aimed for my neck. I parried it with a short, sharp movement. I retreated a couple of steps, then lowered my body following the Azure Sky path. I quickly turned right, attempting to slash his thigh, but it was blocked again.
“The Third God…”
“Yes. Sith?”
“Why was he captured?”
He let out a loud laugh. This time, I lunged, aiming for his solar plexus. As he tried to grab my sword with his hand, I swung it forcefully to block and stepped back half a pace. Though he laughed, his expression was terrifyingly stern.
“Annoying,” he muttered, taking off the glasses that rested on his face and tossing them aside.
It was a fairly good sign. I wasn’t being completely overwhelmed. He was incredibly fast, and just as fierce, but… he wasn’t as overwhelming as the sun, nor did he fight in an unconventional manner like Spiritus. His Sword Art moved only at the optimal angles and directions that could be achieved with a human body.
In a way I knew very well.
“Does that matter?”
“Where did you put the First Goddess?”
“You saw her too.”
“…”
“In the sky.”
“I pinned my sister in the sky and held my brother down on the earth. I intended to use a Magic Circle to erect a colossal pillar… to fuse the sky and earth together. It was like that in the beginning. The sky and the earth… I felt they shouldn’t be so far apart.”
“…”
“Even though it was before I was born, they say those two separated the sky and the earth.”
KWA-A-ANG!
Because he deflected my attack, my sword pierced the wall. Coincidentally, through the gaping hole, I saw the distorted sky. The Goddess of Sierren, whom I had never seen before, was up there…
I glanced up for a moment, but I couldn’t withstand the sword strike the Ninth God delivered with his full weight. I twisted my wrist, activated my momentary accelerator, and safely leaped out of the building.
But it was strange. There was no sign of anyone. If this were the royal palace of a nation, or even its capital, there should be at least one person who couldn’t escape…
Soon, the Ninth God followed. Without further thought, I blocked the incoming sword. The sound of our blades clashing and separating quickly was muffled.
Beneath the perpetually churning sky, we relentlessly charged at each other, seeking to kill. My sword became me, and I became the sword. I didn’t know if it was night or day, or day or night.
It felt like a day had passed, or perhaps several years had flown by.
In the fleeting moments of our intense combat, his carelessly revealed inner thoughts were sticky and dark.
“Originally, I just didn’t want to live as a god anymore.”
“…”
“So I put on a human guise and intended to die at the right time… Just like this one did.”
“…”
“The owner of this body.”
“…Wesley?”