§ Prologue: The First Day

A memory from long, long ago—a memory of the very beginning, after the world had been re-created numerous times.

A silver-haired girl opened her eyes. The first thing her Divine Eyes reflected was a pure white sky. There was no up or down, nor left or right. As far as she could see, white continued in every direction.

“Good morning,” a voice echoed. “Good morning, the final child.”

The silver-haired girl blinked. She looked around herself, but she couldn’t find the owner of the voice.

“You won’t be able to find me, for I am no longer here. I have already perished. I created this voice to tell you something important.”

“Who are you...?” the girl asked.

The gentle voice answered. “I am the Goddess of Creation who preceded you. My name is Elenesia, and I am your and your little sister’s mother.”

“Little sister?”

The silver-haired girl looked over her shoulder. She quietly reached out behind her, but felt only empty space. Though she felt as if someone were there, the feeling itself was just an illusion; there was no one there. Yet she continued to grasp at the air, as though reaching for someone’s hand.

“I didn’t leave enough of this voice behind to tell you everything. But, my beloved child, I must tell you about my mistake—about the end of Elenesia’s world.”

The pure white world melted away like soft, gentle snow. Eventually, a desolate land appeared behind the pure white world—ruined towns and villages, dried up oceans, withered forests, crumbled mountains. Beyond the young girl’s eyes was a dead world, devoid of life.

“This is the end of Elenesia’s world.”

“A sad world,” the silver-haired girl murmured.

“Thank goodness,” Elenesia’s voice said. “At the very end, I was able to give birth to a kind child.”

A large amount of sadness—and a tiny amount of hope—could be felt in her words.

“My beloved child, listen to me carefully. This is the history of the world that we gods of creation have repeated over and over. A nursery tale of sorts, passed from mother to daughter for generations.”

As she listened to the voice of her mother that was no longer here, the silver-haired girl looked down on the ruined world.

“The world was created by the Goddess of Creation, Elenesia. It was a beautiful world, abundant with greenery. All kinds of life lived there. In order to stabilize the world, the balance of order had to be maintained. If destruction and creation weren’t made equal, the world would cease its cycle of life and death, and sources would be removed from the circle of death and rebirth.”

Faint light was scattered about the wasted world—sources of lives already ended.

“I maintained order. I balanced destruction and creation to the best of my ability. But in Elenesia’s world, there was always war. People continued to fight, and the world slowly approached destruction. The result is as you see.”

As death and destruction grew rampant, the world reached its limit. The sources floating through the wasteland were unable to gain bodies and were left to wander aimlessly.

“But I may have been mistaken. From the very beginning, when I first made the world, I may have made a mistake. And that’s why Elenesia’s world is incomplete. The smallest defect at the creation of order eventually spread until it destroyed the entire world. I was unable to create a kind world.”

Her regret was clear. The wind carried away the grief of a god unable to fulfill her duty.

“What caused the defect in order?” the silver-haired girl asked.

From the moment the girl was born, she knew that she was about to create a world herself. There was no doubt she was the Goddess of Creation and had inherited Elenesia’s order.

“I don’t know. My Divine Eyes couldn’t see the defect. To me, the world I created seemed perfect. Though I was watching the entire time, I could never see it.”

The sad voice echoed heavily, as though confessing to a crime.

“I wasn’t the only one. My mother, the Goddess of Creation before Elenesia, the god before her, and all the gods that came before them—all of them failed to notice the flaw in the world. And without their realizing the world they created reached its limit, forcing us all to make our final creation.”

“Final creation?”

“The Goddess of Creation can only use the Lunar Eclipse of Origin twice in a lifetime: at the start of the world, and at the end.”

The silver-haired girl blinked twice before opening her mouth. “When making the new world, and when making the new Goddess of Creation?”

“That’s right. When the world reaches its limit, the Goddess of Creation sacrifices her dying source to create a daughter. This new creation god re-creates the world, and life begins anew.”

One by one, the floating lights on the wasteland went out; sources that had left the cycle of rebirth were fading. As Elenesia said, her world had long reached its limit.

“Perhaps the universe reached its end a long time ago. We’ve re-created the world countless times now, but no matter how many times we try to prevent it, the end of the world inevitably arrives. Maybe there is no flaw in the world to begin with. Maybe it’s our destiny to end.”

She seemed to suggest that the world she thought she was resurrecting was a world long perished, and that, even if she, as the Goddess of Creation, sacrificed her source, there was no way the world could be truly brought to life; it could only be made to appear alive.

“Through millions of beginnings, we have done nothing but bind our children to a sad fate. A fate even you won’t be able to escape. That is why I’ve decided,” the voice said, pausing for a brief moment before continuing. “I will put an end to this world, this land passed down by generations of creation gods. I will put an end to the smiles of the people living beneath Elenesia’s sky.”

The world was filled with her determined voice.

“This world will perish, just like this. I created you as a Goddess of Creation with a new authority. Use that power to create a new world from scratch. Discard old beginnings and take the future into your own hands. I hope...”

Her next words were delivered as a loving mother would give her child.

“I hope that you make a kind world, just for you.”

The girl looked down in thought for a long moment, staring at the wasteland that was Elenesia’s world. Faint light swayed from side to side. One light leaped up and settled in her hand. Cradling it gently in her palms, the young girl shook her head.

“It’ll be okay,” she said quietly. “I won’t let it end. The world my mother loved, Elenesia’s world, will still live on.”

Silence hung in the air for a beat.

“No, it’s already over. We failed to notice it. Worse—we noticed it, and we chose to turn a blind eye. All we’ve left for our children is a sad fate. But that ends with me. I wish to leave you a world of happiness.”

The girl shook her head again.

“You left me more than just a sad fate,” the newborn Goddess of Creation said kindly. “You, your mother, and all the mothers before them—all the way back to the original mother. You’ve all connected this world in one unbroken chain. I’m sure you all loved the smiles of the people living in this world.”

The silver-haired girl’s Divine Eyes stared into space as though she were gazing at the face of her long-perished mother.

“And it’s why none of you could put an end to it.”

Elenesia’s voice fell silent. Almost like she was listening to her child intently.

“I won’t let it end either. Elenesia, my mother—with the power of creation you gave me, I will protect the smiles of this world. Like my ancestors of creation, I will love this world and the people who live here.”

The silver-haired girl raised her hands. A moon rose over the wasteland.

“I’m sure it will be a kind world.”

A shadow fell over the silver moon. The Lunar Eclipse of Origin had begun, and a rusty silver light gently stained the world.

“The emotions of our ancestors have been passed down through generations to reach me. I will create a kind world—I will make a happy ending so that you can all rest in peace knowing that all your sadness wasn’t for nothing.”

The earth rumbled, yet this tremor spread endlessly as a warm and gentle movement—a fetal twitch of the world. Illuminated by the reddish silver light, greenery began to fill the wasteland. The world was being created anew.

“You are strong and kind, my child,” Elenesia’s voice said. “But please promise me this one thing.”

The girl waited for her mother’s words.

“Do not tell anyone about what happened today. Tell no one other than your own child.”

“Why?”

“I do not know. But these words have been passed down until now: If the residents of this world learn of the First Day, the world will be destroyed by those who defy order.”

The girl nodded. “I promise.”

Red and silver light gently wrapped around the world. The creation was almost complete. New life would be born, and the world would be filled with love and kindness.

“This is goodbye. Is there anything you wish to ask before I leave you? I can teach you the intricacies of world creation: how to reduce conflict, how to have the people of the world smile more, how to develop civilization, how to strengthen magic. I have enough power left to tell you one thing you don’t know.”

The girl thought for a moment before looking up.

“My name,” she said. “What is my name?”

Elenesia sounded confused as she replied. “Your order should know already. The Goddess of Creation chooses her own name, for that name is the equivalent of the world’s name. There is no benefit to me naming you. Ask me something more useful.”

The girl shook her head.

“I want to be named by my mother, just like a mortal is named by their mother. The love and kindness of that act will be felt throughout the whole world,” she said, pausing for a moment. “This will give me more strength than any world creation knowledge, mother.”

Elenesia’s voice echoed after a brief silence.

“Militia.”

The young girl smiled.

“Militia, I will be praying for you and this world’s happiness. Forgive me for not being by your side. Forgive me for not teaching you more. May this time...”

Her voice grew hoarse and began to fade. By bestowing the name, she had used the last of her power.

It took a substantial amount of power to create new possibilities posthumously. Yet despite that, the last of Elenesia’s voice echoed with her final emotions.

“May this time result in a healthy and happy Goddess of Creation, and a happy and healthy world.”

With those final words, the voice disappeared.

Militia. The silver-haired girl clutched her hands to her chest as though to gently cradle the name she was given. Rusty silver light glowed brightly, spreading lush greenery across the world.

The new creation god spoke with gratitude towards her mother.

“Thank you.”

§ 1. The Firmament of the Gods

Our field of view was completely distorted; everything we saw was twisted, bent, or inverted. We were past the gate to the Divine Realm, where space-time was terribly chaotic. Misha and Sasha held on to my hands tightly as I crossed through the raging, ocean-like space. A light eventually came into view—the light of a vivid, radiant sky. We flew straight towards this firmament that shone a blue bluer than blue itself.

“Hmm. If the residents of this world learn of the First Day, the world will be destroyed by ‘those who defy order,’ huh?” I said. I thought about the tale of the formation of the world that Misha had just told us. “I don’t get it. If the world reaches its limit, the Goddess of Creation sacrifices herself to create a new god, and that god creates a new world. Knowing this shouldn’t change anything.”

“Maybe ‘those who defy order’ are somehow related to the world’s creation?” Sasha suggested, combing through her brains for possible interpretations.

“That doesn’t make sense either. ‘Those who defy order’ are what the gods call misfits, such as Graham and myself, no?” I asked.

“Most likely,” Misha answered.

“Hearing about the First Day doesn’t fill me with any particular urge to do anything. I doubt Graham would have taken any action either.”

“But there must be a reason why she said the world would be destroyed, right?” Sasha asked, looking over at Misha.

“Yeah,” Misha replied.

“This world exists because of the First Day. Perhaps traversing the path to destruction so many times has had some kind of impact on us residents of the world,” I said, guessing.

Though there was no telling what kind of impact that was. Why would the Goddesses of Creation pass down such words?

“But didn’t you make a promise to your mother? Are you sure it’s okay to tell us this?” I turned back to look at Misha, who nodded.

“The Goddesses of Creation have repeated this for eternity. We re-create the dying world, placing all our hopes in our children and entrusting them with the lives of the people. But the result has always been the same,” Misha said, staring into my eyes. “Something has to change. If I don’t do something different, nothing will change.”

Her wish couldn’t be granted if she were too afraid to ask. Even if there were risks in telling us about the First Day, she believed I would be able to overcome them.

“I’m sure my ancestors forgive me.”

I nodded in agreement, and Misha smiled.

“But the more I think about it, the stranger it sounds,” Sasha muttered, holding her hand to her chin in thought. “Life is supposed to cycle through destruction and creation if the balance between them is maintained. That means if the orders of destruction and creation are equal, there should be as many lives born as there are lives that die or perish. But if the world is headed towards destruction, where are the missing lives disappearing to?”

“I don’t know,” Misha said simply. “Like Elenesia said, this world might have been ruined from the start.”

“So the balance of order is all superficial, and the truth is something else?” Sasha asked.

Misha nodded.

“And that’s why you tried to become the world,” I concluded.

“Yeah...”

If the world had indeed reached the end of its lifespan, then it could potentially be revived if new life were brought into the world.

“I couldn’t discern the reason for the decreasing magic of the world just by observation. There was no flaw in the world to be found. Perhaps it’s invisible to those who live in the world,” Misha said.

“And so you thought if you couldn’t see it, you’d just re-create it from the bottom up.”

“I thought it was for the best,” she replied plainly.

By turning herself into the source of a new world, she could form a new foundation that didn’t rely on divine order. Creating everything over anew would resolve the issue of destruction, even if the cause of the destruction remained unknown.

“Just to confirm, Ennessone is currently an incomplete magic order, right?” I asked.

Misha nodded.

“I see.”

Sasha turned to me with a look of confusion. “Um, can you explain for the rest of us?”

“Ennessone is a magic order meant for a world without gods. In a world with gods, she is unable to use her order as originally intended,” Misha explained.

“Ennessone’s originally intended order...is to give birth to life that isn’t bound by the order of god, right?” Sasha asked.

Misha nodded again. “Sources born from Ennessone’s order will follow the cycle of death and rebirth perfectly. The total magic power of the world will stop decreasing.”

“I get that, but... What does that mean?” Sasha asked, looking even more confused.

“Let’s assume there’s a flaw in this world. A defect in order that Militia and the other Goddesses of Creation failed to find. That flaw is currently affecting Ennessone, making her an imperfect order,” I explained.

“Ah!” Sasha finally made a sound of comprehension. “So if Ennessone becomes a complete order, that would mean the defect in the world is gone!”

“Yes. The flaw in the world isn’t about to reveal itself, so Ennessone’s presence is crucial in detecting its existence.”

Ennessone defied both the order of birth and termination. This was due to her order acting contrary to the life cycle of the world. If the world had a defect, then it would clash intensely with Ennessone—she was the key that the other Goddesses of Creation lacked until now.

“Do you think they managed to follow us?” Sasha asked, looking over her shoulder. Since we went through the gate at different times, we were split up from Ennessone’s group.

Just then, a wind blew past us.

“Look,” Misha said, pointing forward.

Colorful sceneries were scattered across the vivid sky like stars. Scenes like golden volcanoes among white lakes, lands covered in thorns, cities of wheels, and more.

“This is the Firmament of the Gods. The scenery you see are all divine domains,” Misha said.

Divine domains were spaces like Ennessone’s Divine City of the Sprouting Palace or Naphta’s restricted worlds. Each scene shown was emitting a tremendous amount of magic power. Being in the Divine Realm meant the gods could make the most of their power.

“With so many domains, how do we figure out which one Everastanzetta and Delsgade are in?” Sasha asked.

“I’d normally be able to sense it easily, but...”

I couldn’t sense Delsgade’s magic power at all. Its powerful existence was completely erased. As my castle, it was magically linked to me for summoning, so it shouldn’t be possible for the gods to hide it from my Magic Eyes.

“I can’t locate Everastanzetta either,” Misha said.

Everastanzetta was practically half of Militia’s being. Her losing sight of the castle now that she had regained her memories was completely unnatural.

“Wh-What should we do...” Sasha murmured. “We can’t search this many divine domains one by one. We’re right in the middle of enemy territory as is...”

“Don’t worry. The two castles may be missing, but the fact they’re missing is the biggest clue we have,” I said.

Sasha looked over at me.

“Delsgade and Everastanzetta are being hidden by a god as powerful as the Goddess of Creation, if not more. They’re located somewhere no one would think to look.”

“A god as powerful as the Goddess of Creation... Does such a god exist?” Sasha asked.

“The Four Principles,” Misha answered.

“Huh? You mean like Goddesses of Birth and Termination? We did get ambushed and knocked out, but were they really that strong?”

“The Four Principles are located in the depths of the firmament. In their own domains, they are able to exert their power to its fullest extent.”

Since she had been outside of her domain, the Goddess of Termination’s power was far from its full potential.

“Where is their divine domain?” I asked.

“Over there,” Misha replied.

She pointed at a section of the vivid blue sky with lots of floating domains. Upon closer inspection, the domains formed the shape of a globe. At the center of the globe were four particularly large domains, linked together.

The domain Misha was pointing at was an ocean with a large tree growing from the water surface.

“That’s the Mother Sea, the divine domain of the Goddess of Birth.”

She then pointed at a domain with a waterfall in its sky and a dense forest below.

“Nature’s Keep, the divine domain of Dilfred, the God of Depth.”

The next domain was a white desert with sparks dancing everywhere.

“The Withered Desert, divine domain of Anahem, God of Demise.”

Finally, she pointed up at a celestial sphere made of tree canopy layers.

“The Celestial Canopy, divine domain of Gaetenaros, God of Change.”

She faced the four divine domains and said, “Together, the divine domains of the Four Principles are known as Da Qu Kadarte, the Round Garden of Principles.”

It was very likely one of the Four Principles had stolen the castles, but there was no way of telling which.

“Which god is most familiar with the Firmament?” I asked.

“Me,” Misha replied. “But right now, most of my memories are stored in Everastanzetta.”

As one would expect, it was impossible to instantly transfer 700 million years of memories to a demon body. Which meant...

“Misha, did you erase my memories of Abernyu because you thought I’d get in the way of your wish?” I asked.

Misha blinked a few times. “I think so...”

“You don’t remember that either?” Sasha asked.

Misha nodded.

Hmm. By stealing Everastanzetta, they were also stealing Militia’s memories. Perhaps that was purposeful, and the god orchestrating all this didn’t want Militia to remember everything.

“Fine. Who knows the Firmament of the Gods and Da Qu Kadarte best after you?”

“The God of Depth has a narrower field of view than the Goddess of Creation, but he can see deeper into the abyss. He’s also commonly known as the Wise God, for his vast knowledge,” Misha answered.

“The God of Depth, huh? So we’re headed for Nature’s Keep,” I said.

We descended towards the divine domain that had a waterfall falling over a forest.

Before long, densely packed green trees appeared before our eyes, their vivid leaves in varying shades of green swaying in the wind. Only from above did I realize these leaves formed an enormous whirlpool. The road through the forest twisted in a spiral shape, with the windswept leaves following a similar path.

“Do you know where Dilfred is?” I asked.

Misha shook her head. “Only that he’s somewhere in the forest.”

“Then we’ll land wherever.”

We flew straight down and landed in Nature’s Keep. I lightly stamped my feet on the forest floor. What an odd place. Looking towards the forest’s depths revealed how distorted space was.

“Let’s search. Hopefully the god is a reasonable one.”

Misha opened her mouth to reply, but just then—

“Please leave.”

A low voice echoed with the rustle of trampled grass, and a man pushed his way past some branches to reveal himself.

He wore clothes woven from flowers, with a cape of leaves and a crown of wood. At a glance, he looked like a sage of the forest. But his magic power made him undoubtedly a god.

“Dilfred,” Misha said.

The man glanced at her briefly.

So this is the God of Depth, Dilfred.

The next moment, he immediately walked up to me and knelt, prostrating himself on the ground.

“I humbly beg of you, Misfit Anos Voldigoad. Please leave this place.”

§ 2. The Wise God Staring into the Abyss

Nature’s Keep, Round Garden of Principles, Da Qu Kadarte.

In the strange forest overgrown with blue leaves, the ruler of the domain—the God of Depth, Dilfred—prostrated himself. Clearly, he wasn’t hostile towards us, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t the one who hid Delsgade and Everastanzetta.

“Raise your head,” I said.

Dilfred ceased prostrating himself and slightly raised his head. He looked at me with a solemn expression on his face, staring into my abyss without saying a word.

“We descended here for a purpose, and we’re not about to leave just because you asked nicely,” I said. “Explain yourself.”

The God of Depth answered without any change in expression. “An abnormality has occurred in the order of Da Qu Kadarte.”

There was no panic in his tone, nor fear; he was merely stating a fact. But Misha levied a harsh gaze upon him.

“The flow of firedew is decreasing,” Dilfred said.

I could hear a quiet gasp beside me. I didn’t understand the statement myself, but it seemed the situation was rather serious.

“What is firedew?” I asked.

“You can see for yourself.” Dilfred drew a Gatom circle for the three of us and himself. “If you are prepared to trust me, that is.”

In the domain of the God of Depth, the use of our Gatom was rather limited. If he tricked us and sent us somewhere dangerous, we’d have a hard time coming back here. Sasha looked at me, her eyes pleading.

“Lead the way,” I said.

“I should’ve known,” she muttered with a sigh.

The next moment, Dilfred held his hand at us and activated Gatom.

Everything turned white, the sound of water trickling into our ears. Before us was a giant waterfall, bigger than the eye could see, falling from the sky and flowing azure water in every direction. It was almost like the water was hitting a circular cliff somewhere high above us, dispersing its flow in this particular shape.

The water was glowing faintly, scattering particles of light everywhere. Despite the scale of the waterfall, the sound of the water itself was as quiet as a trickling stream.

“Firedew: the light of a life force, the water of the living, the wind that breathes life, and the leaf that threads all. Firedew, less commonly known as holo, is the substance that circulates through Da Qu Kadarte, changing shape as it crosses domains,” Dilfred said, staring at the falling water. “The water that falls upon Nature’s Keep is the firedew that flows from Wenzel’s domain. This firedew water travels down the forest rivers, spreading through underground water veins.”

He turned to look at the pale trees growing at the side of the waterfall.

“Firedew water is what nurtures the trees. Through them, the water transforms into firedew leaves.”

The God of Depth’s Divine Eyes turned a deep indigo. The ground suddenly turned transparent, revealing what was below. Azure water flowed through the ground, traveling from the roots of the trees into their branches and leaves.

The wind suddenly blew, sending some blue leaves into the air. One leaf fell into the palm of Dilfred’s hand.

“This leaf and that water are one and the same.”

“Hmm. How fascinating.” Staring into their abyss showed me how the waterfall and the blue leaves were the same in essence.

“Will the leaves eventually change shape too?” I asked.

“Aye. Firedew leaves are burned in the Withered Desert, transforming into sparks of heat. The scorching sparks then transform into the smoke that becomes the wind in the Celestial Canopy. The wind cools in the Mother Sea, turning to clouds. And from those clouds rain firedew water.”

And that water became this waterfall here, huh?

“Thus is the cycle of firedew through the Round Garden of Principles,” Dilfred said.

Through the four divine domains firedew traveled in a cycle: from the water of the Mother Sea, to the leaves of Nature’s Keep, to the sparks of the Withered Desert, and to the wind of the Celestial Canopy, and so on.

“The Four Principles are the foundation of order. We are the gods that govern the basic principles of life,” Dilfred said, turning towards me. “Da Qu Kadarte embodies these principles.”

“I see. In other words, firedew is like the sources that live on the earth. It circulates through Da Qu Kadarte—meaning the order of the Four Principles is what powers the cycle of death and rebirth for sources.”

“Aye.”

Sasha clutched her head with a pained look. “Hold on a minute... Doesn’t that mean the decrease of firedew flow is a really bad sign?”

“Aye,” Dilfred confirmed. “If the flow of firedew doesn’t return to normal immediately, the order of the whole world will gradually be affected.”

“What about now?” I asked.

“At present, only Syrica magic is affected,” Dilfred answered.

But that wasn’t a small thing by any means. There were many demons who had reincarnated two thousand years ago, and some of their sources were still wandering the void. If the firedew didn’t return to normal, their lives could be lost permanently.

“So you want me to leave because of the decrease in firedew flow?” I asked.

“The order of the Four Principles has never been disturbed until now. In my humble opinion, this is because a contaminant has entered the Firmament of the Gods.”

And that contaminant would be me. Indeed, there was probably no one more fitting in the Divine Realm right now to be deemed a contaminant than the so-called Misfit.

“Unfortunately, I do not recall messing with Da Qu Kadarte at any point in time,” I replied. “Do you have any proof that order will return to normal if I leave?”

The God of Depth stared at me silently, his face resolute—as though to say that even if he had no proof, he was thoroughly convinced.

“When did the flow of firedew begin decreasing?” I asked instead.

“My theory suggests the moment you stepped foot into the Divine City of the Sprouting Palace.”

So he was watching us all along. Well, it did happen in what was basically their backyard. It was only natural to be wary of intruders—and it also explained why he appeared as soon as we descended here.

“Order was disturbed by you coming to the Firmament of the Gods. It is possible to surmise that the mere existence of the Misfit with the source of destruction is enough to affect our order. Especially as your power increased after your battle with the other Misfit, Graham.”

“So you mean to say I’m no longer able to suppress my power?”

“Nay. In my humble opinion, you have never been able to suppress your power to begin with. It was never the type of power that could be suppressed, if I may add.”

“Oh?”

The God of Depth looked over at Misha.

“There was something Militia once said to the Four Principles. She claimed that the orders of destruction and creation were, despite being equal, unbalanced—that for some unknown reason, there was slightly more destruction than creation.”

“I have no memory of that,” Misha said.

“Then I shall describe the events to you. At the time, this is how I answered: order is always correct. If something appears to be broken, then it must have always been broken. There is no reduction that can be confirmed, only an adjustment to the correct amount.”

It was a typical answer for a god; order was always correct, while everything else was wrong.

“However, I was mistaken. My answer now would be different. Order was indeed disturbed. The world had been tilted towards destruction by Misfit Anos Voldigoad in a way too subtle for the Four Principles to notice.”

“It wasn’t Anos’s doing,” Misha replied.

“Aye.”

Dilfred immediately agreed with Misha’s denial, causing her to blink in surprise.

“And yet, nay. Demon King Anos stole the order of destruction from the world. I am aware that he abhorred destruction. But at the same time, he was a Misfit.”

“What do you mean?” Misha asked.

With Divine Eyes that could see into the abyss, Dilfred stared into empty space in thought before answering.

“The world is full of various orders. Life is born, deepens, meets its demise, and then changes. This is the cycle based on the order of the Four Principles. And so I ask you this, Goddess of Creation. What is the opposite of the order of destruction?”

Misha paused for a brief moment.

“The order of creation.”

“Aye, that is what I once believed. But then I realized—this was most likely incorrect. The opposite of the order of destruction isn’t the order of creation. This is because destruction and creation are two sides of the same order, and Militia and Abernyu are two sisters, two sides of a divine coin,” the God of Depth said in a serious tone.

He folded his hands together and closed his Eyes as though he was staring deeply inside, at his own thoughts.

“Gods are order. Thus, we can only judge things based on order. This is why we failed to notice the truth. But I pondered and pondered, lost in my thoughts for a long time—and I came to this realization.”

Dilfred continued his long-winded explanation.

“Let us assume the current amount of creation in the world has a value of one. What would be required to remove this creation from the world without destroying the god? Adding a value of one to the order of destruction? Nay, that would only mean one item is created, and one item is destroyed. Creation is still happening. Destruction merely happens afterwards.”

Dilfred brought his folded hands to his mouth, the fingers of his left hand lightly tapping the back of his right.

“So what can be done? Misfit Anos Voldigoad, what are your thoughts on this?” Dilfred asked.

“If you don’t mind an armchair theory, I can provide one easily,” I replied.

“Let us hear it.”

“Instead of using the opposite of creation, use the opposite of order. In other words, to destroy the order of creation, you use the chaos of creation. That is, if that’s even possible.”

“Aye.”

Dilfred pointed at me.

“The absence of order is called chaos—this is the same thought we had. But at the same time, it’s a little different. It’s not that order is missing; it’s that chaos exists at all. If order is correct, then chaos is the wrong law of nature. And that is what your source of destruction really is.”

Divine Eyes quietly opened.

“Demon King Anos. This is the knowledge I, the God of Depth, have obtained from sinking into the abyss and staring at its depths. You are the cause of this world’s ruin.”

§ 3. Theory of the Gods, Theory of the Demon King

“I don’t trust you!” Sasha interjected sharply. She glared at the God of Depth. “You gods are always the same. Any disturbance in order and you blame the ‘Misfit’ like it’s all Anos’s fault, but who do you think made the world peaceful in the first place?”

Dilfred listened silently without any change in expression. Sasha continued without waiting for a reply.

“Gods? Order? No, it was Anos! The gods didn’t do a thing. All you do is stand by and watch order take place. When the world was so in conflict, it was breaking apart, the gods left it to neglect. And now you want to blame its ruin on Anos?”

Her eyebrows raised in anger.

“Don’t make me laugh,” she snapped furiously.

“Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu. Your feelings are most reasonable,” Dilfred said, affirming Sasha’s rage. “The Demon King saved you from the hell of destroying the world with your own hands. Thus, you refuse to believe he would take the same path.”

Sasha snarled at Dilfred’s rationale.

“I said you can’t be trusted. It doesn’t matter if the world was at war, or if the people were trapped in an eternal hell—as long as it was according to order, the gods wouldn’t even lift a finger!” she exclaimed.

“Aye. I am a god of the Four Principles, the foundation of all order. But I ask you this, Goddess of Destruction who discarded her order. What is peace?”

Sasha answered immediately. “A smiling world. When everyone in the world can laugh and be happy.”

“That is most reasonable. However, that is peace as defined for mortals, not gods.”

The emotionless words sparked more rage in Sasha’s eyes.

“Calm down, Sasha,” I said, placing a hand on her head. “Different species may not always have the same values. He may have a point here. This man was able to lower his head despite having his divine domain invaded by an enemy. For a god without love or kindness, that’s quite reasonable.”

“Maybe so... But I still don’t like him,” Sasha grumbled.

Hearing me called the cause of ruin had probably triggered her emotions from back when she was Abernyu.

“I appreciate your anger, but let me handle this,” I said in her ear.

Sasha blushed in surprise. “S-Since you insist... I guess I can hear him out...”

She looked down without argument. Or so I thought; she whirled around to point a finger at Dilfred.

“But nothing more!” she emphasized before turning away in a huff.

“Now it’s my turn to ask, God of Depth,” I said. “What is peace to a god?”

“As you may know already, for us, peace is order,” Dilfred replied. “A world where order is not at danger. The peace we desire is a world where the wheels of order spin as they should.”

“Even if the order is cold and freezes the hearts of the people?” Misha asked.

“Aye. Surely you understand this, Goddess of Creation. What change people experience us gods only see as equal in value. There is no difference between life and death, nor joy and sadness.”

Misha looked at the God of Depth with clear pity.

“Hmm. So you’re saying you don’t care about what happens to the humans, demons, spirits, or draconids?” I said.

Dilfred lowered his gaze without answering right away.

“Nay. Allow me to correct the misunderstanding,” he said, looking up at me again. “If I were to make an example easy for mortals to understand, then imagine we are now stage managers for a play. Whether it is a tragedy or a comedy, onstage, all life has the duty of playing their role. Watching the play invokes emotions, thoughts, and inspires philosophy. It would be foolish for a stage manager to discriminate between tragedies and comedies based on their own preference.”

“I see. As long as the play keeps going, nothing else matters,” I said.

“Aye. There are no greater or worse roles. Both tragedies and comedies are equally wonderful. The purpose of the gods is to keep the play going—that is, to maintain the order of the stage. Out of pure coincidence, this results in more tragedies produced than comedies. We have no motives, including the desire to purposefully hurt mortals.”

The God of Depth spoke as though he were explaining the obvious.

“But this isn’t a play. The people of this world are alive. Their pain is real,” Misha said.

“And there are stage managers who become enchanted by the actors, just like you. Not to mention your attempt to stand onstage yourself. Pure insanity,” Dilfred said, dismissing her words. “However, neither pain nor happiness last forever. When the curtain falls on a mortal’s life, their role vanishes. They are assigned a new role for the next stage. What is there to grieve?”

His tone was dead serious; he truly believed, from the bottom of his heart, that there was nothing to grieve.

“Life is meant to cycle. A source is born and gains depth—that is what it means to grow. At the end of that depth is demise. After a source meets its demise, it changes into a new shape. And a new life is born.”

Dilfred looked up at the blue firedew dancing through the sky.

“Mortal life repeats like this for eternity. Changing shape, changing form, changing hearts. The mortals may call it loss, but that transience itself is what gives them life. If they try to use tyranny to avoid that loss, what awaits them is the true end.”

“I understand what the gods call peace now. The reason why you call me a Misfit and try to erase me is because I took out a god in my way first, isn’t it?” I said.

“Aye. You destroyed a god for the sake of giving demons peace. Our attempts to remove the Misfit are to protect the peace of the gods. Our two concepts of peace are incompatible. That is what I believed.”

“Oh?”

Believed, as in past tense?

“You mean there’s a way to achieve both concepts of peace?” I asked.

“Aye. My premise was wrong. As I said just now, the cause of the world’s destruction is you, Anos Voldigoad. Because of the chaotic disorder you possess, our endlessly conflicted world tilted from order towards destruction. If that chaos was removed, the world would possess less destruction, even if the Goddess of Destruction herself were still alive.”

Dilfred folded his hands together, tapping his fingers against the back of his other hand.

“According to Militia, the world was headed for destruction since before my birth. Is that my fault too?” I asked.

“To be precise, it is the fault of the source that became your source. When a source meets its demise, it changes. In this process, multiple sources can combine into one. Your source was originally made of separate, tiny pieces of chaos. Small enough for the gods to overlook. Whether those pieces originated from humans, demons, or magic artifacts is unclear.”

“So when those tiny pieces of chaos met their demise, they just so happened to change into a single source, huh?”

“Aye. And that source is you, the unwanted misfit who disturbs order.”

Multiple small pieces of chaos, trivial on their own, combined into one massive singular source of chaos, and in doing so pushed the world even closer to destruction.

“But you should rejoice. This incompatible peace between humans and gods can be attributed to a single factor,” Dilfred said, slowly pointing at me. “Misfit Anos Voldigoad, this should be your greatest enemy to destroy as well. If your source of destruction is removed from this world, peace will be protected for both of us.”

“It’s an interesting theory. It’d be worth considering if it were true. Do you have any definitive proof?”

Until now, chaos was a concept the gods were wholly ignorant of. It wasn’t something that could be easily spotted with either Magic Eyes or Divine Eyes.

“Chaos cannot be seen, so no proof of it exists. And thus my humble request to you: If you leave Da Qu Kadarte and return to the earth, we will discover the truth.”

“You think the firedew flow returning to normal will prove my source is the chaos?”

“Aye.”

It sounded like an idea was worth testing, but—

“When did you first come up with this theory, Dilfred?” I asked.

“My thinking has spanned eternity, but this current realization is recent—only after I noticed the decrease of firedew flow.”

In other words, when I was in Forslonarleaf. The thing was that Dilfred’s explanation by itself seemed sound, but the timing was rather odd.

“I don’t mind leaving, but I have one condition.”

“Speak.”

“Hand Delsgade and Everastanzetta over first.”

After a brief pause, the God of Depth replied with, “I did not take them. I do not know where they are either.”

“But a god did take them. Your theory makes enough sense to be tested—but only if the firedew isn’t being stolen by another god of Da Qu Kadarte.”

If someone stole the firedew at the same time I entered Forslonarleaf, it would be easy enough to make it seem like I was the one behind the disorder. After all—

“Gods do not disturb order.”

—is what all the gods believed. In short, Dilfred’s theory was built upon the assumption that whoever was disturbing the order of Da Qu Kadarte must have come from outside the Firmament of the Gods.

“Are you sure about that? When hatred awoke in the Goddess of Termination, she tried to destroy herself. There’s no telling what other gods would do the moment they start to really feel,” I said.

Dilfred looked down, lost in his thoughts.

“As soon as I leave this place,” I pointed out, “what’s to stop some god from returning the firedew flow to normal, making it look as if all the chaos can be blamed on the Misfit?”

The God of Depth listened with a look of deep contemplation.

“Perhaps they plan on closing all of the gates after I leave. Then, they can use Delsgade and Everastanzetta for their own motives. I’d wager they’re not up to anything good.”

I started walking towards Dilfred.

“In fact, they might even be out to create more disorder.”

I stopped and now close up, stared into his face.

“Your theory makes sense. So this is why I’m compromising. Find Delsgade and Everastanzetta and give them back. Then I’ll leave quietly.”

The God of Depth closed his eyes. It wasn’t an act of rejection, but of him sinking into his thoughts. As I thought, he was a rather reasonable god.

One more push, then?

But just as I opened my mouth again—

“Can you hear me, Anos? Uh-oh, what should we do if he can’t?”

“This is Zeshia... Zeshia speaking... Awaiting reply from Anos... If you can’t reply, send an SOS!”

A Leaks from Eleonore and Zeshia arrived.

“Hmm. Looks like we’ve got something else to do right now. Use the time to think carefully,” I said to Dilfred, then turned away to reply to the Leaks.

§ 4. Celestial Canopy

“Looks like you arrived safely.”

Eleonore sighed in relief. “Don’t make us wait like that! I was worried.”

“Was it hard to reply, Anos?” Zeshia asked.

“I was in the middle of a little discussion on the nature of order and chaos.”

“A difficult...conversation?”

“Nothing that couldn’t be cut short with an SOS.”

“Zeshia’s advice helped!” Zeshia cheered happily.

When I looked through Eleonore’s Eyes, I could see they were located somewhere with layers and layers of branches and leaves. Through faint gaps in the overgrown greenery was the sky. There was a giant branch underfoot, which they stood on together with Wenzel and Ennessone.

Oddly enough, there was no ground. The sky continued in every direction, and more branches grew similarly.

“Hmm. Do you know where you are?”

“According to Wenzel, this is the Celestial Canopy of Da Qu Kadarte,” Eleonore replied.

Wenzel joined the Leaks. “Also known as the skies of change, this is the divine domain of Gaetenaros.”

Just then, Zeshia leaped up into Eleonore’s arms. “Anos... What do we do now? Zeshia will follow the Demon King’s orders...the best I can!”

Despite being carried by Eleonore, Zeshia held Enharle up high, like a valiant knight.

“Where are you right now, Anos? Should we meet up with you?” Eleonore asked.

“We descended to Nature’s Keep. We’ve been talking to the God of Depth, Dilfred. He claims I’m the cause of all the destruction in the world, so we’re in the middle of some peaceful negotiations.”

“Wow! That doesn’t sound peaceful at all!”

Zeshia started kicking her feet, so Eleonore set her down. She then hurried over to whisper in Ennessone’s ear.

“Just so you know, Enne... The P in peaceful stands for power trip...”

The wings on Ennessone’s head flapped as she tilted her head in confusion. “Is the Demon King that tyrannical?”

“Not at all. It depends on the opponent. Things only get a little troublesome if negotiations turn unpeaceful. You guys continue the search for Delsgade and Everastanzetta by yourselves.”

“Got it!” Eleonore replied energetically, then brought her finger to her mouth in thought. “But how?”

Zeshia’s hand shot into the air.

“Oh, good on you, Zeshia. What’s your idea?” Eleonore asked.

“We hold an SOSearch!” she declared, beaming from ear to ear.

“Hmm? That doesn’t quite make sense.”

Zeshia frowned, sullen.

“A-Ah, what I mean is that an SOSearch might not be so effective! Let’s think of something else, okay?” Eleonore said in a hurry.

Zeshia’s shoulders slumped. “Is it no good?”

“Ennessone will SOSearch with you!” Ennessone said, taking Zeshia’s hand in hers.

Zeshia brightened immediately, lifting their linked hands high. “Zeshia and Enne will SOSearch...and find them no matter what!”

Eleonore looked at Wenzel for help, lost about how to respond. Wenzel giggled and started to walk quietly. “Come, this way. There are gods in the Celestial Canopy I am on good terms with. I’m sure they’ll be willing to help out of the kindness of their hearts.”

“Huh? But isn’t this overgrown sky the divine domain of Gaetenaros? Are there other gods here too?” Eleonore asked.

“Yes. Gods close in order can benefit from being in this domain. Within the giant mass of Da Qu Kadarte are gods who have created their own smaller domains.”

Just like how Andeluc had benefited from Forslonarleaf when she tried to terminate me as an unwanted life. As fellow orders, gods could interact closely with and benefit from each other.

“Should we hurry a little?” Eleonore asked, casting Fless. She floated for a brief moment, but immediately landed back on the branch. “Huh?”

“No flying?”

The wings on Ennessone’s head and back flapped hard, but she couldn’t fly either.

“Zeshia too...”

Zeshia tried to imitate Ennessone by flapping her arms, but also remained grounded.

“Ah, I don’t think you could fly that way to begin with,” Eleonore mumbled with a strained smile.

“The only one who can fly freely in the Celestial Canopy is the God of Change. Fless in particular has almost no effect at all,” Wenzel explained, before stopping in her tracks. “Have a look over there.”

At the end of her gaze was pure white smoke, drifting in the air.

“That is firedew smoke. From firedew comes all the energy that circulates through Da Qu Kadarte. The firedew flames that burn up in the Withered Desert rise into the Celestial Canopy. Here in the skies of change, it then transforms into wind.”

The moment Wenzel said that, the sunlight that wove through the canopy made contact with the white smoke, dyeing it green.

A gust of wind blew. The smoke—now a green gale—rose through the canopy of the celestial sphere.

“Let’s ride that,” Wenzel said.

“Ride? How?” Eleonore asked.

“Follow me.”

Just as Eleonore was about to ask her to elaborate, Wenzel threw herself off the branch.

“Whoa!” Eleonore exclaimed. “The Goddess of Birth sure doesn’t hesitate!”

“Zeshia will do it too!”

With their hands still linked, Zeshia and Ennessone both jumped into the blue sky.

“Huh. There’s nothing but sky in every direction, so where will we fall?” Eleonore mumbled as she leaped after them.

A gust of wind blew towards them as they fell—the firedew wind they had just witnessed. And as the wind blew past them, their bodies floated upwards, riding the green current.

“Zeshia’s riding the wind!”

“Yup yup, it’s amazing! You’re faster than a horse!” Eleonore said.

“Have you ever ridden a horse, Enne?” Zeshia asked.

“No...” Ennessone’s wings dropped in sadness. “So I don’t know how fast they are...”

Zeshia immediately tried to cheer her up. “It’s okay. I will be your horse!”

“What do you mean by that?!” Eleonore yelped.

Despite riding the wind, Zeshia got down on all fours. “Get on, Enne!”

“Are you sure?” Ennessone asked.

“Zeshia’s the big sister, after all!” Zeshia declared proudly.

“Thank you, big sis!”

Ennessone happily reached out and climbed onto Zeshia’s back.

“Clip-clop... Clip-clop...”

The two continued playing pretend horse while riding the air current.

“Horse or wind...which is faster?” Zeshia asked.

“Um... They’re the same...”

“We have...an answer!”

“Obviously!” Eleonore shouted.

“Clip-clop... Clip-Clop...”

“Yay!”

Zeshia’s and Ennessone’s laughter echoed as they flew through the Celestial Canopy. Not long later, they drew close to a tangle of branches, where a giant bird’s nest sat, one filled with so much water it looked like a lake. Flower beds grew around its perimeter.

“That’s the spot. Let’s jump down,” Wenzel said.

When they got closer to the large bird’s nest, Eleonore raised her voice in question.

“Huh? Isn’t that spot kind of weird? The flowers are all wilted.”

Wenzel looked in the direction Eleonore was pointing at with a grim expression. “Let’s hurry.”

They leaped from the firedew wind and landed inside the giant bird’s nest, by the water and the flowers. The nest looked exactly as it did from high above. The flowers all around them bloomed in a fantastical mix of colors, but as Eleonore had pointed out, there were some flowers here and there that were wilted.

“Who could’ve done this...” Wenzel muttered, her voice thin with barely suppressed panic.

“Is this a bad sign?” Eleonore asked.

“Flowers in the divine domain never wilt. As long as the God of Bloom, Rauzel, hasn’t perished, that is...”

She scanned the area, but there was no sign of any god.

“There’s someone over here, big sis!”

Everyone turned at the sound of Ennessone’s voice. Beneath a grouping of flowers lay a man in rough farmer’s clothes, but there was no doubt he was a god. He was covered in wounds and clearly in critical condition.

“Rauzel!”

Wenzel ran over and helped the man sit up. When she called his name, the God of Bloom groaned and opened his eyes.

“Ah... Wenzel... You made it back safely...”

“What happened?” Wenzel asked.

“The order of the Celestial Canopy has been distorted...” Rauzel said. “A god-killing god has been born. He’s destroyed everyone else.”

Rauzel clenched his fists in anguish, tears in his eyes. Grief over his lost comrades hung heavy around him.

“What kind of god was it?” Wenzel asked.

“He arrived like a storm, calling himself Romuen, the God of Culling... But I don’t know anything else. I didn’t even see him before I was knocked out...”

Rauzel coughed up blood.

“Heal him...!” Zeshia said in a panic, casting Enchel and Ei Chael together with Eleonore.

Blinding light wrapped around him, healing his wounds, but the magic of his source continued to weaken.

“Thank you, ladies, but as the god that governs all things that bloom... The moment this domain began to wilt, my destruction was guaranteed...”

Eleonore looked at Wenzel, who nodded.

“The 130,000 flowers that bloom in this divine domain are his life,” she explained. “Ten percent of these flowers wilting is no problem, but if more than a third started to wilt...”

“What if we made new flowers bloom?” Eleonore suggested, holding up an index finger.

But Wenzel shook her head. “Each divine domain is a miniature copy of the world. Since the world has a fixed number of sources, Da Qu Kadarte has a fixed number of firedew, and so this domain has a fixed number of flowers.”

Since the wilted flowers still counted as a flower, there was no way of increasing the number of flowers with the Goddess of Birth’s power. After all, Wenzel’s power was another cog in the system of order.

“It’s okay! I can do it!” Ennessone said. “I’ll use Ennessone—it’s still incomplete, but Ennessone is the Demon King’s magic, unbound by any order!”

The two pairs of wings on her head and back started glowing.

Eleonore then gasped, as though shocked by realization. “I got it!” she said.

Magic runes floated around her, followed by the holy water flowing out of the runes. A link, much like an umbilical cord, extended from Eleonore’s abdomen to Ennessone’s.

“Ennessone.”

Ennessone spread her arms and drew a magic circle, out of which leaped 10,022 storks. The birds flew through the flower bed, each planting a seed as they did. And all 10,022 seeds, upon entering the ground, sprouted and bloomed.

“I’m shocked,” Rauzel said, slowly sitting up. “What did you do? My power’s retur—”

Rauzel’s eyes suddenly widened in shock. Eleonore followed his gaze to the lake, where a large pillar of water suddenly rose—as though someone had dived into it.

“Found you,” said a deep voice from the bottom of the lake.

At the arrival of such tremendous power, all the flowers trembled. Before their eyes, the water of the lake drained into nothing, drying the lake bed itself to reveal a man with a scimitar, clad in a white cloak and turban.

“Ennessone. You’re the one who stole the firedew, aren’t you?” he said.

§ 5. The God of Demise

The man in the turban stepped forward. As he walked, whenever his shoes touched any lingering puddles of water, it dried up instantly—not by evaporation or absorption, but by meeting its demise.

“Stop right there, Anahem,” Wenzel ordered in a sharp tone. “What is the God of Demise doing outside of the Withered Desert? The flowers here will wilt instantly the moment you use your powers.”

Anahem kept walking towards them, ignoring Wenzel’s warning entirely.

“Or are you actually the God of Culling, the one who destroyed the gods here?” Wenzel asked.

“Such worthless questions,” Anahem said in a solemn voice, continuing to walk.

“What do you mean by worthless?”

“If I, Anahem, had another identity as Romuen, why would I disclose that to you? And if I weren’t Romuen, simply denying your accusation wouldn’t lessen your suspicion at all. Thus your questions are worthless to me,” he said.

“No,” Wenzel said. “It is through discussion that we come to an understanding.”

“It’s been ages since you’ve stepped foot in the Round Garden of Principles, yet the first thing out of your mouth is an accusation towards me. What is there to discuss with an imbecile?”

Wenzel struggled to reply. It seemed Anahem was a rather temperamental man—or at least, he was acting temperamental to avoid revealing he was the one destroying gods.

“I apologize for the unfounded accusations,” Wenzel said. “Please calm down, God of Demise. Why have you shown yourself in the Celestial Canopy?”

“While you’ve been away, someone has been busy stealing firedew. And I know it was you,” Anahem said, shooting a murderous glare towards Ennessone. “Detestable order that will never be a god.”

Zeshia stood before Ennessone and spread her arms as if she could physically shield her little sister from Anahem’s gaze.

“Ennessone hasn’t stolen anything!” Ennessone shouted.

“A false...accusation!” Zeshia added.

“Silence, whelps!” Anahem snapped. “No one else could have stolen the firedew in Da Qu Kadarte.”

“I guarantee it wasn’t them, Anahem,” Wenzel said calmly. “I swear in the name of the Goddess of Birth.”

Anahem’s murderous gaze only sharpened. “Very well. Then hand Ennessone over.”

“What?” Wenzel exclaimed, startled. “I just said she didn’t steal the firedew.”

“If she is as innocent as you say, then you will have no qualms handing her over to me.”

He exerted pressure through his words alone; with each syllable uttered, the flowers of the divine domain were crushed, petals scattering everywhere.

“What do you intend to do?”

“Bring down the gavel,” he said mercilessly. It almost felt like the words themselves could attack at any moment.

“She may not be a god’s order, but she is still one of my children. Why would I hand over one of my beloved children just for them to meet their demise?”

“Fool. Did you think such nonsense would work on me?” He glared at Wenzel. “The God of Demise only believes in one thing: The words of the dying as they meet their demise.”

“What in the world is he saying?” Eleonore muttered in bewilderment, trembling.

Anahem turned to Eleonore at once, her low mutterings still reaching him. “When a source meets its demise, everything it has accumulated over its life is released back into this world. My Divine Eyes govern all those at the end of their life cycle and thus see everything.”

Magic power seeped out of Anahem’s body, causing the divine domain to shake in fear.

“An ending source does not lie—investigations, then, are conducted simply and easily. All I need to do is guide them to their demise.”

So he can read the thoughts and memories of lives as they perish?

“And what will you do if Ennessone turns out innocent, after all that?” Eleonore asked.

“Rejoice. I’ll delay your demise for five more minutes,” Anahem said, ignoring her.

He stepped up from the dried lake bed and continued forward. Every flower he stepped on wilted, their deaths transmitting to their surroundings and killing even more flowers. The God of Bloom grimaced in pain.

“Hey! No shoes on in the house!” Eleonore shouted.

She gathered magic power in her palm using Aske and fired Teo Triath. A giant blast of light swallowed the God of Demise like a flood. But despite being bathed in such powerful magic, the man continued walking unaffected.

“No way, it didn’t have any effect?!”

Teo Triath converted the power of love and kindness, two things that were extra effective against gods. Yet Anahem had simply brushed the light away.

“I, Anahem, am the god that controls the demise of all sources. If I willed it, I could end all of your lives at this very moment.”

“Opening...spotted!”

Hidden by the light of Teo Triath, Zeshia had gone around behind the God of Demise. She leaped and swung Enharle, duplicating the blades with Regalomitein and grouping them in one bundle.

“No, Zeshia! Run away!” Eleonore shrieked.

Enharle swung, but the God of Demise caught it with his left hand. The blade shattered instantly into shards of light.

“This mere puppet of order.”

Anahem used his hand to chop diagonally at Zeshia’s body, killing her in the blink of an eye and spraying blood everywhere.

“Ingall!”

Eleonore’s magic circle covered Zeshia and revived her. But Zeshia’s corpse was actually a decoy; the moment Eleonore focused on casting Ingall, the God of Demise closed the distance between them. At point-blank range, he drew his scimitar.

“De Ijelia!”

Four magic circles of earth, water, fire, and wind surrounded Eleonore.

“Sink in demise, Withered Blade Guzelami.”

The white scimitar swung through Eleonore’s De Ijelia and slashed her hand. No—it slipped past her hand, past her skull, and through her entire body.

“Ah...”

The only thing that had been slashed was Eleonore’s source. Most likely, the Withered Blade passed through everything and could only slice one’s source, draining it of life. Eleonore’s Eyes were capable of seeing sources, so she had noticed the blade’s capabilities early on and managed to retreat a little.

Her source was wounded, but the injury wasn’t fatal. She forced her body to move in preparation of a follow-up attack. But Anahem was already gone.

His goal, after all, was Ennessone. The God of Demise swiftly closed in on her and thrust the Withered Blade at her young body. An ear-piercing screech rang unpleasantly through the air; the scimitar that only sliced sources had been blocked by an azure shield. And the one holding it to protect Ennessone was the Goddess of Birth, Wenzel.

“The first drop makes the pond. The pond becomes the Mother Sea. Rise, my kind children—Life Birthing Shield Avrohelian.”

The azure shield shined brightly. Magic particles rose from Guzelami, but the scimitar was unable to pass through Wenzel’s shield and deal any damage. No—the scimitar did indeed wound the shield, but in response to these wounds new life emerged within the broken parts, renewing it immediately. As a shield of life made from sources, its true power was to create new life for every death and demise it experienced, thus its name: the Life Birthing Shield.

“Withdraw, Anahem. I know how you value order. Fighting another of the Four Principles is senseless.”

“Fool.” Anahem slowly reached out and grabbed Avrohelian. “You who governs birth cannot hope to win against me.”

The God of Demise exerted more of his power, lifting Wenzel’s body into the air. Neither of their orders were more superior than the other, but Anahem’s physical strength was far greater than Wenzel’s.

“Don’t get in my way.”

“Guh...”

With Wenzel and her shield held up in one hand, Anahem marched forward and used his other hand to swing Guzelami at Ennessone. This time, the scimitar was stopped by a barrier of faint light—a magic barrier Eleonore had created from artificial sources.

“I’ve figured out how to block that bent sword of yours,” Eleonore said.

“It’s futile.”

The God of Demise exerted himself yet again and slashed through the barrier of artificial sources. Just then, a kind voice called out.

“Dance, my pollen.”

At Rauzel’s order, pollen rose from all the flowers of the divine domain.

“A wind is coming! The wind of the Celestial Canopy carries the pollen of the God of Bloom!” Wenzel shouted.

Eleonore and the others immediately reacted. As a green wind blew fiercely through the domain of flower beds, the group chased after the pollen and leaped into the current.

“Fleeing...is winning!” Zeshia shouted, holding up a peace sign as the God of Demise swiftly became a speck in the distance.

“You cannot flee,” he spoke solemnly, before, in a single leap, he appeared on a branch closest to Ennessone.

“Enne!” Eleonore shouted.

She yanked their magic link, and the Withered Blade just barely grazed Ennessone’s head. The firedew wind carried them away at rapid speeds, but Anahem kept up with the current by leaping from branch to branch.

“This god really is something else... How does he chase us without Fless?” Eleonore asked.

“Will he...catch up?” Zeshia asked, clutching Enharle as she eyed Anahem’s movements through the trees.

“Don’t worry,” Wenzel said. “There’s only one branch he can jump on here.”

They were approaching a single large branch, but in a moment a figure clad all in white was already standing on it, and in another moment launched off the branch straight at Ennessone.

“It’s over,” Anahem said.

“Yes. We’ll have to save our discussion for another occasion,” Wenzel replied.

She blocked the Withered Blade mid-swing. With no footing below him, Anahem had no choice but to fall.

“Kill, Guzelami.”

As he was falling, Anahem threw the Withered Blade up in one last struggle. It flew straight at Ennessone, but Eleonore was able to cast a barrier of artificial sources to deflect the scimitar.

Anahem thus fell, growing further and further away as the wind continued to carry them away.

Eleonore held up an index finger. “Nobody likes a persistent man!”

But just then—

“Big sis Zeshia!” Ennessone screamed.

Eleonore whirled around to see a fabric wrapped around Zeshia’s neck.

“Urk... Agh...”

She tried to cut the fabric with Enharle, but it was unable to be sliced. The material was filled with the god’s order—the God of Demise’s unwrapped turban. From the end of the cloth dangled Anahem, glaring at Ennessone with a murderous glint in his eyes.

“You will not escape.”

§ 6. He Who Rules the Domain

The green wind increased in speed, moving Eleonore and the others away from the center of the Celestial Canopy in an instant. But this speed caused Anahem’s divine fabric to wind around Zeshia’s neck even more tightly. On the other end of the fabric hung Anahem, the God of Demise, who gripped the fabric with both hands as he reeled himself towards them. He was riding the firedew wind as well.

The closer he got, the tighter his cloth went around Zeshia’s neck.

“Urk...!”

“Big sis! I’ll save you now!”

Ennessone changed the angle of her wings like a sail, manipulating the wind current. She reached for the turban cloth with both hands.

“You mustn’t!” Wenzel shouted, stopping her by winding her arms around her middle. “Anahem’s target is you, Ennessone. If you touch it, you might end up wrapped up in the cloth instead.”

“But big sis is...!”

Ennessone looked over at Zeshia worriedly. Unable to speak with her throat constricted, Zeshia held her fingers up in a peace sign.

“It’s...okay...”

“Good job, Zeshia!” Eleonore said, grabbing the fabric and pulling to release some of the force around Zeshia’s neck. “Eorunes!”

A magic circle was drawn around Eleonore. Red, blue, and green magic orbs emerged to float in the air.

“Take the red orbs, Wenzel, Zeshia! It’ll give you a power boost for sixty seconds!”

Wenzel and Zeshia immediately touched the red orbs. The moment they absorbed the orb, red magic particles started flowing from their bodies.

“Take aim!” Eleonore shouted, gathering the light of Aske at her fingertips.

“Lend me your holy sword of light, Zeshia,” Wenzel said.

Zeshia immediately duplicated Enharle and handed it to her.

“Regalomitein.”

Two holy swords of light swung into the air, duplicating in the opposing mirrors of Regalomitein. The target was Anahem’s white cloth. Even if they couldn’t destroy the God of Demise’s main body, if they could detach the cloth, he would be thrown into the sky of the Celestial Canopy. In this divine realm where no one could fly, he would hit every branch as he fell.

“Here goes! Teo Triath!”

Eleonore fired a blast of light that duplicated through Regalomitein. At the same time, Wenzel and Zeshia swung Enharle. Three points of light crossed, creating a thunderous explosion.

Wenzel’s and Zeshia’s magic power was boosted to its limit by Eorunes. That was further increased by Regalomitein, with Eleonore’s Teo Triath added on top of that. It was the strongest attack the three of them could use at this moment, but...

“No way...” Eleonore muttered in shock.

The fabric was still intact. Even with a focused attack from all three of them, the fabric of Anahem’s turban was completely unharmed.

“No need for shock. I, Anahem, am the only god to possess a source of demise.”

Anahem yanked the fabric, reeling himself in that much further.

“Urk...”

Zeshia’s neck was constricted once more, and Eleonore hurriedly pulled back.

“Rah!”

The God of Demise yanked even harder. His outrageous strength pulled Eleonore and Zeshia back against the wind.

“Nraaagh!”

The next moment, the two were pulled out of the current entirely and thrown in the opposite direction. The resulting recoil threw Anahem forward, into the green wind. His sharp gaze fixed on Ennessone.

“It’s over.”

Magic power gathered in his right hand. He mercilessly swung his arm to take off Ennessone’s head in a single chop, when—

“Ah...!” Ennessone squeaked.

Red blood dripped onto her face. Her eyes were round in shock as she watched Anahem’s wrist fly through the air.

“I said we’d discuss things later.”

Standing in the way was—once again—the Goddess of Birth, Wenzel. It was the azure shield in her hand that had taken off Anahem’s hand.

The Life Birthing Shield Avrohelian was shining far more brightly than before, as though it was manifesting the true power hidden within it.

“Or do you intend to fight me?” she asked.

The green wind blew wildly, throwing only Anahem back in another direction. He corrected his balance with Fless and shot an angry glare in front of him.

Wenzel slowly descended before him. Behind her towered a huge tree, growing from the vast ocean below them. Its roots were spread through the water, reaching down to its furthest depths.

“Here in the Mother Sea, that is.”

Their true goal had not been to flee, but to reach this place. Once turned into wind in the Celestial Canopy, the firedew’s next step was to move to the Mother Sea to transform into rain. Wenzel had used that to lure Anahem into her own domain.

“It doesn’t matter where we are. I, Anahem, will not take back what I have said. Return the firedew,” the God of Demise said curtly, looking upwards. He flew straight towards Ennessone, who was still wrapped in the green wind.

“The sea shall gently embrace you and lull you to sleep,” Wenzel said.

Water burst from the sea like a fountain, grabbing Anahem’s divine body as if scooping him up in one hand. He tried to slash through it, but the water merely parted around him. In no time at all, the God of Demise’s body was sealed in a bubble of seawater.

“All the water of the Mother Sea responds to my beck and call. Now sleep, God of Demise.”

The bubble containing Anahem proceeded to sink back into the sea, with the roots of the giant tree writhing around him like some living beast. The God of Demise attempted to use his magic to escape, but neither the roots nor the water responded to it. Wenzel was the god who governed the Mother Sea—everything in the domain was on her side, and not even the God of Demise could overturn that.

And so, Anahem opened his mouth.

“Gavuel.”

Light gathered around his divine body—and exploded. The ear-piercing explosion shook the entire Mother Sea, but Wenzel’s power to raise life was strong. Anahem’s source explosion had shredded the giant tree and its roots, but the water of the sea released a light of its own in return. The tree regained its original form in no time at all.

“Whoa... I’m shocked. I never thought a god would use Gavuel...” Eleonore remarked. She flew over to Wenzel, Zeshia and Ennessone in tow. Their gazes were fixed on the spot where Anahem had last been. With one move, he had completely erased himself.

“That god perished... Will his order be okay?” Eleonore asked cheerfully, holding up an index finger.

“The sources of perished gods all end up at the same destination—the Withered Desert of Da Qu Kadarte. In other words, the divine domain of the God of Demise. While any other god would meet their final end there, Anahem’s source has no end. His divine body and source will merely be regenerated.”

“Is he cheating...?” Zeshia grumbled, making Wenzel laugh.

“That’s right! I wouldn’t want to fight a zombie that can never really die... I’d rather leave him for Anos,” Eleonore added in agreement.

“You’re safe here in the Mother Sea,” Wenzel said. “The Four Principles have absolute control of their order in their respective domains. Not even the God of Demise can use the full extent of his powers in the sea of birth. He won’t be able to touch me.”

“In that case, I’d like to rest for a bit,” Eleonore said.

Wenzel chuckled and turned to face the tree. “Let’s head over there.”

The four flew over to the tree. The firedew wind blew right beside them, rising up in an air current towards the sky up above. Now higher up than before, the green wind swirled in circles, transforming into clouds, from which emerged a deep azure light. The firedew was transforming from wind to water.

“Help yourself to any space over here. Unfortunately, this isn’t quite a living space, so there’s no chairs or any furnishings,” Wenzel said.

“That’s fine!” Eleonore replied.

Eleonore and the others entered a hole in the tree trunk and sat themselves down on the cavity floor. There they took a breather while enjoying the warm wind and gentle light.

“Come to think of it, why was he so insistent that it was Enne who stole the firedew? Do you have any idea, Wenzel?” Eleonore asked after some rest.

“No... It seems an abnormality occurred in Da Qu Kadarte during my absence.”

Wenzel looked confused. The God of Depth had hypothesized that the decrease in firedew flow was due to the chaos Demon King Anos possessed. Yet just now, the God of Demise had directly judged Ennessone to be the thief. What was currently happening in Da Qu Kadarte was probably inexplicable to all of the Four Principles.

“While that matter is also concerning, our first priority is to save Rauzel.”

They had lured Anahem out of the flower bed domain, so the God of Bloom should be safe for now. But there was no telling if, left by himself, he’d just end up destroyed again.

“That flower god...saved us,” Zeshia said.

The God of Bloom had sent his pollen along with the firedew wind, allowing them to reach Wenzel’s divine domain.

“This time...Zeshia will save him! I will return the favor!”

She stood up with confidence.

“Ennessone will help too!” Ennessone exclaimed.

“Isn’t it a little strange, though? Why would a god kill another god?” Eleonore wondered.

“I’m not sure,” Wenzel replied sadly.

“Is the God of Culling...the God of Demise?” Zeshia asked.

“It’s a possibility, but there’s too little information to say for sure. I don’t really want to imagine the Four Principles doing something like that...”

Wenzel’s expression was gloomy.

“Huh? I thought the God of Culling was the title. Is it just a nickname?” Eleonore asked.

Wenzel looked down in thought for a long moment before answering. “It shouldn’t be possible for an order that destroys gods to be born. Gods exist to maintain the order of the world, and if there were a god destroying gods in that domain, he would be disturbing order.”

“Oh, I see. That’s right. So what is this Romuen guy then?”

“The God of Culling shouldn’t be his true title. Someone in Da Qu Kadarte is destroying gods while claiming that name...” Wenzel murmured with a pained look. “Someone insane.”

“Could it be a god that’s awakened to their emotions?” Eleonore asked.

“It’s hard to believe, but perhaps so.”

A god killing gods. Order destroying order. Such a thing should have been impossible, but the Goddess of Termination had also gone crazy with hatred and tried to destroy herself to take out Ennessone. In short, no matter how crazed, it was still acting for the sake of order.

But there was no benefit to destroying the God of Bloom or other gods in the domain. Just who was the God of Culling? For what purpose were they destroying gods?

“Ugh, my head hurts from all this thinking. At any rate, our first goal is to save the God of Bloom. Can we leave the rest of the thinking to Anos?”

Wenzel contemplated Eleonore’s words carefully. “We shouldn’t move recklessly. If Ennessone visits the Celestial Canopy, Anahem may show up again. We may not be able to escape a second time.”

“But if we leave things like this, we don’t know when the God of Culling will go to finish off Rauzel.”

“Anahem’s goal is Ennessone alone. Eleonore, Zeshia, the two of you should stay here and protect her. I will tell the Mother Sea to restrain everyone else. Even if the God of Demise shows up again, that should buy enough time for me to return,” Wenzel said with a determined look. “I will return to the Celestial Canopy myself and rescue Rauzel.”

§ 7. Disguised God

“Now, Dilfred. It’s as you saw through Limnet just now.”

Beneath the waterfall falling on the dense forest of Nature’s Keep, I turned to the God of Depth, who was still lost in his thoughts.

“This god-killing god, who calls himself Romuen, the God of Culling, has snuck into the Round Garden of Principles. I don’t know who he is, but there should be no denying that the God of Bloom’s divine domain was invaded, and gods were destroyed.”

Dilfred looked this way, but his Divine Eyes were still lost in the depths of his thoughts.

“Or do you still believe all that was my doing somehow?” I asked.

“Nay. Your chaos only affects the order of this world. It isn’t something that directly harms the gods,” he said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Then did my subordinates directly eliminate them?”

“Nay. I watched you and your party travel here from the Divine City of the Sprouting Palace. There was no time for you to destroy the gods in the Celestial Canopy.”

I grinned. “In other words, there is someone else in Da Qu Kadarte that is destroying gods and disturbing order.”

Dilfred folded his hands in thought.

“Couldn’t they be, then, the one stealing the firedew?” I asked.

“I can’t deny the possibility...”

Tapping the back of his left hand with the fingers on his right, the God of Depth sank into his thoughts again.

“But the God of Culling’s existence doesn’t contradict the chaos you possess either,” Dilfred said. “The firedew was either stolen or affected by your source.”

That was reasonable enough. The God of Culling might be killing gods without having anything to do with the firedew.

“Then how about this: I’ll investigate who is stealing the firedew. If I find them, you’ll help me locate Delsgade and Everastanzetta,” I suggested.

If the God of Depth was speaking the truth, the decrease in firedew flow was the most important matter to him. If that could be resolved, he should be willing to cooperate in the search for Delsgade and Everastanzetta—as long as he wasn’t the one who hid them in the first place, that is.

“What if you cannot find the thief?” he asked.

“If I can’t find them, then it means they don’t exist,” I said. “You’ll be proven right and I will leave this place without protest.”

I drew a Zecht circle that outlined the terms just mentioned. Dilfred stared at the circle with his Divine Eyes. Without the Zecht, there would be no other way of guaranteeing I would leave peacefully.

“You have one day,” Dilfred said eventually. “Take any longer and there’s no telling what will happen to Da Qu Kadarte.”

“Deal.”

I added more details to the Zecht, and Dilfred signed it.

“I’m not familiar with the Round Garden. Do you have any idea where to look for the God of Culling?” I asked.

“With your strength, I’d like to search the Withered Desert.”

“You suspect the god there?”

Dilfred nodded. “Specifically, Anahem.”

Sasha tilted her head in question. “Isn’t Anahem the God of Demise that just attacked Eleonore and the others? He did it because he believed Ennessone stole the firedew. Isn’t he protecting the order of the Round Garden, just like you?”

“Aye. But only the Four Principles can interfere and control the firedew. If someone is stealing the firedew, it can only be one of the four of us. And the most suspicious of us is Anahem,” Dilfred said, with his usual logic. The fact he did not hesitate to include himself as a suspect was clear evidence for why he was called the Wise God.

“Hmm. You think he attacked Ennessone to cover up his own crimes?” I said.

Suspecting others before others suspected him—it was a possible theory.

“Why do you suspect him specifically?” Misha asked.

“I’ve sensed an abnormality in the Withered Desert for some time now. In my Eyes, it appears a contaminant has snuck into his divine domain. But Anahem refuses to cooperate in determining the root of the abnormality. He keeps telling me not to meddle.”

Misha nodded. “That’s just Anahem’s personality.”

“Aye. Normally, that would be fine. We don’t interfere with each other’s domains normally. But with the decrease in firedew and the appearance of the God of Culling, we need to search and stare into the abyss of the matter.”

Things would be resolved quickly if the God of Demise really was the God of Culling, but I doubted the answer would be so simple. Anahem’s actions made it seem like he was just asking to be suspected.

“Why couldn’t you identify the contaminant yourself?” I asked. “You should at least be able to look at it, even if you can’t interfere. With your power, Anahem can’t stop you from searching.”

“If I could do that, I wouldn’t need to speculate. I am no match for Anahem—I doubt I could even defeat him here in Nature’s Keep.”

Hmm. He didn’t look that weak to me.

“The Goddess of Birth didn’t seem to have any trouble overwhelming him in the Mother Sea though,” I pointed out.

“Aye. Sources go through a cycle of death and rebirth. That is, they are born, deepen, die, and change. As long as demise is located at the end of deepening, my order will never surpass Anahem’s order.”

That made sense.

“So the Four Principles have their own compatibility.”

“Aye. Put differently, depth outweighs birth, demise overcomes depth, change surpasses demise, and birth exceeds change. This is the unwavering law of Da Qu Kadarte’s order, and of this world.”

The deepening of sources referred to the growth of magic power by diving into the abyss. And what that meant was the ultimate peak of such growth, what waited at the end of deepening, was demise; after all, the stronger one’s magic was, the closer their source approached ruin. And even then, the strongest power couldn’t surpass demise itself. The light of a dying flame can overcome the darkness itself—but there eventually comes a moment when it meets its end.

“The only place and opponent that the God of Depth cannot see into the abyss of,” I summarized. “I can see why he’s your biggest suspect after me.”

Even if Anahem wasn’t the God of Culling, the abnormality in the Withered Desert was still curious. It wouldn’t hurt to investigate it regardless of what it actually was.

“Misha and Sasha, you two head to the Mother Sea and meet up with Eleonore. Anahem might head there before we reach the Withered Desert.”

I looked at Misha, who nodded in understanding.

“Got it,” Sasha replied.

“Let’s get going,” I said to Dilfred. “Which way is the Withered Desert?”

Dilfred pointed to the forest. “Firedew leaves dance into the abyss of the spiral forest. The end of Nature’s Keep is the beginning of the Withered Desert.”

Where he pointed I could see tree leaves moving strangely in the air, as if drawn deeper into the forest—most likely to the center of the spiral.

“Follow me. You must look with your own eyes as you walk through the forest, or you’ll never reach the abyss.”

Dilfred started walking. I lined up beside him.

“Be careful,” Misha said behind us.

I waved a hand in response. “You stay alert too. Da Qu Kadarte is vast. If you need help, I won’t be able to help you quickly like I did with the Goddess of Termination.”

“W-We know! It’ll be fine this time,” Sasha grumbled as we left.

Dilfred and I walked for some time among the trees of Nature’s Keep. It was a strange forest made of different connected worlds; what appeared to be connected paths actually branched off in vastly different directions, making what seemed like the correct path forward change instantly. And what was the actual correct path into the abyss changed with every passing moment.

“The depths are a sequence of branching paths,” Dilfred explained. “The correct way through changes every time. Sometimes, you’ll think you’ve dived deep into the depths, only to notice you’re still in the shallows.”

“Hmm. And that’s the order of Nature’s Keep,” I replied.

“Aye. Only I, the God of Depth, can travel to the depths of the spiral forest without getting lost.”

Dilfred held out an arm, signaling me to stop. I strained my Eyes to see a new world had suddenly connected to the path before us. It probably led somewhere else in the forest. I glanced around at our surroundings, but still couldn’t see a correct path anywhere.

“Sometimes, the shortest path is to remain still.”

After some time, the connected world vanished, and the God of Depth resumed walking. He would walk, stop, and sometimes turn back. And in this way, he selected the correct path down the spiral forest. At the very center of the spiral was a thin puddle that seemed to extend endlessly in all directions, reflecting the white clouds overhead like a mirror.

No, they looked like clouds, but upon closer inspection, they were something else. What was actually reflected in the water mirror were white sand dunes. Firedew leaves carried by the wind fluttered in the reflection of the mirror—and the trees inside the mirror caught on fire. The fire then spread to nearby trees, burning away all their leaves.

In the sand dunes of the reflection, the firedew leaves burned up and became sparks to be carried away by the wind.

“Here is where the forest connects to the Withered Desert. Are you ready?” Dilfred asked.

“Whenever you are.”

Dilfred floated into the air until his body was reflected in the water mirror. Just like the firedew leaves, the Dilfred in the reflection burned up in flames, and the body on this side vanished. A moment later, he stood on the sand dunes and looked at me.

“It doesn’t hurt,” his voice said.

Marveling at the strange sight, I used Fless to float up. At the same time, I sent Misha and Sasha a Leaks.

“I’m about to enter the Withered Desert. You know what to do, right?”

“Search Nature’s Keep while Dilfred is away?” Sasha asked.

“He might have hidden Delsgade and Everastanzetta somewhere in this forest. The decrease in firedew flow could be his doing, and all this God of Culling stuff could be his own deception.”

“But this domain belongs to the God of Depth, right? Won’t he notice if we move around like that?”

“The God of Depth’s Divine Eyes can see deep, but not wide. If he leaves the forest, he won’t be able to see us,” Misha said, answering Sasha’s question.

I reflected my body in the water mirror, speaking to Misha and Sasha as my reflection went up in flames.

“The God of Depth has already left Nature’s Keep. Search all you want.”

§ 8. Holo

It was an odd sensation, like I had simultaneously spent considerable time sinking through something yet no time at all. My body was engulfed in flames, and I was surrounded by a white desert, sparks dancing in the air.

I had moved from Nature’s Keep to the Withered Desert.

“Hmm.”

I waved my hand lightly, putting out the small bits of flame as I gazed at the top of the dunes. The air was hot, rising in a haze to form what seemed to be a mirage—a blurred pond and trees, an oasis in the desert. The exit to Nature’s Keep.

“Is something the matter, Demon King Anos?” Dilfred asked from behind me.

“No, I was just curious about the boundary.”

I turned around to start walking, but Dilfred stepped slightly into my path.

“The boundary between Nature’s Keep and the Withered Desert, you mean?” the God of Depth asked in a serious tone.

“It was a trivial thought. I was just wondering where the Withered Desert ended, and where Nature’s Keep began. Is it from the other side of that mirage, or the other side of the water mirror? Or is there—”

“—an area where the two domains overlap, you think?”

I chuckled. “That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Your questions never cease to interest me.”

Dilfred’s Divine Eyes stared at the oasis mirage.

“However, there are things these Divine Eyes of Depth cannot see. Especially when demise is involved,” he said, folding his hands. “Thoughts cannot be stopped from sinking into the abyss, but at the same time the truth cannot be reached just by thinking about it.”

I burst into laughter.

“What’s so funny, Demon King?” Dilfred asked.

“Firedew has decreased and order itself is being threatened, yet you look like you’re having fun. I thought you were a heartless god, but it looks like your curiosity is stronger than you’d admit.”

“Nay. I am the order that governs depth. Thus, it is within my tendencies to seek the abyss of the unknown. To your mortal heart, these actions simply appear to be out of curiosity.”

Dilfred expressed his firm denial, but it didn’t matter either way.

“So where do you think the boundary between the forest and the desert is?” I asked.

“The void, most likely... The area which is neither Nature’s Keep nor the Withered Desert, and which exists on the other side of that mirage. It serves as the bridge for the firedew.”

Dilfred tapped the back of his left hand with his right fingers, his hands in their usual contemplative posture.

“In that short space, sources approaching ruin have the faintest chance of returning from the brink. In the words of mortals, the light of a dying flame can overcome the darkness itself.”

“Hmm. Fascinating.”

From what Dilfred had explained until now, Da Qu Kadarte was an embodiment of the fundamental principles of all sources. If Delsgade or Everastanzetta were hidden here, it would be in a way that obeyed order. Instead of searching every corner of the domain blindly, it should be possible to deduce their location with wisdom alone.

“So what shall we do first? Tie up the God of Demise?” I suggested.

“Nay. Hostility should be avoided. We will search for the abnormality first,” Dilfred said, casting Fless to float across the sand dunes. I followed right behind him.

“Oh? So there are villages in this domain too,” I said, seeing the shape of them ahead of us. “Are they gods close to demise?”

Dilfred didn’t answer. He moved his head idly, lost in the depths of his thoughts.

“Something wrong?”

“Did you say village?”

“That’s what the mirage over there looks like to me. Is it just an illusion?”

I pointed where my gaze was directed, at the mirage village at the foot of the dunes. The God of Depth followed my gaze, his Divine Eyes of Depth reflecting the village without any doubt.

But then he said, “I cannot see it.”

“I see.”

Demise overcomes depth. If the God of Demise used order to hide something, then it would be difficult for Dilfred to see through it—especially here in the Withered Desert.

“I’ll show you,” I said.

I cut my fingertip and lightly brushed it against Dilfred’s Divine Eyes. My magic-filled blood created a thin membrane that allowed his Eyes to see demise with clarity. The moment his gaze fell upon the village, his expression darkened.

“The only god who can establish a domain on the dunes of demise would be the Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu. Not even the Keepers of Demise come near here...”

“So no one besides Anahem could live here?”

“Aye. Theoretically.”

We exchanged words while approaching the mirage village. Instead of fading once we were up close, the mirage expanded, spreading its domain even further. The village consisted of simple tents and hardened clay houses.

Why would something like this be in the desert, a place where only Anahem could live? If the Withered Desert was the embodiment of the order of demise, a village full of life was a stark oddity in such a realm.

“This could be the abnormality you detected,” I said.

“Aye.”

We stepped inside the swaying mirage. Unlike a normal mirage, the village didn’t disappear. Instead, it materialized further, turning into a half-physical state much like the top of the dune that led to Nature’s Keep. It was clear the village possessed a power similar to magic or a god’s order.

We walked through the village, looking around its contents. Soon enough we came across a large stone building that, though large enough to be several stories high, appeared more like a water well. Laughing children could be heard from behind its walls. Dilfred’s solemn face, for once, looked incredulous.

The two of us leaped up onto the rim of the well. Looking down into the well revealed water, located roughly thirty meters down, with children playing on a stone platform jutting out above the water. The children all wore ragged scraps in place of clothes.

“It can’t be... Not in the Withered Desert of the Firmament of the Gods, of all places...”

The God of Depth swallowed his breath and stared at the children with his Divine Eyes. But no matter how long he stared into their abyss, there was no denying what they were.

“Human children?” I asked.

“This cannot occur naturally.”

The Firmament of the Gods was the nation of the gods. A world constructed from order. There was no reason humans would be born here.

“Who are you guys?” a voice asked.

We turned around to see a young boy in similar rags to the other children. He appeared to be around ten years of age, and he glared at us with clear challenge in his eyes. Unlike the vague mirage village, his body was completely materialized.

“Just your average travelers. It’s rare to see a village in the Withered Desert,” I said.

“Right. Isn’t it amazing?” the boy replied. He puffed up his chest with pride. All at once, his suspicion of us cleared.

“I’m Anos, and this is Dilfred. What’s your name?” I asked.

“I’m Vade, the elder of the holo. The top-ranking one!”

Dilfred’s brow furrowed. “Holo?”

“Don’t you know? The children of this village are called holo. I came up with it!”

We couldn’t have known what name a secluded group used internally, but that aside... Holo, huh? It was a bit too convenient for a coincidence.

“Vade, was it? Aren’t you a bit young for an elder?” I asked.

“What, you don’t know this either?” Vade said. “The elder is just the oldest of the group.”

So Vade was the oldest child here. That made it even more baffling.

“How are the holo born?”

“Holo are born from the bottom of the well. We float up to the surface. Amazing, right?”

Dilfred’s gaze shifted to the well. He was looking down into its depths.

“How did you learn to speak?” I asked.

“Learn to speak? We’ve always been able to speak.”

The wavelength of their magic power was similar to those of humans, but it sounded like they were different from normal humans. Perhaps this was the cause of the decreasing firedew flow? If what should have circulated through Da Qu Kadarte was being turned into these holo, it would explain the firedew’s overall decrease. I glanced at Dilfred, and he nodded in agreement.

“I’d like to see down the well, boy.”

The moment the God of Depth said that, a hot breeze brushed against our cheeks. White sand swirled into the air as a fierce sandstorm attacked the village.

“Uh-oh! Anahem’s coming!”

Vade dashed into the well as though to flee—then turned and stuck his head back out.

“Hey! You guys come too. I’ll make an exception and let you in!” he added before quickly retreating back down the well.

I turned to Dilfred. “You go down the well and investigate how the holo children are being born. Considering the timing, you might discover something the God of Demise is trying to hide.”

“If you are going to face him, take due care. The God of Demise is an immortal god that knows not of death. Buying time in his domain will be no easy feat.”

I slowly made my way to Anahem, turning Dilfred’s parting words over in my mind.

“Don’t worry,” I said. “I know. I’ll be careful. I’ll try not to take his immortality seriously and destroy him by accident.”

§ 9. The Wisdom of Demise

The sandstorm surged forward, covering the entire village. Soon the entire mirage village made of heat haze was swallowed by white sand before going up in flames.

White flames went up everywhere, faint sparks dancing before me. They were the sparks of life that circulated the Round Garden of Principles—firedew sparks. I leisurely made my way into the white sandstorm that swallowed everything in its path, as if I were on a casual stroll.

A light flashed briefly before me. I reached out and grabbed the space beside it.

“Where do you think you’re going, God of Demise?” I asked.

The god in a white cape and turban had tried to pass by me in one rapid bound. Anahem glared at me sharply for grabbing his left arm.

“Did you think you could pass in front of me so easily?” I said.

“Misfit.”

Anahem clenched the arm in my grasp. His muscles bulged, and particles of magic power rampaged wildly. The shock wave of it sent sand flying.

“Oh? Is it a contest of strength you want?”

I sent magic into my own right arm as Anahem tried to lift his captured arm up, holding his sturdy arm down. Black and white magic struggled for power, and the sand at our feet blew into the air.

“What are you plotting with the human children of this village?” I asked.

Anahem’s brow furrowed at my question.

“Human children? Ridiculous. There is no life in this Withered Desert. Everything is a mirage from the light of demise.”

“Hmm. So you’re not using the firedew to create children?”

His magic rose further, slowly lifting my arm that was holding his own arm down.

“You’re the one who stole the firedew. And you dare to shift the blame onto me? Have some shame!” he roared, shoving my arm back. “I will show you what it means to lose a contest of strength!”

A sandstorm of magic power was released from his body as Anahem pushed my arm up with all his might. He was about to shake my arm off completely when he suddenly froze.

“Sorry about that, I got distracted thinking about whether you’re lying, or just simply an idiot,” I said.

“Mwuh?!”

I sent more magic into my arm and pushed down with increased force. Anahem’s arm slowly sank back down, returning to where it originally was.

“I didn’t think you’d be able to overpower me while I was preoccupied. It seems you have a tremendously strong arm there, God of Demise.”

“Grrruh!”

I concentrated my magic and mind on pushing back, and the God of Demise buckled at the knee.

“Oh, you can withstand a lot too. The average god would have already been flattened.”

“Fool,” Anahem spat. “No one in their right mind would challenge me in the Withered Desert.”

The white sandstorm blew harder in response to Anahem’s vigor. The God of Demise clenched his teeth and started running along the sandy ground. The Withered Desert swirled to support him, wrapping clouds of white sand around my arm and backing his limbs. He exerted all his physical and magical power, as well as the converted power of his divine domain, to lift his arm up and throw me off.

“You’re the one who will be crushed! Raaaaaaaaagh— Blegh!”

I swung my arm down with my entire body, flattening him completely. Anahem was buried into the sand all the way up to his chin, only his head sticking out.

“I have a question for you,” I said, stepping on top of his scalp.

But the next moment, the resistance under my foot disappeared. The God of Demise’s body had turned into white sand and crumbled. He blended into the Withered Desert itself, unable to be seen. But his magic power could still be felt hanging over the area.

“Fine, you can listen that way. Human children are here. They called themselves the holo. Isn’t it strange that they’ve survived in this desert where none can live, and on top of that, are able to evade the Divine Eyes of the God of Demise in his own domain?”

“Fool,” Anahem’s voice echoed from nowhere. “Doubts are meaningless to me. Thoughts and conjecture are for those who have naught. The wisdom of demise is carved into my body. Unlike the impertinent Dilfred, I have no need to stare into the abyss. When one life ends, I gain all of their wisdom.”

“I see. I get it now.”

The sandstorm swirled violently, covering my field of view.

“This is your demise, misfit!”

A figure suddenly leaped from the white sand. He drew his scimitar, Guzelami, and thrust it forward.

“You’re simply an idiot,” I concluded.

Using the spell Eleonore, I created an artificial source to appear in front of me. The faint light became a shield, blocking the Withered Blade’s slashes focused on the new source. In the brief opening the artificial source created, I sank my Vebzud-covered fingers into his source.

“Struggle all you want; you mortals will never reach the God of Demise. Like the sands of this desert, you crumble and burn in Guzelami’s flames.”

I glared at his order with my Magic Eyes of Mauve, but it had no effect. The layered shield made of artificial sources was set on fire the moment Guzelami touched it, turning into grains of white sand. The blade continued thrusting straight forward, piercing through my magic barrier and anti-magic ward and into my skin. I grabbed his right arm with my Vebzud hand just before it could reach my source.

“It’s a little different from when you fought Eleonore,” I noted.

Sparks of fire hung around the Withered Blade—firedew sparks. They were supporting the order of demise, dyeing the blade a reddish-white.

“Everything comes to an end. Before me, you mortals are nothing but specks of sand. All you can do in the face of my scorching blade is burn.”

The burning blade glowed a blinding reddish-white. His boastful words were backed up by the abnormal magic power in the scimitar.

“Hmm. A blade that burns through sources without question.”

A blade that could slip past everything, with a lethal sharpness when it came to sources. It was a source-killing weapon that far surpassed Vebzud.

“However, if it doesn’t hit, it’s no different from a stick.”

Black magic particles erupted from my body. When I clenched my arm and pushed him back, the blade of Guzelami slowly withdrew from my skin. I mustered a little more strength, and Anahem’s right arm gave out an ominous creak.

Soon after, his wrist was crushed in my grip. No—he had transformed back into white sand, blending into the sandstorm.

“Fall to your demise, misfit—to the hell of the Withered Desert.”

The sand I was standing on suddenly sunk. With no footing, my body fell downwards. White sand grains crumbled around me, creating a wide and deep hole that expanded with every passing moment.

It was like a plunge pool of sand had opened up around me. My legs were already buried up to the knee, and I couldn’t lift my feet. When I tried to fly with Fless, it was like something had grabbed me around the ankles, preventing me from rising.

“The sandy hell of the Withered Desert is a path to demise. Once you’re swallowed, you will sink for seven minutes, upon which you will become completely withered. All that will remain is the original form of all living beings—a single grain of sand.”

The God of Demise appeared behind me. The magic in my feet was being drained away—absorbed by the sand.

“Oh? You think you can run from me for seven whole minutes?” I taunted.

“Cease your prattle. Observe your final destination.”

In front of me were skeletons buried in the sand. White flames engulfed them, and before my eyes they disintegrated into nothing.

“That is your end. Your corpse and you will meet your demise. There is nothing you can do to escape—you cannot even turn around. All you can do is stare at the corpses you share your fate with as moment by moment you are drawn to the same end.”

Anahem slowly raised the Withered Blade.

“In your current state, you have no means of evading the Withered Blade.”

The flaming blade in his hand glowed reddish-white.

“Such big talk over the direction I’m facing,” I commented. “It makes me want to turn around just to prove you wrong.”

I held my palm out at my feet, drew ten magic circles, and fired Jio Graze from them wildly. White sand exploded with each impact, gouging the sandy hell away.

“You won’t have time to blow all the sand away,” Anahem said. “Struggle all you want—you will never be more than a speck of sand before me. An insignificant life that can never reach the gods. You will burn and fall before Guzelami’s blade.”

Guzelami glowed as though it was responding to his words. The God of Demise started running faster than the eye could follow. Sand blew in a fierce storm, and the scorching blade of Guzelami approached me from behind.

“It’s time for your demise, misfit. Sink for eternity.”

His arm extended forward, and the deadly reddish-white scimitar glowed in response. With my feet still buried, I twisted my body to evade the blade and reached out to grab his arm. Anahem saw through the movement though and spun around, slashing at my back.

“There.”

I knocked Anahem’s hand away by reaching behind me. I felt an impact, but it wasn’t enough to make him drop the Withered Blade. He moved into my blind spot, making it hard to twist my body and reach for him. Anahem thrust the blade forward from there.

“Nwah!” Anahem shouted.

The reddish-white blade burned, thrusting straight towards my source. Even if I evaded it, the second and third strikes would throw me off-balance, leaving me defenseless against the Withered Blade. In which case...

“Gah?!”

I bent all the way back into a bridge position to avoid the scimitar and grabbed his right arm with my hand. If he turned to sand again, I’d take the Withered Blade from him.

“Vebzud.”

Anahem evaded my black-stained fingertips at the last moment. His turban came loose, blood dripping from his temple. He grasped the Withered Blade without flinching and mustered all of his strength.

“Gavdea.”

Anahem’s source flickered towards extinction for a brief moment, and his power swelled to an incredible size. He had shaved away his life and converted it to power. The tip of the Withered Blade brushed against my forehead.

I was in a bent position with only one arm free, with the sandy hell constantly absorbing my magic. I wouldn’t be able to push Anahem back when he had the advantage in both power and posture.

“This is the end...!”

The moment Anahem released all his strength, I bent backwards even further, placing my hand against the ground and evading the blade once more.

Guzelami passed by my nose and stabbed into the sand.

“You cannot move anymore.”

Anahem drew Guzelami out of the ground and aimed for my face that was right beside it. If I straightened up and evaded it, he’d just slash at my unguarded back instead. The scorching blade glowed as bright as lightning, sharp enough to slash apart a sandstorm as it moved—through empty air.

Anahem’s eyes widened. I had vanished from before his eyes.

“Bwa ha ha. Too bad, you missed. I turned around,” I said from above him.

He looked up to see me floating in the air. Before the God of Demise could react, I grabbed him by the back of the head.

“You should feel what it’s like to be buried in sand.”

I pushed Anahem down with all my might and used Zola e Dypt to bind his divine body. He fell forward into the sand, face first, and I landed on the ground beside him. When Anahem saw me sitting, his Divine Eyes widened in shock.

“You... When did your feet...”

“Did you think I fired the Jio Graze to blow away your sand?”

Alas, I had burned my ankles with the black suns and prepared to detach my feet from them at any moment.

“Now, I’ve heard you’re immortal, but I’d like to test that for myself.”

I sent magic into my fingers currently grabbing his head and drew a magic circle.

“Gigginuvenuenz.”

A jet-black guillotine appeared. When he tried to transform into sand to escape, I layered Beno Ievun on the hellfire chains and used the Magic Eyes of Mauve to stop him.

“Nguuh!”

“How does it feel to have your life in the palm of an insignificant mortal’s hand?”

With his face pressed in the sand, he glared at me furiously.

“Fool. Struggle as you might, you can never escape me—”

I pointed my fingers downwards.

“Execute.”

The blade of the guillotine fell, slicing off Anahem’s head.

§ 10. Castle of Sand

The God of Demise’s head rolled along the white dunes. His source, cursed with decapitation, most definitely perished before me. I observed it happen with my Eyes as I drew a magic circle around my burned legs. The light of Ei Chael gathered at the cross section, but it faced a strange resistance. It wasn’t healing. The regeneration magic had no effect.

From seemingly nowhere, a voice spoke in an echo. “These are the dunes of demise. Whatever meets its end in the Withered Desert cannot be returned to normal.”

The white sand in front of me shaped itself into the vague shape of a person, quickly refining into the God of Demise himself, with his white turban and cape.

“Hmm. I see it’s exactly as Dilfred warned. To revive after receiving the curse of decapitation is quite the immortal feat,” I said, hovering above the ground using Fless. “But what will you do now? Without my feet, your sand hell cannot swallow me.”

“Fool.”

The God of Demise stepped down hard on the sand. The next moment, he leaped, appearing right in front of me.

“Vebzud.”

I thrust my jet-black fingers at Anahem’s neck. He caught my hand in his left one and moved even closer towards me.

“Hraaagh!”

He punched me with his right fist, a mighty blow that forced my body back several meters. Even when using Beno Ievun around my left hand to block him, the blow left my hand numb.

“Oh? I didn’t think you were holding back earlier—no, that’s not it.” I stared into his abyss and laughed. “Your magic and physical strength increased after you revived.”

I drew a magic circle on the white desert. Chains of hellfire appeared from four directions, entwining themselves around Anahem. They attempted to lift his divine body upwards, but he grabbed on to the chains.

“Graaah!”

Using all of his muscles, the God of Demise yanked the fiery chains as hard as he could. His strength and order made the chains of hellfire creak in protest before they were ripped to shreds.

“Every time the God of Demise perishes, he gains power. Am I correct?”

“The despair that approaches you from behind is the true demise.” He held his fists before him in a fighting stance, and white sand swirled around him. “No matter how much you struggle, there is no escaping one’s own demise, and thus all life crumbles to specks of sand at my feet.”

He lowered his center of gravity, ready to leap at any moment.

“On the day life is born, their demise is similarly decided. From the beginning of the world until now, no one has escaped.”

Below me Anahem started to run, hands outstretched. I caught both of his fists in my palms, and we started to grapple.

“Sink,” he said in a solemn voice.

The sand at my feet shifted, forming the shape of a hand to grab at me.

“I saw through the identity of your sand hell long ago,” I replied.

The Jio Graze I had scattered in the area when I burned my legs had actually formed the magic circle for Aviasten Ziara. I activated it to wrap my missing legs in glittering black flames, allowing me to easily kick away the sand hand. I then proceeded to slam my Aviasten Ziara foot into his solar plexus.

“Urk...”

“Did you think just because I didn’t have any feet that I couldn’t kick you?”

I used the momentum of Fless to sink my black-flamed foot further into Anahem’s divine body. Our hands separated, and the God of Demise was firmly pushed back. His footprints dragged through the sand, his abdomen crumbling to ash before my eyes. Yet he appeared unaffected by the wound, instead grabbing my foot with both hands.

“You can flee, but know demise will always be beside you.”

He used my momentum to spin on the spot, accelerating to his maximum speed in three turns before throwing me at the sand with all his might. I set a black-flamed foot on the white sand to control my fall. I watched him as he went over to pick up his blade from where he’d dropped it after I beheaded him.

“Struggle all you want; everything you have is built upon sand,” his eerie voice echoed in my head. It was the voice of the Withered Blade, Guzelami.

The sound reverberated, a sandstorm swirling around me in response. In no time at all, several towers of sand were constructed and eventually I was surrounded by a wall of countless sand towers, completing the shape of a giant sand palace.

“Guzelami’s one cry will cause everything to collapse and wither.”

When Anahem swung the Withered Blade to the side, the scimitar let out an eerie cry. Grains of sand flew into the air from my arm—my body had transformed into sand.

“Jirasd.”

I fired black lightning at Anahem. Sand rose from the palace, forming a shield that blocked Jirasd.

“Eleonore.”

I deployed a barrier made of the light from artificial sources to cut off Guzelami’s cries. And though my body’s transformation into sand was paused, the barrier shattered immediately.

“I won’t let you,” Anahem said.

He closed the distance between us in a single leap, slashing at the artificial source barrier. My mauve-dyed eyes glared at his order as I took a step even closer to him.

“Are you trying to kill yourself, misfit? The space around me is death and demise itself.”

“Don’t you know? I’ve overcome countless deaths and demises already.”

At point-blank range, my Magic Eyes crossed gazes with his Divine Eyes.

“Aviasten Ziara.”

My arms started glowing with the same black flames as my feet. But the God of Demise continued thrusting the Withered Blade forward without a care. The scorching blade that could destroy a source in a single strike touched my chest. But then, Guzelami froze.

The moment his attention focused on my black-flamed hands, I used Zola e Dypt to bind his body, chains winding around his throat in an ever-tightening stranglehold. His Divine Eyes turned to glare at me.

“The same trick won’t work on me twice. Do you still not get it?” he asked.

Zola e Dypt creaked under the strain. Anahem ripped away the hellfire chains with brute force as though they hadn’t restrained him at all.

“Did you think I’d try the same trick thrice?” I replied.

The black flames of my hands around his neck dimmed, revealing the black collar of Nedneliaz. The flames on my hands had been used to conceal it.

“Enjoy a dream of mortality,” I said.

Nedneliaz activated, and I used Zola e Dypt once again. The hellfire chains drew a magic circle to activate a greater spell.

“There is no dream to be seen.”

The God of Demise took half a step forward, unaffected by Nedneliaz, and thrust the Withered Blade into my heart. Guzelami slipped past magic wards, barriers, flesh, and bones to slice apart my source with the scorching blade of demise. Blood gushed out of me, more blood of the Demon King’s spilled here at one time than in any past battle, corroding the sand below. Strays drops of it that flung into the air and landed on Anahem were even corroding his divine body.

“The castle built on sand collapses as Guzelami’s cry heralds the coming demise,” Anahem chanted, almost singing. “And without the slightest scratch of resistance, the curtains will fall.”

An eerie cry echoed throughout the desert. The sand palace began to shake heavily. The towers surrounding me collapsed back into formless sand.

“Withered Burial—Endblade Guzelami.”

Even my blood, the blood of the Demon King known to decay everything upon contact, was turning into sand before Guzelami’s blade. My bleeding stopped. Anahem shot me an evaluating glare.

“Blood dries, and the misfit perishes.”

The scorching reddish-white blade pushed deeper into my source.

“Even your source of destruction is a mere grain of sand before demise. There is nothing and no one this blade cannot end.”

“Oh? So this will be the first exception.”

I raised my head, a wide grin on my face. He stared back at me in clear shock.

“Wha...?”

Anahem was speechless as he watched me laugh.

“How...did you...”

He twisted the Withered Blade in my body further. And even though blood was dripping freely from my mouth, the panicked one between the two of us wasn’t me.

“Why?! How could this be?”

He shook, rattled, as though he couldn’t believe what he was seeing.

“You... You’ve long ended! Guzelami cannot feel any resistance. Your source has long met its demise!”

Anahem used even more of his strength to push Guzelami in further. I coughed up more blood, a grin still on my face.

“Why...do you laugh? Your life has ended... How could demise laugh before me? Is this a dream?” he spluttered.

“Bwa ha ha. Didn’t you say there was no dream, Anahem? You’re just an idiot, like I already said. Look closer into the abyss with your Divine Eyes,” I taunted. “Are you seeing my source, or nihility?”

Anahem withdrew the Withered Blade with a gasp. The end of the blade was missing—as though it had been swallowed by nothingness.

“Graham’s sourc—”

Before the God of Demise could retreat, I thrust my Aviasten Ziara hand into his belly. Blood spurted from his mouth.

“The Withered Blade can destroy a source with a single scratch,” I said. “If artificial sources cannot serve as a shield, then I just have to prepare a sturdier shield. And since I just so happen to have a source of nihility within me, I used that.”

I had caught Guzelami’s blade with Graham’s source of nihility that I kept within my own source. Anahem had gone on and on about his blade’s powers, but it was impossible for nothing to meet its demise.

“It seems you can’t end what doesn’t exist, God of Demise.”

I layered Vebzud on top of Aviasten Ziara and pierced through Anahem’s source.

“Urk... Gah... Hah...”

“Now it’s my turn. Gods that meet their demise end up in the Withered Desert. That’s why you cannot meet your end. But what if the divine domain itself were to perish?”

The layered magic circles formed a gun turret aimed at the sky of the Withered Desert. Jet-black particles gathered around it, drawing a seven-layered spiral. The God of Demise paled.

“Such reckless violence! If you do such a thing...”

“I have no need for endings,” I said curtly. “Egil Grone Angdroa.”

Anahem swallowed his breath. He could only watch me nervously and wait for his end.

“Bwa ha ha. Ha ha ha!” I laughed at his serious expression. “Forgive me, I just wanted to jest. There are times demise can serve as salvation. Without an end in sight, there are those who instead will be forced to suffer for eternity.”

With one arm still through Anahem’s body, I grabbed his face with my other hand.

“In other words, I just have to make it hurt without ending, right?”

I squeezed my hand and his body turned to sand, falling to the ground.

“You should have watched your feet.”

A coffin of darkness had been placed below the falling sand. The Zola e Dypt I used earlier had formed the circle for Behelius, but Anahem had failed to notice that, distracted as he was with my threat of Egil Grone Angdroa. The moment Anahem’s sand tried to escape from Behelius, the Nedneliaz collar fell last and struck the sand. Particles of darkness drew a cross shape.

The sand tried to crawl out of the coffin, but the magic barrier covering the coffin prevented it from leaving. Anahem returned to his divine body and slammed against the barrier with all his might, but it was impossible to break out of Behelius from the inside bare-handed. But his greatest weapon, the blade Guzelami, could only cut sources.

“This coffin of darkness uses the magic power of the corpse to keep it dying for eternity. As long as you have magic left, death itself will not end. Now I have a question. While you’re in the Withered Desert, do you ever run out of magic?”

As long as he kept dying, he wouldn’t perish. And as long as he didn’t perish, he wouldn’t revive.

“You... You dare humiliate Anahem, the God of Demise?! There is no such thing as a death that never ends! I won’t forget this nonsense, misfit! My life is built by me! When I get out of here, I will prove to you that everything you have is as frail as sand!”

“I know that already, Anahem.”

I pointed with magic in my fingertip and the Nedneliaz collar in the coffin wrapped around his neck.

When combined with Behelius, there was no way of defending against it.

“Life is fragile and precious, everyone building sandcastles they hope won’t just collapse. And that’s exactly why it needs protecting.”

The magic cross spread, widening until the coffin lid was sealed shut.

§ 11. The God of Change

In the Celestial Canopy.

Wenzel, the Goddess of Birth, was riding a green wind through her domain. She was linked to Gyze through Eleonore, allowing me to see through her Divine Eyes. I used Leaks to report to her.

“The God of Demise has been subdued. You just need to keep an eye out for the God of Culling now.”

Anahem was the most likely god behind the God of Culling. If this were the case, Rauzel was guaranteed to be safe.

“Thank you very much. That aside, I can’t believe you disabled Anahem in his own domain. You never cease to surprise me, Demon King Anos.”

Far off from Wenzel’s vision was a large bird nest—the God of Bloom’s divine domain. At a glance, the flowers were still blooming. Wenzel sighed in relief.

Just then, her field of view tipped upside down. The firedew wind had suddenly been disturbed. The green air current dispersed, and Wenzel’s body was released in midair, her body at once upside down and falling through the sky.

“What...?”

With a grim expression, Wenzel grabbed a corner of the fabric she was wearing and unraveled it. She swung her arm to fully extend the divine cloth, wrapping it around a nearby branch. The Goddess of Birth swung through the sky like a pendulum, landing on another branch.

“Hey there, it’s been a while. Like two or three thousand years, maybe? Wenzel.”

Green wind blew through the sky of the Celestial Canopy. Riding on the breeze to appear before Wenzel was a man dressed like a bard, wearing a feathered cap and a long flute held in his hand. His expression and demeanor were lighthearted, yet aloof.

“Where are you hurrying to?” he asked.

In contrast to him, Wenzel’s voice was tranquil.

“To Rauzel, the God of Bloom. As the ruler of the Celestial Canopy, you must be aware of the situation already, Gaetenaros. A god that claims to be Romuen, the God of Culling, has been going on a killing spree. Rauzel was one of his targets.”

He nodded lightheartedly. “Oh, that?”

So this man was the God of Change, Gaetenaros. He had none of the calm dignity the other gods had. Even his words sounded light, like they could be blown away by the wind at any moment.

“Do you know something?”

“Oh, I know a lot, Wenzel.”

The God of Change waved his flute casually. A green wind blew, and he began to play an idyllic tune.

“Because the God of Culling is me.”

Wenzel’s face fell in shock.

“Just kidding!” Gaetenaros said. “You don’t have to look so shell-shocked!”

“I don’t have the time to play your games, Gaetenaros.”

“I know, I know.”

The song Gaetenaros was playing suddenly took a harsh change in melody.

“After all, the God of Culling is one of your children,” he added.

Wenzel’s eyes widened once again. But she immediately shook her head.

“What are you saying? I haven’t been in Da Qu Kadarte for two thousand years. I was in the void of the Firmament, in Forslonarleaf. You know this yourself.”

“Yup, I know! But the whole thing is kind of strange.”

Gaetenaros crouched, sitting on the green air current as if it were a chair. He twirled a gust of wind around his fingers and resumed playing his idyllic song.

“After the Goddess of Birth left, the God of Culling began to kill gods. There’s only one god who can hide from my wind in the Celestial Canopy and do that, you know?”

For someone making an accusation, his tone was awfully bright. There was almost no emotion in his flippant tone as he spoke.

“That big-headed Dilfred said it himself—birth exceeds change. In other words, the only god that can cause trouble here is you, Wenzel.”

“But I—”

“You only just returned, right? Indeed, you haven’t been in Da Qu Kadarte for quite a while.”

Gaetenaros grinned, yet his eyes reflected none of the joy. “What a convenient alibi for yourself, right?”

“You suspect me?”

“I do! You’re a friend of that eccentric Goddess of Creation, aren’t you? You back the mortals, and you don’t respect order. And on the topic of Militia—she spent millions of years worrying over the world. If she hated it so much, she should have created it better to begin with.”

Gaetenaros chuckled without any ill will.

“Well, that doesn’t matter now. The problem is how the God of Culling could only be born through the order of birth that you govern.”

“You’ve got it wrong, Gaetenaros. I would never do such a—”

“Who knows that for sure? Even in your absence, I cannot see into the abyss of the Mother Sea. It’d be impossible for me to find any concrete evidence. All I can tell is that the winds have been weird lately.”

“What do you mean by weird?”

“Dunno! My guess is that something’s happening in your Mother Sea. Is there firedew that hasn’t been turned to water? You know the flow of firedew is decreasing, right?”

Wenzel nodded.

“My theory is that you’ve been stealing it. Little by little, you took firedew from its cycle and used it to give birth to Romuen. But eventually, enough went missing for the rest of us to notice.”

The God of Change played his flute. “What are you trying to give birth to next, Wenzel?”

“So you think I’m the one who attacked Rauzel and the others. But for what purpose?”

“How would I know?” Gaetenaros said.

Wenzel swallowed her breath.

“There’s no way for me to know that. Just think about it. You could be acting on behalf of the mortals, or you could have another reason entirely. Any respectable god wouldn’t be able to comprehend the behavior of a god that eschews order in the first place. And you’ve gone strange. Just like the Goddess of Creation.”

“Gaining a heart of my own isn’t the same as going strange. You will understand this, too, one day—”

“I was waiting,” Gaetenaros said, interrupting Wenzel, suddenly standing up on the firedew wind. “You made a beeline for Rauzel immediately after arriving in the Celestial Canopy. Were you that eager to see if they were eliminated properly?”

He chuckled. “I mean the evidence linking you to the God of Culling, to be clear.”

“Gaetenaros, your accusations are groundless. If I had wanted to kill Rauzel, I wouldn’t have brought Ennessone with me. His life was only saved thanks to her.”

“That’s true! Good point. Which is why I waited again. You fled into the Mother Sea to escape Anahem’s mischief. I wanted to know what you would do after repelling him.”

Gaetenaros brandished his flute about lightly as he played notes of his song in between speaking.

“If you returned with the Demon King’s subordinates, I would believe you meant no harm to Rauzel. Because they’d definitely get in your way. However, if you came here alone, then your motive would be to erase evidence. In other words, to silence him.”

The flute suddenly fell silent as Gaetenaros pointed at the Goddess of Birth.

“Too bad! You came alone!”

Green wind blew. The air was sucked into the flute, and a large sound played throughout the Celestial Canopy.

“If you’re going to lie, you have to make it convincing, Wenzel. Just look at me!”

“You’re wrong, Gaetenaros.”

“What are you plotting?” he said, ignoring her words. “Did you take the misfit’s side and bring Ennessone here so we’d blame them instead of you? So you’ve been using the misfit all along!”

The gentle melody changed into another harsh tune. Now a wartune rousing the spirits resounded throughout the Celestial Canopy. Thunder roared, and the wind became charged with green lightning.

“Wait, Gaetenaros. Listen to what I have to say,” Wenzel protested.

“I don’t like tedious conversations. Let’s sing instead.”

The God of Change chuckled, and the wind blew even more fiercely. A magic-laced wind started to flow from his body.

“Let’s sing. Let’s chant. Yes, let us recite! Like the wind, like the thunderclaps of the blue sky. Flute of Change, Idydroend.”

Lightning covered the entire celestial globe. There was nowhere for Wenzel to run in any direction.

“Sky as fickle as the heart.”

The God of Change sang, and as he did, countless bolts of green lightning attacked Wenzel from every direction. Unable to fly, she had no means of evading the strikes from where she stood on the tree branch. However—

“The first drop makes the pond. The pond becomes the Mother Sea. Rise, my kind children—Life Birthing Shield, Avrohelian.”

The navy blue shield glowed, and the lightning bolts transformed into butterflies on impact with the shield. Birth overcame change. The Goddess of Birth had created life from Gaetenaros’s order of change.

“You cannot win against me,” Wenzel declared.

“I know. But this is the Celestial Canopy, my divine domain.”

Gaetenaros brought Idydroend to his mouth and blew into it once more. The melody coming from the Flute of Change modulated again, and the sky changed.

Night fell upon the Celestial Canopy, dark enough to hide everything.

§ 12. The Firedew’s Whereabouts

“Hmm?”

In the trunk of the giant tree standing in the Mother Sea, Eleonore suddenly looked up. She got to her feet and stared at the sky outside.

“Has the sky gotten darker?”

Due to Gaetenaros using his authority to change the Celestial Canopy to night, the sky of the neighboring Mother Sea also dimmed.

“Eleonore,” I called through Leaks.

She tilted her head to show she was listening.

“According to what the God of Change just said, the firedew is going missing in the Mother Sea.”

Eleonore tilted her head in confusion and held up her index finger.

“But this is Wenzel’s divine domain. Isn’t the Goddess of Birth an old friend of Misha’s?”

“There may be other circumstances behind it. Wenzel has also been absent from the Mother Sea for a long time. Although it’s her domain, another god may have used their powers there while she was gone.”

“Oh, that makes sense. Someone was doing bad things behind Wenzel’s back.”

“Pranking people...is bad!”

Zeshia stood up and joined our Leaks.

“If there’s nothing, that’s for the best. But it’s worth looking into.”

“Roger that.”

“Where do we look?” Ennessone asked. The wings on her head flapped.

“Gaetenaros said the wind was strange. Search the sky first. There may be a hint in the firedew wind right before it turns to water.”

“Understood!” Zeshia replied enthusiastically, linking hands with Ennessone. She then lifted their linked hands into the air. “It’s a...SOSearch!”

The two flew out of the hole in the trunk and rose through the air using Fless.

“Hey, don’t run too far ahead!” Eleonore exclaimed. “There might be another scary god out there like that one in the turban!”

“We’ll get them next time...by showing our true strength!” Zeshia cheered.

Eleonore smiled wryly. “Um, we used our true strength last time too... But that’s because you’re still growing, and I’m not suited for combat to begin with. Enne too.”

“But Eleonore, Ennessone was thinking something,” Ennessone said, wings on her head extending out. “If I could use Ennessone magic in a different way, you and Zeshia would both become stronger.”

“Hmm? What do you mean? Ennessone is a spell that gives birth to new life, isn’t it?” Eleonore asked curiously.

“Yup. It creates life that isn’t bound by order. In Da Qu Kadarte, the flow of firedew is decided already, as the limit of life in the world is fixed. That’s why there’s a limit to the number of artificial sources you can make through Eleonore.”

Zeshia nodded along with a serious expression.

“But Ennessone magic isn’t bound by such limits. It can ignore the limits of the world,” Ennessone continued.

“Oh, I see. That way, I can use Eleonore to create even more—”

Eleonore cut off mid-sentence and looked upwards as if in deep thought.

“Huh? Isn’t that a little weird?”

If she created artificial sources using Eleonore, she could convert hearts to magic power. If she used the magic power that was born to cast Eleonore, she could create more artificial sources. Eleonore normally looped this process to gather magic power for Aske, but there was a maximum number of artificial sources she could create.

However, if that limit were removed...

“Wouldn’t I be able to create infinite magic power using Aske and Eleonore?”

“Yup, that’s what I think! After all, Ennessone is the Demon King’s magic order!”

For some reason, Zeshia puffed up her chest proudly. “The Demon King’s magic is tyranny. The T in tyranny stands for infinite.”

“Infinite doesn’t start with a T, Zeshia,” Eleonore said jokingly, holding up a finger. “But if that’s true, I could have beaten up that turban-wearing god myself.”

“Hmm. I wouldn’t do that unless you absolutely had to.”

Eleonore paused at my words. “How come?”

“The greater a power, the harder it becomes to control. You may be capable of creating infinite power, but that doesn’t mean you have the vessel to withstand it. Imagine if you had to handle my power.”

“Ah... I’d perish.”

“Keep it within a manageable range—around one hundred thousand artificial sources at most, I’d say. Exceed that only when you have something you’d give your life to protect.”

“Tee hee. That won’t be necessary—I have a Demon King on my side!”

A large cloud was approaching Eleonore and the others. They flew through it and reached the upper sky of the Mother Sea.

“Hmm, do you two see anything strange?” Eleonore asked.

The three of them strained their Eyes at the sky.

“Over there!” Ennessone exclaimed, pointing above them. “I can see a light.”

The place she was pointing at was where the sky of the Mother Sea crossed with the Celestial Canopy’s sky. Night had fallen in the Celestial Canopy, making parts of the boundary between the skies shine brighter than the others.

“It’s...an aurora!” Zeshia said.

“Is it the wind turning into an aurora?” Eleonore wondered, staring at the aurora with her Magic Eyes. But she wasn’t able to identify it from this distance. “Let’s go closer.”

The three of them flew towards the shining aurora. The closer they got, the less stable their Fless became, until they were wobbling on the verge of falling—a side effect of getting close to the Celestial Canopy, most likely. Just as they were about to reach the aurora, they found themselves unable to rise any further.

“I can’t...get closer...” Zeshia muttered.

“What should we do? Extend a long, long ladder from the bottom of the tree?”

When Eleonore turned to look at the sea below them, a gust blew her hair.

“Ah!” Ennessone suddenly shouted. “The wind is coming!”

“Without any sound? Where from?” Eleonore replied.

Eleonore started flying around in search of where the wind was strongest. Out of nowhere, her long hair started to rise upwards; she had found a strong upwards current.

“Whoa, that’s cool!”

“Grab on to me,” Ennessone said.

Eleonore and Zeshia linked hands with her, and the small girl spread the wings on her back. They then rode the current upwards, shooting into the sky. They surpassed the area where Fless couldn’t be used and drew closer to the light.

The next moment, the light before them changed. What had only been a faint glow grew into vivid brightness as soon as they entered it. They were inside what looked like the interior of a temple created entirely from auroras.

“We can walk here,” Ennessone said, stepping across the aurora floor.

Zeshia jumped after her, but the floor was completely stable.

“The SOSearch...is a success!”

She linked both hands with Ennessone and jumped around, dancing.

“Hey now, don’t jump to conclusions. We still don’t know what’s in here,” Eleonore scolded, leading the way into the temple. When they turned the corner, they immediately arrived in an open area—an aurora room too large to be called a simple room.

Eleonore took one look at what was inside and yelped.

“That’s—!”

Crammed inside the space were floating bubbles of holy water. Inside the countless bubbles were divine swordsmen, spearmen, archers, and magicians.

“The army of gods!”

They were the divine soldiers—Garmrgund, Schnelde, Amysius, and Dolzork respectively—led by the God of War, Pelpedro. Eleonore carefully stared into the abyss of the temple and water bubbles and noticed the firedew wind was flowing into the temple and entering the bubbles. The divine soldiers being raised by the firedew easily numbered ten thousand—and they were increasing with every moment.

“Big sis, Eleonore, look over there!”

Ennessone pointed at a large door at the back of the temple. “It’s the door of god!”

The one-way door from the Firmament of the Gods to the earth below. If it were in the same space as where the soldiers were being magically born, then there was only one conclusion to make.

Whoever was stealing the firedew was preparing to invade the earth.

§ 13. Shadow Approaching Earth

Eleonore turned her gaze to the gods inside the bubbles of holy water.

“For now, let’s destroy them all before they move,” she said.

Zeshia and Eleonore nodded.

“Got it!”

“Ennessone will do her best too!”

Things could get real messy if this army of gods descended to the earth. While my followers could defend themselves, many, many more couldn’t and would suffer enormous damages. The best move would be to eliminate them here.

“The army of gods cannot be destroyed,” a low voice suddenly echoed through the aurora temple.

Eleonore turned her Eyes towards a particular bubble of holy water cradling a god clad in rusty red armor and his head encased in a full-face helmet. From between the eye slit, his glare was piercing and familiar; it was the God of War, Pelpedro, who should have perished already.

“War is nature. Until the earth is burned to the ground, we will multiply for eternity. And while we individually can be destroyed, we cannot be annihilated outright. Thus, we remain undefeated.”

The bubble around Pelpedro burst, water flowing everywhere. The God of War set foot on the aurora floor and held out his hand. Light gathered.

“For we,” Pelpedro said, “are nothing like you, failures of the Heavenly Father.”

Eleonore gasped and looked around herself—at the army being born from bubbles of holy water, charged with the power of firedew. Although there were different types of gods, individually, they seemed almost the same. Similar, yet different.

“I see... The army of gods are source clones like Zeshia,” she mumbled sadly.

“Indeed,” Pelpedro confirmed. “We bear the burden of the order you failed to maintain. We will spread war across the world, and destroy all demons, humans, and draconids.”

Pelpedro held up a divine sword that glowed a rusty red. “Now rise, my undefeated army. The time to march has come. Open the door of god!”

The God of War slowly swung his divine sword in a downwards arc. As the sword moved, it burst bubble after bubble of holy water in quick succession, its rust-colored light drawing a magic circle across the entire temple.

The army of ten thousand divine soldiers woke up as the door of god at the back of the aurora temple slowly swung open. This door was most likely connected to the earth.

“I won’t let you!” Eleonore exclaimed.

Eleonore fired Teo Triath at the army of gods. But the bullets of light turned to stone the moment they entered their barrier—effects of the Dolzork’s magic.

“Regalomitein!” Zeshia cried.

Zeshia ran forward and used Regalomitein to multiply Enharle, with roughly one thousand swords appearing to slash at the army. Though it looked like enough to rout the enemy, only one soldier fell. Soon enough, the gods surrounded the girls in a formation that activated a glowing magic circle—the formation magic, Arnest.

The God of War’s order strengthened the art of war through the circle, with the strength of numbers overpowering any individual skill or ability. Before his order, individual strength became extremely limited.

“Unlike that incomplete puppet of order, we are order itself,” Pelpedro said. “A puppet and a broken magic order have no chance before our superior existence. This is the order of war.”

Legions of boots stomping in a unified march echoed through the temple as the Garmrgund and Schnelde moved forward.

Zeshia retreated to stand back-to-back with Eleonore. They were completely surrounded.

“Do not expect mercy. Unlike you failures, we gods have no heart. We are only loyal to fulfilling our order.”

The God of War gave his command. “Fire!”

Amysius fired arrows from their giant divine bows, striking Eleonore’s De Ijelia barriers, carving hole after hole into it. Under Arnest’s influence, Eleonore’s barrier was unable to exert its full strength; it crumbled instantly.

The soldiers advanced mercilessly, their weapons at the ready. The Garmrgund deflected Zeshia’s Holy Sword of Light with swords of their own while the Schnelde behind them thrust their spears forward.

“Zeshia!”

Eleonore used her own body as a shield, as six spears pierced through her abdomen, red blood gushing immediately from these wounds. The Spearman Gods who held these spears raised them upwards in unison, lifting Eleonore up into the air.

“You’re next, defective puppet of order.”

A squad of Garmrgund slashed their divine swords, sealing Enharle’s movements as some Schnelde thrust their divine spears at Zeshia. A shrill sound rang through the air—the spears had been blocked by a blinding light.

“Zeshia is my pride and joy. I won’t forgive anyone who calls her defective.”

Magic runes were floating around Eleonore, releasing holy water. The blinding light that had blocked the spears was a magic barrier created from Eleonore’s artificial sources. Arnest held the power of the majority—in other words, each soldier counted as one source clone. And so, Eleonore suspected that an artificial clone would count as one-third of a soldier. That assumption had been correct.

“Here goes, Enne!”

“Okay!”

Ennessone spread her wings and flew. Eleonore sealed the divine spears with artificial sources and pulled them out of her body. Then, a magic link connected from her abdomen to Ennessone, quietly tying them together.

“Focus fire. Now!” Pelpedro commanded.

The Dolzork all cast Jio Graze as the Amysius released their arrows. The black suns and arrows of light together aimed at Eleonore and Ennessone like a raging wave. At the same time, the Garmrgund and the Schnelde both attacked Zeshia.

“Eleonore! De Ijelia!”

Eleonore created a barrier of artificial sources and De Ijelia at the same time, protecting herself, Zeshia, and Ennessone.

The next moment, her entire body started releasing glowing magic power.

“Ennessone-Eleonore.”

At Eleonore’s signal, Ennessone spread her arms and drew a magic circle. 10,022 storks flew out of the circle and up towards the ceiling of the temple.

Eleonore sent her magic to Ennessone through their link. Ennessone’s body then started to glow, her wings extending until they were ten times the size of her body.

She had become the 10,023rd stork. Ennessone was the Demon King’s magic, something that shouldn’t exist according to the order of the world. In other words, she was proof they had exceeded the limit of artificial sources made through Eleonore.

“Here goes!”

Eleonore sent even more magic to Ennessone, causing her large wings to flap, loosening stork feathers—faintly flowing artificial sources in each one—to flutter down. Through Aske their hearts were converted to magic, allowing Eleonore to send more magic power to Ennessone.

The magic power turned into artificial feathers, which then created more hearts. This cycle repeated over and over again, increasing Eleonore’s magic infinitely.

“Eliore.”

The runes surrounding Eleonore wrapped around her body like spread wings. From the runes poured holy water, taking the shape of a sphere over and over, until there were a thousand bubbles of water. These bubbles were the magic she had once used to create the source clones for Zeshia.

The stork feathers floated into the bubbles, transforming the bubbles into the shape of a person. The shape refined into the figure of young girls with medium-long hair, overall looking quite similar to Zeshia, with asymmetrical wings on their back.

“This is our special move, Jinalena!” Eleonore declared. “We came up with it just now!”

Their new move had the power to create a thousand magic dolls made of holy water. Each holy water bubble used one hundred artificial sources to create a simple doll that performed commands. Jinalena could only be done after converting one hundred thousand artificial sources to magic power for Aske and in truth, was a power that even surpassed order. To do such a feat took a big toll on Eleonore’s body, so she now wouldn’t be able to fight a prolonged battle.

“All troops, march on! Our divine art of war is undefeatable.”

At Pelpedro’s command, the army of gods rushed at them. Dolzork unleashed a magic bombardment, creating explosions everywhere.

“We’re going to charge too. Take them out, Jinalena!” Eleonore shouted.

Against the formation of order deployed by the army of gods, Eleonore’s Jinalena attacked everything chaotically, turning the situation into a confused flurry of battle.

Swords of holy water drove away the divine swords and easily slashed apart Garmrgund. The Jinalena puppets had no life, but they were each made of one hundred artificial sources—each puppet was the equivalent of thirty-three sources. Their chaotic charge was relentless, slaying gods one after another, leaving the divine army with no choice but to focus on defense.

“Impossible...” Pelpedro muttered. “We are the superior existence... We will not fall to fake puppets of order!”

“How about I, on behalf of the Demon King, teach you a new art of war?” Eleonore suggested, holding up an index finger as the Jinalena continued their charge. “First tip: Good kids will always win over bad kids!”

“In other words...Zeshia and Enne...are undefeated heroes!” Zeshia added, rushing in alongside the puppets. “Jinas and Lenas... Follow your big sister Zeshia!”

For the God of War’s order that emphasized quantity over quality, the Jinalena were the perfect enemy; a thousand of them was equal to three times the ten thousand-strong army of gods.

“Engage them!” Pelpedro ordered. “Surround each puppet—one of them is thirty-three of us! Now is the time to show the world the might of our army, our art of war!”

The army of gods challenged the Jinalena with their flawless coordination, perfect formation, and overwhelming numbers. But coordinating a thirty-four or more squad of soldiers to attack one individual was an incredibly difficult feat. In no time at all, the Jinalena mowed them all down.

About ten minutes passed like this. Then the battle seemed almost decided, until—

“Eleonore, the army has decreased in number. They might be hiding somewhere,” Ennessone said.

“Pelpedro...is gone,” Zeshia added.

Nearly half the soldiers had been defeated by the time the barrage of magic spells settled. But when the flames died down, the God of War that had just been barking commands on the front line had vanished.

“That was all a mere distraction,” a voice said from the back of the temple. “Our descent to earth has already begun.”

Pelpedro reappeared by the door of god. He must have realized instantly that his army would lose against the Jinalena and planned ahead of time to use his army as a diversion while sending a separate platoon through the door.

“No wonder it was so easy...” Eleonore muttered.

The Jinalena slashed at the remaining army. The divine soldiers crumbled easily—the only one left standing was Pelpedro.

“Only gods may pass through the door of god,” Pelpedro said. “You will not be able to inform the earth of their imminent danger.”

“Isn’t it shameful for a God of War to turn tail and run?” Eleonore taunted Pelpedro.

“The army of gods never retreats. Every move is an advance! You have lost this war.”

Eleonore fired a Teo Triath, but Pelpedro entered the door before it could hit him.

“Before order, all your struggles are worthless. Soon you will never have a home to return to again,” the God of War said just before he vanished.

Eleonore and the others immediately ran up to the huge door of god.

“It’s so white... I can’t see...” Zeshia muttered.

“Hmm. Like Pelpedro said, only gods can pass through... What do we do?” Eleonore wondered out loud.

Just then, Ennessone stepped forward, wings on her head flapping.

“Ennessone can see, though?” she said.

“Really? What do you see, Enne? Can you tell where they went?” Eleonore asked.

Ennessone strained her eyes at the door of god. “I’ll send it through our magic link.”

“Zeshia wants to see too...”

Eleonore drew a magic circle to display the image Ennessone was sending her for Zeshia to be able to see. The magic circle was displaying a view of the earth. At night, apparently, as the shown area was dark. Specifically, it was Gairadite in Azesion, and the people of Azesion were currently looking up at the sky in shock. Little by little, the world brightened, as though night was turning into day.

“Wait, isn’t that—?!” Eleonore swallowed her breath with a gasp.

“Enne, can you look at the sky?”

The image in the magic circle panned up to the sky. Floating there was the shadow of an ominous sun releasing black particles—Abernyu’s Sun of Destruction, Sarjieldenav.

§ 14. Solar Eclipse

“Anos! Sasha! Are you seeing this? Things have taken a wild turn over here!” Eleonore called out through our Gyze link.

I sent Sasha a magic circle to share what Eleonore was seeing.

“No way...” Sasha immediately replied through Leaks.

“Since this is what Ennessone’s Magic Eyes are seeing through the door of god, the image is indistinct. Could this possibly be a fake sun?” I asked.

Sasha gulped before replying. “Unfortunately, there’s no mistaking it. That’s my—or rather, Abernyu’s power...the Sun of Destruction, Sarjieldenav...”

The Sun of Destruction hovered in the sky. Its appearance here had to be the work of whoever had stolen Delsgade, and their motive was clear, since there was only one power stored within the castle to begin with. The Sun of Destruction turned darker as we watched on, coloring the sky in ominous darkness.

“It’s going to manifest completely...”

Sasha’s words came true a moment later. The giant sphere inverted, revealing the dark sun. But the light of destruction didn’t immediately appear. Instead, a small part of the right side of the sun waned.

“The Moon of Creation,” Misha said. “It overlaps with the sun.”

“In other words, the Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation are currently creating a solar eclipse?” I asked.

“Most likely.”

“What’s going to happen?” Sasha asked Misha.

“I don’t have the memories to answer that. But the total lunar eclipse of Altiertonoa is used to re-create the world, so...”

What Misha was implying was clear. When the authorities of the Goddesses of Creation and Destruction overlapped, the power of Altiertonoa was released—the same could be assumed for Sarjieldenav.

“Hmm. In that case, the complete solar eclipse of Sarjieldenav probably means the opposite,” I deduced.

“But that means...” Sasha mumbled worriedly.

The Sun of Destruction was the order of destruction—the opposite power of creation. With that in mind, it would make sense if its highest authority were to bring a complete end to the world.

“Looks like this was the goal of whoever stole Delsgade and Everastanzetta,” I said.

However, if all this person wanted to do was scorch the earth, this particular move was complete overkill. The regular Sun of Destruction would be enough if that were the case. Was this a means to corner me? Or was this related to what the gods had said about the suppressed order of destruction accumulating to the point of destroying the world?

“The God of War, Pelpedro, said he would bring war to the earth, but I hadn’t imagined something of this scale,” I said.

“If this eclipse is above Gairadite, then they must be targeting Azesion, right?” Eleonore said panickedly. Azesion was her homeland—it was tough for her to stay calm, seeing this.

“Can we...go home?” Zeshia asked worriedly.

“The Moon of Creation and Sun of Destruction might be down there, but that doesn’t mean Delsgade and Everastanzetta have returned to earth too,” I said.

“They can’t be hidden on earth,” Misha clarified.

The castles had too much magic power to hide on earth. It was unlikely the perpetrator would do something as foolish as that.

“Bringing down the sun and moon won’t help if the Goddesses of Destruction and Creation aren’t suppressed as well. Us rushing to the earth is probably exactly what they’re hoping we’d do,” I said.

Doing so would close the door of god and cut off the path back to the Firmament of the Gods. The Sun of Destruction would be even harder to deal with then.

“But if Sarjieldenav’s total solar eclipse happens, Azesion will be scorched!” Eleonore said.

“Then we’ll just have to resolve this beforehand.”

Azesion wouldn’t be the only target—Dilhade was within reach from that sky too. Or perhaps it was aimed indiscriminately, like Egil Grone Angdroa, and was capable of ending everything and anything. I couldn’t imagine a god wanting to harm the world that much, but if the God of Culling could kill other gods, then this wasn’t out of the question. There was no telling what this kind of god would do.

“I cannot return. But it would be best to inform those on the earth of the situation,” I said. “They’re aware of the army of gods, but they won’t know about the total solar eclipse of the Sun of Destruction.”

“Should we look for a gate to the Divine Realm, then?” Eleonore asked, holding up an index finger. Since Leaks couldn’t reach the earth from here, someone had to return directly. But—

“The divine gates are controlled by the gods. If they close off like they did when we came here, you’d still be locked out. We’ll establish a way of contacting the earth first, otherwise there’s no guarantee Azesion and Dilhade can be protected.”

It was possible that Sarjieldenav’s solar eclipse was just an opening move, and they had something else planned afterwards.

“Hmm... So what should we do?” Eleonore said.

“Use the door of god there.”

“But the door of god is one way, and only gods can pass through,” Sasha pointed out in confusion.

“That’s right. That’s why they don’t expect us to use it. Ennessone can see what’s happening through it, right?”

Ennessone’s head wings stood straight as she answered. “Yup! I can see a little, but not everything.”

“As a magic order, Ennessone is similar to the gods. They haven’t accounted for her, so the door of god is unable to completely shut her out.”

“Huh. But what about the one-way thing? She might be able to go through it, but if she can’t come back, we might not be able to communicate with her. Will we even receive her Leaks from the other side?” Eleonore asked.

“She can make contact through you. The parental link connecting you is bound by magic order and the spell formula activated using it. In other words, it is a connection of order. It should function through the door of god.”

“So I just have to let Enne through the door while keeping the umbilical cord attached?”

“Yes. Ennessone can use Leaks with you from the earth through your link. It should serve as a way to communicate between the Divine Realm and the earth.”

Eleonore nodded in understanding.

“Enne... Will you be okay alone?” Zeshia asked worriedly. “There’s an army over there...”

“It’ll be fine! I don’t have to fight, I’m just contacting people. Besides, Azesion is your hometown. I have to protect it for you! Militia and Demon King Anos’s hometown too! After all, Ennessone was born for the sake of peace.”

Zeshia grabbed Ennessone’s hands in hers. “Zeshia will send you her secret power... SOSupport power...!”

“Thank you. Ennessone will be invincible now,” Ennessone said happily.

“All right. First, I’ll stop the gods from touching this door,” Eleonore said. She held up a hand, and the Jinalena waiting behind her moved to surround the door of god.

“De Ijelia.”

The Jinalena constructed magic circles for earth, water, fire, and wind in each corner, covering the door of god with a barrier.

“I’ll be off,” Ennessone said.

“Be careful out there,” said Eleonore in reply.

Ennessone nodded and spread her four wings, flying up to enter the door of god. The space past the door was an unstable dimension where magic particles sparked fiercely. Although Ennessone was similar to the gods, she wasn’t technically a god. Thus, as an unexpected contaminant intruding upon the order of the door of god, Ennessone created an abnormality that had the door’s magic power in a rampage.

Ennessone’s expression twisted in agony. The magic link connected to her navel was being whittled away by the rough magic field beyond the door, and was weakening with every passing moment.

“This is pretty tough...”

Eleonore held a hand to her abdomen. She took one hundred thousand of the artificial sources from Jinalena, converted it to magic power with Aske, then used it to reinforce the link to Ennessone. The additional power should help their link withstand the door’s raging magic field.

However, using this much magic power would exhaust Eleonore’s own source. They wouldn’t be able to maintain contact for long like this.

“I can see something... Is it Azesion?” Ennessone asked.

I looked through Ennessone’s Magic Eyes to see glimpses of the earth through the raging magic field she was traveling through.

“Try calling out, Enne. My voice should reach anyone connected to the Demon King’s Gyze,” Eleonore said.

The distance from the Divine Realm to the earth was larger than expected. Even through Ennessone, it was difficult for Eleonore to send her voice to the earth. And so it fell to Ennessone to reach out.

“Someone!”

Ennessone sent a wide-ranged Leaks out.

“Someone who knows the Demon King of Tyranny, anyone! Please reply. A danger is approaching the earth!”

She passed through the magic field, her view of the world widening at once. Just then, her body shook with an impact. Ennessone had fallen out of the door of god and collapsed onto the ground. The metallic screech of sword clashing against sword rang out nearby—as well as the sounds of explosions.

Ennessone quickly looked up and found herself in a battlefield. Human soldiers were fighting against the army of gods. Of course, the humans of this era didn’t stand a chance against them, so they were being forced to retreat.

Ennessone had landed on the gods’ side of the battlefield. Marching boots stomped in her direction. She looked behind herself to see a Garmrgund with his sword raised.

“Ah!”

The divine sword came down in a merciless swing. It was so sudden, Ennessone was unable to move. But the sword aimed at her neck stopped midair. A figure—a girl—had come running from the distance, grabbing Ennessone while protecting her. The Garmrgund took a step forward and glared at the interloper.

“Imitation Vebzud!” the girl shouted.

“Gwuh...”

Seven holes were opened in the Swordsman God from behind, where rods covered in a sticky black light had pierced the Garmrgund easily.

“What’s wrong, Ellen? Why did you fly all the way here?”

“Moving too far from the main army is dangerous!”

“Ms. Emilia gave the order to retreat already. We have no chance against them right now. We have to run!”

Appearing on the scene were the black-robed girls of the Demon King Academy—the Anos Fan Union, otherwise known as the Demon King’s Choir.

“Hold on a minute. I think this girl mentioned Lord Anos just now!” Ellen said with a serious look, Ennessone embraced in her arms.

§ 15. Mayhem in Azesion

“Excuse me!” Ennessone shouted, finally snapping out of her shock. “Ennessone is on Demon King Anos’s side! I came to tell you about the solar eclipse in the sky!”

“Huh?” Ellen replied. “Solar eclipse?”

Ellen looked up at the sky. The sun was slightly waned, but there was no sign of a solar eclipse just yet.

“That’s the thing, right? The Sun of Destruction from when Avos Dilhevia tried to take over Dilhade,” Jessica said.

“Yes, that’s right!” Ennessone declared, wings on her hand standing straight up. “The gods stole the power of the Goddesses of Destruction and Creation sealed in Delsgade and Everastanzetta, and Demon King Anos is currently in the Firmament of the Gods to get the castles back. If the Sun of Destruction reaches a total solar eclipse, a spell large enough to destroy the world will be unleashed!”

“Demon King Anos is trying to stop it,” Ennessone continued. “Azesion won’t be able to do anything about the sun, so focus on dealing with the army of gods. Ennessone will act as the point of contact between the earth and the Divine Realm, so please protect me.”

The Fan Union girls exchanged looks.

“We can’t talk to Lord Anos ourselves?” Ellen asked.

“The Divine Realm is so far from here that the Demon King can only talk through Ennessone. Anyone who can use Gyze would be able to talk to Eleonore through making a link with me, though.”

“Gyze is too difficult for us... We’d have to call Ms. Emilia here,” Nono said.

“Let’s retreat to the main camp with her first. Who knows when the enemies will come if we stay here—”

Maia cut off mid-sentence. The army of gods had appeared before them. Soldiers arrived in groups of five in quick succession, until a squad of around one hundred gods stood before them, activating Arnest. Before their united front the Demon King’s Choir was utterly powerless.

“Let’s go. We have to run!”

“I-I can’t. I can’t leave!” Ennessone protested.

Ellen looked at her in confusion. “What do you mean? If we stay here, the divine soldiers will find us.”

“Ennessone is connected to Eleonore in the Divine Realm with a link that goes through the door of god...”

Ennessone showed her the link that was connected to her navel. Ellen followed the link with her Magic Eyes up to where space distorted.

“Is the door of god where this link vanishes?” she asked.

The Magic Eyes of the Fan Union girls were unable to see the door of god. Gard Aske increased their offensive and defensive power, but it couldn’t strengthen their vision.

“The link can’t stretch any further, so Ennessone can’t move. Please, bring someone who can use Gyze here!”

The Fan Union exchanged troubled looks. With every passing minute, the army of gods marched closer.

“Demon King’s Choir, please respond. Demon King’s Choir, report on your current situation,” a Leaks arrived. From what Ennessone could see of the magic power, it was from Emilia.

“Ms. Emilia, we found a girl called Ennessone in the enemy encampment. She says she’s a messenger sent by Lord Anos,” Ellen said, passing the information she’d just received from Ennessone to Emilia.

“Understood,” Emilia replied. “Either cut the link and bring Ennessone back to the main camp, or leave her there.”

“Huh? But she says this is our only way to contact Lord Anos...”

“Perhaps so, but it’s too suspicious. Since she appeared in the enemy encampment, she could be one of their traps. She might be designed to specifically lure out someone who can use Gyze.”

Hmm. Well, that makes sense. This was a battlefield—they couldn’t afford to believe everything they were told. But Emilia’s practicality created a problem for us.

“But I don’t think she’s lying...” Ellen mumbled.

“You have no proof of that.”

“I do!” she replied immediately. “She smells like Lord Anos!”

For a brief moment, Emilia struggled for words. “She...smells?”

Ellen brought her face to Ennessone’s body and sniffed hard.

“Huh? Um... Huh?!” Ennessone yelped in confusion.

The Fan Union girls surrounded her and leaned in to sniff her. “Are you sure, Ellen? I can’t tell at all...”

“Um? Um... Excuse me?” Ennessone said, wings on her head folding and fluttering with anxiety. Meanwhile, the girls launched into a heated discussion among themselves.

“Ah! This scent... This tyrannical scent that violates my nose with its sublime nobility—!”

“Right? It has to belong to him, right?”

“Yup yup, this is it! This is Lord Anos’s overwhelming stink!”

“Don’t call it Lord Anos’s stink! It’s his lingering aroma!”

“Our official duties have kept us away from him for so long, I could tell right away.”

“This girl was definitely with Lord Anos just moments ago!”

It seemed the collective nose of the Fan Union was something to be feared.

“If she met Lord Anos before coming here, she has to be an ally! Because Lord Anos would never overlook anyone who means harm to us. And so if Ennessone was an enemy, she wouldn’t be here in the first place.”

After that final comment, the girls nodded at each other with a look of resolution and grabbed their rods.

“Ms. Emilia,” Ellen said, “we won’t be moving from here.”

The other Fan Union girls affirmed her.

“Lord Anos must have sent her here for our sake.”

“We have to protect her.”

A sticky black light covered the eight of them. Gard Aske raged in response to their feelings, but that wasn’t all. The girls leaned in to hug Ennessone, breathing deeply as though they were saving the inhaled scent deep in their hearts.

“Ah...” Ennessone squeaked.

The black light turned even more viscous, until it was as thick as mud.

“With an indirect hug—”

“Imitation Jio Graaay!”

Eight rods thrust forward. The sticky black light released from the tips of the rods formed the shape of a sun as it flew towards the army of gods. But the moment it reached the barrier around the gods, it transformed into stone. The Magician Gods rendered all long-distance spells useless, but close-ranged attacks were prey for Arnest. Even the weakness of the gods—Gard Aske—was unable to surpass the power of sheer numbers.

“We won’t lose!”

“As long as we can buy time—”

“We’ll protect you!”

With that collective declaration, the Fan Union girls continuously fired Gard Aske suns to stop the incoming army. The attacks were converted to stones, but that didn’t mean the army of gods was totally invincible. If the Magician Gods maintaining the barrier could be defeated, the situation would turn in the girls’ favor.

The army of gods approached carefully, neutralizing Gard Aske’s effect as they slowly closed the distance. Eventually they had spread their formation to surround the girls.

“At this rate...” Jessica murmured.

Their escape route would be cut off. But that would simultaneously mean Arnest’s completion.

“But we can’t move from here!” Nono exclaimed.

If the formation magic circle encircling them was completed, the gods would be able to use their numbers to wipe out the Fan Union instantly. The girls continued to fire their magic bombardment without giving up, when from one moment to the next, the army suddenly accelerated forward.

“Ellen! Take out the god at the front! It’ll be over if we’re surrounded!” Jessica yelled.

“I know, but it’s too fast!” Ellen replied.

The army of gods rushed towards them to activate Arnest. But just as they did, the Swordsman Gods at the front caught fire, one after another. It was the effect of Ji Faizen, a magic barrier activated using Aske. Enemies that entered the hidden barrier burned in explosive holy flames.

“Always moving to encircle us makes your actions easy to predict. You’re practically begging to be trapped,” a voice said.

Emilia, with the Azesion army’s main force, had arrived.

“Fire the magic shells. Lure the enemy to the Ji Faizen barrier sites before defeating them. They may have the advantage in strength, but once they activate Arnest, it’s a matter of quantity over quality. We’ll crush them with our numbers!” Emilia shouted.

“Roger that!”

The Azesion army had roughly eight hundred soldiers. They wouldn’t stand a chance if they fought the gods directly, but Emilia planned on using Ji Faizen barriers to trap the enemy in explosive holy flames.

If the army of gods had attacked the Demon King’s Choir without trying to surround them, the girls would use Gard Aske to repel them. If they surrounded them and activated Arnest instead, the Azesion army’s advantage in numbers would overpower them. The crisis of battle united the humans of Azesion in shared sentiment and through Aske, empowered them.

But even then, their army of eight hundred was barely able to handle a divine army of one hundred—and that was only thanks to the surprise attack giving them a brief advantage. It wouldn’t be long before the situation changed.

“Ellen!” Emilia shouted. She used Fless to fly over to the Fan Union girls.

“My students,” she said, tone softly chiding, “there’s really no helping you bunch, is there?” Her gaze turned to Ennessone. “I just have to use Gyze on her, right?”

“Yes, but weren’t you just worried about her being a trap?” Ellen asked.

“I have no other choice. It’s not like I can abandon you girls here. I’ll just have to see for myself whether it’s a trap or not. If something happens to me, make sure to apprehend her,” Emilia said, before casting Gyze on Ennessone to create a magic link with her.

“Wow! That was so cool of you, Ms. Emilia!”

“This voice and magic... Is that you, Eleonore?”

Thanks to the magic link, Eleonore’s voice was able to reach her through Leaks.

“Yup, everything Enne said was true! We’re currently in the Divine Realm, looking for the cause of the solar eclipse. Are you able to protect this communication link?”

Emilia frowned grimly. “It looks like a trap would have been easier to deal with after all... There’s less than one hundred gods fighting right now, but we’ve confirmed that their main army is at least five thousand strong. If even a tenth of those forces come here, we won’t stand a chance...”

“Hmm. But you’re witty, Ms. Emilia, so you should be able to figure something out. Lay and the others are there too, right?”

“He’s currently fighting at the door of god that appeared south of Gairadite. There’s nothing I can do about our small numbers.”

Emilia started thinking with a solemn look. Then, she sent a Leaks to another location—in Gairadite. “Hero Assembly, please respond. This is Emilia speaking.”

She immediately received a reply.

“This is Lloyd, president of the Hero Assembly. Has the retreat been completed?”

“No. Demon King Anos has established communication from the Divine Realm. As suspected, that sun is the work of the gods. Our only shot of salvaging things is protecting a girl called Ennessone, whose location is deep in enemy territory. I am requesting permission to use the holy lake, and for reinforcements from the Hero Academy.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Explain the situation, Emilia.”

Emilia sighed at the uncooperative replies from the Hero Assembly. She gave the shortest possible explanation of the situation as fast as she could to Lloyd.

“I understand now,” Lloyd said after her explanation. “But there are only three troops left that can be spared. The Hero Academy and holy lake must be allocated to suppressing the spell formula of the sun being drawn in the sky. We cannot afford to move them—”

“Oh, there’s no point in doing that. It’s not the kind of magic you guys can handle,” Eleonore interrupted.

“Who is speaking?” Lloyd asked dubiously.

“I’m a subordinate of the Demon King. Sarjieldenav can destroy demons from two thousand years ago. Humans wouldn’t even be able to approach its airspace. And the solar eclipse this time will be even more powerful than the last one.”

“Is that so,” Lloyd replied. “But in its current state, it emits no trace of detectable magic. If we hurry, we should be able to stop it before it activates.”

Lloyd’s judgment was by no means mistaken—aside from the fact that Sarjieldenav’s magic power was so astoundingly vast, he simply wasn’t able to detect it. Just like how the demons of this era failed to sense my magic power after I reincarnated, the same phenomenon was now happening to the Hero Assembly in perceiving the Sun of Destruction.

The assembly members began to bicker among themselves.

“I understand the Demon King is saying to stop, but in this case, it would only be right for him to show up and tell us so in person.”

“Indeed, we will not move on your word alone. We do wish to maintain a friendship with Dilhade, but that doesn’t mean we will accept all demands without question.”

“However, if this is truly what the Demon King is saying, then the idea is worth due consideration.”

“That may be true, but it’s not as if we’re the ones who are acting thoughtlessly. We haven’t even requested help yet, so it isn’t their place to give unsolicited instructions.”

“You go too far. Have you forgotten how much the Demon King has done for us all this time?”

“Even so. We have our hands full with the army of gods already. It would be one thing if he were offering reinforcements, but demanding we split our forces further is...”

“We would have already completed our retreat if this demand hadn’t shown up so suddenly. Are you sure this isn’t a prank meant to sabotage us?”

“Prank or not, the Demon King should have used official channels to submit the appropriate documentation first instead of appearing like this.”

“Everyone,” Lloyd eventually said, effectively cutting through the discussion. “I know this is a tense situation, but calm down. Dilhade’s Demon King has done us a lot of favors until now. The Hero Assembly’s formation could even be credited to Anos Voldigoad. He should not be met with such disdain.”

The voices of the assembly members backed down reluctantly. However, there were still complaints that could be heard.

“I’m still standing on the battlefield right now...” Emilia muttered under her breath.

It seemed the Hero Assembly was still far from operating smoothly. Since it seemed they weren’t even able to agree on how decisions were to be made in emergencies, this situation was no surprise, but it was past time for them to make up their minds.

“My apologies, Headmaster Emilia. We have our hands full here...” Lloyd said in a line that only Emilia could hear.

“Apologizing won’t help me. At the very least, give me the right to handle this myself. Or even Lay—Hero Kanon.”

“That’s...”

“The more time you spend waffling over this, the more of Azesion’s people will die.”

Silence continued. Although it was temporary, Lloyd seemed to be hesitant to hand power to a demon. Their peace-addled minds were probably focused on the aftermath of the war, even though there was no guarantee there would be one. At this very moment, there were human soldiers dying at the swords of the gods.

“Oh, fine. I’ll just prove that Enne is worth protecting!” Eleonore snapped.

At the same time, Ennessone spread her wings. A blinding light surrounded her, and her wings started shedding feathers and magic runes. The runes formed several bubbles of holy water, and the feathers entered the bubbles while glowing faintly. In no time at all, the light within the bubbles took the shape of a young girl. Like that, two hundred Jinalenas were born.

“What’s this? Zeshia?” Emilia asked with a look of amazement. She was shocked by their appearance and power, it seemed.

“Go!” Eleonore commanded.

The two hundred magic dolls leaped to join the Azesion army, drawing their swords of holy water as they charged at the army of gods.

§ 16. Wings of Wax

The Azesion army fell apart in a matter of minutes, their soldiers wounded at staggeringly fast rates. But as the human soldiers retreated under Emilia’s orders, Eleonore’s magic dolls replaced them on the front line.

The Jinalena instantly overpowered the divine forces, splitting the enemy’s formation in two, which allowed them to circle behind the Dolzork stationed at the edge of the divine army’s formation and destroy the barrier protecting the army of gods.

“Now, Ellen!”

At Eleonore’s signal, the Demon King’s Choir readied their anoss rods.

“Imitation Jio Graaay!”

Sticky Gard Aske suns rained down from above, eradicating the divine soldiers. With their formation fallen apart and the defensive barrier down, the gods had no chance of winning. They seemed to realize this too, as they immediately retreated, moving as one in a receding wave. The soldiers of the Azesion army, having accepted the almost certain likelihood of death, roared at the unexpected victory.

Emilia alone stayed alert, giving orders to check for any remaining enemies still lurking. But it seemed the divine army had executed a total retreat.

“If you could do that from the beginning, you didn’t really need our protection, did you?” she said to Eleonore through Leaks.

But she didn’t receive a reply.

“Eleonore?”

“Eleonore wasn’t supposed to use it!” Ennessone protested. “She’s already at her limit from creating the path of contact. If she uses Jinalena from the Divine Realm, her body won’t be able to withstand the burden!”

Emilia recoiled in horror.

“Hey, that was a secret... If everyone sees how powerful Jinalena is, it’ll increase morale and convince the Hero Assembly...” Eleonore said, pain straining her voice.

She needed to keep one thousand Jinalena in the Divine Realm to maintain their magic link. Casting more Jinalena on the earth meant the number of artificial sources exceeded the limit of one hundred thousand. As Ennessone said, the burden on her was great. But this was not the time for Eleonore to rest.

“I’m sorry...” Ennessone said, wings folding against her head.

“Don’t feel bad. I’m not upset at all.”

With a grim look, Emilia contacted the Hero Assembly through Leaks. “Hero Assembly, this is Emilia speaking. Thanks to reinforcements from the Demon King’s Army, the army of gods has been repelled. We will proceed to make camp here and set up defenses to protect Gairadite. There should be no objections to that, right?”

“Repelled? You actually repelled them? Well done, Headmaster Emilia! If anyone has any objections to her proposal, speak up now,” Lloyd replied. But the other assembly members, now knowing the enemy had successfully been removed, had no objections.

“Then the rest is up to you, Headmaster Emilia.”

“And the holy lake? The Hero Academy?”

“Those matters still require examination... We cannot give a conclusion at this time.”

Just as Lloyd said that, the plains grew a little darker. Everyone present looked up and saw more of the Sun of Destruction had waned—the solar eclipse was getting closer.

“Repelling the enemy has bought us time. We will continue this discussion in Gairadite. That is all,” Lloyd said, cutting the Leaks.

Emilia sighed tiredly. “A bunch of incompetent fools...”

Seemed like she was having a tough time too. But we didn’t have the time to deal with them. What I needed now was to understand the situation below.

“Hmm? Okay! Got it,” Eleonore replied to the Leaks I sent her. It would be faster if I could speak directly to those on earth, but all in all, I had no real complaints.

“Is something the matter?” Emilia asked.

“Anos says he wants to know what the situation is on earth. Do you know anything about Dilhade?”

“Lay and the others would know better than me. I’ve had my hands full dealing with the idiots in Azesion.”

“Whoa! Stressed much, Ms. Emilia?”

“By themselves, they’re good people,” she said with another sigh, eyes blazing with anger. “But humans! The moment they gather, they turn into total imbeciles! All they think about is peace. Do they think they’re immortal? If they insist on being entirely useless during an actual emergency, the least they can do is keep their mouths shut!”

“Ah. There, there. I get it, it sucks,” Eleonore said, soothing her.

“Forget I said anything,” Emilia grumbled awkwardly.

She then turned to send a Leaks elsewhere. “Lay, Misa, please contact me as soon as you have a moment to spare. Demon King Anos is summoning you.”

She proceeded to exchange a few messages with them, explaining the recent changes to the current situation.

“I see, Mr. Eldmed too then. Very well.”

Emilia turned to face the Fan Union girls and Azesion army. “I will return to Gairadite for a short moment. The Demon King’s Choir and Azesion army will hold this point. Report to me as soon as the enemy appears.”

“Understood.”

“Got it!”

Emilia drew a Gatom circle and filled it with her magic power, her vision turning white as she teleported.

“You learned to use Gatom, Ms. Emilia?” Eleonore asked.

“I work with the Hero Assembly, operate the Hero Academy, and eliminate our enemies simultaneously. My body simply can’t handle having to also fly everywhere too. I’m terrible at it, so my destinations are rather limited.”

The next moment, the royal capital of Gairadite and the holy lake could be seen.

“I’m meeting up with Lay and the others here,” she said, walking towards the holy lake.

Floating high above the lake was a giant magic circle drawn with holy water. For the humans of this era, it was an impressive spell. Inside the lake there were probably casters using Asura to send their magic to a single person to make it possible—several people, clad in Hero Academy uniforms, could be seen inside the holy lake. Since the Hero Academy was barred from joining the front lines, all the students must be here.

“Hmm? What are they doing here? It looks like a spell formula we learned in class before...”

“This is the long-distance barrier magic, Leiacanetts,” Emilia said. “Simply put, it’s a spell that sends holy water far away to remotely form a barrier.”

“Oh!” Eleonore made a noise of realization.

From a glance, it looked like Leiacanetts was pointed at the sky.

“The Hero Assembly voted to use Leiacanetts to seal that creepy sun in the sky,” Emilia explained.

A cackle erupted from behind her. It was the Conflagration King Eldmed, clad in top hat and cane, teleporting to the holy lake.

“Bwa ha ha! Ha ha ha, bwa ha ha ha ha ha!”

He laughed, then laughed, then laughed some more, seeming to have no end.

“Don’t just pop up out of nowhere and laugh, Mr. Eldmed. No one can understand you,” Eleonore said.

“No no, magic of the Demon King. You just heard it yourself, did you not? Imagine flying towards the sun on wings of wax! Bwa ha ha! It’s rash, thoughtless, and if I were to add one more comment, foolish! An incompetent waltz to the meter of stupidity, ignorance, and powerlessness!”

Ignoring Emilia’s dumbfounded look, the Conflagration King pointed his cane up at the Sun of Destruction.

“Two thousand years ago, hordes of powerful demons gave their lives to send the Demon King and his right-hand man to Sarjieldenav, and only then were they barely able to bring the sun down. And this sun is even fishier than the one back then.”

Eldmed’s lips curled in delight.

“A word of counsel: Give up. You won’t even be able to reach the sky, much less seal the sun. There’s only one thing you can do right now.”

He twirled his cane and pointed it at Emilia. “Run for your lives.”

“We would love nothing more than to do just that,” a voice replied. Floating up out of the holy lake was a blue-haired man with glasses—Ledriano, a student of the Hero Academy.

“Unfortunately, we don’t have the standing to defy the Hero Assembly. Discarding the final fortress of mankind, the royal capital of Gairadite, isn’t an option to them,” he said.

A blond-haired boy in scarlet uniform—Heine—appeared beside Ledriano.

“We all know it’s impossible,” he added. “But their Magic Eyes can’t even sense the magic power of that thing. It’s hilarious.”

Next, a red-haired man—Raos—also rose from the lake. “If we had it our way, we would have run long ago. But if we run now, the people of Gairadite will be doomed.”

Though the three Hero Academy students expressed their complaints, they all looked resolved to see things through. The Conflagration King seemed pleased by that, as he was grinning happily.

“I see, I see. So you do understand how impossible it is. However! Bringing that sun down without the Demon King will take a miracle. Isn’t that right, Hero Kanon?”

Eldmed turned to look at where Lay had appeared with Misa, who was in her true form. They had just teleported over.

“Will Anos make it in time?” Lay asked Emilia.

“Delsgade and Everastanzetta are somewhere in the Divine Realm. We’re in the middle of searching for them, and once we find them we should be able to neutralize the power of destruction and creation. But it would be best if you could stop the Sun of Destruction yourselves.”

Eleonore passed my words on through Leaks.

“We need to know the situation on the earth.”

Eldmed stepped forward.

“Several doors of god have appeared in the dwelling of the spirits,” he explained. “The right-hand man of the Demon King is with the Mother of Spirits, leading the spirits in subjugating the enemy. Divine forces have appeared across Dilhade and are attacking the cities. The underground world is in a similar state.”

It seemed safe to assume that the aurora temple Eleonore was in wasn’t the only place in the Divine Realm producing soldiers.

The army of gods had commenced its march once the Sun of Destruction was in the sky. They targeted powerless citizens to divert the forces that could have banded together to bring down Sarjieldenav. This tactic allowed time for the solar eclipse to arrive, upon which the earth would be in even more peril.

“From what I can see, four sky fortresses would be the limit of what we can scrape together. You two would have to be on board. Yes?” Eldmed asked, pointing his cane at Lay and Misa.

“Can the Sword of Three Races cut the fate of the Sun of Destruction?” Misa asked.

“Now now, it may be the holy sword of legends, but do you really think it could just slice all our problems away?” Eldmed replied. “That sun isn’t a demon, but a power of god.”

The Conflagration King looked at Lay, who gave him his usual lighthearted smile.

“If I have to cut it, I’ll cut it,” Lay said. “The Goddess of Destruction isn’t inside, so it might even be easier than when Anos had to fight it.”

“Bwa ha ha! That’s Hero Kanon for you. I wouldn’t expect any less.”

Eldmed looked over at Emilia and her students. “All that’s left is to hope no one gets any more ideas about flying too close to the sun, yes?”

“We won’t get in your way no matter what the higher-ups say,” Raos replied. Eldmed’s cane shifted to point at his face.

“Wonderful, wonderful. Just wonderful. You’ll do what it takes, even if it means defying those in power. Bwa ha ha! That certainly isn’t easy.”

The Conflagration King started clapping his hands in thunderous applause, his cane hovering in midair.

“Wise heroes, why don’t you cooperate with us?” Eldmed asked. “Even wax wings have their uses.”

“I mean, we’d love to help if we could, but...”

“There’s no telling what the Hero Assembly would say,” Ledriano said.

“Bwa ha ha! Ignore them, ignore the lot of them. Why mind the words of fools? If you follow their orders and fail, they’ll blame it on you anyway. But if you ignore them and succeed, you’ll be hailed as heroes. And in the unlikely event they try to incriminate you, come to the Demon King Academy!”

Eldmed cackled with laughter, his words implying that he would offer them refuge, when really, he must have an interest in hero magic.

“In the worst-case scenario,” Heine said, looking at Emilia, “we wouldn’t mind such a development.”

“Don’t worry about the trivial things, and just do what it takes to survive. There’s no point in any of it if you die,” she said, walking forward.

“Where are you going?” Misa asked.

Emilia answered over her shoulder. “I’m going to speak to some fools.”

§ 17. The Demon King’s Disciple

The Withered Desert.

I sat on a coffin of darkness, floating with Fless as the coffin descended the sand staircase. I was descending the well of the holo, the outer wall of the well occasionally flickering and distorting like a glitching mirage. After sealing Anahem in the Behelius I was currently sitting on, I had traveled to the well while sending Leaks to Eleonore.

The holo children had gone into hiding at Anahem’s appearance, and Dilfred hadn’t replied when I sent him a Leaks just now. I made my way through the complex well without any guide, and eventually the staircase came to an end. Burning white sand soon came into view. Just like the desert outside, pure white flames rose from the sand, and faint sparks of fire danced through the air. Those sparks were being drawn into a single point—the azure oasis at the center of the sand.

Any spark that came into contact with the water vanished. Was this where the firedew sparks originally meant for the Celestial Canopy ended up, transforming into water at the bottom of the well?

High-pitched giggles rang through the air—by the oasis, the holo children were splashing each other with water. Dilfred stood by himself a short distance away, starting at the azure oasis with his Divine Eyes of Depth.

“Figure anything out?” I asked, approaching him from behind.

But Dilfred showed no reaction.

“It’s no good. Mr. God of Depth said he’d think for a bit, then completely stopped responding to everything.”

The holo boy wrapped in rags—Vade—came up to us and replied in Dilfred’s stead. Hmm. So he’s lost in his thoughts again.

Dilfred’s body was frozen in place, the only notable activity being the tremendous amount of magic that was gathering in his Divine Eyes. He had become so focused on his thoughts that he could no longer hear the outside world.

“Is this where the holo are born?” I asked Vade.

“Pshwaaah!” Vade shouted, leaping into the air. “The water bursts from the oasis, and we float up to the surface. Cool, isn’t it?”

He grinned smugly.

Dilfred was gazing into both the abyss of the vanishing firedew and the holo born from the oasis. It’d probably be best to wait until he reached a conclusion.

“By the way, Mr. Misfit. What’s that?” Vade asked, approaching the coffin I was riding with a curious look.

“Where did you hear that word from?” I asked.

“Mr. God of Depth called you that,” he replied, before asking again, “so what’s this?”

Vade knocked on the lid of the coffin.

“It’s Anahem’s coffin,” I said.

“Gyaaah!” Vade leaped back in panic. “Y-You brought him here?! Wh-What are you going to do to us?!”

“There’s nothing to fear. He’s dead.”

“Huh?”

Vade blinked, then nervously inched forward. “Did you kill Anahem, Mr. Misfit?”

“It was easy enough,” I replied.

“But he revives even if he perishes, you know? Did you really destroy him?” he asked in amazement.

“He’s sealed in this coffin, fated to die over and over again,” I explained. “He can’t perish if he never stops dying. And if he can’t perish, he can never reach the demise that he controls.”

“Seriously? I don’t really understand what you just said...but wow! You’re a really cool misfit, mister. Awesome!”

Now totally relieved, Vade approached the coffin again and knocked a fist against the lid.

“Serves you right for scaring us so many times!” he taunted the coffin. “Take that, zombie Anahem! Don’t look down on the holo!”

Hmm. Childish, but that was to be expected. Yet what Vade said contradicted Anahem’s denial of the holo’s existence.

“Have you met Anahem before?” I asked.

“No, never. They say he’ll kill anyone he finds alive in the Withered Desert. If we meet him, we’ll die!”

Considering Anahem’s personality, that was no surprise.

“How did you escape from him? It couldn’t have been easy to hide from the God of Demise.”

“Heh heh heh! If we run to the bottom of this well, Anahem will think the holo village is just a mirage. It’s a holo trick! Cool, right?”

A holo trick, huh? Who could have taught them that? They also knew about Anahem despite never meeting him. Their births couldn’t be a mere coincidence either.

“Does the God of Demise know about the holo children?”

“I don’t think so! He might have noticed something weird now and then, but from what I can tell, he’s stupid.”

I burst out laughing at those words. “That would be correct.”

In which case, Anahem was only here to chase Dilfred out of the Withered Desert.

“Say, Mr. Misfit.”

Vade knocked on the coffin as though to draw my attention.

“Please make me your disciple!” he said.

I looked over at him. “Oh?”

“Can you teach me how to make this coffin? If I know how to beat up Anahem, we can go outside and walk anywhere we want! And I want to know what the outside world is like!”

“What would you do outside?”

“The outside is amazing, isn’t it? So much to see and lots of fun stuff to do. And I want to do it all! There’s nothing in the Withered Desert.”

Vade wiggled his arms in excitement and gave me a look.

“What’s outside like, Mr. Misfit? You’ve done a bunch of traveling, right? So you must have seen a lot. Tell me all about it!” he said in quick succession.

“Hmm. Well, outside has a lot of things. You guys were born in the Withered Desert, one of the areas of the Round Garden, Da Qu Kadarte. There are another three divine domains in the Round Garden, and countless other domains outside that. The whole place is called the Firmament of the Gods, the nation of the gods. If you go through the gate of the Divine Realm, you’ll end up in either the nation of the demons, where I was born, or the nation of the humans.”

I drew a three-dimensional map with magic particles, showing him the Firmament and the earth.

“The village is here,” I said, pointing.

“Awesome! So the world is this big?! That’s so cool!” Vade said excitedly. He stared intently at the map with sparkling eyes for a long moment, then turned back to me with a gasp. “Come on, Mr. Misfit. Make me your disciple and show me the world!”

“Then let me teach you one thing.”

I slowly drew a magic circle in the air. Particles of magic gathered, forming the coffin of darkness, Behelius.

“Copy that if you want to be my disciple.”

Vade imitated my gestures, manipulating his magic power as he did. It was clear he had talent; his fingertips moved the magic with almost practiced ease. He drew a magic circle identical to the one I had just made, and upon completing the circle particles began gathering to form Behelius.

“Oh?”

“How’s that? I did it! I’m not the elder for nothing! I’m amazing!” Vade shouted in excitement.

I had my suspicions that he was no normal human, but in no way did I think he could copy Behelius perfectly in one try. How curious.

Who created the holo, and for what purpose? What did their existence in Da Qu Kadarte mean?

“Hey! Say something already, Mr. Misfit!” Vade exclaimed, interrupting my thoughts. “Is it no good?”

“Your talent left me speechless for a moment.”

Vade grinned smugly. “Then you’ll make me your disciple, right?”

“I have some business to attend to, but I’ll consider your request. And if I do end up agreeing, it’ll have to wait until afterwards.”

“When will you be done? In an hour?” Vade asked, climbing onto Anahem’s floating coffin.

“Bwa ha ha. Don’t rush me. We can’t do anything until Dilfred returns from the abyss of his thoughts.”

Just then, a serious voice called out.

“Did you defeat Anahem, Misfit?”

I looked over to see Dilfred had turned his head our way.

“I see you sentenced the God of Demise to an endless death. You truly are a master at frightening the gods.”

“It doesn’t feel like I do when you tell me with such a deadpan face, Dilfred,” I replied.

I made the coffin of darkness fly towards the God of Depth.

“Well? Did you see the abyss?” I asked.

Dilfred turned to the oasis once more. “This water gathers the firedew that remains after the flames disappear and transforms it into life. Over time, little by little, the holo children come into being. It’s clear that the firedew of the Withered Desert is being stolen here.”

“Who’s behind it?”

“As they are being formed in the Withered Desert, the first suspect would be the God of Demise, Anahem.”

“I see.”

I rose from the coffin of darkness using Fless.

“Get back, Vade.”

“Wah! Waaah!”

Vade jumped off Anahem’s coffin in a hurry as it tilted to stand vertically upright, sticking into the sand.

“The perpetually dying God of Demise is having a recurring nightmare through Nedneliaz. If I connect that dream here, we can speak to him directly,” I said.

I sent magic into Behelius and a small window opened, revealing Anahem’s face. He opened his eyes immediately.

“What a dull dream,” Anahem said, glancing at Vade and the other holo children. “It is impossible for there to be life in the Withered Desert that I am unaware of.”

“Unfortunately, this is real, God of Demise. There’s something I want to ask you, so I’m temporarily projecting reality into your nightmare,” I said.

Anahem’s brows furrowed.

“Anahem,” Dilfred said, taking over the questioning. “As the master of the Withered Desert, you have defied order to create the holo children. That is what I have surmised from this situation.” He stared into Anahem’s abyss. “Why have you, a god of the Four Principles, chosen to disturb order?”

“You dare make such foolish, false accusations against me?”

Behelius rattled loudly as it vibrated.

“I will crawl out of here and end every life in the Withered Desert myself.”

The coffin of darkness creaked in protest at his struggles. Even though he was dying at this very moment, the God of Demise was as stubborn as ever.

“Now, let’s check how true that really is,” I said.

The window of the coffin slammed shut, silencing Anahem. I then altered Nedneliaz to show him a new dream.

“Hmm... I see,” I said. “I changed his dream to show his current desires, and he immediately destroyed the holo children and the well after leaving the coffin.”

Dilfred folded his hands together in thought.

“Anahem may be the god governing this divine domain, but I cannot see that headstrong man putting up such an elaborate act to fool us,” I said.

“Aye, that thought is worth consideration.”

“The holo children were able to avoid Anahem’s notice by hiding in this well. In other words, there’s a trick here that can evade the God of Demise’s Divine Eyes.”

“Aye,” Dilfred agreed. “Change surpasses demise. If the God of Change, Gaetenaros, was behind this, then it would be possible indeed.”

§ 18. The Goddess of Birth and the God of Change

The Celestial Canopy.

The tune of Gaetenaros’s Flute of Change echoed through the round sky.

“Let’s change, let’s shift, let’s transform,” the God of Change spoke in a sing-song voice. “Like the night sky, like the autumn sky.”

The branch of the giant tree Wenzel was standing on instantly transformed into a whirl of scattered leaves. Every branch in the Celestial Canopy followed suit, leaving her nothing to stand on.

“You shall fall into the sky,” Gaetenaros continued. “Yes, the constantly transforming, endless sky that continues on forever.”

Wenzel fell through the sky, body turned upside down as though to obey the fierce modulation in Idydroend’s melody. The entire Celestial Canopy had been transformed into sky. The exits to the Withered Desert and Mother Sea vanished, making it impossible to reach either domain no matter how far she fell. The sky had changed in such a way that made Wenzel fall continuously, without end—and accelerate while doing so.

“My order is change. It’s no match for your birth, but I can simply change my order into an order that can take you on.”

The song changed again, playing a tune lush and dense in the manner of an overgrown forest. The scattering leaves gathered in front of Gaetenaros, moving into a sticklike formation until transforming into a wooden staff that twisted into a spiral at either end. The spiral itself had no beginning or end.

“How’s that?” Gaetenaros said. “It’s Bostum, Dilfred’s Staff of Depth. An order you’re weak to.”

Gaetenaros played his song further, transforming more scattered leaves into spiral staves. Over a hundred Staves of Depth surrounded Wenzel as she continued falling.

“What was it again, that thing Dilfred specialized in? Hmm... Abyss something... Right, Abyssal Thorns!”

Idydroend’s tune transitioned to a melody of peace and tranquility. The floating spiral staves drew a magic circle, and within grew minuscule thorns that could only be seen by straining one’s Eyes.

“Now, let us sing.”

The melody of Gaetenaros’s flute gradually began to build, and as it did, a hundred thorns shot towards Wenzel. They weren’t that fast, but in the Celestial Canopy, where Fless couldn’t be used, and without having anything to stand on, Wenzel had no means of evading the attack.

The tiny thorns penetrated her navy shield easily, sinking into her body.

“It’s useless, don’t you remember? Dilfred said those thorns can pierce the abyss of all life!”

“Right...” Wenzel muttered, hampered by the pain of a hundred thorns passing through her life. “But the Abyssal Thorns require Dilfred’s Divine Eyes of Depth to be truly effective... If I were to borrow his words, all living beings have a single keystone. When that keystone is stabbed, even the smallest blade can cause a collapse.”

She held a hand over her body and drew a magic circle.

“Attacking whimsically with just numbers will only create tiny wounds that have no impact.”

She sent her magic into the circle, and her abdomen started glowing with faint light. The tiny thorns left her body one after another.

“Rise, my adorable children.”

Light wrapped around the tiny thorns and changed them into seeds. The seeds split open, each one rapidly blooming into a giant tree. Dozens of trees then spread their roots across the Celestial Canopy, covering the endless sky.

“The Abyssal Thorns were originally leaves of the Celestial Canopy. It was careless of you to let the order of change enter my body, Gaetenaros.”

In no time at all, the Celestial Canopy returned to its original overgrown form.

“Is that so? I can make you fall as many times as I want. This is my domain, after all,” Gaetenaros replied.

The moment Gaetenaros brought the Flute of Change up to his mouth, Wenzel threw her navy shield Avrohelian to knock it away from him.

“Are you sure you should have thrown your precious shield away?” he asked. He reached for the flute as it flew through the air.

“I won’t let you!” Wenzel cried out.

Wenzel pulled more thorns out of her body to use them as throwing knives. They stabbed into Gaetenaros’s right arm, but he grabbed the Flute of Change without a care. Green wind immediately blew into the flute, playing a song.

“It’s too bad. I know you’re trying to make the seeds bloom in my body, but take a closer look,” Gaetenaros said.

Wind swirled around his body, sheltering him within a tornado.

“I’ve already turned those thorns back into wind.”

“Those are just the Abyssal Thorns you changed, though?”

Wenzel held her hand out, and Gaetenaros’s expression twisted. A single thorn had managed to enter his arm, and started to bloom.

“Gah!”

Gaetenaros clenched his teeth and blew into Idydroend. A quiet song played, but the sprout continued to grow from his arm.

“Th-This...is yours...” the God of Change groaned.

“Yes. One of the thorns I threw was one I newly created. You can play your song all you like, but you’ll never be able to control new life like I can.”

The sprout bloomed in no time at all, bursting out of Gaetenaros’s arm.

“Urk... Ugh... Uuugh...”

The tree’s roots pierced through his divine body in search of nutrients, wrapping around him like chains as they absorbed his magic power. The Flute of Change fell out of his hand, and the tree wrapped around that too. Gaetenaros struggled for a while, but eventually gave up with a sigh.

“Oh, fine. I lose. How dull,” the God of Change grumbled. “Well? What do you plan on doing to me? Kill me like you killed the others?”

“Like I said before, multiple times now, I am not the God of Culling. I just want you to stay still for a while.”

“I doubt that... But fine. Waiting around is boring though, so excuse me while I sing a little song.”

Despite being cornered and restrained, Gaetenaros shrugged casually and began singing. Whether it was intentional or due to the tree root restraints, the song carried no magic.

It was clear Gaetenaros had lost his fighting spirit. Wenzel sighed in relief. Just then, flower petals fluttered down in front of her.

“Rauzel,” she said.

The petals transformed into Rauzel, the God of Bloom.

“That was a shock!” he exclaimed. “One moment the Celestial Canopy is raging, the next you and Gaetenaros are fighting. Is everything okay?”

“That’s what I should be asking. There’s no telling when the God of Culling will be back. Let’s move your domain to the Mother Sea.”

“Hmm. Can I ask one thing first, Wenzel?” I interrupted using Leaks.

“What is it?”

“Can you stay in the Celestial Canopy and search the domain? There’s a possibility Gaetenaros was messing around in Anahem’s domain and stealing the firedew there. He might have left something in the canopy.”

“In Anahem’s domain? Of course I can look...but do you have any idea where?”

“Start by searching the border to the Withered Desert.”

Wenzel nodded. “Please wait here a bit, Rauzel. If the God of Culling appears again, call for me immediately.”

She leaped onto one of the branches growing from Gaetenaros.

“Pardon me, Gaetenaros. I’m going to borrow a little of your magic.”

The Goddess of Birth drew a magic circle with her finger, and the tree roots absorbed more of Gaetenaros’s magic to extend the branch Wenzel was standing on.

“Gah... Waaaaaaaaah! Y-You really are trying to kill me!”

“You won’t die from a little magic. Be a good boy and endure it for a bit. You’re one of the Four Principles, no?”

The branch extended further and further to the background music of Gaetenaros’s screams, taking Wenzel all the way to the edge of the Celestial Canopy. Before long, white smoke could be seen drifting through the darkness of the night sky—firedew smoke from the Withered Desert. The smoke shimmered like a mirage, producing a vague image.

The smoke should have transformed into wind in the Celestial Canopy, but this firedew remained in its smoke form, swirling around a single spot.

“What’s that?” Wenzel said.

Curious, she extended a branch towards the smoke. The moment the branch entered the smoke, the blurry image became clear.

She was inside what appeared to be a room within a castle of smoke. Just like the aurora temple in the Mother Sea, countless bubbles of holy water filled this room as well. Whatever was in the bubbles had already left, but the firedew smoke was still entering the bubbles and activating a spell formula.

“Can you tell what it is?”

“A formula to steal firedew and create gods, I think...”

With her order of birth, Wenzel was able to see what was happening right away. The army of gods that was invading the earth and underground world had probably been sent from here.

“Come here,” Wenzel said to a branch she grabbed.

The extended branch retracted at once, with the God of Change, still screaming, flying over along with the roots.

“What is your problem?! Can I not even hum to myself?” Gaetenaros complained. But when he spotted the bubbles of holy water before him, his eyes widened.

“Answer me, Gaetenaros. What is the meaning of this?” Wenzel asked sharply, but the God of Change was frozen still as he stared.

“Why... Why is this in my Celestial Canopy?” Gaetenaros asked with a shocked look.

“You didn’t do this?”

“Don’t ask such a hateful boring question. I am one of the Four Principles—I protect the order of the Round Garden. I have no reason to steal the firedew. More importantly, aren’t you the only one who could do something like this here, Wenzel?”

Gaetenaros shot Wenzel an accusatory look, but she brushed him off easily.

“I have no reason to do such a thing either,” she said.

Wenzel spread her arms and released her magic power. The bubbles of holy water were absorbed into her and vanished, one after another.

“Demon King Anos, who could have done this?” Wenzel asked.

“Who knows? The first suspect that comes to mind is whoever stole Delsgade and Everastanzetta, but we don’t know for sure. For now, come to the Withered Desert and bring Gaetenaros. Anahem and Dilfred are here too.”

Misha and Sasha were searching Nature’s Keep. Once they were done, I’d summon them over too.

“Understood. We’ll get moving right away—”

Wenzel paused without finishing her sentence and whirled around in realization. At the center of the vast room was a giant door of god. Wenzel’s Divine Eyes were focused on the other side of the open door, where the sky of the earth could be seen.

The Sun of Destruction waned further, nearly half of it now gone. The solar eclipse was proceeding faster than expected. While we had gotten closer to the truth, we were still some ways off from finding Delsgade and Everastanzetta. And even if we found them, there was no guarantee we could retrieve them immediately.

After all, they had been stolen from right under my and Misha’s noses. There was no choice but for Lay and the others to buy us more time.

§ 19. Round Table Assembly Hall

Gairadite, Hero Assembly Palace.

The current gathering place of the Hero Assembly was built on the former site of the royal palace. The Round Table Assembly Hall within the repurposed space was the backbone of Gairadite’s current government—every law and policy in Azesion was discussed and decided here.

However, the shift to this new legislative assembly was still in progress, and the Hero Assembly, which was at the center of it all, had yet to function at its full potential.

“I’m telling you,” Emilia said, tone harsh and firm, at the Round Table, “Leiacanetts is incapable of sealing the Sun of Destruction! You’re wasting the efforts of the Hero Academy students and all the holy water we have!”

She was making an earnest appeal against the use of Leiacanetts on Sarjieldenav. But her clear and thorough explanation had fallen on the deaf ears of the assembly members, the ones who actually made decisions on behalf of all of Azesion. They still insisted on suppressing the Sun of Destruction.

“This is not solely my opinion. The Hero Academy, Mr. Eldmed of the Demon King Academy, and Demon King Anos Voldigoad are all in agreement on this matter.”

The assembly members listened to Emilia’s argument with contemplative looks.

“If I may, Headmaster Emilia,” one member said, his face reminiscent of a sly old fox. He was Sival, King of Legrand, part of the allied nations of Azesion. “You’ve explained how the Sun of Destruction is too great for us to deal with. Does that mean you wish for us to sit by and do nothing? The fate of Azesion is our responsibility.”

“Dilhade is already preparing to deal with the Sun of Destruction. Azesion’s savior, Hero Kanon, is leading the plans. What do you have to be concerned about?” Emilia replied.

Sival sighed and shook his head as though what she said disappointed him, but did not actually reply to object.

“King Legrand, if there’s something you wish to say—”

“Former hero,” another voice interrupted. “The king of Legrand wishes to correct your terminology. It should be former hero.”

The one who spoke was the King of Portos, Enrique.

“Hero Kanon is indeed the figure of our legends. And the people hold him in high regard,” Enrique said. “But we formed the Hero Assembly to put the old Azesion behind us. For an equal and fair society to form in each of our countries we all decided to abolish the nobility and its privileges. And as the symbol of equality and fairness, the Hero Assembly cannot allow the former Hero Kanon any privileges.”

“All I said is that he is our ally. I said nothing about granting him privileges of any sort,” Emilia replied firmly. “We use Hero Kanon’s power to repel this threat to our nation. Nothing more, nothing less.”

A third king—Katnes of Nebrahile—interjected.

“If I recall correctly, Hero Kanon goes by the name of Lay Grandsley and currently attends the Demon King Academy. But as a demon lord, he’ll come to govern an area of Dilhade?”

“How is that relevant to the matter at hand?” Emilia asked.

King Katnes smiled calmly. “Someone as wise as you should know already, Headmaster Emilia. If Hero Kanon exterminates the Sun of Destruction, we will become indebted to Dilhade.”

“Hmm. Yes. That would become troublesome later,” King Sival said.

“What in particular are you calling troublesome?” Emilia asked.

“Now now, Headmaster Emilia. I understand how you feel, but please remain calm,” King Portos said sternly.

“You don’t understand. None of you do. How can you understand me when you keep thinking of later? If you don’t bring the Sun of Destruction down right this moment, by any means necessary, there will be no Azesion left to debate!”

King Sival let out a big, aggrieved sigh. “Yes, as you’ve already said. You’ve also said that since the Sun of Destruction is hiding its magic power, we cannot properly detect the danger.”

“It’s not hiding its magic power! Its power is so vast you cannot sense it!”

“The details don’t matter. Either way, we cannot see its magic.”

Emilia’s jaw dropped in disbelief. The two ideas were completely different. And in this case, the Sun of Destruction was so powerful, one could die just by feeling its magic.

“Azesion may be erased from the map. We are confronting this war with that in mind.”

“With that in mind?” Emilia repeated. It clearly wasn’t a matter of mental attitude. “I’m sorry, but the three of you still seem to be struggling to understand me.”

“I assure you that we do,” King Sival replied. “The situation is terrible. That is why the Hero Academy must succeed at casting Leiacanetts by any means necessary.”

Emilia gritted her teeth. They had been going around in circles for some time now.

“What exactly are you objecting to, Headmaster Emilia?” he asked. “The magic power cannot be seen. An attack large enough to wipe Azesion from the map is about to occur. Hero Kanon will eliminate the Sun of Destruction. We’ve listened to your explanation and agreed to your plan. We’ve even compromised by not sending away the Dilhade forces entirely. The least you could do is agree to the use of Leiacanetts, no?”

“So you don’t care about whether Leiacanetts works or not...” Emilia muttered, her voice low. She finally understood why their discussion was going nowhere: Although they were on the same side, the Hero Assembly were also probing her intentions.

“So as long as the people believe Leiacanetts played a part in eliminating the Sun of Destruction, you’ll be happy, yes?” she asked.

“Watch your words, Headmaster Emilia,” Sival said angrily. “Ideals will not save anyone. The people need something to believe in. If they come to believe the Hero Assembly cannot protect them, Azesion will collapse.”

He crossed his arms and sighed.

“She may have some human blood in her, but she’s not a real human,” Katnes muttered quietly.

“Katnes,” Sival chided. “You watch your words too. Headmaster Emilia has worked hard for the sake of Azesion, and we should treat her as a fellow member of the assembly.”

“My apologies. That was inexcusable.”

Katnes bowed his head at Emilia and held it there.

“It’s fine. That doesn’t bother me,” Emilia said.

“Thank you for your forgiveness.”

“Of course, we understand you have a position to maintain too,” Sival said to Emilia in a roundabout way.

“And is that because I’m a demon—”

“Your attention please, everyone.”

The moment Emilia opened her mouth, President Lloyd spoke for the first time to interrupt the discussion. “Let’s take a recess. We will resume in one hour.”

Sival and the others stood up and left the Round Table. Some lingered to watch Emilia, who stood facing the floor, expression obscured, but Lloyd urged them out of the hall.

“I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do without their agreement,” he said regretfully, once he and Emilia were the only ones left.

“I know...”

“Take a break,” he said, before leaving the room.

King Sival of Legrand, King Enrique of Portos, King Katnes of Nebrahile. It was only because these three large countries had given up their royalty that the Hero Academy possessed any meaningful power. If there hadn’t been any kings willing to lead the change, no one would have followed. The congress would have ended as a pipe dream.

The Hero Assembly was formed by those who couldn’t stand the previously corrupt government of Gairadite; Sival, Enrique, and Katnes among them. The assembly gathered those with the dream to one day make their ideal nation reality—but that ideal varied from person to person, and there were some things they weren’t willing to concede.

But Emilia’s sights were set on something far closer than the future.

“How ironic...” she said to the Bell of Thoughts at her neck. “This time, I’m the one being discriminated against for not being human...”

Emilia stared out the window. The Sun of Destruction’s solar eclipse had progressed to almost halfway through.

“He should’ve made me a full human instead of mixed blood...”

“But in that case, you’d just be told to ignore the demons instead.”

“Huh?”

Emilia startled at the sound of Anosh’s voice coming through the Bell of Thoughts.

“Anosh...?”

“No matter where you stand, there will always be hardships.”

Emilia was connected to Eleonore via a magic link. I was able to get my voice to reach her from the Divine Realm through the Bell of Thoughts, which amplified the link. But since I was going through the item, I couldn’t speak to her as Demon King Anos.

“Don’t scare me like that,” Emilia replied, relaxing a bit. “And you sound like a know-it-all again. Why have you never answered me before?”

“Sorry. I was a little occupied with things.”

Emilia frowned. “Don’t tell me you’re participating in the war against the army of gods. Or are you going to the Sun of Destruction with Lay?”

“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” I replied, instead of answering her question, “but I can’t just sit back and watch as my hometown gets razed to the ground. Stopping that sun is the duty of those with power.”

“If only I were stronger...” Emilia mumbled, biting her lip.

“No point lamenting what doesn’t exist.”

Emilia fell silent.

“There must be something only you can do. Use that power on the battlefield, Emilia.”

I cut off our Leaks.

“Anosh?” she called. “Don’t just say what you want and leave...”

She sighed tiredly, but pulled herself together immediately after and raised her head.

“This is not the time for a drawn-out discussion... With Dilhade too...”

With a grim look on her face, Emilia used Fless and left through the window. She patrolled the city, observing Gairadite from the sky. After flying for some time, a voice called her from below.

“Headmaster Emilia!”

There were humans waving at her on the street. Emilia slowly descended to land beside them. A large crowd of people gathered around her, one person speaking immediately once Emilia’s feet touched the ground.

“We heard that enemies appeared near Gairadite! Is everything okay?” they asked.

“Yes. Reinforcements arrived from Dilhade, so we joined forces to drive away the enemy. I’m sure you must have been worried. Rest assured, there’s no problem with Gairadite’s defenses.”

Relieved looks spread across the crowd. Two housewives, standing in the crowd, immediately started to chat.

“Oh, thank goodness. I was starting to actually feel hopeless.”

“I told you it’d be all right. Headmaster Emilia’s got it handled. My son said there’s nothing to worry about too.”

“Honestly. Whenever Headmaster Diego showed his face, it was to throw us all into war! But Headmaster Emilia shows herself in town a lot, so it’s much more reassuring.”

“That’s right. Why don’t we ask about the other thing?”

“But...won’t that cause her trouble?”

“It’s just a question! It can’t hurt to try.”

Emilia’s attention was drawn to their exchange.

“Excuse me, what are you talking about?” she asked.

“Oh, it’s just a little thing,” one of the housewives said. “You know how the students of the Hero Academy are working so hard at the holy lake? We were wondering if we could maybe send them some refreshments.”

“So sorry to ask this of you when you’re already so busy,” the other housewife said. “But the students are casting a spell to stop that creepy sun up there, right? They must need something to eat. Although I’m sure the food we make can’t compare to the chefs of Arclanisca.”

“Don’t worry about that!” the first housewife replied. “They’re growing children, they’ll eat anything, and a lot of it! Raos and Heine both eat enough for a small country. Ledriano too, though you’d never guess from his appearance!”

“That’s right!” her friend said, visibly more confident. “They’re protecting Gairadite for us, so it’s the least we could do!”

“But that doesn’t mean we want to interrupt them at all.”

“We could just give it to them quickly and leave! They won’t be able to muster their strength if they’re hungry.”

It seemed like Ledriano and the others had become famous at some point among the housewives of Gairadite. Emilia gave the noisy women a strained smile.

“Refreshments would be a great help. I’m sure the students would love it,” she said.

“See! What did I tell you? Let’s get to it!”

The housewives cheered with excitement. They must have really wanted to do something for the students working so hard for their sake to protect Gairadite.

“Um, Headmaster Emilia. Are you injured?” one woman asked worriedly.

The sleeve of Emilia’s shirt was ripped and stained with blood.

“It’s just a scratch, don’t worry,” Emilia said. “The bleeding will stop soon enough.”

“Oh no! That won’t do. You have to look after yourself. Leave this to me,” one man said. He took a potion bottle out of his bag and approached her. The potion contained faint traces of magic, and the man used it to soak some bandages he had. From his confident movements, he was probably a doctor or apothecary.

“I can use healing magic,” Emilia protested.

“No no, you have to conserve your magic power. It’s okay, I guarantee this potion is effective. The best of Gairadite!”

“Ooh! If it’s a potion from Gettz, you can trust it!” someone in the crowd shouted. “And this guy may have a scary face, but there’s no doubting his skills.”

“How my face looks is irrelevant!” the man named Gettz snapped as he cut Emilia’s sleeve with scissors and swiftly treated her with the potion-soaked bandage. In all honesty, it was a wound so minor Emilia didn’t even see the need to deal with it before going to the assembly hall, but she was reluctant to stymie the efforts of the townspeople who were clearly eager to help.

“But that sun really is creepy, huh...” one citizen murmured. “I’ve never seen a solar eclipse so terrifying before.”

“I wonder what will happen...” said another.

“As long as it isn’t a return of the deepest darkness...”

“There’s no need to fear. Gairadite has Headmaster Emilia and the heroes!” another shouted.

“Ha ha, no doubt there.”

Emilia hung her head.

“But Headmaster, don’t push yourself too hard,” one citizen said to her. “You’ve been at it nonstop for days; we’re all worried that you’re not taking enough breaks.”

“Yes, if you collapsed now, Gairadite would be over. We don’t even know what the Hero Assembly is up to,” another citizen piped up.

“Idiot! Don’t say that out loud!”

Emilia hung her head even lower, clenching her fists tight and desperately hoping that the tears that dripped onto the back of her hands were well hidden.

“It’s okay,” she said in a determined voice. “We will protect Gairadite and Azesion no matter what.”

§ 20. The God of Culling’s Identity

The Withered Desert.

Deep inside the mirage well, Dilfred and I were waiting. Beside us was the coffin of darkness with Anahem inside. The holo children were running around the oasis, splashing each other with water.

“Looks like she’s here,” Dilfred said.

Wenzel flew over from the staircase. Behind her was the God of Change, Gaetenaros, bound by tree roots. Wenzel landed in front of me and made Gaetenaros float over.

“Sorry to keep you waiting, Anos, Dilfred,” Wenzel said.

“Long time no see, Wenzel,” Dilfred replied.

Wenzel smiled. “Yes, it’s been a while. It’s nice to see you’re in good health.”

“Nay. My thoughts have only brought me turmoil recently.”

Dilfred looked over at the holo children. Wenzel followed his gaze over and—like the others—reacted with shock.

“They were born with the firedew of the Withered Desert,” Dilfred explained.

Wenzel was silent for a moment, serious and deep in thought, before speaking again. “Why would this happen in the Round Garden of Principles?” she asked. “Something similar happened in the Celestial Canopy. An army of gods was being created there from stolen firedew.”

“Eleonore searched the Mother Sea and found the same,” I said.

Wenzel’s eyes widened. “Is the God of Culling behind this?”

“Hold that thought. They’ll be here soon.”

As soon as I said that, two girls flew over from the staircase—Sasha and Misha. They landed immediately beside me.

“These two have been searching Nature’s Keep,” I said, gesturing to Sasha and Misha. “And it seems stolen firedew has been found in three of the domains of Da Qu Kadarte. Is there any chance of something similar in Nature’s Keep?”

“Nay,” Dilfred said, tone deadly serious. “I am constantly staring into the abyss of Nature’s Keep. Even if there was a spot my Divine Eyes cannot reach, my thoughts would discover the abnormality.”

I glanced at Misha and Sasha, and they nodded.

“Dilfred is right. There was nothing in Nature’s Keep,” Sasha said.

“Are you sure about that? Maybe you just couldn’t find it!” Gaetenaros said lightly.

Misha shook her head. “We searched all of it.”

“Does that mean Nature’s Keep is the only place where a contraption to steal the firedew couldn’t be created?” Wenzel asked.

I nodded. “The person who attacked the God of Bloom and killed the other gods in the Celestial Canopy is most likely also behind the missing firedew and the disturbance in Da Qu Kadarte’s order. I cannot imagine two events disturbing order in the Firmament of the Gods happening simultaneously by coincidence.”

I sent magic into Nedneliaz and connected Anahem’s dream to this reality. A small window opened in the coffin, and he opened his eyes.

“Only the Four Principles can interfere with the firedew of the Firmament,” I said.

The God of Demise Anahem, the God of Change Gaetenaros, the God of Depth Dilfred, and the Goddess of Change Wenzel focused their attention on me.

“In other words, the God of Culling who stole the firedew and destroyed the gods in the Celestial Canopy is with us right now.”

Silence fell around us, with only the carefree laughter of the holo children in the background.

“In that case,” Gaetenaros said first, “wouldn’t Dilfred be the most suspicious? I mean, how come Nature’s Keep is the only place safe from the firedew thief? Because he didn’t build a spot to steal the firedew there, that’s why!”

The God of Change made his accusation in a lighthearted tone. “What if he skipped his own domain on purpose, to avoid suspicion?”

“Nay. If I were the God of Culling, I would have had to create magic to steal the firedew in the Withered Desert,” Dilfred refuted firmly. “But demise overcomes depth. The order of the God of Depth cannot easily interfere with the firedew of the Withered Desert. Even if I managed to do so, Anahem would notice immediately.”

Dilfred turned to the oasis creating the holo children. His argument was that it was impossible for the order of depth to create such a thing.

“Well, I suppose you have a point there,” Gaetenaros said. “So it has to be you, Goddess of Birth. As I suspected from the beginning, you gave birth to the God of Culling.”

“The Goddess of Birth is capable of birthing a god that kills gods,” Dilfred agreed.

Gaetenaros giggled in amusement. “See?”

“But in order to stray that far from order,” Dilfred continued, “she would need to use the firedew to cast such magic. The flow of firedew was normal when she departed from the Round Garden of Principles.”

“So the Goddess of Birth’s long absence from Da Qu Kadarte makes it impossible for her to have birthed the God of Culling,” I interpreted.

The Goddess of Birth couldn’t have destroyed the gods in the Celestial Canopy. At that time, she had been traveling towards Da Qu Kadarte. And it was hard, just in general, to imagine her stealing the firedew as the God of Culling.

I continued. “Anahem cannot be the God of Culling either. The Celestial Canopy’s firedew was being stolen too, and he wouldn’t be able to do such a thing there, since change surpasses demise.”

In the first place, Anahem’s order of demise wasn’t suited for creating holo children or an army of gods. Even if he could pull it off in his own divine domain, it would be an impossible feat to do the same in other domains. Especially in the Celestial Canopy, where he had the worst compatibility with that domain’s order. Add this with his impulsive personality, and it was enough to negate him as the God of Culling.

“Huh? So who’s the God of Culling then?” Gaetenaros said.

“What about you, God of Change?” I asked.

“Me? No way. Why would I bother to do something so troublesome?” Gaetenaros said with a laugh.

“It would be easy for you to set up magic to steal firedew in your own domain. Then you could change your magic power into the order of birth to create the God of Culling,” I said.

“Sure, I could do that. But why would I?” Gaetenaros asked, completely unfazed.

“There was firedew being stolen in the Mother Sea too. Birth exceeds change. Your order might be useless in the Mother Sea, but in the Goddess of Birth’s long absence, you could have changed your order into the order of depth and created an army of gods in the Mother Sea.”

Depth outweighed birth—it would be easy for Dilfred’s order of depth to interfere with the Mother Sea.

“Okay, that all seems possible,” Gaetenaros said, showing no concern at all.

I continued my explanation.

“Change surpasses demise. This means you could steal the firedew in the Withered Desert. Using the order of change, you could transform the firedew into the humans called holo.”

Dilfred, Anahem, and Wenzel’s Divine Eyes focused on the God of Change.

“However, you were unable to deceive Dilfred’s Divine Eyes, since he constantly stares into the abyss of Nature’s Keep.”

Even if Gaetenaros transformed into the order of demise, Dilfred would detect the abnormality even while he was lost in his thoughts.

“And that’s why there’s no firedew being stolen from Nature’s Keep?” Gaetenaros replied. “Are you saying I did all of that? Stealing the firedew to create human children and an army of gods? For what purpose?”

“Who knows? But even a moron could figure it out. The Celestial Canopy, Mother Sea, and Withered Desert—the only god that could steal the firedew from these three domains is the God of Change.”

I pointed straight in the direction of Gaetenaros. “Thus, you are the God of Culling—”

Gaetenaros, who had been all smiles this whole time, levered a sharp glare at me. Wind magic swirled around his body in a menacing gale.

I finished my sentence.

“—Vade.”

The God of Change whirled around in shock. Right behind him, in the direction I had pointed, was the holo child Vade. Gaetenaros gave me a puzzled look.

“What do you mean?” Gaetenaros asked.

“As I said, even a moron could figure it out. The only one capable of stealing the firedew in those three domains is you. But why would you call yourself the God of Culling and leave such obvious tracks behind? There are two possible answers: you’re unbelievably foolish, or someone was trying to frame you,” I concluded.

“I see. And you concluded he wasn’t that foolish,” Dilfred said. “Allow me to agree with that judgment.”

Gaetenaros frowned sullenly. Dilfred’s choice of words sat poorly with him.

“Whoever was trying to frame Gaetenaros is the culprit stealing the firedew—the God of Culling himself. However, only the Four Principles of the Firmament of the Gods can interfere with the firedew.”

I slowly walked up to Vade.

“That is, if we only consider gods.”

The Four Principles, Sasha, and Misha all stared at Vade.

“None of that is relevant to a human,” I said. “You can interfere with the firedew and kill the gods all you want. You have no reason to obey order.”

I stopped a few meters away from Vade. Why were the gods killed? Why was the firedew stolen? Even when destruction and creation were evenly balanced, the world was slowly approaching its destruction anyway. That, and the static-like voice that echoed directly in my source—all of it was beginning to connect to a single point.

There was most likely something that had been hidden in the Firmament of the Gods this entire time. Something the Goddess of Creation, the Four Principles, and every other god had failed to notice lurking away. From the first day until now—no, from before the first day...

“Someone not bound to the law and orders of this world. Someone who doesn’t fit—a misfit. That’s what you are, Vade.”

He grinned at my words.

At the same time, the noise in my source echoed.

No.

“You’re wrong, mister,” the holo boy said.

He’s a purist.

“I fit right in.”

Vade smirked smugly.

§ 21. Purist

“Hmm. Then, purist,” I said, “let me ask you this.”

Vade stared back at me without batting an eye. He didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact I had revealed his plans. He was just as childish as when we had first met.

“Why are you doing this?”

“Isn’t it obvious, Mr. Misfit? It’s to cull,” Vade said cheekily. “To cull all those who cannot fit in—who cannot conform—to this world. And after all the inadequate are wiped away, we, the chosen holo children, will remain.”

He puffed up his chest and clenched his fist with pride.

“Outside is where a bunch of inferior species live, right? That’s why I want to go there.”

“Go out there and do what?”

“Didn’t I just tell you? I’ll cull the weak humans, then the sly draconids underground, and finally, you and all your demon friends. And then I’ll be on top of the world! Aren’t I amazing?” Vade asked, with a near-brutal innocence. It was almost like he didn’t know what the word “cull” meant.

“What a fascinating thing to say,” I replied. “Where did you get this idea?”

“I was born with this knowledge. After all, I was born a purist!” Vade said, spreading his arms with a childish excitement. “You were right, mister. I was the one who stole the firedew. And I was the one who killed the gods.”

“Why?” Misha asked sadly.

Vade chuckled. “You’re the Goddess of Creation, Militia, right?”

He perceived her blinking response as an affirmative and continued, voice smug.

“Shall I spell it out for you? You were so worried about the cycle of life, but it was all working as intended. Life is to be culled! The decrease of firedew flow and the destruction of the gods are both natural. Only the few who conform can survive, gods or not. That’s how the world works.”

“That’s wrong,” Misha refuted shortly.

“Then why was I born?” Vade replied at once. “Because Mr. Misfit scrambled so frantically to protect peace, the lives that should have perished failed to do so, no? Thanks to that, order was disturbed, and I was born in the Divine Realm. So that I could quickly cull everyone.”

“I see. So that’s why you stole Delsgade and Everastanzetta,” I said.

“Yep, that was me. I’m going to cull the humans with Sarjieldenav’s Solar Eclipse of the End. Any survivors can just serve me.”

The Solar Eclipse of the End, huh? He must be referring to the total solar eclipse happening on earth right now.

“Stop messing around,” Sasha snapped. “Hurry up and give Sarjieldenav back. Before you regret it.”

“Just try me, old hag,” Vade shot back. “If you destroy me, you’ll never find Delsgade again, and the whole earth will be wiped out.”

Sasha faltered for a brief moment. In that one opening, Vade drew a magic circle.

“Coward. Get culled!”

Wind swirled fiercely.

“Itzelt Jischend.”

A fierce gale of lightning and sleet blew like a storm, flying straight for Sasha as though to cull her with this one blow.

“You...!”

She glared with the Magic Eyes of Destruction, but the Itzelt Jischend didn’t disappear. Misha made an ice shield with Iris, but that was easily pierced through as well.

Misha and Sasha were forced to leap to the side to evade the culling blast. The wind crashed loudly into the inner wall of the well, gouging a hole into it that seemed to go on forever.

“Don’t move, brat,” a low voice ordered.

The Withered Blade, Guzelami, was pointed at Vade’s neck. Anahem had broken out of the Behelius coffin.

“Pardon me. Due to current circumstances, I thought it best to release Anahem,” Dilfred explained. A spiral staff—Bostum, the Staff of Depth—was in his hand. He had used it to break Behelius.

It was no easy feat to destroy the coffin of impregnable darkness, but it made sense if he had used his Eyes to do so rather than brute strength. He must have stared into Behelius’s abyss with the Divine Eyes of Depth to find its weak point.

“You’ve been going on about culling for a while now, kid, but I’ve never heard of a purist before.”

The Flute of Change began to play. Gaetenaros had also been freed from the Goddess of Birth’s tree roots and had directed all his ire towards Vade.

“No matter what you call yourself, as one who has stolen firedew you are an existence against order. You are an enemy of the gods,” Wenzel declared, holding the Life Birthing Shield Avrohelian towards Vade.

“You’re all so stupid,” Vade said, laughing at the four gods surrounding him. He drew a magic circle in front of himself. “All of you exist so that I can exist, you know?”

The next moment, a coffin of darkness appeared behind Anahem. It was the Behelius spell I had just taught Vade.

“Fool,” Anahem spat. “Even the misfit had to surprise me with that from behind. Don’t think it can work against me from head-on—”

It was relatively simple to break through Behelius before the lid of the coffin shut. As someone who had been shut inside, Anahem had been able to see through the spell. And so, with the appearance of this new coffin, he used his physical and magical strength to crush the coffin.

But he couldn’t. He stopped as though his power had been sealed, and was swallowed by Behelius instantly.

“What?!” Anahem shouted.

The lid of the coffin shut, cursing Anahem to eternal death once again.

“Heh heh! I only just learned this spell, but I guess that means I’m better at it than the original! I really am the coolest!” Vade declared, beaming from ear to ear.

Dilfred, Gaetenaros, and Wenzel all stiffened.

“This is what they call the student surpassing the master, right?” he asked, looking at me smugly. “If Mr. Misfit is the strongest and a newborn like me surpassed him at his own magic, won’t I be really cool when I grow up?”

Vade held up an arm, with sparks of flames wrapped around his hand—firedew sparks.

“Well, I’m just a kid for now. Even Mr. Misfit might be able to beat a half-grown purist—so I’m still in trouble!”

Firedew wind blew from seemingly nowhere, gently wrapping around him. The wind carried dancing firedew leaves, which carried droplets of firedew water. Fire, water, wind, leaf—all of the firedew swirled around him, gradually getting absorbed into his body.

Sand started falling from overhead, followed by the ceiling suddenly caving in. No, it wasn’t only the ceiling—the ground, walls, and everything else was crumbling as well.

“Wh-What’s going on?!” Sasha yelled, her Magic Eyes darting around the place.

“The Withered Desert...is collapsing,” Misha mumbled. “The domain is unable to maintain itself without the firedew...”

Vade laughed smugly. “It’s not just the Withered Desert! The Celestial Canopy, Mother Sea, and Nature’s Keep are all the same! I’ve finally gathered enough firedew.”

The sparks, wind, leaves, and droplets covering Vade gradually revealed his new figure: long red hair, tall stature, and a solid build. Extravagant clothes, fit for royalty, wrapped around Vade’s new body, equivalent to a human male in the height of his youth, twenty years old or so.

“Ta-da! Crisis averted!” Vade said. “Bad luck, mister. I’ve grown up! Now your only chance of victory is gone.”

Vade moved his fingers and arms to test his new body, then turned to face Wenzel and the others. “I’ve no more use for the Four Principles. You’ll be culled alongside Da Qu Kadarte.”

The next moment, a small thorn flew towards him.

“Whoa!”

He easily grabbed the thorn between two fingers. They were Dilfred’s Abyssal Thorns.

“If you are destroyed, the order of the Round Garden of Principles can be restored,” the God of Depth said.

“It’s so simple! If the firedew was stolen, we just have to get it back,” the God of Change agreed.

“What are you saying? Anahem’s the strongest out of you four, no?” Vade asked with arrogant glee.

It was the Goddess of Birth who answered him.

“Individually, he is,” she said.

The God of Change, the Goddess of Birth, and the God of Depth all released divine magic power from their bodies. Vade stood ready to face them, stance relaxed and at ease, his wind-like magic swirling around him.

“All right, that’s fine with me,” he said. “Come. I, Vade the Purist, will cull every last one of you!”

The Magic Eyes of Destruction appeared in Sasha’s eyes, while the Magic Eyes of Creation did the same in Misha’s. Everyone’s magic power rose dramatically, filling the air of the well. The situation had hit its breaking point.

“Hmm. Sorry to interrupt,” I said.

The collective magic power in the well flickered. Everyone’s attention turned to me.

“Beating this lackey won’t stop Da Qu Kadarte from collapsing,” I said. “He’s just here to buy time.”

Dilfred’s gaze narrowed on me.

“Who are you calling a lackey, mister?” Vade said.

“Sorry, would you prefer guard dog?” I asked. “You went on and on about misfits and purists, but it’s the actual mastermind behind all this who conceived of that framework.”

Vade said nothing, arrogance unmoved by my words.

“You began to steal the firedew the moment I arrived in the Firmament of the Gods. But why didn’t you steal it earlier?” I said.

“I said I was newly born, didn’t I?” Vade replied.

“Wrong—you were hastily born,” I corrected. “You were created on short notice to deceive me.”

The air was filled with confusion. The first to speak was Dilfred.

“For the purpose of hiding something?” he asked.

“Yes, that’s right. To hide a tree, use a forest. To hide a human, use a city. So what were you trying to hide, Vade?”

Misha blinked twice and answered with a look of realization. “The missing firedew.”

“Exactly,” I answered. “The firedew was being stolen from the very beginning of the world. The order of destruction and creation are equal, yet despite being balanced, there was always more destruction in the world. That can only mean firedew was being stolen from Da Qu Kadarte, little by little, over a long period of time, without the Four Principles ever noticing.”

The Four Principles were probably incapable of detecting it. The Goddess of Creation and Goddess of Destruction had failed to notice as well. It was impossible for them, because gods were existences of order.

“But if I visited Da Qu Kadarte, I would eventually notice something was off. And to try to shake me off the trail, you started to steal the firedew openly.” Slowly, I pointed to the sky and said, “The world is headed to destruction, and you’re hiding the reason why.”

§ 22. To the Bottom of the Abyss

The mirage well collapsed, clouds of sand filling the air. The stolen firedew was pushing the Withered Desert to its end, and Vade was standing there watching it happen with a smug grin.

“You’re wrong, Mr. Misfit,” he said. “I’m not a lackey and I’m not a guard dog.”

Vade held out his hand and drew a magic circle in front of himself. After absorbing all that firedew, his magic power had surpassed that of the gods.

“I’m Vade the Purist, ultimate ruler of this world!”

The Itzelt Jischend tempest of lightning and sleet blew straight towards me. Magic circles appeared in my Eyes as I prepared to deal with the spell—but an intense flute played over the thunder first.

“Sky as fickle as the heart.”

Thunder rumbled and a blue bolt of lightning struck the Itzelt Jischend.

“Let’s sing. Let’s chant. Yes, let us recite!” Gaetenaros said. “Like the wind, like the thunderclaps of the blue sky. Flute of Change, Idydroend.”

Idydroend’s authority changed the tune of the flute into lightning that thwarted the blast of culling wind. The collision of the green lightning and raging tempest let out shrill cackles of pure light, breaking down the crumbling ceiling of the well even further.

“Such a little spark. You think you can win with that?” Vade said, taunting Gaetenaros. He grabbed empty air with a hand and sent his magic power into it, causing the tempest to grow in intensity and swallow the green lightning whole.

“Hah hah! Aren’t I amazing? Get culled by the great Vade, weaklings!”

“Sources that find change, eventually find birth,” a voice said quietly. “The first drop makes the pond. The pond becomes the Mother Sea. Rise, my kind children—Life Birthing Shield Avrohelian.”

The Goddess of Birth raised her navy shield. Faint light wrapped around Gaetenaros’s lightning and transformed it into a giant made of lightning. The lightning giant used both arms to grab the incoming Itzelt Jischend and suppress it.

“What, you want to arm wrestle? I won’t lose to a puppet!”

Vade threw an arm into the air, his conjured tempest raging even harder in response. The sleet froze the lightning giant solid, with the wind ripping it apart.

While all that was happening, Vade’s wary gaze never left me.

“After birth, the source deepens—”

With a staff in hand, the God of Depth spoke as though he was praying.

“Wayfarer of the spiral forest, leaves of profound confusion and shallow understanding. Unknown and unlimited, your depth is still boundless. Sink into your thoughts, traveler, and navigate the labyrinth without an end. Staff of Depth, Bostum.”

A red leaf appeared over the left side of the lightning giant’s chest. Like a heart, the leaf pumped red magic power throughout the giant. The deepened power allowed the giant to grab the Itzelt Jischend and push it back forcefully.

“Thorns of the abyss, drill a spiral,” Dilfred said.

The Abyssal Thorn he sent out stabbed into the Behelius trapping Anahem. Like threading a needle, the thorn weaved through the spell formula to stab into its weak points and break apart the coffin of darkness.

Anahem leaped out of the coffin towards Vade. He used the Withered Blade Guzelami to pierce through Vade’s right hand, but Vade grabbed Anahem’s hand to seal his movements.

“Demon King Anos,” Dilfred said. “The Four Principles will suppress this holo child. Find the culprit stealing the firedew. While it isn’t right for us to ask you to do this...I shall ask anyway. Please, protect the order of Da Qu Kadarte.”

With the Staff of Depth in his hand and Divine Eyes of Depth in his pupils, the God of Depth turned to me. “You could see the bottom of the abyss that I could not, no?”

Dilfred had probably figured it out already—as the God of Depth, this was the one place it was impossible for him to see.

“Hmm. He might be more than you four can handle,” I said.

“Silence, misfit,” Anahem replied. “I, Anahem, cannot perish. In fact, I will be the one to show him demise.”

Go, Anahem said with everything but his words, wrapping himself in his sandstorm-like magic power. He thrust Guzelami further into Vade.

“You know, I don’t like the idea of asking a misfit either, but it looks like we’ve got no other choice,” Gaetenaros agreed, gathering green wind around himself.

He brought his divine flute to his mouth and with a breath, blew his magic power through the instrument. Red and green lightning flowed out of the giant, and the last remaining parts of the well’s ceiling crumbled, opening the well to the sky. We were thrown into the air alongside the flying sand.

“Please go, Demon King Anos! Before Da Qu Kadarte is destroyed!” Wenzel yelled.

“Once this matter is resolved, I’ll return and settle my business with you all,” I said, releasing my magic power into the magic circle for Fless. “Don’t think you can avoid discussing the future of gods and mortals.”

“Understood,” Dilfred agreed with a serious look.

“Let’s go,” I said to Sasha and Misha, activating the magic circle.

As I did that, Misha turned to the Goddess of Birth. “Wenzel.”

Wenzel’s expression softened. “Militia, the Four Principles are finally on your side.”

Misha nodded. “Live.”

“Say, misters,” Vade said with a blank look, his own magic circle clenched in his hand. “What are you all talking about?”

Itzelt Jischend raged fiercely, twisting the lightning giant and sending it flying back.

“Hah! Take that!”

He kicked Anahem back and leaped out of the way.

Anahem pursued him. “I won’t let you—”

“Idiot!” Vade shouted. “Look behind you!”

The lightning giant crashed into Anahem from behind, crushing him with its sheer size.

“Hah hah! Did you think you could get away from the great Purist Vade?” Vade shouted, flying straight after me with Fless.

Just then, an eerie sound echoed through the area—Guzelami’s cry.

“Struggle all you want; everything you have is built upon sand.”

The sound of Anahem’s voice reverberated throughout the Withered Desert, sand swirling and shaping around Vade, enclosing him within a barrier of sand towers.

“Deepened sources will meet their demise. Guzelami’s one cry will cause everything to collapse and wither.”

Guzelami stabbed the lightning giant’s heart. From change to birth, birth to deepening, then deepening to demise—Anahem completed the cycle. His fiery blade grew to the size of a tower and burned with a dazzling flame.

“The castle built on sand collapses as Guzelami’s cry heralds the coming demise,” Anahem chanted as though reciting an ancient poem. “And without the slightest scratch of resistance, the curtains will fall.”

Guzelami’s eerie cry echoed again as the sand towers trembled.

“Withered Burial—Endblade Guzelami.”

The enlarged Guzelami swung down on Vade. Like a picture of demise, the towers collapsed into sand.

“Go!”

I released a burst of magic power and accelerated like a bolt of light. We traveled against caving sand and burst out of the well through the collapsed ceiling, reaching the Withered Desert above.

Cracks had spread throughout the desert, splitting the ground apart. Some holes were deeper than the eye could see, sand pouring over the edges like waterfalls. The cracks were gradually widening, with new rifts opening at every moment. The loss of firedew and order was bringing an end to the Withered Desert.

“He’s sure made a mess of this place,” I said. “Da Qu Kadarte is the foundation of order. If the Round Garden falls, there’s no telling what will happen to the Firmament of the Gods.”

“Is this really the time for commentary?!” Sasha asked, clearly panicking. “Now we know someone’s behind the world’s ruin, but we still need to find them, right?”

Misha stared at the Withered Desert with her Magic Eyes. “There’s no time.”

“Don’t worry, I have an idea,” I said. I asked Misha, “Do you recall how you said the total magic power of the world was decreasing?”

The three of us flew through the Withered Desert. Misha, beside me, nodded in answer.

“The orders of destruction and creation are equal,” she said. “If there’s destruction happening without creation to balance it out, there may be magic power being stolen—just like the firedew of Da Qu Kadarte.”

I cast my gaze around and spotted a certain sand dune—the one with a mirage of a forest on it. The dune was the entrance to Dilfred’s divine domain. The once-green firedew leaves and large trees were now on the verge of wilting. His domain was also meeting its end. We landed on one of the few footholds left.

“From the first day of the world, firedew has been stolen. The Four Principles and Militia all failed to notice its gradual decrease. As gods of order, this was their blind spot,” I said. I stood before the mirage and gazed into its abyss with my mauve-stained Eyes. “Life is born, deepens, meets its demise, and changes. If you were to steal magic without the gods knowing, when would you do it?”

Misha blinked blankly, while Sasha frowned in thought. Birth, deepening, demise, and change—if magic power was stolen at any of these stages, the Four Principles would notice immediately. There was no way the total magic power could decrease without their notice.

However—

“In Da Qu Kadarte, there’s a zone where the Divine Eyes of the Four Principles cannot reach.”

I took a step forward and stuck my hand into the mirage.

“The light of a dying flame can overcome the darkness itself.”

“Ah!” Sasha exclaimed. “A source approaching ruin increases in magic power!”

I nodded.

“There’s no way of knowing how much magic increases at that stage,” I said, “so a tiny amount of magic power can be stolen every time someone approaches ruin without much fuss. And such a small amount taken means nothing immediately happens as a result. But if a small amount is continuously stolen over time, one day, a deficiency will appear somewhere, and something will have to pay for it.”

Whether it was during birth, deepening, demise, or change, the slight deviation would get passed down until one day, something was ruined. Thus, the balance of destruction and creation was made unequal.

“Dilfred said there was a void on the other side of this mirage. A boundary that is neither Nature’s Keep nor the Withered Desert. But,” I said, thinking, “it’d probably be more accurate to say it was both of them at the same time.”

At the end of deepening was demise. But where did depth end and demise begin? The answer was that they overlapped somewhere—a place that was both depth and demise. Somewhere that was outrageously vast, due to its place at the end of deepening, and somewhere tremendously frail, due to its place at the start of demise.

The only god who could see the end of depth was the God of Depth, Dilfred. But due to the order of demise overpowering his order of depth, his Divine Eyes were unable to reach the void. And the God of Demise, Anahem, didn’t have the Divine Eyes to see the bottom of its abyss.

“Whoever was stealing the firedew was using this blind spot. No, this blind spot has probably been here since the very beginning of the world.”

I leaped into the mirage, Misha and Sasha on my heels. There was a brief delay that barely lasted a moment—like a candle burning its brightest before going out, conquering its own destruction with light. My Magic Eyes had seen that moment unfold countless times before, so I should be able to see the abyss of the Divine Realm—the bottom of Da Qu Kadarte. Misha and Sasha too.

A faint light flashed in that instant, and I reached out for it. A blinding radiance covered me, and the scenery before us immediately changed.

It was the sky. A sea of clouds spread before us, and we were falling freely through it.

“Where are we?” Sasha asked.

“The bottom of Da Qu Kadarte’s abyss?” Misha guessed.

Firedew danced through the sky like fireflies, falling alongside us.

“So it seems,” I said.

I looked down. Temples were packed together in multiple rows. At the back of the rows stood a particularly large pyramid-shaped temple with a gate. The gate was open, and a stream of firedew fireflies were flowing into it.

When I strained my Eyes, I could see the Demon Castle Delsgade and Institute of the Gods Everastanzetta on the other side of the gate. Behind them, the Sun of Destruction Sarjieldenav and Moon of Creation Altiertonoa were overlapping each other in a solar eclipse.

“Militia, Abernyu,” I said, calling the names of two former gods. “Here. This is the defect of the world.”

§ 23. Sun, Moon, and Sisters

Orbs of firedew light danced through the air, spiraling downwards through the triangular gate of the pyramid-shaped temple. As they did, the Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation inside overlapped a little more, advancing the solar eclipse. Seeing this and knowing the situation on earth made it obvious as to what was going on.

“I’ve never seen that gate before,” Misha said.

“I don’t recognize those runes either,” Sasha added.

The inside of the giant gate was packed with magic runes, but none of them looked familiar. If even Misha—who had Militia’s memories—didn’t recognize them, then they couldn’t be runes used by the gods. But they weren’t from earth either.

“I get why Delsgade and Everastanzetta are here, but why are Sarjieldenav and Altiertonoa here as well?” Sasha asked as we carefully flew towards the temple. “Aren’t they in the earth’s sky right now?”

“They’re inside,” Misha said, pointing at the triangular gate. “The order of space in there is weird.”

“Hmm. So it seems,” I agreed. “It looks like the space within the temple itself is unstable. The gate appears to be placing the Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation in two different coordinates at once.”

“So the Sun of Destruction we see is both here and on earth at the same time?” Sasha asked.

“Pretty much. Simply put, Sarjieldenav itself is acting as a gate connecting the Divine Realm to the earth. Thus, it can exist in two places at once.”

With the power of the Goddesses of Destruction and Creation, it should be possible to directly send the Sun of Destruction and the Moon of Creation to earth. But why did they choose to do this in such a roundabout way? Was it so they could more directly pour the firedew’s power into them?

Or perhaps...

“Was it to move Sarjieldenav and Altiertonoa?” I wondered out loud.

Misha blinked twice. “To prevent people on earth from stopping the solar eclipse?”

“Yes. They could destroy the Sun of Destruction if they’re able to pass through the sky of destruction before the Solar Eclipse of the End is completed, but with that gate it’s very possible for the Sun of Destruction to be moved beforehand.”

All that had to be changed were the coordinates in the spell formula. Anyone on earth who tried to get near the Sun of Destruction would sacrifice themselves for nothing.

“Ygg Neas.”

I drew a layered magic circle and stuck my arms through it, staining them a pale blue. Then, I reached into the gate. My right hand burned slightly and my left hand frosted over, but I ignored that and pushed through with all my strength.

“Hmm. They won’t move,” I said.

Ygg Neas was capable of reaching anything, no matter the distance, but neither the sun, moon, nor castles would move. The spell formula of the gate was controlling the coordinates of what was inside, fixing them in place. Whatever was inside couldn’t be moved with force.

“Do we have to go inside to retrieve Delsgade and Everastanzetta? We could stop the Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation that way,” Sasha said, getting closer to the pyramid-shaped temple I was in front of and peering into the gate.

Misha landed beside her. “But how?”

If we couldn’t figure out why we lost control over Delsgade and Everastanzetta, there would be no way of retrieving them. Demon Castle Delsgade was a fixed magic circle under my control, yet even at this distance, it refused to listen to me.

“Stand back, Misha, Sasha,” I said.

“Wait... That’s—?!”

Sasha yelped, leaping aside with Misha in tow. Still floating in the air, I clenched the condensed purple lightning around my right hand and pointed it at the triangular gate. Sparks of lightning scattered, gathering in front of me to draw ten magic circles that eventually connected into one giant magic circle.

“Ravia Gieg Gaverizd.”

The purple lightning that was released was large enough to swallow both the entire gate and temple. With a deafening thunderclap, the lightning blazed forward, destroying everything. The entire area was stained a deep purple, the world itself trembling. Thunder roared on and on until eventually, the light faded—

“Oh?” I remarked.

“No way... You’re kidding me!” Sasha exclaimed.

Despite taking a direct hit from Ravia Gieg Gaverizd at close range, the temple was still standing. But what was more surprising was the gate. While a fifth of the pyramid had caved in, the gate was unharmed beyond some light charring. Perhaps another two hits would destroy the temple completely, but the gate was a different matter entirely.

“What an odd gate. Why would someone make it so sturdy?” I wondered out loud.

From what I could see, it was considerably old, so it couldn’t have been created simply as a countermeasure for me. Breaking it should allow us to move the castles and remove the Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation from the earth.

Should I have brought the Sword of a Thousand Bolts? But Egil Grone Angdroa would destroy the entire Divine Realm... Perhaps it’s best I give up on breaking this.

Just then, a thunk could be heard.

“Was that the gate?” Sasha asked.

The gate of the temple was slowly beginning to close. And since the coordinates were being controlled by the gate, not the temple, destroying the temple wouldn’t do anything once the door closed.

“Anos,” Misha said.

“I know.”

With my pale Ygg Neas-stained arms, I grabbed the gate as it was closing and pried it open. There was quite a lot of force behind the closing door, but it wasn’t impossible for me to hold it back.

“Itzelt Jischend.”

A raging wind blasted from above. The culling tempest of lightning and sleet surrounded me, the force of it shredding my body.

“Hah hah!”

With an arrogant laugh, the holo boy—now man—descended from the sky. Like us, he wasn’t a god, so he was able to reach the bottom of the Divine Realm’s abyss.

“I aimed for the moment you had your hands full, and I got it in just one try! Genius plan, right? I’m amazing!” Vade exclaimed.

“A rather crude plan, I’d have to say,” I replied.

The wind settled, our surroundings clearing up. Vade’s attack had wounded me, but I still held the door open with Ygg Neas.

“Not bad! You’re pretty cool for withstanding Itzelt Jischend without letting go!”

“What happened to the Four Principles?” I said.

He grinned smugly and made a throat-slitting gesture with his thumb. “I culled them. That’s what they get for defying me.”

I could see Misha’s crestfallen look from the corner of my eye.

So the Four Principles have perished, huh?

The magic link to Wenzel was cut in the earlier battle, but the aurora temple Eleonore was at was fine. If the Four Principles had perished, their divine domains in Da Qu Kadarte would have been instantly destroyed, but there was no sign of that. Was it as I suspected?

“Let go of that gate, mister. You don’t even have legs. How are you going to fight me? The next strike will kill you.”

“Something like that is impossible for a puppy like you,” I said.

Vade glared at me with his Magic Eyes, a tremendous amount of magic power radiating from his body.

“You’re the one who’s going to die, stupid,” Sasha snapped.

Her Magic Eyes of Destruction shattered the anti-magic around Vade. At the same time, Misha’s Magic Eyes of Creation glowed. The imitation Demon Castle Delsgade she had created floated overhead.

“Ice crystal.”

With his wards sealed, Vade’s body was gradually recreated into ice, starting from his hand. Misha and Sasha leaped up from the temple to close in on Vade while increasing the strength in their Eyes.

But Vade’s face, though his right arm was now frozen up to his elbow, was still fixed in an arrogant smirk.

“How irritating! No way this’ll work on me!” he spat.

A raging wind blew around his damaged arm.

“I’ll cull you weaklings!”

Itzelt Jischend blew right into Sasha and Misha, tearing apart both their anti-magic wards and bodies.

“Anos... Send us—!” Sasha yelled as she was blown back.

The two of them smashed into the wall of the pyramid-shaped temple.

“Where are you looking?” I asked.

Vade’s eyes widened when he saw me right in front of him. I used the Jio Graze I had sent flying just now to cast Aviasten Ziara in place of legs.

“That won’t work either!” Vade said.

Vade easily stopped the kick of glittering black flames with his left hand. His palm immediately started to burn, but it stubbornly refused to be reduced to ashes.

He instantly restored his right hand using Ei Chael, then gathered an enormous amount of magic in an instant.

“I’ll show you the true power of the purist of order! Fear the great Vade!”

A tempest swirled around his extended right arm, then dispersed to reveal vile, deformed claws. His swollen hand had become thick and stiff, with five blade-sharp claws extending from the end of each finger.

“Dugara.”

The claws glinted with a flash as he aimed a swipe at the left side of my chest. I quickly moved my left arm to layer Beno Ievun, Aviasten Ziara, and Jirasd at the same time. I couldn’t stop the Dugara directly, so I grabbed his hardened arm to redirect his swipe instead.

“Scared ya, didn’t I? You won’t be able to save the earth like this!”

Vade laughed gleefully. The gate had closed when I used my left hand to stop his Dugara, so he probably thought there was no way to stop the Solar Eclipse of the End any longer.

“Did you think by letting go I had no options left?” I asked.

I thrust my Vebzud-covered right hand at Vade’s heart, but he avoided the strike by backing up.

“Jio Graze.”

I drew a magic circle and wildly fired a barrage of black suns. They struck Vade one after another, whittling down his magic wards.

“Tch!”

A tornado raged around his body, deflecting the Jio Graze away from him. He quickly glanced behind himself while staying wary of me—and immediately frowned. He had finally noticed that Sasha and Misha had gone missing.

“Where did you hide them, mister?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t it be obvious?” I replied. “In the gate, of course.”

Vade whirled around. “Open!”

The gate opened, revealing Sasha and Misha within. They each had a hand touching Delsgade and Everastanzetta respectively.

“Anos! Give me—!”

“Of course. I return your divine body to you.”

An enormous magic circle covering the two castles was drawn around them.

“Dino Jixes.”

Light swallowed the two castles and two sisters. Their outlines blurred and melted into the castles. The spell was what Ivis Necron of the Seven Demon Elders had fused with the Scythe of the Timekeeper. Although the two of them had been reincarnated into new bodies, they were originally the same existence. That connection hadn’t vanished completely, so fusing back together should give their original strength back to them. In other words, they should be able to control the Sun of Destruction and the Moon of Creation once they returned to their divine body.

“I’ll stop you!” Vade shouted. “If you try anything sneaky, I’ll—”

Vade tried to fly for the gate, but I pierced him from behind with my right hand.

“Looking away twice in a row? Who do you think stands before you?”

“Guh— Gaaah! I’ll...cull you...!”

I dug my fingers deeper into his body, causing him to spew blood.

“The ‘culling’ you speak of is just the classic law of the jungle, isn’t it? How outdated. In this era of peace, what rules is survival of the fittest.”

“Y-You...”

“In other words—”

I cast Aviasten Ziara on top of Vebzud, burning Vade from the inside.

“In this world, the first to fall are the fools who fail to adapt to me.”

§ 24. Cog of the World

Vade’s body turned to ash, crumbling before my eyes. The glittering black flames around my hand reached his source and were almost about to burn him to ruin when Itzelt Jischend swirled violently around him. He was probably trying to tear me apart so that I would be forced to release him.

“You think something like this could kill me?!” he shouted. “Holo are the new life of this world! You demons will all be culled from existence!”

I cackled. “Try saying that after you’ve actually culled me.”

I reached further into his body and layered Jirasd over my existing magic. Black lightning combined with the three spells I had already casted and formed a sharp blade that pierced straight through his source.

“Guh... Gah!”

“You called yourself a purist, but your power is incomplete,” I said. “The way I see it, the holo should have been born as a result of the order of destruction. But I took the Goddess of Destruction’s order and sent her away, resulting in an era of prosperity for humans and demons. Doing that prevented you holo from being born.”

Without destruction, there was no creation. The change in order meant the holo species could no longer be born naturally.

“You...bastard!” Vade roared. “Let me gooo!”

Itzelt Jischend raged at my body, cutting into my flesh. I glared at the wind with my Magic Eyes of Destruction, weakening its power. Then, I stuck my right arm further into Vade’s source.

“Urk...”

“You were born as a result of order trying to create balance by force. Thus, you only have a fraction of your intended power.”

Vade grinned, red blood spilling from his mouth.

“Heh heh.”

The next moment, a magic circle was drawn over my body, and a coffin of darkness appeared behind me. The moment Behelius swallowed my body, Vade erased the Dugara from his right arm and transferred the magic claws to his left.

Vade kicked me while I was busy watching the Dugara. He used the momentum of the kick to force my hand out of his body, then drew a cross of black particles to form the lid of the coffin.

“Moron!” he yelled. “Incomplete? A fraction of my power? Wrong and wrong! I was just going easy on you!”

I struck the coffin from inside, but it didn’t budge.

“Everything I did was to kill you with the Behelius you taught me, mister. I didn’t think it’d be this easy, but I guess I’m just that much stronger! I’ve got you twisted around my little finger, Mr. Misfit!”

Vade turned to me and tapped his temple with a smug grin.

“Ah, but it’s a shame you can’t be destroyed. If Graham’s nihility escaped it’d be a real headache.”

“Hmm. So you can use your head a little.”

“What are you acting so calm for, mister? You can’t run anymore. The great Purist Vade’s Behelius is stronger than yours. I even trapped Anahem in one without breaking a sweat.”

I burst into laughter. “Do you actually believe that, guard dog?”

“Well, you had to go through so much trouble to seal Anahem in your own Behelius, when I, the great Purist Vade, didn’t!” he pointed out triumphantly. “You tried to act cool by calling me ‘a fool who failed to adapt to me,’ but look who’s the pathetic one now! Instantly trapped by a spell I learned from you! Pfft! How embarrassing, mister.”

Vade slowly flew over and brought his face up to the magic barrier of the coffin.

“Say,” he said gleefully. “If you call me the great Purist Vade and beg me a little, maybe I’ll let you watch as all the trash on earth gets culled. How about it? Aren’t I being super generous right now?”

“According to Dilfred, to the gods, the world is like a theater, and everyone in it an actor in a play. If we were to extend this example, you’d be the leading actor that the producer personally casted through favoritism. A large role filled by a ham actor,” I said.

Vade looked at me blankly. “What’s that? Are you being a sore loser? I don’t get what you’re saying, but if you’re looking down on me, I’ll cull you on the spot. Got it, Mr. Weakling?”

“Bwa ha ha. That’s exactly what I’m saying, Vade. Know your place.”

Vade leaned away from the coffin, thoroughly irritated. He sent magic into his fingertips.

“I said don’t look down on me. Farewell, Mr. Misfit. For you I’ll make things a hundred times more painful! Consider it a free bonus!”

The particles of the cross extended to cover the entire coffin of darkness, and at once the curse of eternal death activated.

“Hah hah! Take that! This misfit was just a nobody in the end. All talk and no substance! Ha ha ha!” Vade laughed.

The coffin of darkness shattered like glass.

“Ha... Huh?”

The jet-black flames that broke the Behelius turned into chains that immediately twined around Vade, restraining him.

“Gwuh... You... How?!”

“Behelius kills a target and uses their death as a source of magic to perpetually power the curse and the coffin’s defenses. In short, until the first death, its defenses are paper thin,” I replied. “This flaw is compensated for by restraining, weakening, or distracting the target from being able to prevent the first death from occurring.”

Vade gathered magic in his left arm’s Dugara while listening to my explanation. I had to stay highly alert of those claws.

“What if my Behelius is different?” he asked.

“You think so?” I said.

I used the magic circle I drew with Zola e Dypt to create my own Behelius.

“Raaagh!”

Vade swung his left arm and thrust his Dugara claws into the coffin. The Behelius vanished, like it had been swallowed by a vortex.

“That won’t work—”

His entire left arm was severed at the shoulder and went flying through the air, having been cut by the Vebzud, Jirasd, and Aviasten Ziara congregated at my fingertips.

“Stupid,” I chided. “That was just a decoy.”

He tried to transfer the Dugara to his other arm, but failed. I had sliced off his right arm before he could do so.

“I can heal this much instantly— Huh?!”

The light of Ei Chael gathered at the cut section, but my chains of hellfire immediately wrapped around the area. Even though the arm wanted to regenerate, the section of the cut was wrapped so tightly by Zola e Dypt that its growth was blocked.

“Hmm. It seems you can’t grow the claws from your feet.”

Dugara appeared to be a spell exclusive to the hands. Judging from its spell formula, adapting it so it could appear on other parts of the body wouldn’t allow it to be as powerful.

“Now, Vade,” I said, drawing a magic circle over his restrained body. “There isn’t much difference between your Behelius and mine. Yet you were able to shut Anahem in your coffin with ease. Why do you think that is?”

The already tightly wound chains of Zola e Dypt tightened again with a loud creak. Vade was trying to cut them by releasing his magic power. I cast Beno Ievun over the hellfire chains to restrain him further.

“Because I’m...a purist...” he answered.

“Correct.”

Vade’s eyes widened. He probably hadn’t expected me to agree with him.

“The order of this world acknowledges you as a purist.”

“Tch!”

Magic circles of Itzelt Jischend appeared one after another, but I destroyed them all before they could activate using my Magic Eyes of Destruction.

“Gods cannot defy order. Even Militia, with all her love and kindness, had no choice but to entrust Ennessone to Wenzel. If Abernyu hadn’t reincarnated, she wouldn’t have escaped her fate of destruction either.”

Vade ground his teeth as I spoke.

“Why can’t gods defy order? If gods themselves were order, it wouldn’t be possible for them to develop feelings of love or kindness. Do gods really have no love and kindness to begin with?”

Magic power filled the circle, and a coffin of darkness appeared behind Vade.

“What if their emotions had been erased from them?” I asked. “What if, instead, there was a cog inside them that locked away their hearts and controlled order? The gods would move exactly as the cog dictated—with the exception of the few gods that don’t lose their love and kindness.”

Gods had hearts. It’s just that their hearts had been stolen from them.

“In other words, there is a pillager in this world. One who stole the hearts of the gods, the firedew, the magic power of the world, and people’s lives. Above all, they stole the truth of this world.”

Particles of darkness formed the shape of a cross, covering Behelius in a magic barrier.

“The pillager made it look like the gods were obeying order—that the gods were order themselves—when, in fact, they were obeying the cogs the pillager implanted inside them. This was why Militia stole my memories when I reincarnated two thousand years ago—because the pillager wanted to prevent me from ever reaching this place.”

“I am Vade the Purist! I can’t be defeated like this!”

Vade tried to break the Behelius by headbutting it, but all he did was make a ruckus.

“This is also why Delsgade and Everastanzetta could be stolen from right under our noses,” I said, undeterred by the noise Vade was making. “Misha and Sasha became demons when they reincarnated, meaning whatever cogs the pillager implanted in them were left behind in their divine bodies.”

By using the cogs in their divine bodies, left behind in their respective castles, the pillager had controlled the two castles—and by bringing the Solar Eclipse of the End to earth, was still doing so now.

“Shut up! I have no idea what you’re blathering on about!” Vade yelled.

I shot him a cold look. “Do not interrupt me, you defeated dog. I’m not talking to you.”

Vade looked at me dumbfounded as I brutally cast him aside.

“Wha... Who are you calling a defeated dog?! Who do you think I am?! I am the Purist—”

“I’m telling you to stop your barking.”

The lid of Behelius closed, sentencing Vade to eternal death. From the coffin of darkness came a scream of pure agony.

“Anahem didn’t even make a sound, you know?” I remarked, shaking my head.

I sighed and added more magic to Behelius, making the coffin soundproof. Vade’s cries gradually quietened, then fell completely silent.

“Your pet dog has been dealt with. If you want me to return your precious purist, show yourself,” I said.

They probably didn’t even have a name; even after coming to the Firmament of the Gods, they were nowhere to be found. In essence, their existence was one not meant to be discovered.

However, the man who noticed there was something weird about this world—the other misfit besides me—had given that being a name.

And he had given their name to me in order to reveal their identity.

“The king of gods, the one who should not exist—the Almighty Radiance, Equis.”

§ 25. Equis

Dark clouds gathered in the depths of the Firmament of the Gods’ abyss. My field of view darkened as the air around me turned stagnant. Then, a section of cloud began to glow. A low rumble reverberated throughout the entire realm as a beam of light fell upon the pyramid-shaped temple. Far from ordinary light, it released enough divine magic power to form a dozen gods.

“The cog of the pillager is implanted in every god,” I said. “By rotating that cog, the pillager had been able to create gods that only obeyed order. This was Misfit Graham’s theory, but he was unable to see the cogs for himself.”

The gods themselves were unable to notice the existence of the cog inside them. And if the man who took Ceris Voldigoad’s head had also been unable to see them, then these cogs were a considerable feat indeed.

“He probably found it even more baffling because he couldn’t see it,” I mused. “Perhaps the cogs are completely integrated into order, dissolved into the world without the notice of those living here. Graham developed this theory and became fascinated with it. And so he developed a magic to prove the pillager’s existence.”

Graham had said it himself—that he wanted to see if he could create an Equis. That he wanted to know what was in the abyss of the world. His usual nonsense was a veil hiding his true intentions.

“Through the Selection Trial, gods that perished had their order stored in the pledge jewel rings to prevent order from being disrupted. The proxy who survived until the end would be given the power of their Selection God—the power to consume the gods invited to the Selection Trial, and to possess multiple orders.”

Graham had zeroed in on the system of the Selection Trial.

“Graham altered the God of Balance using Gijerica and the God of Frenzy, rewriting the order to change the Selection Trial. Instead of storing the power of perished gods in the pledge jewel ring, they gathered in the fetus inside the Overlord Veaflare.”

Many gods had perished in that battle: the Water Burial God, Afrasiata; the God of Magic Sight, Janeldefok; the Barrier God, Linorolos; the God of Frenzy, Aganzon; the God of Gospel, Doldred; the Gluttony God, Galvadorion; and the God of Traces, Revalschned. And there may be even more gods that had perished without my knowledge. The increase in the Selected was just another method of inviting more gods to be destroyed.

“If the power of the gods was gathered into one, the nonexistent Almighty Radiance would be born. But Graham wasn’t interested in Equis’s omnipotence.”

To a misfit like Graham, arranging the birth of Equis was basically an act of suicide. But even so, he wanted to know.

“All the gods together form a single order. The cogs of the pillager control each god individually. The cogs are invisible and have no will of their own. If they had a will, they would have been noticed long ago. The gods perceive this cog as their own order.”

They couldn’t speak, and couldn’t be seen. Thus, it was only natural to assume the cogs were the gods’ own inner impulses.

“If there truly are cogs that cannot be seen, then it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that the order of this entire world has been formed by the pillager. They alone are the one deciding who the misfits and purists are.”

So what had to be done to see them? The answer was awfully simple.

“Graham gathered the gods’ powers in a single place, each one with a cog implanted within them, and fed them to an unborn fetus. If all the gods together were designed to form a single order, then naturally, each of their cogs should fit against each other. And if they fit against each other, then collecting a large number of them should eventually result in a single clear mind that could move by itself. This,” I concluded, “was Graham’s hypothesis.”

Although each cog individually had no will of their own, they were all pointed in the same direction of order. In other words, they did have a will, but divided so finely among them that it seemed as if they didn’t. This also was part of Graham’s theory—he must have sensed some kind of will in the overall order of the world that the gods were aiming for. All of his experimentation was in service of trying to prove this. But because he couldn’t perceive the cogs, he didn’t even know himself if they actually existed or if he was just imagining everything.

But knowing that man, that wouldn’t have stopped him from trying. And so the entire world was dragged into his unhinged magic experiment. Perhaps that way of thinking was why he had been branded a misfit.

“Through Aeges’s spear, you were sent from Veaflare’s womb to another dimension. But you didn’t die.”

A fetus couldn’t survive outside its mother’s womb. That was the law of nature, but there were exceptions—such as myself. The only reason why Equis hadn’t been born yet was so more divine power could be gathered for their birth.

“You used the legion of divine powers within you to reach the Firmament of the Gods. It was probably from here that you spoke to Graham,” I said.

In all likelihood, Graham had ensured that once Equis was born through Gijerica the god would have a way for their voice to reach him. Equis was formed by cogs that couldn’t be seen with the Eyes, while Graham possessed a source of nearly nothing—the two were connected through a magic link of nihility. Equis had used that to speak to me, which is why I had heard that voice coming from my source; they had spoken to me through Graham’s nihility.

“You created Vade, made him the God of Culling, and had him destroy the gods. After all, the more gods destroyed, the more power you’d gather through the altered Selection Trial, right? Since despite all the perished gods, the order on earth hasn’t actually changed at all.”

The order of the gods complemented and supported each other. Like the Goddess of Destruction and the God of Demise, and the Goddess of Creation, the Goddess of Birth, and the Heavenly Father. Just like how taking down the Goddess of Destruction didn’t completely erase destruction from the world, one god’s ruin wasn’t enough for the whole order to collapse.

However, everything was now definitely further from destruction. But this time, not even the slightest change was felt when the God of Culling destroyed the gods in the Celestial Canopy. The gods had perished, but their order was maintained. And that was what had reminded me of the Selection Trial.

“Ultimately, you wanted the Four Principles to be destroyed. So you could make their order your own.”

The only reason Vade’s Behelius had been able to imprison Anahem so easily was because the cog in Anahem held his body in place. It wasn’t because Vade had better magic than me.

“The reason why you made Vade do it was because the cogs don’t have enough control over the gods to force them to suicide. They only exist to make them obey their order and fulfill their objective.”

The cogs had avoided detection until now thanks to that lack of power. They had been designed to be unnoticeable by humans or demons. If they had been capable of forcing the gods into something as drastic as suicide, they wouldn’t have been mistaken for order to begin with.

Graham had made them visible by gathering these invisible cogs and fitting them together.

“Although,” I said, conceding, “I don’t know if you had always been a single mind or if you were actually multiple separate existences from the start.”

I spread my arms and slowly released my magic power.

“Return everything you stole from this world, Equis.”

Zzt. Zzt. The voice spoke from deep within my source, noise echoing in my head.

“Your final hope...”

The eerie voice seeped through me, slow and viscous like slime.

“Your final hope has already vanished. I warned you. Your only hope was to re-create the world and remove me from it.”

The eerie voice had taken on a mocking tone as it spoke through me.

“And that path is now gone.”

The ground rumbled loudly, intense enough to shake even the air.

“The siblings of creation and destruction will now perish with regret in their hearts.”

The pyramid-shaped temple slowly floated into the air. Within the gate, the glowing silhouettes of Delsgade and Everastanzetta shrank to a humanoid shape.

“No...” Misha mumbled.

“Turn back now. You’re my body. Listen to me!” Sasha yelled.

But they continued to turn into their divine forms—into the Goddess of Creation, Militia, and the Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu.

“Everything shall be as outlined by the world. Delsgade and Everastanzetta. You may have believed that fusing the castles would allow you control over them, but the same idea applies to me.”

Misha’s and Sasha’s fingertips slowly moved. They were desperately trying to resist, but it seemed the other side had stronger control.

“The cogs of the world are buried in the divine body. In their attempt to steal back their orders, they will lose their sources and return to their rightful form as order.”

A magic circle was drawn at their fingertips, aimed at the Moon of Creation and the Sun of Destruction.

“Contaminant of this world, the one who fits nowhere, you are correct. The gods of this world have cogs implanted in them. Cogs that kill the heart. But this time all unnecessary contaminants will be removed from them so they can become true gods. They will be the order of this world.”

Silver moonlight and rays of darkness shone on the magic circle. Misha and Sasha rose into the air as though pulled towards the moon and sun. As Sarjieldenav and Altiertonoa began to move towards each other, another magic circle formed between them to restrain them, tying Misha and Sasha to their divine bodies.

The moon, sun, and two magic circles. The four circles fit together like cogs in the sky, and with the magic power of the Goddesses of Creation and Destruction, began to turn. The moon and sun overlapped further, accelerating the Solar Eclipse of the End.

“Recall the days of destruction. You are Abernyu, the Goddess of Destruction, one who destroys everything in view of your Divine Eyes. The time has come to use that power again.”

“Don’t you dare speak of that. I’ll never do it again! Never!” Sasha shouted.

“Recall the moments of creation. You are Militia, the Goddess of Creation, one who creates even this conclusion. Your Divine Eyes can only watch on as all is lost.”

“You’re wrong...” Misha muttered.

“I am a nameless being,” Equis said. “The one and only will of this world.”

“Hmm. You can go on about the world all you want, Equis,” I said, staring at the shining light piercing through the dark clouds. “But do you really think you can take the hearts of my followers with a mere cog?”

I kept my eyes on the light as the conflated power of the gods swirled and gathered at a tremendous scale. Equis was definitely behind that light; the once-invisible cogs had gained a vague outline by joining together. I stared closely into the abyss of that light, searching for a true form.

“If the goal of this latest move of yours was to lure me out, then you’ve made a mistake,” I said. “I wouldn’t bring two dead weights along with me.”

If I focused on Misha and Sasha, Equis could get away. So I ignored the two of them and devoted myself to staring into the abyss.

“Did you think love and kindness could make miracles?” Equis asked. “If so, I will remind you of the cold despair that is order. No matter how the humans pray, demons lament, or draconids rage, the will of the world does not yield. All people, good and bad, will equally meet their end.”

Light gathered at the cog-like magic circles restraining Misha and Sasha. The Moon of Creation and Sun of Destruction overlapped even further.

“Goddess of Creation, Militia. Goddess of Destruction, Abernyu. Destroy. With your own hands, go and destroy this world you love. And your hearts will crumble.”

“Screw you! I’ll stop you myself. This is ridiculous!” Sasha shouted.

Misha and Sasha gritted their teeth as they attempted to move their divine bodies. But although they could struggle against Equis’s compelling force, the solar eclipse only accelerated further.

“I won’t hurt the earth...” Sasha murmured.

“Prayers will go unanswered. Emotion will lead nowhere. Contaminants will be removed from the cogs, and the world will revolve correctly.”

Among the noise of the world coming to an end, Equis’s voice rumbled through the Divine Realm.

“Never...” Sasha murmured. “I never want to go through that again!”

While restrained by the magic circle, her hand slowly reached towards Misha.

“The world is not kind,” Misha said. “That is what I once believed. I thought I had created a sad world. But...”

She reached for Sasha’s hand.

“That wasn’t the case,” Misha said.

“Our hearts won’t be controlled by some insignificant cogs!” Sasha shouted.

“That is both correct and mistaken,” Equis replied. “Your hearts need no controlling. All that’s needed is for a small hole to be opened, and through that hole the contaminant can be removed for the ‘insignificant’ cog to take its place, to revolve and revolve until eventually it grows into immense despair.”

Blades shot out of the magic circles, stabbing into Misha’s and Sasha’s chests. A small cog of light appeared in their hearts.

“Agh... Urk...”

“This...is nothing...”

Despite being stabbed, Misha and Sasha still reached for each other.

“I told you.”

Just then, the magic circles started glowing, executing their order. The Sun of Destruction and Moon of Creation had completely covered each other.

“I am the world, and the world is not kind nor smiling.”

The Solar Eclipse of the End was happening. As the magic circles turned, a darkness capable of consuming everything began to form and condense in front of it.

“Revolve, revolve. O world—”

Ominous light more terrifying than the rays of the Sun of Destruction was just about to burst—and then came the flicker of a pure white light.

“Revolve.”

Silence fell. The flicker of light turned into a flash, and the Sun of Destruction separated from the Moon of Creation a little. The solar eclipse had rewound slightly.

“What was that...?” Sasha asked, staring wide-eyed at the Sun of Destruction.

A small wound appeared on Sarjieldenav.

“Heaven Splitter?”

A white blade glittered with divine radiance. The solar eclipse had been prevented by the holy sword of the legendary hero—by a single slash of Evansmana.

§ 26. Chip of Life

In the skies high above Azesion.

Four ships of the Sky Fortress had departed from Midhaze and were flying towards the Sun of Destruction. On board were Lay, Misa, and the most powerful demons of the Demon King’s Army from two thousand years ago.

Their goal was to bring down the sinister sun in the sky and stop the Solar Eclipse of the End from happening. The closer they got, the more they felt the oppressive threat of the Sun of Destruction, but the demon ships accelerated without fear.

“Sky Fortress Azetta, full speed upwards,” said one of my followers.

“We’re trying, but...” murmured another.

The Sky Fortress Azetta tried to rise upwards after gaining sufficient speed, but it suddenly decelerated and was unable to close the distance as intended. The airspace being controlled by Sarjieldenav was also known as the sky of destruction. Azetta was being pushed back by the destructive magic power that filled the airspace, preventing it from moving any closer. The only one able to fly through the sky of destruction was Farris Noin, the creation magic master who had spent a hundred years completing his giant fortress.

Only ten ships in the fleet of the urgently prepared Sky Fortress Azetta had reached completion. Once the ongoing threat of the army of gods and Dilhade’s own defensive needs were factored in, it was decided that only four ships could be deployed at most—exactly as Eldmed had predicted.

Leading one ship was Nigitt. Out of all of my followers, he was second only to Shin in his swordsmanship. Another ship was led by Devidra, the demon who had tried to execute the human boy Igareth out of hatred. After I stopped him, he reformed himself, reincarnated stronger, and worked diligently towards protecting the peace of this era. A third ship was helmed by Rouche. She was the best wind magic caster in the Demon King’s Army, and she was also familiar with piloting the Sky Fortress; two thousand years ago, she had been on Farris Noin’s ship when we first approached the Sun of Destruction. The fourth and final ship had Lay and Misa on board.

This was the greatest aerial force Dilhade could prepare at the moment. If these four ships were shot down, there would be nothing left.

“It’s no good,” Rouche said from the third ship. Her words were being transmitted to Lay and the others through Leaks. “We can’t fly any further into the sky of destruction. If we try to charge forward anyway, the Sky Fortress Azetta will fall apart. Lord Farris’s Zeridheavens was the only ship capable of safely navigating this airspace. And though there may be no Keepers to look out for this time with Abernyu gone, the airspace now, because of the solar eclipse, is even more destructive than last time.”

“What do we do, Hero Kanon?” Nigitt asked.

“I was only just able to reach it with Heaven Splitter,” Lay said. “I’m afraid I won’t be able to sever the Sun of Destruction’s fate from this distance.”

Lay stood on the roof of the fourth ship, glaring up at the impending solar eclipse. He had Evansmana, the Sword of Three Races, clutched in his hand, the blade glowing with divine light.

He had poured his entire body into Heaven Splitter, the hidden art that gathered infinite sword slashes into one, and tried to cut the sun in half. But the holy sword had only been able to scratch the surface. The eclipse had only been rewound by a fraction, the majority of Evansmana’s power having been depleted as it crossed the sky of destruction.

When it came to the powers of the Goddesses of Destruction and Creation, the blade had to make direct contact with them to sever their fate.

“Even if we approached willing to sacrifice the Sky Fortress, we’d only cover half the distance at most,” Devidra said.

“According to the information Lord Anos gained in the Divine Realm, the coordinates of the Sun of Destruction have been blessed by order. It’s capable of teleporting anywhere on earth,” Nigitt added, analyzing the situation with a grim look. The information from the Divine Realm had been passed to them through Eleonore and Ennessone.

“But the fact we were able to get this close without it moving means there has to be some kind of cost,” Devidra said.

If the Sun of Destruction had teleported when the Sky Fortress got close, it wouldn’t have received the attack from the Sword of Three Races. In other words, it was still more convenient for the enemy to keep the Sun of Destruction in its current position than move it. If they got close enough for the holy sword to have any real effect, the sun and moon would be teleported—and the earth would become helpless.

“Bwa ha ha! Then why don’t you aim for the moment when it can’t teleport?” Eldmed’s voice said through Leaks. He was currently commanding the troops at the outskirts of Dilhade while simultaneously keeping an eye on the situation in the sky.

The battle on the ground was quite cutthroat as well, but Eldmed was cheery, strolling through the battlefield while suppressing the Keepers.

Rouche’s brows furrowed. “What do you mean, Conflagration King?”

“You mean we wait for the moment the black sun strikes?” Lay asked. He already had the same idea.

“Indeed, indeed, that is exactly what I mean! The black sun emits light of ruin. Its rays can cancel out any and all magic. The spell formula controlling the positions of the Sun of Destruction and the Moon of Creation won’t be immune to it either. It may be able to keep their current positions, but it would be near impossible to teleport them in those conditions.”

“The moment the black sun releases its rays, the enemy won’t be able to move the sun... You have a point. If the sun had teleported away from Evansmana’s attack just now, it would have already fired its rays at the earth,” Rouche said.

“Now, now, I called it near impossible, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be moved. I wouldn’t be surprised if it moved in the midst of the chaos.”

“What happens if it moves?”

“Shouldn’t it be obvious? We get wiped out.”

“Conflagration King... This isn’t the time for jokes...”

“Bwa ha ha! Don’t be silly, carrier of wind. The bigger the risk, the more interesting the gamble! Who would joke during such a fun time? You? No? Listen closely—what we need now is a miracle. A miracle! If you want to sit at the game table, you need at least this much as your chip.”

There was no time to exercise caution. If the Sun of Destruction and the Moon of Creation exceeded our expectations and teleported at the same moment it cast its black rays of sunlight, the plan would be a failure. What the Conflagration King was trying to say was that no method of tackling this was without risk.

“You want us to bet our lives while you stay out of the range of fire?” Rouche asked.

“Is there anywhere out of the range of fire?”

She frowned, irritated by the Conflagration King’s flippant reply.

“Rouche,” Lay called. “There’s no time to hesitate.”

“I know, but...”

“Your master, Anos, failed to destroy me,” Lay said, glaring at the sky. “Yet you think the sun could do it?”

Rouche struggled to respond to Lay as cackling laughter echoed through Leaks.

“Bwa ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Good, very good. Perfect answer! But making the bet is only enough to secure you a seat at the table. We can’t see the enemy’s hand at all, yet the enemy can see every last card we have. On top of that, the dealer is the world, and it can freely control the dice!”

The Conflagration King listed the disadvantages of our situation with glee.

“Everyone knows that in a gamble, the house always wins. What shall we do?”

A thunk sounded, the hard smack of Eldmed’s cane hitting something. He had probably just batted a god away.

“What will you bet with your life, Hero Kanon?”

“I’ll place all seven of my lives on you,” Lay replied without hesitation.

Eldmed inhaled sharply. I could just picture his face twisting with glee.

Lay smiled peacefully. “If the enemy can freely control the dice, we just have to bet on a cheater.”

“I see! You want me, of all people, to swindle the will of the world—to swindle Equis, the Almighty Radiance? Oh my. Do you really think me capable of something so outrageous?”

“We’ll win,” Lay said calmly, drawing a magic circle. “Just because the will of this world wants ruin doesn’t mean we have to accept it. We’re carrying Azesion and Dilhade on our backs.”

He drew Siegsesta, the Sword of Intent, from the circle. Ominous magic power gathered around the blade, while Evansmana glowed even more radiantly. The sight of such different magic wavelengths coexisting in Lay’s hands had Nigitt’s eyes widening.

“It is an honor to be fighting for peace with those I once crossed swords with. I couldn’t imagine better comrades,” Lay said, eyes burning with resolve. “Lend me your strength, and I will bring down the sun.”

“Good grief. Goodness, goodness me. What kind of reasoning is that? You make no sense,” Eldmed said with a laugh.

“You haven’t changed, Kanon,” Nigitt said.

Rouche agreed with a wry smile. “We should have expected as much from the human who tried to replace Lord Anos.”

“We will bet on you, Hero Kanon. Take these lives with you,” Devidra said, over the sound of Eldmed’s cackling laughter.

“The first ship will serve as the fourth ship’s shield. The second and third ships will protect from behind.”

“Roger that!”

At Eldmed’s order, the first ship piloted moved to the front, followed by the fourth ship with Lay and Misa, then the second and third ship in the rear.

“Ascend with everything you’ve got.”

The Sky Fortress Azetta rerouted all the magic power from its wards and barriers into the Fless group magic and entered the sky of destruction.

The four ships rose as their walls crumbled away—straight for where the eerie solar eclipse awaited them.

§ 27. Snowfall in the Sky of Destruction

“First ship, ready to fire Jio Graze!”

Leaks flew between each of the four ships of the Sky Fortress Azetta as they approached the Sun of Destruction.

“Second ship, likewise!”

“Third ship, all cannons ready!”

They were now deploying the strategy once used by the creation magic artist, Farris Noin: Firing enough Jio Graze into the sky of destruction to create a path of flames to fly through. The Sky Fortress Azetta was being worn away as it ascended, but the damage was less than ten percent—it wouldn’t affect their flight.

“If we can keep this up...” Rouche mumbled while glaring at the solar eclipse.

“Scary, scary. Don’t voice such terrifying things out loud, carrier of wind. Things only go smoothly when the enemy wants it to,” Eldmed tutted brightly. “Incidentally, Hero Kanon—by your estimation, how close do we need to be for you to stop the eclipse without fail?”

“Just getting close wouldn’t be enough,” Lay replied immediately. “All of my magic power needs to be in these swords. I must focus on nothing but slicing that sun.”

“Bwa ha ha! An absurd condition to mention this late in the game! In other words, what you’re saying is that we have to carry you all the way up to the sun, since you won’t be able to fly?”

“That’s right.”

Lay intended on pouring his entire body into cutting the solar eclipse, and that included the magic he would have otherwise used to maintain Fless. Of course, he would have no anti-magic wards or barriers to protect himself either. If the rays of the black sun touched him, none of his seven sources would save him from perishing.

“Bwa ha ha! It’ll be raining honorable deaths today. You’ll be betting everything on a single strike. Interesting. Just like a hero should! All or nothing, sink or swim, do or die—I would expect nothing less!”

“Incoming magic attack from below! The spell formula is a barrier!”

A report came from the third ship.

“There it is, the humans have joined the game. Let’s see how they fare—if they can last even a few seconds, we may be able to use them as a path.”

A blast of water emitting holy light shot up from below. The water shot past the Sky Fortress Azetta and moved straight towards the Sun of Destruction. And it wasn’t only one blast—it was eighteen shots total, all made of holy water. The versatile shots surrounded the target and formed the long-distance barrier spell Leiacanetts. The spell would create a barrier that twinkled like the stars, with the power to suppress and seal the magic power of the target within.

Leiacanetts shot into the airspace controlled by the Sun of Destruction and continued for a while, but it never reached its target. The order of destruction stopped its advance, and eventually, the barrier lost momentum. The eighteen shots of holy water activated the spell circle on the spot, forming a barrier. But that barrier only lasted for a brief moment before the holy water evaporated.

“Bwa ha ha. What kind of barrier melts away like that? Truly wings of wax! If they can’t even last a second, they won’t be able to serve as a path.”

“And with that, they can still claim the Leiacanetts spell contributed to bringing down the sun. As always, Gairadite only uses their wisdom for needless matters,” Rouche spat bitterly.

“Don’t dismiss them so easily, carrier of wind. Take another look.”

Leiacanetts created water vapor in the airspace after evaporating. Lay, still standing on top of the fourth ship, spotted a shadow within that vapor. He grabbed it as the ships flew through the water vapor to find it was a top hat—one of the Conflagration King’s. Upon closer inspection, there were another nine top hats flying through the sky of destruction.

“I, Eldmed, the Conflagration King, order you in the name of the Heavenly Father: be born, ten keepers of reason.”

Confetti and streamers burst out of the top hats, followed by winged female centaurs and male giants with large shields on their back. They were Reize Na Ile and Zeo La Opt—Keepers of Sky and Protection, respectively—and there were five of each, making a total of ten.

“Bwa ha ha. Even wings of wax can approach the sun until they melt.”

The Zeo La Opt climbed on the backs of the Reize Na Ile and held their shields out in front to create a barrier as the Keepers of Sky charged forward.

“Follow behind them.”

At Eldmed’s instruction, the four ships positioned themselves behind the shields of the Keepers and ascended further.

“A second Leiacanetts incoming!” the third ship reported from the back of the formation.

Blasts of water shot through the sky of destruction once again, with more top hats flying through the air after the barrier evaporated. But before the top hats could create more Keepers, arrows flew out of nowhere to shoot them down and burn them to ashes.

“See? There they are.”

Angels of shadow had appeared before them. They were the Keepers of Destruction, Eguz De Rafan. They had probably thought we assumed there would be no Eguz De Rafan if the Goddess of Destruction was gone, and had hidden the Keepers to make us believe that.

“Keep firing.”

Gairadite continued firing Leiacanetts in succession, sending more top hats soaring through the air and purposely making themselves targets for the shadow angels to shoot at. The Conflagration King hadn’t expected the same trick to work twice, and so the shadow angels were now shooting down regular top hats that couldn’t create Keepers.

Not even the Conflagration King was capable of putting enough magic power to create a Keeper in all the hats. But what he could do was force the enemy to target them—and split their forces.

“Aim all cannons forward. The shields are about to be destroyed.”

The shadow angels used the black sun’s rays as arrowheads for their arrows, shooting a wave of black arrows that destroyed the shield of the Keepers of Protection and pierced through the wings of the Keepers of Sky. With all of them being Keepers, their power was equal across the board, but the Keepers of Destruction currently had two advantages: the favor of the Sun of Destruction, and most importantly, the advantage of numbers. Under the barrage of black sun arrows, all the shields guarding the Sky Fortress Azetta were erased.

“Fire.”

“Commencing fire—Jio Graze!”

Under Nigitt, Devidra, and Rouche’s command, every cannon of the Sky Fortress Azetta cast a roaring, jet-black sun that trailed light like a meteor zooming across the sky. Over two hundred jet-black suns exploded, one after another, creating a path of flames to the Sun of Destruction.

“We are the wall! Stand your ground until the very end!” Nigitt yelled.

His ship was battered by unrelenting attacks from the shadow angels, crumbling right before everyone’s eyes. But evading was impossible; if he stepped out of the line of fire, Lay, having rendered himself fully defenseless, would face the full brunt of the enemy’s attack.

“Move up!”

Devidra and Rouche used all the magic power of the second and third ships to move before the fourth ship carrying Lay and Misa. Nigitt also used the first ship to ram into the Keepers of Destruction, who had also wrapped themselves in black sunlight to try to weave around their formation and directly attack Lay. The first ship was immediately swallowed in fire.

“Go!”

The fourth ship charged along the path of Jio Graze’s flames. Misa cast Beno Ievun to protect Lay from his position on the ship’s roof.

“Get ready! We’re entering the range of the sun!” Rouche shouted.

The damage to the Sky Fortress Azetta accelerated even further, more pieces of the ship crumbling away as the ship was gradually torn apart. The magic circle that activated Fless to power their movement was also damaged, slowing their flight. The closer they got to the sun, the more they would be burned by the light of destruction. But unlike two thousand years ago, the current Sun of Destruction was completely manifested as a solar eclipse.

“Those burned by the black sun cannot regenerate! Fall back, we shall create a shadow!” Rouche cried out.

The third ship moved forward to shield Lay, accelerating with all their energy. But their advance was blocked by Beno Ievun.

“What are you doing, Misa?!”

“We cannot lose our wings yet,” Misa said. “Leave this to me.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! The only magic that can charge through those rays unharmed is the continuous creation magic, Astrastella. Not even Lord Anos could cast that spell! We will be the shield. You protect Kanon!”

Since anything burned by the black rays could not be repaired, a new Sky Fortress had to be created on the spot using Astrastella. But this countermeasure invented by Farris Noin required both a talent for creation and a mastery of creation magic to cast.

“Is that all you think a fake Demon King is capable of?” Misa asked with a smile. “It’s true that my power is based on the rumors and legends of the Demon King of Tyranny. My forte in magic is the same as his. To say that I am an inferior version of Lord Anos would be to state a simple fact of life.”

She lowered her voice quietly. “But that truth applies to only half of me.”

Misa, now piloting the fourth ship, drew two magic circles in the throne room of the Sky Fortress.

“The other half of me inherited the blood of the Great Spirit Reno. And though that, too, can be considered an inferior version of my mother, I can still use the magic of the spirits.”

One circle was Iris, while the other was spirit magic. Misa fused the two circles to develop a completely new spell formula.

“Penrovizeth.”

From the center of the fourth ship spread a giant spherical magic circle that covered the second and third ships. On the outer walls of all three ships appeared scribbles—drawings of the kind of civilian homes commonly seen across Dilhade.

The shape of the Sky Fortress changed; the fourth, second, and third ships morphed into almost the exact shape of the scribbles. The reborn Azetta regained its speed and accelerated all at once. Despite now looking like flying houses, the Sky Fortress had as much flight power as it did in its original form.

“What’s this?” Rouche asked curiously.

“The Doodle Spirit Pentax draws scribbles on the outside walls of houses. As long as the scribbles are given a theme they can draw endlessly. And what they draw will always be new. That’s the rumor surrounding them.”

The spirit magic Pentast borrowed from the rumors and legends of the Doodle Spirit Pentax. By combining the creation magic Iris with spirit magic designed to endlessly scribble, the doodles were given the power of creation.

In this new form the Sky Fortress Azetta could transform into a variety of shapes through Penrovizeth while being destroyed by the Sun of Destruction’s black rays, and by doing so avoid its own destruction. Misa’s new spell formula fused the rumor that the Demon King of Tyranny could use all kinds of magic and create all kinds of spells with the skills given to the daughter of the Great Spirit Reno.

As a demon, she was less powerful than I, and as a spirit, she was weaker than her mother. But by combining her two natures Misa was able to create a spirit magic neither me nor Reno would have been capable of. This Penrovizeth would be just as effective as Farris Noin’s Astrastella.

The Sky Fortress transformed into new doodles faster than the sky of destruction could damage it, allowing them to push through the black rays to the Sun of Destruction.

“Bwa ha ha. Here’s the moment of truth. Second and third ships, get as close to Sarjieldenav as you can. Use Fless to shoot the fourth ship forward.”

“Roger!”

The second and third ships poured almost all their magic power into flying, becoming the wings that pushed the fourth ship upwards. Although Penrovizeth was continuously creating, once they got close enough to Sarjieldenav, destruction would eventually overtake creation. The plan was to identify that point and from there send the fourth ship to the Sun of Destruction alone.

Reinforcement shots of Leiacanetts continued to arrive from Gairadite, but the interval between shots was getting longer and longer. The Keepers had realized that the spell was merely trying to distract them. They were becoming careful, checking which top hats of the Conflagration King could create Keepers and only destroying those. And the Conflagration King had only left a limited number of top hats in Gairadite.

Eldmed himself was on the outskirts of Dilhade, fighting. He couldn’t leave the front lines, so there was a danger in the Hero Academy running out of holy water and magic; although Leiacanetts was just a decoy for the Keepers, if the spell failed to sufficiently occupy them, they’d focus their fire on the Sky Fortress instead.

All told, there was only one real shot at victory: the moment of the solar eclipse. If they reached that moment and failed to strike, then the Sun of Destruction would teleport to another part of the sky.

“The solar eclipse is here,” Misa murmured.

The solar eclipse that had been briefly stopped by the Sword of Three Races resumed its progress. The earth was in the most danger it had ever been, but this was also their best chance of saving it as well. They had to attack the moment the power of destruction was used, and bring down the sun of darkness before the earth was struck.

Lay clenched his two swords as he stared at the ominous solar eclipse coloring the sky.

At that moment, a single flower fluttered down through the air—a lunar snowdrop. Millions more followed in a wave of blinding light, turning the sky silver.

§ 28. Light of the End

The Sky Fortress Azetta rapidly decelerated. The lunar snowdrops in the air wrapped around the ships, the doodles of buildings on the ship walls replaced with a frozen ship. Penrovizeth was unable to function properly, and just like the pictures, Azetta froze over. It had been re-created without the ability to fly.

“So this is the sky of creation,” Misa mumbled as she stared grimly at the airspace.

The Moon of Creation overlapped with the Sun of Destruction to control the entire area. Its authority forced its own creation over others, blocking Penrovizeth completely.

The only way to prevent crashing in the sky of destruction was to use creation, but in the sky of creation, all creation was blocked. It was an absolute defense.

“C-Captain Rouche, at this rate—!”

“Lord Devidra, we can’t hold on any longer! The second ship will fall!”

Soldiers of the second and third ship respectively gave their reports. Eldmed promptly spoke over them.

“Shoot the fourth ship forward and retreat.”

“But if we shoot now...”

Wrapped in the black rays of the sun, the Keepers of Destruction were waiting right in the path of where the fourth ship was headed.

“Bwa ha ha. We’ve already dealt all the cards in our hand. Now we bet on the legend of the Hero and the Demon King. Or will you fold, and pay the price you must to wait for the next chance to play?”

Rouche and Devidra gritted their teeth and answered.

“Cast the group magic. Use every last ounce of your magic power,” Rouche said.

“The target of the spell will be the fourth ship. Time it carefully,” said Devidra.

The shadow angels readied their bows to strike. Arrows of sunlight rained down upon the fleet, but they had no means of evading anymore.

“Firrrrrreeeeee!”

A spherical magic circle for Fless surrounded the ship Lay was on, forcing the frozen Sky Fortress to shoot forward like a bullet. The second and third ship fell out of the airspace, but in return, the fourth ship pushed through the sky of destruction and creation against the rain of arrows. Arrows upon arrows of black rays hitting the ship caused it to crumble, pieces of it falling through the sky in loud groans and rumbles.

Now in close proximity to the solar eclipse, Penrovizeth was completely disabled, and the order of destruction broke the ship midair. Even as the roof began to collapse under his feet, Lay remained where he stood and focused on charging his two swords. From within the broken fortress a figure emerged, flying over to his position.

“Get on,” Misa said.

Having escaped the crumbling Sky Fortress, she took off the coat she was wearing and spread it flat to float in the air. Lay got on top of the improvised platform, with Misa weaving the both of them through the rain of arrows while protecting Lay with Beno Ievun.

The Keepers of Destruction used the black rays of Sarjieldenav to light themselves on fire, diving at Misa. Unlike the arrows they had fired earlier, these Keepers had transformed themselves into suicide bombers that would keep on chasing them indefinitely. On top of that, lunar snowdrops continued to fall within the sky of creation and destruction, limiting Misa’s and Lay’s movements in the cold air.

Unlike on the ground, there was no outspeeding the Keepers in this airspace controlled by creation and destruction. Without Azetta, Misa only had a limited amount of time she could keep fighting and flying for.

“Come to me, Gigadeth.”

Misa drew a magic circle, and a tiny, hammer-wielding fairy appeared behind her. The fairy that strongly resembled the Spirit of Thunder and Wind, Gigadeth, was next struck by a bolt of jet-black lightning. It absorbed the lightning’s power to grow to a gigantic size, taking on the visage of an evil king.

“Giga Jirasd.”

Misa extended her hand in a graceful flourish, and at the same time, Gigadeth swung its hammer of black lightning down like an emperor smiting his enemies. Black wind blew coldly past the Keepers of Destruction, black lightning striking them at once. The spirit origin magic Giga Jirasd was a combination of the spirit magic Gigadeil and origin magic Jirasd, reducing all the shadow angels it hit into dust. But the Keepers that had managed to avoid the blast continued their charge, wrapped in deadly black rays.

“Garyon.”

A nine-headed water dragon appeared behind Misa, roaring as it was dyed pitch-black. Quickly leaping into her arms, Misa then extended her fingers to stab the nearest Keeper to approach her.

“Vega Vebzud.”

The nine-headed water dragon burst out of the Keeper’s body, extinguishing the black rays and destroying their sources. Without missing a beat, Misa fired another Giga Jirasd, sending another bolt of black lightning through the sky of destruction and creation.

She then used Fless to fly up with all her might, propelling the coat carrying Lay closer to the Sun of Destruction.

Their surroundings grew one shade darker. They had reached the total solar eclipse of Sarjieldenav. The covered sun was coated in an unbelievable amount of magic—enough to destroy the earth ten times over, and still have power to spare.

“Misa!” Lay yelled.

Misa extended her magic-filled hands. “This is the moment I’ve been waiting for!”

She drew a Fless circle for Lay and cast it along with Giga Jirasd—but at that same moment, the Beno Ievun covering her vanished.

“Ah...?” she exclaimed.

A small thorn had stabbed into her chest.

“What...is this...?”

Her magic power suddenly scattered, as though the weakest point of her source had been pierced straight through.

“Lay...”

Misa’s body swayed, then dropped. Immediately the black rays of Sarjieldenav burned Lay’s unprotected body. The cloak he was riding was also set alight, wrapping around him as he fell too.

A voice spoke.

“Usurper who steals the order of the world.”

The voice was eerie, tone threaded with static.

“Like you said yourself, you cannot see my cards.”

The voice reverberated throughout the whole sky of destruction and creation.

“The demon ships have fallen. So have the fake Demon King and the stolen Keepers of order.”

The first, second, and third ships of Azetta had all suffered heavy damage and were barely floating at the bottom of the sky. They no longer had the power to rise back towards the sun—even their return to earth was not guaranteed. Ten more of the Conflagration King’s top hats flew through the air, but they were pierced by arrows and summarily turned to ash.

“You have no wings left in your cards, usurper. All hope has now been erased. Burn from the Solar Eclipse of the End and disappear along with all those on earth.”

Static chittered and blipped like mocking laughter. Nothing could be seen; the Solar Eclipse of the End had shut the world in darkness.

“Bwa ha ha... Indeed, indeed. Defeat... Yes, this is a perfect defeat. But gambling is only fun when you can lose,” Eldmed said. “Isn’t that right, Equis?”

“Farewell, foolish demons.”

Silence fell in the sky. The magic of the sinister solar eclipse expanded and condensed into ebony light, sparkling with a black and red sheen.

“The end has come.”

Light of the end radiated from Sarjieldenav’s total solar eclipse. But just before it could reach the earth, something stabbed the condensed ebony light, stopping it in its tracks.

“What?”

In the faint light of the end, one could see the figure of a hero—accompanied by a laugh.

“Bwa ha ha! Ha ha ha! Gya ha ha ha ha ha!”

The absolutely gleeful laughter of Eldmed echoed through the sky.

“How could the Almighty Radiance, of all beings, fail to notice we still had wings?”

While the world had been covered in darkness, Lay had reached the Sun of Destruction and thrust the Sword of Intent he had filled with his condensed magic into the light of the end, creating a small hole.

“That’s right—wings of wax!” the Conflagration King said.

Equis had deemed the Leiacanetts that had carried the decoy top hats unworthy of notice, but it was exactly what had allowed Lay to cross the final stretch to the Sun of Destruction.

Leiacanetts were blasts of holy water. Holy water in and of itself was a highly versatile magic tool, one humans could use as a source of extremely effective magic. To a demon like Lay it was poison, but as a former hero he was well versed in its use. And so, just like Emilia had once used it, he was able to use it too. He had been gathering whatever holy water had been used up in the sky of destruction—in other words, the steam it had been reduced to once the Leiacanetts barrier collapsed—while he was outside the ship.

All so that he could fly through the sky without using his own magic. In short, Lay had used Fless to save his fall after Misa’s cloak burned to ash and flew the rest of the way with the magic power of the holy water. The moment the Solar Eclipse of the End occurred—the moment the Sun of Destruction could not teleport and change positions—he had thrust Siegsesta forward and bored a hole into the light of the end before it could be fully released.

The Conflagration King had used the fact our cards had been revealed to our advantage. If the enemy believed we still had one last gambit they would’ve been on guard, but Equis had known all the moves we could possibly make. By consistently and explicitly describing Leiacanetts as “wings of wax,” Eldmed fed Equis the impression that the spell was useless. He had hidden this card not from the eyes, but from the mind.

“Sword of Three Races, second hidden art—”

Lay charged into the Sun of Destruction without any anti-magic. Black rays and the light of the end wrapped around him at once, rapidly reducing his source; it was only due to the protection offered by the Sword of Three Races that he was even barely able to maintain his physical form. When he had been left with just one source, he stabbed Evansmana into the hole made by Siegsesta.

“Sky Piercer!”

A divine light covered Lay’s body and Evansmana, releasing a single forward thrust. The surface of the Sun of Destruction revolted as a hole opened among its tremendous black rays, stabbed open by the Sword of Three Races.

Light flooded in every direction, sparks of dark flame scattering across the sky. All the air between the sky and the earth shook.

Slowly, the Sun of Destruction shifted out of the eclipse and back to its normal position.

Had Lay done it? Had the Sword of Three Races successfully pierced the fate of the Solar Eclipse of the End? The Moon of Creation and Sun of Destruction had gained distance from each other.

“Everything shall turn like the cogs of order,” an eerie voice said.

The Sun of Destruction was back to a half-eclipse state. But ebony light was gathering on its surface, as though it intended to fire its rays even without the total eclipse.

Lay pushed Evansmana forward with all his might, yelling through Leaks.

“Retreat from the airspace!”

“It’s too late—”

Lay poured the last of his magic power into the Sword of Three Races.

“Please hold on, Evansmana! Just half to go—”

In response to his emotions, the white light further pierced the sun.

With all his might, Lay thrust his holy sword through the sun.

“Stoooooooooooop!”

The light of the end twinkled brilliantly.

“Ein Aer Naverva.”

§ 29. End of the Unsmiling World

In a deep darkness...

At the bottom of a heart devoid of light...

Was a collar named despair.

A collar that tore apart the hearts of the sisters that had cogs implanted in them.

What was reflected in their Magic Eyes...

What was reflected in their Divine Eyes...

Was a sky of destruction and creation, dyed in blood.

“Stop it...” Sasha mumbled.

The pillager’s cog dug deep into her heart, turning with enough force to tear her in two. As it turned, it let out an eerie creak, each creak signaling, little by little, that something was breaking. What spilled out from the break were shards of feeling—the meager wishes of a small girl who was once the Goddess of Destruction.

I only had one wish.

I wanted to see this world with my own Eyes.

“Say, ————. You said you hated me, right?”

————? Who was that?

Who was I talking to?

I don’t know. I never had anyone to talk to.

Memories spilled out. With one slow creak, the cog in her turned.

“What does hatred feel like?”

I can hear a voice. My voice. My words are being repeated in my head.

“Do joy and happiness exist before hatred? I don’t know that either. All I know is that somehow, joy and happiness become anger before transforming into hatred.”

“But I don’t know any of it.”

“Because all of it gets destroyed before I can even get close. I’ve heard how beautiful flowers are, but what do they look like?”

“I’ve heard that mountains are grand, but how big are they really?”

“How about a house? A bed? A chair? A book?”

“What does a kiss feel like?”

The world is full of things I don’t know.

Things I’ll never see, living things.

I always wanted to see them.

And yet...

“I’ve destroyed a lot. Demons, humans, spirits, sometimes gods—I’ve destroyed them all. Every end in this world has happened in the palm of my hand.”

“After all, it’s the Goddess of Destruction’s order that causes people to break and their sources to fade.”

“The same goes for the Sun of Destruction. When it shines in the sky, its rays burn and destroy. Dozens, hundreds, possibly even more of your comrades have fallen to its power.”

“Your” comrades?

Whose?

“So tell me, ————. Why do people live? Everything comes to an end someday. Everything ends, always. So what difference does it make if it ends today, tomorrow, or in a hundred years?”

“Did you think there was hope? Did you think there was a continuation? If so, that’s hilarious. Nothing remains, you know? So trying to survive so desperately is just foolish.”

That’s right, it’s just so foolish.

I’ve...

I’ve been so foolish.

“The world cannot smile because I’m watching it. These Eyes only reflect the end. At every moment, there is only sadness to be seen—only tears that remain. That is the undeniable truth.”

“Can you overturn that, ————? Can you really destroy me, the Goddess of Destruction?”

Say. Who are you?

If you’re there, talk to me.

Otherwise I’ll...

“Like I said just now, I’ve been waiting this entire time. While I destroyed and destroyed others, I prayed for someone to come here who hated me. Someone who could slash apart Sarjieldenav and appear right in front of my eyes.”

“It’s boring being alone in this dark sun, you know? There’s no one to talk to. But even if I go outside, nothing changes.”

“All my Eyes can reflect are despair and sadness. Nothing can exist before the Goddess of Destruction but the end of all things. If I tried to walk upon the earth, the world would be destroyed in a single night.”

“There’s so much I want to know. The shapes of flowers, and the size of mountains. Joy. Happiness. But these Divine Eyes can never look upon them.”

“That’s why I thought if there was someone very strong out there, I’d be able to look at them.”

“I imagined us being able to talk. I knew whoever came would hate me, and that they’d have come to destroy the Goddess of Destruction’s order. They’d come to stop all the sadness of the world.”

“And I knew that I would fall in love with that person. If such a person existed, there could only be one. No one else could be my partner.”

“I waited a long, long time. It felt like an eternity. I’ve destroyed lots and lots in that time.”

Ah, that’s right. That’s right.

I remember now.

“And then you came.”

No one came.

No one ever came for me.

Creak... Creak... The cog turned, and in the background of her memories the noise echoed faintly.

“I’d like to walk the earth with these Eyes of yours and see something other than sadness.”

It was all a lie.

It was all my fantasy.

I can’t remember anything.

This world is...

“I’d like to see this world smiling.”

The world isn’t smiling.

Because I...

Sasha opened her eyes. And all she saw was despair.

“Ein Aer Naverva.”

Destroyed it.

The scene before her burned into Abernyu’s Divine Eyes. It was the sky of destruction. She saw a blinding light and a figure with a sword in hand. The blinding light was the light of the end released by Sarjieldenav’s solar eclipse—Ein Aer Naverva. Lay had stabbed Evansmana into the Sun of Destruction and was resisting the evil light of ruin with everything he had. But not even the holy sword that could sever fate itself could completely overthrow destruction.

“Evade!” the hero screamed.

The three ships of the Sky Fortress below charged into the Ein Aer Naverva while hearing his cry. Nigitt’s ship was the first to be shot by the light.

“Nigitt!” Rouche shouted.

“There is no evading!” Nigitt shouted. “Behind us are Dilhade and Azesion, the sacred lands our Demon King of Tyranny has protected with his life!”

The next ship to be hit was Devidra’s. The already worn-out ship crumbled helplessly.

Stop it.

“Lord Anos... Forgive me for failing to obey your order to live,” Devidra said. “But at the very least... I will protect this peaceful era!”

The sources of Devidra and the other demons approached destruction. They glowed with an intense, near-blinding light, as though they were strong enough to defy destruction. But instead of using that magic power for their own survival, they poured it into the wards protecting the earth from the light of the end.

Devidra, who once detested the humans. Subordinates who couldn’t let go of their hatred. The peaceful world they reincarnated into must have blinded them—perhaps that was why their bodies moved to protect it of their own accord.

But even that wasn’t enough. As though to mock Nigitt’s and Devidra’s sacrifice, the cold light of the end pushed both of their ships back down to earth.

Right below them was Misa. A thorn had pierced a vital point of her source, so while she could move her arm towards the incoming threat, she was unable to control her magic into doing what she wanted. Her power as a spirit had been cut off. Black particles scattered from her body, turning her from the fake Demon King Avos Dilhevia to her regular form.

“Schur.”

A single breeze of wind whisked Misa out of the airspace.

“Rouche!” she cried.

“The Demon King of Tyranny wouldn’t fall to a mere god. Not even his rumor!” Rouche shouted.

With anti-magic wards deployed, Rouche steered the third ship towards the other two as though to take Misa’s place.

“Devidra! Nigitt! What are you two doing?!” Rouche scolded them. “Even if it consumes your body, you must protect the earth!”

Her fierce scolding brought some faint life back into Devidra and Nigitt, who had just been on the verge of perishing.

“Sorry. I was remembering an old comrade of mine...” Nigitt murmured.

“They must have felt the same way...” Devidra added. “If only we could have enjoyed this peaceful era together...”

Like a star just before burning out, the magic power of the three ships shined brightly.

“We may be two thousand years late...” Nigitt said.

“But we, too, will fight for our liege!” said Devidra.

The sky was covered by an aurora of darkness—Beno Ievun, the magic barrier that could seal even the gods. It was a spell they shouldn’t have been able to cast, but by sacrificing their own lives, as well as the lives of the subordinates on each of their ships, they made it possible.

Countless sources were swallowed by the light.

“Lord Anos... Please, stay safe...”

Stop it.

Light of the end and black aurora collided, creating an impact that nearly tore apart the sky of destruction itself. Everything—the sky, air, and earth—shook.

Ein Aer Naverva mercilessly swallowed the Beno Ievun, disintegrating the Sky Fortress completely.

Another large explosion roared through the sky of destruction.

“Guh!”

Lay, who had been pushing the Sword of Three Races into Sarjieldenav, was directly in the path of the explosion. Helpless before the order of destruction, his hand was ripped away from his holy sword, and he was thrown backwards to the world below.

Stop, please.

With nothing left in its way, the light of the end shined straight down on the land. A bottomless hole opened, then spread in the shape of a cross. The land split into four, each quadrant drifting away from each other.

I don’t want to destroy anything.

Loudly, with a scream, the world was breaking apart.

I never wanted to break anything.

Creak... Creak... The cog continued to move. Despair continued to turn inside Abernyu, tearing her heart into pieces.

“I told you.”

Through the static came a voice, echoing in my head. I returned my gaze to what was before me in the Firmament of the Gods. At the bottom of its abyss, I glared at the light of Equis falling before me.

“I told you that you would regret knowing. Ignorance was their only chance of happiness. There is no salvation. They will be consumed by the cogs of the Goddess of Destruction and Creation, and will revolve according to their order.”

Equis continued.

“All it took was a small hole in their memory of the Demon King of Tyranny, Anos Voldigoad. By tearing that apart, the divine sisters would lose all hope. And with no hope, no love, no kindness, and no heart, the two sisters will fit into the world as cogs of destruction and creation.”

Sasha’s heart was by no means in its usual state. Neither was Misha’s. Their feelings had been reaching me through Leaks for a while now, but they didn’t seem able to hear my replies. The pillager’s cogs buried in the divine bodies of the Goddess of Destruction and Creation had stolen their memories of me.

It seemed that now, they could no longer perceive me at all.

“All that is left is despair. All that is left is the order of this world. They will repeat history. They will destroy the world they wish to keep safe. They will continue to create, in order to destroy.”

Sasha and Misha, Militia and Abernyu. Without me, they would have no hope.

“Hmm. You claim to be the will of the world, yet here you spout such exaggerations.”

My words caught Equis off guard; they didn’t reply.

“Despair? This?” I said. “A slightly harsh light on the world is what you call despair?”

I pointed at the scene of earth shown in the Limnet of the cogs.

“Look closer, Equis. The world has only been split into a cross. Calling that destruction seems a bit dramatic to me. It’s just split. And if it’s split, we can just stick it back together.”

When I checked on the earth through my magic link to everyone, I could see they were still fine. Gairadite and Midhaze had both been unaffected by the light of the end.

“The hero’s Sword of Three Races opened a hole in the solar eclipse, suppressing its might. My subordinates risked their lives to create a wall, preventing the light of the end from reaching any city.”

Though it was only just a little, they had succeeded in diverting the light of the end. Nigitt, Devidra, Rouche, and my subordinates who have been loyal to me for over two thousand years—all of them risked their lives to protect this peace.

The situation was far from over, far from despair. I had to repay them for their sacrifice.

“Misha and Sasha are still fighting. You can use your cogs to rob them of their hope and change their memories, but such false claims of despair could never defeat them.”

I slowly reached out at the light before me. The abyss of that light had finally come into view—and I grabbed it. My hand closed around something firm.

“I’ve got you now, Equis. Culprit of the world’s destruction.”

To be continued.

Afterword

Volume 10 of the Misfit of Demon King Academy continues to focus on the gods that appeared in the previous volume. The word “order” that appears in the story is what we would call in our world the laws of physics—since this is a fantasy world, I thought it would be interesting to have different laws from our own.

In our world, we naturally accept the laws of physics without question, but when depicting a fantasy world, there needs to be a reason behind the laws or the story would feel unnatural. What kind of gods exist in this world? Who created the world, and what is their tale of origin? How was the world created, and what was the result? What happened afterwards to make the world what it is now? I think one of the best parts of writing fantasy is being able to write the formation of the world from scratch.

Normally, there would be no deeper meaning behind the existence of gravity, but say, for example, a god created gravity to keep humans trapped in their world—ideas like that are what I find the most exciting about the fantasy genre.

In this way, volume 10 was filled with these kinds of things that I like. What was Militia thinking when she created the world? And what are the secrets behind the creation of the world? I tried to write a grand tale about solving the mystery of the world in this volume, and it ended up spanning three books from volume 9 to volume 10 act 2, but I wanted to build on the world after eight volumes of story, so I hope you’ll look forward to reading it.

This volume was once again illustrated by the wonderful Shizumayoshinori. With the state of the world as it is, we haven’t been able to meet in person, so I’d like to use this space to express my gratitude. Thank you very much.

And as always, thank you to my editor, Yoshioka, for working closely with me.

Finally, to all the readers who have read this far, I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Thank you all so much.

Act 2 will be a culmination of everything in the Demon King Academy. A battle like nothing before awaits Anos and his friends, and I hope you’ll stick around to see how it ends. I’ll do my best writing so that you can all enjoy it, so please look forward to it!

SHU

7 June 2021