Lord Shadow

Sofia look back at that distant clouds. She saw the tears in the skies. 

Sometimes when she tries to look further, her senses are blocked by the chaotic energy that changes the properties of time and space

She sighed deeply.

She understood why Azief waved her away. 

Sending her millions of miles away from the battle. She understood why he did not want her there.

She could not help him. Just like in the past. She had never been able to help him at all. And that frustrates her more than the feeling of helplessness.

The fact that she had never been able to do anything for him. It is always him that does something for her and not the other way around

She had the intention…. but not the ability.

Even if she wanted to go back there, it would not be easy. That is a distance of a millions of miles.

She understood it. But that did not mean she likes it.

‘This feel eerily similar’

Sofia is feeling like that day again. That day, where the snow fills the world and she was there when the snow falls and the mountain appeared.

It reminded her of the day when Katarina encased herself and Azief inside a mountain of ice, standing there for years to annoy her.

She always hated that mountain. Even now, when Azief chose her, she still felt uneasy. Because, she fears that one day Azief would look at her and found her…. not enough for him

And that would hurt her more. If Azief chose Katarina, that would hurt her. But it would not her as much, if someday, Azief look at her and he would then…. Regret

That is not something she could handle.

When she remembers that day, she had one thought. She should have been there before the snow falls.

This time it is even more worse than that time. 

During that time, it was her timing that was the problem. This time, even though she wanted to go to help Azief, she is not qualified to.

Her abilities could not match up of Azief and as such she is now forced to sit here on the ground, just trying to make sure that the pressure would not be able to hinder her from moving

How could she help Azief with her condition? 

She thought of all this and she looks at the sky again. 

She wonders about the fight. And she thought of Loki and the news from Hirate that he was the one that bring about this calamity.

For some reason, Sofia don’t believe that it is Loki deeds

Everything seems to point toward some conspiracy. Knowing Loki, if he is really the one that did such a thing no one would find out

But now Hirate is announcing it to all the world with his Psionic Sense that Loki is responsible for this. 

She would know if Loki were the one that created this calamity

Because she was there with Loki fighting the demonic soldiers since the beginning. He would not have the time to do what Hirate said he had done.

And then he remembers what Loki said to him about helping Azief. And she could easily draw a conclusion. Loki is doing this for Azief.

Azief was the one that did all this and as such, Loki is trying to cover him up.

‘This pair of brothers’ she thought to herself. Loki…. she never could understand what that Trickster is thinking

There were many things inside Sofia mind right now. 

Now, that she could not do anything but wait, all of the thoughts that she had suppressed during battle is now once again swirling in her mind.

She closed her eyes and tries to dispel the pressure around her body so she could at least hold her bow and pointed it toward the battle

At the same time, she is trying to clear her mind from unnecessary thoughts

She wanted to use the Slaughtering Sun Arrows. She is quite confident that one of her arrow is good enough to at least injured the Demon King a bit.

But the thing is she could not even raise her body to even draw the bowstring.

The ironic thing about all of this was that while the bow is quite powerful and so is the arrow, she herself is not that powerful. 

She knows that with her power she could not defeat the Demon King. This is a matter of the difference in realm

But she could circumvent that using the arrow that she got from the artifact. 

With the arrow she is quite confident that she could harm the Demon King. 

This is why the world had always debated who is the strongest woman in the world. Is it Katarina the Ice Queen or the Divine Archer Sofia?

Of the many candidates for that title, these two are the most obvious contender for that title

Most leaned towards Katarina. 

But if Sofia uses her arrows, her real arrows and not some arrows that she conjured using her energy, she is without peer.

Many people attributed her abilities to her weapons and not her own personal prowess. 

But right now, even if she wanted to draw the bow and arrow and shoot it toward the Demon King, she is not capable of it.

She then musters more energy as one of her Disk cracks and she managed to free herself from that pressure for a second.

She quickly drew the bow and the arrow. Raymond frowned. But he did not say anything. He waited. And then Sofia sighed and then put down the arrow

‘You couldn’t?’ Raymond simply ask.

She smiles bitterly and said

‘I am too weak’

Raymond shook his head

‘He is too strong.’ That was his answer. But the answer did not comfort her.

‘I could not help him’

Raymond bitterly chuckles and he said

‘No one could help him. If even Hikigaya and Jean could not help him, how could you help him? You would only endanger yourself trying to help him. And I doubt that he would want to see that’ he paused for a second before he said

‘I don’t want to see that’ there was silence between them. 

The waves of the ocean in the nearby shores crashed against the land and the area that they are in experience more tremor and shaking

The wind turns harsh. 

The other people of the World Government that is seeing the conversation between their Supreme Commander and the Divine Archer all pretend that they did not see anything and didn’t hear anything

She is silent for a second before she said

‘I should’

‘You couldn’t’ he replies quickly saying the same word again. This time it is a statement and not a question. She closed her eyes, trying to make peace with that

She sighed and once again opened her eyes and look at the distant horizon, hoping to catch a glimpse of Azief

And she knew she could not make peace with that. She hoped she is stronger. But hope is not reality.

She could only watch. And she is not the only one that could only watch as the world is breaking apart.

Everyone could see and feel the power of that strike. But who knows it better than Azief himself who just a moment ago, had swing it down.

The moment he saw Balfor Q’un opens his eyes, the energy that was gathered on the edge of the sword, the energy gathered at the tip of the sword formed an almighty divine power.

It cracks the surrounding space and tore apart half the area of space around the edges and the tip of the sword.

It rises up and pierce the layer of protection of Earth and went straight toward the planets around Earth.

Like an endless flood, a powerful energy rises up toward the heaven

The world energy rushed toward Azief in that moment. 

This sudden and almost instantaneous absorption from the world energy created a kneejerk reaction to the world as most forest in the world withers

Azief is using the concept of World Cleaving Palm in his sword strike.

So, how could it not be heaven suppressing and world shaking? 

The Six Path road inside the Wheel is opened and the energy that it brought out fills the whole world, accelerating the expansion of the world and even helping to fill up the World Energy.

The Wheel above Azief head seems to moves quickly but also seems like it did not move at al. Time was reversed and subverted.

The sword that is on Azief hand is not absorbing the world energy. It is plundering it, eating it like a glutton that was starved for a week finding food.

And it is trembling like it is being happy. 

It is cutting the Laws of the world and is absorbing a lot of death aura all over the world. 

But while in the past this skill cut the world energy and force it to a corner, this time Azief had more control of this skill.

He is more proficient in it and as such, he could control what he cuts and he could direct it easily

The Source of the energy that he cuts is none other than the demonic aura of the Demon King. 

That is what he did when he charged the sword before he pointed it down toward the Demon King

That is what he did when Hikigaya bought him that two seconds.

Azief from the very beginning had only around fifty percent chance of winning against the Demon King

That is because he still has many things he did not use. There is still the flute. There are the ten Eternal rings. 

And there is still the fact that if he wanted to, he could step through the door and become an Essene Creation leveler.

But he had to do it by abandoning the Perfection Path

That is why he estimated he had fifty percent chance of winning against the Demon King

But he increases that percentage by adding many helpers. That is why he takes his time before.

That is why he aid Hikigaya in breaking through. That is why he waited for the Orvanians fleet up there in the heavens to prepare themselves

He had a plan the moment he suspected that there is a being more powerful than him, hiding in the dark.

This is how beings like them fight. They need to fight in a condition where winning is the only possible conclusion.

All of that is to raise his percentage of winning. He had to remind himself multiple times that he could not lose this battle.

The sword cut and the sword cleaves. The essence of sword and saber is unified in that sword strike.

It is grinding against the demonic sky and the demonic aura, weakening the Demon King even further

The World Cleaving skill is now ready to be used on the Demon King!

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