Chapter 494: First Confrontation

Silence descended upon the battlefield.

The storm had disappeared.

The countless lightning bolts that had painted the sky moments ago faded one after another, leaving behind only a quiet forest covered in the aftermath of the brothers’ clash.

Barak Raizen stood motionless.

His sword slipped from his hand.

His body remained upright for a few seconds, as if refusing to accept reality.

Then...

His knees slowly gave out.

The person who had chased Nero his entire life.

The person who had built his entire existence around surpassing him.

The person who had sacrificed everything for the sake of defeating him...

Had lost.

Nero stood several meters away.

His golden hair slowly returned to its original dark blue color.

The golden symbols of lightning within his crimson eyes faded.

The terrifying pressure that had made even the surrounding prana retreat disappeared.

He looked at Barak silently.

There was no satisfaction.

No pride.

No anger.

Only calm.

To Nero, this battle had never been about proving superiority.

It had simply been something inevitable.

A confrontation that had to happen.

Barak’s obsession.

His hatred.

His envy.

Everything had finally reached its conclusion.

"..."

Nero turned away.

But then—

Something changed.

A strange sensation.

A disturbance.

His crimson eyes narrowed.

The connection.

It was still there.

A faint thread that shouldn’t exist.

A thread extending from Barak’s body...

Toward somewhere beyond.

Beyond the physical world.

Beyond normal perception.

Nero slowly looked back.

The corpse-like body of Barak twitched.

Once.

Twice.

Then—

Crack.

A strange sound echoed.

Not the sound of bones breaking.

Something else.

Something far more unnatural.

The atmosphere changed.

The temperature dropped.

The surrounding prana became distorted.

Even the forest seemed to instinctively reject what was appearing before it.

Nero’s eyes became colder.

The body that had belonged to Barak slowly rose.

But it was no longer Barak.

Something had returned.

Something that had been waiting.

The body remained the same, but the feeling was completely different.

It was like looking at a familiar shape occupied by something that had never belonged there.

An existence wearing a human form.

The air around it carried an unbearable presence.

Not because of overwhelming power.

Not because of simple danger.

It was something deeper.

A feeling that instinctively told every living creature:

This should not exist.

A wrongness.

A distortion.

A presence that made the soul itself reject what it was sensing.

The figure lifted its head.

The golden eyes that once belonged to Barak were gone.

Only darkness remained.

Then...

It smiled.

A smile that didn’t belong on a human face.

"Hehehe..."

The sound was quiet.

Almost amused.

"Nero..."

The voice was not entirely Barak’s.

It carried another tone beneath it.

Ancient.

Cold.

Patient.

"So this is you."

Nero remained silent.

His eyes focused on the existence before him.

Leviathan.

The Sin of Envy.

Even without a name being spoken, he understood.

This was the being connected to that thread.

The disgusting existence sitting beyond the void.

The one that had been watching.

The one that had been waiting.

The possessed body tilted its head.

"Interesting."

A strange curiosity filled its voice.

"Very interesting."

The creature looked down at its own hands.

Then back toward Nero.

"You destroyed my vessel."

A pause.

"And yet..."

Its smile widened.

"You did exactly what I wanted."

Nero’s expression didn’t change.

"You wanted to see my power."

The possessed body laughed softly.

"Not only that."

"You wanted to hide your true abilities from me."

For the first time, a slight change appeared in Nero’s eyes.

Not surprise.

Confirmation.

The existence understood too much.

Leviathan laughed.

"How amusing."

"The child who sees through everything."

"The child who refuses to reveal anything."

"The child who stands before destiny itself and remains unmoved."

Nero’s gaze sharpened.

His eyes activated.

The world changed.

To ordinary people, there was only a dead body.

To Nero...

There was a connection.

A massive dark thread wrapped around Barak’s soul.

A bridge between worlds.

A pathway for Leviathan to descend.

But there was something else.

A weakness.

The connection was incomplete.

Because the true owner of that power was not here.

Only a projection.

Only an influence.

Nero understood.

This was not the time to fight the true Leviathan.

But it was the perfect time to weaken him.

The possessed Barak moved.

However—

Nero moved first.

His eyes shone.

The world around him slowed.

Every strand of energy became visible.

Every flow of prana.

Every hidden connection.

His vision pierced through the physical body.

Through the darkness.

Through the contract.

Through the invisible link connecting two worlds.

There.

The point.

Nero’s sword appeared in his hand.

A blade covered in silent golden lightning.

Leviathan noticed something.

But too late.

"What—"

Slash.

A single sword strike.

Not aimed at the body.

Not aimed at the heart.

At the connection itself.

The golden lightning cut through the invisible thread.

For a brief moment...

Everything became silent.

Then—

A roar echoed from beyond the void.

Not anger.

Not pain.

Surprise.

The connection was severed.

The power flowing through Barak disappeared instantly.

The possessed body staggered.

Leviathan’s presence became unstable.

But before leaving...

A strange sound came from beyond.

A laugh.

"Hehehe..."

Nero’s eyes narrowed.

Even after losing the connection...

The existence was laughing.

"Interesting."

The voice echoed from somewhere far away.

"You actually saw it."

"You actually reached through the boundary."

"How fascinating."

The darkness surrounding the possessed body cracked.

Then shattered.

But before Leviathan completely disappeared...

Something fell.

A small piece of darkness.

A few severed fragments from the connection.

A warning.

A message.

The true Leviathan had not been defeated.

Not even close.

The figure’s eyes looked at Nero one final time.

"This is our first meeting."

A pause.

"And yet..."

"I already know."

"You will become a problem."

The smile returned.

"Good."

"I enjoy problems."

Then—

The presence vanished.

The body of Barak collapsed.

Silence returned.

Nero stood alone.

His sword lowered.

He stared at the empty space where Leviathan had been.

That existence...

It was different from every enemy he had faced.

Monsters sought destruction.

Humans sought power.

But that thing...

It sought something else.

Possession.

Influence.

A game.

Nero closed his eyes briefly.

The battle was over.

But the real confrontation had not even started.

---

Far beyond the material world.

Within a dimension of endless darkness...

A throne stood.

Leviathan sat upon it.

The ruler of Envy.

One of the Original Seven Sins.

He looked down at his hand.

Several fingers were missing.

The injury was not physical.

It was the result of Nero cutting through the connection itself.

A feat that should have been impossible.

Yet Leviathan only laughed.

"Hehehe..."

He looked at the empty space before him.

"So that’s your ability."

"Those eyes..."

"How troublesome."

There was no anger.

No frustration.

Only excitement.

For countless years, he had searched for something interesting.

Something that could make this endless existence entertaining again.

And finally...

He found it.

"The child of destiny."

"The one who stands between possibilities."

"The one even fate refuses to reveal completely."

Leviathan leaned back.

His snake-like tongue passed over his lips.

"The first encounter belongs to you."

"You won."

"But..."

His smile became wider.

"The next one will be different."

The darkness around him trembled.

The awakening had already begun.

The world had no idea.

The pieces moving behind the scenes were far greater than anyone imagined.

Nero believed he had cut the thread.

And he had.

But Leviathan did not need a thread anymore.

Because now...

He knew exactly where to look.

"Hehehehe..."

"This is fun."

"Truly..."

"Fun."

The ruler of Envy closed his eyes. He couldn’t help but looks forward to their next confrontation.