Chapter 307

War did not make it impossible to use a temple's Warp Gate.

After arriving at the Temple of Boundary, Killian met the High Priest for the first time in a long while.

"May fortune attend you."

Lokia de Styx acted as though he had something he wanted to say, but in the end swallowed his words and saw Killian off.

Then Killian arrived at the Temple of Barriers.

"S-Sir Killian……!!"

Hoka de Murus welcomed Killian with a start.

"Have you been well?"

"We heard you had gone missing……"

"I went on a little trip."

A trip while the entire Continent was at war.

Seeing Hoka's face plainly reveal that thought, Killian gave a sly grin.

"Shall I hear the temple's report for the first time in a while?"

Normally, priests could use at least a portion of the Authorities of the Gods they served.

But there was not a single priest here who could strengthen or repair the Barrier.

That was why, despite knowing the Barrier's importance, the Holy See had all but abandoned this place.

Instead, it had spared no support for the Temple of Boundary, bringing it to its present state.

‘Unlike Murus, Styx has reaped the seeds he sowed well.’

Murus had explained it this way: his Divinity had begun to weaken rapidly more than two hundred years ago.

At first, Killian had dismissed it as an excuse, but now he knew it was not merely an excuse.

‘There is a high probability that it was the Lord's doing.’

The Lord had been laying plans since long ago to bring the Anomaly into the Continent.

Only the Lord could have used a scheme subtle enough to escape the notice of higher Gods such as Styx and Murus.

[Adamas. Will you not hunt the Lord with me?]

He recalled the Monster Lord's words.

‘I cannot believe everything he says.’

He had revealed a desire to defeat the Lord and become a God himself—one of the highest Gods, no less.

‘He is a snake.’

He might even have been acting under the Lord's command.

Even so, one thing was certain: Killian's Regression had taken something away from them that benefited them.

Otherwise, the Monster Lord would not have abandoned Adamas.

"The Barrier patrols are going well, are they not?"

"Of course they are!"

Hoka raised his voice as though he were addressing a superior.

"Bring them to me."

Shortly afterward, Killian sat in the High Priest's office and examined the documents Hoka had brought.

They were reports recording the people who had visited the Barrier and any unusual phenomena.

"High Priest Lokia has visited as well?"

"The Continent has been engulfed in the flames of war with the Empire."

As temples representing the northern frontier, they had decided to cooperate and reinforce their patrols.

Aside from that, only priests of the Boundary and the Barrier had visited.

‘Tightening the surveillance after Colin's betrayal has paid off.’

The Temple of Barriers was fulfilling its function and, however clumsily, serving as a watcher.

‘Though even this is probably shabby compared with the other temples.’

The minimal support sent by the Holy See, together with the funds the Extermination Squad provided in secret, all went toward monitoring and maintaining the Barrier.

‘Murus, you truly gave a revelation to someone like this.’

"You have worked hard."

Contrary to Hoka's expectations, Killian praised him.

"Hahaha. When I put my mind to something, I……"

"Enough."

Killian cut off Hoka's self-congratulation, gathered his sword, and stood.

"If anyone from the Extermination Squad comes looking for me, tell them to wait here. Do not guide them to the Barrier."

"What? Is someone else coming?"

"Perhaps. Perhaps not."

Hoka tilted his head at the vague reply.

Killian left the High Priest's office and threw open the door outside.

The weather remained a raging blizzard.

"I do not need a guide."

He walked straight into the snowstorm.

"Travel safely!!"

Hoka's distant shout gradually faded.

The blizzard raged so fiercely that it was difficult even to keep his eyes open.

Killian continued walking without concern.

He could feel the Barrier drawing him in.

‘They say that the relationship between a God and an Apostle transcends even physical distance.’

Thinking once more about their relationship, he walked and walked.

Before long, the Barrier stood before him.

It was visibly thinner than the last time he had visited.

"Murus."

Killian called the God's name before the Barrier.

"……"

Neither the Barrier nor his body gave any answer.

He recalled something Styx had said.

[If you opened the gate, Murus's Divinity must have recovered considerably.]

Murus's Divinity had been damaged in his clash with Neptune.

[To raise your level, Murus expended all the power he had left outside.]

"It was true."

Ordinarily, the Barrier should have vanished as well. But it remained because Killian could take over its role as an Apostle.

"Which means."

Shhh—

When Killian placed a hand on the Barrier, he passed through it.

"It means that no Barrier in the world can stop me."

Even though he already possessed a Hollyheart equivalent to 9-Star, the present situation did not feel familiar.

Once he had passed through every Barrier, he saw a familiar space.

It was the place he had faced in the past.

But the sword that should have been there was gone.

"……"

The situation differed from the reports.

The reason the Monster Lord had made a different choice than before.

His true body had the Anomaly's Curses and Edan's soul sealed within it.

‘Even a 9-Star Knight would find it difficult to withstand hundreds of Curses.’

In the past, he had thought he could endure it because of his own ability.

Now he knew otherwise.

The sword had always chosen its own owner.

If someone who had not been chosen took hold of it, their body would be destroyed.

Killian had been able to wield the sword without harm not because he was Adamas.

It was because he had Killian Eurasia's body.

Because he had the bloodline of Edan, his final partner.

The Monster Lord would be the same.

Without Damian's body, even the Monster Lord could not take hold of the true body.

And.

At present, only one direct descendant could do so.

The Superhuman who had reached 9-Star alone.

‘Simon Eurasia.’

Killian intuitively knew that his father had the sword.

***

"……"

Simon, who had been reviewing his exchange with the Emperor, opened his eyes.

"It was one-sided."

Krusty Heinrich had originally been known as a 9-Star mage.

An Archmage who had mastered 9-Star.

Even so, there was no reason for Simon to have been pushed back so badly.

Once they reached 8-Star, knights could use Mana to create phenomena like Magic, while mages acquired bodies no less formidable than those of Superhuman knights.

But dueling equally with him using a sword was another matter.

"A 9-Star Magic Swordsman."

There had been information that Pergius Heinrich had used the Formula of Reincarnation to take his child's body.

Having seen the Emperor's abnormal conduct, Simon had considered that it might be possible.

"That is the bloodline I bore for that purpose."

The Emperor had not denied it while they crossed swords.

"Simon Eurasia. Did you not use your bloodline according to its usefulness as well?"

The Emperor's taunt remained vivid in his memory.

While the Monster Lord trampled the royal capital, the Eurasia army surrounded the Empire and began the war.

Escar had bought him three days to duel the Emperor.

And.

"I was defeated."

Even after showing everything he had accumulated as a 9-Star Knight, he had not been able to cut off so much as one of the Emperor's arms.

He closed his eyes as the already decided contest came to an end.

Yet, for some reason.

‘Time had returned to one year ago.’

It was when the Kingdom Alliance, winning victory after victory, had come close to toppling the Empire.

At first, he had thought it was a dream.

It was not.

Faced with an incomprehensible sight, Simon adapted quickly.

He did not know why he retained such vivid memories.

He suspected the Pope.

So he sent an envoy to him, but only received a reply telling him to fight the war well.

It meant that the Pope could not speak of the future.

There was not much time.

For now, it appeared as though victory was assured, but the Monster Lord would soon raise a Wave.

‘The Monster Lord was the spark that brought down the Kingdom Alliance.’

That was why Simon was forcing himself to settle matters with the Emperor.

‘Even if I master 9-Star, I cannot guarantee victory against the Emperor.’

According to his memories, the Emperor was synchronized with three Magic Towers.

The blood shed on the battlefield defied the laws of nature.

‘I must destroy the Magic Towers.’

Otherwise, he could neither cut down the Emperor nor win the war.

That was why he made a different choice from before.

"Adamas."

The treasured sword said to have been wielded by his ancestor.

From Lucy Eurasia's information, he knew that Adamas lay between the Barrier and the Boundary.

Originally, he had sent people several times to retrieve it, but the security had been too tight.

The Boundary priests were thorough in their management, while the Barrier priests were incompetent.

He had tried to bribe several priests of the Boundary and Barrier to obtain the sword, but they had vanished without a trace.

Thus, he had sent a letter directly to Lokia de Styx, the High Priest of the Temple of Boundary.

"I wish to retrieve the sword my ancestor once wielded."

From the High Priest's perspective, it was an absurd request.

Yet he did not refuse Simon's request.

He even used a Divine Object to help Simon reach the Boundary himself.

Beyond the Barrier, which he crossed with Lokia de Styx.

There lay the sword he had been searching for since his youth.

"King Simon, personally, I recommend that you do not take hold of it."

He said an ominous energy could be felt from the sword.

"I do not know how many of the Anomaly's Curses remain within it, but…… if you fall into Oblivio, I will be unable to stop you."

He warned that nothing in the world could stop a rampaging 9-Star Knight.

When Simon took hold of the sword without concern, Lokia's face showed alarm.

"The future will not change unless I take risks."

That was how Simon succeeded in bringing Adamas to Eurasia.

"What a truly poisonous sword."

He looked at his hand.

The hand of a 9-Star Knight was blackened.

It had worsened over several days.

He had stabilized at 9-Star, yet merely holding the sword had left him in this state.

"……"

The throbbing pain was far from ordinary.

One of the Anomaly's Curses had spread to him.

"It resembles the Method of Struggle."

If he overcame the Curse, it would be little different from mastering 9-Star.

When that time came, the day would come for him to duel the Emperor once again.

‘The problem is the Monster Lord.’

He had already sent people into the mountain ranges.

Just then, Sven entered.

"Is Damian dead?"

"He was seriously injured, but his life is not in danger."

"……"

The White Knight Order would also need only time to recover, apart from its Evil Energy poisoning.

"It appears that there was contact with the Monster Lord."

‘I see. That child survived this time as well.’

Just as Simon's thoughts began to sink into the situation that differed from his memories.

"Prince Killian has appeared."

Sven said that Killian and the Extermination Squad had saved Damian and the White Knight Order.

At Sven's calm report, Simon's eyes shone.

A future that had changed from the past.

"It was that child."

Only then did he think he understood whose influence lay behind the current Regression.

"What will we do about the advance?"

Tomorrow.

They were scheduled to strike the Empire's heartland.

"I will lead the campaign myself."

They would win there, but Eurasia would shed much blood as well.

Simon looked at Adamas resting against one wall, and a strange smile played on his lips.

"The future will change."

Because of the knight who carried both her blood and his.

"Without fail."