Chapter 316

At ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍the edge of a cliff cleaved through the bleached-white earth like a seam in the world stood the Temple of Time.

Built ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍from faded gray-white stone, it bore the traces of ages in every surface.

Wind ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍blew from every direction, yet slowed unnaturally around the temple, while The Sun seemed fixed in the center of the sky as though it too had stopped moving.

Within ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍the stillness, as if time itself had halted, lingered an absolute presence that permitted no intrusion.

“It ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍has been a long time.”

Claudio ‍​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​‍de Cronis.

Among all living priests, he possessed the greatest Divine Power, a hero who had turned countless impossibilities into possibilities.

He walked around the temple, remembering the days when he had served as its High Priest.

SWISH—

His hand brushed across the outer wall, which was covered in symbols and numbers inscribed in an ancient language.

“…….”

Where his fingers passed, they began to move little by little, trading places with one another.

The movement was so minute that it was nearly impossible to perceive with the naked eye.

“It seems time has not stopped completely yet.”

Claudio de Cronis knew.

The temple before him, responding to his touch, was a living thing that contained the law known as ‘Time.’

And today—

he intended to use the power granted to him to make stopped time flow once more.

SHHHK—

The outer wall reacted to his Divine Power and revealed a door.

He opened it and walked through the dark passage.

FWOOSH— FWOOSH—

With every step, Holy Objects responding to his Divine Power ignited Holy Flames.

The sudden light revealed a secret space within the temple.

Pillars carved in the shapes of crescent moons, full moons, sundials, and hourglasses.

“The Trial of Time. This too has been a long time.”

Anyone not chosen who passed between them would lose their sense of reality.

They would be consumed by the time of the past and future.

Claudio quietly walked between the pillars.

“…….”

It felt as though the laws of space had collapsed.

In a place where it was impossible to tell ceiling from floor, pale blue-white mist drifted through the air.

His feet remained fixed, yet his head felt as though it were passing through a clock that never stopped turning.

His thoughts naturally returned to his childhood.

[You are my Time.]

He received a revelation from God Cronis and became a priest.

“Claudio de Cronis. A genius unlike any the Holy Nation has ever seen.”

His ability was recognized, and he became the youngest First Class Priest in history.

“Claudio de Cronis em Keirun. I pray that you proclaim the great will of God.”

At last, he became the High Priest—the one responsible for the temple itself.

“High Priest Claudio created a Divine Object?!!”

As High Priest, he saved countless poor people.

With Foresight, he dragged what others called impossible into the realm of possibility.

He accepted refugees despite the pressure of the Empire and its Vassal States.

“Do you intend to wage war against the Empire?!!”

Some Cardinals of the Holy See openly showed their displeasure at his unprecedented course of action.

“High Priest Claudio is an Apostle of Lord Cronis. Please refrain from the foolishness of throwing stones at God's representative.”

Tatia de Veritas.

Already recognized and active as an Apostle of God Veritas, she had defended him.

Her comfort had been like a single stream of holy water through his heart, which had begun to grow barren.

“I am sorry. Now they will consider you a political enemy as well.”

“If the only future is one in which they eliminate us, then perhaps we should change our course now. What did those eyes of yours, the ones that see the future, tell you?”

“Ten years from now, not even half of them will still hold their seats.”

He could still vividly remember the satisfied smile Tatia had given at his confident answer.

He and she had been chosen to stand against the great evil known as the Empire.

So long as they stood together, the Holy Nation would someday become a sharp sword capable of bringing the Empire down.

It was not something Claudio had seen through Foresight.

It was the intuition of a man.

‘Simon Eurasia.’

If not for him, many things would have been different.

“…….”

Claudio emerged from his thoughts and raised his head.

A massive hourglass stood in the central hall.

Its glass chamber was filled with sand that was neither gold nor silver, falling both upward and downward at the same time.

“The Earthen-Plated Clock.”

A Divine Object that had embraced the mystery of Time.

The sight of past and future seeping into the present at once was being sustained by Claudio's Divine Power.

He moved without hesitation.

A glass coffin rested atop the altar in the center of the hall.

Inside—

“It has been a long time.”

Tatia de Veritas, the Saintess of Truth, slept.

A silver tiara engraved with a crescent moon rested on her head, and the serene smile peculiar to one sunk into a long sleep lingered on her lips.

“Tatia.”

Every clock hanging from the walls showed a different time, yet every hour and minute hand revolved around her.

“It took long enough.”

Claudio quietly knelt before the altar.

When his fingertips brushed the surface of the coffin—

WHOOOOOM—

pure white Divine Power began circling over the transparent glass.

“The great servant of Time, Claudio de Cronis, comes before Time.”

The Saintess of the modern era—

Lan de Styx—

was said to have surpassed even the Pope only because Claudio's power had not been whole.

He was constantly synchronized with numerous Divine Objects, which limited how much Divine Power he could use.

Even so, no priest surpassed him.

He was a Pope who stood near the mortal limit.

Now—

he was releasing the Synchronization he had maintained with those Divine Objects.

“Tatia de Veritas. I break the Barrier of Time and awaken the sleeping Truth.”

The incantation leaving his lips spread throughout the temple.

CLICK.

The surrounding clocks began sounding one by one.

TICK. TICK.

The second hands of clocks through which different times had been flowing all aligned in the same direction.

“…….”

Inside the glass coffin, Tatia's brow trembled faintly.

The instant her lashes quivered—

the breath that had been quietly rising in her chest finally burst out in a great wave.

“Haa…… ah…….”

A faint voice.

Yet unmistakably clear—the exact voice Claudio remembered.

He smiled.

“You slept for quite a long time.”

Tatia slowly opened her eyes.

Her clear gaze rose toward the ceiling.

At last, she sat up and turned toward the man who had awakened her.

A wrinkled, middle-aged man's face stood in contrast to her own reflection in the ceiling.

“……Clau……dio?”

His hair, gone completely white, differed greatly from what she remembered.

As stopped time began to flow again, the Authorities of Truth and Verity manifested.

Her memories were reassembled.

“…….”

The choice she had made long ago.

The man who had been unable to accept it.

An Apostle capable of stopping even time if he wished.

“This feels rather unfair. My time continued flowing without ever stopping.”

Claudio grinned and swept back his white hair.

“I……”

“There is no need to apologize.”

“…….”

“Thanks to you, I overcame the Trial of Time again and again.”

Claudio held out his hand.

The instant her fingertips touched his—

WHOOOOOSH—

the temple seemed to breathe again as the flow of time returned to its proper course.

Tatia rose fully, then touched and moved her body as she recovered her senses.

And then—

“If I am still alive…… that means the world has not collapsed yet, does it not?”

She faced reality immediately.

“It has not collapsed. But it has begun to tilt.”

Claudio narrowed his eyes.

“The laws of the world have changed.”

Compared to when they were young, the power of the Gods had faded considerably.

The restrictions imposed as the price for using that power had weakened as well.

The fact that Tatia, who had seemed on the verge of death decades ago, had regained her original complexion was proof.

‘The gamble was worth taking.’

Claudio confirmed that his choice had not been wrong.

“Simon Eurasia has begun to move. We cannot delay any longer.”

“…….”

Tatia quietly inhaled.

“Simon is a knight born with destiny.”

“That is exactly why he is dangerous.”

Claudio spoke of the memories from before time was rewound.

The Kingdom Alliance had collapsed helplessly with Simon Eurasia's defeat alone.

Even Claudio, though his Divine Power had not been whole, had failed to stand against the Emperor.

“…….”

Something suddenly seemed about to surface in his mind, only to vanish.

Simon Eurasia.

There had been someone else as well, someone on whom he had staked the future……

‘Who was it……?’

He frowned at the incomprehensible gap in his memory.

A moment later, Claudio forced himself back to the present.

The reason he had awakened Tatia now.

“We have to save Simon Eurasia.”

The moment had come to fulfill the oracle he had received long ago.

***

An ancient castle located in the Empire proper.

Its corridor had been dyed red.

Dark blood flowed across the floor.

The armor of fallen Imperial Knights creaked for a moment.

“…….”

Then their final movements ceased.

Simon steadied his breathing and raised his sword.

DRIP— DRIP—

Blood fell from the tip of Adamas.

FWOOSH—

His unrefined Presence and Mana rose like vapor with each ragged breath.

“Hoo…….”

The sword obeyed him well.

No.

Perhaps he was the one who had learned to obey the sword.

Their coordination grew more perfect by the moment, and a single stroke from him cut through the Imperial Knight Order, said to be the Empire's finest elite, as though they were sheets of paper.

Yet the better that coordination became—

‘……the stronger the Curse grows.’

Radiance covered his arm.

The veins exposed by that Radiance spread like a spiderweb.

The aura of the Anomaly.

The Curses engraved inside the sword were burrowing into Simon's mind as if testing his will.

‘I have to master it before I face the Emperor.’

Adamas had never been a purified sword.

If Simon could not overcome it, no one could wield it.

No—

there was one other person who might be able to wield the sword.

It felt as though there had been someone else.

‘My memory…….’

His mind grew increasingly white, and the sword felt heavier.

CLANK.

“…….”

The man who had led the Imperial Knight Order staggered and dropped to one knee before him.

“Simon…… Eurasia. As expected…… His Majesty's…….”

THUD.

He collapsed before finishing the sentence.

TAP.

His body struck Simon's sword.

CRACKLE!

Fragments of Mana clinging to the blade burst and were sucked inside.

“Kh…… huh……!!”

Simon's eyes rolled back.

The Anomaly's Curse crossed its limit.

His vision turned white.

[Cut.]

He could see something, but could not tell whether it was a person or merely a presence.

[Cut anyone.]

Something whispered from within the abyss.

FWOOOOOSH!!!

The gray Mana was swallowed further and further by Radiance.

RRRRRUMBLE!!!

Haki tore through the air.

Then—

CLANG— CLANG—

A steady sound cut through the silence.

The whiteness inside his mind—

CLANG. CLANG.

The whiteness filling his vision slowly began to clear like mist.

CLAAANG— CLANG—

Through the Radiance, he saw the silhouette of a woman walking toward him.

“You are still walking an unreasonable sword path, Simon Eurasia.”

It was her.

“You……”

Simon's voice cracked so badly he could barely understand it himself.

RRRRRUMBLE—

Haki beyond his control ripped through the space regardless of his intentions.

“No. Do not…… come closer…….”

“Do not worry.”

She did not stop.

WHOOOOOM—

The Divine Power radiating from her pushed back the Haki of a 9-Star knight.

She approached little by little, then placed her hand on the hilt of Adamas without the slightest hesitation.

“I am an Apostle of God Veritas.”

Her Divine Power flowed quietly—

“I am Tatia de Veritas.”

into Simon.

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