Ch.1115Defeat

I experienced a space-time severance and direct collision unlike anything I’d encountered in countless battles before.

The result of that collision far exceeded my expectations.

– Kwaooooo…!

Colors shattered, twisted, and distorted.

Space broke like glass shards, swirling in the aftershock, and something indescribable overflowed through the cracks.

It was a bizarre and apocalyptic sight, as if the world itself was being torn to shreds and bleeding.

And it wasn’t simply space collapsing. Around the shattering space, light, sound, and even gravity lost their direction and twisted chaotically.

Like a realistic game where both the physics engine and graphics card had simultaneously malfunctioned.

Even now, long after the clashing swords had separated, those wound marks remained in the air, still writhing.

“What is this…?”

The landscape was shattered and distorted beyond recognition, like a surrealist masterpiece painted by an artist who had overdosed on drugs.

It was a bewildering phenomenon for me, who had expected nothing more than a shockwave at most.

So shocking that I didn’t even notice the pain from being flung deep underground by the remaining impact.

“Why so surprised? This is the collision of space-time severance, an ability that carves indelible wounds into the world itself.”

Invidius, who had been thrown in the opposite direction above me, looked down and smiled calmly.

“It’s only natural that this mortal world cannot withstand it and breaks apart.”

A large scar was engraved on his shoulder just like mine, but flowing black blood covered and filled the wound, writhing like a living snake.

“…Natural, you say?”

“Indeed. Don’t tell me you don’t even understand the true nature of the power you’ve awakened?”

Invidius let out a sinister sneer as if my question itself was ridiculous.

“It twists time and shatters space, cutting through everything under heaven and above earth—this is power capable of destroying the world.”

Gently stroking the blade of the black Durandal with his left hand, Invidius explained how tremendous and dangerous the space-time severance ability was.

“If not for the limitation of being confined to the form of a slash, it would have been enough to break even the boundaries of the mortal world and reach the heavens.”

His boastful tone about his abilities was quite irritating.

Come to think of it, it was my power, so why was he showing off with it? Like a thief bragging about stolen goods in front of their original owner.

“Destroy the world? For something like that, it gets blocked surprisingly often.”

“That’s because your power is insufficient.”

As I rose from being buried underground and leaped out, Invidius looked down at me, gripping the black Durandal with both hands and readying himself for another charge.

“The rank of an ability and the power contained within are separate matters. No matter how high the rank of an ability, if the wielder lacks understanding and is so incompetent…”

– Hwarlruk!

Black flames erupted from his wrist, wrapping around the black Durandal’s blade and burning.

The tip of the sword, engulfed in swirling flames and pointed toward the ground as if about to crash down like a meteor, was a familiar sight.

This was not the sword form ingrained in my body, but one that remained in my memory—an identical stance to that of someone who was once my enemy.

“…Let’s see if you can fully unleash its true form!”

Falling Star Sword.

Blue Flame Meteor.

Invidius, mimicking Persiella’s technique, charged forward like a black meteor plummeting down.

“Ha, is that what someone who just had their attack nullified should say?”

After spitting blood-mixed saliva on the ground with a “ptui,” I half-bent my knees and concentrated my strength in both legs.

Muscles swelled with a cracking sound.

The ground trembled in concentric circles.

“Who are you to act so superior when we’re at the same level!”

The next moment, I shot upward, kicking off the ground and creating a tidal wave of sand.

I created a fiercely burning flame sword by simultaneously manifesting two runes: flame and collapse.

In my right hand, the sword of patience and oath that cuts through space itself. In my left hand, the soul-incinerating sword created by intensifying the twilight flames that destroy gods.

Durandal and the intensified Leviathan rose like two streaks of lightning.

—-

The battlefield began to unravel as divine powers clashed head-on.

The transcendent battle, accompanied by bloodshed and intense passion, brought devastation so terrible and overwhelming that calling it a natural disaster would be an understatement.

Sky Slash. Defying Fate. Severance. Space Cut.

Heaven-Shattering Fist. Flame. Collapse. Falling Star Sword. Karma of Murder.

All techniques were unleashed and shattered, their aftermath shaking heaven and earth, while torn flesh and spurting blood rained down.

“Kyaaaah!”

“How persistent, how persistent! Just collapse already, you mad bitch!”

Cutting and being cut, wounding and being wounded, smashing and being smashed, the body falls.

Broken and crushed bones twisted back into their original shape, and torn flesh wriggled and reattached itself.

“Huu…! Haa…! I could do this all day long!”

“For someone who’s staggering, your bluffing is second to none!”

I threw myself into the storm of lightning, flames, darkness, and flashes, splattering blood and endlessly swinging my sword.

“If I don’t fall, it’s not a bluff…!”

Driving my collapsing body with tenacity and stubbornness, holding onto my fading consciousness with killing intent.

Until energy and stamina were depleted, until will itself became scattered and the body could no longer move properly.

To the limit.

And so, for dozens of minutes.

A shattered meteor. Lightning ceased. The storm dispersed and even the flames subsided, leaving only embers flickering quietly over the ruins.

– Kuuung!

The starlight that had reached its limit fell and faded.

Fall. Collision. Roar. Groan. The blue afterglow that had trailed like a tail scattered like a mirage, and as the world lost its stellar radiance, the dark clouds of evil descended once more.

“Your limit, I see.”

In the middle of the desert, slashed through space itself.

Looking down at me, buried in the canyon that overlapped like a spider web, the blood-covered evil god smiled with satisfaction, his eyes filled with ecstasy.

“Still, you lasted longer than I imagined. I commend you for that.”

Sarcasm that would make ten people faint.

However, I had no strength left to counter that sarcasm now.

“Haa, kh, huuuu…!”

Blood gushed out whenever I opened my mouth, thoroughly soaking my lightless upper body.

“Huu, uh, kughk…”

A body dried up after squeezing out every last bit of strength to its limit.

With no power left to maintain my divine form, the halo and cross star had completely disappeared, and the divine garments that had been like the dawn sky had scattered like dust, leaving only the tattered armor.

“Da, mn…!”

Even if I gritted my teeth and tried to raise my body, my limbs no longer obeyed.

Muscles trembling uncontrollably. Bones creaking with cracks like glass about to break.

And a body that alternated between burning hot and freezing cold.

There wasn’t a single ounce of strength left in my entire body, my lungs felt torn to shreds, and my heart felt so burnt that I could barely feel it beating.

“There’s nothing to be upset about. No reason to feel resentful. From the moment I crossed over to this mortal world to destroy you, everything was merely an inevitable conclusion.”

“Bull, shit…!”

Half-buried deep in the sandy canyon, I painfully turned my head to glare fiercely at the evil god who was spouting nonsense that was hard to listen to.

He wasn’t in great shape either.

His left eye completely gone. His right cheek crumbling to dust as if burnt by lightning.

His left arm had been torn off along with the copied Frosting, leaving his shoulder empty, and his lower abdomen was grotesquely split open with deep claw marks.

His back was deeply slashed diagonally, exposing the white spine, and his right leg was also broken at the calf, clearly showing the cross-section of the broken bone.

Injuries that would have killed a human long ago.

In fact, judging by the severity of the injuries, one might mistakenly think he was the one who had lost, as his condition was so serious.

At least, among the wounds I had sustained, only my left arm with pulverized bones and the penetrating wound in my abdomen could be considered serious injuries.

…Of course, considering that the penetrating wound wasn’t a simple sword wound but his left arm embedded with Frosting, this alone was already fatal.

“Give up. In that state, unable to even raise your body or attempt to regenerate your wounds, do you dare deny your defeat?”

Invidius pointed at me with his broken black longsword and spoke.

“You’ve even run out of strength to maintain that incomplete divine form and reverted to your old appearance. Stubbornly denying defeat is nothing but an ugly struggle.”

Though his body was in tatters, his voice and expression were still full of composure.

“In the bottomless void, even starlight dims and fades away. You don’t seem to have the strength left even to struggle. Just accept it.”

Judging by the black clouds that had half-disappeared from blocking the sky, it was clear that despite his pretense of composure, he had also consumed enormous energy.

“That the end has finally come to your insignificant life.”

Defeat.

A declaration I wanted to deny but couldn’t.