Ch.142142. Reign

Even amidst the baptism of flames pouring down, Elturath’s smile remained unwavering. Hot winds swept through the space. Within the storm of scattered flames, Elturath moved his body leisurely. The sacred flame that had extended in a straight line split to the left and right.

“That sword.”

A familiar sight. Though its form had changed, he remembered the energy contained within the blade. Unforgettable. Hundreds of years ago, it was Sutr, the Sword of Destruction that Kaiserion had wielded. Among the renowned divine artifacts, it was unparalleled in its destructive power. The worst demonic sword, forged in the distant past by refining the divinity of the God of Destruction who governed ruin and annihilation.

“So you’ve inherited Kaiserion’s power.”

With that terrible demonic sword, Kaiserion had defeated countless enemies. The Sword of Destruction wasn’t the only divine artifact he possessed. Rex was now wearing black armor. That too was divine armor, superior to anything else in this world. Kaiserion, adorned with red radiance and pitch-black armor, was also known by the epithet “Black Lion.”

At that time, Albheim lacked the strength to resist Kaiserion and had to beg for his mercy. Now it’s different. Elturath extended his raised fist forward. Bang! The impact that struck the empty air pushed Rex’s body backward.

“That’s not enough.”

The corners of Elturath’s mouth curved upward. How long had he awaited this moment? For a very long time. Even for high elves with lifespans approaching immortality, he had endured an unbearably long period. All to steal the divinity of the Life God and ascend to godhood. Though the ritual wasn’t fully complete yet, Elturath burst into laughter precisely because of that. A sense of omnipotence. An absolute energy that could do anything stirred within him. If this was possible with an incomplete ritual, what if he absorbed everything that remained?

“Haha!”

A massive light exploded around Elturath. He hadn’t ascended to godhood yet. But he had reached a realm infinitely close to divinity. Within the confines of Albheim, Elturath was no different from a god. And that god had decided to kill Rex. —Swoosh. A blue-green sphere appeared in the air. From a single point, it split into dozens, hundreds of spheres that poured down all at once.

“Even if Kaiserion himself returned, he couldn’t stop me!”

The thunderous shout was drowned out by the sound of the spheres’ bombardment. Boom! Rex swallowed his breath and widened his eyes. Spheres that suddenly appeared. Without any technique, they were simply condensed divine power shot forward. Yet each one contained enough power to collapse mountains and transform the terrain. Fired faster than sound, the spheres occupied all directions and rushed in.

Two weeks ago, he wouldn’t have been able to see them, let alone avoid them. But now. Rex’s senses were wide open. The All-Seeing Eye. A more evolved blessing that read the trajectories of the spheres flying from all directions. And, the Usurper. It twisted the trajectories. When facing Elturath and Alvar, he could not only twist but also completely steal their attacks. But Elturath was in a different league from those two.

Rumble!

Most of the spheres crashed and exploded in random directions, but a few still fell toward Rex. That was enough. Rex swung the Sword of Destruction widely. Ignoring the tingling sensation in his hand, he moved his arm again. Slicing, striking, deflecting the spheres. Dodging attacks that were impossible to block. A dazzling radiance pierced through space. Behind it, blazing flames drew a tail.

Certainly, Elturath was incomparably stronger than any apostle he had faced so far. Is that really true? For someone supposedly so powerful that even ten apostles couldn’t defeat him, something seems lacking. Than expected.

This is manageable. Such a thought—was arrogance without equal. Not even five minutes had passed since the battle began. Elturath hadn’t brought out his full power. This was just the preliminary skirmish. Rex gritted his teeth and charged at Elturath.

“…How annoying.”

Elturath’s eyebrows furrowed slightly. In reality, Elturath was gauging Rex’s abilities. Until just two weeks ago, he had been merely a radiance, but suddenly he had risen to the level of an apostle. He had defeated Elandir and Alvar and come to face him.

Whatever method he had used, Elturath wasn’t overly concerned. As long as Rex hadn’t reached divinity, he ultimately couldn’t defeat him. Still. Elturath had waited thousands of years for this day. He suppressed the urge to kill him in one go. To prepare for any contingency, he decided to thoroughly assess Rex’s condition before acting.

The assessment was complete. As expected, Rex hadn’t ascended to divinity like himself. Strictly speaking, Elturath hadn’t fully ascended to “divinity” either, but he considered himself already a god. It was only natural. If he could perform acts permitted only to gods, what else could he be but a god? To Elturath, a god was a being who could achieve whatever they desired.

Eternal immortality. One who transcends death and enjoys eternal life. He had longed for it for a long time, and now he could implement immortality to a limited extent. Once he exploited the remaining divinity of the Life God, he would surpass even the limitation of it being possible only within Albheim. Though he hadn’t overcome that limit yet, killing Rex in his current state was an easy task.

“Soul Return Refinement.”

A low voice echoed. Rex flinched at the sudden, eerie sensation that washed over him. Something had changed. What? Divine Release—no, it wasn’t that. The ability to overlay one’s own mental world onto reality, implementing an ideal realm. Or compressing mental imagery to an extreme to create new phenomena. If that was Divine Release, then the ability Elturath was manifesting now…

The world itself had changed. He felt an irresistible flow. A cold chill permeated the space. It stole away warmth. The air dried up. In an instant, the ground Rex stood on became barren land. Additionally, the World Tree, its leaves and branches, shriveled up. Though Albheim had no winter, it now felt as dry as if a cold wave had struck in winter.

“This is my divinity!”

Elturath shouted with ecstatic joy. Soul Return Refinement. This power extorted all the life force spread throughout the world. And made it his own. Albheim, blessed by the Life God, contained vast life force. He absorbed it all. The land, robbed of life, would become a wasteland where nothing could grow, but what did that matter? The most important thing to Elturath was his own life. If he could substitute others’ deaths for his own, there was no reason not to.

His writhing body began to transform. His physical size increased. His limbs lengthened, and vitality returned to his dull silver hair. His aged body reverted to its prime. Youth! With this abundant life force, Elturath cackled with laughter. How long had he desired this? And it didn’t stop at just returning. He became stronger, faster. Elturath’s fist extended forward.

Rex couldn’t see it.

Bang!

Not only was Elturath’s fist brutally fast, but Rex’s body felt heavy. Rex swallowed the blood that welled up and twisted his upper body. Huff! He dodged the second punch. The pressure alone shook his eardrums. He needed to respond, but. The influence of Soul Return Refinement wasn’t limited to the forest. It was trying to steal Rex’s life force too. He had blocked it for now, but his response was delayed as a result. Again. Light flashed, and his consciousness momentarily went out. Was he hit? The radiance enveloping his body had blocked the attack. But the transmitted impact alone made his internal organs vibrate.

Elturath didn’t use flashy abilities. Honest physical attacks. Kicking legs, throwing punches. Pure techniques to hit the opponent. That made it all the more difficult to handle. Rex spat blood as he flew backward.

“I will use Elin to ascend to perfect divinity. For my eternal life, I will exploit all life in the world. The gods residing in the heavens cannot stop me. They are bound by a pitiful covenant. Foolish beings! Having reached such a status, I simply cannot understand why they don’t exercise their power.”

Elturath approached Rex with a satisfied smile. His figure appeared distant. In Rex’s dizzy vision, Elturath’s form seemed to split. One, two, no. This was a concussion. Rex breathed roughly and observed his internal state. Were his bones… broken? They seemed slightly cracked, but fortunately not broken. His internal organs had minor bleeding but weren’t torn.

Then he could fight.

Rex rose to his feet. Elturath looked at him with eyes dripping with greed.

“Your life force is truly tenacious. If I kill you and take your life force, my immortality will become even more solid.”

“One Heaven Earth Authority.”

All the divine power dormant in the pattern was released. Elturath’s expression hardened. For a moment, the flow of Soul Return Refinement connected to him was severed. Though the connection was quickly reestablished, it was enough for Elturath to feel alarmed.

“…Is that your Divine Release?”

The air vibrated. Though he clearly dominated the entire region of Albheim, the space where Rex stood—that one place alone—remained untouched. A golden line pierced through the world. A brilliantly shining line connected the earth, the sky, and Rex at its center. Slowly, the dominance of Soul Return Refinement was pushed back.

Just enough distance for one person to stand. Even excluding him, the amount of life force Elturath received was vast. But. Rex, who defied the will of a god, that line, gave Elturath a deep sense of humiliation. Albheim was his sacred domain. He couldn’t tolerate a mere human blocking the will of himself, a “god.” Blocking him—that was something permitted only to those of equal divine status. So—Elturath extended his hand with a displeased expression.

Swoosh!

The branches of the World Tree shot upward. Though the branches, drained of life force, were withered like an old dead tree, they were still controlled by Elturath himself. A flash of life force formed at the tips of the branches. Woong… Rex stared with sunken eyes at the slowly growing flash. It was different from the bombardment of spheres. That was a beam with Elturath’s full power. If hit, it wouldn’t end with just broken bones.

The extremely compressed beam was fired. Sound couldn’t even follow. Without even touching it, the ground vanished without a trace. Was he planning to blow away the World Tree too? Wasn’t Elturath trying to resume Elin’s ritual? Moreover, inside the cage… Elisis, Kaiserion’s lover who had performed the ritual as the former princess, was sleeping.

Perhaps it was an act done in excitement without thinking. That wasn’t important to consider now. What mattered was whether he could avoid that attack. He couldn’t. No matter how quickly he moved, the beam would reach him before he could dodge. Then there was only one answer. He had to block it.

How?

In that split second, no matter how much he pondered, he couldn’t think of a way to block it. That beam contained all the life force Elturath had extorted. It was an all-out attack from a being who, though not having ascended to divinity, was infinitely close to a god.

He had overwhelmed Elandir and Alvar. It was natural to overwhelm them. Rex had experienced the lives of countless heroes and inherited their powers. But none of them had become gods. None had fought against gods.

Suddenly.

Time slowed down. Memories of the past flashed through his mind. Was this his life flashing before his eyes? From the earliest moment he could remember, numerous scenes passed by in order. His hometown burning, losing his father, venturing out into the world. And meeting a girl.

Elin’s face appeared. The girl who always kept her mouth shut with an expressionless face. It wasn’t that she never spoke. Occasionally, she would smile secretly, holding back her breath. A girl who liked flowers but said that the time spent with him was much happier. A girl who said she wanted to see the ocean. She had wanted to see it, but inevitably they had to part. So, she told him to see the ocean for her, to live a happy life for her, to forget her and move on.

He couldn’t forget, and that’s why he came to get her back. If he died here, Elin would surely be sad. Not just Elin. Chloe too. The bright girl who had awkwardly promised to confess again at the right time. Charlotte too. The woman who pretended to be blunt but was actually very caring. They would all be sad.

Lindveil. Harald’s party. His master, Berger. When he first left his hometown, he couldn’t have imagined such a future. Somehow, so many friends had gathered around him. If he died, all those people would be sad.

Rex.

He didn’t want to see them sad. If he died, he wouldn’t see it anyway, but still, he hoped they wouldn’t cry.

So.

Rex raised his sword. An inescapable death approached. A pale flash enveloped the world.

[Death shall reject you.]

A girl’s voice whispered.

Rex’s eyes looked beyond Elturath’s beam. A snowy field with a blizzard raging came into view. Since first meeting Kaordix, a blizzard had been constantly falling on the snowy field. He hadn’t known why. The snowy field was a mental world. Kaordix had said it was his, that it appeared this way because his mental image was a snowy field.

Now he seemed to understand.

That snowy field wasn’t Rex’s mental world. It was created by the specter of a man who had dwelled within him. The heart of a man who had suffered all his life, closed his heart, and been immersed in the sorrow of losing his lover was a snowy field. A snowy field with a harsh winter where no one could live. The man had left his unfulfilled wish with Rex and departed.

Now Rex knew what he had to do, what he could do.

Rex’s mouth opened.

“Light Wheel Star Connection.”

The extending beam disappeared, consumed by an even more brilliant light. A sun that burned everything rose in the sky. The heat flowing from the sun melted the snow on the field.

The blizzard stopped.

Rex looked at the world with calm eyes. Now, no snow falls in his mental world. Winter had ended, and spring had come. With the risen sun at his back, Rex stepped forward.

Toward Elturath.