Ch.17357. A Thousand Forms, Ten Thousand Appearances

She remembers.

A pitch-black sword parrying the blade of the war god.

A fierce clash, as if blade and sword were grinding against each other.

Deflecting, slashing, shaking off.

Meanwhile, evading strikes and meeting them head-on.

Despite the slight difference in build, the war god in the form of a boy moved with incomparable agility.

Yet the young man facing him responded with equal skill, showing no deficiency.

Using the difference in physique to his advantage, the young man skillfully countered the god’s low attacks that targeted his lower body by lowering his stance and striking back.

If the war god’s blade was like a warrior’s dance across the battlefield,

The young man’s swordsmanship was far from a dance, yet no less disciplined and controlled—like an extraordinary military formation.

His movements carried the precision and weight of an entire army, as if a single individual was moving as a collective force.

Yet not heavy, but nimble and sufficient.

His speed, responses, and reactions—all were flawless.

At that moment, the boy called out like a song:

“Fear! And yet fear not! Behold the light that comes upon you!”

Golden lightning flashed from the golden sword.

The young man caught it with his pitch-black sword, and as if absorbing the lightning, his blade began to emit a dark current as black as the void.

Each time he swung his sword, flashes of light gleamed, yet the war god parried and countered them effortlessly, showing extraordinary prowess.

As if feeling neither burden nor threat, the boy continued his dazzling sword dance with an excited expression.

The young man retreated a few steps to face him, then advanced again to defend and counter.

Heba noticed a certain rhythm, a regularity in the young man’s movements.

‘He never overextends.’

His arms never fully stretched out, nor did his legs ever fully extend.

When swinging his arm, it maintained at most a 45-degree angle from the 90-degree position.

Even his lower body followed the same principle.

Such a stance should make movement difficult… yet until she noticed it, she hadn’t realized any awkwardness or discomfort in his movements. The young man executed this posture as naturally as breathing, flowing from one position to the next.

‘His feet…’

Whenever possible, his heel touched the ground first, and unless unexpected or urgent, the ball or tip of his foot never touched the ground first.

His feet never dragged or stepped unnaturally.

Using his heel naturally, the front of his foot moved accordingly, skillfully controlling his entire body’s balance.

Heba, familiar with mathematics and geometry, recognized this.

And to her trained eye, the young man’s movements appeared incredibly, overwhelmingly attractive and beautiful.

Was all of this not a performance but practical movement honed for actual combat?

How could he execute such unnatural movements so effortlessly?

Even though he had clearly lowered his stance due to the boy’s smaller frame, he showed no hesitation.

Come to think of it, even when facing warriors larger than himself, there hadn’t been much difference.

This wasn’t him lowering his stance to accommodate the boy’s size.

‘Is this his optimal form?’

It was like perfect readiness.

Surprisingly, his arms and hands moved minimally, yet his sword’s movements were grand, nimble, and occasionally sharp.

But the essence of this swordsmanship was… defense, not attack.

‘It’s extremely refined.’

The aggression, determination, impetuosity, and violence typical of warriors and fighters… she couldn’t find a trace of them no matter how hard she looked.

None of those qualities were visible.

Despite his intense movements, he maintained composure and discipline.

His appearance was like… like…

It evoked the image of an iron wall, an impregnable fortress.

“The contract given to me by the lord of the heavens and master of covenants is victory! This is the victor’s execution! Heaven’s punishment! Divine retribution! Receive it with reverence!”

From the golden sword, fierce lightning emerged, accompanied by intense flames burning with golden light.

So massive was it that it seemed to cover the entire sky and surroundings.

To face such power with barely a hand’s width of distance…

Heba was terrified.

‘Is this really…’

The end?

“Come, show your true skill! This cannot be the end! I believe it isn’t!”

Golden lightning-fire struck down.

“……”

And in response, the pitch-black young man countered with his pitch-black sword.

“—!!”

She wanted to scream, but her mouth wouldn’t open.

The collision of light and darkness.

While Heba trembled in fear,

In an instant, a pitch-black flash carved a massive trajectory, splitting the lightning-fire.

Black light star.

A trajectory of darkness that cut through.

The insufficient dark star began to devour the divine punishment.

“What is that? What’s happening…?”

She didn’t know what it was.

But what was certain was that he had used some technique,

And it was working—the black trajectory was absorbing the lightning-fire as if sucking it in.

Buildings built to last millennia cracked, collapsed, and crumbled in the aftermath.

Yet the impact continued to extend, not outward but upward into the sky.

The golden lightning-fire, blazing and sparking with radiance,

Was all sucked in, as if being absorbed by a black palate opened in the sky.

“Ugh!”

There must have been residual shockwaves, as a fierce heat storm swept through the area.

Perhaps due to the electromagnetic charge in the wind, sand and dust floated up, and currents flowed through the clear air, igniting the ground and structures with lightning.

“Chaos indeed! Since ancient times, light and darkness have been in an unconditional relationship of mutual creation and opposition! But your darkness differs in essence from evil! That ability reminds me of the youngster of Ahriman (اهریمن), which brings me great joy!”

Despite displaying such incredible power, and despite having it neutralized head-on, not a shadow crossed his face.

Rather, he seemed delighted.

Was it because he had found a worthy opponent?

Or because he could finally exert his full strength on a battlefield?

Or if not that…

“Then try to receive this as well.”

Lightning, flames,

And a massive storm that devoured it all began to form above his head.

Each one a divine power reaching the realm of divine punishment.

Just one could crush a nation, an army of a million, or even a god.

And there were three of them.

“If you cannot handle it, this entire city will vanish without a trace. Are you prepared to receive this?”

“……”

Unnecessary words.

Though it was so small that it surely couldn’t be heard,

Strangely, Heba heard the voice clearly.

“Indeed!”

The boy shouted exuberantly.

Soon, a massive storm of lightning and flames, embracing everything, began to rage around him and his surroundings.

‘It’s too much for a mere human to withstand.’

Heba’s insides burned with anxiety.

To just stand by and watch this…

Perhaps this was the only chance to defeat this war god?

But…

He, that young man containing darkness… he is here but not of this place.

Yet, what of it?

In the end, he has come before us and is protecting us.

Whether he did so out of pity for us, or because he felt competitive toward the war god before him, or because he had a grudge… I don’t know.

“Regarhn. What’s happening over there?”

Though surrounded by a flock of crows,

The battle between the giant, the hairy man, and the hateful war god’s avatar had temporarily ceased.

In the midst of this, the war god suddenly directing his fighting spirit toward the empty air—what kind of phenomenon was this?

“Our eyes can’t see it, but… you’re different, aren’t you? And that one is a god, so he sees differently too. Am I right?”

“…Yes.”

Heba kept her gaze fixed on that spot.

Once again,

An amazing collision followed.

Perhaps the hairy one had spoken to her out of anxiety and doubt, fearing they might be annihilated by this disaster that transcended all concepts.

Given that the war god wielded both lightning and victory’s fire, yet continued to call out more…

His opponent might be something they could never approach.

But it remained invisible.

Was it because the level, the realm, the gap was too great to be seen?

Or… because we are still not ready?

“Why did that hateful god of armies speak of our god?”

At that moment,

As if directly answering the hairy one’s question,

Through the pitch-black flash and sword light of the young man who had been blown away by the massive fiery lightning storm,

The form of a giant black serpent tore apart the divine calamity itself in one breath.

“The evil god who must be defeated.”

Ahriman.

From light and darkness, darkness.

From good and evil, evil.

From salvation and annihilation, annihilation.

“Could it be that you are our…”

Daeva.

Once they were celestial gods who ruled the world,

But now they stand on the completely opposite side.

And the leader of such beings, who willingly bears the karma of all evil, who willingly accepts the fate of certain defeat and certain destruction.

And his archenemy was once the enemy of the celestial gods, a bold evil god before creation.

But.

Through the great annihilation, he created the world anew.

Born of Zurvan, but later devouring even Zurvan’s existence.

He became the highest, best, and supreme good celestial god.

And he and his retinue, his creations, his followers,

Are our original enemies.

If we hadn’t known this secret, we would have been forced to accept the good and evil defined by the era.

Like before.

Like in the old days.

His name is Ahura Mazda (اهورا مزدا)

And just as his archenemy and brother is called Ahriman,

He too was called by these names:

Ormazd.

Oromasdes.

Hormuz.

Azandara.

Eventually, he reached an unapproachable realm.

That’s why the current second-generation supreme god, the god of light, is Mithra.

The master of contracts.

A being who has maintained and promoted his position and status in every era and world.

And he…

Will spread his existence and majesty far into the future, even beyond the age when our language is forgotten and no longer used.

He will also be called the god of light, Mithras (Μίθρας).

Yes. That is the predetermined future.

I saw such a future.

For a very, very long time.

For a long period.

That’s why Heba, Regarhn, judged resistance to be meaningless.

The only goal was survival and maintenance.

That is, to stay alive.

…But.

What if what I saw was a different future from what I knew?

What if it contained a much higher-dimensional arrangement and plan than I knew?

How can we guess the realm that gods dream of and plan?

But we too once stood shoulder to shoulder with them.

We too, we too.

“Perhaps I’ve been receiving revelations since a very long time ago.”

I was just blind and deaf, unable to recognize them.

“Hahaha! You show yourself here?! Ahriman-!”

The war god bursts into laughter.

The laughter soon turns into a maniacal cackle.

As his fighting spirit explodes, his voice grows louder.

The heavens and earth seem to vibrate as solemnity enters the war god’s voice.

But,

The content of his words showed as much interest as a boy his age finding an amusing toy.

“Then I can’t just stand idle either!”

From the beginning, I was not

A mere warrior or fighter!

“I was born a legion commander!”

Breaking through disadvantages.

Crushing despair.

Reversal of reversals.

Confirmation of victory.

Fear and anxiety for enemies.

Faith and belief for allies.

“You! Evil that must be extinguished! Darkness!”

The boy, now floating in the air carried by the wind.

Below him, the steel warriors and their massive avatars began to gather all at once.

Even with just that, the surrounding area was being devastated.

“Having brazenly shown yourself! You must pay the corresponding price!”

The pitch-black serpent roars.

That massive sword, still with half its body inserted into the large, unknown dark hole in the void.

Yet with just half its body already drawn out, it seemed as if it could envelop the entire city.

And,

Cariel, who had avoided an unfortunate death by falling by throwing himself into the realm of darkness during his descent,

Could only grumble inwardly as he coughed up the sand dust in his mouth.

“…Is this why you called me so insistently?”

Athena?

As if responding to those words, the massive serpent’s blackened eyes, like the black sun mentioned in myths, heavily gazed down upon him.

Cariel, unlike the war god and Heba,

Was understanding this situation in a completely different concept.

-Snakes symbolize cycles and creation, life and death, eternity. Also, in terms of the mortal world and creatures, they’re like the origin of mother goddesses.

The demon king, who had somehow attached himself to Cariel, wrapped his arms around Cariel’s shoulders and nodded toward the void.

The sky, already covered by that massive being,

Could no longer show the clear blue or the brilliant sun.

That is the main enemy of this era’s supreme god.

And,

In our era… a being equivalent to that demon king.

-He’s also the one who bickers with that demon king you met later. On the stage of hell. Actually, they both share the throne. They devour each other, absorb each other, violate and subjugate each other, win and lose… there are no troublemakers like them!

“……”

Why does it sound so trivial when heard like that?

“What should we do now?”

-Why are you asking me?

And as if to replace the demon king’s snort,

-Obviously. You should help me.

Athena,

No, Ahriman spoke.

But weren’t you a goddess?

Apart from the incredible power in your voice… this is a man’s voice, isn’t it?

-In a position where my divine seat has been usurped, is it appropriate to protect my dignity and sovereignty?

“…?”

As Cariel frowned in confusion,

The demon king began to explain condescendingly.

-This kid doesn’t get it! It means after being defeated, as a spoil of war, both status and position were degraded and transformed, right? It’s quite a common story in mythology. I think I’ve explained similar things several times, don’t you remember?

“…Ah.”

So that’s what it was about?

So originally, she too…

No, never mind. It’s not important right now.

So even mythology, when the veil is lifted and truth is glimpsed… becomes this pathetic?

“You! Warrior! What are you doing! Forget your previous struggle! Now it’s time to face all evil! Come to me! Execute good deeds with your chaos! This is a golden opportunity that may not come again even if the world is reborn!”

“……”

But you know,

That war god over there is also calling for me desperately.

Which way should I obediently go?