Chapter 10 – The Golden Sun

In that frozen moment, Aylia thought.

The two figures were suspended between the sunlight pouring from above and the shattering fragments of the barrier.

A black wolf—no, a jet-black beast more reminiscent of a trained military dog, and atop it, the Girl of the Sun.

It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say her mind went blank at the unimaginable intervention, but she was not alone now.

Among the countless Outer Gods lending her their power, some clearly perceived the current situation.

The two had not used a spatial leap.

They had succeeded in returning to Pleiades using what seemed at first glance to be a crude method: traveling directly between worlds.

But how?

Using divinity.

Cordelia did not exude a strong divinity. Her body was still that of an Archangel.

But Yuder was different.

Though he was incredibly weakened from expending so much power to travel between worlds, the current Yuder was nothing short of a crystallization of divinity.

In terms of pure divinity alone, he was now superior to when he had awakened as a Transcendent God—a Guardian of Pleiades—by normally opening the Gates.

‘The Nine Heavens and Nine Gates.’

Aylia remembered.

The reason Yuder had been able to obtain divinity in the first place.

The reason Aylia herself had been able to perceive the existence of Pleiades.

And for that, Aylia felt betrayed.

It was a one-sided emotion, but she couldn’t help it.

‘Amita.’

Amita, you… Amita, you!

Time flowed again.

Aylia looked forward.

Beyond the Solar Blade locked with the Outer God’s sword, she could see Landius’s face.

The Azure Dragon came to mind.

She remembered his melancholic face and voice. She recalled the moments she had comforted him as he wept, calling his daughter’s name after completing his revenge.

The Azure Dragon had told her.

That he hoped she would achieve her wish.

That he prayed she would meet her beloved ones again in the restored world.

“Aaaaaaaah!”

Aylia screamed, unleashing her power.

After blasting both the Solar Blade and Landius away in a single blow, she glared at Yuder and Cordelia with tear-filled eyes.

It was an unexpected situation.

But this was no time to hesitate.

She could not let the Azure Dragon’s sacrifice be in vain.

One of the Outer Gods spoke.

There is a chance, now.

The Outer God was right.

Yuder had exhausted nearly all his divinity traveling between worlds.

The current Cordelia, dwelling in an avatar rather than her true body, was merely an Archangel at best.

So she could do it.

Right now, she could annihilate them both.

Boom!

Her body moved with her thoughts.

Spreading the wings of an Outer God, Aylia soared into the air and appeared before Yuder and Cordelia in an instant.

Yuder tried to attack her by once again manifesting his divinity, but he was too late.

The Outer God’s sword that Aylia swung slashed through Yuder’s neck and chest in one motion.

There wasn’t even time for a scream to escape.

Aylia immediately raised her eyes to Cordelia, who spread her wings of light wide, unleashing the power of an Archangel.

The mere power of an Archangel.

Aylia spread the wings of an Outer God.

She unleashed an explosive power comparable to that of a main god—a World God—that supports an entire world.

Drenched in that immense divinity, Cordelia screamed.

Compared to the power of a World God, an Archangel’s halo and wings were utterly insignificant.

Cordelia’s halo shattered.

Her wings broke, and cracks ran across her entire beautiful, white body.

“You never should have come straight here.”

Aylia swung the Outer God’s sword.

She slit Cordelia’s throat.

*

The First Sword looked forward again.

The Outer Gods that had been attacking the imperial capital were now leaving for the royal capital, but he paid them no mind.

What was important to him was not the fall of the imperial capital.

He desired only one thing.

And he could feel that he was running out of time.

How many steps were left?

Perhaps, in the end, he would never reach it.

The First Sword smiled gently and raised his sword.

He could see Lucas.

Standing before the dazzling horizon, he looked the same as he had before the elves’ gate.

As always, he was advancing toward the horizon with steady steps.

The First Sword swung his blade toward Lucas.

Against the swift sword that had once earned him the name Sword Saint of Light, Lucas, as always, deployed the firm and true Sword of the Holy King.

Sword met sword.

They clashed and scattered.

The First Sword took a step forward.

He was one step closer to the horizon.

*

Count Bayer withdrew his sword.

The fight had certainly begun in the palace basement, but he was now outside the palace grounds.

He had moved outside through the ceiling that the War God had destroyed during the battle.

“The royal capital, is it?”

Count Bayer glared for a moment in the direction the War God had gone, then let out a breath and let his shoulders slump.

It wasn’t just the War God.

Most of the Outer Gods that had been attacking the Holy Nation were now flying toward the royal capital.

The royal capital.

The young god Athalia, who had sent him, Count Chase, Gale, and Adelia to the Holy Nation, had told them.

That Landius and the Heroes of Paragon would go to the royal capital.

‘The Warrior of the Sun.’

The invincible great hero who saved the world.

Seeing as the War God and the other Outer Gods were heading to the royal capital, it was clear he had accomplished something.

Count Bayer closed his eyes again and caught his breath.

In truth, Count Bayer was incredibly excited.

The true Sword of Wind.

The Horizon of Swords, so close he felt he could touch it at any moment.

But he had to calm down.

This was a time of war.

He had to remember both the swordsman and the count that he was.

“Arthur, what’s the situation on your end?”

He activated the communicator in his ear, and a reply came back immediately.

[It’s almost cleaned up. Adelia went to Dahlia and Maia.]

[It seems their injuries are more serious than we thought.]

Count Bayer’s brow furrowed.

When he’d deflected the War God’s sword as it was about to strike Maia, he’d only gotten a brief look. Since Maia was holding Dahlia, he couldn’t see clearly, but there was one thing he knew for sure.

Recalling the pool of blood large enough to soak Maia’s lower body, Count Bayer ran toward the monsters unleashed by the Outer Gods and asked.

“Their lives aren’t in danger, are they?”

[Maia is fine. But Dahlia has lost too much blood. We’ll need to monitor her condition.]

At Count Chase’s heavy voice, Count Bayer swallowed dryly.

He clenched his jaw and charged toward the monsters that came into view.

*

Cordelia’s neck was torn open by a sword strike that was like the fangs of a beast.

Blood surged from the headless body, and the beautiful white face, framed by pink hair, spun through the air.

Aylia swung her sword again.

After completely annihilating Cordelia’s head, which stared with wide-open blue eyes, she extended her left hand toward the falling bodies of Yuder and Cordelia.

As she lightly clenched her fist, the two bodies, crushed by divine power, were instantly compressed into a splash of blood.

“Haa.”

Aylia exhaled, and then a smile spread across her face.

Looking at the blood spattered on the ground, she burst into a triumphant laugh.

She had defeated them.

The greatest threats.

The Guardians of Pleiades.

Now, no one could stand in her way.

If she could just execute Landius here, she wouldn’t even need to think about what came next.

Aylia looked down at the ground.

Landius was standing tall, looking up at her.

At his feet, a bloodied Lena and Kamael lay, half-conscious.

“Landius.”

Despite the desperate situation, he showed no fear.

A strong will still resided in his serene eyes.

Aylia thought of the Azure Dragon again.

The thought of him strangely brought tears to her eyes.

Even though the moment to finally fulfill her wish was at hand, she couldn’t bring herself to smile.

So Aylia focused on the situation before her.

Defeat Landius.

Eliminate him, the one who defeated the Azure Dragon, with all my strength.

Aylia raised the Outer God’s sword high.

The Outer Gods who had arrived late gathered around her.

As the wings of the Outer God, now numbering six pairs, spread wide, a miracle occurred.

The sky over the royal capital was once again filled with black clouds.

Though it was day, it became like night, and a heavy air pressed down on the entire capital.

Crown Princess Daphne collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

It was only because of her strong soul that she was not more affected.

The people of the royal capital, crushed by the Outer God’s aura, could barely even breathe.

All they could do was writhe in agony like insects.

“Let’s end this, Athalia.”

Aylia whispered and gathered power at the tip of the Outer God’s sword.

It was to annihilate Landius along with the entire royal capital.

Landius raised the Solar Blade.

Aylia sneered and swung the Outer God’s sword.

A black calamity struck the royal capital.

*

Athalia covered her face with her hands.

She couldn’t bear to watch the tragedy that was about to unfold in the royal capital.

Even Landius, in his current state, would not be able to block the power of an Outer God.

And—

And—

Tears streamed endlessly down Athalia’s small cheeks.

Yuder and Cordelia.

The two who were one.

Her mind wouldn’t work. It was impossible to even form a coherent thought.

It was only natural, having just witnessed Yuder and Cordelia being murdered before her very eyes.

That was why the Golden Dragon King did not blame Athalia.

He whispered in a gentle voice to her, a young god in every sense of the word.

[Look to the west.]

Athalia raised her head and looked west.

She blinked, and then a smile bloomed on her face.

She let out a foolish laugh.

*

The black calamity failed to destroy the royal capital.

It wasn’t Landius.

The black calamity and the Solar Blade never even clashed.

It was a black bolt of lightning.

A jet-black bolt of lightning, faster than sound, pierced through and destroyed the black calamity.

The light of a golden sun, surging from the west, instantly pushed away the dark clouds covering the royal capital.

Crown Princess Daphne, who had been gasping under the pressure of the Outer God’s aura, raised her head toward the sunlight shining down on her.

She looked to the west, from where the light was surging.

Landius did the same.

A refreshing smile spread across his face.

“May the muscles always be with you.”

[May the muscles always be with you.]

At the cheerful and gentle voice, Landius lowered the Solar Blade.

As the light of life healed not only Lena and Kamael but all the wounded in the royal capital, he was reminded of the battle in the imperial capital.

Aylia clenched her teeth and stared west.

A dazzlingly bright halo of the sun and ten wings.

The Sun of Pleiades.

The Girl of Hope.

Cordelia, dressed in a pure white fairy dress, stood in the air.

And beside her, as always, stood Yuder.

Even Aylia could now understand.

What had happened.

What it was that she had eliminated.

“Avatars.”

They were fakes from the very beginning.

Aylia herself had been deceived.

The act of destroying the avatars was not a lie.

Normally, no matter how powerful a god, if they lost an avatar while their soul was inside it, their soul would suffer immense damage or even be extinguished.

What Yuder and Cordelia had deceived her about was something else.

From the moment they first appeared.

The souls of Yuder and Cordelia had not been in their avatars.

The very first thing they did upon entering Pleiades was to transfer their souls to their true bodies.

The Yuder and Cordelia who had appeared in the royal capital were nothing more than decoys to buy time.

[Successor, shall we go all out for the first time in a while?]

At Belencia’s whisper, Yuder smiled and opened the Gate.

He grasped the strongest sword in Pleiades, the very soul of Belencia—the Fairy Sword Belencia.

“Aylia, Goddess of the Broken World.”

Cordelia, clutching Moonlight tightly, smiled fiercely, baring her fangs.

As the Sun God who protects Pleiades, she declared.

“Now, it’s time for your punishment.”

The sun rising from the west swept away all the darkness in the royal capital.

The divinities of the Black Moon and the Golden Sun surged toward the Outer Gods.

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Translated By: Meher (RaidenTL)

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