[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 486
Watching the battle of the strong alone was enough to grant inspiration.
There was a reason martial artists of the Eastern Continent longed for battles against the strong.
The Stars’ astonishment was considerable as well, but in truth, the one most shocked was none other than Marquis Alsad.
He had heard that Leon was strong, and he knew of the achievements Leon had accomplished, but this was the first time he had seen him reveal such power firsthand.
Was that why?
‘That is not the realm of humans.’
His understanding simply could not keep up with a sight that so thoroughly transcended common sense.
“Elders.”
“It is not that we cannot understand how you feel.”
The Sword Saint, who had remained silently quiet, finally opened his mouth.
“However. Even if you ask us, we cannot give you an answer. If you wish to understand the person called Leon Cascadia, I recommend simply emptying your head.”
“......”
One could ask what kind of advice that was, yet somehow Marquis Alsad felt as though he understood.
Could they possibly perceive something beyond the scope of understanding any differently?
“Just... how strong is Young Master Leon Cascadia exactly?”
“At minimum, there is a difference of over two realms. No... I do not even know whether that can be called a realm. It looks closer to a karma humans cannot reach.”
The Spear Saint clicked his tongue and muttered bitterly.
“One wishes to reach it, yet cannot. That alone is enough to shatter a martial artist’s motivation.”
They were individuals who had achieved the continent’s greatest accomplishments, yet not a single one of them denied those words.
No, they could not.
Just as the Spear Saint had said, Leon’s existence stood within a domain beyond comprehension.
“Truly... it is fortunate he is our ally.”
“To be honest, if Leon had not existed, I cannot say with confidence what direction this war would have taken.”
The descent and movement of the Archangels had been unexpected, but instinctively they could not help but realize that those actions had been triggered by Leon.
Even if that were not the case, had Leon not supported the battlefield recently using R’lyeh Sky Island, the damage would have reached unimaginable levels.
Conversely, if the existence called Leon had been their enemy...
Something too dreadful to even imagine would likely have occurred.
“Still... this is too violent to call a sparring match... Shouldn’t someone stop them?”
“Leave them be. It is not as though we could do anything even if we intervened, and if you look over there, they are already staying still.”
The Sword Saint sighed as he spoke.
Standing off to one side were Luna, Lispa, and his precious granddaughter who never listened to him.
If they were not stepping in, then surely there had to be a reason.
At that moment, after a massive collision, Leon began forcibly pulling off the Archangel’s helmet.
The Stars and Marquis Alsad unconsciously swallowed as they watched.
Just what appearance lay beneath that helmet?
Thinking about it, it was truly absurd and pointless, yet for some reason curiosity welled up within them.
Michael resisted, but in the end Leon succeeded in removing the helmet.
“Ah.”
“My goodness.”
And everyone failed to hide their disappointment.
It was not a matter of handsome or ugly.
The area beneath the removed helmet contained nothing but rippling light.
Was that the Archangel’s true appearance?
Or was only that Archangel like that?
The other Archangels did in fact possess the appearances of winged humans.
Viewed that way, Archangel Michael alone had the unique appearance of being wrapped entirely in armor.
That was why they had been even more curious.
Yet to think it would be like that.
Soon afterward, Leon handed the helmet back with a dubious expression, and the helmet moved on its own before returning to Michael’s head.
Afterward the light faded, and he slowly rose to his feet.
Leon silently turned his gaze away, while Michael twisted the helmet around as if fixing it in place before spreading his wings and standing up.
“Gabriel will brief the detailed operation.”
Then he simply vanished as though scattering away.
* * *
There were several conditions required to break through into the Ultimate State, but among the important ones were overcoming one’s limits and building up an equivalent level of inner foundation.
Surpassing one’s limits was something many humans could accomplish.
However, the condition requiring one to build up enough inner foundation prevented them from reaching the Ultimate State.
A Grandmaster.
Moreover, a fully matured Grandmaster had to glimpse the realm beyond, gradually understand it, and stack up a tower.
No one knew how much time it would take, but only once that accumulated tower became capable of fully bearing its own weight would the conditions necessary to surpass the Ultimate State finally be established.
To put it simply, the enormous enlightenment and growth required to reach Sword Master were treated as a single fragment, and dozens—hundreds—of such fragments had to be intricately woven together.
The problem arose here.
Once one’s foundation was reinforced to that extent, the threshold of their limits itself became overwhelmingly higher.
And furthermore, my own standards could not help but be even stricter.
If I had merely been someone who wielded only a sword, that would be one thing, but not only the sword—I had already inherited the powers of countless halls, and my body had adapted itself accordingly.
My current limit capacity was clearly higher than it had been during Labyrinthos.
That was why, despite already having once ascended into the Ultimate State, breaking through into it again had been difficult.
The foundation I had built over all this time was sturdy.
But because the threshold of my limits had become too high, how could breaking through possibly be easy?
And then, in the midst of that, the Book of Genesis applied a cheat code.
Infinite Breakthrough.
Just as the name implied, a change had occurred to the threshold of my limits.
The current me...
Had become someone who gradually grew stronger simply by breathing.
At this point, one could only wonder what exactly this impossible miracle-producing Book of Genesis truly was.
It made no sense that simply strengthening myself using the power gained from the Hall of Reinforcement could produce effects this enormous.
Which meant the Book of Genesis seemed to have been awakening its original power through strengthening from the very beginning.
An object fundamentally involved with the system of this world.
Furthermore, even Yog could not easily interfere with its influence.
Just where had such an item come from?
“If this thing had been used properly from the beginning, wouldn’t there have been no problems at all?”
-Your thinking is mistaken. Though I have no intention of correcting you.
Lucifer, who knew more than anyone about the Book of Genesis—or rather, the original Book of Fate—did not seem inclined to answer.
After the offensive on the deserted island, the attacks from the Pinas Archipelago visibly decreased.
Among the soldiers, hopeful sentiments like, “Is the war finally nearing its end?” had begun appearing, but at the very least, I did not think that was the case.
After all, the moment I reached the Ultimate State, Yog’s presence spreading throughout the Pinas Archipelago became even more palpable.
That bastard was still alive and well.
Which meant he was preparing one massive strike.
What I had done during that time was become as accustomed as possible to my current state after reaching the Ultimate State.
Since it was a realm newly reached after surpassing my limits, the process of acclimating to it was absolutely necessary.
Rather.
Compared to this, the process required up until Grandmaster had been incredibly minor.
As for the Archangels, they began preparing the assault and the ritual, while also searching for the traitor I had mentioned.
If they failed to eliminate the variable called the traitor, there was no telling what could happen or where.
However, with the current situation offering not a single clue, a solution did not come easily.
Truthfully, I thought that if enough time passed, the bastard would eventually be expelled anyway, but the Archangels appeared intent on dealing irreversible damage to him during this opportunity.
And so, about a week passed.
I returned to Cascadia and sat in a chair while holding the deeply sleeping Elpiria in my arms, gazing up at the night sky.
Melissa then entered carrying an armful of documents and asked with a hardened expression.
“You’re going?”
“Your brother is too competent. I don’t really have a choice.”
“Bullshit. The world keeps turning even without you. And if everything has to be dumped onto one person, then a world like that deserves to collapse.”
Melissa was speaking weakly in a way unlike herself, but I was not unaware of how she felt.
“Do you remember what I said before?”
I asked while keeping my eyes fixed outside the window.
“What?”
“I would lead the family, and you would help me lead it.”
I had to keep that promise.
She silently stared at me before grabbing my arm.
“Brother.”
“......”
“If you don’t go... can’t you just stay?”
Moisture filled her voice.
“I heard how dangerous that monster is. You yourself said you can’t guarantee victory.”
“Guess that’s true.”
“Then... let’s just stay here. The Archangels will handle it themselves anyway. There’s no reason for you to go too.”
Watching her plead at me tearfully, I let out a small laugh.
Then, unlike usual, I placed my hand atop my troublesome younger sister’s head.
“Hey. I made a promise with Father, remember? That I’d protect you and the family. As your older brother.”
“......”
“I’ll be back. Don’t worry. I’m not the type to fight battles I’ll lose.”
“What nonsense!”
In the end, she broke down.
Bursting into tears, she pleaded with me.
“Just stay here. Please? I don’t care about you being called the continent’s guardian or Martial God or any of that crap.”
Please.
Let’s just live well together as a family without being separated.
“At the very least, if you awaken more power through that strange book...”
“There’s not enough time.”
At her plea, I gently patted the back of the deeply sleeping Elpiria.
“Melissa.”
“......”
“You trust your brother, right?”
Slowly rising to my feet, I kissed Elpiria on the forehead before carefully laying her back into the cradle.
Then I spoke.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Quit chickening out, idiot. Like always, I’ll go wreck everything and come back.”
Melissa sat collapsed on the floor, tears dripping endlessly from her eyes, unable to say anything.
She could not even say things like she would kill me if I came back injured.
She simply...
“I’m sorry... that I can’t help at all.”
“What can you do? I’m just too amazing.”
Normally she would have gotten angry at my joking words, but she said nothing.
Afterward, pure white light gathered outside the window behind me.
“Leon Cascadia. Are you prepared?”
“I’m done.”
I rose from my seat.
Then I spoke to Melissa.
“Head of the House, issue the deployment order.”
“......Hic... Don’t... absolutely don’t come back injured. You must return safely no matter what. That is... an order.”
“Yes ma’am.”
Melissa finally failed to hold it in any longer and burst into sobs, while I turned away after watching her for a moment.
* * *
Luna was inside the basement of the mansion located in R’lyeh.
The underground space Grivy had created while calling it a secret base.
She was staring at the crystal placed there.
Inside the crystal slept the body of the Goddess Eve.
The final remnant of the goddess whose divinity had completely disappeared.
The reason it had not vanished and continued enduring was likely due to the power of that crystal.
The sight of Grivy having piled blankets all over it because “it might be cold” felt rather amusing.
My soul’s parent, was it.
They had said the origin of my soul had been created through the authorities of Adam and Eve.
Viewed that way, Eve was no different from the parent of my soul.
“I’m off, Eve.”
Originally, I had intended to leave Luna behind.
However, Luna was extremely perceptive, and in the end she joined us as well.
“Let’s go. We’ll finish this quickly, come back, and grill meat together at the villa. All of us.”
At my words, she nodded.
R’lyeh, which had briefly returned to the skies above Cascadia, tore through space once more and crossed over again.
However, the place R’lyeh headed toward was not the coastal military camp like before.
The sky churned with storm-like violet clouds, and a gigantic pillar of violet light shot upward as though tearing apart the heavens...
The central island of the Pinas Archipelago.
Even I had never visited the central island before.
“That crazy bastard. Just how overwhelming is his presence?”
Not only was there the enormous violet pillar of power shooting upward from the center of the central island, but all throughout the island I could see unbelievably massive tentacles bursting through the ground.
Every single one of those tentacles was merely an infinitesimal portion of the Outer God’s body.
How was this any different from a microscopic particle fighting against a human fingernail?
The moment I entered the Outer God’s domain, I felt an oppressively heavy aura so dreadful it made me grip the Demon Sword in my hand.
At that moment, space tore apart and a red Archangel revealed himself.
“Raguel.”
“We found it.”
He answered while appearing covered in wounds.
I did not bother asking what the hell he had done to end up looking like that.
I had heard Raguel wandered throughout the dimensional rifts trying to find the Fate Lord.
Ordinarily, there should have been no major results, but the moment I broke through into the Ultimate State, the Fate Lord had appeared before Raguel.
“So. How do we use this?”
At my question, Michael grasped the ordinary ring he had received from Raguel.
“Elekstra.”
At Michael’s words, I held the Demon Sword out before him.
At first, it had merely been a treasured sword I happened to obtain in the Mielephon Territory.
But it had become the weapon I had used the longest and the one most connected to me.
At this point, even I no longer knew whether obtaining the Demon Sword had truly been mere coincidence.
Michael began pouring pure white divinity into the ring.
Then he placed the ring, now imbued with white light, onto the blade surface of the Demon Sword Elekstra.
Paaang!!!
At once, streaks of pure white light extended from the ring and began connecting to the Demon Sword.
Clack!
And together with the sound of something unlocking, bizarre patterns surfaced upon the blade of the Demon Sword and began radiating light.
[Changes have been detected in the Demon Sword Elekstra.]
[Activating key]
Slowly but steadily, it was activating.
I held the Demon Sword and spun it around a few times.
Nothing appeared particularly different, but judging by the sensation I had developed from using it all this time, I could tell something was happening.
However, during that process, it seemed difficult to actually use Elekstra.
“By the way, we never did find the traitor.”
“At present, there are no clues whatsoever. Even so, we cannot afford to remain tied down solely focusing on finding the traitor.”
“Yeah. Let’s just stay on guard at least.”
Those who had arrived here were myself, Luna, and every Archangel except Lispa.
Isna also seemed to want to participate, but although the Outer God had been separated from her, the corruption of her authority could not be reversed, so we could not bring her along.
Because of that, she remained in each region preparing for the Outer God’s invasion.
Merkavalt of Dragon Forge.
Likewise Lispa and Ashuria, who had become my disciple, were the same.
“Gabriel.”
Soon Michael called Gabriel’s name, and he walked forward with heavy steps before speaking.
“The preparations are complete. Our objective is singular. Destroy Yog’s materialized core at the center of the archipelago, neutralize him, and drive him back into the Outer Dimension.”
“Is there no way to kill him?”
“At the very least, we believe it impossible until that thing inside you awakens.”
Honestly, curiosity welled up within me.
Just what exactly was the Hall of Martial God?
What kind of power was it that it had become the final bastion?
Did Gabriel or Michael know about it?
At my question, Gabriel shook his head.
“I do not know either. However, if I had to guess, I believe it may be something akin to the authority to kill gods.”
Authority...
The concept of “god” being referred to here likely did not mean Ancient Gods, Forgotten Gods, or cases like Adam and Eve.
In the end, for now, driving the bastard out was the best option, but once the Demon Sword fully activated as a key, none of us could say with certainty what would happen afterward.
“The operation itself is simple. We will handle the complicated support from our side, so you and Luna need only remember your own roles.”
Luna and I would make the entry.
The Archangels would open the path.
I asked,
“Feels like we’ll be outnumbered.”
“Do not worry. We are not the only ones who wish to protect this dimension.”
It was merely the same as always.
Soon, after finishing the minor explanations, Gabriel flew upward.
At the same time, his halo began rotating, and starlight started settling within his eyes.
Then, the instant he spread both arms wide, the countless tentacles on the ground surged toward us.
Even so, Gabriel did not stop and continued pouring out his power, creating tens of thousands of swords of light in the sky around him.
[__]
An incomprehensible language flowed from his mouth.
Simultaneously, the pure white spears floating around him poured downward all at once, shredding the tentacles apart and raining bombardment upon the earth.
“Let’s go.”
Following after him, I stepped forward.
“Grivy. Giantification.”
At my call, light gathered beside me and Grivy, wearing a one-piece dress, hopped down.
At the same time, her body enlarged through her fusion ability, easily surpassing several hundred meters in size before slamming downward onto the island with a KWAANG! like a bombardment.
Tentacles flying in from all directions tried to wrap around Grivy, but the other spirits who had descended together with her did not stand by and watch.
“Muyeong.”
From within the shadows, a gigantic spectral wolf revealed itself.
“Baril, Dagon, Nemesis.”
Then, beginning with the Named-type undead currently under my command, every spectral-form undead I possessed poured forth and began descending upon the archipelago.
Afterward, leaving behind the unusable Demon Sword, I gripped the Divine Artifact Pragarach in my hand and leapt down.
What entered my vision was a gigantic existence writhing up from beneath the ground.
Not an Ancient God.
However, it possessed power no different from an Ancient God—a mighty servant.
The creature spread a grotesque mouth wide and extended its enormous hand as though intending to seize and swallow me whole in a single motion.
But.
This side had accumulated too much to be stopped by an Ancient God now.
I activated the power of the Divine Artifact Pragarach in my hand.
[Ignore Compatibility]
The instant aura wrapped around my body as I plummeted downward at high speed—
Riiip!!
The servant’s body, which possessed power comparable to at least a mid-ranking Ancient God, split apart as though being torn open.
“This is a bit troublesome if things like this are appearing right at the entrance.”
Slowly straightening my posture, I shook the black corruption off the sword and looked up toward the sky.
The Archangels flew to their respective positions while avoiding the movements of the gigantic tentacles, drawing some kind of magic circles across the heavens.
Compared to the number of tentacles engulfing all directions, the number of Archangels was overwhelmingly small.
Considering the number of undead, it did not seem like a problem, but aside from the Named-types, the undead I controlled were hardly great fighting forces.
And then.
Craaack!!! KOOONG!
The magic circles in the sky rapidly activated and began pouring out black energy.
It felt somewhat different from the power of the Archangels.
And the moment that thought crossed my mind, a gigantic hand began emerging from within the rift.
I finally understood Gabriel’s words that they were not the only ones wishing to protect the dimension.
[Target. Great Demon entity Baal has been confirmed.]
The Archangels.
Had summoned a demon.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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