Aerwyna's eyes widened as the future she perceived fractured before her, splintering into countless broken paths that no longer aligned. The certainty she relied on dissolved into fragments, each one unstable and incomplete.
The black orb in Leo's hand rose slowly into the sky, drawing everything toward it. A silent wave rippled outward, and the entire mountain began to tremble as if something deep beneath it had awakened. Pebbles and shards of stone lifted from the ground, drifting upward toward the orb, pulled by an invisible force.
"The only force that can affect time itself," Leo said calmly as he surged forward, "is gravity."
Aerwyna leapt aside to evade the incoming strike, but Leo's sword moved faster than what her sight had shown her. The blade flashed, and her hand was severed cleanly from her arm before she could react.
She stumbled back with a twisted expression, blood pouring from the mangled stump as pain finally caught up to her. Even now, she could still see the future, but something was wrong. The timing was distorted. Some moments unfolded too slowly, others too fast, as if the flow of time itself had lost consistency.
Her gaze snapped upward to the orb hanging in the sky.
That was the source.
As she focused on it, her shock deepened. The future surrounding the orb was fixed, unalterable, as though it existed outside causality itself. Because she could not understand it, she could not change it, and without control, her power faltered.
Anger flared across her face as she tore her eyes away from the orb and fixed them back on Leo. If she could not rewrite the orb's future, then she would change his instead.
But the sight of him made her breath catch.
A mark on Leo's hand began to glow, pulsing with raw power as white and red fog poured from his body, wrapping around him in thick, churning layers. Within seconds, his silhouette blurred and distorted, as if a monster had taken shape inside the fog itself.
For the first time since the battle began, Aerwyna hesitated.
…
Within Leo's domain, Elna and Ilandra watched the battle unfold through the Mirror of Truth. Suddenly, the entire domain shuddered, a deep vibration rippling through the endless space as if the world itself had drawn a breath. The fog that drifted lazily around them was no longer still; it surged forward in great streams, flowing toward the throne hall at the heart of the domain.
Ilandra's eyes widened as she took in the sight, and she slowly rose to her feet.
"He's gathering all his power," she said, her voice low with awe.
Then, to her surprise, energy began to rise from two distant structures within the domain. She recognized them immediately. One carried the unmistakable presence of Arthur, steady and resolute, while the other resonated with Luciana's sharp, refined mana. Both streams of power surged toward the throne hall, merging with the growing torrent.
A moment later, even her own tree responded. Its branches glowed softly as pure mana flowed out from it, joining the others as if answering Leo's silent call.
A smile curved Ilandra's lips, pride and wonder mingling in her expression.
"His ambition," she murmured, "is truly turning him into the creator."
…
In the Northern Kingdom, Arthur, Briva, and Marco followed the army from a distance, carefully staying behind the main force as they waited for the right opportunity to strike. The cold wind howled across the land, but Arthur suddenly felt something far colder, and far heavier, stir deep within him.
It was a call.
Without slowing his steps, Arthur shifted a fragment of his consciousness into his domain. The moment he arrived, he felt it clearly. The structure at the heart of his domain was vibrating, sending tremors through the entire space as if reality itself were resonating.
The creator was calling.
…
After the meeting ended, Luciana walked out of the cathedral, the heavy doors closing behind her. She had done everything she could here, and now it was time to head toward the capital. She took only one step forward before her eyes widened.
A call echoed from deep within her.
Luciana immediately shifted her consciousness into her domain. The sight that greeted her made her breath catch. The structure at its center was vibrating violently, sending ripples through the entire space, while streams of crimson power coiled and surged around it like living veins.
Something was happening, something far beyond her expectations.
…
Aerwyna watched Leo's transformed appearance, and the fury in her eyes deepened into something close to madness.
"That domain belongs to me!" she screamed.
Her voice echoed like a decree, and the earth beneath them responded. The ground cracked open as the entire mountain began to tremble, massive fissures racing across the stone while pillars of rock collapsed into the depths below.
Leo remained in his human shape, yet his presence was no longer human. Thick white and crimson fog poured endlessly from his body, swirling around him like a living shroud. From within it, two glowing red eyes watched Aerwyna without blinking, cold and absolute.
Above that fog, a pressure far greater than anything Aerwyna had anticipated began to radiate outward. It was not mere mana. It was Authority.
The power of Alad, the Gatekeeper of Ethereon.
With it, Leo's control over his domain reached a terrifying level. Within this space, his will was law. Every rule bent toward him, every force answered his intent. In terms of dominion and control, he had reached a state close to omnipotence.
Aerwyna raised her hand, preparing to strike, but the moment her spell began to form, Leo vanished.
There was no warning.
Her body shattered into fragments, torn apart as if struck by an invisible blade. Space itself seemed to reject her existence. Yet the pieces began to tremble violently, vibrating out of sync with reality, before snapping back together as her form reassembled.
She staggered, eyes wide.
Not only could she no longer see Leo's future, she could not alter it either.
"Do not underestimate me," Aerwyna snarled, her voice twisted with fury. "I was preparing my whole life for this."
As she spoke, her body began to change.
This was her final resort, rewriting her own future.
In the blink of an eye, her pale skin darkened, turning as black as obsidian. Her body expanded, muscle tearing and reforming as her frame grew larger and denser. Fingers stretched into long, curved claws, sharp enough to rend steel, while two massive horns burst from her forehead with a sickening crack.
Within seconds, the woman who had relied on foresight and manipulation transformed into a demon-like entity, radiating raw physical menace.
Her burning gaze locked onto Leo's glowing eyes.
A devil and a god stared at one another.
For a heartbeat, the world fell silent.
Then they moved.
Their acceleration shattered the sound barrier, leaving behind distorted air and afterimages that even an A-rank warrior could not perceive. When claw and sword collided, the impact detonated beneath them. Half the mountain exploded, reduced to rubble and dust as shockwaves tore through the land.
Lightning struck down from the heavens, drawn by the violent surge of power, while hurricanes spiraled outward, ripping apart everything in their path.
What had once been a battle of spells, foresight, and manipulation became a brutal clash of steel and flesh. They fought across the sky, exchanging blows at impossible speed, each strike carrying enough force to erase entire landscapes.
Below them, the mountain range could no longer endure. Peaks shattered, cliffs collapsed, and the earth itself screamed as their battle reduced it to ruins.
Aerwyna leapt backward through the air and thrust her hand forward. A concentrated, laser-like beam erupted from her palm, screaming as it tore through the space between them. Leo shifted instantly, sliding to the side as the beam passed where his head had been only a moment earlier.
The attack did not stop.
It carved straight through the mountain range behind him, vaporizing stone, earth, and river alike. An entire section of the mountain simply vanished, leaving behind a glowing scar of empty space where matter had ceased to exist.
From Aerwyna's back, six serpent-like constructs burst free, their bodies writhing as they reared forward in unison. Their mouths opened, and six identical beams fired simultaneously, converging toward Leo from every direction.
This time, he did not retreat.
Six pitch-black orbs materialized around his sword, orbiting it for a split second before launching forward. Each orb positioned itself directly in front of a beam, swallowing the attacks whole. The lasers vanished soundlessly into the void, and the orbs collapsed inward before disappearing as well.
Leo tightened his grip on his sword, placing both hands on the hilt as mana began to pour out of him like a raging storm. Instead of expanding the blade, the power compressed inward, condensing into the weapon's original form. The pressure became so intense that white and crimson lightning burst outward, wrapping around his body and tearing through the air.
Aerwyna felt it instantly.
Her instincts screamed danger.
The serpents coiled rapidly, forming a circular formation around her mouth as she tilted her head back. Mana gathered violently at the center of the ring, swelling until it reached a critical point. Then, before Leo could strike, a massive beam erupted from her mouth, an attack powerful enough to erase an entire city from existence.
It surged toward him like a divine judgment.
Leo did not hesitate.
He brought his sword down in a single, absolute motion, releasing everything he had gathered.
"Fracture."
A razor-thin crimson line tore forward, colliding head-on with the beam. The impact unleashed a deafening shockwave that echoed for kilometers, annihilating everything nearby. Space twisted, light distorted, and time itself seemed to bend under the strain of the collision.
For a moment, the two forces were locked.
Then Leo's attack pushed through.
The crimson slash advanced relentlessly, its power so immense that reality warped around it. Aerwyna barely had time to blink before it reached her. The strike cleaved through her body, splitting her cleanly in half, continuing onward to carve through the mountains and slice open the sky for kilometers beyond.
Leo lowered his sword as the fog surrounding him dissipated, his body trembling as sweat poured down his face. His breathing was heavy, uneven, every muscle screaming from exhaustion.
Behind him, Aerwyna's severed form began to vibrate violently.
She tried to retreat into the past, forcing her power again and again, but no matter how desperately she struggled, it failed. Leo's attack had shattered the time itself, leaving her with nowhere to escape.
After a few agonizing moments, she released a final, broken scream.
Her body detonated.
The explosion of released mana tore a massive crater into the earth, sending debris and shockwaves outward in all directions. The blast caught Leo midair and hurled him backward like a ragdoll. He slammed into the ground hundreds of meters away, consciousness slipping away the moment he landed.
Silence followed.
Seconds later, nature responded.
Vines, roots, and glowing plants surged from the earth beneath him, gently wrapping around his broken body. A warm, restorative energy spread through him as healing power flowed into his wounds, holding him between life and death as the battlefield finally fell still.
…
In an unknown place, deep within a castle far removed from the battlefield, a magic circle carved into the stone floor began to glow. Runes flared one after another, flooding the room with pale light, until the space within the circle twisted and a figure collapsed into existence.
Aerwyna appeared at its center.
Her body was drenched in blood, deep scars cutting across her skin, her breath unsteady as she forced herself upright. The air around her still trembled faintly with distorted mana, remnants of a power that had nearly torn her apart.
A calm voice echoed from the shadows.
"You look awful, sister."
Aerwyna straightened, lifting her head toward the source. Her eyes locked onto a figure seated casually in the darkness.
"Even after using every trick you had," she said coldly, "your plan still failed."
The man rose from his seat and stepped forward, the faint glow revealing his features. His lips curved into a smug smile as he brushed imaginary dust from his robe.
"Raiwood is destroyed," he replied. "My plan succeeded. You are the one who failed, against an S1, no less."
Aerwyna's gaze sharpened, cruelty flashing across her expression.
"That S1 bore Alad's mark on his hand," she said, her voice low and dangerous, "and carried the domain of a god on his back." She took a step closer, her presence pressing heavily against the room. "And do not forget, you are an S1 as well. Choose your words carefully."
Without waiting for a response, she turned and walked away, her footsteps echoing through the chamber as she left the room.
Iason Starlight, the Prince of the North, son of King Harvald, watched her go from the shadows.
Then he smiled.