The burst head turned to light and vaporized.
The sprawled body did the same.
The scattered light began to retreat to a spot a little distance from Noah, gathering into one place.
Arms emerged. Legs emerged. A torso supported them, and then a head formed on top. It wasn’t recovering; it looked as if time was being rewound.
“Hoo hoo.”
The Nameless One, instantly restored to its original form, smirked at Noah.
How fortunate. I was worried it would die easily.
Recalling that muttering made a laugh escape.
I wonder how that arrogant statement will change.
A scream begging for life? A plea to be killed?
No matter how it changes, it will be something enjoyable for me. With that thought completed, the Nameless One’s face no longer showed the dark emotions it wore before.
Just moments ago, its head had been crushed and its body twisted, yet it laughed nonchalantly.
Along with that, the momentum shifted.
No longer trying to push with brute force, a more refined and sharpened divine power surrounded the Nameless One.
Seeing that, Noah frowned.
The Nameless One smiled even wider.
While it couldn’t tell what Noah was thinking, it was clear that he felt discomfort in this situation. With that thought, the Nameless One’s actions no longer had hesitation.
Krackle—! Divine power poured forward like a waterfall and gathered in front of the Nameless One. It clumped together. It took the form of a sword.
An old, rough sword.
Too short and rustic for a seasoned swordsman.
But it was a sword that had once cleaved worlds — the sword of Luchi.
The Nameless One, gripping the sword, closed its eyes.
It accepted Luchi’s power and experience, conveyed to its body and mind.
“Is this what it feels like?”
Swish— the sound of slicing echoed through the empty air.
With that slicing sound as a benchmark, borders were drawn in the divine realm.
A boundary that vertically intersected with the horizon separating sky and earth. Upon seeing that, the Nameless One retrieved the sword.
“Hm, I thought there’d be special techniques since it was said to be a sword that cleaved the world. But it seems that’s not the case.”
With that remark, —Kaboom!— countless swords emerged around the Nameless One. All of them mirrored Luchi’s sword, gripped by the Nameless One.
“Is it simply because it’s human?”
The Nameless One raised the sword.
The weapons that had formed around it followed suit, raised in unison.
“It’s tragically weak.”
The sword was drawn. Upward, downward. Left to right. Right to left. Upward again.
The swords swung in unison, giving birth to countless slashes. If they had been swung on the ground, they could probably obliterate a continent, inscribing endless borders in the divine realm, emitting a murky light.
Not the light of reverse heaven, but murky light.
Yet that light contained a power dozens of times stronger than the power Luchi had wielded.
“So, I added a little of my power. Is it a bit different now?”
Standing at the center, watching the countless slashes heading toward him, Noah silently lifted his sword.
And then he swung it. Lightly, like brushing away a pesky insect.
Crackling—!
The slashes shattered. The subsequent slashes followed. The murky light fell apart, as did the old swords.
“Truly, it’s weak. This sword, that human Luchi as well. To die, satisfied with merely swinging such a sword once. Indeed, humanity is pitifully weak. But that’s what makes it good.”
With a scoff as if anticipating that, the Nameless One discarded its sword and spread its wings. A black shadow loomed over the pristine divine realm. From the hole in the air, breaths of dragons shot forth, and lightning that illuminated even the black shadow struck down.
Meanwhile, Noah’s gaze was not on the assault coming toward him, but rather on the sword of Luchi, rolling on the ground.
His face was still crumpled.
His lips, seemingly full of words, were firmly shut.
What was he thinking? As this question crossed his mind, the Nameless One had no intention of resolving it and readied its next attack.
In the past, the chains that had sealed Tylant intertwined with the lightning. The shadows pouring like a wave dissolved the terror of hell.
Attacks where a moment’s mistake could lead to instant death. Yet the Nameless One judged this still insufficient. Given the power Noah had shown so far, it believed he would break through and charge at it.
Thus, it recreated even more unique abilities, magic, and sorcery — the powers of those once called heroes, long since dead in this world — at its fingertips.
At that moment, Noah spoke.
“…Luchi uncle isn’t weak.”
Noah’s eyes, which had only been looking at the old sword, turned to the Nameless One. His calm red eyes resembled a still pool. Yet, upon meeting those eyes, the Nameless One instinctively stepped back.
It felt the abyss hidden beneath that pool.
An emotion too dark to express through anger or hatred loomed as a threat to itself.
Yet the smirk on its face remained. Slightly distorted, but not broken.
After all, it wouldn’t die. It wouldn’t lose. It couldn’t lose. Confident, it reversed its retreat and instead moved forward.
One step, two steps, three steps.
And when it took a fourth step.
“You’re the weak one.”
Swish—
Schwing — suddenly, the sound of slicing followed the swing of the great sword. Above it, Noah’s voice reverberated.
“Reverse Heaven.”
A boundary was drawn in the divine realm.
A line differing from the one inscribed by the Nameless One. Following that line, its body was split left and right.
And then — Crack! — a crack formed in the divine realm.
It was only for a moment.
The Nameless One’s body regenerated, but at the same time, the crack etched into the divine realm was quickly mended.
In the tranquil silence, the Nameless One’s gaze turned toward the place where the crack had been moments ago.
What just happened?
It wasn’t that its connection to the world was severed. Consciousness hadn’t been lost either, of course.
It saw it clearly with two eyes, felt it with its entire being.
Yet, the Nameless One could not accept what had just transpired.
The divine realm… nearly shattered?
The moment that thought crossed its mind—Boom!—!
With a tremendous cracking sound, the Nameless One’s body was pushed back. This time, it didn’t burst or crumble like before. It was because it was protected by more than a dozen wings. However, the shock wasn’t negligible.
“…Ah ha ha.”
The smile of the Nameless One spread annoyance as it unfurled the wings encasing its body.
It was displeasing that a mere human’s sword had dared to mar the divine realm.
Thus, it decided to exert a bit more power.
Recovering the depleted energy might take some time, but that wasn’t much compared to the joy of crushing that arrogance.
“I was going to play a little longer. But now it’s become a shame.”
With a sickening smile, —Thwang!— something unknown struck Noah’s body.
Noah’s form, which had almost reached the Nameless One, was thrown to the ground. Blood poured from his firmly shut lips.
He spat out the pooled blood. He wiped the blood dripping from his mouth. After catching his breath for a moment, Noah hurriedly dodged. Simultaneously, Ka-thud—! The ground where he stood moments ago erupted.
He raised the great sword. Ka-thung!—! An immense, intangible force similar to a colossal hammer struck the great sword.
“Urk…!”
He twisted his waist to push away the heavy force that had settled on the great sword. And with all his might, he scattered the great sword.
Ka-shing!—!
An unseen, unfelt force was swept away by the swinging great sword. However, there was no time to catch his breath.
“Ah ha ha!”
With a refreshing laugh, the Nameless One waved its hand.
As that motion followed, space crumpled. The distance between the two, which had been quite far apart, suddenly closed. And there, the fist of the Nameless One stretched out.
Crack!— with no warning, a punch pierced Noah’s abdomen.
In response, Noah gasped as the breath he’d been holding burst forth.
Seeing that, the Nameless One erupted with gleeful laughter and flapped its wings. Ka-boom!— countless pairs of wings gathered like fists and struck Noah’s body. His powerless form was smashed into the ground.
And again.
The Nameless One waved its hand again.
“How about now?”
Having been crushed into the ground, Noah suddenly stood in front of the Nameless One.
“This is the true power of the divine power that Lilith possessed.”
Pff-fshew!— feathers shot forth like darts, piercing into Noah’s limbs. Following this, divine power struck at his abdomen, and chains adorned with spikes fell from the sky, binding Noah’s entire body.
“The power to manipulate time.”
Clink— the chains interlocked. Through the gaps, fresh red blood oozed out. Breath forcefully expelled, as if feeling tightly constricted. The throbbing faded. Eventually, the Nameless One grasped Noah by the hair.
“Daring to think you can touch, or even gaze upon, a true divinity—humans, no, mortals cannot even begin to grasp this.”
Roughly lifting Noah’s limp head, the smile vanished from the Nameless One’s face.
“…Reversal… I see.”
Even though his face should have been tainted with pain, it was instead suffused with a bright smile.
“So, ‘I’ could… manipulate time.”
“What—”
The intuition of the Nameless One screamed.
Instinct hollered. Let go of that hand immediately.
In that instant, the Nameless One tried to release its grip and retreat.
But.
Swish— Noah’s great sword swung faster than the Nameless One could step back.
Thuk. Something fell from the right side of the Nameless One.
It looked down.
There lay an arm.
The cross-section of the cut arm was visible.
The severed arm did not vaporize into light.
The cross-section did not regenerate the lost limb.
“Would’ve been nice if you warned me in advance…”
With trembling eyes, the Nameless One looked at the source of the voice.
“It only hurts because you didn’t…”
Noah, blood dripping as he dragged the great sword closer, became visible.
The red eyes directed at it were clear.
Upon meeting that gaze, the Nameless One stepped back once more, recalling the emotions from before.
That emotion was fear.
And.
It was terror.
