Chapter 228
Chapter 228
Chapter 228
Branches of the Future (2)
'Beautiful…!'
Those watching from the side couldn't help but think so, as Crux's single sword strike drew an elegant curve toward Maria.
But the problem was that this was the end of it.
'He doesn't look that strong?'
This was Rebecca's thought as she stepped back behind Maria.
With that level of speed and power, she thought she could probably just catch it between her fingers.
Or if not that, she could just counter his torso directly.
Despite having such countless ways to respond, surprisingly, Maria chose to 'evade.'
SWOOSH!
Seeing Maria lightly dodge the sword strike and retreat backward, Crux let out a sneer.
"Why did you dodge? You could have easily shattered an attack of this level."
At those words, Maria frowned slightly.
"I don't like that kind of deception."
"Deception?"
"If I had taken that head-on, either my arm or torso would have been split in two. My power would have also taken a significant hit."
"……!"
Facing the wide-eyed Crux, Maria continued speaking in a disinterested tone.
"A power that destroys laws. Surely that's what you call the 10th Class realm in magic? You cleverly hid it within an ordinary sword strike, but you can't fool my eyes."
"…Remarkable."
True amazement filled Crux's eyes.
Though he had defined it simply, that previous strike belonged to a realm that even those called Grand Masters couldn't dare to imitate.
"This is a technique that worked on 'you' once before… Are you saying the current you is stronger than the you from back then?"
"……."
Not understanding the meaning of those words, Maria didn't bother to answer.
She just had this thought.
If she had pushed through with brute force like a few years ago, she might have suffered a setback….
Crux aimed his sword at Maria again.
"Let me face you a bit more seriously."
Despite Crux's gradually intensifying fighting spirit, Maria's expression remained unchanged.
"Well... how about you grasp the situation before swinging your sword again?"
"What?"
"Do you think I just dodged without any counterattack?"
"……!"
The moment he realized those words, Crux became aware that a massive impact had been delivered to his abdomen.
"Guhk!"
"Your passive aura was so solid that I had some trouble breaking through it... but it's still much easier than divine defense."
TRICKLE!
A stream of crimson blood flowed from the corner of Crux's mouth.
Maria clicked her tongue slightly at the sight.
"Quite tough."
"…Thanks for the compliment."
In this case, it was Crux's toughness that deserved praise—surviving Maria's surprise attack with just a bit of bleeding.
"I did allow one hit... but that doesn't change what I have to do."
Crux regained his fighting spirit.
"You'll die by my hand."
"That's impossible."
"You have to try to know if something's long or short."
"Would there be any fool who'd try to compare the size of a sapling to the World Tree?"
"Right here."
FLASH!
As if no longer wanting to engage in riddles, Crux's sword once again sliced through space.
Where Crux's sword strike passed, dimensional fractures were created.
This wasn't mere description—that was truly a strike that cut through space itself.
'Not transcending space, but cutting it whole…!'
Admiration rose in Maria's expression.
Usually, what Grand Masters called 'spatial severing' was a method of transcending space to reach the opponent's essence and deliver damage.
So even if it could ignore defense, the actual damage was only the destructive power of an enhanced aura blade.
Of course, there was no species among earthly creatures that could take an aura blade with bare flesh, so normally that alone would be sufficient....
But in higher dimensions, it was nowhere near enough.
"Not bad."
Crux's sword strike had transcended the limits of such ordinary spatial severing.
If struck directly by that, even a divine being wouldn't emerge unscathed.
Moreover, it wasn't a monotonous single flash, but dozens of afterimages that overturned the entire surrounding space with slashing attacks….
'This makes spatial movement impossible too.'
Those traces scratched into the surrounding space were each singularities where spacetime rifts had opened.
If one rashly attempted spatial movement trying to cross those, there was a high probability of having one's flesh torn apart.
'If I had transcendent regenerative power, I could force through with my body....'
Among the group, only Rebecca was capable of that.
"Let's see you take this!"
Seeing that Maria seemed unable to move, Crux delivered his final strike with triumphant eyes.
Maria looked at such a Crux and let out a slight sigh.
"Haah, can't be helped."
To break this with physical force would require enough power to sink a city.
No matter how much Ktuna had set up a spatial barrier, if something went wrong, there was no telling what damage might occur to the capital….
"Green World."
At Maria's small utterance, her hair began to shine brilliantly.
"……!"
CLAAAANG!
And simultaneously, a hair-raising metallic sound echoed around as Crux's form was sent flying far away.
"Kraaaah!"
"…Crux!"
With the spatial amplification ability of Green World, all the rifts in space were completely filled.
On top of that, Crux, struck by the tremendous rebound force, even showed the disgrace of dropping his sword.
"I acknowledge it."
Maria looked at Crux with slightly sunken eyes.
"If I hadn't used the Seven-Colored World, I would have had to clash with you for quite a long time."
"……."
Whether his internal organs were shaken, Crux couldn't speak and only grimaced.
Future Rebecca urgently protected Crux, but the situation was essentially reversed.
Luciella stood beside Maria and slowly opened her mouth.
"Even if there are no deaths, we can't just let you go."
"…Luci."
Luciella sighed and said.
"You may not believe it, but combining your words and actions... the possibilities narrow down to just a few."
"……."
"Your identities are probably…."
Just as Luciella was about to reveal her speculation.
"Hey, beanpole. That's far enough, yeah?"
Startled!
A nonchalant voice from the sky.
Familiar yet unfamiliar—a contradictory feeling that made Luciella unconsciously look up at the sky.
"…Gray."
She could understand Future Crux and Future Rebecca, who weren't particularly familiar.
But there was no way she couldn't recognize Gray Bellatrix, whose face she'd seen growing up since childhood.
"You look well-off. Even your hair color changed."
A Future Gray appeared—much more relaxed and nonchalant than the Gray she knew… in short, even more insufferable.
Future Gray made an expression toward Luciella that seemed filled with new emotions.
"Mm, certainly in this era that emperor bastard... no, is he the 3rd Prince now? Anyway, since that pathetic guy got screwed over, from your perspective, the happiest life route must have opened up, right? Well, congratulations."
Clap, clap, clap!
Gray's light applause surprisingly contained sincere congratulations.
Of course, whether Luciella was grateful for that was a separate matter.
"What happened to the 'Gray' you were facing?"
"Oh, as expected, quick on the uptake. As expected of beanpole."
"Just answer the question."
"Unfortunately, he escaped. He did get help from some scrap metal nearby... but he was still enough to be called 'me,' I suppose."
Future Gray pulled out what appeared to be a magic book from his pocket and smiled brightly.
"But I did recover the Blue World, you know? Since he still doesn't know how to handle it properly, it was easy to steal ownership."
"……."
Luciella remained silent.
Future Gray Bellatrix with the Blue World.
His strength and danger were incomparable to those other two.
That they were truly on a different level—both Luciella and Maria could feel it.
Future Gray said.
"Well, it doesn't seem like there were any other major achievements... but fighting in Nevan is a bit bothersome, so I'll withdraw for today."
"…Please do."
Even though he was clearly an intruder, they couldn't stop his withdrawal.
If a fight broke out here with that thing, Nevan would surely disappear….
Future Gray lifted Future Rebecca and Crux into the air with a light gesture.
"Tell that guy Rudian. Abel is waiting for him at the Creator God's temple."
"…Abel?"
"If you say that, he'll understand. You guys come too then. With the Seven-Colored World, of course."
"…Your confidence is excessive. Are you confident you can defeat us?"
Unable to stand Gray's arrogance, Maria added a retort.
"Probably? Because there's no way that Rudian guy can beat Abel. He even said they've clashed once before...."
'Already clashed? When exactly?'
While Maria was frowning, a thick killing intent appeared in Gray's expression.
"And I too can't stand ending things while defeated."
A hostility even clearer than Crux's.
A being who survived to Chapter 4 and built up enough skill to be called the 'God of Magic' was showing hostility toward Maria.
But Maria wasn't weak enough to be intimidated by such hostility.
"It seems you've suffered defeat at my hands without my knowledge... a second defeat wouldn't be bad either."
"……."
"Because insurmountable walls do exist."
"…If not for Abel's restraint, someone like you right now would be…."
"Don't recite the typical lines of a loser and just get lost."
CRACK!
Immediately, the sound of bones grinding came from Future Gray's mouth.
But there was nothing Future Gray could do at this point.
Only disappear with the two people.
"The 'adjustment' isn't finished yet, so we'll withdraw for now. But don't think these guys will be the same as now next time."
WHOOSH!
Leaving those words, Future Gray disappeared.
"…Sister, are you alright?"
Even from Rebecca's perspective, Future Gray just now had been emanating a presence beyond most divine beings.
"I'm fine. More than that…."
Maria sighed and said.
"When Rudian returns, there will be a lot to ask him."
Luciella and Rebecca quietly nodded.
"Ah, I hope he comes back soon."
Rebecca's single comment represented everyone's feelings.
***
"So, Lord Berus has ultimately refused to meet with us?"
"…According to Raphael, that's what he said."
Heaven's Pantheon, Archangel Conference Room.
A place boasting the highest security comparable to the private chambers of the Seven Great Gods.
There, the Archangel Michael, leader of hundreds of thousands of angels, opened his mouth.
"It's been thousands of years since we became unable to fathom the thoughts of our Creator. The gods of the Pantheon still treat us angels as mere consumables and consider us parts that can be replaced at any time."
"That is what we were created for, actually."
Uriel, who had returned to his position after 5,000 years, quietly interjected.
Michael nodded at those words for now.
"That's right, Uriel. That was originally our role. The gods' playthings. But... I now wish to reject that fate of ours."
"……."
"……."
Michael exchanged glances with the dozens of Seraphim and Cherubim present.
"Due to the war with the aliens, Heaven's attention has begun to focus on the middle realm. And the existence of those humans that Berus brought over, ignoring causality, is seriously shaking Heaven's balance."
"It is the greatest opportunity since the incident 3,000 years ago."
Gabriel, who had been quiet until now, offered his opinion.
Michael agreed with those words too.
"You're right. So... I have decided... not to miss this opportunity that has come to us."
FLINCH!
The eyes of the angels who understood the meaning of those words began to fill with tension and fear.
Michael encouraged them as he slowly rose from his seat.
"Now, let's begin. For our true freedom…."
And drawing his sword, he shouted powerfully.
"War against the gods…!"
CLANK! CLANK!
The other angels also drew their swords and joined Michael's declaration.
Heaven's Fall.
The archangels' rebellion that would herald the grand finale of was about to begin.