A ray of golden light descended from the night sky like divine retribution.
This destructive beam of light swiftly approached Roel and Alicia without any warning, threatening to obliterate them from the face of the world. Roel eyed the golden light with narrowed eyes as the ferocious beast hiding underground made its move.
The Nine-headed Serpent charged out of the ground and spewed its potent venom at the descending light from the sky, but it was to no avail. The golden light tore right through the venom like god’s arrow.
Boom!
Psh!
Right before the golden light struck Roel and Alicia, the Nine-headed Serpent quickly coiled itself around them to shield them. Its body first expanded upon being struck by the golden light before bursting apart, splattering blood and flesh everywhere.
Even so, the golden light wasn’t fully neutralized. It tore through the blood and flesh of the Nine-headed Serpent to advance on its targets.
Roel quickly channeled his mana to form a barrier to fend against the golden light.
A second explosion ensued. The golden light finally dissipated, returning darkness to the world.
Amidst a cloud of dust, Roel struggled back onto his feet while gasping for air, his body covered in blood.
“You!!” Alicia stared at him with quivering eyes as she tightly grabbed his clothes.
Roel’s first reaction upon the arrival of the golden light wasn’t to escape but to firmly protect her in his arms. Thanks to that, she was unharmed, but the impact had left his face pale like a sheet of paper.
She should have rejoiced upon seeing the enemy who had defeated and bound her injured, but she didn’t feel the slightest hint of joy at all. Instead, her heart was filled with fear and worry.
She felt as if someone had plunged a knife into her heart when his blood splattered on her face. It was so painful that she could hardly breathe at all.
Before she could say another word, he had already spoken up. “Are you all right, Alicia?”
“N-no… This isn’t the time to be worrying about me! Blood! Your blood…” Alicia exclaimed with a shaky voice, looking as if she was about to cry.
However, Roel shook his head and paid no heed to his injuries even though he was bleeding profusely. Instead, he grabbed the chains binding her limbs and called for his companion, “Artasia! Quickly remove this chain… Artasia?”
A second passed.
Two seconds.
The white-haired Witch Queen failed to manifest, and there was no response whatsoever.
Roel widened his eyes in shock. His face darkened as a thought occurred to him. He reached out to grab Alicia and hugged her tightly.
“L-lord Brother?” Alicia blurted out in astonishment.
However, Roel was in no mood to rejoice over how she addressed him. He anxiously urged her, “We need to leave right now! We cannot stay in this Divine Domain!”
“All right.” Alicia nodded before wrapping her hands around his neck.
Being in such proximity made her even more aware of the severity of his injuries, and that left her feeling even more awful. In the end, she was unable to keep it in and began sobbing.
Roel didn’t say a word about her sobbing. The two of them darted away and disappeared into the shadows.
…
This is the worst-case scenario, Roel thought as he flitted across the plains.
It just so happened that the drifting dark clouds covered the moon at this very instant, and he couldn’t help but think that it was an apt reflection of his current mood.
He had been through many battles before, but it was rare for him to be in such a bad situation. He forced himself to remain calm, and his eyes turned unprecedentedly sharp.
How can I escape from this situation?
Roel had asked himself this question many times before, knowing that it was neither hot-blooded recklessness nor sheer willpower but cool-headed analysis that would save him in times of adversity.
He had chosen to retreat for the time being to buy time to figure out the current situation and formulate a solution.
The assault had worked because he had gotten careless.
His poor condition had impeded his vigilance, but more than that, he had let down his guard because his instincts hadn’t warned him about the approaching danger. It was truly fortunate that he had planted the Nine-headed Serpent Staff down as an additional defensive mechanism.
Thinking about it now, the reason his instincts hadn’t alerted him to this assault might be due to the primary target being not him but Alicia.
Given the timing, there was no doubt that the assailant had to be the executor of the final plan, especially since this was the ideal opportunity to make a move.
To make things worse, the beam of light was unlikely to be indicative of the enemy’s true strength.
Divine Domain was the manifestation of the gods’ powers. While it might have looked omnipotent to those who didn’t know better, each person’s Divine Domain manifested in their own way.
Not all Divine Domains were equal. Some were stronger than the others, and they came in all shapes and sizes.
For instance, Alicia’s Divine Domain was exceptionally powerful, and it was focused on combat. There was no way to evade her attacks in that battlefield reflecting the ocean of genesis. If not for Artasia’s ‘Contradiction’, Roel wouldn’t have stood a chance at all.
In contrast, Deviant Sovereign Banjol’s Divine Domain was focused on support. He had used it to strengthen himself and his soldiers while tying down his enemies. It had a wide area of effect, but its potency was weaker.
Roel deduced that the current Divine Domain that had enveloped him and Alicia had come from quite a distance away, judging by how he could hardly sense its master’s aura. The goal of this long-distance attack was likely to first inflict some damage on them so as to hinder their escape.
That was also why he made the call to escape right away despite his injuries, but judging from his current condition, it wouldn’t be long before the enemy caught up with them.
The worst thing of all was that his powers were somehow sealed off.
He had known that something was off when he called for Artasia but received no response. Upon close introspection, he realized that he had experienced something similar before—it was the suppression of his Inner Sanctum.
The Inner Sanctum was the Kingmaker Clan’s source of power, and it lay deep in their souls. Any interference there would affect Roel’s window of connection with his ancient gods, which was why he couldn’t summon them now.
This gave him a critical clue as to who the executor was.
…Is it one of my ancestors from the Arde House? Roel thought with a heavy heart.
He had to concede that his guess had been off from the very start. He had thought that the executor of the final plan had to be the Ackermanns, but now that he thought about it, given the unique nature of the Kingmaker Clan, it was not entirely impossible for experts in their midst to live for more than a thousand years.
Furthermore, he suspected that he had once met this member of the Arde House.
It was faint, but he sensed a familiar aura from the earlier attack. It wasn’t the Kingmaker Clan’s Crown Origin Attribute, but the Savior’s depraved aura. This reminded him of two encounters he had in the past.
Years ago, the Treant High Priest had used its divine artifact to banish his soul into a boundless abyss, but a surge of power rescued him and sent him back.
And not too long ago, when he was returning from the Witness State, the Collector had warped his return point to the abyss where the Savior dwelled. Someone rescued him once more, and this time around, he saw a pair of golden eyes glowing in the darkness.
His gut feeling told him that the person he had met then was the executor of the final plan, though he had no idea why the executor resided in the Savior’s dwelling.
While flitting across the air, Roel’s complexion gradually worsened. His condition didn’t deteriorate thanks to the effects of his Indestructible Body, but neither did it show any signs of improving. In fact, he could feel a persistent searing pain flaring from his wounds.
Does that beam of light have some kind of special effect? Roel thought with a frown, but there was nothing he could do.
The sealing of his abilities meant that he couldn’t rely on the Witch Queen, and his own recovery spells were lacking in potency. Furthermore, his priority at the moment was to escape with Alicia, so he decided to turn a blind eye to his injuries.
To his surprise, he felt a slight dampness on his wounds, and his injuries started to recover. The source of this energy was none other than the sobbing silver-haired woman in his arms.
“Alicia?”
“…Will the life force in my fluids help you feel better?”
“They would… but are you crying because of me?”
“What else would I be crying for?!” Alicia angrily rebutted him before tears started flowing from her crimson eyes once more. She looked at him with teary eyes and pleaded, “I don’t know why, but my tears wouldn’t stop… Please, don’t let me see you injured ever again.”
“…I’m sorry to have worried you, Alicia,” Roel softly apologized.
However, Alicia shook her head and replied, “No, it’s not your fault… That attack was targeted at me, right?”
“…” Roel’s body jolted. He glanced at her before slowly nodding. “Yes, it was targeted at you. How did you know?”
“…I have had a feeling that someone has been eyeing me since a few days ago. I’m guessing that’s the person who attacked us. Is it one of the Savior’s worshipers?”
“It’s probably the opposite, actually.”
Roel proceeded to share his deduction with Alicia, and the latter fell silent.
“…Isn’t it better for you to leave me be, then? Why do you still protect me?”
“I believe I have already told you the answer to that question. Besides, I was anxious to bring you back because I was worried you might fall into danger due to the final plan. Now that my worries have proven to be true, of course I should protect you.”
“But… we can’t get away like that,” Alicia pointed out hoarsely.
The Divine Domain had sealed the usage of all spatial spells, including Roel’s Silver Devourer, which meant that it was only a matter of time before the executor caught up with them.
“It’s the night of a full moon. I might not necessarily die if you leave me behind, so…”
“The final plan aims to weaken the Mother Goddess and the Savior as much as possible before Their awakening. The targets for the Mother Goddess’ faction were the Six Calamities, and your appearance is an unexpected variable, but there’s no way they wouldn’t have prepared a hand for that.”
Roel firmly turned down Alicia’s suggestion. The latter wanted to argue against it, but Roel shook his head and remarked with a bitter smile, “Besides, it might be too late to say that.”
A black silhouette suddenly flashed across the sky, and a violent explosion broke out in the path ahead of them. Roel was forced to screech to a halt.
Amidst the dust, a pair of golden eyes first glowed amidst the shadows, before a figure slowly walked out.
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