The Angel of Radiant Wings and the Martial King of Delphiad continued to exchange blows. The ground rumbled and the heavens split apart with thunderous roars with every clash.

Amid the countless collisions of light against light, neither side gained an advantage nor fell behind. The fight remained perfectly balanced. Yet, despite the deadlock, future Leven’s expression grew increasingly unsettled.

What is this? The more he watched, the more bewildered he became by what was unfolding before his eyes. How can a mage move like that?

He had fought for decades as the Martial King of Delphiad, and for decades more as Tesranach’s apostle. But across all the battles he had survived, he had never encountered anything like this.

And this feels rather strange...

One thing was certain. The opponent was undeniably powerful. The force behind every strike was immense, and the energy radiating from the wings of light was overwhelming. But what exactly was that energy?

It’s not mana, not divine power, not aura...

If he had to guess, it felt like necromantic energy, though it was so faint it could easily be dismissed as a mistake. Yet, watching the flow of the battle, it didn’t seem like the angel was wielding the power of darkness. For one, it shone far too brightly for that.

It’s strong, yes, but why is it strong?

Karnak grinned as he observed his opponent's reaction. As expected, even Leven can’t recognize it.

He had originally devised the Angel of Radiant Wings, or more precisely, the Demon King of Chaos, to fight the Four Martial Kings. But the truth was, Karnak had rarely used the spell. He had always hated close combat.

—Why fight so uncomfortably close, where you can feel your enemy’s breath? Just blast them from afar!

That had always been his philosophy. This spell had only ever been a last resort, used when the situation forced him into close quarters. In fact, aside from his battle against Lapicel, the Martial King of Cyphras, he had hardly ever used it at all.

Against the likes of Leven Strauss, Malican Thun, and Dreltein, he had relied on his trusty meat shield, Death Knight Varos. Back then, he had felt regret that he hadn’t had more chances to use the spell he had worked so hard to perfect. But now, he realized it had worked out for the better.

Thanks to that, there’s no one left who would recognize it.

The only one who knew of the spell, Lapicel, was fortunately unconscious at the moment.

At this rate, this will work against the other martial kings too, not just future Leven!

***

Karnak’s necromantic magic of deception, the Angel of Radiant Wings, was in essence identical to the Demon King of Chaos. He had merely swapped its terrifying appearance for the elegant and radiant image of an angel of light.

In other words, it held not a shred of true divine power. Yet the soldiers of the subjugation force were overcome with awe.

"The angel is fighting for us!"

They weren’t aura users. As ordinary soldiers, they couldn’t possibly make out the combatants at this distance. Naturally, they had no way of knowing that the enemy was Martial King Gellard.

Couldn’t they tell by the golden aura? No, they couldn’t. When something shone too brightly in the middle of the night, it was difficult for the human eye to accurately perceive its color.

The sun, too, was always the same, yet some saw it as yellow, some red, and others white, depending on perception. They didn’t know who the opponent was, but regardless, if a radiant angel of the goddess had appeared, surely they wouldn’t be fighting for the wicked cultists of the Strauss family, right? Of course not. Surely, the angel was on their side.

That was the simple conclusion they reached. Humans, after all, were easily swayed by what they see. And so, dazzled by the light of the angel—bright, nothing more—they were moved to tears, crying out, "Ooooh, such divine power!"

Even the priests of the Church of the Goddesses were swept up in the same emotion. However, one person who watched the battle up close saw things differently.

Alius stiffened. Th-this is...

The Angel of Radiant Wings clashed with Martial King Gellard. Blades and spears of light intertwined, erupting into brilliant explosions. Yes, light. But why, then, did a faint aura of darkness seep out from amidst that light?

He could have dismissed it as the energy of Death Knight Gellard. But unfortunately, they were too close for him not to notice the difference. Without a doubt, the dark energy was leaking from the Angel of Radiant Wings itself.

And Alius had felt something eerily similar before. That witch I encountered in the empire?

Alius was a man of steadfast faith, one who believed in those he trusted to the very end. Even so, he now found himself beginning to doubt.

Why... does Lord Karnak feel just like her?

***

Future Leven shattered the spear of light hurled by the angel and took a step back. His defensive stance was so flawless that even the Angel of Radiant Wings could not recklessly pursue and follow up with another strike. The fierce battle settled into a brief lull.

Glaring at Karnak within the angel, future Leven, housed in the corpse of the martial king, furrowed his brow. This is troubling.

The Angel of Radiant Wings was strong. It possessed a power comparable to that of a martial king. That was without a doubt. But did that mean he couldn’t handle his opponent? Not quite.

It was certainly on the level of the martial kings, but it wasn’t necessarily stronger than him. If he exerted his full power and aimed to bring it down, there were definitely ways to do it. The problem was, he could not kill Karnak.

How am I supposed to defeat him without killing him?

It wasn’t a matter of simply being too used to killing to know how to capture someone alive. Could a martial king truly lack the skill to subdue an opponent without taking their life? Besides, most of the martial kings of the future, himself included, had faced countless situations where capturing an opponent alive had been essential.

Back when he had fought against Tesranach as a hero of humanity in life, there had been many who, seduced by Tesranach, had turned against humanity. He had performed painstaking research methods of capture to save them without killing them.

And after dying, he was resurrected as a death knight to serve Tesranach. He needed to deliver human sacrifices alive to his master. Thus, his ability to capture opponents without killing them had naturally grown stronger.

Future Leven had plenty of experience adjusting his strength to subdue foes without killing them. Yet, that experience seemed useless against this angel before him.

If only I could figure out what that thing is, I could gauge how much force to use...

Normally, the boundaries were clear. If the opponent was an aura user, he would gauge their aura and adjust his power accordingly.

Granted, this required extremely sensitive perception and an almost absurd level of precision, akin to balancing a needle on the tip of another needle, but such control was what it meant to be a martial king. It was simple enough to subdue a mage or a priest as well.

The limit was the moment he broke through their magical or divine shields and reached their physical body. Without their defenses, their bodies were like any other human’s, so all he had to do was strike with enough force to merely knock them unconscious.

If the opponent was a necromancer? If they were of low skill, there was no need to think twice. Just a light tap would knock them out. If they were powerful enough to force even a martial king to exercise caution?

In many ways, they were the easiest to deal with. They were notoriously difficult to kill. Even if their body was destroyed, they would revive as undead. There was no need to hold back. After all, they were already dead, so why would he need to worry about killing the dead?

But the Angel of Radiant Wings defied classification. The dazzling brilliance that mesmerized the onlookers was neither aura, mana, nor divine power.

So is it the power of darkness, after all? That was the only energy he could sense at all. But it’s so faint and indistinct that I can’t be sure.

Still, he couldn’t leave this battle undecided forever. Future Leven made up his mind. Fine. I’ll treat it as necromantic energy and go from there.

Now then, how did one deal with necromancers?

First, I cut off their limbs and see how they react.

The murderous aura of the resurrected martial king began to flare from the corpse of Gellard.

***

Future Leven launched himself off the ground. He swung his twin swords and drove forth a tsunami of golden aura.

—Delphiad Swordsmanship: Downhill!

An overwhelming force bore down on the Angel of Radiant Wings. Karnak grimaced as he raised the spear of light to block.

The crushing impact reverberated into his body through the angel’s arms. This was undoubtedly stronger than anything that had come before.

This bastard He’s decided to stop holding back, huh?

As if to prove the point, a series of precise follow-up strikes ensued. Each strike of the Delphiad swordsmanship unfolded its essence, relentlessly pressing the Angel of Radiant Wings.

Karnak retreated step by step while grunting. Now that future Leven was fighting at full power, the weight behind each strike was no joke.

So this is my limit after all...

It couldn’t be helped. The Demon King of Chaos, which formed the basis of the Angel of Radiant Wings, granted the power of a martial king but did not exceed it. Even so, Karnak did not go down easily.

The Angel of Radiant Wings, spreading its wings wide, desperately fended off the golden blades charging toward it as if to shatter the very world. It deflected, parried, dodged, and withstood the onslaught.

Amid the endless explosions, the Angel of Radiant Wings managed to withstand the martial king’s relentless assault. Even Karnak, who had cast the spell, found himself surprised by the outcome. The reason was simple. The Angel of Radiant Wings was stronger than the Demon King of Chaos.

Why? In theory, it should be weaker.

It was at that moment. Future Leven’s blade grazed Karnak’s side, catching him off guard. A searing pain shot through Karnak, and he let out a sharp scream. In truth, the angel’s armor had absorbed most of the blow’s force. What pain Karnak felt was but a fraction of the actual impact.

Still, for an ordinary person, even that would have been enough to knock them unconscious from sheer agony. Even as Karnak trembled, the Angel of Radiant Wings retaliated just in time, saving him from a critical blow.

Had this been the Demon King of Chaos, part of its power would already have crumbled. Yet the actual damage was far less severe than the pain suggested. At that moment, Karnak realized why the Angel of Radiant Wings had grown stronger.

Of course!

The Angel of Radiant Wings was undeniably a weaker version of the Demon King of Chaos. Of that, there was no doubt. But the body that wielded the spell now was far superior to the one he had in his previous life.

It’s because I worked out!

Not that he had trained to the level of a master. He had simply maintained a steady routine of exercise, eaten well, and kept himself healthy. The real issue was how terribly frail his old body had been.

Compared to the days when he was little more than skin and bones, thin enough for a fish to call him kin, his current body was that of a reasonably healthy adult man. This difference was clearly reflected in the spell’s power.

Which means...!

Karnak’s eyes gleamed. This spell had allowed him to wield strength on par with the martial kings with that wretched old body. In other words, now that he had diligently cared for himself... I can push this even further!

Focusing his mind, Karnak poured the remainder of his necromantic power into the Angel of Radiant Wings.

Deploy full power!

The angel’s wings spread wide, and its spear of light lengthened to twice its normal size and radiated fearsome energy. With a prolonged hum, the spear of light clashed repeatedly with the martial king’s aura blades. Countless strikes of light reverberated through the sky.

Thunder roared again and again, as if the heavens themselves were collapsing. Thus, the divine battle unfolded without end. While everyone watched the scene in fear, the two combatants finally collided in midair.

The spear of light and the golden sword entangled, and their blades pierced toward one another.

Hah! Future Leven’s lips curled into a confident smile.

He was faster by a hair. He had enough time to sever both of his opponent’s arms.

At the same time, Karnak’s expression paled. Damn it!

At this rate, he would be the one struck down. But such fleeting thoughts couldn’t change the outcome. The predetermined future was already bearing down on him.

—His death is forbidden.

An absolute command thundered through future Leven’s mind, and Gellard’s corpse froze in place.

Tesranach...?

As future Leven faltered in confusion, the angel’s spear shot toward him and pierced straight through the dead martial king’s heart.