nshort,intheoriginalstory,Raheniafailedtocatchupwiththethreegods.

Andtheverynextday,the“existence”ofthosethreegodsbegantofade.

hepeoplewhoworshippedthem,thecomradeswhofoughtshouldertoshoulderwiththem...asifsuchbeingshadneverexisted,theygraduallybegantolosetheirmemories.nlyRahenia,thankstotheprotectionoftranscendentmagic,managedtoretainthem.

hus,theirradiantlegends,theirgreatachievements,andeventheirfinalsacrificewerecompletelyerasedfromhumanconsciousnessandrecords.nlydistortedstoriesandpitifulfragmentsremained.

Raheniaofthepresenttimeoncemuttered,asifunabletocomprehendit:

—Acontractwovenfromtheentiretyofaccumulateddivinegreatness...acontractwhosepricewasexistenceitself...heyhadalreadyreachedthethresholdofthehighestdivinerank.Andsuchbeingsmadeacontractbysacrificingthemselves?Withwhom...andforwhat?

ow,ashemovedstepbystepclosertothetruth,untherSirhefeltavagueunease:hehadafaintideaofwhathewouldface,butcouldnotfindcertainty.

—rrr,ahead!—Baldrak’sshoutbrokehisthoughts.

—Prepareforbattle!

hepathtothecenteroftheMagicandsturnedouttobe“unexpectedly”smooth.AlongtherouteBaldrakledthem,therewerenothreatslikethe“ungryBear.”

...Although,tobeprecise,therewere.

vilods—alreadydead,preservingonlytheirforms.ornapart,crushed,groundintothedirt.heseweretracesleftbythethreegodswhohadpassedthroughhere.

owever,thatdidn’tmeantheplacewasempty.heinhabitantsoftheMagicands,drawnbythenoise,cameouttogreetthem.Amotleycollectionofvilods.

Scrrrk!

untherraisedhishead.Rightinfrontofhimstoodsomethingtrulymonstrous.

Aspiderthesizeofaskyscraper.nitsbody...whereeyesshouldhavebeen,dozensofhumanfaceswereembedded,twistedandcrushedtogether.Fromthosegapingmouthsburstscreamsanddyingwails.unthertookadeepbreathandshoutedlikelightning:

—’llstrikefirst!

PushingoffBaldrak’sshoulder,unthershotforward.Fromtheoutside,itlookedreckless.Butheknew.

esitateforevenamoment,wasteevenasecond—andthecreaturewouldcompleteitsspell,andtheywoulddiehorribly.

Whoooosh—

hroughthetearingwhistleoftheaircamethefreshsoundofwaves.nthenextinstant,hisearsrangasifsubmergedunderwater.

iling!

[hepoweroftheboundlessdeepseaflowsintoyou]

[Manawithinthebodysurgessharply]

[Resistancetoexternalinterferencehasreacheditslimit]

hemanaoftheRuleroftheceansdirectlyreinforcedunther’sown.Anoverwhelmingenhancement.

Fwoom!

he“Flameofternalorment”envelopinghisbladeswellednearlythreefold.

[...A-a-a-a]

hevilod,startledbyunther’ssuddencharge,raiseditslegsandstretcheditslimbs.

Clang!

undredsofmagiccirclesflaredintoexistenceoneafteranotherintheair.ayersofgeometricpatterns.Poisonburstoutwardlikeanexplosion,whilestickywebspoureddownlikerain.

Fwoom!

Butthetruevalueofthe“Flameofternalorment”wasnotsimplefirepower.

Amidtheincomingattacks,theflamesflaredevenbrighter.Asifreacting,thesurroundingshadowsdistortedlikeripplesonwater.

[ightdescendsupontheabyss]

[Areadeclared—“ight”]

[heRedanternilluminatestheboundary]

[Areaoverlap—“Redantern”]

[Shadoweapactivated]

[“Redantern”stealtheffectmergeswiththeleap]

unther’ssilhouetteblurredandvanished.

Andinthenextinstant,hewasthere—withintheshadowofthespider-likevilod.

Crunch!

heflame-wrappedgreatswordpiercedoneofitseightlegs.hesteel-hardjointtwistedandshatteredintofragments.Firespreadtothebody.Abizarrescreamerupted.

[Whenwasthefirsttimenothisistheendtheendcontinuesa-a-a-a-a!]

...fnotforhishighresistancetothedivine,hewouldhavecollapsedonthespot,coughingblood.

Boom!

untherslippedpasttheremainingsevenlegscrashingdownandbegan◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)carvingintothespider’sbodywithabarrageofstrikes.

Whoooosh!

Butsomethingelsehadtargetedhim.Beneaththerubbleofacollapsedbuilding,withinthecracks,asilhouettelurked.

“—!”

Anvilodintheformofaserpentoverthirtymeterslongopeneditsjawsandlunged.

twaslikeatrainbarrelingtowardhim.Butuntherdidn’teventurnhisgaze,focusingsolelyontearingapartthespiderbeforehim.

—rrr!

Baldrakreactedinstead.eleaptandinterceptedtheserpent’shead,slammingitintotheground.

Crunch—grind—

Clampingdownonitsneck,hepinnedittotheearth.Debrisflewasthemassivebodythrashedviolently.oldingitinplace,Baldrakrepeatedlydrovehisdaggerbetweenitsscales.

hud!hud!

heresistanceslowlyfaded.Butthecrisiswasnotover.

Rrrrrrr—

Atremorrolledinfrombeyondthefog,sostrongitmadetheirteethchatter.

...hereweremanyofthem.heyhadbarelydealtwithtwo.Withthatnumber,theywouldbesurroundedandtornapartinaninstant.

ButuntherandBaldrakdidnotwaver.

—rrr,holdtight!

Baldrakgrabbeduntheranddashedbackwardatfullspeed.heirmovementswereperfectlysynchronized,asiftheyhadanticipatedthissituation.

Andthen...

Shhh—

hesurroundingfogwassweptawayinaninstant.Atorrentofmanatorethroughtheair.Aclearvoicerangout:

—BoundlessSea!

Splash—

hesoundoftheocean.Foramoment,itfeltasifeverythingwasanillusion,asifhewerestandingonasandybeach.

Whoooooosh!

Realityreturned.Acolossaltsunami,readytoswallowtheskyitself.Anoverwhelmingmassofwaterdevouringtheruins,thefog,eventhepresenceofthevilods.hemagictheRuleroftheceanshadbeenpreparingforafulltenminuteswascomplete.

hevilodsinstinctivelyturnedtoflee.

oolate.

Boom!

hewavessurgedlikeatsunami—thensuddenlycompressedandshotforward.

Asphere,ahundredmetersindiameter,formedofcompressedseawater,hungabovethevilods.Andthen—

Zzzzzzz—

ikeasolarflare.hespherecracked,andthousands—tensofthousands—ofwaterlashesburstoutwardinalldirections.

Boom!Whoooosh! 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Wheretheypassed,thefleshofthevilodswaserasedfromreality.ornapart,crushed,annihilated.hiswasa“whipwieldedbytheseaitself.”

[Youhavewitnessedancienttranscendentmagic]

[Partiallyunderstoodtheprinciplesof“BoundlessSea”]

[Manacontrolhasimproved,manasensitivityslightlyincreased]

untherexhaled,watchinguntilthehigh-pressurestreamscompletelyerasedthevilods.Whenallhostilepresencefinallyvanished,Raheniaemergedfrombehindnearbyruins.erfacewaspalefromexcessivemanaconsumption,buthereyesstillshonewithclarity.

—a...ha...

—...

—Youmademebelieve.verythinghappenedexactlyasyousaid.otasinglemistake.

unthergaveafaintsmile.

—couldwatchthatreactionforever.

—So...howmanytimesdidyousayyouhadtodietogethere?

untherreflexivelycheckedhisstatuswindow.

[36/99]

—Seventimes.

—...Seventimes.

AdmirationandpityflickeredinRahenia’seyesatonce.

—...Andeverytimelikethis?Anabilitycalled“Return”...can’tsayenvyit.

Wastingliveswasregrettable,buttherewasnootherway.

hisplacewasessentiallya“high-levelzone.”Anareaoneshouldonlyenterafterexhaustingallpossibledevelopment.

“Withmycurrentstrength,shouldn’tbefightinghereatall.”

Butleavingallcombattotwodivinebeingswasneveranoption.

Raheniamightlookfine,butshehadbeeninjuredbadlyenoughthatthethreegodswereforcedtoleaveherbehind.Baldrakhadalsosufferedsignificantwoundsduringreconnaissance.

ntheend,therewasonlyonepath—consume“Return.”

untherhaddiedseventimes.Andusingthosesevendeathsasafoundation,hecarvedoutthe“shortestroute”tothegoal.

—Butwemadeitherealive,didn’twe?

Ahead,thePapalPalacecameintoview.Strangely,thefogtherewasthinner.Asiftheyweren’teventryingtohidewhatwashappening.

Rahenialookedatunther.

—nside...canfeeltheirpresence.

Boom!

Adistantcrashechoed.hevibrationbrushedagainsthisskin.unthernarrowedhiseyes.

ecouldfeelit.hefamiliarpowerofthethreegods.Butcomparingittohisownstrengthwasmeaningless.

undredsoftimesstronger?vensuchmeasurescouldn’tcontainit.hevilodswithinthepalaceweresimplybeingsweptaway.ApowersooverwhelmingthatevenRahenia,whohadjustdemonstratedtranscendentmagic,seemedseverallevelsweaker.

iling!

[xtremefoundationalforcedetected]

[Fragmentofdivinegreatnessresonateswithahigherstate]

vensensingthatpowertriggeredasystemmessagehehadneverseenbefore.

“...Youreallywerelegends.”

emuttereditoutofhabit,butofcourse,therewasnoreply.Perhapsbecause,inthistime,the“threegodsofthepast”stillexisted.heconnectionremainedsevered.

nasituationlikethis,evenasinglewordofadvicefromthemwouldhavebeenimmensehelp...untherswallowedthebitternessandturnedbacktoRahenia.

—Fortunately,allthreeseemaliveandwell.et’shurryandjointhem.

Butwhy?She,whohadbeensodesperatetoreunitewiththem,suddenlyfrozeinplace.

—...Rahenia?

—o,it’snothing.

Ashort,dryreply.Butforamoment,herexpressionhadbeenstrangelyrigid.

Soon,shemovedagain,asifeverysecondmattered.ShesignaledtoBaldrak.

—Baldrak!

—rrr,ready.

—urry.Wedon’thavemuchtime.

Whoooosh—

Baldrakliftedthemontohisshouldersandimmediatelyburstforward.helandscapeblurredinstantly.hePapalPalacewasmomentsaway.

henRaheniaraisedherhandandformedabarriersothewindwouldn’tscatterherwords.

—unther,promisemeonething.

unthermethersea-coloredeyes.

—...fit’swithinmypower.

—fyoufeelguilt—discarditcompletely.

...hemeaningofthosewords,untherwouldonlyfullyunderstandlater.

eavingthatunfinished,theyarrivedatthePapalPalace.

.

.

.

Andtheretheywere—threefiguresstaringatthemindisbelief.

—Myod...Rahenia.

—ookslikeshefollowedus.Dietrich,you’redead.Rahenia!toldyouweshould’vebroughther!Seriously!

—Rahenia!Baldrak!t’sdangeroushere,whydidyoucome!But...’mstillgladtoseeyou...

hencameabriefsilence.

—Butthisman...whoishe?’veneverseenhimbefore.

—m,lookslikeatypicalgigolo,wouldn’tyousay?

—...likehim.