[Nihility Decree]
Noa activated his newly acquired skill the very instant Vionette's cold, calculated analysis rippled through the neural pathways of his mind. To any outside observer, the visuals might have seemed identical to the jagged purple miasma of his previous power, but to Noa, the sensation was a revelation. The power was immense, a heavy, destructive weight that felt less like a borrowed tool and more like an extension of his own nervous system. It was as if he were finally the source of the current, no longer merely a conduit for the rotting negative emotions of others, but a furnace generating his own dark light.
He didn't know exactly what Vionette had done to warp [Echo Reclamation] into this new, terrifying shape, but the mechanics didn't matter. What mattered was the absolute, unwavering trust he placed in her—a trust that ran deeper than his own survival instincts, deeper than his faith in the ground beneath his feet.
What?!
In the heat of the clash, Ithriel's mind raced, his eyes widening until the gold of his irises seemed to vibrate with shock.
He evolved his skill? No... that's impossible. This wasn't a natural progression. It was a forced intervention. An Authority user... what is an Authority user doing in this backwater city? In fact, how is such a being even here?
[Purging Ray (Rare)]
Ithriel flared his wings, a blinding beam of golden light erupting from his core to clear the immediate air. He swept his divine senses across the battlefield once more, searching for the hidden hand moving the pieces.
He sensed the 'existence' user, Kaelen; he felt the man in front of him, Noa, who was currently a walking wound in the fabric of the world; and he sensed the minus-existence bearer, the creature It. Aside from them, there was only a maid with the strength of a common soldier and a woman sitting in a chair, her aura so faint and insignificant that she seemed like an ant in the presence of his 5% strength.
He couldn't find the source. He couldn't find the architect.
"NIHILITY DECREE: CONVERGENCE COLLAPSE!"
While Ithriel was paralyzed by his own confusion, Noa's voice tore through the air like a serrated blade. He unleashed a sphere of condensed Null Essence, a ball of purple darkness that seemed to swallow the light around it. If the system's data was correct, this wasn't just aether—it was a piece of Noa himself, turned into a weapon.
The sphere rushed forward with the speed of a falling star, colliding with the spears and lances of light that Jain and Ithriel had manifested, devouring them. The constructs of the saint and the angel vanished into the violet orb, which then detonated outward in a supernova of purple rays. The light was so intense it felt as though a second, darker sun had descended to reclaim the earth.
[Blink]
"Hey, where are you looking at?"
"!!?"
Jain's eyes were wide as she watched her holy constructs being erased from existence. Before she could even register the loss, Noa's face appeared inches from hers. His eyes were a wicked, glowing purple, reflecting a version of herself that looked small and fragile.
CLANG!
She managed to bring her spear up just in time to block the first strike, the impact rattling her teeth. Noa didn't stop. His own arms were bleeding, the skin splitting from the force he was putting into his own attacks, but he looked like he couldn't even feel it.
[Hollow Step]
That's the last one! Jain thought, her feet leaving the ground as she tried to create distance.
Noa saw the opening. He gripped Acheron with both hands, his knuckles white, and lunged forward in a thrust designed to end her story right then and there.
[Aegis Frame (Rare)]
[Edict of Null Halo (Unique)]
Suddenly, a blur of gold intercepted the path of the blade. Ithriel had jumped between Noa and the saintess, his back turned to the attacker. Behind his shoulder blades, a rotating halo of divine light manifested, emitting thin rings of energy that hummed with a celestial frequency.
This was the [Edict of Null Halo], an ultimate negation designed to snuff out the power of Unique-tier skills. Stacked in front of it were layers of glass-like panels of pure gold energy—the [Aegis Frame], a barrier that looked as delicate as crystal but held the strength of a mountain range.
"Tsk!" Noa spat, his face contorting with a manic grin as his grip tightened even further. "Get the hell out of my way, YOU FUCKING ANGEL!"
His shout was a spray of blood and spittle, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a predatory snarl.
— Formless Sword: Trace (Lingering Afterimage) —
Crmm… SHRAAM!
The sound was like a thousand mirrors breaking at once. One by one, the golden barriers were shattered into glittering dust, falling toward the ground before dissolving back into raw Aether. Noa's blade carved through the [Aegis Frame] like it was wet paper, but the momentum was finally arrested by the rotating halo behind Ithriel. The two forces ground against each other, a stalemate of light and shadow.
Knowing a second attempt against the halo was a waste of energy, Noa kicked off the golden air and flipped backward, landing with a heavy thud amidst the ruins.
"Are you okay?" Ithriel asked, half-turning his head toward Jain, his wings shielding her from the dust.
"Yes, but my Aether... it's almost gone," Jain gritted out, her hands shaking as she gripped her spear. The golden light of her hair was flickering, like a candle in a drafty room.
"C'mon, Saint Jain, are you really running low right now?" Noa asked, extending his arms to his sides with a mocking smirk. "Why don't you ask for some more from your God? Surely mother will help the crying baby if you ask nicely enough, right?"
"Shut your mouth! How dare you speak of the goddess in such a way?" Ithriel roared, his divine composure finally snapping.
He launched himself forward, a streak of gold aimed at Noa's heart.
"Wait! Ithri—Khak!"
Jain reached out a hand to stop the enraged angel, but she never finished the sentence. In the heartbeat it took for Ithriel to charge, Noa had used [Blink]. He didn't meet the angel; he went behind the Saintess. Acheron's blade sank into Jain's back, the cold steel protruding from her chest.
Noa knew Ithriel's defense was absolute as long as he was protecting something. The easiest way to break the shield was to make sure there was nothing left to protect.
"W-why isn't it healing?" Jain gasped, her voice a fragile thing.
She wrenched herself away from the blade, stumbling several feet, her hands clutching at the hole in her chest. The holy light that usually mended her wounds was silent, the Null Essence of [Nihility Decree] having cauterized the spiritual connection to her Aether.
Clang—clang!
Jain looked to her right, and the world was a blur of violence. The angel and the man were already at each other's throats again. Gold against purple, both in their most primal forms, their blades moving so fast they were nothing more than streaks of light and shadow.
Clang!
"Khh!"
Noa blocked a heavy overhead strike from Ithriel, more blood spilling from his lips as his exhausted body began to protest the strain. He didn't wipe the blood away with a cloth; he smeared it across his face with the back of his hand, looking up at the angel with an amused—perhaps too amused—smile.
CLAN!
Noa launched a counter-attack that caught Ithriel across the shoulder. The angel grunted as golden ichor spilled from the wound, his temporary body screaming under the pressure of maintaining its form.
"One more… one more should be enough," Jain whispered to herself.
[Exalted Judgment]
[Judgment Prism]
Jain, refusing to die quietly, activated her newly acquired Unique skill. A prism of light formed around her, tracking Noa's every movement and feeding the analysis of his weaknesses directly into her mind. She evolved her own will in that moment, her Legendary-tier skill activating as she pressed forward, pushing past the threshold of her own mortality.
Clang!
She struck Noa from the side, a desperate, lunging blow. Noa parried it instantly, his reflexes heightened by the adrenaline and Vionette's guidance. As he crossed blades with the saintess, Ithriel took to the sky.
His wings beat once, twice, and he came diving down like a comet, his sword pointed at the top of Noa's head.
To counter the pincer, Noa manifested spheres of Null Essence in the air around him and fired them upward like anti-aircraft fire.
BHOOOM!
The resulting explosion was a chaotic mess of energy. The force of it sent Ithriel spiraling upward and threw Noa and Jain into the ruins below. The three combatants landed in different corners of the crater, the silence that followed heavy with the smell of ozone and burnt stone.
"I shall end your misery right here, right now!" Ithriel shouted. He hovered just above the ground, crossing his hands in a prayer-like sign, his wings flapping in a slow, ominous rhythm. "I summon thee, Sword of Liara!"
[Divine Tether]
One more push! Jain thought, her vision blurring.
She used the last of her strength to activate her binding skill, the golden chains erupting from the golden water to pin Noa's limbs to the earth one final time.
The citizens of the city-state, watching from the distant hills, saw the light show stop. The continuous flashes of gold and purple that had lit up the horizon like a summer storm suddenly vanished into a terrifying, expectant darkness.
Then, the sky began to bleed gold. The dark clouds, heavy with the smoke of burning homes, were pushed aside by a radiance that felt like the sun itself had cracked open. A massive sword, composed of pure, solidified golden energy, descended through the clouds. It was so large it could have split the city in two, its light illuminating the faces of the terrified onlookers miles away.
This was the Sword of Liara—not a spell, but a manifested construct born from the goddess's power, passed down to her messengers to carry out the judgment of the heavens, a power that required no Skill to wield, much like Its shapeshifting nature—an ability not granted, but inherent.
"Heheheheheheheheheh~"
As Noa looked up at the descending monument of gold, a long, swift laughter bubbled up from his chest. The sound was high and sharp, cutting through the thundering roar of the sword's descent. It wasn't the laughter of a man who was afraid; it was the laughter of a man who had finally found a worthy wall to tear down.
Crack… CHANG!
Noa flexed his muscles, and the golden chains binding him shattered like glass. Whether it was the raw power of [Nihility Decree] or the fact that Jain was minutes away from death, the chains offered no resistance.
"Die," Ithriel whispered, opening his eyes as the massive sword reached the apex of its speed.
"Haaaaaah~"
Noa let out a long, steady breath. He gripped Acheron with both hands, the hilt soaked in his own blood, and pointed the tip toward the heavens. He leaned his weight back onto his rear foot, his muscles tightening until they looked like coiled serpents under his skin. He poured every drop of Null Essence he could control, every scrap of his own existence, into the blade of his beloved sword.
— Formless Sword: Rupture (Shattered Silence) —
As the golden sword fell, something darker rose from the earth to meet it. It was a dragon—a serpentine beast manifested from pure, violet energy. It didn't roar; it hissed with the sound of a thousand dying whispers. The dragon rushed toward the golden sword in a fury of concentrated rage, its form undulating through the air like a ribbon of shadow.
The golden light and the purple darkness collided. The will of Acheron and the extended will of the Goddess Liara fought for dominance in the sky, the atmosphere turning into a chaotic overlay of colors that made the stars themselves seem dim.
Then, finally, the sound of the world breaking reached its peak.
SHRAAASH!
The golden light shattered. The will of Liara, nerfed by the limitations of Ithriel's vessel, was pulverized by the draconic will that carried the weight of a kingdom's grief. The violet dragon surged through the heavens, swallowing the golden shards until the sky was nothing but a sea of purple shadow.
When the clash ceased, the only thing remaining in the sky was the dragon. Its long, serpentine body wasn't solid; it was formed from countless flowing strands of energy that traced its shape, swimming through the dark clouds as if navigating a deep, unseen current. Its head was narrow and regal, crowned with sweeping horns made of light, its features defined by shifting lines that flickered with every movement.
The dragon was the culmination of everything—the essence of the crimson dragon Elina, the collective negative emotions of Crimvane, and the power of [Nihility Decree], which could strike the Astral Body that served as the very foundation for the Sword of Liara.
"Looks like your body is used up, huh?" Noa smirked widely, tapping his blood-soaked temple with a shaky finger. "Where the hell did you come from anyway? Another world?"
He was talking to Ithriel, whose form was beginning to fray at the edges. The angel wasn't vanishing into golden dust; instead, the physical body was simply emptying, all its energy spent on the final strike.
"Another world? Oh, it seems you still don't know much about Mythara," Ithriel said, looking up at the purple sky with a strangely peaceful expression. "Find the answer yourself. Find out about the core of the multiverse."
With those final, cryptic words, Ithriel vanished. His soul retreated from the hollowed-out vessel, returning to the embrace of his Goddess.
Didn't expect that much of a non-hostile goodbye, Noa thought, turning his gaze toward his other opponent.
"Kekekek… my good Jain, how much plot armor did you use to stay alive this long?" He walked toward her, his footsteps heavy and uneven on the stone.
Jain was slumped on the ground, the golden light of her hair completely gone, replaced by a dull, human blonde. Her wounds were bleeding freely now that her Aether was gone. Noa stood over her, waiting for a response, a taunt, or even a curse. But she didn't move.
I lost… no, I can't let this man…
With that final, bitter thought, the Saint Jain of the Church of Liara passed away. Her mission was incomplete, and her final sight was the man she hated most in the world.
Step.
Noa stepped onto the corpse, his boot pressing into the dirt as if to confirm she was truly gone. He stared at her for a long time, his expression unreadable, before his lips finally curved upward. He looked up at the sky, extending both hands to his sides. One eye was half-closed, the other widened in a manic stare, his face bathed in the dying purple light of the dragon above.
"Hehehehe~ well, come down here, you God! What's wrong? I'm still waiting!"
The sound of his laughter echoed through the city-state, a jagged sound in a place that had finally, after long hours of war, become silent.
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[Illustrations]