The first thing Damon noticed about Trace made him frown, his face going colder than ice the mont he saw it.
He sighed, shaking his head.
The city of Trace was half fused to a mountain at its most extre end, and from that mountain a giant statue of the Goddess of Doom had been carved out from the stone itself.
In her left hand she held a scale, and in her right, a sword.
Behind her... was what made Damon pause.
Behind the statue was a massive sigil, carved deep into the mountain face. An abysmal eye with four wings, and beneath it, two swords crossing each other.
The symbol of the Unknown God.
But the swords...
He wasn’t familiar with them.
He had seen variations of the symbol before, but not this.
Damon stared at the statue and the swords, ignoring the city entirely.
Gotrog paused when he saw Damon stop. The balrog closed his eyes and muttered a short prayer to the Goddess of Doom, then raised his claw and made the symbol of the two crossing swords.
Not worship.
Honor.
Damon raised an eyebrow.
"Those swords," he asked, his tone casual but his gaze sharp.
Gotrog let out a low infernal breath, sothing like a smile forming on his molten face.
"The swords of the Unknown God."
He spoke slowly, almost reverently.
"Genesis Alpha. The sword of beginning."
There was fanaticism in his voice when he said it.
"Nesis Oga. The sword of the end."
That one ca with dread.
"It is said whoever wields Genesis Alpha wields the power to create anything and everything. The ultimate tool of creation. I imagine holding it makes you... a god."
"Then Nesis Oga must have the opposite effect," Damon said.
The mont the na left his mouth, he felt a sharp sting on his tongue.
Warmth spread.
Blood.
He tasted it and understood imdiately.
Gotrog’s earlier reaction made perfect sense.
"Yes," Gotrog said, his voice lower now. "Nesis Oga has the power to end all things. For all things with a beginning must end, and the sword of the end is the nesis of all that exists. It pursues the path towards eternal nothingness."
Damon narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Whoever wields it can bring an end to all things."
Gotrog nodded slowly.
"Yes. However, according to the Snake Temple, this sword is sheathed. The day it is unsheathed is the end of all things. It must remain closed within its scabbard."
Damon felt his face go pale, the image forming clearly in his mind.
A sword that could end everything... simply by being drawn.
"The Unknown God really can end us all whenever he wants," he muttered.
Gotrog shook his head.
"Both of these swords are no longer with the Unknown God."
Damon lifted an eyebrow.
A sword that could create anything. A sword that could end everything.
And neither were in the hands of the being that made them.
"Hmm. Who has them."
"The first sword was left behind to soone the Unknown God wanted to cherish," Gotrog said, raising his flaming claw slightly.
"And the second sword was given to soone he wanted to love."
Gotrog’s tone shifted, more serious now.
"I have researched deeply into this. My oldest ancestors ca from the abyss."
He took a slow breath.
"So I know what beca of the second sword."
Damon felt his curiosity rise.
He turned to Gotrog, a faint spark in his eyes.
Gotrog spoke carefully.
"The sword Nesis Oga was given to... Nesis Oga. The Angel of the Abyss."
Damon frowned imdiately, his face scrunching slightly.
"Wait. Isn’t Nesis Oga one of the titles the Unknown God used? I also recall so calling him the Angel of the Abyss."
Gotrog shook his head without hesitation.
"As a demon with a trace of abyssal bloodline, I can assure you my lord, I have dug deeply into this matter. The Unknown God may have been called the Angel of the Abyss in his youth... but he is now the God of the Abyss."
Damon’s gaze shifted slightly as he recalled it.
A beautiful angel.
Born in the Crystal Palace.
One who left because he could not forgive his kin for a sin he had committed.
So he chose the abyss.
And beca sothing else.
Then who would dare use his title.
"The title Angel of the Abyss was inherited by another," Gotrog continued.
Damon glanced down at his shadow.
It twitched.
Uneasy.
Soone he wanted to love.
Damon frowned slightly.
Who would that be?
He didn’t even think the Unknown God was capable of sothing like that.
’If it was soone he couldn’t love... why give them a sword that could end all things.’
"You said inherited the title, right."
Gotrog nodded slowly, his gaze steady.
"Nesis Oga is the ender of worlds. Nesis Oga is the twilight."
Damon’s eyes flickered back to his shadow.
In the mortal world, a title like that was usually inherited by blood.
He paused, thinking back to his system descriptions, searching for a connection, but his thoughts refused to settle.
"Then Nesis Oga should be the offspring of the Unknown God," Damon said slowly. "You said he couldn’t love, not that he didn’t want to. Then maybe the sword, the na, and the title... were his own twisted way of showing affection."
The mont those words left his mouth—
His shadow jerked violently.
It trembled as if in fear.
Sothing pressed against him.
Cold.
Vast.
Damon’s body locked.
[Fate Manipulation Resistance Lv 3]
Pain exploded in his head.
His vision blurred as blood ran from his nose, dripping to the ground.
Then—
He saw it.
Two figures.
Blurry. Distant. White-haired.
The first was the Unknown God.
The second...
A young woman.
Long silver hair.
They were speaking.
But he couldn’t hear anything.
Couldn’t even see them clearly.
Then the woman stopped.
Slowly—
She turned.
Her gaze moved toward him.
Damon’s pupils shrank.
He imdiately lowered his head, forcing his eyes away.
He knew.
If he made eye contact—
His soul would be destroyed.
"Gasp... gasp..."
The vision shattered.
The pressure vanished.
Damon remained on his knees, blood dripping from his nose as he dragged in heavy breaths, his heart pounding violently in his chest.
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