nshort,intheoriginalstory,Raheniafailedtocatchupwiththethreegods.
Andtheverynextday,the“existence”ofthosethreegodsbegantofade.
hepeoplewhoworshippedthem,thecomradeswhofoughtshouldertoshoulderwiththem...asifsuchbeingshadneverexisted,theygraduallybegantolosetheirmories.nlyRahenia,thankstotheprotectionoftranscendentmagic,managedtoretainthem.
hus,theirradiantlegends,theirgreatachievents,andeventheirfinalsacrificewerecompletelyerasedfromhumanconsciousnessandrecords.nlydistortedstoriesandpitifulfragntsremained.
Raheniaofthepresenttioncemuttered,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’tantheplacewasempty.heinhabitantsoftheMagicands,drawnbythenoise,caouttogreetthem.Amotleycollectionofvilods.
Scrrrk!
untherraisedhishead.Rightinfrontofhimstoodsothingtrulymonstrous.
Aspiderthesizeofaskyscraper.nitsbody...whereeyesshouldhavebeen,dozensofhumanfaceswereembedded,twistedandcrushedtogether.Fromthosegapingmouthsburstscreamsanddyingwails.unthertookadeepbreathandshoutedlikelightning:
—’llstrikefirst!
PushingoffBaldrak’sshoulder,unthershotforward.Fromtheoutside,itlookedreckless.Butheknew.
esitateforevenamont,wasteevenasecond—andthecreaturewouldcompleteitsspell,andtheywoulddiehorribly.
Whoooosh—
hroughthetearingwhistleoftheaircathefreshsoundofwaves.nthenextinstant,hisearsrangasifsubrgedunderwater.
iling!
[hepoweroftheboundlessdeepseaflowsintoyou]
[Manawithinthebodysurgessharply]
[Resistancetoexternalinterferencehasreacheditslimit]
hemanaoftheRuleroftheceansdirectlyreinforcedunther’sown.Anoverwhelmingenhancent.
Fwoom!
he“Flaofternalornt”envelopinghisbladeswellednearlythreefold.
[...A-a-a-a]
hevilod,startledbyunther’ssuddencharge,raiseditslegsandstretcheditslimbs.
Clang!
undredsofmagiccirclesflaredintoexistenceoneafteranotherintheair.ayersofgeotricpatterns.Poisonburstoutwardlikeanexplosion,whilestickywebspoureddownlikerain.
Fwoom!
Butthetruevalueofthe“Flaofternalornt”wasnotsimplefirepower.
Amidtheincomingattacks,theflasflaredevenbrighter.Asifreacting,thesurroundingshadowsdistortedlikeripplesonwater.
[ightdescendsupontheabyss]
[Areadeclared—“ight”]
[heRedanternilluminatestheboundary]
[Areaoverlap—“Redantern”]
[Shadoweapactivated]
[“Redantern”stealtheffectrgeswiththeleap]
unther’ssilhouetteblurredandvanished.
Andinthenextinstant,hewasthere—withintheshadowofthespider-likevilod.
Crunch!
hefla-wrappedgreatswordpiercedoneofitseightlegs.hesteel-hardjointtwistedandshatteredintofragnts.Firespreadtothebody.Abizarrescrearupted.
[Whenwasthefirsttinothisistheendtheendcontinuesa-a-a-a-a!]
...fnotforhishighresistancetothedivine,hewouldhavecollapsedonthespot,coughingblood.
Boom!
untherslippedpasttheremainingsevenlegscrashingdownandbegan◆оvеlіgһt◆(nlyonоvеlіgһt)carvingintothespider’sbodywithabarrageofstrikes.
Whoooosh!
Butsothingelsehadtargetedhim.Beneaththerubbleofacollapsedbuilding,withinthecracks,asilhouettelurked.
“—!”
Anvilodintheformofaserpentoverthirtyterslongopeneditsjawsandlunged.
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.heirmoventswereperfectlysynchronized,asiftheyhadanticipatedthissituation.
Andthen...
Shhh—
hesurroundingfogwassweptawayinaninstant.Atorrentofmanatorethroughtheair.Aclearvoicerangout:
—BoundlessSea!
Splash—
hesoundoftheocean.Foramont,itfeltasifeverythingwasanillusion,asifhewerestandingonasandybeach.
Whoooooosh!
Realityreturned.Acolossaltsunami,readytoswallowtheskyitself.Anoverwhelmingmassofwaterdevouringtheruins,thefog,eventhepresenceofthevilods.hemagictheRuleroftheceanshadbeenpreparingforafulltenminuteswascomplete.
hevilodsinstinctivelyturnedtoflee.
oolate.
Boom!
hewavessurgedlikeatsunami—thensuddenlycompressedandshotforward.
Asphere,ahundredtersindiater,fordofcompressedseawater,hungabovethevilods.Andthen—
Zzzzzzz—
ikeasolarflare.hespherecracked,andthousands—tensofthousands—ofwaterlashesburstoutwardinalldirections.
Boom!Whoooosh!
Wheretheypassed,thefleshofthevilodswaserasedfromreality.ornapart,crushed,annihilated.hiswasa“whipwieldedbytheseaitself.”
[Youhavewitnessedancienttranscendentmagic]
[Partiallyunderstoodtheprinciplesof“BoundlessSea”]
[Manacontrolhasimproved,manasensitivityslightlyincreased]
untherexhaled,watchinguntilthehigh-pressurestreamscompletelyerasedthevilods.Whenallhostilepresencefinallyvanished,Raheniaergedfrombehindnearbyruins.erfacewaspalefroxcessivemanaconsumption,buthereyesstillshonewithclarity.
—a...ha...
—...
—Youmadebelieve.verythinghappenedexactlyasyousaid.otasinglemistake.
unthergaveafaintsmile.
—couldwatchthatreactionforever.
—So...howmanytisdidyousayyouhadtodietogethere?
untherreflexivelycheckedhisstatuswindow.
[36/99]
—Seventis.
—...Seventis.
AdmirationandpityflickeredinRahenia’seyesatonce.
—...Andeverytilikethis?Anabilitycalled“Return”...can’tsayenvyit.
Wastingliveswasregrettable,buttherewasnootherway.
hisplacewasessentiallya“high-levelzone.”Anareaoneshouldonlyenterafterexhaustingallpossibledevelopnt.
“Withmycurrentstrength,shouldn’tbefightinghereatall.”
Butleavingallcombattotwodivinebeingswasneveranoption.
Raheniamightlookfine,butshehadbeeninjuredbadlyenoughthatthethreegodswereforcedtoleaveherbehind.Baldrakhadalsosufferedsignificantwoundsduringreconnaissance.
ntheend,therewasonlyonepath—consu“Return.”
untherhaddiedseventis.Andusingthosesevendeathsasafoundation,hecarvedoutthe“shortestroute”tothegoal.
—Butwemadeitherealive,didn’twe?
Ahead,thePapalPalacecaintoview.Strangely,thefogtherewasthinner.Asiftheyweren’teventryingtohidewhatwashappening.
Rahenialookedatunther.
—nside...canfeeltheirpresence.
Boom!
Adistantcrashechoed.hevibrationbrushedagainsthisskin.unthernarrowedhiseyes.
ecouldfeelit.hefamiliarpowerofthethreegods.Butcomparingittohisownstrengthwasaningless.
undredsoftisstronger?vensuchasurescouldn’tcontainit.hevilodswithinthepalaceweresimplybeingsweptaway.ApowersooverwhelmingthatevenRahenia,whohadjustdemonstratedtranscendentmagic,seedseverallevelsweaker.
iling!
[xtrefoundationalforcedetected]
[Fragntofdivinegreatnessresonateswithahigherstate]
vensensingthatpowertriggeredasystemssagehehadneverseenbefore.
“...Youreallywerelegends.”
emuttereditoutofhabit,butofcourse,therewasnoreply.Perhapsbecause,inthisti,the“threegodsofthepast”stillexisted.heconnectionremainedsevered.
nasituationlikethis,evenasinglewordofadvicefromthemwouldhavebeenimnsehelp...untherswallowedthebitternessandturnedbacktoRahenia.
—Fortunately,allthreeseemaliveandwell.et’shurryandjointhem.
Butwhy?She,whohadbeensodesperatetoreunitewiththem,suddenlyfrozeinplace.
—...Rahenia?
—o,it’snothing.
Ashort,dryreply.Butforamont,herexpressionhadbeenstrangelyrigid.
Soon,shemovedagain,asifeverysecondmattered.ShesignaledtoBaldrak.
—Baldrak!
—rrr,ready.
—urry.Wedon’thavemuchti.
Whoooosh—
Baldrakliftedthemontohisshouldersandimdiatelyburstforward.helandscapeblurredinstantly.hePapalPalacewasmontsaway.
henRaheniaraisedherhandandfordabarriersothewindwouldn’tscatterherwords.
—unther,promiseonething.
untherthersea-coloredeyes.
—...fit’swithinmypower.
—fyoufeelguilt—discarditcompletely.
...heaningofthosewords,untherwouldonlyfullyunderstandlater.
eavingthatunfinished,theyarrivedatthePapalPalace.
.
.
.
Andtheretheywere—threefiguresstaringatthemindisbelief.
—Myod...Rahenia.
—ookslikeshefollowedus.Dietrich,you’redead.Rahenia!toldyouweshould’vebroughther!Seriously!
—Rahenia!Baldrak!t’sdangeroushere,whydidyouco!But...’mstillgladtoseeyou...
hencaabriefsilence.
—Butthisman...whoishe?’veneverseenhimbefore.
—m,lookslikeatypicalgigolo,wouldn’tyousay?
—...likehim.
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