"Enough."
Julius swung his sword, cleaving the space before him in two. An enormous, invisible strike swept across the ground, instantly reshaping the terrain into a canyon.
The residual power surged into the sky, scattering the clouds into the night.
"This strength..."
Agal appeared in another spot, having used an unknown method to evade Julius's attack. His face was a mask of ecstatic joy. "It seems you can truly satisfy me!"
As he spoke, he raised his hand and clenched it. The bronze tree appeared, its bow and arrow branches turning into streaks of light that settled in his hand. In an instant, he drew the bow and nocked an arrow, firing at Julius.
The moment the arrow left the string, a series of sonic booms echoed through the world. The howling wind was like the roar of a dragon, its speed surpassing light and lightning, an almost instantaneous sensation.
BOOM!
But a crescent of sword light arrived even faster! Faster than the arrow itself!
This single strike could cleave the stars from the sky.
The sword light swept across the earth, piercing the clouds at the horizon before vanishing into the infinite, deep void of the starry sky. The arrow was destroyed.
A single strand of hair drifted slowly onto Agal's shoulder. His grin widened, his battle-intent surging, making his golden eyes shine like beacons.
The clash of metal followed.
The bronze tree cloaked Agal in battle armor. An ancient, massive wheel fell from its branches and hung behind him. Once it stopped spinning, a war-spear manifested.
In Agal's hand appeared a spear that could manipulate reality, achieving an effect like a causal lock. He thrust it forward, precisely striking Julius.
CLANG!
Sword and spear met with a crisp ring. The vibrations rippled through the air, whipping up a cloud of dust, and the earth beneath them splintered into pieces.
A clash between two Tier 4s.
"Hahahaha!"
During the battle, Agal laughed with pure exhilaration. "It's been far too long since anyone has satisfied me like this! I find myself even more intrigued by your ruler!"
"You are not yet qualified!"
Julius's tone was level.
The purpose of the Twelve Knights' descent was exactly this: to act in the Empress's stead, because Agal and the others were not yet worthy of her personal intervention.
"Pure arrogance!"
As a fellow King, Agal never believed himself to be weaker than any other ruler. Even with the descent of myth, he still considered himself superior to gods and kings.
It was a form of arrogance, but also the absolute confidence and pride of a King.
That night, the earth shook violently. People looked up and saw that even the light of the stars seemed to dim, flickering as if they were about to fall.
Until several days later.
A massive crater was discovered outside Firenze, far larger than any meteorite impact. Some said there had been signs of a battle that night.
The theories were endless.
Future historians would believe this was the site of a battle between King Agal and Julius, the First Knight of the Firenze Empire.
The outcome remained unknown.
Some claimed to have seen a colossal sword strike surging into the sky that night as definitive proof. Thus, history would record it as the Battle of Aadlan.
In all recorded history and legend, the Battle of Aadlan was the first transcendent conflict to erupt following the Age of Gods and Kings.
However, many future records of the post-Age of Gods and Kings era would be treated as mere legend and myth, not a part of official history.
"This level of destruction is terrifying. Was there a battle here recently?"
"I don't know."
The people who had come at the news stared at the shattered earth, unable to comprehend what kind of power could create such a terrifying scene.
Among them were two men dressed rather strangely: one with blond hair and blue eyes named Pedro, and one with red hair and black eyes named Cassis.
Ignoring the curious stares of the locals, Pedro pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a flick of his lighter, taking a long drag.
He asked Cassis: "The Battle of Aadlan... this is the place, right?"
Cassis nodded, his expression exceptionally grave, turning his gaze toward a certain direction. "The Firenze Empire... that must be her handiwork."
Unlike other timelines, this was the only parallel world where the Firenze Empire existed. In other timelines, neither Firenze nor the Twelve Knights existed at all.
To accomplish such a feat was undeniably within the power of only one individual, the most mysterious being hidden behind the worlds and history.
This was something even a High Demon God could not do. Pedro, as the Eternal Demon God, and Cassis, as the Spacetime Demon God, at least their power could not reach across infinite parallel worlds.
A High Demon God was only Tier 7, after all. The unification of the multiverse was still far beyond them. Low Demon Gods were even weaker; Pedro and his kind could crush a group of them with a single finger.
Whoosh—
Pedro exhaled a puff of smoke, looking nonchalant. "As much as I'd like to meet that person, I don't want to die yet. So, let's just pray we haven't been noticed by her."
Unlike Seth, the First Demon God, Pedro and Cassis clearly weren't looking for a fight with Mei. Their words were full of a survival instinct; their fear was blatant.
"Hurry up."
As Cassis spoke, the two figures vanished, but they failed to notice that for a brief instant, a nearly imperceptible figure had flashed past.
They knew how powerful she was.
However, their understanding was still not deep enough.
If they had any other choice, Pedro and Cassis wouldn't have risked coming from the future to this incredibly dangerous point in time.
The situation the seventy-two Demon Gods faced was simply too desperate.
This was their final gamble.
...
In a certain kingdom, amidst the bustling crowd on the street, a young man with a long blade at his hip stopped, looking at Pedro and Cassis as they appeared before him.
"Do the two of you have business with me?"
Starry's gaze sharpened, ready to act at any moment.
He and Mei had entered several of the same mission worlds. He had even been present during Mei's first zombie world experience, though he had rarely encountered her directly.
His closest encounter with Mei was in the Depth Equation world, where he had clashed with her in virtual space, resulting in a total defeat. He had collaborated with Charles many times, though he had seen little of him lately.
Despite being on guard, Starry couldn't react in time. Pedro appeared beside him in a flash and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Time is short. I'll explain the situation using the most efficient method."
Immediately, a flood of information poured into his mind, and Starry instantly understood everything. His face warped with shock and disbelief. "I... I'm one of the future seventy-two Demon Gods?!"
Was this a joke?
He was only a Tier 3!
Every mission world was incredibly dangerous. Starry had struggled with all his might to survive this long, and it had been exhausting. He couldn't see the end of Tier 3.
He didn't even know if he would ever have the chance to step into Tier 4.
This was a true reflection of many Void Wanderers: the worlds were vast, and while there were many fortuitous encounters, they didn't necessarily fall upon oneself.
Without any unexpected luck, Starry felt he would likely fail several advancements and ultimately perish in some Tier 3 mission world.
Wild Hunt.
Charles.
Those he had collaborated with before had gradually stopped appearing, and Starry had no way of knowing if they were still alive or had died in some mission world.
Tier 3.
A level where one's destructive power reached across a continent with all their might, but a single glance at the sky was enough to realize how insignificant a realm it truly was.
But now, two beings of Tier 7 status had appeared before him, telling him he was actually one of the future seventy-two Demon Gods, and a High Demon God at that.
A cosmic-level existence!
Starry found this difficult to believe, but with two Tier 7s standing right there, whether he believed it or not, he had no chance of resistance.
He didn't understand.
"Why me?"
"How should I know?"
Pedro couldn't answer Starry's question. "We don't understand why there's such a massive convergence of causality on you, but that's the reason you're one of the seventy-two Demon Gods."
In the future, the Demon God of Causality couldn't see that person's causality, but he was certain it was entangled with many events and individuals across the long river of time.
Perhaps that was why Starry possessed such immense causality, but it was merely a speculation on the Demon God of Causality's part.
The only thing certain was that Starry was incredibly important to the seventy-two Demon Gods.
As for why Pedro and Cassis had come to find him, Starry had already learned from the information transfer.
The Demon Gods had seen an absolutely desperate future, one where they would likely fall into eternal slumber, or even true death with their roots extinguished.
Starry was a unique Demon God; as long as he lived, the other Demon Gods could transfer their roots into him.
This would not only give Starry the power of the other Demon Gods but also preserve their roots, thanks entirely to the immense causality converged upon him.
And the most critical point: Starry was stunned.
"The Demon Gods believe the mastermind behind their final slumber and death is the King of Firenze, the King of Firenze in this era?"
The King of Firenze was that strong?!
Cassis replied in a low voice.
"Other than that person, we can't imagine anyone who could manipulate the fate of the Demon Gods to such an extent. That's why you're so important!"
By using Starry as a convergence point for causality, the Demon Gods could transfer their roots to him, even achieving a total fusion.
A glimmer of hope flickered in Pedro's expression.
"We believe that before us High Demon Gods were born, there must have existed a true Primordial Demon God, perhaps the real First Demon God."
Cassis nodded.
"If you can gather the roots of all the Demon Gods, you might become the true Primordial Demon God. With the strength of the First Demon God, we can surely change our future!"
Starry asked: "How do we change it?"
Pedro took a drag of his cigarette and replied.
"By dealing with a certain someone, of course."
With that, he prepared to take Starry away.
"Since you understand the situation, let's go. We've isolated and fixed the surrounding spacetime, so it's unlikely we'll be noticed. But being in this era still makes my skin crawl..."
His voice cut off abruptly.
Pedro froze.
Time seemed to stop.
Pedro, Cassis, and Starry were at one end of the street, with pedestrians milling about and chaotic chatter filling the space.
At the other end of the street, a figure stood with a presence so intense it was impossible to ignore. Pedro and the others couldn't see the person's face, but they could feel an unparalleled sense of pressure.
Starry felt the figure's silhouette was strangely familiar, though he couldn't place where he had seen it. The atmosphere grew heavy, nearly tactile, as he realized something profound.
Is that her?
Time and space around them began to exhibit irrational behaviors; the street stretched into infinity. Cassis manipulated the concept of Spacetime, attempting to slightly hinder the figure's advance.
Pedro lost his usual nonchalance, giving Starry a grim, urgent instruction: "Listen carefully. These are my last words. We should be able to buy you a sliver of time before we're erased. At that moment, our Roots will immediately transfer to you. Use whatever time we buy, be it a ten-millionth or a billionth of a second, and just run. Escape to a point two thousand years in the future."
Finally, Pedro emphasized once more.
"Under no circumstances, absolutely never, harbor any thought of resisting that person. We are nowhere near qualified yet. Become the Primordial Demon God first, then worry about the rest."
CRACK!
Before Starry could respond, the spacetime within his vision shattered like glass. In the final instant, Cassis shook his head.
"This is the limit."
Pedro added: "Cassis, transmit the data to the Demon Gods in the other parallel worlds. Tell them for God's sake not to come to Firenze to seek death. We've tested the waters for them."
"Understood."
As the words fell, spacetime crumbled.
Their bodies were annihilated in a flash, but they used every ounce of their strength to anchor the concepts of Spacetime and Eternity, ensuring they died a fraction before Starry.
Even that negligible instant was enough.
In that microscopic gap, the Roots of Pedro and Cassis merged into Starry, who instantly mastered the concepts of Eternity and Spacetime.
In a heartbeat, Starry vanished into the rift of shattered spacetime.
Even with two high-order concepts coursing through him and feeling an unprecedented surge of power, Starry remembered Pedro's warning and did not hesitate for a second.
...
The present world.
The street was peaceful.
It was as if Mei had never been there.
She knew exactly what kind of ending the Primordial Demon God, the one the Demon Gods pinned their hopes on, would meet. Seth was the ultimate fruit of the seventy-two Demon Gods.
Today's events were the cause.
If the Demon Gods only schemed in the future or in other worlds, Mei wouldn't have cared, but to be bold enough to stand before her and plan her death was far too arrogant.
Moreover, Mei hadn't actually targeted the seventy-two Demon Gods; those fools had simply played themselves to death. From the moment Seth sought out Mei, the causality was fixed.
It wasn't that Pedro and Cassis had successfully bought Starry a chance to live; it was that Mei had intentionally allowed Starry to complete this causal loop.
...
Out in the cosmos,
"Huh?"
Goldeght and Hang both looked toward the Tier 3 battlefield. Two Tier 7 auras had flickered and vanished into silence.
Hang's eyes widened.
"Two more gone?"
Those were two Tier 7s!
Thousands of years inside the Time Barrier were only a few decades outside. On a cosmic scale, a few decades weren't even a blink.
How long had it been since the last Tier 7 fell? Their own Tier 7 battlefield wasn't even this brutal. In a single instant, three Tier 7s had vanished from the Tier 3 zone.
That's a Tier 3 battlefield?
The mere thought made their skin crawl.
"Don't think about it. It's definitely a death trap!"
Goldeght shook his head, picking up the wine jug and refilling Hang's cup. In this picturesque landscape, life was bliss.
"True. It has nothing to do with us anyway."
Hang nodded, draining his cup in one gulp.
Better to eat and drink. The bizarre situation in the Tier 3 zone only hardened their resolve to stay hidden until the end. After all, survival was the only thing that mattered.
...
The setting sun.
Eventide.
Corpses blanketed the fields.
The earth shuddered violently, slowly sinking into the vast ocean, triggering colossal waves that surged to the heavens, poised to swallow everything. This was a scene that had once occurred in the history of the Firenze Empire.
The final battle between the Twelve Knights, Julius and Hegram.
"Is this the memory buried deepest in your heart?"
During the Battle of Aadlan, Agal manifested the moment etched most profoundly in Julius's memory into reality. This scene signified the end of the Firenze Empire.
Agal cast an admiring gaze at Julius.
"So this is your destiny: fratricide and the collapse of an empire. Such pain and regret certainly carry sufficient weight. As a subject, I admire your loyalty to the Monarch of Firenze."
Julius remained expressionless.
"As you say, this is our fate as subjects."
"However,"
Agal's expression hardened as he questioned Julius. "If she, as your Empress, had the power yet did nothing to salvage any of this, do you believe she is fit to be your ruler? Is she worthy of your loyalty?"
Julius met Agal's eyes, his gaze turning razor-sharp. "As a subject, failing to fulfill one's duty to the sovereign is not only an insult to the Empress but a stain upon our own honor!"
At this,
Agal laughed, his admiration for Julius completely unmasked. "Well said! I find myself somewhat envious of the Monarch of Firenze."
Such noble and loyal subjects have been rare since time immemorial. Whether in martial prowess or character, Agal recognized Julius from the bottom of his heart.
"This battle ends in a draw. I forbid you from losing to anyone else before our next encounter."
Agal left behind these words.
The Battle of Aadlan thus drew to a close.
...
"Empress, your servant has a request."
Beneath the throne of Firenze,
Julius came to petition.
"..."
The throne was silent.
After a long pause,
Julius's gaze was unwavering as he spoke directly: "Empress, your servant begs that you entrust Firenze to us once more in this world. Just as before, no matter what happens, I pray that you do not intervene."
This was the first time Julius had committed such a transgressive act. Mei was the true ruler of the Firenze Empire; she could choose to entrust the empire to the Twelve Knights.
The Twelve Knights, however, had no right to proactively overstep their bounds.
Julius knew this act was an affront, yet he spoke nonetheless, for this was his wish, and the wish of every member of the Twelve Knights.
"Empress,"
Julius swore an oath. "This time, we will never let you down again!"
He finished speaking.
A heavy silence followed.
"Agreed."
A royal command descended, devoid of any perceptible emotional fluctuation. Julius lifted his head immediately; this meant Mei had granted the Twelve Knights' wish.
...
WHOOSH!
Amidst the swirling sands of the battlefield.
A heavy Battle-axe was driven diagonally into the grit. Hegram stood atop a dune, gazing out over the blood-soaked field before him. His face and expressions were hidden beneath his armor.
He looked like a killing machine.
Memory of fighting for the Firenze Empire seemed to be a distant thing. Soon after the Twelve Knights had pacified the rebellions, civil war broke out.
Firenze collapsed because of that civil war.
It was an eternal, unerasable pain and regret for the Twelve Knights. Even though it had long since passed, they still could not forgive their own actions.
In truth,
Julius and the others were well aware that the current Twelve Knights were merely phantoms slumbering within the Empress's memories. The true Firenze and its Twelve Knights had long ago vanished like smoke.
However,
They didn't care about that.
As long as the Empress needed them, they would give their all.
They yearned to fulfill their duty to Firenze until their final breath, to bleed for the Empress until the very end; that was the wish of the Twelve Knights.
In the past, they had failed to do so, failed to remain loyal to the Empress and Firenze throughout their lives. To them, it was a profound disgrace, a regret they carried to this day.
Hegram wanted to mend his past mistakes, writing a new chapter in the epic for Firenze and the Twelve Knights, showing the Empress their unwavering loyalty and martial prowess.
This time,
Firenze would never fall at their hands!
"Empress, I thank you for your mercy."
Hegram whispered softly, lifting his Battle-axe and stepping onto the field. Perhaps this wasn't just a whim of the Empress, but a second chance she had chosen to grant the Twelve Knights.
At least,
That was what Hegram believed.
...
Across the endless wilderness, Camelo listened to the sound of the wind, a smile on his face. In this life, he would fight for Firenze on the battlefield until the very end.
"This is a knight's ultimate glory, Empress."
Not dying beneath Tellugh's arrow, but falling in service to Firenze, that was a form of redemption. Only then could they atone for their failures toward the Empress and Firenze.
...
The steadfast girl swung the blade in her hand on the battlefield. As long as she brandished her sword for Firenze, there wasn't a trace of hesitation or doubt in her eyes.
Soma decapitated her enemy, pointing her blood-stained blade toward the battle standard.
"Offer loyalty to the Empress!"
"Offer victory to the Empress!"
Upon the throne of Firenze, invisible to all, the Empress's silhouette stood between reality and illusion. Mei's eyes perceived everything; time and the world were reflected within them.
Time seemed to accelerate, light and shadow intertwined, dust and mesh wove together. The palace crumbled, and the throne decayed, yet the phantom upon the throne remained unchanged since time immemorial.
Mei.
She leaned against the throne, watching the Twelve Knights expand Firenze's borders, subjugating lesser kings and conquering weaker nations.
One thousand years.
Two thousand years.
Three thousand years.
"..."
The world could not touch a thread of her, and time could not stain even a speck. Let the world undergo its vast shifts; Mei's existence was eternal beyond all things, unshakable.