The past and the future completely overlapped at this very moment.
No matter how many guesses the audience had running through their minds, the thunderous beat of war drums left them no time to think of anything else.
The final battle had begun! Nikador's power now should be the form he possessed at the peak of his prime.
The visual impact it brought to the crowd was even more exaggerated than the first time they had seen Nikador's real self.
The body of Nikador, behind that stone statue, half-standing and half-crawling, three golden, humanoid forms had taken shape.
Its face was nowhere to be seen, but whether it was the emaciated frame or the sharp spikes protruding from its back, everything about it radiated overwhelming danger.
This body extended its left hand, grasping the divine spear that the lower stone body held in its right hand.
Together, they formed a posture utterly unlike any machine. Behind them, the sigil of the Strife Titan was revealed.
On the screen, A line of bold, red characters appeared in the upper-right corner.
[The Giver, Master of Legions, Lance of Fury]
This imposing title, combined with the increasingly explosive sound of war drums and music made the audience tremble uncontrollably.
...
: So everything before wasn't even its complete form…
: That's way too cool, Nikador!
: This level of battle appearing in the very first episode is insane!
: Fighting a version of Nikador with barely one-tenth of his power already feels impossible, this is the actual Titan! This is going to be a brutal fight!
: This is seriously shocking!
: The battles of the past and present have completely merged together!
...
"So this is Nikador's true form? It's incredible..." Shock filled Phainon's eyes.
Beside him, Mydei was half-kneeling on the ground before slowly standing up.
He had fought for far too long, and his body was already at its limit. Wounds covered him from head to toe.
"Well done on them... I was prepared to fight till the end of time."
Though he didn't know exactly what everyone had done, Mydei understood one thing. The battle had reached its final moment.
Not only had Nikador's Titan body descended, even the surrounding space had fallen into some kind of inexplicable ripple.
Dan Heng came to Stelle's side. After a brief greeting, his brow furrowed.
"The space we're in now… it's probably no longer the one we're familiar with."
"And the cause of all this may very well be Nikador."
Castrum Kremnos was still Castrum Kremnos, only now, it flickered constantly between the past and the present.
This was the battlefield where they were currently standing.
As for whether Stelle and Castorice had truly changed the past, or had brought the Reason of Nikador into the present, causing Nikador to overturn fate, none of that mattered anymore!
Because the oppressive presence of the Titan was rising without end!
"I promise you, Lord Gnaeus... Your nightmare will be over soon."
"Everyone! Watch out!" Castorice alerted the others.
Due to her unique power, she couldn't participate in the battle.
She stayed far from the center of the battlefield, yet kept her attention fixed on it at all times.
At this moment, Nikador, in Their complete form, dragged the divine spear with all three hands, scraping it across the ground in a circle, throwing up golden sparks.
Its movements were heavy and slow, lacking its earlier agility. Each strike looked like that of a clumsy giant.
And yet, these attacks, whose trajectories could be clearly seen with the naked eye, came crashing down on them with unreasonable force and weight.
"Brace yourselves. This strike can obliterate worlds."
"Come on, bring an end to Strife once and for all!"
By the time Phainon and Mydei shouted their warnings, everyone had already scattered.
But no matter how they dodged, that massive divine spear remained locked at the very center of their vision.
Boom! Four different weapons slammed fiercely into the divine spear.
Dan Heng, Phainon, Mydei, and Stelle, with nowhere left to retreat chose to meet the attack head-on!
In the audience's eyes, Nikador's strike was slow, precise, and devastatingly powerful.
The four of them were like ants, smashed away in an instant!
After swinging the divine spear in a wide arc through the air, Nikador smoothly twisted it back into position.
The entire motion was fluid and natural. The spear was like an extension of its own body.
Once the divine spear was upright again, Nikador slammed it heavily into the ground.
Boom!
A deafening impact and it was accompanied by a furious Titan war cry!
In that instant, deep fear surged within the four of them.
'How are we supposed to defeat a Titan that excels at battle above all else?'
'Even if we fight to the end of the world, I still can't overcome it…'
Phainon, Mydei, Dan Heng, and Stelle,
The weakest thoughts surfaced instinctively in their hearts.
One thing was clear, on a battlefield like this, even the slightest hesitation was a fatal danger!
The moment those thoughts appeared, it was as if their souls were being torn apart.
Four white, illusory figures were ripped from their bodies, flying straight toward Nikador.
Four divine spears descended from the sky, pinning those pale soul-shadows firmly in place.
"This is bad… What kind of power is this?" Phainon felt as though his heart were being ripped apart.
He staggered two steps, drove his great sword into the ground to steady himself, and barely avoided collapsing.
"Facing Nikador, you can't show even a shred of weakness! Otherwise, Their war cry will tear you apart!"
Mydei clutched his head, splitting with pain, and shouted his warning. "Take back your souls! Destroy those pillars!"
Dan Heng forced himself back into action.
An even more brutal battle began. The audience didn't dare blink.
Facing Nikador, it felt like facing strife itself.
You cannot fear. You must not fear. Only the ultimate will to fight, only by breaking past your own limits, can you survive amid strife!
And Nikador didn't remain stationary. The divine spear in its hands attacked from every direction, creating countless vicious angles.
"Do!"
A rain of spears would periodically fall from the sky.
This spear storm was even more terrifying than before. Within their field of vision, everything turned into a sea of gold.
Every single drop of rain was a lethal golden spear.
Castrum Kremnos suffered catastrophic destruction.
In this space caught between past and present, vast stretches of buildings were smashed apart like tofu by Nikador's overwhelming violence.
Majestic halls were reduced to rubble beneath the "golden rain." The four figures darted and twisted through the air. With the slightest movement from Nikador, one of them would inevitably be sent flying by a crushing blow.
...
: This is way too outrageous! Holy shit!
: So this is the real Strife Titan!
: Castrum Kremnos was torn apart like tofu...
: Is this the power to destroy an entire city-state with a single blow? No wonder the Aeon of Erudition faces disdain.
: The more I watch, the more it feels no worse than the previous final boss fight!
: Is this really something you're allowed to see in episode one?!
: This attack is so distinctive, slow, yet overwhelmingly powerful, impossible to dodge, like fate itself. Is this the Titan's authority?
: This level of spectacle, three emanators definitely aren't enough; you'd need an Aeon too!
...
The audience barely dared to breathe. They could only watch as the four were pinned to the ground and brutally beaten by Nikador.
"Uraaah!" A roar rang out.
From the ruins, a blood-red figure charged forward, fists swinging. A punch smashed straight into Nikador's divine spear.
At that instant, both the divine spear and Mydei froze.
Boom!
With a thunderous crash, the spear was knocked backward, its wielder forced to arch his body as he was sent flying.
"…!!"
In that fleeting opening, the other three had already rushed beneath Nikador, reclaiming parts of their own souls.
Despite the battle being pushed to its absolute limits, at this moment, people finally understood the key to fighting this Titan.
Fighting spirit.
Only a blazing, unbroken will to fight could call back the fragments of oneself that had been torn away by weakness.
Though all four were already in a miserable state, their ever-rising fighting spirit brought with it a different kind of blessing.
When the torn souls returned to their bodies, it was as if they fed back into them, each of them gained tremendous strength.
This was the gift of Strife.
"So that's how it is." Mydei climbed out of the ruins again, wiping the blood from his face, his eyes shining brilliantly.
The Strife Titan, Nikador, favored those who truly bore courage and resolve, and those who truly understood the meaning of strife.
So-called strife was both the anvil and the hammer.
And humans were the iron upon it. Each strike was a conflict. Until the iron, through endless hammering, became harder, and utterly unbreakable.
Mydei looked around. His three companions were also standing back up from different places.
Stelle was covered in dust, leaning on her flaming spear.
Phainon dragged his great sword, gasping for breath.
Dan Heng was in slightly better shape, but his complexion was pallid.
Yet all of them were the same as him, the more they fought, the brighter their eyes became!
Not far away, Nikador once more grasped the divine spear.
It seemed to acknowledge the four before it. That surging fighting spirit spread to Nikador as well, providing it with ample material to absorb.
How delightful. With just four people, the fighting spirit they unleashed was enough to rival four entire armies.
Invisible waves burst across the battlefield.
Mydei, who understood Castrum Kremnos better than anyone, suddenly widened his eyes, his whole body trembling.
Not from fear, but from excitement, anticipation, and an even stronger desire to fight.
"It's coming… The Blade of Fury's attack!!"
Mydei shouted in a trembling voice.
Stelle looked up, just in time to see Nikador's entire body erupt in golden light.
It raised its spear high. And behind it, the massive Blade of Fury hanging above Castrum Kremnos now pierced through the clouds, its edge pointing straight at the four of them!
"Eh…?"
"SOA!!"
With a thunderous battle cry, Nikador leapt into the sky.
Divine sigils of Strife formed six massive wings behind it. The emblem of Strife shone brightly behind its head.
Holy. Majestic. Human language could barely convey the presence carried by Nikador's presence.
Under such overwhelming authority, it pointed the spear in its hand downward.
The colossal Blade of Fury shot past its side, and stabbed viciously toward the ground.
Air. Space. Both seemed completely thrown into chaos by this single strike.
The image on the screen warped and twisted.
Stelle's face.
Phainon's face.
Mydei's, Dan Heng's,
Under this blow, everyone clenched their teeth, the grip on their weapons tightening.
Without exception, all four understood, if they failed to stop this strike, they would all die!
Their expressions lasted only a single second on the screen.
The next moment, only the massive Blade of Fury remained.
It plunged into the ground. The entire image turned gray and white, then violently exploded!
Cracks spread from the center all the way to the horizon.
Within the fissures, golden divine power surged endlessly. Castrum Kremnos was being torn apart in its entirety.
The ground itself began to overturn, some parts sank deep underground, others were thrust upward.
Under that overwhelming force, the land became ravines one moment, mountain ranges the next.
Golden divine energy coursed through everything within.
What appeared before the audience, was nothing less than a scene of the apocalypse!
The comments grew sparse. In the minds of the viewers, only two words and one sentence remained.
[Holy shit]
[So it really is a world-leveling strike?!]
Even though the audience knew the protagonists shouldn't die here, Nikador's sheer might still made them uncertain.
The aftershock of that blow, lasted for a very, very long time.
Just when the audience began to think the Express would need new coffins, within the shattered earth, a gray-white flame ignited first.
Then came golden sword light, blood-red light, and a blue light.
Strife used their souls, to consecrate the Blade of Fury.
But likewise, those four souls also earned the blade's recognition.
Nikador's defeat was decided at this very moment!
The four survived the attack. Through strife, they broke through themselves without the slightest fear.
This aligned perfectly with the meaning of Strife.
And thus, Strife, too, granted them its feedback.
As the four charged toward Nikador, Stelle seemed to hear Gnaeus's voice of praise.
Nikador, having unleashed that attack, had already fallen to one knee.
It seemed incapable of attacking again. However, at that very moment, the divine runes behind Strife suddenly unfurled.
And the Blade of Fury behind it, shot upward, aiming straight at Okhema!
...
A/N:
PS: The "superposition state" of Castrum Kremnos in this chapter was mentioned so that after this battle, Castrum Kremnos could return to its original state.
Otherwise, if Nikador's final strike didn't destroy something, it would feel a bit insincere, so this setup was necessary.