There was a good reason why Kyros showed such displeasure at fighting this angel, Kronos, or even talking to him at all. However, it was not because he was an angel—though that could not be completely ruled out.
Kyros was one of the few demons of the ruler class of the endless war hell who had no direct subordinates and also occupied no territory of hell. This was because he had only one interest, and that was training and refining his martial arts and abilities.
Thus Kyros spent most of his time traveling through hell in search of worthy opponents on whom he could hone his skills. One might think he should be pleased to fight a mighty opponent, like an archangel, who could truly challenge him.
That would normally have been the case—if this particular archangel had not been the one before him now: Kronos.
Kyros was, for a demon, a fairly upright fighter, specializing in direct confrontations with the sword, and that was how he fought.
An enemy who used underhanded tactics and avoided direct confrontation was therefore a rather unfavorable opponent for him, one who could not help him properly test his skills.
"Forget it, I'll end this quickly so I can return to hell." Kyros muttered to himself.
A sentence one would hardly ever hear from another demon.
The endless war hell was not just a place. Hell was literally hell. For demons, it might be their home, but that did not change what a cruel and disturbing place it was.
To hear a demon say he wanted to return to hell, when he had the chance to leave it or stay away, was not only extremely rare. Should other demons hear these words, they would surely call him insane, no longer right in the head.
Kyros, meanwhile, took up an offensive stance and prepared to seize the initiative. He shot forward, thrusting his sword straight at Kronos.
He was lightning-fast, probably moving at the speed of sound.
So sudden was his charge that Kronos could not react and was about to be pierced by the sword's tip. But just as the blade touched him, his body dissolved like a mirage into thin air.
Kyros' eyes widened slightly, and he instantly looked upward into the sky, where he spotted Kronos—twice.
An illusion? It seemed there was a double or a clone.
One of the two Kronoses held two daggers, like the real Kronos, while the other aimed a bow at Kyros.
Rain of Light!
The Kronos with the bow shot an arrow of light, which duplicated in mid-flight and became a rain of shining arrows that poured down upon Kyros.
"Tch." Kyros clicked his tongue.
He tightened his grip on the sword and, for the first time since the beginning of the battle, unleashed a part of his demonic power.
Then he swung his sword with unprecedented force.
Unlike before, this swing was not fast, but slow.
It was as if he were drawing a slow yet meticulously neat stroke through the air with a brush.
Rift Wave!
As the "brushstroke" ended, space bent, and a wave of demonic energy shot forth, swallowing the rain of light arrows and surging directly at Kronos.
The wave of demonic force, however, was not particularly fast, so both Kronoses could easily dodge it.
What they had not expected, though, was that Kyros vanished in a flash and reappeared behind the Kronos with the bow.
"You're first," he declared coldly. "I don't know what kind of technique you're using to clone yourself, but the ranged attacks from this one are extremely annoying."
With that, he swung his sword before the bow-wielding Kronos could react, slicing him vertically in two.
But again, the body of Kronos dissolved like a mirage into thin air.
Hidden Hunt!
Without realizing it, Kyros had fallen into a trap.
Suddenly three copies of Kronos appeared out of nowhere around him, encircling him.
Each held a dagger in both hands. All of them coated their blades in holy power and stabbed simultaneously at their prey trapped in the center.
Kyros remained surprisingly calm despite his predicament. The third eye on his forehead suddenly widened and emitted a bright violet light.
In the next instant he vanished from that spot, reappearing several hundred meters away from the three archangel doppelgängers.
He seized the moment of their confusion and unleashed another horizontal sword swing imbued with demonic power.
Grid Severance!
His demonic energy surged forth and rapidly expanded, taking the form of a massive grid that raced toward the three Kronoses and annihilated them completely.
The battle seemed finished. All copies of Kronos had vanished, and it appeared he had perished with them, nowhere to be seen in the gray void. The demons were already preparing to cheer and hurl themselves joyfully at the remaining angels—when suddenly, a pillar of light appeared in the middle of the battlefield.
The pillar disappeared almost as quickly as it had come, leaving behind the floating figure of Kronos, completely unharmed and shining in the brilliance of his appearance.
The temperament of the archangel was, as at the moment of his arrival, exalted. He made no move to panic despite his apparent disadvantage.
The former saint, Kronos. He was the Archangel of the Hunt and Wisdom, counted among the most powerful of all angels. He was also a constellation: "Throne of Wisdom Revealed" and a being of transcendent rank. Of course, he knew how strong his opponent was and that he would not be defeated easily.
Thus he would not lose composure so quickly.
That Kronos, despite all his efforts, could not land a single scratch on Kyros surprised him and stung his pride.
If this goes on, our battle could last months without deciding a winner… He narrowed his eyes as he analyzed the situation.
And we don't know how many demons are here in the outer world. If I give them too much time, they might stumble upon a world or other important treasures and surpass us!
His thoughts made sense and revealed the urgency of ending this fight and repelling the demons. Who knew what might happen if demons discovered a new world and invaded it?
Although angels and demons had both contributed to the downfall of Gaia through the Last Judgment, thus fostering the growth of the World Tree, and although they knew that Yggdrasil, the World Tree, had replaced Gaia and contained multiple worlds, they were only able to locate the Immortal World, as the highest beings—the constellations like the archangels—were connected to it.
But unlike Asher, they could not oversee the World Tree, the Outer World, and all worlds. Thus they only knew of the Immortal World, not how many worlds truly existed within the World Tree.
To find the others, they first had to explore the Outer World and search for them.
For the angels, this was of utmost urgency, since it had always been their duty to guide departed souls to heaven.
The demons, on the other hand, merely sought entertainment and explored the Outer World out of curiosity.
"I have no other choice…" Kronos muttered to himself, making his decision. "I will end it with a single blow!" he declared firmly.
Then he stretched out his hands. Instantly, an arrow appeared in his right and a bow of light in his left. At once he began to raise his divine power and prepare for the final strike.
"Hm?" Kyros seemed to sense his intent and apparently agreed. "Very well, I'm tired of this fight too… let's finish it!"
With that, he too began to gather all of his demonic power.
The demonic force rose like a dark mist from the demon's body and wrapped itself around his sword blade.
For a moment it looked as if a foggy figure formed of demonic energy surrounded his body, holding the sword with him.
Dimensional Rift!
He raised his sword, and waves of demonic energy burst from its blade like violent storms, making the void tremble.
At the same time, Kronos drew his bow, and from both arrow and bow surged immense divine power, concentrated and ready to be unleashed in a single shot.
Qui dereliquit Deum!
(A/N: The one who forsook God.)
Just as the two transcendent beings were about to unleash their mightiest techniques, loud church bells rang out from nowhere.
A bright light shone forth, illuminating the entire outer realm.
In that light, accompanied by the sound of tolling church bells, appeared a figure with six feathered white angel wings upon his back, a radiant halo above his head, and clad in majestic robes adorned with embroideries of crucifixes.
The first Archangel, Michael, Lord of Heaven and God's right hand, also known as: "Supreme Throne of the Hosts," had appeared in the Outer World.
"Enough!" Michael proclaimed in an exalted and authoritative tone.
At his voice, Kyros and Kronos instantly stopped their fight and looked up at him.
The other angels gazed at Michael in fascination, their eyes full of fanaticism, wonder, and bliss at beholding this highest being.
As Kronos felt Michael's presence, he let arrow and bow vanish at once, bowed deeply, and obediently stepped aside as if the demon had never been there.
"That is enough! Our Creator would not want us to fight each other here needlessly. Save your zeal for the coming Last Judgment."
Michael's gaze shifted sideways, as if looking at someone unseen. Finally, he asked something that astonished everyone present:
"Do you agree with me, Demon Prince of Desolation?"
Kyros raised a curious eyebrow.
The angels flinched at the title Michael had spoken. Kronos in particular was taken aback, for he recognized the title. But what surprised him even more was the thought that this person was present without his having noticed.
He quickly raised his head, carefully scanning his surroundings, and frowned as he turned in the same direction as Michael.
After a moment of silence, an eerie chuckle suddenly echoed from nowhere, resounding in all directions and filling the Outer World so that its source could not be determined.
"Hehehe~" Suddenly a great, wide rift tore open in the void above the gathered demons. The crack widened rapidly and opened.
Then, within the rift, appeared a massive red eye that stared at all present, piercing the void, amusement and curiosity gleaming within it.
The "Demon Prince of Desolation," Yaksha, also known as: "Demon Who Brings Destruction." He was one of the two strongest demons of the endless war hell and the First Prince of Hell.
He could be called the undisputed ruler of the endless war hell, the mightiest demon of all—and now he was here.
The angels were all visibly shocked, and Kronos too was struck by the fact that he had not noticed this being.
"Hehe~" The eerie chuckle echoed again. "Amusing. Just as expected of the supreme little chicken. That inferior weakling did not sense my gaze, yet you noticed my presence shortly after your arrival. Hehe~"
"Hmph." Michael snorted, not accepting the contemptuous praise. "Arrogant. I can feel the gaze of a vile demon even from billions of light years away. But tell me, what were you planning to do? Did you intend to watch the two of them destroy the Outer World and damage the World Tree?"
"Hehe~" Yaksha's suggestive laughter echoed again, without a direct answer to the archangel's question.
But Michael did not take the demon's manner to heart and dismissed it with contempt.
"In any case, it is certainly not in the Creator's interest for the World Tree to be damaged…" Michael began. "So let us establish a non-aggression pact. While we are in the Outer World, we shall stay out of each other's way and refrain from mutual confrontations."
"Heh! As you wish," Yaksha agreed surprisingly quickly.
The gathered angels flinched slightly in astonishment at the demon's swift reply, clearly not having expected such immediate consent.
Michael's expression, however, remained impassive, meaningful, as if nothing could shake him—least of all a wretched demon.
Yet in truth, what Michael had suggested—a non-aggression pact—was exactly what Yaksha had wanted, for in secret he feared the wrath of the Creator, an almighty being who had created them all and all worlds, and whom he dared not offend.
Thus the two factions separated. The archangels returned to heaven, and Kyros to hell, while the angels and demons remaining in the Outer World split apart.
Meanwhile, in the Hall of Knowledge, some changes were occurring.
From time to time visitors had already begun to arrive, those who had received a key to the hall. But they were mostly constellations, such as the angels or the four heroes, who would look at a few books or write something themselves and leave it behind in the empty bookshelves.
Vishnu too, after his appointment as caretaker of the Hall of Knowledge, had begun, as hoped, to write books on various subjects.
He often observed the mortal worlds with his privileges as a constellation and drew inspiration from the deeds and actions of mortals. He was currently writing novels, but also enjoyed composing encyclopedias about monsters or other races, like elves and dwarves, listing their special traits and talents.
At that time, Vishnu also sat at the reception desk, writing a book.
Meanwhile, there were two other visitors in the hall. One was browsing the still rather bare shelves, neatly sorted by subject and alphabet, looking around calmly.
The other visitor, dressed in casual everyday clothing, sat in the relaxation area and stared into the void, as if observing a place far away, while a book lay on the small table beside him.
"Interesting, they have actually already found this place." Asher murmured to himself.