"Found you."
Around noon that day, Rowan had just finished a satisfying meal at the highest-rated restaurant on Sardinia and was leaving in a very good mood when a blond-haired man suddenly blocked his path.
The midday sun over Sardinia was bright and scorching.
When it shone down on the man's messy blond hair, it was almost dazzling.
A long sword crudely wrapped in white cloth was strapped across his back. He was dressed casually, and the broad smile on his face made him look as though he had just reunited with an old friend after many years apart.
But Rowan recognized him at a glance.
A Campione.
The King of Swords—
Salvatore Doni.
Italy's strongest Campione.
Not particularly bright in the head, but absurdly talented with the sword.
A battle maniac.
A destruction maniac.
Wherever he went, something inevitably got demolished, and every magical association in Italy suffered headaches because of him.
Why the hell was this guy here?
Rowan couldn't figure it out.
"Something you need?" he asked.
"You're the one who dealt with the Heretic Gods on Sardinia, right?"
The moment he heard that, Rowan understood.
Apparently, the King of Swords had heard that Heretic Gods had appeared on Sardinia and had excitedly rushed over looking for a fight.
Unfortunately for him—
Rowan had already sent both Heretic Gods back to mythology.
Doni hadn't found any Heretic Gods.
Instead, he had found Rowan.
After all, Rowan was also regarded as a god.
In the King of Swords' eyes, there probably wasn't much difference between him and a Heretic God.
Rowan glanced at him and was considering simply turning around and leaving when he noticed that the King of Swords had already drawn his weapon.
He looked ready to slash at any moment.
And he didn't seem to care about the surroundings in the slightest.
This was the entrance of a restaurant.
People were constantly coming and going.
Several tourists holding ice cream cones were walking past nearby, while an elderly couple sat at an outdoor table, leisurely drinking coffee.
If a fight broke out here, plenty of innocent people would be caught in it.
Yet judging by Doni's posture—
he didn't seem to care at all.
No wonder Campiones were called Demon Kings.
Every last one of them was far too selfish and willful.
Rowan's good mood immediately disappeared.
He decided to teach the man a lesson.
"Let's change locations."
Rowan raised one hand and lightly traced a line through the air.
The power of the Door-Door Fruit activated.
An air door appeared out of nowhere and swung open.
On the other side was the beach of an uninhabited island.
The sound of waves poured through the doorway, accompanied by a salty ocean breeze.
The King of Swords' eyes lit up.
"Oh! That move is awesome!"
Rowan ignored him and stepped through first.
Salvatore Doni followed without the slightest hesitation.
The air door silently closed behind them.
Just like that, the two disappeared from the crowded streets of Sardinia.
The deserted island Rowan had chosen wasn't particularly large.
It was only about two or three kilometers across.
A small hill covered in low shrubs rose at its center, while white beaches and deep-blue seawater surrounded it.
The sky overhead was brilliantly blue.
Several white clouds drifted lazily above.
Rowan stopped on the beach and turned toward the King of Swords.
"Let me make one thing clear first."
With both hands still in his pockets, Rowan spoke casually.
"I'm not holding back today."
"You'd better protect yourself properly, or I might accidentally kill you."
"No problem!"
Salvatore Doni answered without hesitation.
"If I die, that just means I wasn't good enough."
The instant he finished speaking—
his entire body vanished.
Boom!
The beach exploded.
Sand erupted into the air.
At the same time, the sword in the King of Swords' hand was already slashing toward Rowan.
Fast.
Unbelievably fast.
So fast that by the time an ordinary powerhouse saw the blade—
their head would already be falling from their shoulders.
But Rowan was no ordinary powerhouse.
He didn't even remove his hands from his pockets.
He merely raised his head slightly and looked directly at the King of Swords.
Their gazes met.
Mental Domination Magic activated.
The King of Swords' body abruptly froze in midair.
The blade stopped three inches in front of Rowan's nose.
It couldn't advance another fraction.
However—
Doni had not been completely controlled.
Nor had he lost consciousness.
On the contrary, his muscles were trembling violently.
His willpower was actively struggling against Rowan's magic.
Rowan looked slightly surprised.
This was the first time his Mental Domination Magic had ever failed.
No—
"failed" wasn't quite accurate.
It simply hadn't managed to completely dominate someone.
He hadn't expected the King of Swords to possess such impressive willpower and mental resistance.
The next instant—
the spell power within Doni's body erupted.
As mentioned before, the spell power possessed by a Campione came from slaying gods.
Both its quality and quantity vastly surpassed that of ordinary magicians.
The moment Doni released his power, every bird on the island simultaneously took flight.
The insects hidden in the shrubs fell completely silent.
Even the surrounding air seemed to grow noticeably heavier.
Using sheer spell power, he forcibly broke through Rowan's Mental Domination and retreated rapidly, landing ten meters away.
"That was close."
Salvatore Doni shook his wrist.
His voice contained not a trace of fear.
Only pure excitement.
"I almost got controlled by you."
"That trick activates through eye contact, doesn't it?"
"Pretty sneaky."
As he spoke—
he closed his eyes.
That way, Rowan couldn't control him through sight again.
Even with his eyes shut, however, Doni could still locate Rowan through his presence.
"Now I'm going to get serious."
He raised his sword high and began chanting words of power.
"I swear this here and now! I will permit nothing that I cannot cut to exist! This blade is the invincible sword that shall sever and cleave everything upon the earth!"
This was the Authority he had stolen from Nuada, the Celtic God-King.
The Ripping Silver Arm.
A terrifying yet incredibly straightforward Authority.
When activated, his flesh-and-blood arm transformed into a silver metallic arm.
An enormous amount of spell power would then wrap around whatever weapon he held, granting it enough power to create miracles such as splitting the earth, altering terrain, or cleaving apart the sea.
It was a demonic sword capable of cutting through anything.
The object didn't even need to be an actual sword.
A toothpick or tree branch could become a divine blade under the Silver Arm's power.
Furthermore—
the sword could sever not only solid objects.
It could also cut things without physical form, including gases, liquids, spiritual bodies, and more.
The King of Swords swung downward.
A silver slash detached from the blade and raced forward along the beach.
Wherever it passed, the sand was cleanly divided in two.
Even individual grains were sliced with mirror-smooth surfaces.
If this attack struck a warship, it could split a destroyer from bow to stern.
But at that moment—
Rowan raised one finger.
Time Magic activated.
The slash froze in midair.
The silver blade of energy hung completely motionless, as though sealed inside amber.
And naturally—
the King of Swords, Salvatore Doni, froze along with it.
Then Rowan kicked.
Boom!
The King of Swords was launched away like a cannonball.
He flew across the entire beach and crashed headfirst into the shrub-covered hill at the center of the island.
A thunderous explosion followed.
Broken rocks and shattered wood flew high into the air.
Rowan released the Time Stop and leisurely began walking toward the center of the island.
He had gone less than thirty meters when a burst of silver light exploded from the shrubbery.
Doni crawled out from beneath a pile of rubble.
Dirt and leaves covered his face.
His clothes were torn in several places.
But his sword was still firmly gripped in his hand.
"Ow, ow, ow…"
The battered King of Swords rubbed his back and grimaced.
"What the hell just happened?"
"Why did I suddenly get kicked away?"
"Because I stopped time," Rowan replied.
"Hey, hey, hey!"
Salvatore immediately began complaining.
"That's cheating!"
How the hell was he supposed to fight an opponent who could stop time?
It was impossible!
The moment he prepared an attack—
his opponent simply stopped time.
Then before he could even understand what was happening—
he got kicked across the island.
Exactly like what had just happened.
If Rowan hadn't explained it himself, Salvatore wouldn't even have known how he had been sent flying.
What kind of fight was that supposed to be?!
"Don't tell me you're some kind of God of Time?"
Faced with Doni's question, Rowan calmly replied,
"You're overthinking it."
"I'm not a God of Time."
"I'm a God of Death."
"Hah?!"
Salvatore Doni stared at him blankly.
"Who are you trying to fool?"
"What kind of God of Death can stop time?!"
Rowan asked in return,
"Who decided that a God of Death isn't allowed to stop time?"
Uh…
Salvatore fell speechless.
Strictly speaking—
no one had ever made such a rule.
But common sense dictated that the Authorities of a death god should revolve around death.
Time-related Authorities should belong to gods of time.
Yet this God of Death possessed the power to stop time.
This guy was definitely not a normal God of Death.
Even so—
Salvatore had no intention of giving up.
Surrendering without a fight simply wasn't his style.
Even if he couldn't win—
he would still fight.
Salvatore took a deep breath and raised his sword over his head with both hands.
This time, the spell power around his body no longer surged outward chaotically.
Instead, every last bit of it was compressed into the blade.
Silver light spread across the sword, gradually enveloping Doni himself in a faint silver radiance.
"This is a move I've never used before."
For once, his voice became somewhat serious.
"My Silver Arm can cut through everything."
"But what happens if I apply the concept of 'cutting' to distance and speed themselves?"
The instant he finished speaking—
the sword descended.
There was no slash wave.
No sword energy.
Not even any visible effect.
Yet the moment that sword was swung—
the distance between Salvatore and Rowan disappeared.
The King of Swords' blade suddenly appeared directly in front of Rowan's forehead.
Less than a centimeter away.
This strike—
in the truest sense—
could not miss.
Rowan raised an eyebrow.
Interesting.
This single-minded sword idiot had actually managed to come up with something like this.
Apparently, Rowan had pressured him enough to force some creativity out of him.
But in the next instant—
Rowan vanished.
Teleportation Magic.
Simple as that.
He appeared behind the King of Swords.
Salvatore's strike pierced empty air.
Before he could even recover his balance, Rowan's hand was already pressed against his back.
Enchantment Magic—
Separation.
Ordinarily, Enchantment Magic could apply properties or concepts to objects.
And the moment Rowan enchanted the concept of "separation"—
the sword in Salvatore's hand was instantly repelled from his grip by an invisible force.
The weapon flew from his hand, spun several times through the air, then landed with a dull thunk—
burying itself in the sand ten meters away.
Uh…
Salvatore Doni stared.
Well, shit.