When the magical power surged from Lucifer and formed an invisible wall, all movement within the space came to a halt.
Ninth-circle, Absolute Zero Point.
Time is a relative concept.
Because speed and time are proportional, time passes incredibly slowly when observed at the speed of light.
In other words, from the perspective of light, the world is almost at a standstill.
However, even from light’s point of view, time flows, though slowly.
So how could one completely stop the flow of time?
If the movement of everything were restricted to zero, only then would time truly cease.
Lucifer’s magic followed this very principle. By creating a space of “nothingness” devoid of both light and speed, even time was erased.
Cough─!
And in this space, the only being who possessed the concept of time—Lucifer—coughed up a handful of blood.
The side effects of casting a grand spell in his damaged state due to the magical overload had begun to show.
Damn it. Once this is over, I won’t be able to move for a while.
The ninth circle’s Absolute Zero Point was a spell that even Lucifer could only use after great preparation, so the backlash from using it in haste would soon catch up with him.
To fully heal from the side effects he was barely holding back now, it would take quite some time.
Still, it was worth it.
Lucifer opened his previously closed eyes and glared at Shane, who stood behind Arcane.
“I’ll acknowledge you.”
Only then did Lucifer, the embodiment of pride, finally smile.
Indeed, he was strong.
To think that a mere human had pushed him to the point of feeling threatened.
“But in the end, I am the victor.”
In this frozen world, there was nothing the man could do.
At Lucifer’s fingertips, a beam of destruction began to gather.
“I will remember you.”
***
People often think that a great commander is someone who can always make the best move, no matter the situation.
But from Osten’s perspective, that was a terribly arrogant assumption.
The best option doesn’t always exist.
That’s why, in Osten’s mind, a truly great commander was someone who could choose the lesser evil.
And now, the lesser evil that Osten could think of was to fail at stopping the terror attack.
The greater the damage from the attack, the greater the people’s anger would grow.
In such a case, even in this time of peace, war could break out.
If the crime became too severe, no one person would be able to stop it.
In other words, dealing with just the king of the Haiel Kingdom, who would be revealed as the mastermind behind this incident, wouldn’t be enough to resolve everything.
But on the other hand, what would be the worst-case scenario?
If that guy dies.
When Osten had heard from Olicia some time ago that Shane had headed alone into enemy territory, he immediately realized it was a trap set by Nameless.
Surely, Shane also knew that and still chose to go.
But from Osten’s perspective, it was a far too dangerous choice.
At present, the most influential figure in the Olicia camp was none other than Shane.
If he were to die here, the loss would be enormous.
Why would he make such a choice?
And yet, Shane must have known that as well, so why would he take such a risk and step into the enemy’s trap?
He mentioned an unknown entity, didn’t he?
Osten believed the reason lay in the report from the dark elf under Adam’s command.
An unidentified entity discovered at the location where slaves of other races had been kept.
Although he didn’t know the full details, Osten had figured out that for Shane, that entity was important enough to risk such danger.
Because of that, Osten made his decision.
I’ll give up on stopping the terror attack.
Since it was a trap set by Nameless, and fierce battles were sure to take place, would Shane truly be able to face that entity?
Osten judged the chances of that to be low.
Osten didn’t know how powerful Nameless truly was, but at the very least, this was the group that had threatened the elves in the Great Mezaiya Forest, moved an army of 500,000 orcs, and even managed to recruit the king of Haiel.
There was no way a trap set by such a group would be easy to overcome.
So, rather than trying to stop a terror attack that might not even happen, Osten thought it was better to focus on rescuing the unidentified entity that Shane had risked his life to pursue.
That was the choice Osten made.
His thoughts were long, but his decision was swift. Osten’s next move was without hesitation.
“All commanders, listen up. We’re changing our destination. Head to the abandoned mine in Sector 17 of the coalition. Gather at Entrance 4.”
***
The beam of destruction converged and aimed straight for Shane’s heart.
In a world where everything had come to a halt, a single beam of light shot toward Shane’s chest.
“What!”
In that brief instant, when Shane’s eyes met his, Lucifer’s eyes widened in disbelief.
It was only for a moment, but Shane’s gaze had unmistakably turned toward him.
How could a human regain time in a world that had stopped?
But it wasn’t Lucifer’s imagination. White flames suddenly surged in front of Shane and they swallowed the beam of destruction headed for him whole.
“H-How is that possible?!”
And it didn’t stop there. The flames flared even higher and shot toward Lucifer.
If Lucifer had been even a moment slower to react, those flames would have consumed him as well.
“I’ve used this before, but it’s definitely impressive.”
In the frozen world, Shane who had regained time looked around.
Indeed, Lucifer’s magic was a threat.
Magic that could stop time.
It was an incredibly advanced spell, which combined a highly sophisticated magic pattern with an immense amount of magical power. This was something ordinary mages wouldn’t dare to attempt.
Even for the current Shane, it was a spell beyond his reach. The fact that Lucifer had cast it alone, without any help from others, was proof enough that he was a formidable enemy.
However.
“The match-up wasn’t in your favor.”
“What?”
“The power you rejected. Lucifer of Pride.”
“…How do you… know that?”
At Shane’s words, a look of shock spread across Lucifer’s face.
Shane had figured out how he was able to move within Lucifer’s absolute dominion.
“You… what are you? How can you use the power of Pride?”
The Origin of Pride.
It was the emotion of a being that ruled over all things.
For that reason, as long as one had pride and confidence in themselves, it was an unshakable and unstoppable force.
Therefore, to wield Pride, one had to be certain that they were a perfect existence.
But Lucifer couldn’t do that.
Because he was nothing more than a creature created by the dragon.
Lucifer had determined that unless he surpassed his creator, he couldn’t wield this power himself.
That was why, despite bearing the name of Pride, he couldn’t use the Origin of Pride.
So, in his previous life, Lucifer had rebelled.
The being he deemed a perfect existence was the one who stood at the nameless pinnacle.
However, Dilaila, the legion commander who had also represented Pride in her previous life, was different.
[What? Who in the world is a perfect being? Does he think he’s a god or something? That’s just stupid. Perfection is relative. If I’m stronger than that bastard, then I’m the more perfect one.]
Surprisingly, in her previous life, Dilaila had struck at the core of the issue.
Unlike Lucifer, she saw the concept of perfection as “relative”.
In truth, as she had said, perfection is relative.
If you think about it, true “perfection” doesn’t actually exist.
There was always the potential for something to progress beyond its current state, so one could only say that they were their most perfect self at any given moment.
“I should be the one asking you. Why don’t you trust the power you have?”
“What did you say?”
But Lucifer, who felt inferior to his creator, never considered himself perfect, and so he despised the power of Pride and refused to use it.
No one knew how Lucifer had come to feel inferior to his creator.
But as Shane looked at Lucifer, he saw a reflection of his past self.
…The self who had once felt inferior to Klein.
As if refusing to acknowledge the truth, Lucifer’s magic flared.
“How dare a mere human presume to lecture me…!”
“…..”
Shane didn’t bother to try and persuade Lucifer any further.
Since someone consumed by inferiority lacks confidence in themselves, they won’t listen no matter what is said to them.
In fact, Shane understood Lucifer, having since he walked that very path himself.
The beam of destruction created by Lucifer’s magic came flying from all directions.
Although it was clearly abnormal due to the magic overload, its speed and destructive power were no different than before.
However, the beam of destruction ultimately couldn’t penetrate the White Flame and lost its strength in midair.
“What now?! What is this?!”
Lucifer raged when his attack failed to affect Shane in the slightest, unlike before.
Who was this human that could so effortlessly neutralize his every move?
Lucifer who had never before experienced such helplessness in his life could hardly believe what was happening.
“White Flame…”
Meanwhile, Shane recalled the results of his analysis after absorbing Daniel’s white flame after being hit by his attack.
Before, he had only been able to disrupt Lucifer’s magic to a certain extent, but now he had the power to completely neutralize it.
Yet, this power didn’t suit Shane very well.
From Shane’s perspective, who had to absorb magical power through Greed, the White Flame’s ability to erase magic itself made it impossible to absorb.
It could only be used purely for defense.
But right now, that was more than enough.
“With time stopped, it’s starting to get hard to breathe. Let’s clear this up.”
“What did you say?”
With a mere wave of Shane’s hand, the White Flame filled the space, and the domain of absolute zero began to crumble.
With just a gesture, a ninth-circle spell was shattered.
Lucifer bit his lip at this sight.
“……!”
“Ugh…!”
As time resumed its flow, Daniel who had his abdomen pierced by Arcane’s sword hurriedly staggered back.
“What the hell…?”
Sensing a burst of magic behind him, Daniel quickly turned to look at Lucifer, but all he saw was the look of humiliation on Lucifer’s face, born from the sting of defeat.
Seeing this, Daniel instantly realized things were not going as planned.
“You…!”
When he turned his gaze forward again, Shane who was wrapped in the brilliant White Flame was staring at him.
“In the name of justice, do you force others to sacrifice themselves?”
“…….!”
“Can that truly be called justice?”
“…What do you know?”
Killing intent rose from Daniel and started pressing down on Shane.
At that moment, Arcane stepped forward with an angry expression as she blocked Daniel’s path.
“Master.”
“No, Arcane. We’re not the ones who will kill him. Someone else will.”
“…….”
“Consumed by greed in the name of justice, you’ve walked a twisted path. That’s why you’ve ended up facing such a future.”
Having analyzed Daniel’s White Flame, which was of a completely different caliber from Daira’s, Shane understood how the current White Flame had been created.
This seemingly brilliant power was forged through the sacrifice of a single individual and the deaths of countless others.
Contrary to its outward appearance, the cruelty hidden within this power clearly showed the kind of path those who wielded it were walking.
“…I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“It doesn’t matter. In time, your true nature will be exposed, whether by me or someone else.”
“…….?”
Daniel’s face twisted in frustration as he concluded there was no doubt the man knew something.
“I miscalculated.”
He regretted placing too many restrictions on the fight and worrying too much about external attention.
The man before him had to be killed, right here and now.
But Daniel, who saw Lucifer glaring at Shane from behind with lingering anger, realized it was time to retreat.
I don’t know how he’s able to handle the White Flame to that extent, but…
There wasn’t much Lucifer could do while suffering from magic overload in front of such powerful White Flame.
On top of that, Daniel himself was uncertain if he could maintain his upper hand after the injuries he had just received from Arcane.
At that moment, the communication tool in Daniel’s pocket buzzed.
It signaled that someone else was approaching the abandoned mine.
“I’ll retreat for now.”
Rather than gambling on slim odds, it was more important to report what he had learned to the crown prince.
“Hey, we’re pulling back now.”
“What nonsense is this? You’re telling me to tuck my tail and run from a mere human? Ridiculous!”
But Lucifer had no intention of retreating. He instead gathered his magical power and began to envelop himself with it.
As he did, the human form he had taken began to shift.
Scales started to emerge from what had been his human skin, and the energy he radiated grew even fiercer.
Damn it, he’s not going to listen.
At that, Daniel closed his eyes, as if signaling that this was the end.
No matter what Lucifer chose, Daniel had already decided to withdraw.
But Lucifer wouldn’t allow even that.
“Are you planning to run off alone?”
“There’s no point in getting involved in a fight we can no longer win. You should also avoid revealing your identity any further, shouldn’t you?”
“Kuku… humans. Cowards, then and now. If it’s troublesome for others to witness us, why not just kill them all?”
“…What?”
“Enough. Just help me, human. I’ll show them what the power of a Dragonian truly is.”
At this point, it was all or nothing.
Lucifer had no intention of retreating after the humiliation he suffered today.
His rage had swallowed his reason.
A swirling vortex of magic whipped around Lucifer.
The intense flow of energy caused the already battle-torn mine to begin collapsing, and as Lucifer floated into the air, he glared down at Shane with eyes full of anger and arrogance.
“Yes, this is where you belong. Like worms crawling in the dirt, I’ll make sure you never rise again!”
The heart of the Dragonian pounded fiercely.
Though he was still suffering from the side effects of his magic overload, he pushed everything else aside.
Lucifer’s instincts were clear.
If he retreated now, the chance to kill that human would never come again.
With the recoil that would soon follow already in mind, Lucifer began weaving his magical pattern.
“Let’s see how well that pathetic, bug-like power of yours holds up.”
“Damn… this is crazy.”
Daniel was horrified by the overwhelming magic surging from Lucifer.
Even the power of White Flame couldn’t stop the massive amount of energy being released.
It was easily on par with, if not greater than, the Sun Raviata had displayed during the in Arunvida.
If he got caught in that spell, there was no guarantee Daniel would survive, so he stepped back and started climbing over the crumbling debris of the mine’s ceiling.
“Kuku… it’s already too late to run.”
At the same time, two huge spheres of energy formed in Lucifer’s hands.
The moment the spheres that rose from both hands merged into one.
A ninth-circle advanced spell.
Big Bang.
From Lucifer’s hands, the universe exploded.
Leave a Reply