In the middle of a completely ruined mountainous landscape lay a man with black hair.
His body was stretched out on the shattered ground, almost unrecognizable amid the deep cracks and scattered debris.
Near him, fallen a few meters ahead, there was a great sword — its blade partially embedded in the earth, covered in dust and blood.
The man's torso was almost torn in two. The flesh had been opened in a grotesque manner.
His eyes were empty, unfocused, staring at nothing, while threads of blood slowly trickled from the corner of his mouth, mixing with the sodden earth.
Aleksander Ryback.
The Third North God remained there, motionless, merely contemplating the rain that fell over his face.
The cold drops hit his skin without him reacting, running down his cheeks, mixing with the blood.
His gaze remained fixed on the gray sky, completely empty.
When did he become so pathetic?
He had talent, he had a powerful weapon, and he had a goal to fight for.
So… what was he missing?
Maybe the world he had seen up to that point was a big lie.
Kalman III couldn't shake that thought. The feeling was of having been deceived by everyone around him since his childhood.
What great swordsman? What strongest sword in the world?
Only that day, he had seen more than a few weapons capable of equaling — or even surpassing — the Gravity Sword Kajakut.
The title he carried… suddenly seemed hollow.
He didn't know when the rain had started, at some point the sky had simply closed. Still, the rain fit strangely with the crushing monotony of that moment.
The constant sound of the falling drops created a boring, ironic rhythm in front of the absolute chaos around.
What was he, after all?
Maybe… maybe he should just die.
That's what happened when a battle was lost, right?
A silent, inglorious end.
What strange times.
Even so, he continued to hear the sounds of the ceaseless battle in the distance, making the ground tremble from time to time.
Those monsters were still fighting.
So… why hadn't he died?
He knew the answer.
He remembered once again that the Dragon God Orsted had protected him from the Beast God.
"AAAAAGAAAHGAAAHHAT!"
Suddenly, Kalman let out a scornful growl.
What was happening?!
Until yesterday, he — the great North God — didn't consider himself the most powerful warrior alive?!
So why, today, had four monsters appeared, treating him like a random rookie?!
Why was all this happening…?
Suddenly, everything quieted.
The distant sound of the battle ceased for a brief instant.
Kalman slowly turned his head in the direction of the conflict.
There was the Beast God.
He still wore that fearsome Black Armor, wrapped in purple flames that distorted the space around it. Just looking at it made his body shudder.
And that sword…
Kalman felt a deep chill as he faced the translucent purple blade.
He could feel the intent.
Burn everything, destroy everything. Incinerate the world and all who live in it.
That was the will emanating from that blade.
The sword of judgment, Doomsday.
He didn't know what that Armor was, but it seemed even more terrifying than the sword. It was as if it wanted to swallow everything around it, as if a sun were contained on its surface.
A black cloak floated behind the Beast God as he hovered a few meters above the ground.
And, on the ground, was the Dragon God Orsted.
He watched him in silence.
A blinding white light surrounded his figure, obscuring his contours.
Still, Kalman could feel something behind that light.
Malice.
That dreadful being — a dragon so evil that it could outshine even the hatred Kalman felt for the Beast God.
He watched the two of them staring at each other.
Two existences that seemed to belong to a completely different world than his.
At that moment… Kalman finally seemed to understand something.
In fact…
"What do I really know about the world?"
---
Rygar watched Orsted cautiously.
The fight having stopped at that moment did not lessen his caution; on the contrary, he was even more alert now.
Then Rygar spoke:
"Why do you protect the North God, Orsted? Didn't he just attack us?"
The light around the Godsword diminished gradually.
Orsted's voice sounded exactly as before. Direct and emotionless.
"He still has use to me."
No further explanation was given.
Rygar did not insist. He simply watched the Dragon God with even more attention.
There was something specific Rygar needed from that fallen man.
The Gravity Sword, Kajakut.
With it, he could forge the second model of the Sköllvindr Armor much faster. Gathering the other materials wouldn't be a big problem — it would take little time. The true core of that evolution was the sword.
But there was a serious problem.
His mana had fallen to less than thirty percent.
For Rygar, that was a critical state.
Orsted was not his only opponent in that world. There were many things he needed to protect, many open fronts. He couldn't afford to spend all his mana just to drain the Dragon God.
Rygar activated his Demon Eyes, observing Orsted.
Although it wasn't possible to measure precisely, he was sure that the Dragon God had also spent a large amount of mana.
At least more than half of what he had at the start of that fight.
Still, Rygar couldn't measure something crucial.
Orsted's fighting intent.
Would he be willing to continue fighting just to protect the North God?
Rygar doubted it.
While keeping his serious, aggressive stance, Rygar quickly weighed the results of the entire operation up to that moment.
The Sköllvindr Armor had a built-in communicator, which allowed him to monitor most of his subordinates' information in real time.
First.
He clearly felt that the bottleneck that had been preventing him from improving further had broken.
Watching Orsted's techniques up close was revealing. It wasn't just strength or speed — it was a new way of seeing combat. Almost like discovering a completely new world.
A way of attacking and fighting by bending the world itself to your will.
The Dragon God didn't fight like an ordinary warrior; he was akin to a natural force, no exaggeration.
Furthermore, Rygar had forced Orsted to spend an enormous amount of mana in that fight. Mana enough to leave him incapacitated for years, perhaps even decades.
Rygar had also acquired enormous proficiency by fighting with Doomsday and Sköllvindr.
More than that, he had completely tamed those two sentient artifacts. In front of Orsted, neither the sword nor the armor dared show arrogance.
Second, according to the reports.
The plan in Asura had been a success.
Seventy percent of the Asuran nobility had been exterminated. Among the dead were Darius Silva Ganius, the former regent King, and Philemon Notos Greyrat — direct targets of Ghislaine and Eris's vengeance.
Politically, this reduced the threat of the Asura Kingdom to almost zero, considering the current strength of the Gaia Kingdom.
There were some unexpected problems.
The recruitment target, Auber Corvette, had been killed.
On the other hand, Reida Reia had been captured.
The Dragon God's forces had been reduced. Timothy Britz was dead.
Not everything, however, went as planned.
Due to the emergence of the Technique God, the plan had to be hastened. The theft of the Flying Fortress, Chaos Breaker, was put on the back burner.
Still, they had obtained most of what was necessary.
All the knowledge contained in the Fortress had been stolen.
Barrier Magic, Summoning, Teleportation, and many other advanced systems. Furthermore, the methods of controlling the Fortress itself were now in their hands.
Perugius Dola had become hostile after Sylvaril's death. That was a problem — but not a big enough problem to be a priority at that moment.
Overall…
A resounding success.
There was only one real problem.
Hitogami had also apparently achieved a resounding success in his mission.
By coincidence or fate, both operations occurred simultaneously. Rygar still knew little about Hitogami's exact objectives in attacking the Technique God, but his intuition told him that it was directly related to the fact that the Technique God had become his enemy in the future.
Connecting the dots, the name of the culprit was obvious. The Nether King, Vita.
Unfortunately, Rygar was already tied up facing Orsted. He had arrived too late to interfere in that battle.
With little information about his opponents, Rygar couldn't act rashly.
Who could say if the Fighter God and the Technique God weren't waiting to ambush him?
But that didn't mean he'd give up on them. He would still track and hunt them.
All he needed now… was to get rid of that hitch called the Dragon God.
Still, Hitogami had also made a mistake.
Delivering the Gravity Sword into Rygar's hands was a mistake caused by Hitogami's lack of information.
The Sköllvindr Armor had three stages.
Ascendant, Transcendent, and Divine.
As soon as Rygar forged the second stage, his strength would increase again. More dangerous still, he would gain much greater control over Gravity, Mass, and Space.
At that moment… Rygar could walk the world freely.
All these conclusions passed through his mind in microseconds. His superhuman reaction time, combined with the power of his Demon Eyes, allowed this kind of instant processing.
Then he spoke.
"Dragon God Orsted… you are truly worthy of occupying Second Place among the World's Powers, I cannot defeat you."
Internally, Rygar wished to kill that lizard.
But not now.
The aggressive posture, the murderous intent he emanated, was only an act.
He continued:
"But you cannot stop me from leaving if I want."
Rygar's gaze turned slightly toward where the Gravity Sword Kajakut rested.
"I will take with me the Gravity Sword, Kajakut. Try to stop me… and I will keep fighting you to the death."
Without wasting time, Rygar reached out his hand toward the Gravity Sword.
Interiorly, he was already prepared to restart the fight and flee immediately if necessary.
He was, obviously, bluffing.
If Orsted really decided to stop him from taking Kajakut, Rygar would abandon the sword and retreat.
Rygar was betting that Orsted's mana had fallen enough that the Dragon God would not want to get involved in another prolonged fight.
For a brief instant, Rygar sighed inwardly. Then his Gravity Magic manifested.
The sword responded immediately, Kajakut slid through the air toward him.
It moved away from the North God's control without any resistance and landed in Rygar's hands.
Orsted did not move.
He simply stared at Rygar.
The look he cast was terrifying. As soon as the sword rested firmly in his hands, Orsted spoke:
"Beast God… you have your own ideology. Your own way of living for your goals. I respect that."
The Godsword descended slowly. The white glow that still remained on it gradually disappeared.
Orsted continued:
"We are enemies now. But we may not be in ten or twenty years."
There was a brief pause.
"If at some point you are willing to an alliance… I will be waiting."
His expression became darker.
"It is as you mentioned. For me… the death of Hitogami comes first. I cannot bring your friend Eidar back to life. And I will not give up on my objective… just as I do not expect you to give up on yours."
He looked directly into Rygar's eyes; Orsted was obviously referring to the threat made at the beginning of the fight.
Behind the black helm, his expression was completely unreadable.
Then he answered:
"Yes… that is how it should be."
His voice sounded monotonous, and a little melancholic.
Without saying anything else, Rygar shot into the air.
---
Five minutes later.
Still in the Red Dragon Range, Rygar entered a well-structured cave. He had followed the tracks easily.
In the center of a large dark hall, there was a magic teleportation circle.
It was deactivated.
Rygar recognized the problem the moment he saw it; the circle had been destroyed on the other side.
He observed for a few more moments, in silence.
Hitogami was also putting his own plans into motion.
He wasn't idle, he was also strengthening himself.
Orsted, despite being the one who should have benefited most from Queen Ariel's ascension to the throne, ended up being the most harmed by recent developments.
The biggest winners were Rygar and the Man God.
In this chess game that involves the entire Six-Faced World, every move shapes the future in irreversible ways.
The current Timeline had diverged drastically from the original.
From that point on, the winner would be only the one who could stay ahead.
The one who could kill his opponents… and remain alive.
The Six-Faced World was complicating itself in ways no previous loop of Orsted had ever witnessed.
-----
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