The scene before him was completely different. He wasn't on the ground. He was floating… no, he wasn't floating, he was observing.
Someone was standing in the sky.
Yes, in every sense of the word, the man was standing above the cloud layers, without wings, without support, as if the air itself was ground beneath his feet. His long golden hair swayed gently in the wind, and his blue eyes shone sharply. His face was handsome, cold, majestic, and deep. He wore a simple black shirt, topped with a black cloak fluttering behind him, and on his back was a sword, sheathed in a silver scabbard lined with glowing lines like veins.
The man took only one step.
Suddenly, the scene flipped completely.
Christopher now found himself seeing from above a great mountain range stretching like a sleeping giant. The rocks were sharp, clouds weaving through the peaks. The latent power in that place made his heart tremble.
Christopher's eyes narrowed in shock. He couldn't think or ask a question. How? How fast was that? Who is this person? And what is he seeing now?
Only a moment passed… just one moment, and the man moved from one place to another as if the laws of the world did not apply to him.
As the golden-haired man stood above the mountain range, he began moving his hands gently first upwards, then bringing them together in a calm and steady motion. His face was serious, as if he was summoning something.
"The Golden Sword."
He whispered the words, calmly. At that moment, the air around him began to tremble, and golden sparks of light scattered around him. A holy incantation quickly formed behind him, rays of light dancing across his body, as if the entire sky was responding to him.
Then, suddenly, the air tore, and three massive golden swords emerged, glowing with radiant light. The swords headed directly toward the ground, crossing the distance in the blink of an eye, flowing through the sky and the thick clouds that hid what lay beneath the mountains. When the golden swords pierced the clouds and vanished, the unexpected happened.
The clouds parted, revealing what had been hidden below.
The corpse of a giant beast lay at the foot of the mountain range.
The beast resembled a dragon, but not like any traditional dragon. Its massive head bore six curved horns bent backward like broken crowns, and its long fangs were still embedded in the rock. Its frozen eyes were open, staring lifelessly toward the sky, as if still questioning how it ended up dead. Its wings, completely torn, were spread across the sides of the mountain, covering a vast area like shadows.
But what drew Christopher's gaze the most was the back.
The beast's back was torn open, with a huge circular wound as if a meteor had pierced it from the sky. Blood, deep purple in color, was still slowly leaking from the opening, pooling beneath it into a small lake glowing with a faint, ominous shimmer. The bones inside the gash were clearly visible, twisted as if they had exploded from within.
The body looked like a mountain whose heart had been ripped out. Deformed, scorched, and filled with signs of an unimaginable battle.
But the terror did not come from the beast itself… but from what was on top of it.
A man was sitting calmly on the corpse. And though the difference in size made him look like an ant on a human's body, his overwhelming presence made everything else fade away.
He wore a black coat with the word "Unity" in golden letters. Even in a seated position, he radiated a sense of absolute power and authority.
In his right hand, he held a long rifle covered with violet runes. His left hand gripped a massive axe, its head deformed with many dark symbols that gleamed. His face was covered with a black mask hiding the lower half, and his hair was short and black but his gaze pierced the heart.
From above, the golden-haired man looked down at the man sitting on the beast and said in a calm voice:
"The Heavenly Hunter… The Great Unity… I have found you."
The man sitting on the beast slowly raised his head, his sharp eyes locking on the man in the sky. His eyes were immersed in calm. With utter stillness, he replied:
"Hmm… You're late. I thought you wouldn't come. But since you're here… why not stay?"
The man sitting on the beast stood up quietly, and a powerful aura emanated from him that made the world around him bow. He raised his eyebrows coldly, his eyes shining with killing intent, and said as he lifted his rifle toward the golden-haired man:
"I haven't hunted a saint in a while…"
BOOM!
A bullet shot through the sky toward the golden-haired man.
The golden-haired man looked at the scene as if he had expected it. Then he drew his sword from its sheath and said in a quiet voice:
"Then… please, try my sword."
He raised his sword, which ignited with a dazzling golden light. A mighty sword intent emerged from it, turning into a golden blaze that launched like lightning toward the incoming bullet.
Then… a message appeared in Christopher's mind:
[Do you wish to copy the Saint's Solitary Sword Technique?]
Christopher ignored the message that appeared in his mind or maybe he couldn't even think about it amidst what he was seeing. His eyes remained wide open, fixed on the scene before him, on the collision between the sword's brilliance and the bullet's fire that seemed to split the sky in half.
Then came the explosion.
And with the explosion… the scene shattered.
The world collapsed like a mirror struck by a stone. The two men, the beast, the sky everything disappeared.
Then… silence.
Christopher found himself standing again in the dark space, as if nothing had happened. No sound, no sense of time. Just him… the darkness… and two stars before him.
His heart was still pounding fast, and his eyes were stunned by what he had just witnessed. He raised his head toward the remaining two stars. The scene he had just seen still lingered in his mind, shaking him inside.
Then, quietly, he closed his eyes.
[Do you wish to copy the Saint's Solitary Sword Technique?]
The message appeared again.
He breathed slowly, then murmured, "Yes."
As soon as he spoke the word, a wave of information flooded into his mind.
When everything ended, he opened his eyes. The two stars before him were still glowing in the darkness… but he didn't look at them.
Instead, he asked aloud, as if trying to understand what he had just seen:
"Who… who was that Hunter? And that Saint?"
His voice echoed in the void around him, but no one answered.
Then he slowly frowned and whispered:
"Could they be of Rank Five… or even Six? No… maybe higher."
He imagined the power that bent the air, tore the sky, and brought down the dragon-like beast. His heart trembled.
Christopher slowly lowered his head and murmured:
"Even if I knew… it wouldn't help me."
A moment of silence passed before he whispered again:
"The most important thing now is that I got the technique that will be the mission reward for Raven Hart Cole."
But he quickly frowned and thought:
"Even if he succeeds… how will I get the resources?"
He scratched his head and began to mutter:
"Hmm… annoying matter…"
Then he sighed and looked into the void.
"No matter… I'll think about it later. If he succeeds, we'll have time to come up with solutions."
After that, Christopher walked toward the red star, and as soon as he touched it, he felt like he was being pulled into a vortex. His vision darkened.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself before a man standing in the middle of a courtyard, swinging his sword and practicing. He was a man with short black hair, his face handsome and stern, his upper body bare except for black pants. In his hand, he held his sword, swinging it through the air as if training in sword techniques. That was Raven Hart Cole.
Christopher looked at the man for a moment, then thought to himself: Hmm, looks like he finally settled.
Christopher raised his hand and said in his heart: Time to pretend. He closed his eyes and began to imagine. Suddenly, the shadows began to move, covering the entire courtyard. Everything around him turned into utter darkness, and the shadows began to gather in front of Raven Hart Cole.
Then, a man appeared sitting on a luxurious chair shrouded in shadows and darkness, clasping his hands calmly in front of him. He spoke in a calm, magnetic voice: "Hello, Black Crown. We meet again."
Raven Hart Cole felt a shock but quickly understood the situation. This presence… this voice… this appearance… and finally, he understood who it was.
He placed his right hand on his chest and bowed with respect, saying: "My apologies, Lord Caesar."