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"No soul can ever escape the relentless judgment of the celestial god, for justice and truth are sealed in the heavens, and no darkness can hide from their eternal gaze."
– Alex Striker
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Beneath the earth, the shadowy figure advanced through a narrow passage that bent into another corridor.
He pulled out his pocket watch, glaring at the ticking hands. "Five hours since I got here…" he hissed before shouting in frustration, "Where is the Monarch's Sanctuary?!"
Out of anger, he slammed his fist into the ancient wall, shattering the carvings into fragments. As the dust began to settle, a clear hall emerged behind the broken stone. He exhaled sharply. "Never mind. Found it."
Without a thought, he crossed into the silent hall. Each step guided him toward the treasure room, his instincts steering him away from unseen traps—as if he had walked this path once before.
"Ahh… finally." He exhaled in relief as his eyes fell upon an orb floating effortlessly at the center of the room—surrounded by mountains of gold, ancient artifacts, and treasures no one believed could exist.
A dreadful mana pulsed from its core, heavy enough to make the air tremble. "Demon Core…" he whispered, eyes narrowing. "One of the three primal cores of the First Monarch." He reached out and grasped it, feeling the surge of ancient power pulse beneath his skin.
His hand shook under the orb's power. "With this… the manifestation shall begin." With a mischievous grin, the man kept it saved in his dimensional pocket.
All of a sudden, the sanctuary trembled, as if something ancient had stirred beneath its foundation – realizing the absence of one of the most powerful relic. Footsteps echoed through the stone walls, distant yet drawing closer with every breath. A familiar scent drifted through the air, catching his attention.
Every concealed passage burst open in unison. From the coldness of the stone alley, a squad of four-armed centaurs emerged — their bodies encased in armor forged from radiant moon crystals. Each wore an eerie mask that concealed their faces, and every one of them wielded a distinct set of weapons, glimmering with dark energy.
"You have entered a restricted area. Death will be your penalty." One of them spoke, voice flat behind the mask.
A calm smile spread across his face—eerily serene, terrifying in its stillness. A low chuckle escaped his throat as his eyes gleamed. "Finally… I was hoping for a challenge."
He dashed forward, taking them head-on. The centaurs' movements were limited as if time itself felt like it had been forcefully slowed down, manipulated by a strong force.
———
Far away, beneath a shattered sky, another battle blazed with divine radiance. Haruto and I stood side by side, our breaths heavy and blades trembling beneath the weight of the Apostle's power.
Each strike of the Apostle's light tore through the air like divine punishment — radiant spears that shattered stone and scorched the ground in blinding arcs.
Sweat began to cover our faces as muscles started to ache. Haruto barely managed to dodge, the heat searing past his cheeks, leaving a thin line of vital fluid. While I countered with [Fictional Devour].
Still, the Apostle advanced — an unrelenting figure wrapped in luminescence, each step echoed with the sound of fury. His jaw clenched, presence flaring as sparks of leyline energy danced around him.
"Haruto," I mumbled, eyes locked on the blinding figure before them. "Get behind me. I'll break through the light."
[Fictional Devour]
I tried using it on the Apostle.
[Warning: Selected target is on a higher level]
['Fictional Devour' cannot be used]
Shit, I thought it would work.
The Apostle speared his claws at me with a grin. "Trying something?"
Haruto pushed me aside, blocking the attack with his blade. "Focus, Bro!"
———
We lunged at him once more — but then, it happened.
A flash.
A blinding light, up in the blue sky.
A surge of light so bright it swallowed the battlefield whole. Everyone froze, not knowing what it was. Our shadows stretched beneath the radiant sky.
What is that?
From beyond the clouds, a burning figure streaked across the atmosphere, trailing embers like divine wings aflame. The heavens roared as its descent tore through the firmament, scattering stardust and fire across the clouds.
Shit…
My stomach dropped. "It's coming this way!" My eyes widened as the burning light grew larger by the second.
Haruto reacted instantly, grabbing my arm. "Hold on!" he shouted, channeling his energy. A shimmering sphere of azure light began to form around us — the air crackling as his barrier took shape.
The Apostle's lips curled into a mischievous grin. "Is this supposed to be an attack?" he mocked, laughter dripping with arrogance. "Bring it on!"
The ground beneath him convulsed, and in response to his will, massive hands of stone and crystal erupted from the earth — jagged and gleaming, forming a towering barrier ready to seize whatever dared descend from the heavens.
When it was only a few meters from the ground, a voice echoed through the air. "EMPEROR SKILL!" Causing everyone to flinch as the voice reached them.
The meteor's inferno burst apart in an explosion of color. Flames turned to auroras, streaks of emerald and violet weaving across the sky like the southern lights reborn.
[Aion's Celestial Judgment]
When it crashed upon the earth, the heavens wept light — a storm of radiance that bathed the land in shimmering clouds of stars.
I faced downward, bracing for the worst. The roar of the descending light drowned every thought, every breath. My eyes closed, until an unpleasant smell pierced my nose, sharp enough to pull me back to my senses.
Blood…
As the misty cloud cleared, a spear wrapped in celestial glyphs – it tore through the Apostle's crystal defense as if striking glass, then pierced straight through his stomach, leaving behind a trail of fading stars.
A hole was carved through the Apostle; blood dripped like rain as he vomited a blackish-red liquid from his mouth.
———
Towering above him was a man, wrapped in purple stellar armor, its edges trimmed with lights, flickering like the final breath of the cosmos.
I hesitated, afraid that even the slightest movement could trigger a death sentence. An opponent that was ridiculously strong had been defeated in a single strike.
"Y-you… psychotic, I-insect!" The Apostle hissed, his voice trembling with a mix of fury and disbelief. Suddenly, dozens of radiant tentacles burst from the Apostle's back, woven from divine light that shimmered like molten stars. They lunged forward in a flash, each strike seeking to impale the newcomer where he stood.
The man leaped into the air, twisting his body as he drew his spear, narrowly evading the deadly strikes. Sparks of light sizzled where the tentacles struck the ground, carving grooves in the stone and scorching the air.
The Apostle breathed heavily, eyes wide. "To think you'd unleash 'Emperor Skill' the moment you arrived…" His tentacles dissolved into radiant dust as he took out an amulet shaped like a winged heart. "You're a lunatic."
Rising into view, the man's purple stellar armor glimmered, its edges traced with the fading light of dying stars. Even in that brief pause, the sheer aura of power emanating from him made the air quiver.
Haruto lowered his barrier with a casual wave, a knowing smirk curling across his lips. "Finally… the prodigy has arrived."
My eyes blinked. My puzzled mind struggling to process the scene. Prodigy? The word slipped from my lips, quiet and uncertain, as the battlefield held its collective breath.
With a firm grip, the Apostle broke the amulet, unleashing a surge of green light that engulfed his body. Blood vessels rejoined, new cells multiplied at a frantic pace – healing himself. Within seconds, the gaping hole had vanished without a trace before he took a deep breath.
With a steady breath, the man straightened his stance, his voice resonating with authority that seemed to shake the air itself. "I, Alex Striker," he declared, his eyes glowing with celestial light beneath the helm. "Hero of the Cosmos — the Bringer of Justice, guardian of balance, and executioner of the unworthy." The aura around him flared, rippling through the battlefield like the echo of space itself.
Haruto rolled his eyes as Alex gave his introduction. I stood in awe, jaw slack with admiration.
"Your sins have reached their limit, Apostle of Elements. And now, I offer you two choices: either you surrender and follow me to your rightful place…" His voice was filled with determination. "…the Paragon Prison — where even gods fear to tread."
"Or you die by my hands." Alex raised his spear, its tip was burning with radiant energy.
The Apostle protested with a sharp glance. "Over my dead body!" His eyes darted around – searching for something or maybe... Someone?
Alex sighed softly. "You think you can run away again?" He lunged in for a second attack, aiming for his head, fast almost instant yet persistence.
Haruto yanked me back, creating distance between them and the clash ahead. "This is not a battle we could afford to interfere in."
Even though Haruto and I once stood on equal footing against the Apostle, Alex's arrival had changed everything — now, they would only be standing in his way.
The Apostle gritted his teeth, flames igniting along his arms until his hands burned with pure fire and caught the fearsome blow barehanded. The clash seared the air around them.
"Emperor Skill…" The Apostle muttered, fire sparked under his lips. "Sun Beam." Chains of molten lava burst forth, swirling and tightening around Alex, binding him within the infernal vortex as the Apostle's grip closed like a vice of flame.
———
📄 End of Chapter 9
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