The spear lunges forward. A heavy, thunderous spear strikes like a bolt of lightning. Omul barely parries the attack, continuing the exchange of blows.
Clang, sizzle, crack!
Gripping the fabric of spacetime and swinging it to push Lumel back, he counters each incoming spear thrust by freezing space itself.
When Lumel is pushed back and cannot withstand the pressure, a fleeting moment of silence flows before the space erupts into chaos once more.
Lumel leaps up again, striking at the ground and charging forward in a straight line. Adapting to the acceleration, he unlocks techniques previously unused.
Closing the distance happens in an instant. As Omul thrusts his short spear, Lumel blocks it with a decisive motion.
Kaaang!
The ringing sound of metal fills the air as numbness shoots through his grip. Before it can fully set in, Lumel twists his spear and thrusts again.
Kaang!
The thrusting spear is tilted and blocked, but Lumel uses the rebound to slash thinly across the side.
Squirt, blue blood spurts out. Immediately, Lumel twists his waist and drives the spear forward.
Zeeeng!
This time, cosmic death intervenes.
The cosmic death disperses under the thunder, narrowly sparing his life.
Thus, Lumel twists the spear in his hand and pushes forward.
“You…!”
Omul frowns, while Lumel pants, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.
Just as the spear tip touches her shoulder, the woman finally speaks.
“Spiral… Spear.”
Before Omul can react, the spearhead begins to spin. It’s not a simple rotation—it’s a helical twist timed perfectly with the thrust.
As this rotation releases, it carries the force of thunder.
Crackkkkk!
Omul’s shoulder joint explodes.
The arm holding the short spear rips off, and the rule drops from his hand.
Lumel catches the falling short spear as if drawn to her hand, wielding two spears now.
“I need…distance…!”
Before Omul can observe the situation, he retreats, distorting space and ascending into the air.
Though the Maan that allows flight propels him, Lumel merely gazes upward.
Two spears that should be impossible to wield.
Spears once handled by a deity, symbolizing punishment and order.
But the spear technique “Summon Thunder” created by Lumel was the ideal of Ados, who once served law and order.
Thus, this spear technique only reveals its true power when both spears are united.
Unseen by Lumel’s eyes, a number changes.
[Remaining Resolve: 0]
Fzzzttt!
With Lumel’s last resolve, a bolt of lightning surges upward.
A golden current roils, surrounded by a flickering blue current.
Rising in a straight line toward Omul, Lumel flies.
The moment Lumel aims her dual spears and Omul regenerates his arm to draw twin swords nearly coincides.
Kwaaaaaang!
The menacing twin swords, forged from cosmic death.
These two blades clash against the spears. The sound echoes like shattering rock as they exchange their final defense.
Pzzt, pzzzt.
The twin spears are blocked by the greatsword.
At this moment, both Omul and Lumel move simultaneously.
Pzzt!
With a flash of lightning, the long spear shoots forth. Omul deflects it with his greatsword, then the short spear aims for his neck.
Krrrllng!
The short spear is caught and deflected by the greatsword, creating a rasping sound.
The deviated short and long spears return faster than expected.
Correcting their trajectory, the two spears shoot forward again. The only possible response is defense.
But this sole response is also a mistake.
An explosion echoes.
Lumel’s thrust does not stop.
The spear tips pierce over the twin swords in succession.
Relentless attacks pour forth, filled with full-body strength, weight, and acceleration.
Only after initiating the action does Omul realize the disadvantage—but it’s too late.
Kwaaaang!
Omul’s body slams into the ceiling.
Amid the falling rubble, attacks continue, launching Omul through the ceiling.
Lumel’s assault doesn’t halt even upon meeting the wall.
Thus, Omul continues to soar upward.
Since lightning requires no foothold, Lumel becomes the very embodiment of thunder, driving Omul back.
Though injured, bleeding from the mouth, confused in consciousness, and trembling with exhaustion, the technique ingrained in her body refuses to let go.
The human wields thunder and stabs at the heart of the divine.
Krrrrrlng!
With a roaring thunderclap, the woman continues to thrust, shouting all the while.
“Ugh, kuh, kuhhhhh!”
Initially robust, the twin swords forged from cosmic death begin to break. Rather than just breaking, they’re pierced through, scattering defensive slashes across Omul’s body.
Omul’s entire body is pierced, stabbed, and torn apart as he continuously soars upward.
In the midst of his blurred consciousness within the thunder, Omul finally understands why he had associated Lumel with Ash.
It was because he sensed defeat.
Bang!
The vertical mine shaft rises. The thick ceiling of the ground. When Omul’s back collides with it beneath, Lumel grips both spears and thrusts.
Kwaaaaaang!
And thus, breaking through the ground, both Omul and Lumel ascend.
*
Slashing, stabbing, breaking, and pounding the rushing priests.
Aslan realizes he can no longer maintain the Abyss.
Fortunately, there aren’t many priests left.
But without the Abyss, it’s difficult to face so many priests at once.
If the traveling party were here, things might be different, but they are far away.
While devising a countermeasure and cutting down another priest, Aslan hears Lewena’s voice.
“Hyunwoo.”
The voice coming from the Abyss Blade.
Before Aslan can respond, she blocks the descending axe with the Abyss Blade and says,
“Something is coming from below.”
Below. As Aslan hesitates, a sound soon follows.
—Krrrrrlng
It is the sound of thunder.
A very familiar sound.
The sound that reminds Aslan of his special ability, Summon Thunder.
For a brief moment, Aslan looks puzzled.
Zzzzjik.
Suddenly, cracks appear in the Abyss.
Zzzzjik, zzzzjik, ka-gaang!
The Abyss shatters and scatters.
From below, two figures burst forth, shattering the Abyss.
Breaking through the ground, two figures rise—Omul and Lumel.
As the cosmic death wrapped around Omul tears apart the Abyss entirely, Lumel ascends vertically alongside Omul.
She assumes a stance, holding both spears close to her sides, ready to thrust simultaneously.
On the other hand, Omul prepares something else.
His robe is completely torn, his helmet reduced to scraps of rusted iron, while he gathers white light from his head.
It is divine power.
Divine power unfamiliar to Aslan.
But the inference is straightforward.
It is the divine power wielded by the Veil of Compassion.
What Omul aims for is obvious.
He intends to scatter localized, high-density death.
Death that freezes and annihilates even space-time and souls.
In the face of mortal peril, Omul forgets any sense of humiliation or disgrace.
He strives to emit divine power without thought.
The maximum divine power he can manifest.
It is on the same level as the divine power that once destroyed the Pervere Kingdom.
Thus, despite still being surrounded by priests, Aslan leaps without hesitation.
“Lewena!”
“I’ve got your back.”
Lewena answers calmly.
She wriggles from Aslan’s shadow, creating needles and scattering them into the Abyss to hinder the priests’ approach.
There isn’t much time to hold them off. At most, a few seconds.
But that is enough. Aslan slides the Abyss Blade into his waist and grasps purity.
Holding the purity low with both hands, he swings it behind him. He grabs the edge of the purity with the other hand.
How they ended up in such a situation is unclear.
But regardless of the circumstances, delivering the best possible move is Aslan’s role.
That is what makes him a veteran of combat.
Thus, Aslan’s only task is to achieve victory.
“If I confront him, Lumel will lose.”
Narrowing the gap as much as possible, he watches the two rising figures, taking a deep breath with his sword held low.
“If Lumel were alone here, she would surely have lost, but now I am here.”
Fortunately, some resolve remains.
Without hesitation, Aslan grips his sword.
Thus, the reservoir of resolve is depleted.
An extraordinary concentration that enables the use of divine techniques is exhausted, coalescing into a single technique.
A technique capable of cutting down even a deity.
As the already dense divine power grows denser, Omul notices.
Suddenly, he sees divine power rising from the ground.
A blazing divine power reminiscent of falling meteors or supernovas, radiating an intense light.
By the time Omul realizes this, it is already too late.
“Star Slash.”
There is no way to evade this technique.
—!
The evil hanging like a star is cleaved by a single stroke.
It slices diagonally, accurately dividing Omul.
Omul, lifted by the spear into the sky, has his flesh and soul cut along with the divine power residing within him at the moment he aligns with the star.
“…Guhk…!”
The two glowing eyes imbued with divine power shatter and scatter.
As the divine power of the Veil of Compassion dissipates from Omul, the divine power about to be unleashed vanishes as well.
Complete vulnerability. A wide-open gap. Faster than Omul can raise his arms to defend, the lightning dashes forward.
Lumel thrusts both spears while unleashing the lightning coursing through her body.
Instability, a worn-out physique, and depleted resolve—
Regardless of all these factors, she delivers the punishment of the goddess.
Krrrrrrrlng!
Thunder roars, following the vertical tunnel carved by the battle between Omul and Lumel toward the ground.
Advancing further, toward the sky.
Erasing everything in its path, the two streaks of lightning surge upward.
