Ereta and Ash’s eyes met.
The moment they locked gazes, Ash grasped the situation.
Between the gusts of hot wind, flames flickered.
The flame, which seemed to waver as if touched by the cold breeze, was in fact eroding the halo beyond the breeze.
At the center of that flame stood Ereta, the woman bathed in crimson.
In contrast, Ash was tinged with a soft, pale light.
Amidst the space where the halo greedily devoured the surroundings, Ash and Ereta faced each other in opposition.
This confrontation was not simple.
It transcended the plane of flesh against flesh, gaze against gaze; it was a clash of divine powers against one another.
Two undulating divine powers. They were eroding and gnawing at each other as they faced off.
With the fullness and omnipotence filling her entire being, Ereta exhaled a labored breath.
The breath flowing out was scorching hot.
Hotter than the swirling flames around her.
It was only natural that the fire within her body would be hotter than the fire she had spread.
For she herself was fire, life incarnate.
The woman clenched and then unclenched her fists, lifting her head again to look at Ash.
Ash’s expression was distorted.
Her face twisted with a subtle discomfort—a sight that was not just rare but practically unseen under normal circumstances.
After all, Ash was not merely devoid of emotion; she was an existence that might as well have lacked any sense of self.
Without any personal emotions, she only represented fabricated appearances and veils of compassion.
But now, the woman was clearly troubled by her own emotions.
Ereta could not fathom this disturbance.
Unable to guess or understand, the woman focused on the fire roiling within her.
That blazing fire—it was her divinity.
A divinity that could extend in any form, reserved solely for her.
Ereta focused on that fire and blinked.
The direction was set.
Whoosh!
When the wavering flames steadied, the color of fire changed, glowing with a burning light.
The most intense flame embedded in the woman’s mind.
The pain experienced at the place where it all began.
What arose was the white flame that came with Aslan.
The mark of destruction etched into her body and demonstrated through its power.
It was no different from a fire that hindered divinity, and it was the most destructive flame residing within her.
The woman needed this flame.
Thus, she recreated it.
Kwaahaaa!
As she recalled and formed it, the core of the flames turned white with divinity.
Simultaneously, the flames straightened, their temperature surging.
From crimson to yellow, and gradually to white, the flames transformed.
As the frozen ground melted with the sound of crackling, the knights surrounding the deity and priest recoiled.
They witnessed the white flames collapsing like falling light.
The divine flames, entirely whitened from the core to the surface, purified everything.
This divinity rippled like flames, burning away death cast by the veil.
Not focused on the heat and destruction of fire, Ereta’s divinity extended outward, purifying and destroying other divine powers.
Wherever Ereta’s white flames touched, the halo retreated, making a sound as if thick glass were being carved with a saw.
Ash’s eyes twitched at the sight.
Then, adjusting her spear, she scattered her divinity.
Consciously pulling it in and scattering the halo, the flames clashed sharply with the halo in a fierce confrontation.
Crack, crack—the tearing of space and the erosion of the halo.
At the point where divine powers collided, the two women simultaneously reached a conclusion.
Having reached it, they picked up their weapons.
Straightening the axe that had been tilted and returning the hammer to her waist, the woman imbued her axe with the gentle yet destructive white flame.
Meanwhile, the harbinger raised her spear high, squinting while enveloped in the halo, and charged forward.
Kwaahaaang!
Surging earth and dust.
In terms of divine quality, Ereta slightly lagged behind, but in terms of elemental advantage, Ash was the one being pushed back.
Victory could only be decided in close combat.
The moment Ash thrust her spear, Ereta swung her axe.
Tseeeeng!
A circular shockwave spread out along with scattered white flames, eroding the halo.
At the center, Ereta, surrounded not by her usual crimson flames but by white flames, was pushing forward with her axe.
That axe wrapped in white flames carried a technique.
A blunt technique achievable only by a veteran high priest, elevating her to the status of a master.
Though she would undoubtedly be physically weaker than Ash, she countered the spear with her technique and slight physical strength.
On the other hand, Ash possessed no techniques—only pure raw power.
And thus, she wasn’t being pushed back.
Kagagak! The spear and axe interlocked, and fire and death danced between them.
Whenever Ash exerted force to push forward, Ereta minutely adjusted her footing and applied pressure to her axe-holding hand to receive it.
Kagak! Kagagak!
Neither side was being pushed back. Thus, they disengaged.
Ending the meaningless exchange, they once again lunged fiercely toward each other’s throats.
Sskaaah!
Ash’s spear blade tore through the air, carving a trajectory of death impossible to evade.
Therefore, she didn’t evade.
Ereta pivoted her feet, twisted her waist, lightly condensed her strength, and swung her axe.
Rotation, shifting of the center of gravity.
In an instant, the balance shifted to the opposite side, accelerating the axe as it flew forward.
Thus, they collided.
Tseeerrrrrrrreeeeng!
Within the spreading shockwave, Ash thrust her spear again.
Ereta cleverly shifted her balance, meeting the spear with her axe.
The ringing metallic sound forced the surrounding knights to cover their ears and retreat.
Through the sharp metallic clang, Ash’s spear blade was blocked—not just blocked but deflected.
Reversing the deflected spear blade, Ash drove it sharply forward with textbook precision, reminiscent of a naval cannon attack.
Kwouuuung!
Ereta received it once more.
Parrying it with the handle and deflecting it while spinning, she braced herself.
In the fleeting gap left by Ash’s orthodox spear technique, Ereta hooked the spear blade with the bottom of her axe and kicked forward.
Tseeeek!
A sharp kick that would remind Aslan of the Executioner Saint.
A front kick aimed to destabilize the center of gravity and damage internal organs.
With divine power enhancing her strength, the kick carried more power than when she was truly the Saint of Slaughter.
Kwaahaaaaang!
Ash was sent flying, sliding backward until her legs left the ground and collided with it.
Quickly regaining her stance, she charged forward again, but the distance was too great. Ereta aimed her axe, and Ash lifted her spear high.
The mere fact that someone dared to stand against her was undoubtedly unpleasant.
Yet, Ash was recalling something else.
Memories inevitably surfaced, ones from before she became a priestess.
Following the trace of unpleasantness, Ash saw someone in those memories.
Someone even the powerful Ash couldn’t defeat, someone who ultimately had to be killed directly by her deity.
Not a lesser divinity but a major one.
Someone who left a deep impression even on Ash’s faint sense of self.
Some woman.
With an emotionless face, dressed neatly in clean robes much like Ereta now, someone utterly alone.
A woman wielding her fists and metal-clad legs.
The goddess of eternity and night.
Recalling that name, Ash overlapped the white-haired figure before her with the major deity who had handed her the first defeat.
The image was unpleasant.
More than that, the very act of recalling this truth was unpleasant.
Ash consciously drew more divinity, which erased her sense of self as it explosively expanded.
In response, her halo grew massive, darkening as if consuming even light itself.
Beyond the black hue evoking the universe, the death spread by the veil of compassion swirled like stars.
Against this explosive expansion, Ereta had no means to withstand.
Her arm, where they made contact, froze instantly.
It cracked with frost.
But before the pain could register, Ereta swung her frozen arm.
Tseeeek!
A fist wreathed in white flames struck Ash’s jaw. Simultaneously, her arm was crushed and regenerated with divinity.
Her pale skin revealed itself, and her black robes froze and tore.
But Ereta hesitated not, drawing her axe from her back and swinging it.
The hatchet given to her by her mother, her destiny.
A hatchet she often used after losing her status as a high priest due to insufficient strength.
Paaak!
The hatchet, blazing with her unique divinity, shaved off Ash’s neck.
Divinity being eroded alongside cracking ice. Amidst the scattered shards of ice, Ash gritted her teeth.
The memory rising with the sensation of an improbable pain. Ash expelled her divinity recklessly.
Ka-drrrrrrrrrrk!
The expelled divinity gnawed at space, glowing darkly. Ereta confronted it head-on.
Her tightly clenched fist generated flames within, condensing and swinging them forth.
Hwarrrrrrrrek!
Swinging the condensed flames, she carved through the halo, advancing towards the exposed area while gripping the axe with both hands.
Ssskaaah, Kagagak!
She aggressively cut through the halo with her flame-encased axe.
If hit, she would die. Even as a deity, Ereta knew this.
So she avoided it. Just before impact, she relaxed her knees, lowering her body.
Ssk!
The spear blade grazing her few strands of hair passed by.
At the moment the spear stopped, Ereta slipped beneath the axe blade, momentarily channeling all her divinity into it.
Kagak!
Thus achieving parity in strength, Ereta deflected the axe.
Using the leverage like a fulcrum trapping the spear blade, combined with strength comparable to Ash’s.
Kaang!
Ash’s spear broke.
And amidst the shattered fragments of the broken spear, Ereta rose and delivered a kick.
Tseeerrkk!
An accurate sidekick sent Ash reeling.
However, it wasn’t just a recoil. In mid-flight, Ash grabbed Ereta’s leg.
Kwa-jjijjjik!
Thus, Ereta’s leg tore apart like a frozen cross-section, and Ash flew backward.
With her leg lost, Ereta fell, while Ash, having received the sidekick, rolled across the ground.
Both women collapsed and rose simultaneously.
The newly risen Ereta had her leg restored, and Ash regenerated the sidekick-inflicted wound on her abdomen cleanly.
Their regeneration capabilities were equal.
Strength wasn’t, but Ereta had skill.
There seemed to be a chance.
Clearly, the divinity Ereta had attained gave her the power to stand against Ash.
But that didn’t mean she could definitely defeat Ash.
Even disregarding existing injuries, Ash was such an entity.
A being that couldn’t be felled even if all ordinary humans in the world were gathered.
A perfectly flawless high priest, impenetrable without divinity.
The harbinger of a deity, possessing unmatched physical abilities and formidable authority.
The quality of divinity differed.
Brute strength favored Ash.
Moreover, Ash had countless experiences slaying lesser divinities and battling major ones.
In a fight involving divinity manipulation, there was no reason for Ash to lose.
Thus, the odds weren’t high.
Especially considering she had to protect the knights, the battle wasn’t favorable.
Even if the heat and power of the flames diminished, it was still fire.
She had to control the white flames so that the knights wouldn’t get caught in them, while eroding Ash’s halo and enduring her relentless attacks.
She barely managed to hold on.
Kwaahaaang!
Ash’s sharp roundhouse kick struck Ereta’s abdomen, sending her body airborne.
“Ugh…”
Rolling on the ground like that, she wiped the blood dripping from her mouth and surrounded herself with flames.
The wavering white flames restored her lost limbs, though recovery was evidently slow.
Particularly, the areas that allowed attacks were frozen solid, showing almost no signs of recovery.
Given that the fight started with her already injured and lacking divinity, it couldn’t be helped.
The woman, kneeling on one knee, panted heavily.
A flame on the verge of extinguishing, visibly exhausted at a glance.
Ash wasn’t an opponent who could be defeated in such a state.
Both Ash and Ereta knew this fact.
They were fully aware of the situation.
Four thousand years had passed since Ash’s birth.
During these over four millennia, there had been none who could threaten Ash’s position or confront her equally.
The brightest lesser divinities during the era of the ancient empire fell to Ash.
Even when the age of malevolent deities arrived after the fall of the ancient empire, it remained the same.
Historically renowned high priests either fell to her or avoided her altogether.
The Supreme Divinity’s Sword, known as the Myth Slayer, avoided Ash, and the Dragon King, famed for its formidable defenses, tried to avoid detection by her.
The Tyrant believed he could only win against her through sheer preparation and avoided contact altogether.
The Voracious Eater, understanding his inability to counter her time-manipulation abilities, gave up.
Even the Black Witch avoided attracting her attention.
Ereta understood.
The slim chances of victory.
Ash, the harbinger of the Veil, was not an opponent a newly awakened divinity could overcome alone.
Still, she rose again, steadying her trembling legs and aiming her axe.
Encircled by wavering white flames.
At the sight, Ash approached slowly with an expression of displeasure.
The outcome was clear.
Ereta couldn’t defeat Ash.
But…
That was only when Ereta was alone.
“Aaaah…”
Suddenly, the wind blew.
As Ash’s hair fluttered in the breeze, the strongest high priest with a faint sense of self looked up.
She gazed towards the sky, towards the direction from which the wind of the underworld blew.
From above, a dark dot was slowly approaching.
Ash sensed a familiar divinity from the approaching presence.
It reminded her of her first defeat.
“The Eternal Night…!”
Her voice laced with shock and a hint of fear.
And perhaps sensing humiliation in that voice, Ash violently grabbed the broken spear lying on the ground.
The ensuing throw was faster than the eye could follow.
Overwhelming power and speed.
A single strike capable of soul-deep death upon direct impact.
“Aaaaah!”
Ash hurled the broken spear. Its trajectory surpassed the speed of sound.
But the incoming presence didn’t falter. It simply swung a sword to deflect it.
Kaaaaaaang!
The thrown spear shattered and scattered, its fragments falling to the ground.
Faster than that, someone descended through the air, leaving a white trail.
Splitting the halo, invading its domain.
Even the cosmic death that consumed time and space couldn’t reach the human will, splitting the halo.
Like a meteor devouring the universe, someone landed on the ground.
And at the end of that meteoric descent was a sword strike.
Simultaneously raising her arm to block, Ash was struck by the descending sword.
Kwaahaaaaaaaaang!
With the sword strike, Ash’s arm snapped with a crackling sound and fell off.
The severed arm shattered into pieces upon hitting the ground.
Amidst the scattering shards of ice, the human wielding the sword gleamed with emerald eyes.
In his hand was a longsword blazing with pure white flames.
Amidst the scattering stones and ice shards, the longsword blazed white.
The hilt of the sword was intricately engraved with precious metal.
[Night’s Touch – Unyielding against the fiercest storms and coldest nights.]
It was the eternal portrait of night, unbreakable even by ruin.
The human wielded the universe in his hand, confronting death.
