Aslan landed on the ground, gripping Purity.
At the moment he landed, Ash’s severed arm rolled across the floor.
Despite the tremendous fall, the wind of the underworld that enveloped him did not let him go, and thus Aslan realized how the owner of this cloak, the Viking, had captured the dragon.
And also that the enemy before him was a monster even greater than the dragon.
“Aslan…?!”
Ereta’s voice was filled with confusion. A faint irritation showed on Ash’s expressionless face.
Aslan confirmed both of these and recalled.
In the sanctuary of Eternity and Night, Aslan and the traveling party fought against the priest.
As expected, priests walked the skies and stormed the sanctuary, and the party was ready to meet them.
What they hadn’t anticipated was the number of priests.
There were not just one or two, but dozens.
Priests who were exceedingly threatening in wielding the power of the Veil.
Nor were their numbers indicative of low quality.
Each of them was a real priest who had adapted to Divine Power and battle.
This appearance implied the existence of someone with the power and authority to gather solitary priests into one place.
Aslan quickly judged this and moved before the priests could launch any attack.
The entity capable of gathering the priests of the Veil could only be Ash, the Herald of the Veil.
Upon realizing this, Aslan gathered the remnants of Divinity from the dead god’s sanctuary.
The will alone remained within the Divinity. It reacted with Purity, seeping into it.
A wooden hilt transformed as it was wrapped by a brilliant white metal, obtaining the arrangement left behind by Eternity and Night.
Without hesitation, Aslan moved.
He sprinted straight ahead, choosing the fastest route.
Passing through the priests and receiving assistance from his companions, he exited through the hole the priests had entered and plummeted toward the ground.
Accelerating with the winds of Hel, he headed straight for the center where Ash’s aura consumed space.
Avoiding descent through the underworld’s winds, he received the recoil and swung his sword.
That single swing, carried down from the lofty sanctuary with acceleration, cleaved precisely.
The severed arm fell, and Ash’s eyes met Aslan’s.
And at the moment their eyes met, both moved simultaneously.
Ash extended her aura without hesitation, attacking.
The approaching aura froze everything in its path.
Touching it meant death. Normally, that is.
But Aslan stood still even upon seeing something excessively fast beyond avoidance.
“ASLAN!”
Ereta well understood the fear of that aura.
She had seen corpses torn apart by that aura and knew that two knights had died without a chance to fight back.
She couldn’t allow such a fate to befall Aslan. Just as she stretched out white flames to protect him—
Grrrroooowww…
From the hilt gripped by Aslan came a soft sound.
The metallic hilt encasing the Pillar of Creation, touched by the hand of Night.
Even with such an ambiguous explanation, her arrangement worked.
Kraaaack! The approaching aura halted.
Whoosh!
The incoming white flames were pushed back.
From that stopped position, Ash’s aura tore apart noisily.
At twice the speed at which it would have been consumed by Ereta’s fire.
Ash quickly responded upon seeing her aura being cut away.
Twisting her body, she unleashed a kick with power unmatched by any ordinary human.
Ziiiiiiiiingggg!
But it was blocked. Aslan stopped the flying kick with Purity.
Following that was a barrage of countless attacks. The Abyssal Sword remained unsheathed.
It was unwise to use the Abyssal Sword against the Veil of Benevolence, which shattered worlds and seized time and space.
Thus, he used only Purity.
KAAAAAAARRRRRRAAAAAAAAAANGGGG!
Amidst the roaring sound, Aslan parried a second sidekick with his blade.
The rushing punch followed—getting hit directly would mean death.
So Aslan focused his spirit, gripped Purity with both hands, and swung.
Clang!
Consecutive metallic sounds echoed.
It was hard to believe that a blade clashed with fists and feet repeatedly, leaving trails of white blades and punches, legs colliding several times.
To Aslan’s eyes, the exchange of blows was invisible.
Even Ereta, watching closely, could barely follow with her eyes.
Thus, Aslan relied entirely on luck and experience to swing his sword.
That way, he managed to block Ash’s assault.
Every strike and fierce blow from Ash carried death itself.
Even Ereta, formidable as she was, would lose vitality directly if struck by this level of death.
If Aslan were hit, there would be no doubt about his instant demise.
Thus, Aslan countered all of them using techniques honed through practice and the various arrangements embedded in Purity.
Clank-clank-clank!
An ear-splitting roar.
Dodging the diagonal punch with the tip of his sword, he deflected the rising high kick with the back of his blade.
Two consecutive thrusts followed—one with a fist, the other with the edge of a palm.
Blocked successively with the cross-guard and the flat of the blade, sending cold air swirling around.
The scattering cold mist momentarily obscured vision, prompting Aslan to withdraw his sword.
Even so, Ash caught up with him.
Crack!
And then she grabbed the purity. Grabbing the blade tightly, she pulled while swinging her fist to finish him off.
However, Aslan immediately turned the blade horizontally, pressing down to sever her fingers.
Thud-thud, severed fingers fell as Ash regenerated them, clenching her fist again.
Regenerating her arm, she attempted to slash it off, but Aslan evaded with a half-spin, causing the cold air to tear through the space.
The surroundings darkened. Amidst the darkness, Aslan swung his sword.
Creeeak!
The sword pierced through Ash’s waist and withdrew. Among the scattered ice shards, Ash swung her elbow.
Kuuuuuuuuhhhhhh!
Her elbow passed by with a sound akin to thunder.
Aslan placed his blade against it to deflect and followed with a downward strike.
Clang!
The blade slicing past her face.
Tracing Aslan’s trajectory, Ash’s aura shattered like broken glass.
The empty space revealed by the dissipated aura saw Ereta charging boldly.
With Ereta’s intervention, the situation reversed.
Ereta and Aslan seamlessly coordinated their attacks.
Whoosh, Clang!
Ereta swung her axe, encased in white flames, which Ash received with her forearm.
Amidst the spreading flames, before Ash could counter, Aslan slipped in beside her and dragged his blade across her waist.
Crack!
The split waist and fragments of the Veil.
Ash swung her leg at Ereta, losing balance, but Aslan moved first.
Clang!
A precise upward strike. Her leg was severed.
In the brief moment Ash lost her balance, Ereta positioned the axe under the arm reaching toward Aslan, blocking it.
Drrrrk! Ereta’s foot dragged along the ground but paused momentarily.
To the stopped Ash, Aslan aimed his fist.
What he executed was the most destructive means at his disposal.
“Summon Thunder.”
Krrrrrrrroooom!
Advancing forcefully.
“Pierce the Heart.”
He threw a punch glowing white.
Recreating the single strike the Dragon King manifested.
Commonly known as “Felling Hawks.”
Even flying hawks would be felled by this strike as it pierced Ash’s chest.
Krrrrrkkk, Zzzziiiiiinggg!
Ash flew backward, her chest punctured where her heart should have been.
Rolling across the ground, kicking up dust, Ash finally stopped, and Aslan retracted his fist, halting as well.
Meanwhile, Ereta, intent on finishing Ash, was blocked by Aslan’s outstretched arm.
“Aslan, why…?”
As Ereta looked back curiously at the lightly raised arm, Aslan quietly signaled.
Beyond that, Ash was getting up.
The settled dust cleared, revealing the woman cracking her neck from side to side.
Thud, thud. Sounds more akin to ice grinding against each other rather than joints popping.
The woman emitted such sounds and stared blankly at Aslan.
She then spoke monotonously.
“That power of yours, the power of Eternity and Night, right?”
Monotonous yet tinged with suppressed anger.
Aslan didn’t respond, and despite his lack of reaction, Ash continued.
“The power of Eternity and Night creates worlds. Perhaps the strength residing in that sword, specifically the hilt, is creating a world to counteract mine. Thus, it flows and bypasses my aura to attack.”
Aslan lowered the arm that had blocked Ereta and gripped Purity with both hands.
The firmly held white blade blazed brightly, prompting Ash to say,
“Unyielding amidst raging storms and any freezing night.”
Such lofty words ended with a soft chuckle.
Aslan recognized those words.
The arrangement of Eternity and Night floating in the system window.
It was described similarly to the touch of Night.
Perhaps, those words were spoken directly by Eternity and Night themselves.
As Aslan guessed this, Ash confirmed it as if it were the correct answer.
“This body has undoubtedly fallen to her. But I have triumphed. Even though there’s a difference in power, I’ve realized… and discerned.”
Speaking casually with an air of ease, Aslan gazed steadily as the woman spread her arms.
Then, her aura diminished.
Drrrrk, Drrrrrrk!
The chilling sound of shrinking aura. It sounded like bones being folded and snapped.
Enough noise to make Ereta unconsciously raise her axe. Within that sound, the aura compressed onto Ash’s skin.
Drrrrrrrrrrrk!
“How to shatter that paltry world.”
As she spoke, it was indeed a means to break the world.
Simultaneously, it was a very familiar sight to Aslan.
Of course, Aslan loved the game Eternal Dominion.
Krrrrk, Crack!
The aura compressed. Once compressed, the aura adhered to the woman’s skin, raising goosebumps.
They were goosebumps caused by instinctive peril.
A sight that instilled unease in Aslan, who had seen it multiple times in the game.
The woman lifted her arm in this form.
Creak, Creak.
Following the arc of her lifting arm, space darkened as if being devoured.
A sight that froze and killed everything it touched, including light itself.
Before it, time and space dissolved into nothingness, and any world became as fragile as paper.
Thus, this was Ash’s true self.
Simultaneously, what was called Phase 2 of Ash in the game.
Aslan recalled something from his gaming days.
Once entering Phase 2, Ash delivered instant-death judgments upon everything she touched, and her physical abilities doubled.
Originally, her stats for strength, agility, and health were all 12.
Now, they all reached 24.
‘Really a monster.’
Aslan chuckled at the realization.
And amidst the suffocating pressure, he gripped his sword and looked at Ash.
Around Ash, space cracked like thin ice.
Against this collapsing space, Ash turned and said,
“Shall we give it a try?”
A smile suppressing anger.
A haughty smirk implying, ‘How could someone like you possibly win?’
White breath dispersed as a blackened universe enveloped and flowed around her.
Aslan suddenly smiled looking at her.
Ash’s smile vanished, and her expression stiffened.
Certainly, even to Aslan, Ash in this state seemed unbeatable.
Exceeding Angie in physical prowess and surpassing Ereta in regeneration ability.
And possessing a ridiculous ability to kill upon contact.
Still, Ash remained Ash.
Her weakness remained unchanged.
She was the Herald of the Veil.
She lacked a strong sense of self.
Therefore, normally, she wouldn’t engage in battles the Veil didn’t desire.
If fighting here would surely result in everyone’s death, eliminating the reason to fight would suffice.
Aslan raised a finger.
Ash lifted her head with an indifferent look and widened her eyes as Aslan had anticipated.
There was the sanctuary.
The reason and purpose for Ash and the priests of the Veil to come here.
The Sanctuary of Eternity and Night.
Now, the sanctuary, stripped of its divinity, revealed its form.
Also, with Ash’s keen eyesight, she would see it.
Falling towards the ground, a red dragon held by a woman wrapped in elves and lightning.
Aslan thought.
Ash’s purpose for coming here was the Sanctuary of Eternity and Night.
In other words, without the sanctuary, there would be no reason for her to come.
Fortunately, there was an archer here capable of destroying the sanctuary in a single strike.
An archer who could shatter mountains.
Before Ash could fully comprehend the situation and leap, an arrow shot from the bowstring of that archer.
‘Mountain Breaker.’
Krrrrrrrooooom!
Thunder roared as the arrow was fired.
Simultaneously, the arrow ascended. It was an arrow imbued with his mana, ascending like a rising sun.
It climbed against the sky and struck the sanctuary.
Boom.
A circular shockwave spread upon impact.
Suddenly, from where the arrow struck, a sun erupted.
Kaaaagaaaaaahhhhh!
Where the sun faded, the sanctuary collapsed. Fragments of the sanctuary, propelled by mana, flew outside the fortress.
The deafening destruction made Ash pale.
The thunderous sound reached the ground, ruffling hair and flapping cloaks.
As the accumulated snow and ice fragments rose and dispersed like fog, Ash lowered her head and looked at Aslan.
“So, shall we try?” Aslan repeated her earlier words.
Silent, Ash held back many things she wanted to say.
Aslan opened his mouth upon seeing her expression.
“There’s no way. You’re the Herald of the Veil.”
At those words, Ash opened her mouth.
She widened her eyes and clamped her lips shut in fear.
She had tried to argue against those words.
Since the Veil does not wish for this battle, she sought reasons to fight.
Which she shouldn’t have done.
The Herald of the Veil fights solely by the will of the Veil.
For this Herald dared to rebel against the will of the Veil, she struggled amidst various emotions.
Feeling disgust for daring to possess a self beyond the will of the Veil, she trembled with self-loathing.
Simultaneously, she felt fear.
The compressed aura flowing through her body flickered restlessly.
The painfully staggering woman’s compressed aura began to dissipate.
She clutched her chest and gasped for breath.
Even though her body lacked respiration and pulse.
Hyperventilating, she was confused.
Her eyes brimming with curiosity and questions. Aslan met her gaze and was certain.
Indeed, before reaching the ending, no matter what he did, he couldn’t defeat Ash.
She was the Herald of the Veil and the will of the Veil.
She would not die until she wiped out all the divine powers of the Veil.
Thus, she could only be defeated when the world closed and the supply of divine power was cut off.
Therefore, Aslan thought and acted.
At the moment Aslan landed, Ash, bewildered upon hearing the voice calling her Eternity and Night.
Perhaps thinking it might be useful somehow, he acted immediately.
Since Ash reacted to the divinity of Eternity and Night despite having no self, Aslan was sure she had gained a self.
Thus, he stimulated that self. Stimulating it to make her no longer the will of the Veil.
By doing so, he cut off the supply of divine power.
Ash was the Herald of the Veil and the will of the Veil.
An Ash who wasn’t that couldn’t exist.
If she couldn’t be defeated immediately, he would grant her a self so that she could be defeated when they met again.
Aslan guided her.
Whether Ash realized this or not, she glared at Aslan.
Sensing hostility from the defiantly standing Aslan, she clenched her teeth with a confused face.
Forcing herself to maintain composure, the woman asked.
“What’s your name?”
Similar to when she asked Regyn Solis, but with slightly more hostility in her tone.
Aslan replied.
“Aslan.”
A name she hadn’t even inquired about when they met in the city of wizards. She repeated it several times to remember.
Aslan, Aslan, Aslan.
She soon gritted her teeth.
Ash struggled to suppress the words bubbling up.
Because those words were created by her self, not the will of the Veil.
She had only one thing to say.
“I’ll remember you, Aslan.”
She leaped outside the fortress and disappeared.
Though her swift departure resembled what he’d seen in the city of wizards, Aslan knew.
Next time they met, he would be able to defeat Ash.
