C486
It truly was a sea/ocean.
"—It has no end—"
The end wasn't visible.
A gigantic tidal wave that concealed even the mountains, rising towards the sky.
General Mol realized it.
*'It was a joke.'*
The wave that had destroyed the fortress last time wasn't all the Third Emperor's power.
For them, it must have been just a moderate attack against a weak enemy.
Although they were furious that Cale Henituse managed to block that attack and escape...
*'No.'*
Cale Henituse didn't block it; he only fled from that attack.
In the end, the fortress was completely destroyed under that colossal torrent of water.
"Ah."
Now, before his eyes, a wave even bigger than that time—no, an entire sea was approaching.
—Swoooosh—
The rain falling from the sky mixed with the waves, making the sea grow even larger.
*'This city will disappear.'*
General Mol knew it immediately.
If that sea engulfed them, the city wouldn't be able to resist.
*'Cale Henituse was right.'*
The Heavenly Demon—
Hello! Of course! Here is the revised and corrected text according to your instructions. I hope you like it!
The Heavenly Demon, who was now laughing as he headed towards the Third Emperor, wouldn't be reached by that sea.
"Third Emperor."
The Heavenly Demon had an amused expression.
"These cheap tricks don't work on me."
—Swoooosh—
Behind him, the Third Emperor, who had created a vast ocean, let out a mocking laugh upon seeing the Heavenly Demon.
"Ha! Of course, they won't work on you!"
The Heavenly Demon and the Third Emperor knew exactly what the other was after.
However, the Third Emperor didn't yet know the Heavenly Demon well.
"Today, you will lose everything you have!"
*Just like I lost Sky Eating Water...*
*You will also lose your subordinates and your people!*
*You will lose lands, you will lose ruins.*
*'And Cale Henituse will try to stop it again, like last time.'*
The Third Emperor knew a bit about Cale Henituse.
Because they had faced him before.
A hero.
A madman obsessed with that title.
His track record proved it.
This guy, in his clumsy attempt to save everyone, would die.
There would be no miracle like last time.
*'Even if it's for a brief moment...'*
If Cale Henituse hesitated, if he tried to stop the sea even for a second...
*'He will die.'*
He won't be able to escape this sea.
Because this time, it was a real ocean.
The Third Emperor didn't spare his power.
*'Only this way will I survive.'*
He knew how to fight.
Faced with the danger of death, only by emptying everything you have can you find a way out.
*'And the Heavenly Demon will also hesitate.'*
Weren't his precious companions there, those who accompanied him until he became the Heavenly Demon?
When the time comes to lose them, won't he also hesitate?
The Third Emperor looked at the approaching Heavenly Demon, observing Mikasi, the ruins, Midisi, and the demons and humans on the walls over his shoulder, before speaking.
"Sea, sweep everything away."
The sea.
For you, all the water in the world will move.
Isn't the sea the pinnacle of all waters?
The most vast, the one that contains the most, the one that can exert the greatest force.
—Swoooosh—
The sea began to move.
At first, it was slow.
But then—
—Kwaaaaah—
An endless tidal wave headed towards the Third Emperor's enemies at a terrifying speed.
—Kwaaaaah—
And upon seeing the approaching sea, the Heavenly Demon thought:
*'They don't know me well.'*
The Third Emperor didn't understand.
A smile formed on the Heavenly Demon's lips.
*'Today, you will lose everything you have!'*
The Third Emperor's words were amusing to him.
What he had?
*'Do I even have anything?'*
No.
He couldn't keep anything in his heart; what could he possess?
The Heavenly Demon.
For him, nothing was precious. No, rather, nothing remained.
—Kwaaaaah—
He walked towards the approaching sea.
A path opened.
The sea didn't touch him.
But the water flowed.
The Third Emperor had given everything, and these powerful currents, instead of breaking before the Heavenly Demon's denial, simply surrounded him.
Left, right, above.
The Heavenly Demon didn't look at the vast ocean flowing around him.
He just kept walking.
Towards the Third Emperor.
"…!"
Towards them, whose faces paled at seeing him smile.
The Heavenly Demon only walked.
Because his task was to catch the Third Emperor.
"...Damn madman—"
At the Third Emperor's words, the Heavenly Demon smiled even more.
—Kwaaaaah—
This sea would pass through him and head towards the two cities.
He knew what would happen.
But that wasn't his business.
The strategist Ed.
General Mol.
The captain of the royal guard.
The subordinates who had accompanied him until he became the Heavenly Demon.
Mikasi. Midisi. The ruins.
The demons, the Heavenly Demon's army, and the soldiers of the territory in those three places.
And, of course, Cale Henituse's group.
They weren't possessions of the Heavenly Demon.
Not even Cale Henituse, who had only sparked his interest, had managed to stay in his heart.
The Heavenly Demon had nothing, so he couldn't lose anything.
*'Although it's interesting.'*
Cale Henituse.
What would that peculiar guy do?
If he could see it, perhaps it would be worth letting this sea reach him.
To escape this boredom, he didn't care if something that wasn't his disappeared.
—Kwaaaaah—
Therefore, nothing stopped the sea.
—Kwaaaaah—
A sound that even the rain couldn't cover, the roar of a colossal natural force.
—Boom. Thud.
The ground trembled under its power, and the air itself seemed to change.
—Crack! Clang, clatter!
From Mikasi and Midisi to the village of the gray trees near the ruins.
All the lights turned on.
They couldn't sleep.
Before, because of the gray disease and purification.
Now, because of the sudden rumble.
And when that rumble grew to a level never seen before, making the earth tremble, everyone went outside to look.
"…!"
"The sky…!"
The first thing they saw was the sky.
Dark.
Darker than ever.
The storm clouds had concentrated here, turning the sky completely black.
And the rain fell with a fury never seen before, like countless white threads piercing the earth.
—Kwaaaaah—
Then, they turned their heads.
"...A wave?"
"The sea?"
They couldn't believe what they were seeing.
Beyond the walls, a sea larger than them was approaching.
It couldn't be called just a wave.
It was something endless, so vast that it could only be described as an ocean.
"Ah, ah—"
Some fell to their knees.
That sea.
It seemed too violent.
Unlike the beautiful sea they had once seen on the beach, this one advanced with the determination to sweep everything in its path, to kill all life.
The waves, deprived of light, approached like a black cloak.
"Everyone, stay calm!"
Even in that situation, some had to act.
"Mages, deploy shields now!"
"S-strategist! Will the shields be able to withstand it?"
The strategist Ed, who was on the walls of Midisi, shouted at his subordinate's question.
"Is this the time to think about that?!"
That sea.
The Third Emperor's power.
It would end all of this.
And, as always, the Heavenly Demon would only focus on his enemy, not caring how many allies were injured.
"We have to protect this no matter what!"
So, he had to do it.
"Contact General Mol too!"
Mikasi. Midisi.
"...And the ruins."
And the ruins.
How to protect these three places from that sea?
For a moment, Ed couldn't think of what to say.
"Damn it!"
A curse escaped his lips.
But they had to resist.
So that the Heavenly Demon would become a Demon God, so that the Demon World would rise above the Celestial World and the Divine World...
The Demon World had to see the Heavenly Demon as a true god, and he couldn't allow his reputation to be tarnished further.
A Heavenly Demon who lost two cities and some ruins.
That title couldn't be associated with him.
The strategist Ed existed for the Heavenly Demon.
"Hold it back as much as possible!"
They had to protect him.
They had to stop that tidal wave.
At all costs.
"Strategist—!"
"The shields won't be enough!"
But his subordinates and mages protested.
"It's impossible!"
One of them pleaded.
"We must flee!"
"...Flee?"
Ed's face lost all expression.
"Yes! Flee! You yourself said that in these cases, it's the best option! We must preserve the forces of the Heavenly Demon's Castle!"
True.
The strategist Ed understood.
"That's how it's been until now."
He saw the demons around him, who were nodding at his subordinate's words.
But upon looking at the expressions of the Heavenly Demon's soldiers and the territory's defenders on the walls...
"Haha—"
A laugh escaped him.
Until now, he had sacrificed the small for the large.
And for him, "the large" was the Heavenly Demon and the preservation of his forces.
But this time, he was making up silly excuses to save these demons, useless and rebellious.
Why?
"......"
Ed's gaze turned towards Mikasi.
And then he let out a bitter laugh.
"Ha, haha—"
The demons on the walls of Mikasi weren't looking at the Heavenly Demon or the Third Emperor.
Their eyes were fixed on a single person, someone who was at the same level as them.
Someone who wasn't even a demon.
"Cale Henituse—"
He climbed onto the edge of the wall.
As if facing the approaching sea alone.
"...I'm infected."
The strategist Ed finally understood.
Why he wanted to protect this place.
Cale Henituse.
It was because of him.
He had seen that human, who wasn't even a demon, saving the demons from the gray disease all day. He acted as if he was doing it for some benefit, but... what could he gain?
The Heavenly Demon's help?
Cale Henituse must have understood the nature of the Heavenly Demon.
A being without allies or enemies, who existed only for himself.
His help wouldn't be of much use.
Even so, Cale Henituse saved the demons.
And the result was these cities and ruins, which previously hated the Heavenly Demon, now with lights on in their homes following his path.
"How could I stand still after seeing that?"
The strategist Ed was also a demon.
"Deploy the shields!"
Yes. They would try.
They would resist as much as possible.
"And activate the castle's teleportation circle! Evacuate the civilians first! Quick!"
—Uuung— Uuung—!
At the moment the shields were deployed, Ed understood that his decision might not bring good results.
He looked up.
The tidal wave rose much higher than the walls.
Whether it was because of the light of the night or the clouds it contained, the waves were black.
A black tsunami looked down from the sky.
"Ah."
*I'm going to die.*
*Perhaps today is the day.*
He wouldn't die fighting against the former Heavenly Demon.
Nor against the Celestial World.
Would he die trying to save these insignificant demons?
It was ridiculous.
Would the Heavenly Demon laugh at my death?
What was my goal?
The strategist Ed couldn't help but laugh at his own thoughts.
"…!"
But his laughter faded.
A chill ran down his body.
He felt an enormous energy.
Something he had never felt, not from the Heavenly Demon nor from the Third Emperor.
"H-how…?"
His voice trembled involuntarily.
Cale Henituse, standing on the edge of the walls of Mikasi.
That colossal energy emanated from him.
But it wasn't violent.
Nor savage.
However, it was a power that made his whole being tremble.
What was it?
The answer came soon.
"......"
Cale, who had his eyes closed, felt the rain soaking him before speaking.
At the same time, Sky Eating Water also did.
"Stop it."
*-We're going to stop it.*
When the beings of the earth fought...
Those who had only observed from above, falling from the sky, began to move.
"…!"
The strategist Ed understood that the enormous energy that made him tremble came from the rain soaking him.
"…!!"
All the demons could see it: something was standing between them and the gigantic black sea that was approaching.
The Third Emperor had thought that the sea was the pinnacle of all waters.
That, because it was the most vast and contained more than any other, it could exert the greatest force.
That, through it, all the water in the world would move.
*-Cale.*
Sky Eating Water spoke in a voice that sounded satisfied.
*-I prefer the rain.*
Trapped for so long in a lake, Sky Eating Water...
*-The rain falls everywhere: the sea, the land, the rivers. It drops its body in every place.*
Her voice sounded as if she had found an answer.
*-Only those who have fallen know where to rise.*
Having been dragged to the bottom of a lake allowed her to soar into the sky.
*-And rain is also a natural disaster.*
The sea wasn't the only thing to be feared.
Even those who didn't know it, who had never seen it, understood the terror of the rain.
*-What will happen if two disasters collide?*
Cale, perceiving the ardor in that calm voice, responded indifferently as he extended his hands.
"If stopping it isn't enough, push it back."
*-Can it be difficult?*
"As long as it's not indigestion."
The rain moved.
"Ah."
"...Ah—"
Exclamations erupted everywhere.
The black rain falling from the sky no longer fell straight.
It turned in strange directions, moving towards another place.
All the drops, which previously formed white lines as they fell, headed towards the same point.
The rain followed Cale's desire.
It chose Sky Eating Water over the Third Emperor's sea.
Because Sky Eating Water knew what it meant to fall.
—Swooooooosh—
From the blackened sky, a white cloak descended.
In front of Mikasih, Midisi, and the ruins...
Before the approaching sea, a white curtain fell from the sky.
—Kwaaaaaaah—
The sea and the rain collided.
One to sweep away.
The other to stop it.
"...This is impossible."
The Wanderer Ryeon couldn't believe what she was seeing.
"What kind of power is this?"
Upon seeing the rain confront the Third Emperor's sea, upon feeling the energy emanating from Cale, a chill ran through her.
Sky Eating Water.
It was a power that even the God of Balance had to lock away.
A power so strong that a god had to seal it.
Under the lake.
Under someone.
Sky Eating Water, trapped for so long, still didn't understand her own being.
She didn't understand the meaning of the name she had given herself, of her oath to devour the god.
The limit of her potential was something that no one had reached, that no one had seen.
*-...I think I understand.*
And today.
Having faced the Third Emperor, now facing a sea worthy of a god...
Sky Eating Water was beginning to feel her true power.
*-Hmm.*
And Cale...
*-...I think I'm going to vomit again.*
Although this time it wouldn't be water, but probably blood.
If the problem was that a Glutton Priestess ate too much...
Sky Eating Water.
*-Will this girl use too much power?*
But he couldn't tell her to stop. She seemed to be understanding something, not growing, but remembering what she always had.
*-Is this okay? Can I let her continue?*
Without knowing why, the back of Cale's neck grew cold.
He had a bad feeling.
—Kwaaaaaaah—
The sea and the rain.
And Cale, who created the rain curtain.
Despite his complicated thoughts, his expression was arrogant, and the demons who looked at him felt awe.
Because a white cloak had descended from the sky to protect the city.
To protect them.
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