Chapter 440. The Temple (3)
Alon observed the gigantic meteorite created by The Night That Leads In, large enough to cover even the sky. After a moment of reflection, he opened his mouth as if everything was already clear.
"…Undoubtedly, this is in another dimension."
"Right? Be grateful and die—"
"But it's not something I hadn't foreseen either. It's just…"
The man… no, The Night That Leads In, put on a confused expression at Alon's words.
Of course, Alon knew.
The existence in front of him possessed overwhelming power, far superior to that of any other type of Divine Blood.
Although he had an almost human appearance, just being in front of him made every cell in his body tense up to the point of breaking out in a cold sweat.
And yet, Alon decided to prolong the conversation and reconfirm the information he already knew for a single reason.
"…I needed time."
Along with Alon's murmur…
The Night That Leads In looked up towards a point floating high in the sky.
Very small, but clearly visible.
And the moment he perceived it—
"Eyadiya."
The Night That Leads In realized.
It wasn't a dot.
It was…
"…a spear?"
A spear.
A spear so huge it gave chills, devouring absurd amounts of mana in real-time as it grew.
And under that spear—
[Kyu-!]
There was Blackie, transformed into Poison Eater.
With shining eyes, the creature stared fixedly at The Night That Leads In.
Good thing I prepared Reverse Heaven beforehand. If I hadn't been able to summon Basiliora it would have been a disaster.
A gigantic spear split the gray sky.
Seeing even a hint of bewilderment on The Night That Leads In's face, Alon said:
"I will return the courtesy by starting myself."
He finally took out the right hand he had kept hidden in his pocket forming seals.
And then—
When Alon's seal was completed…
The Immortal Thrust—
The gigantic spear fell upon the red earth that floated defying gravity. The blow Alon had prepared from the moment he arrived at the temple was fired directly towards The Night That Leads In.
The gray sky lit up with a white so pure it snatched away all vision.
The red-dyed vegetation was covered in white light.
A lethal blow—an expression that held no exaggeration—
—It plunged into the Divine Blood.
What resonated in his ears was a buzzing capable of erasing all hearing.
And even with that shuddering sound, what Alon saw with his own eyes was—
The enormous blow that had shattered the red meteorite and reached The Night That Leads In…
Stop in front of him as if it were a lie.
It was strange. Unreal.
The spear that should have advanced stopped.
As if a bullet were suspended in the air.
Boom—Kwaaaa—!!
The meteorite above his head began to crumble, but the blow remained still.
Like that…
little by little…
slowly…
The spear fired with almost infinite power from Reverse Heaven began to disappear in front of him.
With too much ease.
With frustrating simplicity.
As if it had never existed.
And then—
[What a pity.]
The meteorite that moments before had crumbled regained its shape around The Night That Leads In, who smiled calmly once more.
As if he had never received any attack.
As if nothing had happened.
[…What the hell…]
Basiliora murmured with absolute emptiness at that scene.
In contrast, The Night That Leads In's smile of ecstasy deepened.
[…Wouldn't it be better if you ran away right now?]
Basiliora, who had never shown weakness before Divine Bloods.
Hearing that, Alon looked up at the sky.
It was true: the situation in front of them was so crushing that even Basiliora looked powerless.
Above their heads, The Night That Leads In watched them from above with arrogance.
And above him, a gigantic meteorite completely covered the sky.
Anyone would lose the will to fight.
Yes.
It was so overwhelming that—
"…I don't think it's necessary to run away."
Alon saw… a possibility.
[What…?]
Basiliora asked dumbfounded, but Alon just kept looking at the sky.
Before him nothing had changed: absolutist violence and power suspended in the air.
If Alon had seen this without prior information, he would have completely lost determination or escaped.
But he could remain calm.
For a single reason:
the information he had about the Law.
“A great power demands a great price.”
Creation of Heavenly Law was, in essence, the process of creating laws.
A law born from the Law, upon advancing through stages, would reach providence and become omnipotent.
But that was only upon advancing through stages.
If that law belonged to a Divine Blood who had barely reached the Law…
And yet was able to destroy the will of whoever looked at it…
Then its penalty would be equally enormous.
[For a human, you were impressive. If you were just any random bastard, you would have died with that blow.]
Alon observed The Night That Leads In:
clearly intoxicated by his own power.
And above his head, the meteorite emitted a sinister creak again…
no, it was splitting.
Soon it was revealed:
Hundreds of fragments and a gigantic floating island, like a suspended garden.
"…Gravity?"
Alon murmured, but shook his head.
It couldn't be gravity: The Night That Leads In's law acted in multiple directions without any relation, and the Immortal Thrust hadn't fallen due to gravity; it had simply stopped and vanished.
"No. It's attraction."
When Alon murmured the conclusion, remembering everything that occurred…
[Ho—?]
The Night That Leads In smiled, amused.
[Amazing. Arriving at that conclusion so quickly.]
He confirmed the answer with confidence.
[But… even if you understand it, there is nothing you can do, right?]
His carelessness was natural.
With such a monstrous difference in power, it was logical to be confident.
[Hmm?]
Hundreds of meteorite fragments began to fall toward Alon.
And precisely because of that confidence—
The first piece of the puzzle was solved.
Alon obtained an opportunity.
The combat began.
No, it couldn't even be called combat; it was totally unilateral.
The Divine Blood simply threw meteorites as if it were a game, and Alon could only desperately dodge them.
Of course, Alon also tried to counterattack.
He fired the Immortal Thrust again.
He froze the entire space under the meteorites.
He even turned several into ash with lightning.
But none of his attacks managed to cause the slightest damage.
The combat dragged on—
and the situation worsened.
Kwooooaaa—!!
A rain of meteors fell toward the ground.
Each one was lethal enough to kill just by touching it.
And in the midst of it, Alon continued thinking coldly.
“The enemy’s law is attraction.”
Attraction.
The force that pulls from a point.
[Damn it~!]
Basiliora shrieked while twisting his body to dodge another meteorite.
While listening to him, Alon was organizing data in his mind.
And then—
He already had sufficient information.
Despite the short time, Alon had understood his ability quite well.
“He can create at least 84 points of attraction simultaneously, and perhaps more.”
“The range in which he can create them is huge. If he wanted, he could form them right next to me. Escaping is impossible.”
“The speed of movement using the attraction points is absurd. Even if I could damage him, hitting him would be almost impossible.”
“He feels no burden when using attraction.”
And with more information accumulated, Alon understood two more things:
First: the enemy's ability was incredibly irrational.
Second: The Night That Leads In was deliberately letting him live.
If the Divine Blood took it seriously, Alon wouldn't be able to react like this.
In summary: the situation was desperate.
Alon was alive only thanks to the Divine Blood's arrogance. But even in that miserable situation, Alon's mind worked faster than ever looking for clues toward victory.
“He doesn't master the law well yet. The distribution and size of the attraction points are irregular. When it exceeds several dozen, his control becomes unstable.”
“Although he can create infinite points, the available force is limited. The more there are, the more unstable both the meteorites and the floating island become.”
“When a point exceeds its force limit, another point disappears to compensate.”
“Considering all that, the possible types of penalties are… twelve.”
He was already reaching the end.
[Alon—! I'm at my limit!]
Basiliora shouted as if it were a final scream.
And yes, he seemed to be completely exhausted.
It was natural: dodging such a unilateral attack for so long was already an achievement.
But—
"Hold on a little longer."
[What—!?]
"Just a little longer."
Alon still needed time.
Very little.
Really little.
Only what was necessary to compare the theoretical penalty of that perfect law with the information gathered so far.
[Damn it~!]
While Basiliora twisted to dodge another meteorite, Alon cast another spell… which, once again, stopped in the air and vanished.
The first prediction was wrong.
Kwoooooaa!!
A lightning bolt destroyed the meteors while a spell fell to the ground destroying it.
The second prediction was wrong.
The third too.
The fourth equally.
The fifth failed again.
And when he reached the sixth—
When Alon's absolute freezing stopped the entire zone where the meteorites were falling, he saw fragments descending.
Crack—
And in that instant…
"I found it."
Alon's face, expressionless until then, filled with genuine euphoria.
