Chapter 804: Outer Skirt Fight [1]

"....."

A man sat in silence, his entire body shrouded in a thin light that seemed to glow with an ethereal aura. He sat without making any sound, his expression calm and collected.

A thin glow appeared beneath him, shrouding him in the light as his entire body radiated warmth.

He looked flawless.

And soon—

"They’ve neared the edge."

The Living Saint opened his eyes, revealing a pair of deep yellow pupils that shimmered faintly in the dim light of the hexagonal chamber. He turned back to see several figures standing behind him.

His lips curled into a smile.

"I take it that all of you are in favor of the change?"

"....."

None of the people replied, but their silence spoke volumes.

The Living Saint’s smile grew.

"In that case, let’s head out."

In actuality, he understood that not all of them believed in him. A few were still loyal followers of Panthea, and this was understandable. Having been brainwashed since their youth to believe her, it was only natural that they were extremely loyal to her.

He wasn’t much different, and there used to be a time when he never would’ve believed he would’ve ever betrayed her.

However, things were now different.

His eyes had been opened, and he could now see that such loyalty was meaningless.

He also understood that they were all used by the Goddess.

She was merely using them as tools in order to increase her power. They were nothing but pawns to her.

The realization had truly opened up his eyes to the world.

"Follow me."

Standing up, he closed his eyes and locked points with the Seat that had been closely following the ship where the Goddess was located. Once he had a good idea of the location, his hand began to vibrate as the space before him rippled.

World Integration.

That was the phase one would reach once reaching the Zenith.

It was a state of complete dominance over the mana in the air, from its countless affinities that were contained within mana itself, to the very way it flowed and moved. In that state, the user no longer needed to worry about their own mana at all.

One could argue that the moment someone reached the Zenith, they’d have infinite mana.

But it would be more accurate to say that their mana pool was the same as that of the mana that drifted inside the world.

The Living Saint had yet to reach the Zenith, but as someone who was close to reaching such a state, he had reached the point where he had absolute control over the mana that drifted in the air.

It was with such control that he became capable of handling all affinities.

And of such affinity, the space affinity was included.

Riiiiiiiip—!

As if the very air before him had turned solid, his hand gripped the space itself and tore it open. The air split apart like fabric, revealing a swirling portal that pulsed with energy, its depths connecting directly to the source he was bound to.

He turned his attention back to the Seats.

"Please enter. Our guests should be waiting for us on the other si—"

The Living Saint suddenly stopped, his gaze drifting towards a different direction. As if realization finally dawned on him, he lowered his head and chuckled.

"...So you knew all along."

His words brought confusion to several people, but the Living Saint didn’t elaborate, turning his attention towards the Seats.

Not all Seats were equal.

To be a Seat, one needed to be either a Luminarch or a Solarch. The ranks were based on contributions and strength, with the Solarch mainly composed of those who were ranked at around the 9th Tier.

There were only five said individuals within the Church, the Living Saint included.

The number of Luminarchs was much higher.

There were about nine.

Gazing at the four other Solarchs, the Living Saint eventually commanded three of them.

"You four come with me."

He then looked at the Luminarch’s.

"Handle the remaining."

Eventually, his gaze fell on the last Solarch. Dressed in a red robe, the Solarch emitted a terrifying power.

The Living Saint gave him a good look before nudging towards the portal.

"Keep the portal steady. They should be able to handle them, but if something happens, feel free to interfere. I do not need any prisoners. Do your best at eliminating them. We don’t want any variables."

"...Understood."

The Solarch replied, his voice deep.

"Good."

The Living Saint replied, his gaze drifting towards the distance once more. It wasn’t long until his body faded completely, appearing in an entirely different space. The place was neither too close nor too far from the city.

It was in what appeared to be an old abandoned church on top of a hill, its dark stone walls weathered and cracked, the wooden doors half-hanging from rusted hinges. The waves roared beneath as faint droplets of red spread into the air.

The Living Saint stood by the entrance of the church, gazing inward as light spilled quietly through the red-stained glass at the far end, bathing the altar below in a muted, crimson glow.

Staring at the scene, the Living Saint opened his mouth.

"How long?"

His voice echoed quietly throughout the space, his entire body radiating a certain pressure as he kept his gaze focused on the altar.

Splash! Splash!

The waves continued to roar beneath, splashing the world in crimson as a figure appeared in the middle of the altar not long after, her eyes flickering with a certain intensity as she looked at him calmly.

"Oh, dear... It’s been quite a while, really. You were never really good at hiding your intentions."

"Is that so? And here I thought I was doing a very good job at it."

"Ha."

Panthea smiled, shaking her head quietly.

"My child, I’ve lived for far longer than you can possibly fathom. I’ve seen all that there is to see within this world. There’s no way I could have ever seen it coming. You’ve underestimated me, or the old gods that currently reside within this world."

For a moment, the calmness that lingered around her body faded as the flames in her eyes flickered with a certain intensity.

"...We may no longer be at our primes, but we’re not beings that can be underestimated. You look down on us a little too much."

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Three figures appeared behind the Living Saint not long after, and as Panthea stared at them, the flames within her eyes flickered and her smile turned even more serene.

"Very well."

She closed her eyes, the world turning silent.

No one made a move.

And then—

Her eyes opened again.

The moment she did, the world was blinded by light.

***

"What’s going on? Why did you tell us to come here?"

"...Is something happening?"

"Ukh..."

Aoife, Evelyn, Anne, An’as, and Leon all stood by the dock. Looking back, it didn’t seem like the girls had yet noticed the abnormality in the air, but it didn’t take long for them to take notice, as their expressions turned extremely serious.

"Space fissure."

"...It’s spreading."

The atmosphere turned incredibly tense.

All eyes were fixed on the distance, and a heartbeat later, a thin crack began to form in the air. The crack expanded quietly, and it wasn’t long before several figures walked out from it.

The moment they did, the entire world appeared to come to a stop.

All the sea life that resided beneath the ship fled while the ship stopped moving altogether as the waves started to rock back and forth, growing in size with each passing second. The air grew heavy, almost suffocating, and as I held onto the book in my hand, a certain gaze attracted my attention.

"Hah."

I almost smirked.

That bald head...

’He really must hate me quite a bit, huh?’

If looks could kill, I’d have been dead twenty times over by now. One glance at him was enough to show just how much he despised me, but even as his eyes burned into me, I didn’t feel afraid.

Rather...

’This is pretty exciting.’

Having just reached the 8th Tier, I wanted nothing more than to test my current powers.

In particular, my integrated domain.

I wanted to see to what extent I could use it.

But there was something that was bothering me. Staring at the numerous people standing before us, my heart sank a little. We were outnumbered by quite a bit, and the strength of the people in front of us was also a little bit higher.

I turned my attention towards Aoife, Kiera, and Evelyn.

The three were weaker, the weakest of the group. They had all yet to reach the Eight Tier, and while they could probably last a little bit against them, in no way did I believe that they could beat them.

As if reading my thoughts, Aoife looked at me.

Her gaze flickered with a certain coldness that caused me to pause.

"Worry about yourself. We’re no longer the same as we were in the past. None of us wasted time during the three years that we were gone."

Her red hair suddenly began to flutter, and her expression turned so cold that she looked like a completely different person.

Hum! Hum! Hum!

A loud humming sound echoed from her waist, and not long after, silver streaks shot out into the air as they revealed themselves into a series of different swords, each one floating perfectly around her.

She wasn’t the only one to change.

Kiera’s entire body turned completely dark, her body fading completely from sight as several dark films appeared beneath all of our feet.

Already familiar with what she was doing, I looked at the black film silence before eventually looking at Evelyn.

She stood quietly, her hair normal and her expression calm.

It didn’t look like she had changed at all, but upon closer look.

Cra Crack! Cra Crack!

A faint, yet unmistakable, muffled cracking reverberated from deep within her body. The sound grew progressively stronger with each passing second until it started to become harder to ignore.

I felt a terrifying energy rising up from deep within her body, enough to make me shudder a little.

Especially since it felt as though her power was continuously growing.

’What sort of skill is this?’

My mind shook.

The girls...

They had grown so much stronger than I had last remembered.

Despite being stronger than them, I still felt quite a bit threatened by what they were displaying, and as I held onto the book in my grasp, I took a deep breath, locking eyes with the bald man from before.

The sequences of events had all occurred in a matter of seconds, and so by the time I turned my attention towards the Seats, they all started to move.

I grasped the book tightly as it suddenly started to glow.

"Hoo."

This was going to be my first fight since coming into the future.

I wanted to see just how much I had changed.