Chapter 56: Divine Clash
Two phenomena unfolded at once, though only one could be seen by the multitudes.
The first began in the heart of the Renlou Empire, where the Great Temple crowned the capital like a jewel of flame and stone. In its sanctum lies the vast pit, where The Sacred Flame arises.
On this day, the pit erupted.
A golden pillar of fire tore into the heavens, brighter than dawn, burning away clouds and casting the entire capital in shimmering daylight.
Bells rang of their own accord. Citizens rushed into the streets, some falling to their knees in awe, others weeping, others screaming that the end of the world had come.
From the Imperial Palace itself, nobles and generals pressed to the windows, unable to look away.
The second went unnoticed by nearly all. On the surface of the silver moon, a shift occurred.
A ripple, small as a breath, disturbed the cold perfection of its surface. It was not fire, not light, but a subtle distortion, like a fracture in the veil of reality itself. The singular crimson dot of the celestial body pulsed, shining just marginally brighter...
Through it slipped something small, invisible to the eyes of mortals, yet carrying with it the weight of inevitability.
The golden flame rose like a proclamation to all peoples.
The silver disturbance fell like a secret, meant for none to see...
Lady Keter closed her book with a soft thud, the title Water Margin fading into blank leather as if the text itself had fled. She let her hand linger on it for a moment, then set it aside with deliberate care.
"Well then...", she murmured, smiling as she rose from her chair, "It's time to work."
At her gesture, a cane shimmered into being at her side. She rested her palm upon it, and the very air of the monochrome world rippled in response.
Lady Keter's eyes flicked upward, piercing through the dim veil of this otherworld. Though no one else in the room could sense it, she felt the echo, a subtle tremor crossing dimensions.
Her smile deepened, "So the stage is finally set."
The shadow behind her stirred, coiling, twisting... "Miss Mashhith" quivering with disapproval.
Lady Keter tapped her cane lightly against the ground, its sound unnaturally sharp in the monochrome silence, "Oh, don't sulk. You knew this moment would come."
The shadow screeched faintly, like slate grating beneath iron.
"I told you, I am not the one pushing the pieces forward.", she said, voice airy and teasing, "Another Lord of Annihilation had come... and now the Giant of Light and the Overseer have both answered."
The cane pulsed in her hand, as though acknowledging her words.
"Chant my name in my honor, so that I shall save this world...", she spoke calmly, yet commanding.
=0=0=
Each and every Argonaut heard what she said, and they got ready.
Eric is alone in his office, taking in a deep breath.
Dawn and Lea are standing next to each other, nervously nodding to one another.
And Jim, standing on the edge of the volcano to observe the Heavenly Demon to the night, watching the figure still rampaging through the land.
And they all chanted as if a signal had gone up in their head.
"Chosen One of Time;
Embracer of Origin, Child of Purity and Silver;
The Monarch clad in Argent Light."
As for Lady Keter, a golden scale appeared behind her, banishing the darkness of the monochrome world.
"I Offer to the Scale—", she snapped her finger using her left hand, "Three seconds."
The golden scale glowed ever more, as if approving the deal... then a portal ripped open in front of her.
Thus, she stepped out, right next to Jim. Now, without the filter of the library, he beheld the beauty of Lady Keter in full force.
Her silver-white hair flowed like liquid moonlight, strands glinting faintly with starlit hues. Her eyes gleamed a serene azure, each iris holding an eight-pointed star that pulsed softly, as though time itself beat in her gaze.
Her robe, woven of pale blue and white threads, seemed half-solid, half-light runes and constellations flickering faintly across its surface before fading into mist. Beneath it, a dark corset and silken shirt grounded her ethereal grace.
She looked less like a woman and more like an idea given form - elegant, distant, and terrifyingly perfect. Like a beacon in the darkness of night.
Even the flames bent slightly around her, as if unwilling to touch something so far beyond their nature. Jim swallowed, unable to decide whether to kneel or run.
Lady Keter smiled faintly, her tone calm and almost amused.
"While waiting for those two to show up..."
She lifted her cane and tapped it gently against the ground.
The world answered.
Sigils ignited in the sky, thousands upon thousands of colorful runes spinning into vast circles, nesting upon one another like clockwork suns. The air thickened; time itself seemed to hold its breath.
"Walpurgis Festival...", she declared, her voice soft yet echoing through the atmosphere like a command written into the laws of being, "Commence."
Then the heavens fell.
The magic descended. Fire turned to light, light to form, form to annihilation. A choir of creation itself roared across the land.
The volcano below disintegrated under the sheer magnitude of her invocation. Every spell, every principle of existence converged into a singular truth.
Lady Keter's will.
But amidst that divine tempest… a glimmer moved.
A single line of silver cut through the storm.
No flash, no sound. Just a clean motion.
Every spell that touched that line broke apart, sliced, divided, silenced. The Heavenly Demon moved within the inferno like a dancer of death, his blade drawing arcs that severed magic from meaning.
Fire split in two and died mid-burn. Lightning fell and lost its light. The air trembled, torn apart faster than it could collapse.
No enchantment, no power— only technique.
Swordsmanship so absolute it was a form of divinity itself.
Each swing rewrote what could exist, and what could not.
Jim stared, heart pounding, as the sky came undone.
The billions of runes shattered, falling like dying stars. The world went quiet again, save for the soft sound of metal sliding back into stillness.
The Heavenly Demon stood amid the devastation, sword at his side, cloak tattered from nothing but wind. His expression was blank, calm, almost bored, as if he'd merely swept away an inconvenience.
Jim swallowed hard. That was pure technique… he cut through Lady Keter's domain with swordsmanship alone.
He dared a glance at her.
Lady Keter stood amidst the fading glow, completely unruffled. Not a speck of dust marred her perfect form. Her cane rested lightly in her hand, her smile unfazed, even delighted.
"Magnificent, truly.", she murmured, eyes glimmering with something unreadable, "To slice through a divine invocation with nothing but will and motion… yes, I understand why you are a Lord of Annihilation."
She leaned slightly on her cane, as if amused rather than alarmed.
"Let's see...", she whispered, her voice almost fond, "Just how long that technique of yours can hold… against eternity."
And down below, the Heavenly Demon raised his cracked sword— a silent challenge that split the air.
He charged at her with terrifying speed, like a storm given form, a rampaging bull of steel and fury, his sword flashing through the air with the intent to rend gods.
But before the blade could reach her—
The heavens roared.
A colossal hand of pure golden fire fell from above and crashed into the ground before him. The impact sent shockwaves rolling across the land, turning the molten earth into a sea of radiant flame.
The Heavenly Demon stopped cold. His cracked sword met the blazing knuckles— and for the first time, it did not cut through.
The golden fire swelled, shaping itself into a figure so bright it turned night into day.
A towering giant of pure brilliance rose from the inferno, fifty meters tall, every motion trailing arcs of burning righteousness.
Jim gasped, unable to breathe as warmth washed over him.
For a moment, all fear left him.
He felt it, the certainty that no evil could stand before that radiance.
Hope itself had taken form.
The Giant of Light...
The Sacred Flame...
The God of Justice...
Lady Keter merely sighed, closing her book with a soft snap.
"Oh, is Astrelnoia late again?", she said casually, sliding down the volcanic slope as if gravity obeyed her whims alone.
A thunderclap followed.
Something landed beside her, hard enough to shake the molten plain, a figure six meters tall, sleek as a blade and gleaming like a polished mirror. Armor of white steel adorned with glowing blue circuits pulsed with restrained power. Steam hissed from vents across his shoulders as pistons locked into place, the air vibrating from the rhythm of his internal engines.
He moved with the precision of a machine and the poise of a nobleman.
"It is your fault for jumping in unannounced, Monarch.", the knight said smoothly, his voice rich, elegant, yet resonating with metallic undertones, like a chorus through steel.
"How is my Knight doing?", she casually asked.
"He is doing well, still waiting for your command."
A genuine smile bloomed on her face, "Then let's finish this thing first, I'm not sure when that other thing would come..."
"Yes.", the knight imitates, cracking his knuckles, watching the Giant of Light beating the Heavenly Demon senseless in the distance.
"Astrelnoia...", she addressed the mechanical knight, then turned to the Giant of Light, "Novala..."
From beneath Lady Keter's feet, the molten ground split apart, revealing layers of blinding golden arrays of divine equations.
Lady Keter raised her cane, and her voice carried not through sound, but through the fabric of reality itself.
"To the Heralds of Life!!"
The world answered.
The sigils flared to life. The light spread, not outward but upward, piercing into the heavens and reflecting off both moons. The sky ignited, like dawn at midnight.
"Today, you are Heroes!!"
Her words struck like hammers of judgment.
The alchemical circle erupted, releasing two vast torrents of divine radiance that spiraled toward the figures standing before her.
The Giant of Justice roared, his flames transforming from gold to something purer. His body became transparent fire, every spark within him singing hymns of justice.
Every step he took remade the land. Ash turned to marble. The air shimmered like crystal.
But the Heavenly Demon was already moving.
The cracked sword flashed upward, not through brute strength, but with the precision of inevitability. The air split apart as the blade met the descending fist.
Flames exploded outward in waves, but the Demon moved through them untouched. His sword carved golden fire apart as if slicing through the air.
From the storm of radiance, Novala stepped forward, unflinching. His arm reformed instantly, fire mending fire, his body not of flesh or bone, but divine combustion given form.
He could not feel pain. He could not bleed. He simply was justice itself.
And Justice shall never falter!!
He swung again, an inferno wrapped in divine law.
The Heavenly Demon blocked it with one hand.
For a moment, the image was absurd, a human-sized figure holding back a god made of flame. But the impossible happened nonetheless.
Sparks of molten divinity spilled, evaporating before they touched the earth.
And then came the second strike.
Astrelnoia descended from the sky like a comet of blue light. His armor screamed with the hiss of venting steam, circuits glowing brighter than lightning.
Twin energy blades unfolded from his forearms, forming luminous arcs of pure focus.
"Engaging Resonance.", he intoned, voice metallic and measured.
He moved faster than sound, becoming a blur of angles and precision. Every strike followed the other with machine-perfect rhythm.
The Demon parried them all.
Steel met will.
Energy met intent.
Each collision birthed light without sound— an exchange so fast it was invisible, the battlefield illuminated only by the afterimage of each clash.
Novala joined in, his fists descending like meteors, every blow a sermon of justice. The air became liquid heat, the horizon a wall of gold.
The Demon danced within it all. His cracked sword shimmered, tracing perfect arcs through chaos.
One motion split the volcano's slope in half. Another tore open the sky.
Jim could only stare from afar, breath caught in his chest. This was not a fight. It was a clash of principles.
The God of Justice, who knew no pain.
The Overseer of Steel, who knew no hesitation.
And the Heavenly Demon, who knew no fear.
Through it all, Lady Keter stood behind them, untouched by the fury around her.
Her cane tapped gently against the ground, golden ripples spreading in intricate patterns — her magic threading through the fabric of battle like divine architecture.
Every falter, every wound, every imbalance was instantly corrected.
Time itself bent around her will...
"I grant you Salvation.", she spoke lightly, "For that, destroy the enemy of the world."
At her words, the runes around Novala and Astrelnoia blazed brighter.
Divine light and machine energy synchronize into perfect harmony.
Novala roared, his voice not a sound but a wave of faith. Astrelnoia's eyes burned cerulean, his systems roaring into overdrive.
Together they charged— light and steel, god and machine, two definitions of order colliding against chaos incarnate.
The Heavenly Demon met them both.
Sword against fire.
Blade against machine.
Each clash unmade the air around it, the atmosphere itself torn to ribbons.
When they struck together, flame and metal against will, the world turned white. The shockwave swept mountains into dust. Jim was thrown miles away, landing hard among molten stone.
When his eyes opened, the battlefield was gone.
Only a vast, burning crater remained.
At its heart stood three silhouettes.
Novala still burned, his colossal form steady, golden fire cascading endlessly.
Astrelnoia's armor was cracked, but his stance never faltered.
And the Heavenly Demon, unbowed and unbroken, stood tall amid the destruction, his sword low at his side, the edge still gleaming silver through the ruin.
Lady Keter exhaled softly, as though pleased.
"Unfeeling flame. Unyielding steel. Unfaltering will.", she murmured, her smile faint but knowing, "How beautiful that ruin is when it still believes in righteousness."
She raised her cane, bathing in Armageddon.
"Let's continue."
And from beneath her feet, golden light began to rise again... brighter, purer, and infinite.