Fragments of Truth
The colossal sword descended.
The heavens themselves seemed to split apart.
Its pressure crushed the earth long before it landed, tearing roots from the ground and forcing every remaining player to retreat.
Even the elite members shielding Valerius abandoned their positions.
No one wished to be caught within the range of Divine Judgment.
Only one figure remained beneath its shadow.
Aster.
His mana had been completely exhausted. His assassin skills were unusable. There was only one path left.
Quietly...
His twin daggers disappeared into particles of light. An ordinary iron sword materialized in his right hand. The weapon swap lasted less than a heartbeat.
Amid the blinding radiance of the descending sword...
No one noticed. Not even Valerius. Aster lowered his stance. His breathing became perfectly steady. His world grew silent.
The Primal Codex slowly opened within his consciousness.
Not to grant another skill.
But to observe.
To understand.
His eyes no longer looked at the sword falling from the heavens. Instead he looked at the countless streams of mana connected to it.
The immense blade wasn't falling randomly. It followed invisible lines.
A fixed trajectory.
A predetermined destination.
The Truth slowly revealed itself.
"Every overwhelming force follows an unchanging path."
Power did not descend because it wished to.
It descended because it had already chosen where to fall.
If the path could be changed, then the outcome would change as well.
The page of Guardian Parry shone brilliantly.
The ancient words echoed within his mind.
"The greatest defense is not resistance..."
"...It is perfect control."
Aster smiled faintly.
"So that's your Truth..."
The divine sword reached him. He moved.
One step.
One breath.
One swing.
Guardian Parry.
There was no explosion at first. Only a soft metallic sound.
Clink.
His ordinary iron sword met the colossal blade for the briefest instant. He did not stop it. He did not overpower it.
He simply changed its path.
Barely, only a few degrees.
But a few degrees were enough. The divine sword crashed into the earth several meters beside him.
The world exploded.
BOOOOOOM!!
The entire forest disappeared beneath blinding light. Mountains shook. Hundreds of trees were uprooted. The earth split open into a massive crater.
A violent shockwave swept across the battlefield, throwing every remaining player into the air.
Dust and smoke swallowed everything. Silence followed.
Valerius slowly lowered his exhausted arm. His breathing was ragged.
"...It's over."
No one could survive that.
No one.
The smoke slowly dispersed.
One silhouette remained standing.
Aster.
His cloak fluttered gently in the lingering wind.
The ordinary iron sword in his hand was covered in fine cracks.
He lost a portion of his Health Points.
Yet...
He had survived.
He wasn't looking at Valerius. His gaze was distant, immersed in thought.
"The Truth..."
"So that is the Truth behind overwhelming force..."
"It was never the sword itself."
"It was the path the sword was destined to follow."
"The moment I understood that path..."
"I only had to change it."
Within the Primal Codex, another note was quietly engraved.
It was not a new skill.
Only another Truth recorded for the future.
Only then did Aster slowly raise his head.
His calm eyes met Valerius's.
"...Impossible..."
Valerius staggered backward.
"No..."
"Nobody survives Divine Judgment..."
"You..."
"You redirected it..."
For the first time since entering Divine Nexus...
The player who stood atop the global rankings felt genuine terror.
Those eyes...
They carried no excitement.
No arrogance.
No satisfaction.
Only indifference.
As if he had already judged the outcome.
As if everyone before him...
Were already dead.
Fear silently spread among the remaining elite players. None of them noticed Aster's weapon changing once more.
The cracked iron sword dissolved into particles of light.
In its place, the Shadowfang Twin Blades quietly appeared.
There was no dramatic flourish. No burst of light. Their attention was fixed entirely on Aster's eyes.
Then...
He moved.
No skill activated.
No system notification appeared.
Only a single step.
Yet that single step carried him across several meters in an instant.
His overwhelming Agility allowed his body to explode forward far beyond what the remaining players could follow.
The nearest archer widened his eyes.
"So fa—"
A single slash.
Nothing more.
His health fell below the safety threshold. A pillar of white light carried him back to Mistvale.
Aster never stopped moving. He changed direction effortlessly. Another player swung a sword toward him.
The blade cut through empty air. Aster had already slipped past his shoulder. One ordinary strike from the twin blades.
White light.
Gone.
Valerius watched in disbelief.
"No skills..."
"He's not using any skills..."
Every elite player relied on techniques.
Sword skills.
Magic.
Powerful abilities.
Aster...
Used none of them. His speed alone overwhelmed their eyes. One player attempted to flee. Aster simply ran.
His Agility allowed him to close the distance within moments.
A basic slash.
Another vanished.
A tank raised his shield.
Aster sidestepped before the shield could fully settle into position.
His dagger slipped through the narrow gap beneath the arm.
One strike.
Gone.
A mage hurriedly began chanting.
Before the second word left his mouth—
Aster stood behind him. A simple cut.
White light.
Again.
And again.
No unnecessary movement. No wasted effort. Each attack was calculated. Each strike ended with only one result.
Defeat.
The battlefield became eerily quiet. Pillars of white light rose one after another beneath the moonlit sky.
One.
Three.
Five.
Seven.
Ten.
Thirteen.
Fourteen.
Within moments, the once-proud elite force had disappeared. Only one player remained.
Valerius.
He stood alone amidst the devastated battlefield. His companions... Gone.
Not because they were weak. But because the gap between them and Aster had become impossible to overcome.
His hands trembled around the hilt of his sword. His breathing grew uneven. His heart pounded loudly within his chest.
He finally understood.
The man before him had never relied on flashy techniques.He relied on something far more terrifying.
Absolute mastery.
Perfect judgment.
And physical ability that far exceeded every player currently known in Divine Nexus.
Aster slowly walked toward him. Twin blades reflected the pale moonlight.
One measured step after another. Valerius instinctively stepped backward. For the first time in his life...
The number one player on the leaderboard realized...
He was completely outmatched.