Crack. Crack. Crack.

The sound of shattered glass filled the air, and I felt my body being propelled backward.

My consciousness slowly returned as I took in the chaos surrounding me. Cracks ran through the space, like veins coursing with energy, and in a matter of moments, the entire world shattered.

The cosmic background shattered alongside it.

I was falling, plummeting towards what looked like Ashton City. I tried to stop myself before I collided with the buildings, but I was too late. I barely managed to slow my fall and ended up crashing onto the roof of a tall building.

BANG―!

“Pfttt.”

I coughed, covering my mouth as blood trickled down my fingers. The pain was overwhelming, and my body trembled with every breath.

But I knew what to do. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a vial of potion, quickly shattering it inside my mouth. The healing properties of the potion, combined with the demonic energy that was coursing down my body, sped up my recovery. The pain slowly subsided, and my injuries began to heal.

But it wasn’t enough. Not nearly fast enough.

“You’re still alive after that?”

Waylan’s voice came from above, it sounded ancient and it came from all directions. I looked up to see him hovering in the air, not far from where I was.

I backed away, my hand instinctively reaching for my sword, but it wasn’t there.

“You’re just as much of a cockroach as he is…”

Waylan frowned.

“…It annoys me.”

He extended his hand, and the world flipped upside down. Suddenly, Ashton City was above me, and I was falling again.

“Uh? Ah?!”

I tried to right myself, but it was no use.

Waylan pushed his palm forward, and a projection of a hand headed towards me.

Crack. Crack. Crack.

The air around it shattered like glass, and I crossed my arms to shield myself. But the palm moved too fast for me to react, and I was propelled backward once again.

“Akh!”

When I regained my bearings, Ashton City was nowhere in sight. I was standing in the middle of the sky. I tried to move, but the pain was unbearable. I felt like every bone in my body was broken.

“My ribs… and definitely my hip.”

I grimaced in pain, clenching my teeth. But even as I endured the agony, my body started to heal, aided by the demonic energy that was coursing through me.

“Still alive?”

Waylan’s voice was taunting. Suddenly, he appeared behind me, and I turned to face him, my body still wracked with pain.

“…You really are a cockroach.”

He extended his hand once again, and the world flipped back to normal, and Ashton City appeared right beneath me. But something was off.

I felt disoriented like I was standing in two places at once.

Looking up and down, I saw two Ashton Cities, identical in every way. Both were above and beneath me.

“W…what?”

My sense of direction was lost, and I felt like I was spinning out of control.

Suddenly, his voice reverberated through my surroundings.

“This is a space I created. Within this space, I am akin to what the Records are to the Universe. I can control everything from space to time itself.”

The space around me cracked, and another palm headed my way.

This time, I was somewhat prepared, and I brought my wings forward, creating a small shield in front of me. But even with the shield, I was still thrown backward, the impact jarring my body.

“Freeze.”

Waylan’s words fell, and my body froze at his command. I couldn’t move, couldn’t even blink and what covered my vision were golden runes and words that clamped against my skin.

“Huh?!”

Waylan appeared right in front of me, his starry eyes reflecting the world I was in, and I watched as the two Cities above and beneath me started to press toward my direction.

Rumble―! The space shook fiercely as the two cities moved together and I swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

“Like I said…”

Waylan repeated, his tone growing more insistent.

“Within this world, I am akin to the Records. Stop resisting.”

I could feel his power bearing down on me, crushing my entire body into a pulp. But I refused to give in. I refused to let that happen… not after everything that ‘he’ did for me to get to this point.

Staring out at the approaching cities, I clenched my teeth, and a white glow formed around my body. It was a last ditch effort, a desperate attempt to take back control. And it worked.

Suddenly, I was able to regain control over my body. The golden runes and words that had clamped at my body shattered.

My hand shot out, and my sword, which I had previously lost, appeared in my grasp. Waylan’s expression twisted in shock as I slashed forward with all the remaining energy that I had.

Swoosh!

“It’s futil―”

He started to say, but I cut him off.

“Freeze.”

The command was simple but powerful. The moment I spoke those words, my voice changed, imbued with an ancient feel to it and golden runes manifested around Waylan, clamping at his body as they had previously done to me.

Waylan froze on the spot, unable to move.

Seeing that a chance had presented itself, I pressed forward.

WIIIIIIING―! The blade streaked past his body, slashing directly at his chest. A golden liquid spurted out from his body as he stumbled backward.

“Uh?”

He looked at me with a shocked expression, and I half-smiled. But it was a weak smile. I was too weak to bring myself to smile fully.

“You seem to…haaa.. have forgotten that…huuhh…you’re not the only one who can wield the laws…”

I gasped, channeling the laws within my body once more. The bones of my body creaked and were engulfed by pain, but I clenched my teeth and bore through it.

I raised my hand up, and the two approaching cities stopped dead in their tracks. It was just in time to see the two pointed tips of the Union Tower stop just a few meters close to me.

“Haaa..haaa….”

I panted, my breath ragged. I lost my breath the moment the two cities stopped, and I almost fainted on the spot. But I knew I couldn’t give up. Not yet.

‘…not yet.’

I bit my tongue until I tasted iron, forcing myself to stay awake.

Gulp―! I took several potions, but they proved to no longer be effective. What I used wasn’t mana, but the Akashic Laws. It wasn’t something that potions could replenish.

As I raised my head to stare at Waylan, who was glaring at me with his hideous face, I found myself cringing.

Most notably at the sight of the cut that was rapidly healing. His power was immense, and I could sense it fluctuating in his body.

‘This is… bad.’

I thought to myself, swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

***

In a different part of the Universe

“How long do you think the other Protectors will take? Will they come fast enough to save the two of you?”

Jezebeth gazed at the two Protectors standing in front of him in a relaxed manner. The conditions that they were in at the time were nothing short of pitiful.

With their armor broken and the glow on their bodies dim, they seemed to be on the verge of dying.

Jezebeth’s condition, on the other hand, was in a significantly better state than theirs was. Even though his armor was covered in cracks and his hair was a mess, his condition was still noticeably better than that of the two Protectors.

The Protector of the Seat of Charity muttered under her breath, “This…bastard,” as she moved back a little. She was previously the elderly-looking elf, and as she turned towards her left ― where the Protector of the Seat of Patience was ― she found herself clenching her teeth tightly.

…She was in an equally bad condition.

“Kamhala.”

The Protector of the Seat of Charity uttered her name, and Kamhala―the Protector of the Seat of Patience―looked back at her. There were faint runes flickering in between her eyes.

When they looked at one another, the runes that were flickering in between Kamhala’s eyes began to glow brightly and became more visible, spreading across the area that the two were in.

When Kamhala moved both of her hands forward, a crack appeared in the space around her.

Crack. Crack.

Cracks spread like broken glass across the space around them, and Kamhala’s face turned pale as more and more of these cracks appeared across the space.

Even so…

“Haa.”

She let out a muffled cry, and the space shattered like broken glass.

Crash―! The landscape abruptly changed, and they found themselves standing in front of a massive sun that was considerably more expansive than the planet they had been on before.

The heat that was emanating from the sun caused the space around them to warp, and on multiple occasions, bubbles of fire erupted from the sun and came dangerously close to hitting them.

“A nice change of scenery.”

Jezebeth made a remark as he observed his surroundings with interest. It didn’t appear as though he was taking the unexpected turn of events very seriously.

He looked at the sun with further interest.

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Soon after, his head lifted, and he turned to stare at the Protector of the Seat of Charity.

As was to be expected, the instant that he looked at her, he saw her drawing energy from the sun as a thread of orange began to envelop her body and her power began to increase.

This was a sight he had seen many times before and thus wasn’t surprised by it in the least bit. Now that he had managed to acquire all of the fragments, he could more or less recall his memories from the past regressions and thus knew exactly what to expect at the moment.

His gaze was constantly shifting between the two Protectors. Both of their wounds began to mend rapidly, and simultaneously, they began to experience a rise in their overall power.

Even though Jezebeth began to feel threatened by them, he did not move from his position and instead allowed them to carry on with whatever they were doing.

From the very moment he decided to attack, he made up his mind one thing.

…He was going to take things slowly.