What had happened today to Staring Void had been a series of situations that were somewhat difficult to understand.

But without a doubt, the most confusing part was right now.

To be precise, from the very moment that the human in front of it—

—no, that thing appeared before Void’s eyes.

[...Why?]

A hollow question spilled from Staring Void’s mouth.

It had never anticipated this situation at all.

No, it was more accurate to say it had never even considered it.

And for good reason—at the very least, that thing had never shown itself before it died.

In the first place, it had never even once seen that thing move.

But what truly shocked it was something else.

No matter what, it could accept that that thing moving was possible.

It, too, had changed strategies this time based on its previous failure.

In other words, it could be surprised that that thing had appeared now, but there was no reason to be flustered by that alone.

And yet the reason Void lost its words was—

"Why are you so surprised? Is it because I exist right now? Or is it—"

—because he,

"—because I’m human?"

had appeared before Void as a human.

At their core, Divine blood changed form a little at each stage.

At Stage 1, they took a shape closer to their essence.

From Stage 2 through Stage 4, they changed into human form.

By that logic, the being before it should have been infinitely close to the shape of a human.

Because among all Divine blood, he alone had reached the highest point of law creation and had once been a being closest to omnipotence.

Even more than the four great factions wielding the strongest influence at this point.

And yet the one before it now—

was not the Divine blood closest to omnipotence that Void knew.

Nor was he a Divine blood stronger than the four great factions.

What stood before it now was just a human.

Nothing more than a mere human, the kind Divine blood dismissed as tools for gathering faith.

That was what it could not understand.

[Ha—]

Void let out an empty laugh.

But he—

no, Nataman—spoke with a smile.

"I guess that’s what it looks like."

[...Have you finally gone insane? You threw away all your power and returned to being a mere human? You abandoned that power?]

"Does it look strange?"

[Look at yourself now. The omnipotent power that twisted laws—though even that was merely an inferior version—is nowhere to be seen, and you’ve become nothing more than an ordinary human.]

Void sneered in disbelief.

But Nataman did not wipe the smile from his lips.

"Yes, that’s right. By your standards, you could say I lost everything. But it couldn’t be helped. I—"

Slide—

"—was ultimately seduced by possibility."

He said something incomprehensible.

[What... ?]

Nataman abruptly asked a question.

"Do you know the difference between Divine blood and humans?"

[.......]

"Divine blood are perfect beings. Beings wrapped in laws permitted by the ‘truth’ of this world, beings granted privileges incomparably beyond humans, capable of reaching omnipotence by using this continent. That’s what Divine blood are."

[.......]

"Humans, on the other hand, have nothing. They live barely a hundred years, and they’re nothing more or less than tools used by Divine blood."

[You know that well.]

"That’s right. I used to think that too. Until I saw the Star Eater—no, Alon."

At the name Nataman mentioned, Void frowned without realizing it.

Then as now, it was not a name it particularly wanted to hear.

But as if Void’s feelings meant absolutely nothing, Nataman smiled cheerfully.

"Did you know? He’s always been an ordinary human. Just an ordinary human who should have been nothing more than a tool for Divine blood."

"But what about the path that human has walked?"

As though the more he thought about it, the more delighted he became, the smile on Nataman’s lips deepened.

"With the body of a mere human, he defeated an outer god. Then another outer god. Then a True Mage. Then an Apostle."

And after that, Divine blood.

"Every single one of those fights was absurd. The things Alon faced were always stronger than he was, and every single thing he wanted to defeat was unreasonable."

[...What are you trying to say?]

"I mean that he grew, and pushed through adversity. Unlike us, who already reached perfection and can grow no further."

Then, and now.

Void let out a breath of laughter.

Because it understood what Nataman was trying to say.

[So in the end, you threw everything away because you went mad over the pitiful possibility the Star Eater showed you.]

Void was no longer just laughing in disbelief. Now it was openly mocking him.

But—

"No, that’s not right. You’ve got the order backward."

[What did you say... ?]

"I didn’t throw everything away because I was obsessed with some pitiful possibility."

Nataman’s abyss-like black eyes flashed.

"—Only after throwing everything away did I gain possibility once again. You still don’t know it yet, but—"

A deep smile spread across his face.

"—‘possibility’ is more important than you can imagine."

That was what he said.

[.......]

Void frowned.

It did not like the way he kept talking as if he understood everything, despite having fallen into being nothing more than a mere human.

...No, strictly speaking, it did not like what he had said.

The way he spoke, as though generously hinting that the path Void was walking was wrong.

And because those words—spoken by one who had already arrived first, words that might even have been true—felt as though they were denying it.

[...Fine. That may be true. As you say, possibility itself may indeed be important.]

Grin—

[But unfortunately for you.]

"Why?"

[You won’t be able to unfold that possibility.]

Staring Void decided to kill him.

It did not know why he was here.

But killing a mere human was far too easy for Void.

And so—

[I’ll kill you, gather my power, and then I’ll kill the Star Eater and that monster bitch too.]

Void twisted its mouth into a vicious grin, then stepped forward and activated its law to crush the human before it.

Because even if that being had truly degenerated into nothing more than a human, Void still knew exactly who stood before it.

And the law it activated instantly dyed Void’s body in darkness like the abyss. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

Its law was not flashy.

Nor was it specialized for offense.

And yet the reason it had still risen all the way to Stage 4 was because its law was abnormal.

The law that covered its entire body in black abyss was simple and clear.

It granted it “enough resistance to nullify any attack.”

In other words, from the moment it activated that law, until the law was undone, it could ignore any attack.

So it stepped forward to rip its opponent apart and kill him.

And then it noticed.

Nataman, who had been standing still, created a single sphere of magic above his hand.

At a glance, it was feeble.

Its size looked fit for killing no more than an orc, and while the crackling force around it seemed somewhat fierce, that was all.

What Nataman had created was nothing more and nothing less than an ordinary sphere of mana.

And yet Nataman, the corner of his mouth curling upward in satisfaction—

tap—

lightly, almost absurdly lightly, sent that sphere flying.

And Void, casually raising a hand to bat it away without concern—

[...?]

felt something off.

It was strange.

Void had definitely raised its hand to knock aside that pathetic sphere of mana.

And yet, bizarrely, the sphere had vanished.

At the exact moment it raised its hand.

The instant it registered that something was wrong—

[Ku—luk?]

Void saw red blood spilling from its own mouth.

Blood running down across the black abyss.

And only then did it realize.

The sphere of mana had not disappeared.

The sphere of mana—

had pierced through its body.

[Kaahk—!]

Void collapsed, its heart pierced through.

Its eyes were still filled with confusion, unable to understand what had happened.

And at that moment—

"You don’t need to worry too much about that part."

Nataman opened his mouth.

His abyss-like black eyes gleamed.

"Because I’m already growing."

He waved a hand toward the fallen abyss.

And with that, stars began appearing in the night sky that had held nothing but a blue moon.

From one to two.

"Did you know? One of the laws I made for my followers is called ‘The Exile’s Breath.’"

From two to four.

"The effect is simple. ‘The opponent’s defense against magic is applied equally to me.’"

From four to eight.

"Looking at it like this, it’s nothing special in a situation like this. The imperfect law I created devours mana to a ridiculous degree, unlike laws granted by the ‘truth,’ and unfortunately I couldn’t endure that mana consumption."

From eight to eighteen.

"But I told you, didn’t I? I’m growing."

From eighteen to thirty-six.

"What if I became able to ‘invert’ that law itself?"

[......!!]

From thirty-six, to so many stars rising in the night sky that they could no longer be counted—

Void looked at Nataman.

He was still smiling.

Still smiling as he said,

"It all became possible because I became human too. Building magic up again, learning laws again—and even reaching the next stage. All ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ of it happened because of Alon."

There was faint heat in his voice.

And at that sight, Void felt an unnervingly strange obsession.

It opened its mouth, unable to understand him at all—

[...What is it that you even want from the Star Eater—]

—but unfortunately, Void never got its answer.

─────────────!!!

By then, stars were already pouring down from the sky, cleanly erasing its body from this world.

As though it had never existed at all.

And yet despite all that, Nataman remained still, sunk in thought.

"What I want is only one thing."

"That he keeps growing, and growing, and growing—"

As if the thought alone delighted him,

"—and in the final moment, fights me after I’ve grown as well."

"That’s what I want. So—"

Filling his abyss-like black eyes with laughter,

"Alon must not die."

"He has to die by my hand."

"As my trial."

"Because he has to give me omnipotence."

He whispered it.

"So Alon alone is absolutely not allowed."

"Even if this world is destroyed."

"Alon alone, absolutely not."

Soon, the black-eyed one began to move.

And with that—

no one remained in the territory.

####

Starting the next day, Alon set out again from the Empire’s west to return to the Allied Kingdoms.

In truth, he still had many things left to do in the east.

Besides obtaining laws from the Father of Maggots and the eastern temple, just as the Seeker had said, he also remembered what the Wanderer had told him before.

‘She told me to go meet the One Who Looks In.’

And when Divine blood had fallen, he also remembered being told to come to the eastern edge. Under normal circumstances, he thought it might be better to investigate everything before returning.

But he soon gave up on that idea.

He had left Palantia unattended for too long.

Of course, if anyone asked, ‘And only now you’re worried about that?’ he would have nothing to say.

In the first place, both then and now, he had never been the type to stay glued to his territory.

On top of that, there were quite a few people in the territory Alon trusted enough to leave work to.

Even so, it was true that he had stayed away far too long for someone who had only just become king, and that was why Alon decided to return to the Allied Kingdoms immediately.

And so Alon set out, crossed the west over the course of a month, and reached the eastern border.

Then, as Alon’s party approached the border while wondering whether they would be able to enter peacefully—

"Oh, you’re here, my dear."

"...Your Highness?"

—for some reason, they found Serdea Polanticia waiting for him.

"I came to hear your answer to my proposal."

With those words.

"......."

"......."

Alon began to feel, for some reason, a chill creeping down his back.