Keter was certainly talented at many things, but no matter how capable he was, he did not know how to resurrect himself.

Instead, what Keter trusted was his bloodline. Even if his mother had abandoned him, she was still a god, and he had multiple fathers. On top of that, he had absorbed a dragon heart.

Even if I die, I might come back if the wounds are relatively clean.

It wasn’t certain, just a hypothesis. However, Keter wagered his fate on that hypothesis. In addition, just before Jenny’s attack struck, Keter had also activated Drone of Limitless Archery in advance. The drones were arrows imbued with his will, and arrows manifested through divine power and Ein could practically be considered alive.

Protect me until I revive.

Once dead, energy would naturally discharge from the body, so in theory, there would be no shortage of arrows. This meant that Maran had not been fighting a living Keter; he had been fighting a posthumous command Keter had left behind just before death.

And just as Keter had expected, he revived naturally, ten minutes after death.

“Looks like I’m finally getting some good out of my bloodline.”

“What are you even talking about, Keter?!” Maran shouted at Keter’s muttering. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

Keter looked startled.

“What? Why are you still here?”

“Have you lost your mind? No, you were insane to begin with.”

Maran took a stance as if ready to attack at any moment, but Keter knew that dogs that were afraid barked louder.

Unfazed, Keter pulled out spare clothes from his pocket and began dressing.

“Maran. Out of respect for our past, I’ll give you two choices: die now, or die later.”

“...What nonsense is that?”

“Choose whether I kill you now, or the Godfather does later.”

Keter didn’t even bother asking whether Maran had come under the Godfather’s orders. It was obvious, and Maran’s silence confirmed it.

Though he only glared, Keter understood that Maran was thinking right now. When the silence dragged on, Keter formed an arrow in his hand.

“Saving a pathetic guy is harder than I thought. I’m just going to kill you,” Keter said.

“Why do you keep talking as if I’m guaranteed to lose? I still have many eyes left.”

“Even if you had hundreds more... Actually, hundreds might change things, but even with dozens more, you still wouldn’t beat me. Know why? Because you only imitate techniques. You don’t understand them. You just reproduce them with abilities. That’s why no matter how great the technique is, it can’t reach its true potential.”

Maran wanted to deny it, but couldn’t. He had unleashed six spells equivalent to seventh and eighth-circle. He had even used an Authority that affected Keter’s mind, yet Keter stood there unscathed, as if nothing had happened. Keter didn’t have a single scratch on him, and he seemed to be at full power as well.

The truth was, Maran hadn’t attacked immediately because he couldn’t even imagine victory. Still, he couldn’t retreat—not because of pride, but because he was bound by contract to the Godfather Alkione.

Bitterly, Maran said, “A fight without certain odds isn’t my style. But this time, I can’t back down either. I must kill you to free myself from the Godfather.”

“Did the Godfather tell you to kill me?”

“Yes.”

“Be specific. Exactly how did he say it?”

Maran didn’t understand why that mattered, but he paused.

Time is on my side.

The eyes he had used were currently shut and unusable, but not permanently. If he could buy time, they would recover.

“I was told to wait on the first floor. He told me to completely destroy anything that enters from above, and leave no trace.”

“Word for word? Nothing omitted?”

“...Yes.”

“No time limit, huh? Then do it later.”

“...What?”

“He didn’t say immediately, did he? So just say you’ll do it later.”

“What nonsense... This isn’t a verbal contract. It’s an oath bound by the soul. There’s no loophole like that.”

“Because it’s a soul oath, there is a loophole. If you really didn’t hear the word ‘immediately,’ then you’ll accept that you didn’t break the contract. Honestly, even the Godfather looks pretty dumb here.”

The Godfather wasn’t actually foolish. He simply never imagined Keter would try to resolve things through conversation. Transcendentals took pride in their power. Without that pride, one couldn’t even become one. So, negotiating instead of fighting completely defied their common sense. However, Keter would negotiate and strike a deal if possible. If there was a loophole, he would exploit it without hesitation.

Maran felt the logic was sound, but unease lingered.

“Even if I didn’t break the contract... the Godfather would still... Oh.”

“That’s why I told you. Do you want to die right now, or have the Godfather kill you later? Though maybe you have a chance of surviving the Godfather, but if you fight me? You’re one hundred percent dead.”

“Your confidence is overwhelming.”

“If you don’t have parents, you need to have at least confidence to survive in Liqueur.”

“...”

Maran bit his lower lip. Truthfully, he had already accepted it; defeating Keter unharmed was impossible. It would be mutual destruction at the least, and that kind of reckless fight wasn’t his style.

“You slip out again, Keter.”

The eyes embedded across Maran’s body all shut. It meant that he accepted Keter’s negotiation.

With a tone as if he were granting mercy, Maran said, “You even gave me a useful hint. You’re right, I never tried to truly learn the techniques I took. However, it seems attacks lacking understanding won’t work against someone like you.”

Maran spun his outer garment to put it back on and turned away, waving casually.

“I haven’t given up. I’ll take your eyes someday. This isn’t the Godfather’s orders, but because I want to.”

As Maran tried to leave dramatically, Keter suddenly grabbed his shoulder. Maran broke into a cold sweat. He only realized he had been caught after it happened. If Keter had intended to kill him, his neck would have been gone already.

“I’m the one who spared you. Walking away like you’re doing me a favor is just rude.”

“...Then what?”

“Pay up.”

“...For what?”

“Something that makes sparing you feel worth it.”

Maran swallowed hard, thinking desperately about what he could offer to satisfy Keter, and then, finally, he spoke.

* * *

The only entrance connecting Liqueur to the underground opened. The one who emerged from within was Maran. His steps dragged, his shoulders slumped. His expression looked as though he had grasped the futility of life itself.

“So it was you inside there, Maran,” called out Jenny, who was sitting on a beam.

Maran wiped his face and replied, “If you were going to kill Keter, you should’ve cut him to pieces properly. If the Godfather finds out, he won’t let you off.”

“Hmph. You don’t look much better yourself.”

“At least I fought him.”

“So did I.”

“Doesn’t look like you got a scratch.”

“That’s because I’m strong.”

“Hah! Looks like Keter went easy on you because you’re a woman.”

“Did he flick your forehead or something? He’s not the type to go easy just because someone’s a woman.”

“Then what, you’re saying you’re stronger than me?”

Maran’s pride had already been crushed to the ground. He had used even his Authority trying to kill Keter and failed to leave a single scratch. Of course, Keter hadn’t struck him directly, but the backlash of his own techniques had injured him internally. He was already irritated, and Jenny’s provocation pushed him over the edge.

Jenny rattled her chain lightly and replied, “Isn’t it obvious?”

“It’s not!”

Having been called not just weak, but pathetically weak by Keter, Maran couldn’t tolerate being looked down on by Jenny as well. He immediately unleashed lightning from his hand.

Jenny leaped aside as if expecting it and said, “Not only weak, but petty too.”

“Shut up!”

Unlike with Keter, there was no hesitation this time. Maran chose combat over conversation, just as was the way of Liqueur and Transcendentals.

Boom boom boom!

The area had already been wrecked from Jenny and Keter’s earlier clash, but now the two of them rampaging erased any trace that this had once been a church.

Maran unleashed unavoidable, omnidirectional attacks in rapid succession, knowing full well Jenny was an assassin-type. But Jenny, contrary to her role, cut straight through the attacks head-on. Her scythe sliced through anything, whether it had form or not.

This was her Authority, Slashing. True to its simple name, her scythe could cut anything. More precisely, it could cut anything she believed she could cut, but that was her secret alone.

Damn it. I’m not weak.

Though he had lost to Keter, Maran firmly believed his special ability ranked among the top ten in the world. He convinced himself it had only been a bad matchup with Keter. Maran had always thought Jenny was beneath him, but it irritated him that the battle was going on with no clear winner. What angered him even more was that Jenny had no intent to kill him at all.

“Afraid of me? Fight properly!”

“If I kill you, Keter will hate it. He went through the trouble of sparing you.”

“You bitch!”

Maran hadn’t intended to use his Authority, but that last remark struck a nerve. He immediately reached for a Transcendental’s eye. At that moment, he froze. Jenny, who had been leaping through the air, instantly landed and crouched low.

Drip.

Sweat formed and ran down both their foreheads. Neither of them dared to even breathe or move their eyes. They were certain that even the slightest action would lead to death. And this wasn’t a misconception.

“The Godfather said there was no need to come... but as expected.”

A voice echoed from far away, yet it pierced their ears and hearts with terrifying clarity. The voice was as dry as desert sand, and their footsteps repeated in eerie uniformity.

There was only one person in the world who could sound like that.

“Balt...”

It was Balt, the Sword Demon of Liqueur.

As Maran muttered the name, a shadow fell over him. Balt, who had been far away, was now right in front of him. There was already a sword against Maran’s neck, as if it had always been there.

Balt grabbed Maran by the hair and whispered into his ear, “You’re speaking rather casually.”

“L-Lord Balt...”

“I never expected you to beat Keter, but I did think you’d buy some time... Yet here you are, perfectly intact.”

Crunch!

Balt slammed Maran’s face into the ground and pressed down on the back of his head with his foot.

“I thought you were a wolf, but turns out you’re just a mutt. That misjudgment is my fault. And...”

Balt raised his right hand toward empty air. Suddenly, Jenny’s neck was seized by an invisible force.

As if she had anticipated it, Jenny swung her scythe with all her strength, but...

Whoosh.

With a single sound, her chain scythe shattered into pieces. Balt hadn’t even swung his sword. With nothing but the intent to cut, he had effortlessly severed the weapon of a fellow Transcendental.

“Jenny. I warned you, didn’t I? I told you not to help Keter.”

With just a bit more force, her slender neck would snap.

Even so, she answered boldly, “You told me not to, which made me want to do it even more.”

Crash!

Balt slammed her into the ground as well. Then, with his left hand, he lightly swung Dracula, a blood sword.

Shhhhk...

Blood flowed out from the sword, forming into small swords that pierced through both Jenny and Maran’s abdomens, pinning them to the ground. Neither of them cried out, but they couldn’t hide the look of defeat on their faces.

I can’t move.

This wasn’t the same blood sword Keter had once encountered. Dracula, in its released state like Demon Sword Aporphis, wielded the Authority of blood. It was powerful enough to bind even Transcendentals.

“Wait here. It won’t take long.”

Balt recalled the blood sword and turned toward the underground entrance, delivering a sentence of despair.

“I’ll bring back the Keter you trust so much and kill him right in front of you.”