One the Outer God’s body vanished, the Void Crystal appeared, no longer corrupted. It hovered inches above ground, emitting a pulsating and distinct dark violet light.Not even the active Natural Laws, which were bringing life to the First Layer, were able to fix the absolute devastation wrought by the battle.“We did it… huff huff…”Leiu put all his weight on Anduril, which was stabbed on the ground. The Harrowing Gloves were holding the greatsword’s hilt, though the fingers were shaking and twitching.Arthur and Wolfram were both on the ground, riddled with wounds. The latter fared slightly better, a laughter coming from his mouth.“Sons of bitches! We killed an Outer God! Ahahahaha!”“N-no need to… insult…”Arthur wasn’t even able to finish talking, his hand moving on its own and letting out Life Energy to hasten his recovery and heal the wounds.A short while later, as the Three Brothers were still recovering, twelve Void Overlords appeared.They stood next to each other in an ord
Before long, the Three Brothers were sucked into a black whirlpool, finding themselves in an empty space with only a massive Void Crystal in sight.Merely calling it a crystal seemed to be a huge understatement. It was, quite literally, as big as a planet.Arthur, Leiu, and Wolfram were a distance away from it, but even then, they couldn’t see all of it.The ‘space’ they were in was akin to the space in the First Layer, but it lacked the countless shining stars that filled the pitch blackness.‘You have done your job well.’ Spoke the Void, its disembodied voice directly inside of their heads. “Now will you tell us how to return to our time? And everything else?”Leiu was the first to speak, his dark eyes fixated on the absurdly gargantuan crystal, which was the true Void. An omnipotent embodiment of it.‘We will. You are present here only in your Spiritual Forms, brought here to witness rather than affect history.’“But why? What was the point?”-Arthur‘We do not know. The Watcher b
Once the Void was done giving the much-needed exposition regarding the Layers and the Outer Gods, it maintained a long silence as it waited for them to ask. Leiu, brow furrowed, opened his mouth, “You said the Watcher brought us here to witness history but not affect yet. I will not give you the details, but in my time, the Void is more of a threat than the Outer Gods. In fact, I’ve never heard of the latter. If the purpose of our coming here was to know the true enemy, then what do you expect us to do in our time? I get that we are strong, but you cannot expect us to abandon our own troubles and problems and simply work together to save the world.” Wolfram, as if he had goosebumps, rubbed his arms while grimacing “Don’t say ‘save the world’... I’m cringing so hard. Bah! Aren’t I from another timeline altogether? This is a true clusterfuck.” The Void gave a response almost immediately, ‘We didn’t bring you to the past, the Watcher did. You have proven your Might, so you must be su
The first thing Leiu experienced after what felt like an unnaturally long slumber was the cacophony of cries coming from everywhere: The angry or painful screams of men, the clashing of metals, and the hot and overbearing magical energy fluctuating all around.He opened his eyes and saw a gloomy grey sky, filled with a cluster of dark clouds and the occasional streak of thunder zigzagging around, threatening to descend at any moment.Instinctively, he knew that he wasn’t in his own body. Something was off, but he wasn’t given the time to think or process things. He had been lying on the ground, blood all over him as soldiers fought each other as far as the eye could see.He was, quite literally, thrown in the midst of a battlefield. A war. Without any hesitation, Leiu tightened his grip on the standard shortsword on his right hand and rolled just in time to avoid an incoming halberd.One of the ‘enemies’ had noticed him, opened his eyes and quickly tried to finish him off.‘I don’t ha
Volume 7: The Hell Gate BeckonsPart 1: The SoldierWhen Leiu opened his eyes, he was lying on the ground, his neck chained to a metal pole stuck on the dirt.The wounds he had sustained during that fight were still present, though none of them were fatal or particularly heavy. Still, the stinging pain made Leiu let out soft groans as he sat up and looked around.He was in a shabby tent with nothing but the pole inside. He could hear cries and voices from outside, but the ‘entrance’ was closer, unfortunately.This brief moment of respite was exactly what Leiu needed. He didn’t appreciate being thrown into a literal battlefield and controlling an unfamiliar body. He tentatively touched his face, hair, and body, ascertaining that it definitely wasn’t his body.‘I died after killing those Gods then… my spirit was sent back to the past. Arthur and Wolfram must’ve found a way to save me, that’s the only explanation.’Something drew Leiu’s gaze to a specific direction. He took a deep breat
“Woaaah!” “Go go go!” The barbarians, known as the Kaith, were loudly cheering from outside a fighting ring in the camp. Two of their kin, muscular and wielding greataxes, were blown away by their opponent. It was a strange sight to see an Anurian, frail-looking and slim, wield a greatsword almost twice his size and swing it with such speed and force. Leiu charged toward the half-standing Kaith, kicked his knee then slashed with the greatsword, aiming at the opponent’s equally big weapon. The tanned and tattooed man tried to defend, but Leiu was fast and his swings were imbued with monstrous strength. In the end, the Kaith was disarmed and therefore defeated. Although he defeated two of their people, Leiu could see and hear them cheer and shout in excitement. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and put down the greatsword. It was a far-cry from Anduril, but it was much better than a simple shortsword. He was more suited to wielding a greatsword than regular blades. Admittedly
“To arms, soldiers!”Kahra’s battlecry reverberated across the camp, waking up those asleep and energising those who had been impatiently waiting for the next fight.The army of four thousand Kaith picked up their weapons and grouped together in an orderly manner.It was the break of dawn, but Leiu followed after them despite not getting a wink of sleep. He wanted to get matters over with and started heading North.He didn’t expect another battle to arrive so soon, but it was for the better.While talking to the scouts, Kahra beckoned him from afar.“It’s Berlin's army, general! They’re marching straight to us.”Upon hearing this, Kahra looked a bit surprised, nevertheless, she chuckled, “Heh! So they want to finish us once and for all. Berin himself is leading the charge too.”“Who’s Berin?”-Leiu“He’s one of their strongest generals. He has double our forces and they are much superior to Harold’s army… the one you’ve been in.”Leiu thought for a moment before asking, “So I’ll just h
Kahra bellowed an order to her soldiers, who shouted in response. A big chunk of them grouped together with the spear-users at the front, then they charged forward.They ripped through the soldiers and closed in on the retreating Leiu. Kahra, clad in her magical armor, took the lead. Her moves weren’t flashy, but she would blow three to four soldiers with one swing. Her style of fighting was no different than her soldiers, but her superior strength and armor allowed her to stand out and easily kill the Anurians.Meanwhile, Leiu had to deal with dozens of soldiers along with Berin.The middle-aged battlemage raised his sword before pointing it at Leiu: Lightning bolts zigzagged in the air, targeting him.Fortunately, a Shaman Kaith conjured a barrier just in time to block the projectiles.Leiu swept his greatsword at four soldiers before somersaulting to the back and following up with [Invisible Strike].Suddenly, however, he felt a stinging pain coming from his arm, precisely where t