[Vol. 7] Chapter 284: The Hunt
In the sky above, the dark clouds had already completely covered the heavens. They gathered into one massive shape, turning into what looked like a real sky curtain that would never fade.
It stretched endlessly across the sky, like a reversed and greatly strengthened version of the [Origin Storm]. The black sky spun into a gigantic vortex, possibly stretching hundreds or even thousands of kilometers wide. At its center, it took the shape of an eye, perfectly aligned with the city below.
It was watching.
The [Origin Storm] quickly fell apart. The colorful magical energy disappeared and shattered, revealing the city it had been hiding. The city now looked as defenseless as a small child without protection, ready to be crushed at any moment under the weight of that power.
Even though the city was a great miracle built by mortals over hundreds or thousands of years, it looked small and weak under the gaze of that eye. That was because what they faced was a pure embodiment of law and power, formed by divine forces without any emotion or humanity. It was drawn there by fate, a miracle of logic and order.
And unless one could break free from the limits of mortal races and reach the mythic realm, their eyes wouldn't even be able to clearly see this massive being. All they could see was the dark sky covered in black clouds. This was the world’s way of protecting the weak, by hiding the truth behind a wall of ignorance.
The moment they saw the eye, the two angels suddenly understood everything, as if awakened. Then they quickly looked away in fear, deeply shaken by what they had just witnessed.
Even for mythical beings like them, looking at such a truth for even a few seconds was already too much. If they had stared even a little longer, their souls and minds might have gotten lost in that endless swirl of fate, shattered beyond repair.
The weight of one world... no, many worlds, overlapping at once was far too much for any one being to bear.
That was the true dark side of the world, the absolute reflection born from the [Origin], the hidden truth that controls how all things move and change.
“You saw it, right? Do you understand now? That is… the [Wheel of Fate].”
“Even I have only heard of such a powerful miracle from older angels. It is the strongest Law Spirit in existence. It only appears when fate itself is hit by a powerful shock that cannot be reversed or fixed. Wherever it appears… even true gods must stay away…”
As the angel named Wing spoke in a quiet, serious voice, Rene tried hard to calm her breathing, her face full of doubt.
“So… what is it here for, exactly?”
“I don’t know for sure… but it’s easy to guess. To reset fate, in a very direct and harsh way… by removing everything that could cause instability.”
……………………………………………
“Hah… hah… hah…”
In a void-like world filled with darkness and red light, two brilliant figures on a massive battlefield finally ended their long, back-and-forth fight and slowly quieted down.
The noble girl with long red hair was no longer floating in the air. Instead, she collapsed weakly onto the ground. Her once-shining silver eyes had grown dim, and the divine glow that had surrounded her was mostly gone, revealing large areas of her soft, pale body beneath it.
Even in defeat, there were no wounds or dirt on her body. The invisible power of Fate was still protecting her tightly, keeping out anything physical or spiritual that could harm her. But even this protection was not perfect.
[That staff… the law it holds is something I’ve never heard of… It’s not a weapon made by the Primordial Light. Something like that shouldn’t even exist… Where did it come from? Who are you, really?]
Seeing “Carinvega”, even now, after losing the fight, showed no fear or panic, only confusion and curiosity, the black-haired priestess calmly stood tall, holding her staff upright. She shook her head slightly and replied.
[That’s only what you think is impossible. Now… it’s your turn to answer my question.]
“Carinvega” slowly stood up with difficulty. A faint, nearly invisible ripple-like light shield still barely protected her. Leaning against the invisible barrier at the edge of the arena, she stared silently at the black-haired girl who was still completely unharmed, and whose aura was even stronger than before.
Her face was blank.
[Do you think you’ve won already?]
The girl didn’t answer directly.
[Well, from where I stand, it looks like the winner is pretty clear now. Unless you suddenly got a special power like 'power of friendship' out of nowhere.]
In truth, Violet had already hit “Carinvega” directly or indirectly 999 times using the [Eternal Scepter of the World's Heart].
Now, “Carinvega” had all her powers reduced to just one-thousandth of what they were, making her no stronger than a weakling. Only one more hit was needed to complete the skill’s hidden kill effect: “Hit 1000 times in a row.”
With a confident pose, the priestess playfully curled her finger at her opponent.
[If you’re not convinced, we can keep going. But just so you know, I’m not going to hold back or start over just because you said so.]
[Hmph, even if you can—]
[!?]
Just as she was about to say something, the red-haired girl, who had shown little emotion up to this point and always quickly returned to calm, suddenly froze. Her expression changed, and she looked down at her pale, smooth fingers in disbelief.
There, the invisible ripple-like shield that had been faintly covering her body and blocking out the outside world suddenly shattered silently, like a piece breaking off. The once-perfect barrier now had a gap. In that instant, air, magic, and fate from the real world rushed in and touched her pure, divine body, making her tremble slightly.
[How can this be…? This isn’t possible! What’s happening?! Someone tampered with this body…!]
[Hey, what’s wrong with you?]
Ignoring the priestess's question, the red-haired girl desperately tried to use the last of her energy to repair the broken shield, but it barely worked.
[This is bad, really bad! If this continues, then…!]
“BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Like a giant hammer striking a bell, a thunderous sound rang out at the exact moment “Carinvega” fell into panic. Both girls looked up at the sky at the same time, as if they had sensed something. Violet simply raised an eyebrow, but the [Agent of Fate]'s face changed several times, showing fear and frustration.
[It’s over… everything is…]
[Hey hey, stop speaking in riddles. You do know I hate people who talk like that, right?]
Hearing the black-haired girl’s annoyed comment, “Carinvega” seemed to finally come back to her senses. The panic and bitterness slowly faded. She looked up at the dark sky above the arena, as if she could see something far away beyond this void-like world.
[…They found me. My identity as a fate agent has been exposed through resonance. The backlash is coming.]
[Oh~]
Not frightened by those strange words at all, the priestess casually twirled her staff and gave a small smile.
[So what, you’re one of those people who can’t be seen in public or something? Is someone hunting you down? With how powerful your background seems, whoever’s chasing you must be ready to eat flavorless instant noodles for the rest of their life, huh?]