It wasn’t only Rukan who was caught off guard. Everyone there turned to look at Keter, all looking like they couldn’t believe what they were hearing.

“What exactly is the Godfather scheming?” Keter asked, then answered his own question. “I don’t know either, but it’s one of two things: world conquest, or world destruction. Childish, sure, but it’s the kind of goal men dream about. So, Rukan, do you want the world to be destroyed, or to fall into the Godfather’s hands?”

Again, Keter didn’t even give Rukan a chance to answer before continuing, “Of course not. From what I can tell, you just ended up here somehow. You started all this because you didn’t want to lose the throne, and things spiraled out of control.”

“...?”

“What is Keter even talking about right now?”

Keter was speaking as if he understood Rukan, the very man the world called the Demon King. Ignoring the stunned looks around him, Keter placed a hand on Rukan’s shoulder.

“You can feel it too by now, can’t you? The one who blew this whole thing up was the Godfather. So let’s kill him first. The war can come after.”

Only now seeming to have finished what he wanted to say, Keter stepped back. Rukan stood still for a moment, then shook his body. The Transcendentals restraining him were thrown back, and his wounds healed in the blink of an eye. But Rukan did not attack immediately.

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll have no choice but to use this on you, which is probably exactly the situation the Godfather wants most.”

Keter showed him Misteltein. At that moment, Rukan realized the Misteltein that Keter had fired earlier had been made to miss on purpose.

“You think I would cooperate with you just because I’m afraid of one little arrow?” Rukan asked.

“Maybe you’re not afraid of Misteltein. But you should be afraid of the Godfather.”

“...!”

“When idiots think of villains, they start foaming at the mouth, talking about how they all have to die. But I’m not like that. I’m the type who thinks the world needs a necessary evil to keep running. And you’re better than the Godfather.”

“...”

“Don’t get the wrong idea. I don’t even hate you enough for that. Just because we deal with the Godfather together doesn’t mean there’s some happy ending where we make up.”

Because of Rukan, Keter had already lost too many precious people. Rukan hadn’t killed them directly, but he had clearly been the cause. That was why Keter had no intention of letting Rukan live happily and die peacefully.

Rukan seemed to be seriously considering Keter’s blunt proposal and persuasion.

My soul is screaming that I have to kill this bastard. But is that really my own will?

He coldly looked back on the past. Had he really hated Keter that much?

Not that much.

A big part of why he felt hostility toward Keter was because Keter had been the greatest obstacle in his way, and because of the orders of the late Queen Lillian. Lillian had been extremely wary of Sefira, who possessed Misteltein. She had been determined to destroy them and recover the god-slaying arrow. Because Rukan had absorbed Lillian, his hostility toward Sefira and Keter had reached its peak.

If I self-destruct fighting Keter here, then I’m no better than a beast.

Just as Lillian wanted, Sefira and Keter would disappear from this world, but after that, nothing would remain for him. That wasn’t what Rukan wanted. As Keter had said, all Rukan had really wanted was to inherit this kingdom. He just hadn’t wanted it handed to Rakan, his younger brother.

If Rakan became king, Rukan would be as good as dead anyway. What kind of foolish king would leave alive an older brother who could claim the throne? Even if morality were a concern, at the very least, he would have been exiled to some deserted island. Spending a lifetime on a deserted island was no different from being dead anyway.

That was why Rukan had fought, but unlike what he first expected, Rakan had proven capable, and Sefira had become a huge obstacle. If the war dragged on like this, everyone would lose. The Lillian Kingdom would be devastated and destroyed. Rukan didn’t want that. That was why he needed absolute power.

And at that moment, the Godfather Alkione had extended a hand. He had insisted that if Rukan wanted to crush all three opposing forces for good, then he needed to become a monster. Rukan didn’t want to walk the path of becoming a monster from the start. He had asked the Godfather if there was any other way.

To Rukan, who had been reluctant to become a monster, the Godfather had said this.

“Will you die as a human? Or will you survive as a monster?”

With those words, Rukan had been persuaded. He gave up the path of a human and became a monster. However, his heart had not become monstrous. That was why, at the very least, he had not massacred his own people or left them to starve. Of course, his people thought otherwise, but in Rukan’s own way, that had been the best rule he could offer. So, of course, he had no choice but to accept Keter’s proposal to kill the Godfather first.

Rukan had not come here intending to risk his life in a desperate fight to begin with. He had come because he was confident he could win overwhelmingly. And in truth, he had. He had completely overwhelmed Keter. Even the Transcendentals’ ambush and the betrayal of the Four Lords hadn’t changed how vast the gap in power was.

But Misteltein was something he had not expected. Even without being struck by it, he could tell that if it hit him, he might truly die. Seeing it for himself, Rukan now understood why Queen Lillian had thrown away her pride and dignity to try to recover it.

The corner of Rukan’s mouth lifted. It was clearly a sneer, but it was not directed at Keter. It was disgust toward himself. He found it absurd that he actually thought Keter was correct.

Keter can be killed anytime, but not the Godfather.

The Godfather had captured Queen Lillian and brought her. That meant the Godfather was at least that powerful. Rukan had boldly declared that the Godfather was next after killing Keter, but fighting Keter had made him understand something.

If he wanted to fight the Godfather, then he would have needed to kill Keter within at least ten exchanges. But in reality, he had traded over a hundred blows with Keter and still failed to kill him. If Misteltein didn’t exist, he would eventually win if the fight continued, but regardless, Rukan now realized that he had become drunk on his own power and arrogant.

“So in the end, I also have no choice but to choose the lesser evil.”

He hated both Alkione and Keter, but the one he hated more was clearly Alkione. As such, he chose to accept Keter’s offer. With that decision made, Rukan held out his hand.

Keter saw it and extended his own. And just as the two were about to clasp hands in a tacit alliance...

Slash.

Rukan’s head was severed by Deyal, the Lord of the East.

* * *

Rukan’s head, severed cleanly and without resistance, fell to the ground. It seemed to play out in slow motion.

Keter looked at Deyal, the one who had cut off Rukan’s head. Deyal had helped them, but strictly speaking, he was someone Daat had recruited, not one Keter himself had brought in. There was no emotion in Deyal’s eyes, meaning he had not killed Rukan out of personal malice. As such, Keter wondered what Deyal’s reason was to kill Rukan.

More importantly, what was strange was that even if Rukan had let his guard down, his body was made of Ether. So even if someone pierced his Ether Shields, the sword should have embedded itself in his body at most, not severed it. So, how had Deyal’s sword managed to cut through Rukan’s neck?

Keter’s gaze shifted to Deyal’s sword. The answer was simple.

Ether.

Deyal’s sword was also wrapped in Ether. At first glance, that might seem natural. Deyal was an eight-star as well, so it might not seem strange that he could handle Ether, a form of divine power. However, it was strange. If he had been able to use Ether from the beginning, why hadn’t he used it when subduing Rukan? And Ether, among divine powers, was the force of destruction. It wasn’t something you could use just because one had a destructive disposition.

Ether was the power of chaos, and as far as Keter knew, there was only one person in the world who could wield the power of chaos.

Godfather Alkione.

The puzzle pieces clicked into place. No—there wasn’t even a need to piece them together, because Deyal admitted it himself.

“Just as the Godfather said.”

Deyal was one of Alkione’s devotees. That was why he had cut down Rukan, the betrayer, in a single stroke.

“All traitors really do have the same look on their faces.”

Keter closed the distance on Deyal and threw a punch. It wasn’t a panicked strike. It was the new technique that had broken through Hyperion’s Divine Ironblood Physique—Sefira Style Limitless Archery, First Form: Big Bang.

Booooom!

Keter didn’t use it often because it was a close-range technique, but Big Bang was the strongest move in his Limitless Archery.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Deyal raised his sword and blocked it with the flat of the blade.

Crash!

The sword, which had taken Big Bang head-on, shattered. Deyal was pushed back dozens of meters, but he remained unharmed.

Vmmmm!

It didn’t matter that his physical sword had shattered. Deyal immediately drew a new sword made entirely of Ether.

It seemed Deyal was the only traitor, because everyone else turned their weapons on him. Their eyes were full of tension and irritation. They had only just managed to persuade Rukan, only to discover a traitor among them. And not just any traitor—he was an Ether user too. They all seemed to agree that he was even more troublesome than Rukan. Rukan wasn’t a master of battle, but Deyal was a true master swordsman—an undeniably powerful opponent.

Even so, they did not back down. That was because of two people.

Keter and Rukan.

Keter had already fully recovered and was back at his best. Rukan had been decapitated, but something like that couldn’t really kill him. He would surely regenerate and fight alongside them because he was a monster.

But it didn’t take long for everyone to feel that something was wrong. First, Deyal’s own reaction was strange. He had drawn an Ether sword, but he showed no will to fight. And second, just as they turned to Rukan, thinking his revival was taking too long...

Booom!!!!!

Ether exploded violently from the cut surface of Rukan’s severed head. This was not just a wild burst of energy. It was a deliberate release, clearly guided by someone’s will.

The Ether was being sucked upward through a hole in the sky that no one had noticed before. Not just the stump of Rukan’s head, but Rukan’s entire body was being pulled into that hole.

Keter watched the scene, thought for a moment, then nodded.

“We’re fucked.”

That was the conclusion Keter reached after serious consideration.