Drrrkkk!

Ghislain clenched his teeth and tried to pull his arm away by drawing on his mana. But it wasn’t easy.

Even with the sword still embedded in his body, Rahamod was using every ounce of his strength to hold onto Ghislain.

Ghislain glared at Rahamod with cold eyes.

Since a clear victor wasn’t emerging, Rahamod seemed prepared to suffer losses himself.

But Ghislain wasn’t flustered. There were plenty of ways to escape. If he really lacked strength, he could just cut off his own wrist.

Astion would hate it, but even without a hand, he could use magic to make a prosthetic and live without any issue.

Besides, there was an even better method right now.

“You made a mistake.”

Ghislain poured all his mana into Gramdir.

Up to now, his attacks had only skimmed the surface due to Rahamod’s energy blocking them, but now that the sword had pierced his body, it was different.

Fwaaaaaah!

“Grrruuugh!”

A boiling groan burst from Rahamod’s mouth.

Ghislain’s mana was exploding from inside Rahamod, tearing everything apart.

No matter how remarkable Rahamod’s regeneration was, internal damage was dangerous.

But Rahamod didn’t go down easily.

He gritted his teeth and began pouring his own energy out in torrents. That energy wrapped around Ghislain’s body, binding him and restricting his movements.

The more he did, the more Ghislain pushed his mana out. He intended to destroy Rahamod’s body from the inside and end this battle.

And this situation wasn’t happening to just the two of them.

Craaack!

Grondal’s halberd pierced into Tagmah’s side.

“You bastard! Just what are you thinking...”

Grondal also realized that Tagmah had deliberately taken the hit. Tagmah, too, emitted energy to bind Grondal.

Both Ghislain and Grondal’s movements were restrained.

As a result, Rahamod and Tagmah were now in critical danger as well.

Pushing this far wouldn’t reverse the tide of battle—it was a shortcut to getting them both killed.

But Rahamod and Tagmah weren’t fighting to win—they had staked their lives on creating just one opportunity.

“Grrruuuugh...”

Rahamod, his eyes bloodshot, suddenly erupted his energy. Tagmah did the same.

BOOOOOM!

But their energy didn’t target Ghislain or Grondal. That savage power didn’t even aim for Deneb—it was directed somewhere else entirely.

BOOM!

Rahamod’s attack slammed into Julien, who had been fighting Munareff.

Julien was flung backward by the sudden blow. Tagmah’s surge of energy shoved Ereneth aside as well.

Taking advantage of that moment, Rahamod shouted loudly.

“Kill that woman!”

BOOM!

BOOM!

The priest who had been fighting Ereneth immediately charged toward Deneb. Munareff also turned his direction.

Ghislain tried to move at once, but Rahamod’s restraint still held him down powerfully.

Rahamod had poured all his strength into holding Ghislain down, even at the cost of his own life.

“Kh...!”

Ghislain clenched his teeth and released threads of mana.

Fwaaaaah!

Hundreds of threads exploded outward and entangled Munareff’s body.

Even so, Ghislain didn’t let his guard down and quickly turned his head. The priest from Ereneth’s side was also on the move.

But that priest was blocked by an unexpected person.

“Aaaaargh!”

“Aaaaargh!”

With a scream bordering on a roar, Lionel blocked the priest’s path.

He had been supporting Ereneth from behind. The battle was too intense, so stepping to the front would have only gotten in the way.

Precisely because of that, he hadn’t been hit when Tagmah struck Ereneth away.

He also knew Deneb had to be protected. He didn’t like her—but that had nothing to do with feelings.

However, Lionel didn’t have the ability to fight a superhuman-level opponent properly. He simply chose to recklessly block the way.

BOOOOM!

The two collided violently. Normally, Lionel would’ve been blown away.

But he took the impact with all his might and clung to the priest.

Though both of them rolled across the ground, Deneb remained safe.

“You bastard!”

The priest raised his hand to strike Lionel. But the motion didn’t follow through immediately.

Ssssss!

“Guaaaaagh!”

The divine power clinging to Lionel’s body pierced into the priest violently.

Already exhausted, the priest felt his whole body burning in pain.

Under normal circumstances, he would have poured explosive power into Deneb, ready to die. But now, the pain alone scattered his focus.

“G-Get out of the way! You bastard!”

The priest, barely enduring the pain, forcefully pressed down on Lionel’s head.

“Ghk...”

Lionel resisted the pressure driving into his body and held the priest tighter. Then the priest began punching Lionel’s head.

BAM! BAM! BOOM!

Lionel poured all his mana into resisting the impacts, but he knew he couldn’t hold out for long. Still, he gritted his teeth and clung to consciousness.

“Lionel!”

Ereneth rushed over and attacked the priest. But the priest took the blow head-on and only continued attacking Lionel.

Because the most important thing now was somehow eliminating Deneb.

Still, thanks to Ereneth’s presence, a moment was gained. Ghislain turned his attention back to Munareff.

Drrrrkkk!

Munareff, even while entangled by Ghislain’s technique, was trying to force his way forward.

He was only halted for a moment.

Crack!

The threads of mana snapped, and his body began charging forward again.

Ghislain tried once more to wrap him in mana threads, but it only served to slow him slightly.

Drrrk!

Munareff broke through Ghislain’s interference and advanced toward Deneb.

Even with his speed reduced, he was still superhuman. He could reach Deneb in the blink of an eye.

“Julien!”

Only Julien could stop him now.

At Ghislain’s shout, Julien hurriedly chased after Munareff.

But Munareff was still faster.

‘Deneb!’

Julien pushed himself with every last ounce of strength and hurled himself forward.

Had he ever exerted himself like this in his life?

He felt as though his flesh and muscles were being torn apart, but he ran on, undeterred.

Even so, he couldn’t touch Munareff’s back.

Ghislain kept trying to bind Munareff’s body, but in the end, couldn’t stop him.

Step by step, closer and closer—Munareff reached toward Deneb.

Crack!

Julien’s body let out a screech like a scream, unable to withstand the force.

Even so, he couldn’t stop. His entire will was focused on chasing Munareff—or rather, protecting Deneb.

Fwaaaaah...

In that moment, Julien felt something strange.

As if time had stopped, everything around him slowed.

Munareff, Ghislain, Grondal too.

The sound of bloodshed, ragged breaths, even the wind brushing past him—

Everything slowed down.

‘This is...’

He didn’t know why, but if time had slowed like this, he felt like he could catch Munareff now.

But—

His body felt heavy, like sinking into the depths of the sea. A crushing pressure made it hard to breathe.

His consciousness had reached into the cracks of time, but his body couldn’t keep up with the speed.

The disconnect between mind and body—

That gap sank into him like despair.

Only then did Julien realize.

This is what time looked like to a superhuman.

And that he still was not one.

It was merely a phenomenon born of concentration and immersion pushed to their limit.

‘A superhuman...’

He had to reach the realm of superhuman. Only then could his body keep up with this mental time.

But becoming a superhuman wasn’t something one could do just because they wanted to. If it were that easy, he would have reached it long ago.

‘Deneb...’

Munareff’s body was inching ever closer to Deneb.

Julien could only watch that scene with his heavy body.

Drrrrrk...

Munareff extended his hand. Darkness slowly began to gather in his palm.

In just a moment more, Munareff’s hand would crush Deneb.

‘No... I won’t let it...’

Julien clenched his teeth. He tried with all his might to stop Munareff.

Step by step, painfully, he forced himself forward.

Even so, he couldn’t close the distance between them.

Unless he was a superhuman, it was impossible to bridge that gap.

‘Ghislain...’

— A superhuman, you see... must establish their own world to reach it.

That’s what Ghislain had said about the path to becoming a superhuman.

He, who always clearly showed the way, had spoken vaguely only about that.

— Some people become superhuman through strong conviction, but not all. Some attain it through sudden insight while eating, and others just brute-force it through training.

— That’s why I say you need to define your own world. Everyone has a different reason for crossing the wall.

— How do you do it, you ask? That’s the one thing I can’t explain clearly. It’s something you can only realize on your own.

Of course, Julien and Kyle hadn’t understood those words. They were too obscure, too full of clouds.

Even after reaching the highest level, Julien had always remained on the threshold.

‘My world...’

He was just a nobody from the countryside.

He had no grand ambitions, no burning desires for anything.

He’d grown up as an orphan, just struggling to survive. Hunger and cold, contempt and neglect—survival was his only priority.

Then he met his friends.

The brash but cheerful Kyle, the slightly insane but incredibly knowledgeable Astion.

And... Deneb, who had always protected and cared for him since they were young.

Thanks to those friends, he never fell into a bad path.

The change in his ordinary life came because of Astion.

— The prophet who once entered me said this! That we’re the ones who’ll save the world!

No one believed Astion. They thought he was just an odd friend making a fuss.

With his strange knowledge, Astion taught his friends how to become stronger. Under his guidance, they all gradually ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) grew stronger.

Deneb would often say to her friends:

— Let’s use this power to help those in need.

Julien nodded at her words.

Saving the world felt too grand for him, but that much—he thought he could do.

He knew how painfully powerless people lived, because he’d lived that life himself. So he had no reason to reject it.

So he tried to live helping people. And in doing so, he eventually met Ghislain and came this far.

Even now, he couldn’t quite believe someone as insignificant as him might save the world.

But since Ghislain said the same thing, he just tried to become that kind of person.

He lived helping the weak and defeating evil.

Was that his world?

“......”

Honestly, it didn’t resonate.

He had lived by that belief all this time.

And yet, the goal of helping people had never led him to become superhuman.

That was just a way of life—not the world that made up who he was.

Then what was he supposed to do? How was he supposed to break the wall and become a superhuman?

Time, which had been slowing, now felt completely stopped.

Inside that stillness, Julien thought countless thoughts and retraced his past—but found no answer.

Then suddenly...

A long-forgotten memory flashed through his mind.

— Eat this. I’m fine.

A girl handed bread to a boy with a gaunt face.

She looked emaciated too, clearly having gone hungry, yet she smiled as she shared what little she had.

The boy, collapsed on the roadside from hunger, was able to keep living thanks to that small piece of bread from the girl.

— It’s okay to sleep here. I’ll keep it a secret.

When the girl found the boy sneaking into a barn to sleep, she brought her blanket and draped it over him.

Thanks to her, the boy didn’t freeze to death and survived the winter.

— It’s okay to cry when you want to.

When the boy sat alone in a corner, falsely accused and holding back tears, the girl came quietly beside him and comforted him.

Because of those words, the boy cried in front of someone else for the first time in his life.

— Don’t ever let go of this hand.

One day, when a great fire broke out in the village, the boy, doing chores at someone’s house, became trapped in the flames.

The timid boy cowered in fear, unable to move. But the girl rushed in, found him, and took his hand.

Thanks to her, he barely escaped and lived. With a face blackened by soot, the girl smiled brightly at him.

— Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.

The girl was always kind and strong.

The boy trusted and relied on her a lot. He grew up under her care.

Even after he became stronger than her, he always followed her words.

Helping the weak, living kindly—those were all beliefs she had led him to.

The boy never rejected them. The boy never doubted them.

Because that was how he lived in this world.

— I’ll protect you.

Just like she once said to him, the boy wanted to say the same thing.

And more than anything, he deeply, fiercely wished—

To always protect her.

To become stronger than anyone, just for that.

‘Ah...’

Only then did the boy finally realize.

My world...

Was not built from conviction, goals, or desire.

‘Deneb.’

It was only you.

BOOOOOOM!

A blue aura of purified light burst from Julien’s eyes.

At the same time, his body shot forward toward Deneb.

His body was no longer heavy.

There was nothing holding him down anymore.

Only—

‘Just a little more...’

He had to be faster. Munareff was already reaching out toward Deneb.

Fwaaaaaaaaaa...

In that moment, spirits rose around Julien.

Beings that had remained unseen in the invisible world responded to Julien’s will and revealed themselves.

Though they were still weak, more than anyone, they listened to Julien’s sincerity.

The spirits pushed his back like they were breathing life into him.

Their touch was light and warm—but within it lay the logic of the world.

And in that moment,

The world responded to Julien’s wish.

Fwaaash!

His body sliced through space like an arrow.

***

Munareff wore a triumphant smile.

At last, he would kill the woman with that cursed divine power.

As long as his fingers reached her, it would all be over. He believed it—was sure of it—and reached out his hand.

Stab!

Something blocked his hand. His hand had pierced through someone else’s back.

Feeling something was wrong, Deneb stopped praying. She slowly raised her head.

“J-Julien...”

Julien was standing in front of her. With Munareff’s hand having pierced his chest.

Deneb’s eyes trembled in disbelief. She staggered to her feet, unable to accept what she was seeing.

Julien only smiled. As if it were nothing.

As he always did, he looked at her and smiled gently.

Julien slowly raised his hand and caressed Deneb’s tear-streaked cheek.

And he whispered softly.

“Don’t worry... I’ll... protect you.”

“J-Julien...”

Deneb held Julien’s trembling body. His face was quickly going pale.

His chest had been pierced—he was being consumed by darkness, dying.

“N-No... please, no...”

Tears flowed endlessly from Deneb’s eyes.

She couldn’t let Julien die like this. She couldn’t let him go like this.

He had always promised to protect her.

“Julien—!”

So the girl,

For the boy’s sake, burned with a fierce longing.

Ruuuumble!

Darkness thickened in the skies of Vallscrum, surging ever deeper.

Black clouds swallowed the sky, and thunder shook the earth.

But it wasn’t a sign of despair.

Fwaaash!

The heavens split open.

Through the blackened clouds, divine light pierced through.

And that brilliant, magnificent light—

Poured down upon Deneb.