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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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Chapter 241
[Die.]
Srrrr—
As the Celestial Demon God declared death, the dark mana of the moon began to slowly rise from the blackened earth.
‘This is stronger than what I faced with the solar stones.’
Kaylen tensed completely, drawing forth the full power of the Six Sword Path.
The dark mana of the moon.
Although Kaylen, back on Earth, had once subdued it using the Six Sword Eclipse—
That was only because the Earth God had been sealed at the time, making it easy to suppress.
The power of the Celestial Demon God, who had his base on the moon, was incomparable to that.
Shushuk!
Soon, the dark mana from the black earth took form, shooting up like awls.
Unlike earlier, when Kaylen could avoid the solar stone’s light on the front side of the moon—
Now, surrounded completely by darkness, there wasn’t even space to dodge the attack.
‘I can’t afford to hold back.’
Six Sword Path
Sixth Sword: Eclipse
All six swords turned black—
And the Dark Sword flew toward the surrounding darkness engulfing Kaylen.
[This sword…]
The Earth God let out an exclamation unconsciously as the Earth Sword, in which he was embedded, transformed through the Eclipse.
The sword that completely absorbed the moon’s dark mana—seen just before the connection to his main body on Earth had been cut.
Was that not the Eclipse itself?
At the time, he had been helpless—absorbed entirely into the Six Swords through that technique.
[Petty.]
But the current Celestial Demon God was not like the weakened Earth God.
Although Kaylen’s Dark Sword was indeed absorbing the dark mana—
Unlike when he had overpowered the Earth God, it did not escape the Celestial Demon God’s grasp.
Only in the exact paths where the sword slashed did the dark mana dissipate.
Chiiiii—!
The Eclipse, which should have devoured all of the moon’s dark mana,
Instead was only carving out a minimal space—barely enough to keep Kaylen from being swallowed by the Celestial Demon God.
‘The Six Swords can’t deal any real damage…’
Excluding the transcendent-level Starfall—
The highest form of the Six Sword Path, the Six Sword Eclipse.
It combined the original Six Sword Path with the operational methods of the Six Demon Path.
Compared to the old Six Sword Path, its power was far superior—
But fighting within the domain of the moon’s master, the Celestial Demon God, was undeniably difficult.
No matter how many times he slashed, the dark mana of the moon kept rising again.
Sometimes it turned into spears and blades—
Sometimes into arrows—
Sometimes into meteors that rained down indiscriminately on Kaylen.
‘First… defend.’
The Six Swords moved swiftly on their own, slicing through and absorbing the darkness rushing at Kaylen.
In its Eclipse state, the Six Swords could indeed block the Celestial Demon God’s attacks.
‘But beyond this… it’s impossible…’
It was impossible to switch from defense to offense.
He didn’t even know where the Celestial Demon God was.
The black mana pouring out from the far side of the moon continued to surge as if it had no limits.
"Earth God. Back on Earth, I think I subdued you with just two swords... but this Celestial Demon God is on a whole different level."
[Kgh. That was only because I was sealed...! Otherwise, I too...!]
The Earth God snapped back at Kaylen’s remark, but even he was overwhelmed by the power emanating from the Celestial Demon God.
‘How can someone control this dark mana so well, even after the moon has been reduced to this tiny form? Better than me, the original master of Theia...!’
Compared to Theia before its collision with Earth, the moon was nothing more than a lifeless fragment, just a rock.
Even if the Celestial Demon God was a deity, divine authority ultimately scaled with the world under their dominion.
It was incomprehensible to the Earth God that such a powerful deity could emerge from something as small as the moon when compared to Theia.
‘This... this will cause a setback in my plans as well...’
Fragmented within Kaylen’s sword, the Earth God.
The only reason he endured humiliation and chose to survive was to wait for the chance to counterattack.
But if the Celestial Demon God was this powerful, he might not even get that chance—he might just be buried here along with Kaylen.
[Such petty tricks. But how long can you endure?]
As the Celestial Demon God continued pressing down on Kaylen with black mana—
[Very well... Let’s see if you can overcome this.]
He brought not only the power of darkness, but also the power of light.
Flash. Flash.
In the pitch-black world, light arrived.
‘The Sunstones…’
The Sunstones, which previously only existed above the near side of the moon.
Now, under the Celestial Demon God’s divine authority, they had risen even here, on the far side.
They contained the same powerful mana of light as the original Sunstones, but—
‘They're massive.’
The Sunstones were on a whole different scale.
Each one was the size of a massive meteor.
As they all began to emit light at once, the darkness-covered far side of the moon instantly lit up.
More precisely, it lit up in the direction of Kaylen.
Fwoooosh—
Three of the Six Swords blocked the light.
But the black sword in eclipse state seemed even more vulnerable to the Sunstones' light, as it began to burn intensely.
All the dark mana that had been held within the eclipse vanished completely.
[The mana is vanishing rapidly!]
[Khh... R-Remove us! If we keep resisting that light, we’ll cease to exist!]
The urgent voices of the Water God and Earth God echoed out.
Even without their words, Kaylen could feel more acutely than anyone that the mana was disappearing at a terrifying speed.
‘The Celestial Demon God... he handles the opposing powers of light and darkness... with frightening ease.’
Even if he could use both light and darkness, Kaylen had wondered how it was possible to manipulate such completely incompatible mana at once...
‘They don’t clash.’
When the light of the Sunstones rains down, the dark mana momentarily vanishes.
And once the beams of light stop, the dark mana once again coils around Kaylen.
The alternating attacks of the two manas were seamless and relentless.
Because of that, Kaylen could do nothing but watch as the Six Swords, which had activated Eclipse to block the moon’s dark mana, instead began losing mana.
‘If my mana keeps draining like this, I’ll definitely lose.’
Unlike when he absorbed the mana of the Sunstone on the moon’s front side, here, his mana was vanishing rapidly.
Even when Eclipse absorbed the moon’s dark mana, it was burned away by the Sunstone’s rays.
The burning mana didn’t stop at the dark mana absorbed by Eclipse—it also consumed the original mana Kaylen had brought from Earth.
‘Though I haven’t fully figured out what the Celestial Demon God is yet... I have to play my strongest card now.’
No matter what, he had to end this battle quickly.
Resolving himself, Kaylen recalled all the Six Swords.
[Th-that… the Sunstone… don’t tell me…]
At that moment—
The Earth God, who had been wailing moments ago as if on the brink of death, looked at the massive Sunstone floating in the sky and seemed to recall something, trying to speak.
But Kaylen’s swords all converged first, merging into one.
Six Sword Path
Transcendent Realm
Moon-Seeking Slash
They merged into one.
The sword, which had originally glowed golden, having turned black, suddenly vanished.
Kaylen’s Six Swords—
Disappeared completely without a trace.
Darkness surged up from beneath his feet.
The Sunstones floating above rained down enormous lightning-like beams of light.
His lower body was consumed by darkness, and his upper body was on the verge of being incinerated by the light.
In that instant—
A flash of silver light briefly surged through Kaylen’s entire body, then vanished.
Immediately, the moon’s dark mana that had been trying to seize his legs—
And the rays of the Sunstones pouring from the sky—
All movement ceased simultaneously.
As if time itself had stopped.
The matter and mana of this world had all come to a halt.
[…What is this.]
The Celestial Demon God’s voice rang out, laced with confusion.
Only then did the world begin to move again.
Tap. Tap…
The massive Sunstone in the sky—
Fell to the ground, a gaping hole pierced through its center.
And on the pitch-black ground where Kaylen had stood, all the dark mana had vanished—
Leaving behind a vast hole in its place.
[What… did you do…]
The Celestial Demon God’s voice gradually lost strength.
His dominance over the entire moon was slipping away.
It was weakening rapidly.
The Six Swords emerged again from Kaylen’s body.
Compared to earlier, the Six Swords had significantly less mana now.
But even so, Kaylen was in a better state than the Celestial Demon God, whose Sunstones had all been pierced and fallen to the ground, and whose dark mana of the moon had rapidly diminished.
[How… how did you… with one sword…]
Transcendent Realm – Moon-Seeking Slash.
The ultimate sword Kaylen created to oppose the god of the moon.
“I simply pierced it.”
As Kaylen said—
A piercing sword.
An ultimate thrust.
Using himself, who was no different from the sword itself, as the medium—he had pierced straight through this enormous moon.
[Ha… to think something like that…]
The Celestial Demon God couldn’t hide his disbelief upon realizing that the sword which had completely torn apart his authority was merely a thrust.
[I had more mana than you.]
“You did.”
[I made many preparations for this battle. I concentrated all my power on the moon’s far side. I prepared numerous mechanisms to focus my authority into a single point…]
Kaylen looked at the massive Sunstone that had fallen to the ground with a hole bored through its center.
Even something that large… was it just a mechanism?
[Once one reaches the realm of godhood, techniques are meaningless. The outcome of battle is decided solely by mana. But… you were different.]
The Water God within Kaylen’s sword silently agreed with those words muttered by the Celestial Demon God.
‘Battles between divinities are actually quite simple.’
Mortals—
Their nature is inefficient, so they can’t even unleash their full power.
They cast spells or wield sword techniques, all in search of the most efficient way to project their mana onto the enemy.
But once you reach the divine realm, that’s unnecessary.
There are no such limitations when it comes to handling the mana of a god.
Thus, the quantity of mana a god possesses becomes the decisive weight in the outcome of battle.
[Swordsmanship. That’s a petty technique for mortals. In the eyes of a god, it’s nothing more than a performance…]
“And yet you fell to that performance.”
[Yes. Your sword is… special. It’s more than a show—it threatens gods…]
Ssshh—
The Celestial Demon God’s voice was gradually fading.
Along with it, the dark mana of the moon’s far side began vanishing without a trace.
Had the Celestial Demon God been destroyed because he couldn’t overcome the Moon-Seeking Slash?
‘No way.’
No matter how powerful Moon-Seeking Slash was, eliminating the ruler of the moon with a single strike was impossible.
The Celestial Demon God—
Where was he trying to escape to?
As Kaylen awakened all his senses, searching for any trace of the Celestial Demon God’s dark mana—
[Sir Kaylen. May I speak to the Celestial Demon God for a moment?]
The Earth God, who had been silent until now, suddenly spoke.
“Sure. Go ahead.”
Curious what the Earth God wanted to say, Kaylen allowed it—and a voice flowed out from the Earth Sword.
[Celestial Demon God. No… are you… Krugen?]
At that—
The dark mana that had been fading paused for a moment.
[…What’s that supposed to mean?]
The Celestial Demon God slowly responded to the Earth God’s question.
[Krugen, Director of the Solar Power Plant.]
Then—
The Earth God’s voice rang out from within Kaylen’s sword, more confident than ever.
[He’s someone I personally appointed. Are you denying your own god?]
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[Translator - Kiteretsu]
[Proofreader - Kyros]
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