Though the Abyss seems to defy all rules and common sense, laws do exist here as well.
The most representative of these is night and day.
Strange Entities emerge at night but do not appear during the day.
Even Kreutzvalt cannot tamper with this law, so Strange Entities did not appear during the daytime.
Well, there might be a few Strange Entities that Kreutzvalt personally commands, but regardless, it’s better than the night.
Therefore, from the Expeditionary Force’s perspective, fighting during the day would be the best option.
“……Damn it.”
Unfortunately, it was almost time for nightfall.
Kreutzvalt must have timed this perfectly.
He sent out Abelard to match the timing of nightfall, and as soon as night arrived, the Golem units made of Tower of Mages magicians surrounded them from all sides.
-Kieeee
A spine-chilling sound accompanies the rise of Strange Entities.
The presences filling the surroundings are so numerous that counting them is impossible.
Unlike before, every Strange Entity was fully aware of Hio and the Expeditionary Force.
What could that mean?
“……He’s stalling for time.”
More precisely, it meant draining their stamina and mental power as much as possible.
Unfortunately, this is the worst possible situation for the Expeditionary Force right now.
The Strange Entities begin to charge, and the Golems draped in magician’s hide rush forward.
Who knows what variables might arise if those get close.
“Hio.”
Airlights looks at Hio and nods meaningfully.
Understanding his intent, Hio nods back.
“Now.”
At that moment, a crimson halo bursts forth from Airlights.
A pink hole tears through the sky of the Abyss.
Boom-
Like meteors falling, countless masses begin to descend from within.
Boom
Every single one of them was an Ice Golem.
The legacy of Venus, the previous Goddess of Love, whom even Vitalianus did not take lightly.
The Golems, spread wide as if guarding the Expeditionary Force, charge toward the rushing Strange Entities, and soon what unfolds is chaos itself on the battlefield.
Kwaaang-!
Clash of strength against strength.
Collision of numbers against numbers.
Ice Golems were originally Venus’s Authority.
But what Airlights inherited was not the Authority, but the Ice Golem legion itself.
It’s as if he inherited ownership, so once a Golem is consumed, it cannot be recharged, nor can he handle them with finer detail.
However, that has already served its purpose.
From now on, numbers will be largely useless in the battles to come.
Kwaaang!
In terms of raw stats alone, the Golems possess greater physical power than the Strange Entities.
And the Strange Entities clash with equal force.
The ground rumbles, the atmosphere shakes.
The energy becomes unstable, making it difficult to focus within it.
But that was an opportunity.
“Everyone! Prepare!”
He delivers the prearranged message.
At first glance, it sounds like an order to prepare for battle.
Well, that’s not wrong.
They do need to prepare for battle.
“You all know your roles…”
Freya raises her magical power in her dragon form, and the others also take their stances, preparing to unleash their skills.
There was the variable of Regarda being excluded from full power, but this was still within expectations.
The door.
Kreutzvalt would not act directly but would use the Abyss to gnaw away at their stamina and mental strength.
Naturally, the Expeditionary Force would want to fight during the day, and Kreutzvalt knew that well.
So he would throw all Strange Entities and variables at them during the night.
This was the plan devised in anticipation of that.
[Skill – ‘Dimension Transfer’ is activated.]
A surprise attack using Dimension Transfer.
In truth, they never expected Kreutzvalt to be unaware from the start.
Knowing his twisted conviction, which he had waited over a thousand years for, how could they have planned so carelessly?
Forming the Allied Forces and altering the passage is also essentially meaningless.
After all, the number of people to face Kreutzvalt was fixed and had to be a very small group.
So why go through all this trouble?
Why form the Allied Forces, break through the Ash Zone, and deliberately show all of this?
Everything was for this very moment.
A single surprise attack.
A single surprise attack executed just when they release the Ice Golems and seem to engage the Strange Entities in earnest.
[Setting target point to ’20 meters above Kreutzvalt’s head’.]
Even the Allied Forces are a decoy.
The conversations shared with them, and even the belated conversations with the Expeditionary Force that should have been held long ago, held within the Abyss—all of it was a decoy.
This is the final battle, gathering everything they have.
If the Expeditionary Force fails, the Allied Forces and the future of the Continent will be as good as gone.
[Targets – ‘Hio Pavlenko’ and 99 others.]
Pouring everything into a single blow.
[Commencing Dimension Transfer.]
—
A chair creaks back and forth in a steady rhythm.
Sitting on it, letting his body sway with the chair’s motion, the whole world feels at peace.
A life of doing nothing, just swaying with the world’s movement.
But such a life is impossible for him.
Because a single book rests on his knees.
An old book without even a title.
He gently strokes the cover, darkened from countless readings, with his fingertips.
The cover feels rough, like an old man gazing at twilight.
The quiet authority of one who has weathered harsh times.
Calm waves.
Unfamiliarity.
Solid silence.
But when he flips open a page, the contents inside are completely different from the cover.
The sparkling joy of someone seeing the world for the first time.
A raging sea of swirling emotions.
Familiar curiosity.
Gentle murmuring.
Unlike the cover blackened by countless touches, the pages are pristine white, untouched by grime.
The crooked handwriting contains a pure heart for a new day.
Such things form a diary of consecutive days.
As he goes to open the diary as usual, a memory he can’t forget rings in his head as a voice.
-You poor Kreutzvalt, who has even lost your human heart.
The voice of his foolish, naive, and arrogant disciple.
A brat who knows nothing, with no power or ability.
If he had obediently handed over his body, he would have kindly brought peace.
But that foolish disciple doubted and mistrusted him to the end.
Still, thanks to him, he learned one thing.
“Lost my heart, you say.”
His heart was taken.
It was a kind he had never thought of before.
Hearing it, it did seem that way.
This diary he looks at every day is his only reason for living; everything else had no relevance whatsoever.
No, in truth, he feels nothing even for this diary.
It’s merely a habitual act.
So, as usual, he flips open the diary, skims through it, and then flips through the pages dismissively.
Reading it half-heartedly, he covers the last page and slowly rises.
To finish the ritual of reading the diary once a day, and then do something more interesting.
His foolish disciple and his even more foolish companions, struggling and flailing.
Those pathetic beings who crawled in on their own, unaware that the Abyss is like the palm of his hand.
They must be furiously fighting the Strange Entities, furious at the Golems he sent, by now.
Since they’ve brought out the hidden Ice Golems, they seem ready for a serious battle.
Making them reveal their hidden cards one by one is all too easy for Kreutzvalt.
Eventually, they will stand before him, stripped bare of everything.
Then all he has to do is finish them off.
Seeing his foolish disciple enter so confidently, he must have prepared something like Authority.
Even Kreutzvalt must be cautious of Authority.
Just as they have never experienced the Abyss, he too has never faced Authority.
Of course, there’s no need to worry too much.
His location is thoroughly hidden, and even if discovered, he can just move.
How reckless and stupid is it to directly fight the Master of the Abyss in the Abyss itself?
Even if they don’t know about the battle between the previous Master of the Abyss and the ancient God, how foolish can they be?
Just thinking about it makes him laugh involuntarily.
He doesn’t know how long it’s been since he last laughed genuinely, but how can he not laugh?
“Hehehe.”
With that thought, he focuses his mind.
Then, as if drawn before his eyes, he sees the entire Abyss vividly.
It was night, and battles were raging everywhere.
The Allied Forces camp was no different.
He deliberately sent the strongest Strange Entities late.
So that those who had fallen into hope would gradually sink into despair.
The reason? Just one.
Because it’s more fun.
And indeed, the plan seemed to work, as the Allied Forces were being pushed back harder than ever.
“……That’s a bit odd.”
They shouldn’t be this passive, but they’re retreating defensively in an unusual manner.
“It feels like the Holy Kingdom has weakened somewhat.”
Sensing something strange, Kreutzvalt quickly shifts his senses.
Not to the Allied Forces, but to where the Expeditionary Force is fighting.
Kwaaang-!
The noise of the battlefield comes instantly.
The power of the Golems and Strange Entities is quite similar, so they destroy each other in mutual collapse.
Unless one side is overwhelmingly dominant.
The clash is evenly matched.
They are slamming into each other with all their might, and the resulting energy waves are significant, shaking the entire battlefield.
Maybe that’s why.
Or perhaps it’s because he’s not on the scene in person but merely sensing through the Abyss.
He was a bit late in finding them.
They are not visible.
They should be fighting with all their might somewhere, but he can’t sense them.
Could they have hidden somewhere?
If so, that’s truly a foolish thought.
Because one cannot hide from his eyes here.
Nor do they have any other means of movement or method.
If they don’t even know his location and yet could use such power, why would they bring along fools like the Allied Forces and do this?
Then there’s only one possibility left: escape.
They plan to flee back to the original world using that purple dimensional slash from before.
They must have seen no way out.
They came in trusting only a few measly Authorities, only to find the Abyss is a far more terrible place than they imagined.
Didn’t he personally show them his creations to make them feel that?
“Hehe… How foolish. How foolish.”
If the Expeditionary Force, which could do something, runs back to the original Continent, what will happen to the remaining Allied Forces?
The Core.
Well, he has no particular grudge, so letting them go wouldn’t matter.
“I’ll kill them all.”
He’ll go personally and kill them one by one.
After all, he thought that would be more fun.
Just as he thinks that and turns around.
Suddenly, his surroundings brighten.
The Abyss does not retreat from ordinary light.
There are only a few lights bright enough to drive back the Abyss.
The divine radiance of a God or flames imbued with Ideation, Hio Pavlenko’s Transcendent Skill.
Or all three.
Regardless, it was certain that something unexpected was happening.
Kreutzvalt looks up at the sky, hearing the sound, and an extremely bright smile hangs on his lips.