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Horun looked down at the spear that had pierced his heart with complicated eyes.

The opponent was certainly on the same Star Destruction Stage as himself, but they were on a completely different level from each other.

“Just because we’re both Star Destruction doesn’t mean we are on the same level,” said Gorgon. His voice sounded indifferent, as if he were a civil worker who was just about to go home after a long day at work.

“Drink my blood and declare your intentions of becoming a demon. Do that, and I will spare your life.”

Gorgon had two reasons for suggesting such a deal.

One was that if Horun was made an ally, Gorgon would gain an advantage in later disputes with the other Counts. The other reason was due to his anticipation that the Archduke would think highly of him for recruiting a powerful enemy to their side.

Shwing!

Gorgon raised his hand slightly and looked at the sword aimed at his neck.

No word or sentence could return a more definite answer than Horun’s action.

“You’ve made a dumb choice,” Gorgon said dryly. Moments later, he mustered his demonic energy and dozens of black spears thrust toward Horun at once, riddling him with wounds.

‘One, two, three…’

Horun finally kneeled upon being hit by thirteen spears.

Gorgon wordlessly looked down at the knight who had perished with his eyes wide open.

‘Just what is it? Just what had driven him to fight so hard? I don’t get it.’

Gorgon figured that he would never be able to understand the feelings of his enemies for the rest of his life. After all, he was a special being and was above anyone else.

Gorgon set his thoughts aside and turned.

The other Counts were wary of their surroundings after killing their enemies.

Gorgon’s gaze scanned the other Counts.

‘Orpheus is… still showing no gap as always. He’s a tricky fellow. Lavie, that bitch is obviously showing an opening on purpose to urge the others to start something. Horizon doesn’t seem to be in good shape. Perhaps I can kill him.’

Just as Gorgon evaluated the other Counts, the other Counts evaluated him as well.

It would be difficult, but getting rid of the other Counts would put them at an advantage, which would allow them to secure their positions in the Underworld.

“...No one’s gonna attack? Ugh. Everyone’s too damned smart. Tsk,” Lavie clicked her tongue after seeing that no one had fallen for her trap. At the same time, the openings she had deliberately shown disappeared in the blink of an eye.

“One, two, three, four… six? Wait. We’re short on one,” said Lavie.

However, the other Counts remained indifferent. They knew that some of the enemies had reached the Star Destruction Stage, but they never felt threatened at all.

‘They’re small fries that had just entered the Star Destruction Stage.’

They were surely strong for human beings, but they weren’t strong enough to harm the Counts who had been dancing around the gap between life and death in the Underworld.

“Azos is missing?”

“It seems like he’s in there.”

The Counts’ gazes turned toward a gray cloud that appeared in the middle of the battlefield. They were right; Azos was indeed within the gray cloud, but the result of the fight astonished them.

The figure walking out of the scattering gray cloud wasn’t Azos but a knight clad in white armor. Azos’ corpse lay behind him.

The knight calmly looked around.

‘Jeffrey, Gordon… Rainford.’

The Knight Captains of Summer and Autumn—the law enforcers of Niflheim—had perished.

The Knight Captain of Spring—the Queen’s bodyguard—had perished as well.

Horun—the Knight Captain of Winter, Kis’ sidekick, and the epitome of a knight—had perished as well.

However, the Knight Captains weren’t the only ones who had lost their lives.

The snowy plain beyond Winter Castle’s walls used to be white, but it had become darker than the sunset after it had absorbed the blood of the soldiers and knights.

“Segio, Minette, Daniel, Laiya, Ella…”

Kis saw familiar faces everywhere and as far as his eyes could see. However, they weren’t smiling at him as usual. They were staring blankly at somewhere else as if they had lost something precious.

Something hot dripped down Kis’ eyes, and it flowed down his cheeks before falling to the snow beneath him, dying it a shade even darker.

Kis cried tears of blood.

%@%@!!!

A shrill and furious cry resembling a beast that had just lost its child pierced Gorgon’s ears.

Gorgon gulped. ‘Someone like him is on a remote planet like this? And he killed one of us as well… what a monster.’

If the Seven Counts were ranked from one to seven, Azos would hover somewhere around five. In other words, Azos wasn’t an enemy that one could underestimate, but Kis seemed unscathed despite killing the former.

‘He’s strong. He’s definitely strong.’

To make matters worse, such a powerful enemy was furious. He had devoured a Count of the Underworld, but he was obviously hungry for more. It was a terrifying sight that disturbed even the hearts of the Counts.

‘However, his killer will receive the most credit.’

‘Even if I can’t kill him...’

‘I have to ensure that he won’t die at the hands of these bastards.’

The Counts wordlessly came to an agreement. They had no intention of conceding such a prey to anyone else.

Orpheus spoke, “Was that gray cloud a Unique Realm?”

Orpheus had no idea about its effects, but it had to have been the key to the knight’s victory against Azos. It was a pretty decent presumption, as the knight was unscathed.

“I have no choice but to take countermeasures.”

Orpheus stomped, and his demonic energy erased all the colors of the world, turning everything monochrome.

“Insane.”

“How ignorant.”

The Counts of the Underworld grumbled. They were now under the influence of Orpheus’ ability.

Orpheus had used his overwhelming demonic energy to construct a world of futility. As a result, the space had become a world of vain where nothing else could blossom aside from the space itself.

It was an ability that made Orpheus deserving of his title—Orpheus of Vain.

“Come,” Orpheus said. He didn’t even glance at the other Counts as he warned. “Of course, you guys can attack me as well, but you better think it through.”

The battle soon began.

***

Kis couldn’t tell how many hours had passed since the battle started.

There was only one thing he could remember—he managed to kill another Count.

“Huff, huff.”

He had achieved a marvelous achievement, considering how he had killed another Count despite the encirclement. Unfortunately, even stars would eventually perish, and it didn’t take that long for Kis’ light to fade away.

Slash!

Kis’ left leg was severed.

“...!”

A brief opening appeared, and the Counts didn’t miss their opportunity.

Slash!

Kis felt a searing pain shoot up his shoulders up to his brain.

“Argh…!”

Blood spurted haphazardly into the air along with his severed arms.

His sword helplessly flew away as well.

“Heup!”

However, Kis wasn’t done just yet. He glared at the sword and snatched it from out of mid-air with his mouth. He bit the sword hard until his teeth creaked, and he swung his head fiercely.

Clang!

“Ah!” Yuria—a Count of the Underworld—let out a shrill scream.

However, Kis didn’t hesitate to swing his head once again.

Slash!

Yuria’s head flew into the air and rolled on the snow. Yuria’s headless corpse fell backward, and the battlefield was enveloped in a deathly silence

Gorgon shut his mouth. The knight was standing with only one leg. He was riddled with wounds and was drenched in his own blood. He looked like he would die anytime soon, but he also looked like he would last the longest among everyone else on the battlefield.

The knight emitted an intimidating aura that made the Counts hesitate.

‘There are only four of us left.’

The knight had killed three of the Seven Counts on the same planet.

‘Orpheus has only been watching with his hands behind his back from the sidelines, but the knight is undeniably strong.’

Gorgon felt that the saying about how Star Destruction Stage creatures wouldn’t necessarily be on the same level was indeed true and applicable to him as well.

“Only four left, huh?” Orpheus nodded. “That’s a decent number, and I don’t think anyone is still willing to step forward, anyway.”

The Counts turned passive after seeing two Counts die before their eyes.

Orpheus retrieved his demonic energy, and the monochrome world became filled with colors once more.

“Let’s share the Underworld between the four of us for the time being.”

The three Counts nodded at Orpheus’ suggestion.

It was a very generous offer.

“Now…” Orpheus turned to the knight. Niflheim was bound to disappear into the background of history the moment the knight in front of them perished in battle.

Orpheus mustered his demonic energy and took a step forward to the knight, but he turned to the west at the same time as the other COunts.

“...!”

There was nothing in the sky, but the Counts’ constricted pupils were unwittingly transfixed at something in the sky.

“This has been a ridiculous day filled with nonsense.” Orpheus shook his head and swung his hand, creating a rift in space that he immediately entered.

The Counts hurriedly departed as well as if they were running away.

“W-where are they going?”

“Where are the Counts going?”

The demons that had been abandoned had no idea why the Counts left in haste.

However, it didn’t take that long for them to receive an answer.

Boom!

A comet crashed to the ground, revealing the figure of a woman breathing heavily.

The demons raised their weapons, and the Frost Queen snapped her fingers.

“Silence.”

The world abruptly froze.

“Haaa, haaa…” The Frost Queen took a moment to catch her breath, and her eyes shone in sadness as she looked around.

“Ah… No… no, no, no.”

The Frost Queen managed to kill the Transcendent Kimaris and Ballak with her own hands, but the people of Niflheim perished.

“Ahh…” the Frost Queen exclaimed, devastated.

She didn’t cry—no, she had forgotten how to cry since she became a monarch.

“...Your Majesty,” Kis muttered as he stood under the falling snowflakes.

His voice sounded hoarse and utterly exhausted.

The Frost Queen shook her head and approached him. “Sir Kis. You look—let’s get you treated first.”

“Your Majesty…”

“The former monarch left behind a powerful medicine, so just give me a minute. I’ll bring it to you in a minute, so—”

“Your Majesty.” Kis’ voice suddenly sounded crisp and clear.

The Frost Queen bit her lips. It was a moment of clarity before death.

Kis could no longer be saved.

Kis looked down at his young Queen and said, “Please forgive me for looking down at Your Majesty…”

“Don’t die.”

“I… could not protect… anything. Please forgive me.”

“Sir Kis. This is an order! Do not die!”

The Frost Queen would lose everything if she lost Kis, and the idea of losing everything terrified her, even though she wasn’t the least afraid of facing two Transcendents by herself.

“Losing you… would mean losing everything to me… What am I going to do by myself?”

The delicate demeanor of the Frost Queen distorted in agony, and her face looked hazier by the second. However, Kis couldn’t tell if it was his blood blocking his vision or if it was the falling snow.

“If… I am given a next life… I will fulfill Your Majesty’s order. I… failed to fulfill Your Majesty’s orders…”

“So, please…”

‘Don’t be sad.’

Kis’ did not get to complete his sentence.

***

Everything went black upon Kis’ death.

“...” Seo Jun-Ho felt that he was no longer in Kis’ body.

‘This is my own body.’

Seo Jun-Ho still felt disoriented by the whirlwind of emotions he had just experienced.

“Sigh.”

He took a few deep breaths and wiped the tears off his eyelids.

Soon, Seo Jun-Ho came to his senses.

‘Where am I?’

Seo Jun-Ho found himself in a familiar place.

He dug deep into his memories as he started walking down the path.

“Oh, this is…”

He had visited this training ground many times before.

Seo Jun-Ho finally realized that he was in the Winter Castle.

This was where the members of the Winter Order fought each other to train and laughed with each other during breaks. However, the training ground was desolate aside from a hundred weapons sticking out of the training ground.

The warmth and laughter that once filled this training ground seemed to have frozen in time.

Seo Jun-Ho passed by the training ground and soon found himself walking down a familiar corridor. The chair of the lord was at the end of the corridor and someone was sitting there.

The person in the chair slowly stood up.

“...Kis Bremen.”

Seo Jun-Ho’s gaze turned complicated.

The Lord of the Winter Castle said, “I’ve always wanted to meet you.”