TWEM Vol. 8 Chapter 8

Chapter 8 – Within the Jet-Black Palace

 

Sensing the surge of activity across the battlefield, I—Haruto—checked the map.

It looked like the Apostle named Eleonora, the one Finne and the others had been up against, had been taken down by Zero and Glatnis.

Fran had apparently defeated Alogis too, which meant all the Apostles had now been eliminated.

I flew into the sky, surveying the battlefield from above.

“Looks like everyone’s safe… though I’m spotting quite a few familiar faces fighting out there.”

My eyes landed on an adventurer brandishing a sword of flame not far from here.

That brought back memories, back when I first arrived in this world.

Before I even met Finne, I’d gotten to know a fun bunch of adventurers: Barnar, Norkas, and Oorde.

I even made weapons for them using my crafting skill and handed them over. Judging by what I was seeing now, they’d been putting them to good use.

I could see them holding their own against monsters, demons, and fallen angels.

Glancing elsewhere, I spotted S-Rank adventurers Dyne and Norverne as well.

I made my way toward them.

They were among the strongest on the battlefield right now, and there was something I wanted to ask of them.

As I moved, I reached out to Zero and Glatnis via telepathy.

Cutting down monsters, fallen angels, and demons along the way, I arrived at the duo’s location.

“Long time no see, you two.”

“Who the—wait, Haruto?!”

“Haruto! If you’re here, then we’ve got nothing to worry about!”

While Dyne and Norverne were getting excited over the reunion, Barnar and the others, who had been fighting some distance away, noticed me as well.

“Haruto?!”

“Long time no see!”

“You’re here too, huh? Well, figures—they’d definitely call you in for something like this.”

“Barnar, Norkas, Oorde—been a while. You’ve gotten a hell of a lot stronger.”

We exchanged greetings while cutting down enemies around us.

But there were still too many monsters, and soon, we found ourselves surrounded.

“This is never-ending…”

Just as I muttered that, an explosion of fire engulfed the surroundings, and Zero and Glatnis appeared before me.

“Lord Haruto, we have returned.”

“As instructed, the Apostle has been eliminated.”

“Good work. Sorry to send you off again, but I need your help with a few things.”

““Your orders, please.””

I issued instructions to Zero and Glatnis.

“Zero, I want you to guard the rear—where Finne and the others are.”

“Understood.”

Zero bowed with a hand over his chest.

“Glatnis, I want you to clean up the enemy alongside these guys.”

“Understood. But if I may ask—just how much force am I permitted to use? Depending on the situation, it could lead to collateral damage.”

He had a point. If Glatnis or Zero went wild in their true forms, they could easily cause massive damage even to our allies.

“Hmm… I don’t mind if you revert to your original forms. Just make sure not to involve our own forces. That goes for you too, Zero—use your own judgment. Also, Zero—whatever happens, you must protect Finne and the others.”

““Yes, sir!””

The two of them knelt before me.

The sheer power they radiated as they bowed must’ve stunned everyone. Dyne and the others stared at me, visibly shaken.

“What? Quit gawking and get back to work. More of them are coming.”

“Man… I won’t ask who those two are, but damn, they’re strong. Really reassuring.”

Then, from the direction of the floating castle, a sound like a beating heart echoed across the battlefield.

Everything fell silent; even the monsters froze in place.

In time with the thumping sound, the pressure and mana emanating from the castle began to grow stronger and stronger.

“Hey, Haruto. That sound…?”

Norverne turned to me, clearly uneasy, but I shook my head.

“I don’t know. But probably…”

“Lord Haruto. It seems he has fully awakened.”

So it was true.

There was only one person Zero could be referring to—the Evil God, Chronos.

He must’ve already been revived before the battle began, but now… now he had fully regained his power.

“Hmph. Took him long enough.”

“What should we do?”

“We stick to the plan. Like I said, Zero—keep guarding the rear. Glatnis, keep sweeping the battlefield. I’ll leave the timing of your retreat to your discretion.”

““Yes, sir!””

As our conversation ended, Dyne raised his voice.

“You’re going up against a god! I don’t care if you’re Haruto—that’s insane!”

“Insane? You don’t know unless you try.”

“Tch… yeah. That’s just how you are. Fine, we’ll hold things down here. Go kick that god’s ass!”

Dyne slapped me on the back and laughed.

And it wasn’t just him: Norverne, Barnar, and the others were all laughing too, despite the exasperated looks on their faces.

“Alright. I’ll be back soon.”

As I stepped forward, Zero came up beside me.

“Allow me the honor of clearing the way.”

He stepped ahead and held out his palm toward the surrounding horde.

“Make way. My master is passing through.”

A wave of black flames swept forward, reducing the monsters, fallen angels, and demons in its path to ash, leaving behind a clear road straight to the floating castle.

“Please—go on ahead.”

Zero bowed gracefully. With him and the others seeing me off, I began to move forward.

～

As I advanced down the path Zero had carved, new enemies came swarming in.

I crushed them with gravity magic as I went.

Before long, I reached the base of the floating castle.

It was even larger than I’d expected. Apparently, it wasn’t just the central castle that floated, but the entire castle town as well. Just in terms of area, it rivaled the royal capital.

“They really went all out with this thing.”

Using the barrier as a foothold, I began to ascend.

Fallen angels and airborne monsters tried to get in my way, but I took each one down with ease.

Thanks to defeating Lucifer and a ton of monsters along the way, my level had gone up considerably; it made things a lot easier.

Several minutes passed as I climbed.

Looking down, I saw the fighting still raged on.

Even so, Glatnis’s rampage, the Demon King Fran, and the efforts of Zero and Finne were clearly standing out from the rest.

“Nothing to worry about.”

I had strong, reliable fiancées and comrades backing me up.

At last, I reached the entrance to the floating castle.

Passing through the massive gate that led into the castle town, I found myself face-to-face with a horde of monsters lying in wait.

And each of them radiated overwhelming pressure; their average level had to be no lower than 300.

“How are there this many high-level monsters…?”

I muttered without thinking, and Ellis answered.

《These appear to be monsters that once lived during the mythological era under Chronos’s control. They were likely sealed alongside him and awoke at the same time.》

“Geez, and they left this many behind? Clean up your mess, will ya?”

《The gods likely lacked the power to do more than put them to sleep.》

“I can’t move forward without defeating them, huh?”

《There are alternate routes, but they would take more time.》

“Guess I’ll just clear a path the fast way.”

I drew my beloved black katana, Benizakura, from my waist and took up a stance.

“Time to clean house.”

I dashed in, dodging attacks and deflecting them with barriers, cutting down enemies as I went.

They were tough, and not all of them went down in one hit, but thanks to my raised level, I managed without any real danger.

By the time I reached the castle gates, the path behind me was lined with monster corpses.

And standing before the gate—

 —was a dragon.

Its slit pupils glared at me, exuding intense bloodlust and pressure.

The dragon slowly rose to its feet, looking down on me with haughty disdain.

“I guess you’re the gatekeeper. Too bad—I don’t have time to play.”

As I spoke, the sound of my blade sheathing rang out—

—and the dragon’s head fell to the ground.

Yeah. I’d gotten strong enough to handle this kind of opponent with ease.

I walked past the dragon’s collapsing corpse and entered the castle.

No one was inside. A single hallway stretched out before me.

As I followed it, I came upon an enormous door: clearly the entrance to the throne room.

It was layered with multiple defensive enchantments, far beyond what any ordinary mage could hope to break through.

But that was only if you relied on magic.

The barrier was specialized against magic attacks; it didn’t cover physical ones.

Normally, you’d protect against both. So if this one only covered magic…

…Was it a challenge? Like, “Go ahead and try opening it with brute force”?

Well, I could open it, but it was a hassle.

So instead, I unsheathed my beloved blade and cut straight through the heavy door.

As it collapsed, a voice filled with overwhelming dignity echoed from deep within; one that almost made me want to kneel.

“You barge in here and destroy the door? That’s rather discourteous, don’t you think?”

I strode forward down the carpeted path and answered.

“Sorry. But maybe you should’ve left it open instead of putting some weird barrier on it. Then I wouldn’t have had to break it.”

“Hmph. You’re a curious one, human.”

“Glad you think so.”

And then, I reached the throne.

Seated on it, legs crossed and cheek resting on one hand, was a silver-haired, black-eyed man—

—gazing down at me with visible boredom and disdain.

The sheer overwhelming presence; anyone would recognize instantly that this man was a god.

And this was the one I’d come to defeat: the Evil God, Chronos.

Suddenly, Chronos opened his mouth and spoke.

“So then—what became of my subordinates?”

“They’re dead. You’re the only one left.”

At my words, his expression showed a flicker of surprise.

“Oh? I knew they had fallen, but… you were the one who did it? I’ll permit you to give your name.”

“Haruto. And you? Or do you prefer I just keep calling you ‘you’?”

“Hmph. Insolent, but… very well.”

The man introduced himself.

“I am Chronos, the God of Time and Space.”

“Chronos, huh. So, are you planning to end this fight here and now?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. The battle hasn’t even truly begun.”

“…What?”

“I am the one who shall rule this world and stand atop the gods. Which means this war is merely the prologue.”

“And yet you’re saying that with no pawns left on the field?”

“Pawns can be made anew.”

Chronos let a single drop of blood fall to the floor.

A magic circle appeared—

—and from it emerged a swarm of black knights.

A quick scan put their levels at around 500.

“Like so. Though they are mere puppets that only respond to my commands… dull, but sufficient. Farewell, powerful human.”

As he lowered his raised hand, the black knights rushed toward me all at once.

But—

A flash of crimson light tore through the air.

In an instant, the incoming black knights were annihilated, turning to dust and vanishing.

“What!? My creations—defeated by a mere human?!”

Chronos turned his gaze toward me, suspicion written on his face.

“You… no, this aura. A High Human. No wonder you’re strong. But I didn’t expect you to wipe them out so easily.”

“Thanks, I guess. But don’t forget—I came here alone, after defeating your Apostles, for the sole purpose of taking you down.”

“Hmph… That’s true, isn’t it? Very well, then. If you believe you can, try it. If you manage to break through my defenses, I’ll face you personally.”

“Then I’ll take you up on that.”

I drew my beloved blade, channeling mana into it as I appraised Chronos.

.

Name:	Chronos
Level:	Unknown
Age:	Unknown
Race:	Godkin
Authority:	Divine Right of the Time God
Titles:	God of Time and Space Rebel Against the Gods Evil God

.

That’s all I could learn.

Even his level was unknown. I had no idea what kind of skills he had, which meant I couldn’t plan for them.

There was just too little intel.

Ellis, can you figure out what kind of defense he was talking about?

《There’s a distortion in space within a one-meter radius around Chronos. Most likely, it’s a barrier that deflects both magic and physical attacks.》

If I had an effective method of attack…

Wait—I do.

I stepped toward Chronos and swung my blade.

The strike collided with a defensive barrier just before reaching him.

The warped space stopped my blade, locking it in place with opposing force.

“You chose physical over magical—smart. I’ll give you credit for noticing magic wouldn’t work. But I’m afraid physical attacks are equally useless against this defense.”

Chronos looked mildly surprised, then quickly flashed a cold smile.

“Give it up. There’s no way you can—”

But before he could finish, my blade began to push through the barrier. Bit by bit.

“What!?”

With a shout of disbelief, he watched as my strike broke through the defense.

Just as I thought.

My weapon held the ability of “Absolute Cleave”—it could cut through space itself.

That’s why it could pierce even this.

Still, Chronos immediately summoned a new barrier, blocking my next strike.

“Ha! What’s wrong? Rattled after seeing your precious shield fall apart?”

“Don’t be absurd. But… I truly didn’t expect my barrier to be broken so easily.”

Closing his eyes, Chronos paused for a breath—

—and then, in the next moment, unleashed a crushing wave of pressure.

It stole the breath from my lungs, and as I stood bracing against it, Chronos gave a sinister smile.

“Very well. As promised—I shall face you myself.”

And thus, the battle between me and Chronos, the Evil God.

A clash that would decide the fate of the world, began.

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