"Kikyo, make sure to tell Noha to prepare herself to take over the Heretic Region."
Sophia spoke in her cold voice as she gazed from the tower's balcony at the city below. Her eyes followed the movement in the streets, yet her thoughts never drifted from the plans forming in her mind.
"As you command."
A young woman emerged from the shadows behind her, knelt briefly in acknowledgment, then vanished as silently as she had appeared.
The next battle Sophia intended to fight would be unlike any of the battles she had fought over the past seventy years. Her opponent this time was an immensely powerful being belonging to the Gray Dwarves, a race whose bodies had transformed within this inner world rich in natural energy, expanding until they reached colossal proportions. Yet even by the standards of his own race, he was extraordinary in both size and terrifying appearance . a creature with four arms and four legs whose every step made the earth tremble beneath him, his massive frame filling the horizon whenever he stood.
The primary reason Sophia had placed him at the top of her list of targets was that her territory had expanded recently after eliminating several threats in the surrounding regions. As a result, the borders of her domain now directly touched those ruled by the King of Dusk. The situation had not yet escalated into open conflict, but tensions continued to rise, making battle inevitable. And when conflict was certain, Sophia always preferred to choose the time and manner herself. Thus, she decided to move against him before he could move against her.
The first reason for choosing him was his tremendous strength, which surpassed her own by a slight margin. That small difference in power made him exactly the kind of opponent Sophia considered worthy of fighting.
The second reason, however, was entirely different in nature. The King of Dusk ruled his territory through cruelty, enslaving countless humans who lived within his domain and forcing them to offer regular human sacrifices. Worse than the slavery and sacrifices themselves was the fact that he committed all these atrocities while proclaiming himself a god deserving of worship and offerings of human lives.
That claim of divinity was what truly awakened Sophia's desire to kill him. It stemmed from the way she had been raised and from the principles their father had instilled in every member of the Walt family since childhood.
During their upbringing, Dan had always been careful to prevent his children from falling into the trap of arrogance that led people to proclaim themselves gods while denying their own humanity. He had explained the reason with absolute clarity. To him, the true God in the deepest sense was the Primordial Origin, the First Being without beginning or end, existing beyond time, matter, and every physical law, absolute and flawless in every conceivable aspect. Anyone who claimed that title for themselves, regardless of how powerful or long-lived they became, was nothing more than an ignorant fool intoxicated by pride. Their arrogance had blinded them to the immeasurable distance separating them from what they claimed to be, turning them into nothing more than heretics.
That belief had taken root within Sophia just as deeply as it had within her brothers and sisters. Yet because of her own unique nature, she expressed that belief differently. When she encountered someone claiming divinity, she did not merely feel intellectual contempt as others might. Instead, she felt an immediate urge to bring them down. Every false claim to godhood felt like a personal provocation.
Thus, influenced by all these factors, Sophia chose the so-called King of Dusk as her next target. He embodied the two things she sought most: strength great enough to make the battle exhilarating, and blasphemous arrogance that made him worthy of being cast down. And since his current strength exceeded her own, the coming battle would be a dangerous one whose outcome could not be guaranteed.
Sophia looked once more at the city spread beneath her, bringing her thoughts on the matter to a close. Then she rose, turned her back to the balcony, and walked inside.
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