Crimson blood gushed from Sunday's chest, almost translucent beneath the dreamlight.
He lowered his head, looked at the hand that had pierced straight through him, then lifted his eyes to Kallen's face.
There was no mockery there. No killing intent, either. Only a calm so cold it felt merciless.
And that was exactly what Sunday could not understand.
"...Why? Why would you do this?" Sunday asked.
He had thought he would feel anger.
But strangely enough, he did not.
All he felt was confusion—like a child suddenly discovering he had gotten his proudest answer wrong.
"Because you're too naïve, Mr. Sunday," Kallen replied.
Then she slowly pulled her hand back out, bringing with it a spray of golden fragments.
Those were shards of Order's authority, drifting from her fingertips like fireflies.
Sunday staggered back. Instinctively, he tried to call upon the authority he had only just recovered.
But to his shock, he found that his Path was slipping out of control.
"What... did you do?" he asked.
"I said I'd return it to you." Kallen raised her hand, and that quarter of golden authority was still flowing across her palm. "But I never said I wouldn't add a little something to it first."
Sunday's pupils shrank.
He could feel it now. Hidden inside that authority of Order, which should have been perfectly pure, was something faint and insidious—Nihility.
Not much. Less than one percent, perhaps.
But for a being in the middle of ascension, even that tiny impurity was enough to bring the entire Path crashing down.
"You... when did you start this?" Sunday asked.
"The moment you lent it to me," Kallen replied calmly.
"May I ask why?" Sunday still could not understand.
If Kallen had never intended to help him, then she had never needed to betray him at all.
She could simply have stood still and left everything to the Amber Lord.
But instead, she had acted.
Not only that—she had acted so decisively that she had been gravely wounded, nearly lost her life.
Otherwise, Sunday would never have set aside all prior grievances so easily, nor chosen to trust her.
And yet now, with everything already at its conclusion, she was suddenly stabbing him in the back.
He could not make sense of it.
Not at all.
But Kallen had no intention of answering.
She only glanced down at her blood-soaked right hand, then raised her eyes and looked at him with a gaze Sunday had never seen before.
"When I've beaten you flat on your back," she said, "you'll understand."
The moment those words fell, she flicked her hand.
Golden light exploded.
A colossal cross crashed down from the void and slammed into the ground between them, sending ripples of gold spreading in every direction.
It was Judah's Oath.
Penacony's dreamscape trembled violently, as though it could barely bear the weight of that power.
Chains shot from the four corners of the cross like living things, lashing toward Sunday.
Sunday reflexively stepped back, drawing Order's authority around himself in defense. A curtain of golden light unfolded before him, holding the chains at bay for the moment.
But he knew that "for the moment" was all it was.
That quarter of authority, now tainted by Nihility, was spreading through him like a drop of ink in clear water—slowly, irreversibly polluting the foundation of his Path.
"...You really are insane," Sunday said.
"You staked everything on this. Your credibility, your position, your identity as an Emanator of Preservation—you nearly gambled away your life."
"All for the sake of betraying me now?"
"Was it really that fun?"
Kallen said nothing.
But inwardly, she was very much alive with thought.
Was it fun?
If she was being honest, she did find it pretty entertaining.
Looking at the disbelief in Sunday's eyes, she felt... nothing much at all.
Her fingers tightened.
Countless lances of light spun into existence around her with a low, resonant hum, then shot toward Sunday in a storm.
Sunday took half a step back, tracing a golden arc before himself.
Order's authority condensed at his fingertips into a translucent shield, and the spears struck it with a sharp, metallic clash.
"It's useless," Kallen said evenly.
She curled her fingers inward. More chains and lances poured from the body of Judah.
Sunday frowned.
He could feel the impurity inside that quarter of authority spreading. The traces of Nihility were like a slow-working poison, corroding the very roots of his Path.
No. He could not drag this out any longer.
Sunday drew a slow breath, and golden light burst from him like a butterfly splitting its chrysalis.
"Miss Kallen, I did not wish to resort to this, but now I have no choice."
Kallen, however, barely reacted.
At the sight of this, she could already guess: Sunday was about to become the God-Sunday he had been building toward.
If this had been the fully realized God-Sunday from his original plan, Kallen might truly have needed to avoid his edge.
But Sunday had still failed to become an actual star god.
And on top of that, she had poisoned one quarter of his authority and weakened him further.
That still left him outrageously overpowered.
But she was a max-level account.
If even a max-level account had to be afraid of everything, then what was the point of maxing it out in the first place?
The battle exploded into motion in an instant.
Sunday's golden wings folded inward, then flared open, launching countless blades of light from their tips in a downpour.
But Kallen did not dodge.
She simply stood where she was and let the blades fall on her.
The first one ripped open her shoulder, spraying blood.
The second pierced through her arm, the crack of breaking bone ringing clear.
The third. The fourth. The fifth...
Each strike carved a new wound into her body.
And with each new wound, the healing came faster than before.
Adapt to All Things.
Order Resistance: 3%... 7%... 12%...
Yes—Kallen was deliberately stacking her passive.
Since Sunday had chosen to probe her with smaller attacks first, she had absolutely no intention of refusing the opportunity.
Sunday drew his wings back in slightly, and his golden pupils contracted.
He could see the wounds healing, each faster than the last, as though she were evolving into the perfect answer to his power mid-battle.
"You only know how to defend?" he asked in a low voice, unable to keep the confusion from it.
But Kallen only looked up, blood still staining the corners of her mouth in the dreamlight.
"Defend? I'm just waiting for you to finish showing me all your moves!"
The instant her voice fell, she vanished from where she stood.
Sunday's eyes narrowed. He immediately pulled Order's authority around himself again, erecting fresh layers of defense.
But Kallen was too fast.
So fast he only caught the blur of white.
A fist.
A fist that was not especially large, yet carried enough power to tear the dream apart.
It slammed straight into Sunday's chest.
The golden shield shattered on contact like paper.
In the next instant, the entire nascent god was sent flying backward.
It hurt.
But more than the pain, what Sunday cared about was this:
Every one of Kallen's attacks carried traces of Nihility.
If he kept entangling himself with her like this, Nihility would sooner or later pollute all of his remaining Order.
"Who would have thought, Miss Kallen, that you had advanced so far along the road of Nihility?" Sunday said slowly as he rose again.
"It seems when we first met, you were not telling the truth, either."
Kallen was not surprised.
If anything, for Sunday to have only realized it now made him look a little mediocre.
Sunday raised a hand again. Golden light gathered in his palm.
This time, it was no longer gentle. It had taken on an edge.
"Then I, too, shall stop holding back."
And with that, Sunday finally began to unleash his true trump card.
"The works of all creation are complete."
His voice echoed through the dream, filled with a solemnity almost divine.
Golden light poured from his body, no longer warm or mild.
"The Day of Certainty has arrived. O philosophical infant, reshape heaven and earth for us!"
At those words, Kallen narrowed her eyes.
Because she still retained a trace of his authority, she knew perfectly well what he was about to do.
Unlike the original version, which had involved a long, theatrical buildup, Sunday was now about to unleash seven massive area-wide strikes in succession, culminating in a final devastating blow meant for her alone.
And yet Kallen felt no panic whatsoever.
Because this sort of attack pattern was almost perfectly countered by Adapt to All Things.
Soon, Sunday charged.
"On the First Day, Bestow Reality!"
Light erupted.
Kallen felt her body seized by an invisible force.
But if that was all, it was not enough.
Sunday's wings quivered again.
"On the Second Day, Bestow Calendar!"
The next detonation of light came with a tearing force.
And Kallen still did not stop moving.
She simply crashed straight through it.
Wounds opened across her body as she passed through the barrier—only to begin healing immediately, faster than before.
Order Resistance: 12%... 19%... 25%...
"On the Third Day, Bestow Language!"
Two spheres of light emerged above Sunday's head, one blazing white, one dark gold. They began to rotate, and in turning, they released a terrifying gravitational pull.
Kallen's body was dragged by the force. The ground beneath her feet began to splinter.
She planted herself, looked up once, and clicked her tongue.
"Now that at least has a little style."
Then she leapt again.
Order Resistance: 29%... 35%... 39%...
She smashed a fist into the white sphere.
It burst apart, fragments flying like meteors. The dark gold sphere shuddered, cracks spread across its surface, and it too shattered into pieces.
Kallen landed, shook out her scorched hand, and stood there as though nothing had happened.
Sunday's attacks were growing stronger.
But they were no longer growing faster than her adaptation.
And at last, Sunday could no longer ignore it.
"You... can adapt to my attacks?"
His voice echoed through the emptied dream.
At last, he had understood. Kallen was becoming his perfect countermeasure.
For her, every wound was an investment.
"So you finally noticed?" Kallen did not seem the least bit surprised.
Honestly, she thought it had taken him too long to figure it out.
Sunday fell silent for a brief moment.
He raised his hand again, and golden light gathered there—but he did not release it.
"So that was your purpose all along?" he said at last. "From the very start, you were baiting me into attacking you."
"Not baiting." Kallen shook her head. "Calculating."
"And besides, who told you to fight like such a coward? All you've done this whole time is test the waters."
Sunday's brows drew together. "You are insane."
"Maybe." Kallen rolled one shoulder. "But the insane one is about to win."
This time, Sunday did not deny it.
At this rate, he really might have no way to deal with her.
Fortunately, this was Penacony.
The Land of Dreams, Penacony.
"Miss Kallen," Sunday said at last, "I admit your ability is astonishing. You endured the Amber Lord's hammer, adapted to my attacks, even planted the seeds of Nihility inside my authority."
"But even so, have you considered what happens if I simply stop attacking you?"
Kallen said nothing.
But she saw the golden light change.
It shifted from something sharp and aggressive into something softer, broader, more all-encompassing.
So that was it. He was planning to trigger the Infinite Moonlight early.
Kallen immediately grasped his intent.
It seemed that after realizing he could not wear her down in a straight fight, Sunday had decided to turn to hard crowd control instead.
And honestly, it was the correct idea.
To break through her immunity, aside from a true one-hit kill, techniques like hypnosis or sealing could work just as well.
"You're faster on the uptake than I gave you credit for," Kallen remarked.
This time, Sunday did not respond.
"Miss Kallen, you have already proven your strength. You took Qlipoth's hammer. You adapted to my assaults. You even corrupted my authority."
"But what was all of it for?"
His gaze settled on her with a kind of aching incomprehension.
"I am creating a new world," he continued.
"In that world, no one will suffer again. No one will ever lose those precious to them again."
"Miss Kallen, you are an Emanator of Preservation. Why stand against me? You could become a cornerstone of the new world. Why insist on destroying it with your own hands?"
Kallen still remained unmoved.
"You've said all that, and you still haven't attacked? Either fight, or don't. Why are you wasting so many words?"
Her reply made the dream's very air freeze for an instant.
Sunday looked at her, something complicated flashing in those golden eyes. He had thought he might at least get an answer.
But since he would not, then he would simply have to suppress her by force.
Even now, though she had betrayed him, she had still intercepted Preservation's strike on his behalf.
And for that reason, Sunday still chose to grant her the right to dream.
But just as he was about to act—
Kallen moved first.
She summoned Judah once more.
Then she shouted:
"Judah's Oath—Zeroth Rated Power: Divine Grace Barrier!"
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 155)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter200)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter110)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter230)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Junkman to Wasteland 66
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 46
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 200
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 65
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 180
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/5
The Way the Umamusume Look at 68
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 230
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 65
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer 220
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume4/30
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 120
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 135
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 110
I Can Copy Unique Skills 100
Summoning an Evil God, but the 70
Supernatural Multiverse 100
My Harem Is Indescribable 90
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 95
"I'm just a Valkyrie passing through." 68
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 105
Still playing traditional Honk 69
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 80
What Should I Do After Switchi - Volume2/3
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 70
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 75
Checking In in Demon Slayer 80
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 85
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 70
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 65
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel 70
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 70
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 65
Why did they assign me to Uma 65
MYGO Beauties 65
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 55
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 65
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 45
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 45
The Uma Musume Who Became 40
I'm Definitely Not the King of 45
After Maxing Out Every Class 45
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin
My patreon : patreon.com/queen_sin