Lumei's eyes locked onto the scythe descending toward Yamato's head.
"No..." His voice was barely audible. "Get away..."
Chella couldn't move.
Her body felt nailed to the ground.
Sora trembled beneath the pressure, every muscle refusing to obey her commands. Nearby, Ichiha lay flat on the earth, exhausted beyond his limits.
Yamato felt the air tighten.
The falling scythe screamed toward him.
His muscles swelled. Veins bulged beneath his skin as both fists clenched.
Then he tilted his head, just enough.
The shoulder became the target.
"This much opening..."
SLASH.
The blade buried itself into his shoulder.
Blood sprayed.
Yet something immediately felt wrong.
"Hrrrrm!"
Ozaki grunted and pulled.
The scythe didn't move, his eyes widened.
Yamato's muscles had tightened around the blade itself.
His flesh and torn muscle held the weapon in place.
"Auto Kill is your worst performance, Ozaki."
POOM.
Yamato's fist exploded forward.
Skin.
Bone.
Blood.
Everything burst outward from Ozaki's torso.
A hole opened through his stomach as blood and organs erupted from his back.
Ozaki's fingers released the scythe, he staggered backward.
His knees shook.
Both hands pressed desperately against the massive wound.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
"To weaker opponents, it looks like uncontrolled bloodlust."
Yamato stepped forward.
"But all I could see..."
A pause.
"...were simultaneous openings that were never kept in check."
Shock spread across the others' faces.
The scythe remained lodged in Yamato's shoulder.
Meanwhile, Ozaki had dropped to one knee.
The suffocating pressure that had dominated the battlefield slowly faded, allowing everyone to move again.
"Your fight with Rujer and Silver's backlash weakened you drastically," Yamato continued.
His voice remained calm.
"Because how can a single punch put you on your knees?"
The strange darkness in Yamato's eyes vanished.
His pupils returned to normal, the alternate personality retreated into silence.
Night had fully arrived.
The last traces of sunlight had disappeared, leaving the world suspended between darkness and moonlight.
Ozaki breathed heavily, the aura surrounding him dimmed.
Lumei rushed forward.
"Master..."
Ozaki slowly turned, he blinked.
Chella wiped tears from her eyes.
Ichiha still trembled.
Sora remained on her knees.
The battle was over.
But the war...
The war had merely gained a new layer.
---
The battlefield fell silent.
Smoke drifted into the night sky.
The air carried the scent of ash, scorched earth, and blood.
GATHER Village no longer existed.
Only rubble remained.
A gust of wind swept through the ruins.
From the far edge of the destroyed village, a figure emerged.
A long dark cloak fluttered behind him.
His boots touched the broken ground without making a sound.
Sharp eyes scanned the devastation.
Headmaster Regns.
He stopped.
Disbelief crossed his face.
His brows tightened, his lips parted slightly.
"What happened here?"
His voice was low.
Unsteady.
He moved deeper into the village, searching for survivors.
Under normal circumstances, finding them would have been effortless.
But Regns was conserving every remaining drop of Divine Energy.
For ten years, since the incident involving Ozaki and their class, his body had suffered from a defect.
Every second, five units of Divine Energy disappeared from his reserves.
Three hundred every minute.
Eighteen thousand every hour.
Four hundred and thirty-two thousand every day.
For ten straight years.
The loss never stopped.
And slowly, it was killing him.
---
Lumei knelt beside Ozaki and helped him sit upright.
Ozaki's clothes were torn.
Blood trickled from a cut across his forehead. His face had gone pale.
Nearby, Chella and Sora supported Ichiha, whose injuries from Kaku still hadn't healed.
Yamato looked at them.
Then at the scythe wound in his shoulder.
"I took damage from Master Ozaki's scythe."
Nobody answered.
Nobody even looked.
All eyes remained on Ozaki.
The silence lingered.
Heavy.
Uncomfortable.
Finally, Yamato spoke again.
"Master Ozaki."
His expression grew serious.
"What you did at the end was bland stupidity."
Everyone froze.
Lumei reacted instantly.
"Yamato, th—"
SHHSH.
Yamato silenced him with a gesture.
His eyes never left Ozaki.
"You knew your body was exhausted."
"You knew Silver's backlash had weakened you."
"Yet you used something you knew could affect your mind."
Ozaki remained silent.
"And after it weakened you, something else appeared and changed you."
Yamato pointed toward the others.
"What if that Kill thing had spread to them?"
"What if you had attacked them?"
The air grew colder.
Yamato's expression emptied.
The pity disappeared.
Only killing intent remained.
"If you had harmed them..."
His voice lowered.
"...I would've used every method available to me and killed you."
Sora stared at him, her voice shook.
"Stop it, Yamato."
She swallowed.
"Right now... you scare me more than Master Ozaki did."
Chella folded her arms.
"To be honest..."
She glanced toward Ozaki.
"The power he released felt completely different."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Like another god manifested."
Footsteps approached.
Everyone turned.
Regns emerged from the darkness.
His arms crossed. His gaze settled on Ozaki.
"I felt something earlier."
His voice remained calm.
"But it didn't feel like any god power I know."
Lumei tightened his grip on Ozaki's shoulder.
"It was called... an Entity."
His voice dropped.
"A face appeared. It was real. It came out of nowhere."
His body shuddered.
"It was monstrous."
"It was terrifying."
Ozaki blinked.
The word struck him like lightning.
"...Entity?"
His lips trembled.
"No..."
His breathing became uneven.
"That shouldn't be possible."
Fragments of Kowichi's memories surfaced within his mind.
Ancient horrors.
Things beyond comprehension.
"Just the memories alone showed horrors beyond horrors."
His trembling fingers dug into the dirt.
"And the strange thing..."
Ozaki's voice lowered.
"Kowichi wasn't even present during the war that nearly ended Creation."
Regns understood immediately.
The god within him had fought in that war.
Even if Regns himself hadn't.
His eyes sharpened.
"You called it?"
Ozaki shook his head.
Slowly.
"I reached the first form."
His brow tightened.
"After that..."
"I blacked out."
"I remember raising my scythe."
His voice faded.
"And then nothing."
Ichiha stepped forward while clutching his injured side.
"It wasn't only that."
Pain flashed across his face.
"You changed."
His eyes hardened.
"You moved faster than we could see."
"You tore Kaku apart."
A pause.
"Like he was nothing."
Ozaki stared at his bloodstained hands.
"I don't remember the strikes."
His voice was almost a whisper.
"Or the rage."
Regns clenched his jaw, his expression darkened.
"Then it forced control."
The discussion continued as darkness settled deeper over the night.
---
Far away.
On a distant world.
Planet Goyth.
Death covered everything.
The remains of animals, demons, beasts, Vessels, and gods stretched across the entire planet.
Bones.
Corpses.
Ruins.
Nothing living remained.
At the center of a shattered temple stood a lone figure.
Barefoot.
Bare-chested.
Blood stained his trousers, bone fragments clung to the fabric.
Around him lay countless fallen gods and Vessels.
Broken weapons covered the ground.
Their bodies were already fading from existence.
One man had done it all.
And aside from a few bruises, he stood untouched.
A single individual.
A being known throughout every corner of reality.
Across dimensions.
Beyond dimensions.
The Wall Between Creation's Fall.
The one who halts the Final War.
The God Slayer.
His eyes opened.
Golden-yellow.
Like twin burning stars.
"I thought the Elder Gods were sent to retrieve the weapon, Kowichi."
His hand rested upon the massive blade planted beside him.
Then his gaze narrowed.
"But a far greater threat exists."
Silence.
"Who is that kid?"
His eyes lifted toward the sky.
"And why does he exist?"
PHEWW.
A tired sigh escaped him.
The deaths around him weighed heavily on his mind.
"Will this planet try to stop me from completing my mission?"
His eyes closed briefly.
"It would be unfortunate if Earth had to end."
CRACK.
Space fractured.
Like glass.
And he vanished.
Only overwhelming pressure remained behind.
Even the corpses of fallen gods trembled.
---
Back on Earth.
Within the ruins of GATHER Village.
Ozaki leaned against a broken stone slab.
Sweat covered his brow, his breathing remained shallow.
Yamato sat beside him.
Watching.
Waiting.
"Master..."
His voice was low.
"Were you really able to surpass the command?"
Ozaki nodded.
Yamato exhaled.
"You were astonishing."
His gaze lowered.
"Until we heard the command."
The others fell silent.
Wind rustled through the grass and shattered stone.
Sora stepped forward, her face remained pale.
"I heard it too."
She wrapped her arms around herself.
"Someone stronger."
Ozaki's expression darkened, the shadows beneath his eyes deepened.
Yamato leaned closer.
"The Entity..."
His voice remained steady.
"Could it destroy an entire universe?"
"YES."
The response came instantly.
Simultaneously.
Everyone answered except Yamato.
He stared.
Not a single person hesitated.
It felt less like a response...
And more like a memory.
A truth embedded within every Vessel.
They had never fully grasped the extent of their gods' powers.
Yet that single question had triggered something instinctive.
Regns stepped forward.
"A god above gods."
Ozaki met his gaze.
"Even above the Elder Gods."
Lumei gasped.
Then froze.
His body stopped moving, his eyes widened.
Blood trickled from them.
"Lumei!"
Yamato rushed forward.
Lumei's mouth opened.
When he spoke, the voice wasn't entirely his own.
"It's a good thing the Entity didn't come to fight."
A flood of memories poured through his mind.
Memories belonging to the god within him.
Hèmiñgam. The God of Shadows.
Blood continued dripping from his eyes.
Yamato grabbed him by the shoulders.
Both palms pressed firmly against his chest.
"I need to teach you how to protect yourselves."
His voice softened.
"Just a memory lapse is enough to make you bleed from the eyes."
Lumei groaned.
Slowly, the bleeding stopped. Color returned to his face, his breathing steadied.
Silence followed.
No one spoke.
No one moved.
They simply stared.
Because for the first time...
The horrors beyond gods had begun revealing themselves.