Level Up Legacy

Chapter 1469: The Sovereign of Death - Final Part

Arthur looked at Herlixion in front of him. The god stood motionless, unable to return to reality. After he realized that a direct assault wasn’t possible, Arthur tested another possibility — severance.

Herlixion was using his real body inside this realm, which allowed Arthur to directly sever his grasp on reality. The only reason he succeeded was that the god hadn’t spent a lot of time in this realm, and his connection to it was still fragile.

"I didn’t think that would work," Arthur coughed out blood as he fell to his knees. His chest was on fire, and his limbs were icy cold. He breathed in and out for several seconds before closing his eyes.

The gemstone dissolved, and Arthur felt a little better. However, it was still a far cry from his optimal condition, but he didn’t have a choice. He abandoned the battlefield and made his way back to the Death Palace.

Arthur was walking forward, each step an excruciating hell, when someone took note of the result of their battle. The lich, Vorathis, descended next to Arthur a few moments later. He looked between Arthur and the frozen god.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"I placed him into a mind prison," Arthur said weakly. "But that can wait. The Sovereign is in danger," he said. "Create a portal for me."

"Our lord?" the lich looked surprised despite lacking any face or features. "I understand."

Vorathis opened a portal, and Arthur walked through it. He landed in the blue field of flowers and felt the unusual tension in the air. He looked around and saw a giant creature of darkness. It had a giant skull and long claws, while the rest of its body was incorporeal mist.

Arthur was confused as he saw the monster. It felt threatening, even to him, as it was at least fifteen feet tall with flames for eyes. He had never seen such a creature. His thoughts were broken when the monster unfurled its giant claws and a body dropped.

"Ozyrae?" Arthur muttered as he rushed forward to look at the body.

However, he stopped in his tracks when he saw it was someone else — a woman with blonde hair, tanned skin, and countless golden jewelry.

The monster let out another shriek before it turned toward him, and Arthur felt his chest tighten. He prepared for battle, but the monster didn’t attack. Instead, it began to shrink until it scattered into nothing.

In the belly of the monster were two figures, Severis and Ozyrae. The general was on the ground, looking in stunned silence at the corpse on the ground. As for Ozyrae, she turned toward him. Her long black hair fluttered in the wind.

"Arthur," she muttered, as if surprised to see him there. "You have already defeated Herlixion?" she asked.

"I did," Arthur answered and looked down at the corpse. "Who is this?"

"A god that came here to kill me," Ozyrae said. "It seems that during the thousand years I wasn’t in Devaheim, they forgot how strong I am."

Arthur was silent as he stared at the woman. Despite her lifeless eyes, he could tell she was far from weak — she was as strong as Herlixion.

"That’s a lie," Arthur said. "You are stronger than you have been."

Ozyrae was silent. Then, she gave him a smile.

"Are you going to hate me for using you?" she asked.

"It depends on your motives," Arthur said. "Why did you want to lure this woman here?"

"Because she was one of those who voted for my banishment," Ozyrae said while looking down. "I thought of her as a friend, but she betrayed me."

"I thought you didn’t remember anything from that time," Arthur said in confusion.

"My memories were indeed sealed," she said and turned toward him. "But they resurfaced after a pebble was thrown into my sea of consciousness. I remembered everything that happened."

"A pebble?" Arthur asked, before realization dawned on him. "The epiphanies."

"Indeed," she said. "Your actions of merging the timelines have not only foiled the divine plan, but worked as a trigger for my memories to reemerge. I remembered everything they have done to me, and my plan began to take form."

"Was I a part of your plan?"

"You were," she said. "I didn’t want to deceive you, but I had to convince you to come here. Otherwise, they would have only sent Herlixion for me. I had no revenge to take from that man."

"How did you make the Path bring me here?"

"That was a coincidence," she said with similar confusion. "I planned to bring you here when you were injured, or someone close died. I would use them as a medium to summon you here."

"Why did you make me fight against your generals?"

"I wanted to use you, but not to get you killed," she said. "If you couldn’t even defeat my minions, I would let you fight against that god alone."

"Alone?" Arthur asked. "You knew Severis was going to betray you?"

"Betray me?" she smiled. "He came to me the moment the gods made contact with him. I knew they would resort to such tricks," she said with a proud smile. "Severis would never betray me."

At that moment, Severis rose from the ground behind her and dusted off his clothes. Arthur looked at the man and admired his acting skills.

"I don’t feel good about being manipulated," Arthur said at last as he turned back toward her. "I thought we could be allies against the gods, but it seems that’s not going to work. You’ve lost my trust."

"I understand that what I did has wounded your pride and shattered the trust between us," Ozyrae said. "But I couldn’t take any chances. I wanted her to step into my domain and reveal her true form."

"You made her reveal her true form?" Arthur asked as he looked down at the god. "You killed a god?"

"That’s what I have been training to do for years," she said as she stepped toward the corpse and crouched down. She laid a hand on it, and the corpse disappeared. "Nyxiel can make something out of it."

"You are going to turn it into an undead?"

"I believe that there are many souls who would enjoy a powerful vessel like this one," she said. "And in our inevitable battle against Devaheim, it would prove necessary to resort to such ’dark’ methods."

Arthur sighed.

"You should have told me the plan. It wouldn’t have made a difference if I knew, I would have just worried less. I had to go extreme to defeat Herlixion."

"I will repay this kindness a hundredfold," she said while rising from the ground. "My army, generals, and I are prepared to march together with you toward the Spirits Realm. It’s about time you reunite with your beloved, right?"

Arthur squinted his eyes at her.

"How can I trust you now?"

"Because you don’t have a reason not to trust me. I killed a god, your enemies, and allowed you to cripple another. Is this not what you strive to be? A godslayer?"

"Strive is a stretch. These gods are hardly putting up a fight every time they descend," Arthur said despite his own blood tainting his shirt. "I’m beginning to wonder if they are indeed gods."

"Gods have tiers, too," she said. "Herlixion and Noxralin are neither the weakest nor the strongest. If one of the strongest gods descended, then it would be a different matter. Even if we fought side by side, we would be killed in less than three seconds."

Arthur sighed.

"For now, let’s save the rest," he said. "Watchmen might not be powerful gods, but they still control time. I need to intervene to prevent any further damage."

"I’ll rely on you," she said. "In the meantime, I’ll prepare for our battle against the Sin of Envy. It will be a lot more difficult than this little trap."

Arthur glanced at her and then turned to leave through the door at the top of the hill.

After returning to the battlefield, Arthur found that the army and the Watchmen were retreating after their leader had been immobilized. Arthur was dismayed when he learned that they had taken the god with them back to Devaheim.

In just a few hours, the battle ended. It was a complete victory for the realm. Arthur and the rest helped the citizens back into their own homes before they gathered once more in the throne room.

Severis stood beside the throne. This time, the throne was facing the door instead of away from it. Arthur walked in to find the three generals kneeling on the ground.

A moment after his arrival, the fireplace burned bright. Arthur expected Ozyrae to speak to them through a medium, but this time, the walls moved as she emerged.

She wore a long black dress that revealed her shoulders and legs. Her heels, also black, clicked against the obsidian wood beneath her. Ozyrae walked toward the throne and sat down before gesturing for the rest to rise.

"We are here today for an important matter," she said before turning to Arthur. "In return for his help in saving our realm, I have decided to grant Arthur Netherborne full command of our army. I too shall participate in his venture to kill the Sin of Envy, Invidia."

Arthur was surprised to hear that, and relieved. It was one thing to kill Invidia, but another to defeat his army. He had a swarm of abyssal monsters and Nameless itself aiding him.

Then, he grinned.

It was time to save Diana and the rest.

[You have completed the goal of this realm.]

[Analyzing performance...]

[Calculating Sovereign Points...]