Successfully Taking the First Step

(Heartfelt thanks to 'Reverse Red Night Moon,' 'Pokémon,' 'Bai Yue op,' and 'WangLiHui' for their donations!)

One month later...

In that otherworldly space from before, Azazel stood within a barrier at the edge of a corner, staring at the scene before him in uncontrollable shock.

Right in front of Azazel was a sight so terrible that it could only be described as utter devastation.

"Boom—!"

That was the sound of a mountain being severed at its waist and crashing straight down onto the ground.

"Crack—!"

That was the sound of rolling boulders falling into the countless spreading fissures in the earth.

"Buzz—!"

That was the sound of the surrounding atmosphere continuously churning together, so chaotic that it had become visible to the naked eye.

"Crack—!"

That was the sound of space splitting apart cleanly and decisively, shattering like glass and exposing a pitch-black void to the air.

Amid all those sounds and bizarre phenomena, Sirzechs and Ajuka stood back to back in a bottomless crater. Their clothes had been reduced to tatters, and as they panted violently, they could not even speak, their exhausted bodies trembling.

Against the backdrop of that devastation, Noah stood upright in the center of the bottomless crater, breathing slightly heavily.

Looking at Sirzechs and Ajuka ahead of him, who stood back to back and could no longer continue fighting, Noah raised a hand. He stared at his palm, then slowly clenched it tightly.

"At last..."

Azazel finally snapped out of it. He immediately leaped up, twelve pitch-black wings appearing behind his back. With a slight beat of those wings, he flew into the bottomless crater and arrived beside Sirzechs and Ajuka.

"Hey, hey, are you two all right?"

Sirzechs and Ajuka shook their heads at the same time. Still panting heavily, they took a long