"Whoosh!"
On the boundless sea, a cluster of deserted islands lay scattered across the water.
Two streaks of light plunged down from the sky one after the other, crashing to the ground and sending rocks flying through clouds of dust.
As a gale swept through, Gotdi stood with one hand behind his back, tall and slender, watching Chaos with a refined, aloof air.
"This should be our first proper meeting."
"Come work for me!"
Gotdi made no effort to hide what he wanted and stated it outright.
"There was no one like you in the original story. That means you're destined to die young and be forgotten by history. It's rather tragic."
Chaos was shrouded in pure gold light, his expression impossible to make out.
But his voice carried a note of regret.
Gotdi furrowed his brow, unable to make sense of Chaos's words. They had nothing to do with what he'd asked.
"Is the Pure Gold in your hands?"
Wisps of black smoke and flames began rising from Gotdi. The cloudless sky darkened without warning. Chaos curled his lips into a faint smile and strode toward Gotdi.
At last, they stood five meters apart, facing each other.
"Defeat This Emperor, and you'll get your answer."
Arrogant, overbearing, contemptuous—Chaos was acting as though no one else mattered.
Gotdi didn't answer. He knew the Golden Emperor was arrogant, but he hadn't expected him to be this arrogant!
He was asking for it.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning struck, shattering the ground within a hundred meters. Their movements were too fast to follow.
Their knees collided, one large and one small.
Black-red lightning spread from between them. Looking closely, their knees hadn't actually touched; some invisible force seemed to separate them.
Without warning, a circular pressure wave burst outward from the two