Ten minutes was too short. Neither Gelman nor the Gatekeeper had reached the point of giving their all and fighting to the death.
They hadn't settled the match once and for all, which was a little disappointing. But at least Gelman had gained more valuable experience fighting a God's Apostle.
Only evenly matched or challenging battles could show him the steps of a spiraling ascent.
He was about to return to Limit Island with the Gatekeeper when he realized that it was still hovering there, motionless, like a floating island.
It seemed that Gelman's suggestion to change the battlefield had actually suited the Gatekeeper just fine.
It had needed somewhere to talk with him alone, and there was no better place than the Sea of Storms, which had just been rocked by a barrage of attacks that scared away all the fish, shrimp, and birds.
"Is there something you want to tell me?" Gelman asked, testing the Gatekeeper's intentions.
The Gatekeeper smiled faintly, and the tentacles on its chin began to writhe with surprising agility. "You're perceptive. That makes sense. Someone who wasn't perceptive wouldn't have survived a divine battle."
"What exactly do you want to say?" Gelman wasn't surprised that the Gatekeeper knew some of the details of the divine battle that had taken place not long ago.
After all, the victor had been the Deep Sea God. It would have been strange if its Apostle hadn't known.
"My god's will is my will." The Gatekeeper didn't say anything more directly, offering only this: "You're not the only one who wants to break free of their shackles and chains."
The brief statement made Gelman pause, then suddenly understand many things.
But he still had plenty of questions.
"Hold out your hand," the Gatekeeper said. "Don't worry. It'll do you