Like a sword.
Like a blade.
His gaze carried the auras of five great Source Forces-demon, Original Sin, Dawn, Plague, and Holy Thorn-as though it would pierce space itself.
It flashed and vanished.
But the threads of sinister power watching Qin Ran through Hakede's corpse seemed to suffer utter annihilation.
Bang!
Hakede's corpse exploded from within.
Not even his bones remained.
And the greater chain reaction had only just begun.
Beneath a gray sky, concrete steps wound and spiraled like a bridge spanning the darkness.
A figure in black robes walked slowly along them, holding a crystal ball.
The black robes were dull and lightless, and the figure's hands were withered and blackened.
Only the crystal ball gave off a faint glow, yet that glow offered no sense of brightness. Instead, it made the surroundings even darker.
As though it were devouring the surrounding light.
Rumble!
The river beneath the bridge roared like enormous waves crashing against rocks, yet even that roar failed to drown out the steady, forceful footsteps.
Clack, clack-clack!
Each time the metal boots touched the steps, they gave off a distinctive metallic clack.
A knight clad entirely in black armor, his face completely concealed by his visor, came into the robed figure's view. At the sight of the approaching black-armored knight, the figure stopped short.
"Greetings, Lord Sfinditch."
The robed figure greeted the black-armored knight respectfully and politely.
"Luert is playing his little tricks again."
"Which unlucky fellow has caught his eye?"
The black-armored knight looked at the crystal ball in the robed attendant's hands and laughed.
"A Transcendent who recently rose to prominence in Aikend City."
The attendant hid nothing from the man before him and answered truthfully.
"Someone who recently rose to prominence?"
"Who?"
Having spent a long time exploring the Inner World,