In the hall before the palace, countless runes flowed through the void in orderly patterns. Each carried a complete set of rules, and together they formed the Divine Kingdom's entire physical and causal order.
Knull's body slammed into the plaza before Valhalla. Paved with a translucent crystal, the plaza gave a long, distant peal like a bell when he landed.
The sound echoed through the Divine Kingdom's enclosed space, lingering long afterward.
Knull struggled to rise, but his body, steeped in abyssal energy for so long, felt weaker than ever under the suppression of the Divine Kingdom's pure Faith Power.
The abyssal fire in his hollow eye sockets had dimmed, leaving only a thin glow like the last embers of a candle.
He lifted his head and looked around at this utterly unfamiliar Divine Kingdom, built by Russell's will. His skeletal jaw slowly opened and closed as he rasped a bitter whisper:
"He isn't suppressing me with power... He's suppressing me with rules.
Every law in this Divine Kingdom was tailored to him. Under these laws, I can't even summon the most basic Abyssal Power..."
Before he finished, a voice came from Valhalla's side entrance. It was clear and cool, carrying the weary detachment of someone who had lived through countless ages:
"It's normal to feel out of place at first. Stay long enough and you'll get used to it. I fell in the same way, though you have it much better than I did. At least you weren't pinned under a mountain."
Knull whipped his head toward the voice.
A slender figure emerged slowly from the shadows of Valhalla's side entrance.
The figure had a humanlike shape, with six pairs of pure white wings of light spread behind her. Each wing was woven from countless fine runes and shimmered