Chapter 360

The capital, now transformed into a battlefield, began to grow eerily quieter.

The flapping of the wyverns' wings and the droning engines of the Mage Tower’s airships faded.

Even the shouts of soldiers and the incantations echoing from the airships fell silent.

What replaced those sounds were only...

Clang! Clang!

The sharp clash of metal striking metal, echoing from the ground.

The sound reverberated through the skies above the capital, leaving palpable vibrations in the air, tangible enough to be felt on the skin of those watching.

As they turned their eyes toward the source of the sound, a singular thought dominated their minds.

“Is that what a real fight looks like?”

The barren wasteland expanding around them was a testament to the ferocity of the battle.

The destruction of the surrounding landscape was the only evidence that the two combatants were still locked in combat.

Compared to this apocalyptic scene, everyone else’s efforts felt like mere child’s play. The sheer difference in scale caused their will to fight to falter as they stood mesmerized, helplessly watching the duel.

“Now is the time. Strike with all your might!”

Lodbrok’s commanding voice snapped Julius out of his daze.

‘I can’t believe I let myself get distracted.’

He chuckled bitterly to himself.

If Kyle’s strength had been like an insurmountable wall, awe-inspiring and untouchable, Theo’s strength was a fleeting beauty—something everyone yearned for but knew they could never grasp.

「White Armored Dragon Knights! Snap out of it and attack! Now is our chance!」

At Julius’s command, the White Armored Dragon Knights refocused their attention on the enemy ahead, snapping back to reality.

***

Theo's body burned as though it were a molten furnace, surpassing even the feverish heat he had once endured.

‘My whole body... it’s so hot.’

The sensation was as if he might disintegrate into ash at any moment. If he could sweat, it would pour out like molten lava.

As the divine energy coiled in his dantian fully unwrapped and coated his entire being, Theo felt the power of omnipotence like never before.

His body no longer felt like his own.

He imagined absurdities—like a new arm sprouting from his side to attack the Second Apostle. The line between his natural self and the external forces around him blurred. The very air against his skin felt indistinguishable from his own energy.

Hwaaah.

The light of Ascension began to envelop him, wrapping him in its glow.

His body felt lighter than ever before.

Swinging his sword no longer caused fatigue, and it seemed as if opening the gates to transcendence and entering them was only a matter of will.

‘So this is what Ascension feels like.’

The light of Ascension, reserved for those who have carved their myths into eternity, beckoned him relentlessly.

It urged him to ascend as a god and take his place among the divine pantheon.

But...

‘Not yet.’

Theo’s tasks on earth were far from complete.

Following in Kyle’s footsteps, Theo refused the call of Ascension.

The divine light dissipated, the golden glow in his eyes fading as he forced the divine energy deep into his core.

Despite managing this internal struggle mid-battle, Theo did not falter under the Second Apostle’s attacks.

On the contrary, the destruction surrounding them had become Theo’s alone.

“Urgh! Krrgh!”

Caliburn pressed ever closer to the Apostle’s body, carving wounds that drew pained groans from his lips.

The Apostle had never anticipated this.

He had expected a prolonged stalemate, with either of them able to snatch victory in a fleeting moment of weakness.

He was certain he would prevail.

But the reality was far from what he had envisioned.

The overwhelming power Theo now wielded was no longer within the realm of mortal possibility.

The Apostle’s strikes, unrestrained and imprecise, destroyed everything around them. Yet Theo’s precision kept him a step ahead.

‘How is this possible?’

Doubt crept into the Apostle’s mind as he felt the growing disparity in their power.

“No! He is omnipotent!”

Desperate, he shook his head and summoned more of his strength, a futile attempt to close the gap.

But the Apostle overlooked a crucial flaw in his newfound strength.

Crack!

A sharp fissure appeared on his right arm, spreading like a web of fractures.

Moments later, the arm crumbled into ash.

“What... What is this!?”

His voice trembled as shock took hold. His gaze broke away from Theo to his own disintegrating body.

Black smoke billowed from his shoulders, and the cracks began to spread rapidly across his form.

He had not considered that his body might fail to contain such immense power.

‘No… this… was inevitable, wasn’t it?’

His eyes briefly glanced at Theo, who stood with unshakable resolve.

Theo’s divinity was earned through his own achievements, built atop his own myth.

In contrast, the Apostle’s power was borrowed, drawn from a fragment of the Nameless Sovereign.

Perhaps this outcome was inevitable.

“Gah... Cough!”

Blood poured from his mouth and nostrils as his legs crumbled into ash, leaving him to collapse onto the ground.

Step. Step.

The sound of deliberate footsteps echoed.

As the Apostle raised his eyes, he saw Theo, his sword poised and unwavering.

Above them, the Mage Tower’s airships erupted like fireworks, signaling the failure of the Apostle’s operation.

As their eyes met, the Apostle suddenly gasped.

“Aah...!”

It wasn’t a cry of pain or fear. It was a realization.

“So that’s what it was! That’s what it all meant! Ha, hahahaha!”

A manic laugh erupted from his lips as tears streamed down his face.

He spoke incomprehensible words, lost in a frenzy of enlightenment.

Theo, irritated by the noise, frowned and readied his sword, but the Apostle no longer focused on him.

His expression was one of euphoric madness, as though he had glimpsed the ultimate truth.

With his laughter fading, the Apostle’s final words remained a mystery as Theo stepped forward.

Shing!

Theo’s blade silenced him, severing his head cleanly from his body.

Even as the head rolled across the ground, the Apostle’s face was frozen in an expression of blissful revelation.

‘Annoying.’

Though Theo had slain his enemy, the Apostle’s final expression left a bitter taste.

Even more unsettling was the lack of animosity he had felt during their battle.

The suffocating bloodlust that had always defined the Apostle seemed absent this time.

Shaking off his thoughts, Theo refocused on the outcome of the fight.

‘The divine energy has finally settled.’

During the clash, the divine energy that had been restless within him had anchored itself securely in his body.

It felt stable, though his body no longer seemed entirely his own.

He marveled at the new sensations: the world’s vibrant colors, the endless possibilities before him.

It was as if he could even locate the First Apostle with a mere thought.

Suddenly...

Thump!

A heavy sound reverberated within him, and his heart skipped a beat.

The once omnipotent sensitivity of his body began to stiffen, and his heart felt as though it had forgotten how to move.

[At last, it is complete.]

A voice, smooth yet chilling, crawled down his spine.

Just hearing it made Theo feel as if he stood naked before an omniscient gaze.

Though unfamiliar, the voice carried a disconcerting sense of déjà vu.

‘Had my memories been tampered with?’

The thought struck him like lightning. The fragmented recollection of the mystery’s void surfaced—the sense of something being deliberately erased.

Only one entity could alter a divine system like that.

The Nameless Sovereign.

A primal nausea overtook him as the realization settled.

“Urgh…!”

Theo doubled over, unable to suppress the sensation.

His vision swam as the world spun in every direction. He couldn’t even force out a sound.

‘Move!’

Desperate to escape, Theo willed his body to move, but it refused to obey.

And then, he saw it.

A glimmering black gemstone, sharp and radiant, hovered before his eyes.

The fragment shot forward, piercing his gaze without inflicting pain or leaving a mark.

For a fleeting moment, he doubted if it had even happened.

But as the sensation lingered, clarity left him.

Thud.

Theo fell to his knees.

His breathing grew labored, and his vision darkened.

‘Don’t… lose… consciousness.’n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Instinct warned him that succumbing now would mean losing everything.

Even as he pushed his mana circuits to their limits, it was futile.

“-Theo!”

Lodbrok’s distant, frantic voice barely reached him. He couldn’t turn to see her.

Then, everything fell silent.

The world around him ceased to exist.

All that remained was the overwhelming emptiness of his isolation.

-Ding!

A system notification broke the silence, echoing in the void.

It was the last thing Theo perceived before his consciousness faded entirely.

[The final fragment of the Nameless Sovereign has been completed through Theo Ragnar’s ascension. The fusion process will now begin.]

[The resurrection of the Nameless Sovereign has commenced.]