In the eastern waters of Sonia Island, the sound of cannon fire ceased, and amidst the rising mist, a massive, paint-black sailboat stood majestically, like a black Sun rising from the sea.
"King of the Five Seas" Nast stood silently on the deck, dark red light flowing in his deep black eyes, his body beneath the black-bottomed, silver-edged robe aging rapidly, his skin quickly covered in wrinkles, and mottled, dark wounds appearing, oozing putrid liquid.
But in the very next second, these corruption radiated by the authority of decay were distorted and annihilated.
Taking advantage of the breathing room, a reddish-yellow flame dispersed, then re-converged in mid-air, forming the burly Egor Einhorn.
As the commander of the Feysac Empire's Sonia Sea Fleet, and currently a Sequence 4 Iron-Blooded Knight of the Red Priest Pathway, he was in an extremely sorry state, his body, forged like steel, now riddled with holes.
Egor Einhorn spat out a mouthful of blood, his left hand pressing against the cracked heart-protecting mirror on his chest, watching the God of Combat emblem, formed by the Twilight symbol and sword-shaped mark, inscribed upon it, which had now grown dim, and the sunken vessels floating on the sea, his heart filled with extreme vexation.
This was a powerful Mystical Item he had obtained from the "Great Twilight Hall" in Saint Milom after he advanced to a demigod; even if it wasn't as precious as a god-bestowed item, the protective power contained within it, combined with an Iron-Blooded Knight's control over a fleet, was enough to allow him to hold on until reinforcements arrived, even when facing Nast, who had now achieved angel status.
Wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Egor Einhorn, who had lost a precious Mystical Item and more than half of his fleet, felt his body slightly relax after his silent prayer finally received a response, then his eyes turned sinister as he looked at the Black Emperor, a cold sneer forming on his lips:
"Nast, you are provoking the Einhorn imperial family, you are blaspheming the prestige of the God of Combat!"
"Don't think that just because you've been promoted to an angel, you can act recklessly..."
Before his words had even fallen, the sea area above the Black Emperor was enveloped in a twilight glow, and brilliant, dim yellow light poured down, the terrifying power directly stirring up a tsunami.
Flung by the surging air currents, nearly falling into the sea, Egor Einhorn had just stabilized his body when an uncontrollable smile appeared on his tense face.
Beside him appeared an old man with grizzled stubble and a square hat, his light blue eyes containing an aura of looking down upon all creation.
The Church of the God of Combat's chief Shepherd, a Sequence 2 Glory of the Warrior Pathway!
Without looking at the lucky demigod who had survived, Larrion's expression grew increasingly solemn, his ancient eyes fixed intently on the distant sea area enveloped in the twilight light, and he said coldly in a commanding tone:
"Awatoma is held up in the Berserk Sea and cannot come. Take your remaining fleet and leave here immediately!"
Egor Einhorn's heart chilled, as if he had thought of something, he opened his mouth to speak but suddenly stopped, then bowed and quickly flew towards the few surviving vessels on the edge of the battlefield.
Dark green symbols appeared in his pupils, and Larrion, without any warning, swung his right hand backward, instantly condensing a Twilight Giant Sword emitting an aura of decay.
A strange shattering sound echoed, and the distorted order seemed to be shattered by this casual strike, a massive shadow emerged, clearly the Black Emperor, which had previously been enveloped by the twilight storm.
Nast lowered his head and glanced at the wound on his arm, which, having been grazed by the Twilight Giant Sword, continued to fester and could not heal, his deep black eyes slightly contracting.
Within the Nation of Disorder, Aaron rose from the throne, staring at the Church of the God of Combat's chief Shepherd within Nast's prayer light spot, and sneered, murmuring:
"Indeed!"
With the Sefirah's true vision and the blessing comparable to the King of Angels's status, Larrion, in Aaron's eyes, was shrouded in faint twilight light, vaguely coalescing into a blurred figure seated on a high throne, leaning against a desolate twilight, and clad in decaying armor.
Although he couldn't discern the figure, Aaron had previously had close contact with the divine war outside the Death's mausoleum, and even with just a fleeting glimpse, He could still confirm that the blurred figure was the God of Combat!
This devout chief Shepherd, deeply favored by the divine, contained within Him the will and divinity of the God of Combat, which was why He, despite being only a Sequence 2 Glory, could mobilize parts of the Twilight's authority and directly shatter the distorted order set by Nast, who was also an angel.
Looking at the continuous divine light on Larrion's body, Aaron couldn't help but recall the Aurora Order's consistently proclaimed doctrine, which asserted that all things possess divinity, and by uniting with more divinity, one could shed their mortal form and become an angel.
But for a complete mythical creature, higher-level divinity is more like poison; of course, for fanatical believers like Larrion, this is a divine grace.
"Having failed to seize the Death Uniqueness from the Goddess, Badheil has already begun to leave a resurrection contingency on his own chief Shepherd?"
"It seems the fall of King of Giants Aurmir and the subsequent Calamity have made this God of Combat much more cautious, but unfortunately, he still cannot escape the schemes..."
Having probed Larrion's state, Aaron decisively abandoned the idea of helping Nast; once the hidden will of the God of Combat perceived the power of the Nation of Disorder, the plan to usurp Trunsoest's Brass Book could very likely encounter unforeseen complications.
Larrion, who had forced Nast to reveal his true form with a single sword strike, abruptly paused his hand that was about to swing the sword again; a dangerous intuition from a higher level prompted Him to directly manifest His complete mythical creature form.
But even so, He was still struck rigid on the spot by the sudden surge of chaotic and mad thoughts from the collective subconscious sea.
Without the control of the source of power, a brilliant lightning storm directly tore through the seemingly congealed twilight in the sky, engulfing Larrion, who had revealed his Twilight Giant form.
"Siatas," who had emerged from the collective subconscious sea, looked with some regret at Larrion, who was unharmed in the lightning storm, then leaped onto the Black Emperor's deck, and in the gradually twisting space, the Black Emperor dematerialized and disappeared.
After capturing the Church of the God of Combat's Archbishop in the Spirit World and sending Klein away, "Siatas" left Bayer Baile of the Warrior Pathway on the Morning Star and rushed here using the collective subconscious sea.
Cooperating with Nast's distortion of order, she interfered with Larrion's dangerous premonition and subtly planted numerous mental plagues in his subconscious.
This was the only way to inflict effective damage on Larrion, who had activated his complete mythical creature form and entered a defensive state; although not fatal, it was enough to buy time for the Black Emperor to escape the battlefield.
A few breaths later, a thick twilight light cleaved the descending lightning storm from bottom to top, and a giant radiating an aura of decay emerged, his crimson eyes filled with ferocity gazing at the spot where the Black Emperor had disappeared, muttering word by word:
"'Calamity Queen' Cohinem!"