Chapter 1076: Chapter 1076

Illyna radiated an icy killing intent, ready to cut down everything around her at a moment’s notice.

Goddess Freyja quietly nodded.

It was then that a thunderous explosion echoed out.

If not for Blue Ribbon, Red Ribbon, and the divine dragon sword Twilight, her weapon would have easily been hailed as the greatest sword on the continent. The great silver sword Caldeiras began to roar furiously in Illyna’s mind.

[This is seriously irritating!] Fresh chapters posted on novel~fire~net

Stepping outside, Illyna frowned at the numerous rifts that had appeared in the sky. “What is that?”

They somewhat resembled the look of a monster rift from Earth, but those rifts had already been stabilized to some extent thanks to Persephone and Daphne. As such, other than Earth, rifts weren’t supposed to appear anywhere else.

There was no way to know exactly what the source of the interference Freyja spoke about was, but the growing rifts had begun to take on a slightly different pattern than the usual beast lairs. Instead, they began to resemble the monster rifts from Hell! The emergence of the rifts naturally sent the entirety of Heins Territory spiraling into the depths of panic and fear.

It wasn't long before the numerous rifts began to converge at a single point. Once they finally overlaid and merged, they created a ring of light like a black hole’s event horizon, swirling ominously in the sky.

It lingered ominously for a moment before it suddenly began spinning violently.At the same time, beams of black light began to pour down like rain. The massive transparent aqueducts floating in the sky above the territory had begun to shatter!

The territory’s defensive magic system was strong enough to withstand most spells without issue, but the black beams effectively ignored the system as they rained down directly onto the territory.

Of course, Illyna wasn’t one to just stand by and watch. She gripped Caldeiras tightly in her right hand and drew it across her body in a diagonal motion. She then raised her right foot and stomped down hard, unleashing an explosive flash of light that shot toward the sky.

[Continuum-Attacking Blade]

Caldeiras was a greatsword, yet it was still less than two meters long. Nonetheless, the single strike she unleashed tore through the sky, sliced the clouds, and split the entire space apart.

Her slash shattered all the falling black beams, scattering them into nothing.

“Commander Monmider! Divide the guards, then assess casualties and the extent of the damage!”

“I’ll take it from here, just minimize the casualties!” she shouted with urgency.

Monmider clenched his teeth and bowed his head. “Understood!”

She had already cut the massive rift using the Continuum-Attacking Blade. Yet, for some reason, the rift nonetheless began to return to its original form. It was as if Illyna had sliced through another dimension, only for it to revert back on its own.

“I’m going to figure out whatever the hell that thing is!”

At the same time, another wave of black beams poured out from the rift, raining straight for the territory. Worse, more than half of them were aimed specifically toward the lord’s manor, where Davey was in the middle of performing an important spell.

It was unlikely that the beams would deal significant damage to him, but if even one of them managed to interfere with his casting, the consequences could be severe and irreversible.

Illyna kicked off the building wall and shot upward, swinging her sword. She managed to cut down another massive wave of beams, but two or three strands ended up slipping through.

The unexpected slip-up made her curse her lack of practice, then she turned quickly to give chase. However, someone else moved faster than she did.

A massive minotaur, cloaked in the color of a star-filled night sky, burst out from the manor. Taurus hurled its fist toward the black beams. Though its punch halted mid-swing, the impact was unmistakable. A massive shockwave exploded where its fist struck, creating a rift in the air and scattering the black beams all at once.

“Taurus!!” Illyna shouted as she landed deftly on the ground.

Most of the constellations had been hostile, but the eccentric constellation before her had sided with Davey from the very beginning.

It silently flexed its muscles, then once again clenched its fist and punched toward the rift. Taurus had said nothing, but its intent was clear enough.

Accompanied by a heavy boom, the massive rift suspended in the sky twisted violently. Unfortunately, even such a blow wasn’t enough to destroy it. Taurus shrugged toward Illyna and shook its head.

“Ugh. This is giving me such a headache. What in the world is that thing?” Illyna complained.

At that moment, Megalodria arrived and joined the fray. The sky darkened, and a pitch-black breath attack tore through the air, erasing the falling black beams.

“What the hell is even that?!”

[How should I know?!]

Megalodria soared through the air at breakneck speed and slammed into the rift with a full-body tackle, causing another massive tremor to shake it. Yet once again, the rift wasn't shopped.

“What the hell do we do about that?” Illyna muttered with a pale expression, exchanging glances with Megalodria.

Their attacks had hit, but left no lasting damage. It was like trying to destroy air—no matter how many times it was damaged, it simply returned to its original form. It was as if it was not an anomaly, instead, some intrinsic entity belonging to their world.

To make matters worse, not only could they not destroy the rift, but it also kept retaliating relentlessly.

Watching the tail of light spin furiously, Illyna realized that her sword slashes weren’t reaching the rift. She had learned the Continuum-Attacking Blade, and had been receiving continuous swordsmanship training from Davey over the last two years. As a result of that hard work, her swordsmanship had a level incomparably superior to when she’d first met Davey. Even so, she couldn’t think of a solution.

When another wave of light poured down, Illyna clicked her tongue and flicked her sword up. She kicked herself through the air, slicing through space and severing all of the light beams in one sweeping motion.

“Phew. At least the attacks themselves aren’t too threa—”

It was then that the fragments of the light beams she’d cut began to twist violently—then shot toward her. Caught by surprise mid-air, she wasn’t able to evade as fast as she normally could. To make matters worse, the fragments moved even faster than the initial beams.

Illyna was fully exposed.

Just as she rushed to draw on the power of her divine sword, Megalodria flashed in like lightning with its wings flaring, taking the attack for her to neutralize the strike.

[Damn it. It’s one of the world’s laws.]

Megalodria muttered to itself as if something had finally clicked. Its massive body then fell limp to the ground.

Mythical Beast Kings each carried the power of an entire nation. When going all-out, even a single Mythical Beast King could wipe out entire continents if they so wished. Megalodria’s strength was beyond a continental scale, capable of destroying entire worlds. For the black beam to pierce straight through the dragon’s formidable storm shield, its incredible power was self-evident.

Illyna rushed to a huge bell tower, where the colossal black dragon had crashed down. Its tough scales had been torn, hair covered in clumps of blood.

“Just hang in there! I’ll get Archbishop Alice—!”

[You fool! Just get out of here!]

Megalodria tried to send Illyna away, but the rift wasn’t going to let her go so easily. Beams of light rained down once again, targeting her exclusively.

Different from last time, Taurus managed to twist the space around the beams with its fist. The attacks were refracted like bent light, vanishing without hitting her.

“What the hell is that thing?!”

[It’s the foundation of the world, like the other side of Goddess Freyja. It is the manifestation of the absolute law that governs the structure of reality.]

Illyna’s eyes widened at the shocking explanation. The interference Goddess Freyja mentioned wasn’t a sentient being! It was the world itself—white blood cells designed to eliminate anything that violated the natural order.

“So you’re saying Davey’s spell breaks the rules of the world?” Illyna inquired.

[How should I know that?!]

The rift began to spin faster and faster, its attacks intensifying. Illyna gritted her teeth and pushed herself upright. She then grabbed her right shoulder with her left hand, holding Caldeiras in her right as she began to channel an explosive amount of holy power.

Blinding white light burst forth, wrapping around her arm as it glowed with intense radiance. Staring down the rift, she growled, “White blood cell, rule enforcer, fuzzy unicorn—whatever the hell it is, I don’t care!”

She wasn’t going to let it touch Davey. With a fierce expression, she swung her sword to cut down the black beams that had multiplied dozens of times over.

Her massive blade energy tore through the sky, shredding space itself into a twisted mess. The attack was overwhelmingly more powerful than before.

Though Illyna managed to block the beams, her face was clearly uneasy due to forcibly utilizing too much power. “This is getting ridiculous. Seriously, man.”

Panting heavily, she stumbled back, using Caldeiras as a cane to keep her balance before raising her head to glare at the black rift above.

It was still intact. For those defending the place, the rift was simply too incompatible of an enemy to deal with. Unfortunately for them, the rift didn’t feel sympathy or care about unfair matchups, the pouring beams of light resuming their assault.

Illyna forced her power out once more. However, the more she clashed with the beams, the more she felt her strength draining for some unknown reason.

[Your compatibility with the opponent isn’t good. Don’t try to block it, just dodge!]

“Are you really saying that, despite knowing what will happen if I dodge?!”

Dodging would make the beams fall directly onto the manor. Still, the force was far too destructive for her to keep tanking damage.

Worse, both Illyna's and Megalodria’s strength deteriorated more with each clash. The only one whose power wasn’t significantly weakened on contact was Taurus.

Driven by sheer will, Illyna shouted and forcibly amplified the power of Caldeiras. “I’ll hold out... until Davey finishes!”

Despite her outward confidence, she could only realistically hold off two or three more waves. It was unfair, but the compatibility mismatch was extreme.

Compatibility was a ridiculous word, but in truth, it applied to everyone except Davey. The reason Davey had maintained such an overwhelming win record was his possession of a great power under every domain. For example, without his sorcery, he wouldn’t have even stood a chance against Yggdrasil.

Even with fear in her heart, she didn’t back down. As she steeled herself once more, she heard a faint rustling. Amid the roaring blasts echoing across the territory, the small but distinct sound of bare feet stepping on grass reached her ears.

At that moment, someone slowly walked into view. The sword aura enveloping her blade was then instantly dispersed.

Stunned that her power had been unraveled in an instant, she dropped to her knees and turned to look at the new arrival. At the same time, she felt her weakened strength return to her.

“The Goddess is here. Right now.”

Hearing those words, everything clicked for her.

Each step the woman took, her long dress dragged along.

“It’s alright now. The Goddess called me, but don't worry, I’ll pay the price for it.” A beautiful woman with ivory hair walked forward while covering her mouth with long, flowing sleeves. She then stepped in front of Illyna and gracefully extended her hand.

The black beams raining from above began to be sucked into whatever had formed in her palm.

[What monstrous power, especially from such a small individual.]

She was none other than Rho Aias.

A small black orb gathered at her fingertips, no bigger than a marble. Looks can be deceiving, however, as it had the amount of mass comparable to a nebula.

Her magic had long surpassed the boundaries of Death Lord or devil mana sorcery. Admittedly, Odin could probably replicate a wider range of effects, though Rho Aias had her own strengths.

“When it comes to destruction, I take pride in being the best. No need to worry.”

There was no hero who could rival her in terms of destruction.

“W-Wait! Your body—!” Illyna shouted in alarm as she noticed the woman’s body turning translucent.

Even so, she only offered a faint smile. “It’s just the backlash from using too much power, since I’m being reverse-summoned. Don’t worry about it.”

The very fact that she’d been summoned in her full power like that was already beyond belief. She gently flicked her hand, sending the small black orb drifting upward into the sky, neither too fast nor too slowly.

“That rift... What is it, exactly?”

She sighed as she muttered, “It’s something that shouldn’t exist. I think it’s the result of something Davey did in the past.”

“That Goddess Freyja... don’t push the consequences of your actions onto me.”

Soon, the tiny black orb made contact with the rift high in the sky. In that instant, it felt as though the entire world stopped. Strangely enough, it wasn’t just a feeling either.

Sound, light, scent—every sense vanished for a moment, only to reappear again in the next instant. Once that brief distortion had ended, nothing remained of the enemy.

“Phew! That took more out of me than I thought.” The whole situation was far too serious to be brushed off with a single breath, but she tried nonetheless.

For the first time, Illyna found herself understanding why Davey—always so annoyingly cocky and irreverent—showed such deep respect toward Rho Aias.

It wasn’t just because she had been his first ideal type of girl.