No, the emotion she felt most at that moment was humiliation.
âBastard!â
She tried to roar. But she couldnât. Her tongue wouldnât move.
No, it wasnât just her tongue. Her entire body was motionless, trembling like a sparrow that had been soaked in the rain.
âParalysisâŚ!â
Her entire body was paralysed.
This was unbelievable.
After she returned to her complete form of âNornâ, her resistances had increased by several times.
Even if Indra himself had attacked her with his lightning, it should have been impossible to paralyse her so perfectly.
Frey was no longer looking at her.
Instead, he had turned his eyes to Sunsir, who was watching this scene from a distance with wide eyes.
Sunsir stepped back.
He was well aware of his own weaknesses. Direct combat should be avoided at all costs.
His true strength could only be displayed when he hid in the shadows and launched surprise attacks.
The ability to hide the aura of his divine power was a skill no other Demigod had, but this also meant that the amount of divine power he had was much less in comparison so as to perfectly conceal it.
âSomething has changed.â
The power of the lightning that Frey had just displayed was strange.
Sunsir knew Indra. He had even seen him use his lightning power before as well.
That was why he could tell for certain. The lightning attack heâd just witnessed was much stronger than Indraâs.
âThisâŚâ
How was something like this fair?
The lightning power that Frey stole from Indra was now stronger than Indraâs?
He wouldnât have believed it if he hadnât seen it for himself. In fact, he still couldnât believe it.
Frey didnât chase after Sunsir.
His body simply disappeared before reappearing beside Anastasia.
Sunsir almost died of shock at that moment. (TL: wanted to say âalmost had a heart attackâ so bad)
He was several times more surprised than when heâd witnessed the lightning attack.
âSp-, space-time movement?!â
How did a human use an ability that only a select few Demigods had managed to master?
âHeâs too dangerous.â
He had to kill him. He had to kill him right on that spot no matter what. This was all Sunsir could think of at that moment.
ââŚâ
Frey looked down at Anastasia. Anastasia looked up at him.
Suddenly, she grumbled.
âYou sure took your time to wake up.â
ââŚwas I late again?â
Frey looked down at his best friend and muttered bitterly.
She couldnât even stand because she didnât have limbs, but there was a bright smile on her face.
âItâs not irreversible.â
âThank you. For protecting me.â
âYou can chat with me after youâve dealt with them.â
âI will.â
âAs you can see, I canât be of much help.â
âDonât worry about that.â
Frey lifted his gaze to look at the Demigods.
âBecause theyâre no longer a problem.â
The two Demigods grit their teeth with humiliated expressions, but they couldnât refute his statement.
It was at that moment that Anastasia realised that there were many changes within Freyâs body.
âYou progressed again. Did you awaken during the period before death? In such a short timeâŚ. You really are an amazing guy. You-â
âIt wasnât short.â
Frey shook his head.
Right. It wasnât short at all.
âYou look tired. Why donât you get some rest for now? Iâll handle the rest.â
ââŚI should. My eyelids have been heavy for a while now.â
Anastasiaâs eyes slowly closed as she mumbled those words.
Frey raised his head again.
Sunsir, who was slowly approaching him after concealing his aura, froze.
This was because Freyâs eyes had landed perfectly on his body. It was definitely not a coincidence.
The moment their eyes met, Sunsir got goosebumps.
âHowâŚâ
It was a question that didnât need to be answered. In fact, he wouldnât have been convinced even if he had heard the truth.
That Frey was using Milledâs clairvoyance.
âUahhh!â
Norn suddenly roared.
Sheâd finally overcome the paralysis. However, she was well aware that the crisis had yet to end.
If Frey had wanted it, she would have already been dead.
âHow dare you show mercy on me!â
It was completely unacceptable for her. To receive the mercy of a human was much worse than being annihilated.
She never expected that she would feel such a sense of humiliation after returning to her true form.
âCalm down, Norn.â
Sunsir hurriedly tried to get Norn under control.
She would definitely not be of much help if she were to get lost in her emotions.
It took some time, but he finally acknowledged Freyâs strength.
âFrom now on, donât treat him like a human. Right, it would be better⌠if we treated him as something even stronger than the Dragons.â
He used the name of the only creatures who could be considered their opponents in the past.
Norn grit her teeth, but she had no choice but to accept his words.
This man might not be a Dragon; but he was far more threatening.
âDo you have a way?â
âYou just have to actively use your power.â
There was one more poisoned dagger that heâd brought as insurance.
Of course, he knew that this man had driven out Anantaâs poison once. But it had taken a lot of time to do so.
If he could create this gap once again, he would no longer drag his feet, and he would immediately end his life this time.
ââŚunderstood.â
This was not an easy decision to make.
Because they were Demigods, no matter how powerful an enemy was, they never joined forces. But Norn looked down at her trembling hands and steadied her resolve.
As much as it would damage her pride, this man had to die.
Then she read the future.
âHuh?â
When Norn had three personalities, that is to say, when she was still the Nornir sisters, it was the youngest sister, Skuld, who had the power to see the future.
Throughout her long life, sheâd seen many futures. That was why she knew.
The future was not set in stone. It was fluid. It constantly shifted and constantly changed.
Of course, the subject was always herself. Every time she made a judgement, the future changed.
That was why Norn had never seen such a future before.
It was completely dark.
Then she saw a pure white light, that contrasted with the future vision Norn had seen, swallow her.
It didnât pierce her; it swallowed her.
It was different from the lightning spear from before.
The size, power. No, the light wasnât even lightning.
ââŚâ
When the light disappeared, Nornâs upper body was gone. The lower half that was left then fell to the ground with a thud.
Even up to the moment she died, Norn didnât realise that the future she saw was an inevitable death.
ââŚâ
Frey looked down at his fingertips.
There was no problem using his fingers like he had before. He liked the fact that there were no side effects.
He had simply expressed his will to the divine magic power he just released.
âAt a speed that no one can perceive, eliminate anything it touches. â
Thatâs what he thought, and it actually happened.
âIf it hits something with a stronger will than me, it wonât make it disappear.â
As he had this thought, Frey turned to look at the remaining Demigod, Sunsir.
He was staring at Frey in disbelief, his entire body trembling.
When his eyes met Freyâs, a thought seemed to suddenly pierce through his fear.
âLo-, LordâŚ?â
In that instant, Freyâs face overlapped with Lordâs.
It was ridiculous. It was utter nonsense.
How could he see Lordâs shadow in this mortal?
Sunsir was shaken by his own insolence.
âNo!â
Sunsir buried his fear with anger.
Then he charged towards Frey.
Sunsir didnât have the ability to see the future. But as the distance between him and Frey narrowed, he seemed to see his final moments.
* * *
Heâd killed two Demigods in an instant.
Yet Frey didnât feel proud of this in the slightest. He knew he would win even before the fight started.
At that moment, Frey realised heâd transcended the 9 star stage.
âIs this 10 stars?â
He wasnât sure.
However, the power he had now was no longer limited to the field of magic.
What was it truly like to reach 10 stars in the first place?
Frey knew that Cairo and Diablo held some clues regarding this matter. So he decided that heâd go find out some more details after dealing with this situation.
ââŚâ
He could see the crystals left behind by Norn and Sunsir.
These were already things that he no longer needed. The thing that had the greatest influence on divine magic power was the will of its wielder.
No matter how powerful he was, even if he somehow gained infinite power, he would not be able to use it if his mind was broken.
It would be better for him to devise a way to strengthen his mental power than to increase his divine magic power.
However, it was too dangerous to leave the crystals lying in a place like this, so heâd collect them for now.
Then he looked down at Anastasia.
Seeing how thoroughly her body had been destroyed, Frey couldnât help but feel a little guilty.
Eventually, he let out a heavy sigh.
âBecause of your appearance, I really feel like it would be a crime to let you die.â
It wasnât that he would have done so, but if Anastasia still had Schweiserâs appearance, Frey wouldnât have felt so guilty.
He couldnât help but hate Hector a little.
Fortunately, her core was still intact. This meant that as long as she had sufficient ME, she could heal herself.
Woowoong-
1 million ME.
It was an almost unbelievable amount. Even for Frey, it was quite a burden.
Anastasia didnât regain consciousness immediately, but her wounds started to heal. At the rate she was healing, it seemed sheâd be in perfect condition in only a few hours.
He got up from his seat.
It wasnât over yet.
âAgni.â
Frey said the name of the most threatening being in the entire Amakan Desert.
Then he recalled Rikiâs advice.
Heâd told him to hurry.
At first, he thought he was talking about Anastasia, but now, it seemed that he wasnât talking about just her.
ââŚâ
Frey suddenly got an ominous feeling.
* * *
About an hour earlier.
âItâs hard to breathe.â
Ivan thought, gasping.
One of the most basic of basics for the Warrior Kingâs Fist was breathing control. Also, it wasnât easy for Ivan, who had almost reached the stage of Warrior King, to lose his breath.
But even if a Warrior King were to participate in the fight, they might not have been able to keep their breath under control. (TL: what about Nora?)
The soaring pillars of flames, melting sand, and rain of fire from the sky all contributed to create a truly hellish scene.
âThe others canât even stand here.â
In fact, as soon as this happened, half of the warriors who survived the first attack collapsed, and their defenseless bodies were covered by the flames and turned to ashes.
âIncoming!â
Someone shouted.
Then he saw a giant fist of flames soaring towards him.
Booom!
He threw himself away to avoid it, rolling a few times because of the force of the impact.
His skin was burning. He was sure the attack didnât touch him, but it didnât feel like heâd avoided it.
âWe canât endure this much longer.â
His thoughts felt drier than the desert. He had sweated too much.
As a creature who relied on the moisture in its body to live, he would not be able to survive more than half an hour in this hell.
Ivan grit his teeth.
Ever since heâd started being tortured by Noraâno, even before then, Ivanâs life had been a series of struggles.
Fighting, fighting, and more fighting.
There were times he won and times he lost. Few of those fights were easy. But even though they happened, they didnât remain in his memory for very long. All Ivan could remember were the bloody, difficult battles.
In all of those fights, he never once swung his fist with the thought of losing.
But now, while facing Agni, Ivan couldnât help but feel that way for the first time.
Maybe this day next year would be the day of his memorial service.
(TL: So about the Power/Authority decision. I was personally leaning towards authority, but like Iâd said in my note, quite a few of you guys pointed out the fact that weâre already most of the way through with this first season of the novel. And while authority might sound better in my opinion, weâre already past chapter 180 so at this point, it would only confuse things to change something so fundamental. Thanks for the feedback though guys ^-^ love it.)