Chapter Ten: First Battle

The call to my greatness echoed through me. I dressed at once and ran out of the castle. What awaited me outside was more terrible than anything I had imagined.
RED.
The sky burned a violent crimson.
The ground trembled in every direction.
What devastation…
{It is as I feared.}
“What is……….? Tell me.”
{Academia…… is the only target.}
Huh?
{Why do you think that is?}
I understood in a sickening instant.
Academia is the world’s backbone. With its destruction, everything that had been built—law, knowledge, the promise of a future—would tumble into chaos.
{Exactly. They never intended simply to destroy the world. What you see above is a barrier—an enormous, impenetrable ward placed by a higher god. Even ten lower gods combined would struggle to break it.}
With my current strength… I couldn’t even scratch it.
{They want to rob humanity of their promised future. Fear will choke hope; faith in the new order will crumble. Once that fear spreads, their goal is nearly fulfilled.}
They’ve isolated Academia from the rest of the world… Is total annihilation their aim?
They’ve already come close to that. Where are they now?
{Not “they”—it’s a single lower god. The heavens crave spectacle; sending many gods would be boring. Our opponent is likely one of the lower-tier gods. Be careful. Underestimate him and you’ll regret it.}
You don’t have to tell me twice. If there is one thing all martial arts teach, it’s never to underestimate an opponent.
{You know martial arts, but you’ve never stood in a life-or-death battle against someone with enormous supernatural power. Calm down. We’ll be together at all times—what happens to you happens to me. We are one being. With our might combined we will defeat the odds. Now tell me: where are they attacking from?}
“……….. City 1.”
City 1. I had been there just days ago. If the assault begins there, it confirms their aim: to snuff out humanity’s future.
I turned left from my castle and set my course to City 1.
The elite army was already engaging the god with advanced weapons, but it was futile—an exercise in futility. They were being wiped out.
Here I go. “SHIFT.”
SWOOOOOOOOOSH.
Wrong.
I materialized in City 4.
This destruction was worse than at the capital.
Buildings had collapsed, streets cracked open. Vehicles were mangled; entire blocks had disappeared into the ground as earthquakes tore the earth apart.
{We have to hurry. He won’t stop destroying until he finds an opponent.}
This time I would make it count.
Concentrate. I had shifted there once—recall the scenery, place myself there. “Shift.”
SWOOOOOSH.
BAAAM.
I arrived at a blur of motion and slammed through a wall; dust and plaster filled the air. I found myself standing beside a receptionist’s desk. The place looked like a hotel, but no living person remained—only corpses and pools of dark blood.
{Yes—we are here.}
What is this?
Blood—everywhere. What had been done to these people?
There was no time for sympathy. I stepped out and saw a sight that turned my chest to ice.
Half the sky-high buildings were mangled, broken, or gone entirely. Cars lay overturned like toys. Bodies, twisted and lifeless, lay in the streets. Survivors were few; many had passed out from shock.
{It’s terrible, but exactly what the gods want. Don’t worry—the destruction hasn’t reached its peak yet. We must act, and quickly.}
FLOAT. FLOAT.
A distant sound—things moving through the air. I looked up.
BAD-UMP. BAD-UMP.
T—the buildings—“Are flying!!??”
The tallest towers floated above the city, twisting and rolling like great serpents. They no longer sat solidly on foundations. They drifted, collided, and then crashed to earth.
GAAAAM.
Two towers smashed into one another and toppled, sending wreckage and screaming people plummeting down.
SHOOO—BAAAM.
{There were many humans in those buildings. Hurry—we can’t stand here any longer.}
BAD-UMP. BAD-UMP.
O-Okay.
{Where is he?}
Got it.
He’s in the middle of the city… in the sky?
{Yes. Many gods refuse to touch human ground. He will likely float during the fight. Our job is to draw him out—lure him into the desert or an empty plain. I’ll take your visual form: when he looks at you, he’ll see me, but you will remain in control.}
That should get his attention.
SHIFT.
I moved into the heart of the city at normal speed and vaulted onto one of the floating buildings with a hammering momentum. I crashed through someone’s apartment and fought my way to the rooftop. People inside cried for help; most were unconscious.
“.………… My greetings princess!”
A deep, booming voice reverberated through the sky.
A god in human guise floated some distance away—unassisted—hovering as if the air itself supported him. He was nearly two meters tall, long dark hair trailing almost to his feet, wearing a robe that left his broad chest exposed and his legs half-covered.
“Why have you destroyed the city!?”
LV’s voice came from my mouth. I hadn’t expected her to take control of my speech.
“It’s the god’s decree, my princess. I am to destroy everything in sight until the so-called ‘world’s elite nation’ is no more. We erected a barrier the size of Academia. No human will be able to leave—and none will enter. The rest of the world will learn fear; they will taste true terror. No one defies the gods and survives. After Academia—the whole world will be destroyed in an instant. HAHAHAHA.”
His laughter rolled across the sky like thunder.
“I won’t allow it. I’ll defeat you and any other god who stands in my way! I’ll prove myself worthy of the throne.”
Throne. Now it made sense.
“HAHAHA ‘God of Beginning,’ you are surely an opponent I can never hope to defeat, my princess. But don’t forget—you abandoned heaven without permission, so you are restricted to using only ten percent of your power. Not to mention your vessel is a mere human. I’ll defeat you here and now…and then I’ll rise to become a higher god and lead my clan to greatness!”
{Ylaus… what’s his name? He won’t take you seriously until you know it.}
LV asked for his name. Before I could answer, he spoke again.
“Oh! I forgot to tell you one important rule: the gods have prevented your vessel from learning my weaknesses or any other exploit. Asking me about that is futile. The most I’ll tell you is my name… and believe me, I’LL MAKE SURE HE NEVER SAYS IT AFTER THIS FIGHT.”
{A disadvantage. The heavens truly are out to have fun. We could beat him easily if we knew his weakness, but don’t lose hope… WE’LL DEFINITELY WIN.}
I froze, staring into nothing.
{What’s wrong? You haven’t moved—don’t tell me…}
His presence pressed against me. Strong—an aura like a physical force at this distance.
BAD-UMP. BAD-UMP.
My breath grew shallow.
“What’s wrong, human? I thought you wanted to defeat a god. You are an elite, aren’t you?”
{Don’t listen to him.}
Elite?
Then I remembered. Amira said she was coming here five days ago.
Amira!!
I turned to the north, ready to leave—
“Running away? I’ll give you ten seconds to hide…I’ll show you what a god is.”
LV? Where is Amira? She’s in this city, right? Ask me about her location.
{…Where is she?}
No… She’s…she’s in one of those floating buildings.
SHIFT.
I slipped out of the god’s sight. “Summon!” I called—and Amira tumbled into my arms with a dull thud.
Is she…dead!?
{No—she passed out from shock. They’ve been floating for some time. That’s a clever move; we wouldn’t want him to discover our (your) weakness.}
I found a two-story building and laid her on the second floor, then began retreating toward the outskirts.
As I moved, I heard a voice: “There you are—already found you.”
Before I could react, a kick struck me so hard I buried into the earth.
“AAAAAHHHHH!” The shockwave from the blow carried over a kilometer. The crater I made was a hundred meters deep and twenty meters wide.
It hurt. It hurt like I’d never known.
The attack happened so quickly I could not see it coming. His leg struck like a whip—swift, precise.
COUGH—COUGH.
Blood welled in my mouth.
{It hurts… Stand up. He’s coming.}
“Hmm? Is this all it takes to defeat you, my princess? I don’t see how you can inherit the throne like this.” He hovered above the crater and looked down at us.
{Tch.}
“I… I won’t lose!” I summoned what energy I could and tried to stand. My limbs failed me and I collapsed again.
The pain gnawed through every fiber of me. I had never felt such agony.
SHOO.
The air shifted as he descended to stand a meter from me.
BAD-UMP. BAD-UMP.
The world constricted—breath became a challenge.
{You must be terrified. I understand. But you can’t let fear control you. A single god cannot crush your will. Stand and fight. Use everything you have.}
My body trembled.
“This is the end, human… and I’ll take you with me, princess!”
He slowly raised his leg to stomp.
I had to escape.
STOMP—STOMP—STOMP.
His successive stomps came at a speed so steady they felt endless, each impact reverberating through my bones.
“AAAAAAHHHHHHH!” I cried.
Is this how I die? Without landing a single blow…?
No. I refused to accept that.
“I see you still have strength. How about this then!” He clenched his fist to deliver a crushing blow.
I shifted while still prone and landed beside a great tree.
How had I managed that?
{I don’t have enough energy to control your body fully—you must be strong. You can’t let a weak god like him defeat you.}
COUGH—COUGH.
“He’s strong! But… I’m strong too. I’m a god too!!” I cried, blood on my lips and tears in my eyes.
“Found you again! ‘Reset punch!’”
In the blink of an eye he was beside me and struck at my heart.
BAAAM—ZWAING.
I slammed into rocks; waves of pain cascaded through my mind.