Escape from the Promised Land

The world, which had briefly returned to normal, began to twist and spin once more.

Landon's body dragged a trail of afterimages in midair.

It was not a visual afterimage caused by high-speed movement, but something that actually existed, transforming into countless afterimages in that single instant.

Landon's afterimages charged from the right, rushed from the left, leaped into the air, and lunged low to the ground—advancing toward Kaylar in countless different stances, evolving forward and backward, multiplying infinitely at this very moment.

『Escape from the Promised Land』

Countless actions that could have been taken at any given moment manifested entirely as afterimages, as 『Greed』 projected his yet-to-be-determined future and already-determined past onto the present, causing his afterimages and true self to appear simultaneously along different paths leading to Kaylar.

Countless paths. Countless Landons.

Each was real. Each was fake.

Escaping the Promised Land that anchored the present, erasing the boundaries between future and past entirely.

The cavalrymen brandished the Fire of Destruction, hacking their blades into the shoulders of the afterimages, trampling their torsos beneath warhorses, and engulfing their heads in flames.

Yet every strike merely passed through those afterimages, barely causing them to flicker with 『Destruction』.

The moment they were touched by the Fire of Destruction, the afterimages would shudder briefly before returning to normal, like ripples on the water's surface after being struck by a pebble.

They were illusions without physical form—unconfirmed possibilities.

They were not the present; they were realities that Landon had not yet selected as the current moment.

Things that can be destroyed must exist, and that which does not exist cannot be destroyed.

Kaylar gripped the hilt of her sword.

In this regard, she was being countered.

The afterimages stepped into the fire, flickering as they were scorched by destruction, yet they still rushed toward Kaylar in overwhelming numbers.

The armored cavalry fought the afterimages, but to little effect.

In the blink of an eye, the afterimages had spread right in front of Kaylar.

Dozens, hundreds, an countless number of Landons.

Each of them maintained a different posture. Some had already thrown a punch, some were still gathering power, and some even had their backs turned to her.

Yet they all closed in on her, surging from all directions like a tide.

Then, the moment the distance closed to a certain point.

Golden fire erupted in that instant, enveloping her sword.

The Fire of Creation condensed inward, forming the spine of the blade, while the Fire of Destruction expanded outward, becoming the edge.

The two contrasting forces united under the integration of the furnace, sweeping forward in Kaylar's hand toward the nearest afterimage.

“Not bad,” the afterimage spoke.

Then, the flames scorched his skin, only for it to heal in the next instant.

Landon's true self appeared before her.

The ability to manifest the possibilities of the future and the past, and to swap his own future and past at will.

This was the first aspect.

Smiling cheerfully, he threw a straight punch, slamming it hard against the sword Kaylar swung at him.

The point of impact between his fist and the blade exploded into a white shockwave in the air.

The world distorted for a brief second.

All the afterimages vanished without a trace.

No, they had overlapped with Landon.

Every distortion of the world was an intertwining of the future and the past.

In the face of 『Greed』, there was no distinction between an "upcoming attack" and an "already executed attack."

Because both existed simultaneously here.

Infinite futures and pasts manifested and merged at this moment.

This was the second aspect.

This punch was not a single strike.

Rather, it was a convergence of every single punch Landon could have thrown across those countless possibilities—hundreds of potential Landons delivering a punch that overlapped onto a single point, resulting in countless attacks struck in a single instant.

The Fire of Destruction didn't even have time to destroy this punch before being scattered by the overwhelming barrage of attacks.

Then Landon's fist continued to press forward.

The Fire of Creation didn't even have time to forge a new barrier before being scattered by the overwhelming barrage of attacks.

Then Landon's fist continued to press forward.

Kaylar felt as though she could already feel the impact of that fist on her body.

A second later, she would be struck in the chest, and the sensation and pain of that punch would manifest on her body in that very same instant.

She would see her body being pummeled hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of times in a span that defied the limits of reaction time, her bones shattered to powder, her flesh beaten to pulp, her armor reduced to tattered rags, her Authority forced to shut down, and the endless fire completely extinguished in an instant.

The attacks striking every spot would occur simultaneously in every instant, with every possibility turning into reality at the exact same point in time.

The Overloaded Furnace, the Hyperventilation Technique, the defensive line constructed from the fires of creation and destruction, and the strength bolstered under Authority Manifestation could all support her to withstand this blow.

But that was only withstanding it. If she sustained injuries of this caliber, any subsequent counterattack would still require...

Before Kaylar could think any further, the sound of tearing air rushed into her ears.

A crimson gryphon dove down from the sky, slamming its sword-spear violently toward Landon's head.

Landon raised his hand, blocking the sword-spear.

Clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang clang—

In an instant, the sword-spear became riddled with dents, looking as though it had turned into scrap metal.

“Don't ruin the fun, will you?” Landon said coldly.

Esper bit her lip and did not reply.

Winged King propelled from the gryphon, blasting toward the left and causing her to drift laterally to the right.

Landon felt the pressure on his hand ease. He frowned, feeling a wave of surprise.

“Kaylar! Get back!”

“Huh? Oh, right!”

Hearing Esper's shout, Kaylar retreated.

Then, a colossal shadow serpent swallowed Landon into its belly.

The shadow serpent had dived all the way down, pursuing the scent of the Beast of Blood, its head originally aiming for the gryphon's hind legs.

But Landon happened to be right in front of the gryphon.

And as it happened, it didn't care who Landon was.

From Landon's perspective, it was probably like a purple wall suddenly appearing before his eyes, followed by the upper and lower rows of fangs snapping shut, swallowing him whole.

The shadow serpent, which only knew to blindly pursue Esper and attempt to devour her, had successfully struck its own ally under her guidance.

Feeling that it had eaten something, the shadow serpent began to writhe, trying to crush the contents of its mouth. This bought Esper some time.

In the next instant, the gryphon made a sharp turn, sprinting back toward Kaylar.

Esper reached out her hand, and Kaylar did the same.

Their hands locked together with a crisp slap, and Esper pulled Kaylar up onto the gryphon, seating her behind her.

“Where's Ela!”

“I just had the armor spirits move her to a safe location! I haven't found Renn yet!”

“Oh, what's with your outfit?”

“Is now the time to talk about that?!”

Boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom—

The shadow serpent's head exploded outward, revealing Louis, who resided within the core of the shadow serpent.

Landon grabbed the only remaining horn on Louis's head and yanked him violently before his face.

“Stop fucking losing your mind and get your Skeletal Crown out!”

“Give it back... to me...”

Louis's eyes were hollow, only murmuring repeatedly.

“...Dammit.”

Landon cursed and hurled Louis toward Esper like a shot put.

The moment Louis's eyes saw Esper, they suddenly filled with life, like a dying patient experiencing a brief rally.

The shadow serpent condensed once more, hissing as it lunged toward Esper.

“That serpent's ability is to tempt surrounding things. He originally had a Skeletal Crown, but he probably doesn't know how to use it right now.”

“Oh, that middle-aged guy can project his past and future, teleport, and stack them to hit with a thousand strikes in an instant.”

“Can you still deal with that middle-aged guy?” Esper asked in a low voice.

The Holy Sword in its sword-spear form was slowly self-repairing, the dents Landon had beaten into it disappearing one by one.

Kaylar shook her head.

“...He's tough.”

“Then I'll leave the shadow serpent to you?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded seriously and flipped off the gryphon.

“Leave it to me.