Chapter 325: And It Was Winter (1)

Just as Keter had expected, Kai knew Henya’s whereabouts. The moment he heard that Keter was looking for her, Kai grasped Keter’s true intention.

“You’re planning to fight Eslow.”

“Of course you’ll help, right?”

Kai had once attempted to assassinate Eslow. The plan had fallen apart due to Ailos’ betrayal, but even if it hadn’t, they likely wouldn’t have succeeded. Eslow was far stronger than the Samael Empire had imagined.

“Hmm.”

Kai scanned Keter from head to toe, then shook his head.

“Your growth is exponential. But even assuming you’ve reached seven-star Prime, you still cannot defeat Eslow. I understand why you want to go after him, but my advice is: don’t.”

“What, are you trying to keep Sefira’s growth in check?”

Thud.

Kai closed the book he’d been reading and even removed his glasses.

“People like you and me aren’t always persuaded by words. Come with me.”

“Works for me.”

As if walking into his own home, Kai led Keter into the most remote underground training chamber in Sefira. There, four young boys with blue hair were waiting. They all looked like Decameron, but they weren’t; the hair color was the same, but their height and build were larger.

“Consider it an honor. These are the empire’s new homunculi, completed less than a week ago.”

Kai pointed at Decameron, who had followed Keter in.

“Their performance is more than triple Decameron’s. Their cognitive ability has doubled. Most importantly, their resistance to divine power has greatly improved, and they can now respond to Authority itself.”

Keter scratched his head.

“You brought me here just to brag?”

“Two of these latest-model homunculi are enough to defeat a Prime. However, even four of them together can’t handle an Irregular. Keter, if you defeat the four homunculi here, our Special Task Force will fully support you.”

“And you get to record and analyze my combat style on the side? Smart man.”

“If you look at it that way, you’re also getting the privilege of experiencing the empire’s newest homunculi ahead of time.”

“That makes it sound like I’m destined to fight the empire someday.”

“The empire’s goal is continental unification. We aim for peaceful unification, but there are times, like now, when it’s impossible without fighting.”

“Peaceful unification, huh? Not a bad slogan for public image.”

With that, Keter widened the distance between them. Topics like this never reached an agreement anyway.

“Ever since civilization began, the best problem-solving method has been fighting. And that truth won’t change in thousands—tens of thousands—of years.”

“Agreed.”

Any further talk was a waste of time. Kai stepped back, and the four newest homunculi advanced.

“It’s cramped, but a handicap like this makes it more fun,” Keter said.

“That’s exactly why I brought you here.”

Keter’s Limitless Archery had a wide area of effect. His main technique, Milky Way, caused massive explosions, so it was hard to use in an underground space like this.

In contrast, the homunculi excelled at both close and long-range combat. They were artificial lifeforms that never got tired, felt no fear, and possessed limitless energy; they were flawless soldiers every ruler dreamed of. They would never betray, were versatile, and overwhelmingly powerful.

Meanwhile, Keter had no fear of his Limitless Archery being leaked to the Samael Empire.

It isn’t complete, after all.

There was no such thing as completion for Limitless Archery anyway. Keter had never finished it, so he could change it at any time, and add more forms whenever he wished. Complete meant that there was nothing more to improve, and to Keter, that was no different from stagnation.

Endless change. It might be exhausting but never boring.

With that thought, Keter clashed joyfully with the homunculi.

* * *

Keter could clearly feel the creator’s persistence.

They respond flexibly even to irregular archery. Does the empire have an archer like me? Or were they customized just for me?

Kai’s confidence hadn’t been a lie. The newest homunculi were incredible. There was no denying it.

Invisible arrows, curving and bending shots—they reacted to all of them and deflected them. When they judged something as being blockable, they layered defenses instead of dodging. There wasn’t a single flaw to pick at.

𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

Their offense was just as clean. They pressured Keter nonstop, focusing on swordsmanship and martial arts. Openings Keter thought were opportunities were traps, and their attacks that looked manageable were heavy and powerful. More than anything, the fact that they could freely use magic was a nuisance, and in combos, at that.

“Ice World.”

Ice world, a six-circle ice-element spell, was activated with a single word.

Isn’t it cheating for homunculi to wordwield thateasily?

The underground training chamber’s temperature plummeted instantly.

You could use this place as a freezer.

Even the air seemed to freeze, as the arrows began slowing. When Keter leaped to avoid a slash aimed at his ankles, icicles rained down from the ceiling.

Their coordination is smooth and structured. I don’t see them signaling each other... Are they mentally linked? Kai said two or three times better than Decameron, right? What a liar. They’re at least five times better than him. This is when he chooses to be modest of all times.

Keter sustained injury after injury. Even light injuries couldn’t be ignored, as the extreme cold slowed recovery itself. Blood loss accumulated as well. Time wasn’t on his side either, as the homunculi had infinite stamina.

I would have plenty of strategies if this were open terrain, but in a confined space like this, even I have limits.

Of course, Keter could go to the surface if he wanted to, but he knew he shouldn’t. Open terrain was where Keter wanted to fight, not where the opponent wanted to. If his opponent absolutely had to kill him, they would follow him gladly. But what about the opposite? What if Keter went to kill Eslow, but Eslow refused to leave his palace?

Keter was an archer, so he could shoot from outside, but Eslow’s palace itself was an Authority. Even he couldn’t destroy a fortress created by Authority.

There was a reason Eslow stayed holed up in his palace and the other princes couldn’t do anything about him. If he held out in his domain, even two or more Transcendentals couldn’t break him.

Right now, Kai was asking Keter an important question.

Let’s say you managed to lure Eslow into open ground. But what if, cornered, he flees into a confined place like his palace? Your archery can’t show its true power in tight spaces.

And Keter had to answer that question—he had to show Kai that he had a plan. To prove it, he had to defeat these homunculi here, in this cramped underground chamber.

You know, the empire could have let me meet Eslow, not caring about whether I live or die.

From their perspective, mutual destruction between Eslow and him would be convenient. And yet, Kai was helping Keter’s growth, even if he was pretending to steal Limitless Archery.

Guess my charm works even on men, huh.

Maybe Kai caught the satisfied grin on Keter’s face, because he immediately addressed the homunculi, “He’s smiling—he’s still not taking this seriously. Remove your limiters.”

So they hadn’t been at full power yet.

The homunculi’s skin darkened instantly.

I’m sure it’s not just for cosmetic purposes.

Whoosh!

Their speed nearly tripled. In the blink of an eye, a chunk of flesh was carved from Keter’s shoulder. If he reacted a moment slower, Keter would have lost his arm.

How many of these monsters does the empire have?

Keter had to admit it—the empire was insane. Without an Authority, dealing with these homunculi would be near impossible.

...That’s what Kai thinks, anyway.

Limitless Archery was an archery style Keter made in the span of thirty years in his previous life. In those thirty years, he didn’t just fight in open terrain—he also fought in cramped spaces like this, too.

Limitless Archery, Fifth Form: Kaleidoscope, Innumerable.

Panels of acceleration, refraction, and teleportation filled the underground chamber. Keter’s Authority in his previous life wasn’t offense-specialized. That meant his techniques themselves had to approach the level of Authority. Power comparable to Authority—that was Limitless Archery.

Limitless Archery, Fourth Form: Fission-Shrapnel, Tusk.

Keter layered the power of Tusk, an extreme penetrating force, onto each arrow that had been split into dozens, hundreds, and thousands.

The homunculi, who had handled every technique so far, tried to knock down as many of his arrows as possible, but they could deflect only hundreds at best. Even after batting aside hundreds, thousands still remained.

Those thousands of arrows slammed into the walls of the underground training hall, which were covered in Keter’s Kaleidoscope panels. Any arrow that touched the surface of the panels split again and accelerated, refracting or teleporting to other panels at the same time.

Keter’s arrows began to multiply and amplify at an almost infinite rate. The arrows were so fast now that they only looked like a ray of light. Even the homunculi couldn’t react to them, so they gave up trying to sense the arrows and instead layered defenses to brace for impact. They covered themselves in Aura Shields on the inside, and a vibrating mana shield on the outside. This could theoretically block even augmented sword aura, but...

“Too shallow.”

The endlessly splitting and accelerating arrows converged on the homunculi at once. Brilliant sparks exploded, and the sound of shattering glass tore through the chamber. The things that had been homunculi scattered as fragments.

The outcome was clear: the homunculi were shredded into pieces smaller than fingernails. The battle seemed over, but Kai was glaring at the homunculi. That was not the face of someone who had accepted defeat.

This is why awareness matters. If Kai weren’t here, I might not have followed up. It’s obviously not over yet.

There was an unwritten rule in sparring: no matter how long a transformation or ultimate move takes, one waited. But this wasn’t sparring, so there was no need to wait.

Limitless Archery, Second Form: Milky Way, Spiraled.

Keter twisted two Milky Ways into one.

This was a variation of Milky Way where the explosion first expanded outward, then condensed inward. The notion that Milky Way couldn’t be used in confined spaces was a misconception Keter had already shattered ten years ago.

Kwahhhh!!!

Kai’s eyes widened as Keter fired Milky Way. He clearly hadn’t expected this.

However, just before the explosion consumed the underground chamber completely, the flames curled back inward again. Seeing that, Keter bit his lip.

* * *

The surface trembled from the explosion of Milky Way, Spiraled. Even if the blast condensed inward, that didn’t mean its power simply vanished. It was force enough to collapse the entire underground training ground. The only reason everything still stood intact was because of the Kaleidoscope Keter had laid down just before activating the technique.

Kaleidoscope wasn’t used solely to assist attacks; it also absorbed and deflected shock. Thanks to that, the underground training ground didn’t cave in. Keter waved a hand, brushing the dust away.

“Did I finish them off?” Keter said playfully.

That was the cliche line of a resurrection trope. When others said things like that, the enemy usually turned out to still be alive, but Keter was the exception.

There was no trace of the homunculi. Of course there wasn’t, as they had been disintegrated into dust. If something could revive even in powdered form, that would be beyond immortality.

Kai looked around the training hall, then let out a deep sigh.

“I have no idea how I’m supposed to explain the homunculi’s disappearance to the director. I didn’t expect you to erase them completely.”

“You wanted to see my full strength. Losses like that are part of the price.”

“I can only hope the director sees it that way, too.”

Kai tried to at least find fragments of the homunculi, but soon gave up. Then he looked straight at Keter.

“I know the answer is no, but that arrow that finished them—was that Authority?”

“Not at all.”

“The defensive barrier they deployed at the end was modeled after the Fist Emperor’s Divine Ironblood Physique. Inferior to the original, of course, but still... You tore through it instantly. There’s no explanation unless your technique is on the level of Authority, but I know it isn’t—I know that, because I’ve already identified yours.”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yes, thanks to you showing it so openly. The homunculi used every kind of binding magic, yet you ignored them as if they didn’t exist.”

Against a fast opponent, the most reliable method of suppression was restraint. From the moment the fight began, the homunculi had cast all kinds of binding spells on Keter, but he ignored every single one. It wasn’t merely that he shrugged them off or forcibly broke free, but it was as if they had never existed in the first place.

Since he had never intended to hide it, Keter revealed his Authority without hesitation.

“Unchain—my Authority is to not be restrained by anything.”

Keter didn’t bother saying that this was only the first of many.