Several kilometers north of Elphael lay a vast, boundless sea.
The sea was covered in a thick sheet of ice, like a frozen stretch of land. Nolan stood quietly on the ice, gazing into the distance.
His eyes fell on a figure.
It was a tall woman. Her long hair stirred gently in the wind, and her crimson cloak fluttered with each passing gust.
She stood on the far side of the ice, facing Nolan across the distance. A warrior as sharp as a blade.
She wore light golden armor, her helmet adorned with winglike ornaments. A mask covered half her face, leaving only a pair of keen eyes exposed above it.
They were completely different from the eyes she had shown last night. These were the eyes a blade should have, eyes that could cut through everything.
Malenia had been standing on the ice for a long time, as if she would never grow tired of admiring the rain and the sea.
Her opponent, Nolan, seemed just as tireless, silently watching her in return.
At last, Malenia broke the silence. She looked at Nolan without expression and said, "Ranni's cold magic? I don't like it."
Her voice was cold, without the slightest ripple of emotion.
Then she continued, "Cold freezes flowing water, just like endless slumber."
"It's only for making an arena. I didn't think it would stir up such deep feelings in you." Nolan laughed silently. "If you don't like it, I won't use it on you again."
"And this isn't cold magic, either. It's just a way of applying cold itself. Even a warm flame can be icy. Interesting, isn't it?"
He gently raised his hand. The fire, which had been seen countless times before, bloomed with an incomprehensible power, yet possessed a clear and unmistakable beauty.
Under ordinary circumstances, when flame burns, it is accompanied by the death of kindling. Wood turns to ash in the fire, releasing light and heat, bringing warmth to people.
But the fire in Nolan's hand was entirely different.
It seemed to be something dyed black and cold through and through. There was not the slightest warmth in it, only endless chill and haze.
That half-transparent mist was like a dim morning fog, leaving people dazed and lost.
The edges of the mist spread outward in an instant. Before Malenia could dodge, she was already enveloped within it, and the sea became a world of ice and snow.
It was similar to when Borealis had arrived uninvited. Beings of that level were meant to possess the force of a natural disaster.
A clash between two figures suspected to have Lord-level combat power was bound to be vast and spectacular.
The city of Elphael clearly could not withstand such destruction. Before the power of two Demigods, it seemed far too fragile.
Malenia had made every preparation. She faced Nolan with her full focus, ready to meet his attack.
And yet she could not sense the slightest killing intent from Nolan's flames. Nolan was only showing her that wondrous thing.
She actually found herself entranced. Within that cluster of fire, she saw cold and heat. As the flame flickered, the killing tension in the air faded away.
What replaced it was warmth, while the pain hidden deep within her body trembled in alarm and fear.
She suddenly woke, as if tearing herself free from a beautiful dream.
Only then did Malenia realize how terrifying this man was. The Goddess of Rot inside her body was like a mouse that had seen a cat.
A bad feeling immediately rose in Malenia's heart. She had to admit that she might have underestimated this man before, just as she had during that duel.
Time seemed to flow backward in that instant. She returned to more than ten years ago, standing before that still slightly immature boy.
Back then, he looked no more than a teenage brat, holding a wooden sword in his hand and staring at her without the slightest fear.
He was the Lord chosen by Trina and Miquella, a prodigy who had mastered the Waterfowl Dance Sword Style even faster than she had.
He was the person she hated most, and also someone she could not live without. The two did not contradict each other at all.
He had stolen her brother and sister's love. Love was a limited thing. If he gained a little more, then she would have a little less.
But his existence also lessened the pain she had been born with.
Malenia stood in a room lit by Glintstone lamps. Beneath the tree roots to her left stood the petite Saintess, the one she would throw herself into if she lost.
The young child before her did not seem like a child at all. Despair and compassion were tangled together in a complicated weave, concentrated inside that small, thin body.
Malenia knew perfectly well that she had sunk into her memories, but she could not break free.
How could that boy be so desperate? It was as if the world itself was about to collapse.
And yet why, in a collapsing world, was he still unwilling to give up?
His body was frail beyond measure, with no way to advance any further. His martial skill had already reached its peak, so why did he keep meaninglessly swinging the iron sword in his hand, repeating those dull and tedious movements again and again?
She had always watched that man, so she understood that there was something he refused to let go of. Only now did she realize that what he refused to abandon was this world.
That was the compassion she had seen. Saving her was compassion, and being unable to let go of the world was compassion as well. And in the name of pain, she had taken that compassion for herself countless times without restraint.
At the end of the duel, she was defeated, just as expected. The swordsmanship she took pride in, fluid as water, and the compassion that burned like flame nearly drowned her.
So she began to resist, drawing on the power of a Demigod, power far beyond that frail body, and unfairly broke free from the sea of fire.
In the depths of the sea, the two stood facing each other from afar. In Nolan's pupils, there was only the figure of the Valkyrie. Likewise, the figure of the Lord appeared in Malenia's eyes.
Malenia could not look away. Following those beautiful eyes, her vision was completely filled.
She walked forward slowly, feeling as though she were walking through that room from many years ago.
"That kind of boundless compassion is too dangerous. But this time, I won't run away. The compassion that even my sister envies, we will claim it for ourselves."
Malenia swung her right hand, and the Hand of Malenia immediately sprang out, slicing through the air with a clear sound like surging waves.
Those who had suffered for too long always longed for compassion to fall upon them. That was why she was greedier than Trina.
The farther she walked, the clearer Nolan's smiling face became. Only the icy path remained wide and open.
Her gentle sister had once said that the world was actually kind to her, because it had sent Nolan to her, and because it made the wicked Goddess afraid to bully her. So it was not so terrible after all.
"Then come."
Nolan stood on the ice, the silvery Claymore in his hand strikingly eye-catching. It was a gift from Trina and Miquella.
It was still the sword named The Pact. Supposedly, after being modified and strengthened by the Goddess and the Empyrean, it now carried the power of the Goddess and the Golden Needle.
After so many years, everything was still the same. Although that little boy was now very different from before, in the end, the two of them were still standing opposite each other.
This woman was probably going to be serious in a moment. But when exactly had she started having such dangerous thoughts about him?
Even on a battlefield against a Demigod, Nolan still had room to let his mind wander. At this moment, he no longer had to worry about his opponent being unfair. It was simply a matter of whose power was stronger.
The smile remained on his face as he raised the Claymore and silently walked toward the charging Valkyrie.