The air froze the moment the Seraph moved.
Not slowly.
Not cautiously.
Instantly.
The massive spear of judgment light cut through the space between them in less than a heartbeat.
Kael barely reacted in time.
He twisted his body sideways as the spear passed through where his chest had been, slicing the ground behind him in a clean, glowing line that stretched hundreds of meters.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just pure erasure.
Kael landed hard and slid across the broken earth, eyes narrowing.
"…Fast."
The Seraph did not respond.
It simply floated in the air, wings spreading wider, glowing with cold white energy.
Then it disappeared.
Kael's instincts screamed.
He jumped backward.
Too late.
The Seraph reappeared above him and drove its spear downward like divine punishment.
BOOM.
The ground shattered as Kael blocked with ancient energy, his arms trembling under the impact. The force drove him to one knee instantly, cracks spreading across the earth beneath him.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
"…Heavy too," he muttered.
The Seraph pressed harder.
The spear glowed brighter, pushing him deeper into the ground.
[Host Status: Critical]
[Ancient Energy Destabilizing]
Kael gritted his teeth.
"You hit hard… I get it."
The Seraph spoke for the first time.
Its voice echoed like a choir of cold metal.
[Resistance detected]
[Increasing Judgment Force]
The spear pushed down harder.
Kael roared as ancient energy exploded from his body, forcing the Seraph back slightly.
He jumped away, breathing heavily.
The Seraph hovered calmly again, completely unaffected.
Watching.
Analyzing.
Judging.
Kael wiped blood from his lips.
"…You're stronger than the Hunters."
The Seraph responded.
[Hunter Units are preliminary enforcement]
[Seraph Units are Absolute Judgment]
Kael laughed.
"Of course you are."
The Seraph raised its spear again.
[Anomaly survival probability: 2%]
Kael smirked.
"That high?"
The Seraph attacked again.
This time, multiple spears of light formed in the air around it.
Ten.
Twenty.
Thirty.
They fired at once.
Kael ran.
The forest behind him vanished under the storm of judgment spears, explosions tearing through the ground as he dodged and rolled across the battlefield.
A spear pierced his shoulder.
Another cut his leg.
A third grazed his back.
Blood spilled everywhere.
Still, he kept moving.
[Countdown: 7 Hours 51 Minutes Until Erasure]
Kael stopped suddenly and turned.
"Alright."
Ancient energy surged violently.
Rule Breaker activated.
System Sever activated.
Energy Devourer activated.
The ground beneath him shattered as he launched himself toward the Seraph.
Fast.
Faster than before.
He punched.
The Seraph blocked with its spear effortlessly.
The impact shook the air, sending shockwaves across the forest.
Kael attacked again.
And again.
And again.
Each strike filled with ancient energy.
Each strike aimed to break the system's executioner.
But the Seraph blocked every attack calmly.
Perfectly.
Like it had already predicted every movement.
[Combat Pattern Analyzed]
The Seraph moved.
A single clean strike.
The spear pierced through Kael's side.
He coughed blood instantly.
Before he could react—
Another strike.
His leg was cut.
Another strike.
His shoulder was pierced.
Kael dropped to one knee.
The Seraph stood in front of him, wings glowing.
[Anomaly resistance decreasing]
Kael laughed weakly.
"You talk too much."
The Seraph raised its spear for the final strike.
[Erasure confirmed]
The spear began glowing brighter than ever before.
Judgment energy gathered at its tip.
The sky eye pulsed in approval.
The countdown continued.
[7 Hours 42 Minutes Remaining]
Kael looked up at the Seraph.
Then smiled.
"…You made the same mistake as the Hunter."
The Seraph paused slightly.
[Explain]
Kael's eyes glowed dark.
"You got too close."
Energy Devourer activated.
Kael grabbed the spear.
The judgment light burned his hands instantly, flesh tearing apart as energy tried to erase him.
But he held it.
Dark energy surged violently.
The Seraph's wings flickered.
[Warning: Energy Drain Detected]
Kael grinned.
"Got you."
System Sever activated.
Cracks spread across the spear.
Ancient energy clashed violently with judgment energy.
The Seraph tried to pull back.
Too late.
Kael pulled the spear closer and slammed his other hand into the Seraph's armor.
Energy Devourer surged.
The Seraph's body trembled.
[System Energy Extraction Detected]
Kael roared as power flooded into him.
Pain exploded through his entire body.
But he didn't stop.
"I told you already…"
The Seraph's wings began cracking.
"…I don't fight fair."
The sky eye pulsed violently.
[System Integrity: 27%… 24%…]
The Seraph struggled.
[Emergency Response Initiated]
Kael's eyes widened slightly.
"…What?"
The Seraph's body suddenly glowed blinding white.
[Self-Destruct Protocol Activated]
Kael cursed.
"You're exploding?!"
The Seraph spoke one final time.
[Absolute Judgment will continue]
Energy surged violently.
The entire battlefield began collapsing.
Kael jumped back just as the Seraph exploded in a massive burst of judgment light that erased everything in a wide radius.
BOOM.
The forest disappeared.
The ground shattered.
The sky trembled.
Kael was thrown across the battlefield, crashing into broken stone and sliding across the destroyed land.
Silence followed.
Slowly, Kael pushed himself up.
Blood covered his body.
But he was alive.
The system flickered weakly.
[System Integrity: 24%]
[Seraph Unit Destroyed]
Kael laughed weakly.
"…Still standing."
But then—
The final Judgment Tower began glowing.
Stronger than before.
The sky eye expanded.
Covering half the sky.
The system spoke again.
Colder.
Angrier.
More dangerous than ever.
[Final Phase of Absolute Judgment Initiated]
Kael looked up slowly.
"…There's more?"
The sky cracked further.
And something massive began descending.
Not a Seraph.
Not a Hunter.
Something far bigger.
Something that looked like a giant mechanical throne made of light and darkness.
[Supreme Judgment Authority Deploying]
Kael stared at it and smiled.
"…Now we're talking."
[Countdown: 7 Hours 10 Minutes Remaining]
The final war had begun.