“Indeed, some may know me as Hyperius. But to you, I am the Master of Fate.”

  The stranger smiled as he spread his arms wide. Aria stared at him, processing what he said. She didn’t understand it— she hadn’t understood what was going on for a while now. But this… it took her a long moment before she could even come up with a response.

  “Master of… Fate?” Aria frowned as she repeated after him, before she snapped. “That’s ridiculous— nobody is a master to fate.”

  “And yet, you were once known as the One Anointed by Fate, only to now be an Enemy of Destiny, no?” Hyperius replied, closing one eye knowingly.

  “That’s—” Aria hesitated.

  She wanted to rebuke him. That was a ridiculous assertion. But somehow, he knew about her Titles. And that made her have no choice but to believe him.

  Shaking her head, she cast aside any uncertain thoughts as she gestured at her surroundings. “Are you the one behind this? Are you the one who created those puppets? And are you responsible for the Avatars of Death?”

  Hyperius tapped a finger on his chin in thought. “The puppets? Yes. But as for these Avatars of Death… no.”

  That answer caught Aria by surprise. She had thought he would say yes to both. But instead, he just shrugged back at her.

  “These Avatars of Death are here all because your little friend decided to meddle with the cycle of reincarnation. I have nothing to do with them, although I have been making good use of them.”

  The elderly man just nodded at the Avatars of Death standing inside of the cavern. Aria narrowed her eyes.

  “My… friend?”

  “Your friend— your little co-conspirator in defying fate,” Hyperius said as he looked back towards her. “Nox the Death God.”

  Aria stared at him uncomprehendingly. “What are you talking about? Nox is dead— I killed him.”

  “You think Nox is dead?” Hyperius paused for a moment, before breaking out into laughter. “It seems I was wrong. You really are just a simpleton who knows nothing, aren’t you? So then that means that living corpse accidentally spilled some of his secrets to you. That’s quite inconvenient. Oh well, not like it matters now.”

  What is he talking about? Aria pursed her lips. She knew he was referring to Archbishop Walden. But why did any of this matter?

  And why exactly is he laughing at the idea that Nox is dead? the Lady of Light couldn’t help but wonder.

  “What is it that you want?” she demanded as she raised her longsword at Hyperius.

  He stopped laughing as he looked back at her. “Oh, you’re finally asking the right questions. What do I want, huh?”

  The Master of Fate just tilted his head back as if in thought. And then he nodded to himself, before meeting Aria’s gaze.

  “What I want is simple— I want to stop the cycle of destiny from deviating. And to do that…”

  He smiled as he straightened, his hunch vanishing as he picked up his walking stick.

  “I’ll have to kill you.”

  Aria’s eyes flickered as she suddenly sensed an overwhelming pressure filling the room. It was like power incarnate. And she knew it was coming from the exorbitant amounts of mana that was gathering at the tip of his walking stick.

  “From the first breath to the final silence…”

  “An incantation? That means—” Aria’s eyes went round, realizing what Hyperius was preparing.

  A God Skill.

  Aria immediately backed away as she summoned an Instant Message Scroll into her hand. But before she could even open it, the Avatars of Death in the room moved. They charged at her as she cursed, dodging their onslaught of attacks.

  Find this and other great novels on the author's preferred platform. Support original creators!

  They surrounded her from all sides, leaping at her, darting around her— swarming her with their numbers. All the while, Hyperius continued his incantation as a nebula of iridescent colors began to gather around his walking stick.

  “...I command the forges of existence and the ashes of oblivion…”

  “[Holy Slash]!”

  Aria swung out with her longsword as it shone with a golden light, cleaving through three Avatars of Death, with the force of the impact knocking the rest of them back.

  Except for one.

  The Diamond Rank Avatar of Death dodged her attack and lashed out with its own powerful strike. She barely managed to parry the swing, but somehow, her shoulder was still cut open. Her blood splashed out, partially spilling onto her face as she gritted her teeth.

  Her opponent tried to follow-up with another strike, however she moved faster this time. She kicked it away from her, before plunging her sword into the ground.

  “[I Am Indomitable].”

  A pillar of golden light wrapped around her, encasing her in a barrier of protection. The Avatars of Death couldn’t reach her— they tried to claw their way in, and they failed. But she knew she wasn’t safe yet when she heard Hyperius’s muffled voice from the other side.

  “Now, the hand that brings about creation shall deliver the blow that ends it.”

  Aria moved quickly, wetting her thumb with the blood on her face, using it as ink to write on the surface of the scroll. It was a short message— a quick message. But it relayed what was needed. And then the scroll began to burn away as she looked up just in time to see Hyperius holding up a white spark.

  The nebula was gone. All that remained was this small spark that was shining brighter than the sun. The Master of Fate smiled as his lips moved.

  “[Breaker Of Genesis—”

  And then the world flashed. Aria closed her eyes, thinking it was over. That whatever attack this was, it had consumed her, and she was now dead.

  But then, through the ringing of her ears, she heard the distant voice of a man she knew. A familiar voice. A warm voice.

  “Aria… Aria… Aria!”

  Opening her eyes, the Lady of Light looked up to see herself lying on the ground in the middle of the Basilica of Lux. She sat up as she looked around the room surrounding her— she saw the stained glass windows and the gilded chandeliers. Not only that, but she saw the faces of the Seven Cardinals of the Virtues, standing behind the man who raised her and taught her everything she knew.

  And she knew that she was safe.

  “Why did you ask me to summon you, Aria?” Archbishop Walden asked, giving her a worried look.

  “I…” Aria trailed off, processing everything that had just happened.

  Walden exchanged a glance with Cardinal Severn, before looking down at her once again.

  “Did something happen? Are you alright?” the archbishop asked in a worried voice.

  And Aria just sighed as she closed her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” that was all she said.

  ***

  “She escaped. What a shame.”

  Hyperius lowered the wooden cane as he muttered under his breath. He drew back, sighing disappointedly.

  “And I thought I had managed to set up the perfect trap for her. But, of course, he had to find a way to save her. Oh well, it’s no matter. I’m sure I’ll find another opportunity to get rid of her. Not like this was the only Birthpool I knew of, although…”

  Glancing back, Hyperius eyed the ground behind him. Everything that had been there just moments ago had been deleted from existence. The cave. The Birthpool of Death. The Avatars of Death.

  Even the Diamond Rank Avatar of Death.

  They were all gone. And not a trace of them remained. There wasn’t even proof that they were destroyed. No smoke. No fire. No rubble.

  Not even a crater.

  “There had been some promising candidates amongst them. Perhaps I should’ve waited before using a God Skill to see if she had any other tricks up her sleeve.”

  Hyperius shook his head as he walked away from where the cave once was. All the while, he spoke to himself as he hobbled along, using his wooden cane as a walking stick.

  “Well, what’s important is that she is dealt with. Once she is gone, then I can deal with our other friend too and be done with this little act of defiance once and for all…”

  ***

  And in the Holy Academy, a boy lay in his bed, alone in his room, holding up a ball of light in the palm of his hand.

  So that’s what you do, he thought as he stared at the ball of light.

  After a few weeks of mulling it over, he finally figured it out— the Title Skill which he had been given. It had been three months since he first got it, but now, he understood what [Remembrance Of The Fallen] did.

  That will be very useful for later. Nox, now better known as Eli, grinned to himself as he let the ball of light dissipate. Closing his eyes, he made even more plans for the future. After all, his goal was to break the cycle of fate, and to get to that point required a meticulous amount of planning. But that was all for later.

  For now, he had much more pressing issues to deal with— a difficult hurdle that he had to overcome first and foremost. He had to…

  …pass his midterms.

  So Nox the Death God, Eli the Bloodied Blade, and the student of the Holy Academy picked up his textbook and studied for his upcoming exams, before doing anything else.