Part one hundred thirty five — Authority of Genesis

　We rose into the air together to watch properly, Sieg gripping tightly onto Ace to keep from falling, as Elaine slowly raised her right hand toward the heavens.

　The moment she invoked Authority of Genesis, the world fell silent.

　A single point of radiant golden light appeared high above the ruins, shimmering like the birth of a new star before expanding into an enormous magic circle stretching across the entire sky.

　Ancient runes ignited one after another around its circumference—gold, silver, sapphire, emerald, crimson, violet—forming countless interlocking rings rotating in flawless precision.

　Between the rings, celestial gears of pure mana turned without sound, as though the universe itself had become a grand, divine machine.

　At the formation's center, a colossal crystal core descended from the heavens, rivers of liquid light flowing within it, carrying the blueprint of creation itself.

　The air trembled—not from destruction, but from creation.

　Golden threads of mana cascaded downward like heavenly waterfalls, weaving into the shattered land below.

　Ruined walls rose as if time itself had reversed.

　Broken stones drifted through the air, joining with impossible precision.

　Collapsed towers rebuilt themselves layer by layer.

　Cracked roads sealed without a mark remaining.

　Bridges stretched across rivers as luminous pillars forged their foundations.

　Gardens bloomed where ash had covered the soil.

　Dead forests awakened, emerald canopies covering the mountains once more.

　Rivers ran clear, filling lakes that reflected the spell's own light above them.

　Then came the castle.

　Countless streams of gold converged toward the kingdom's center, forming a magnificent palace, towers piercing the clouds, crowned with crystal spires.

　Walls of gleaming white stone rose around the capital, homes and marketplaces and academies and temples and grand streets manifesting one after another with breathtaking perfection.

　The entire kingdom was being rewritten by the laws of Genesis.

　Sieg could only stare, speechless, and I understood exactly why.

　It was like watching the first day of creation itself.

　When the final rune completed its rotation, every magic circle dissolved into millions of tiny stars, drifting gently across the sky before fading into the wind.

　Where ruin had stood, a kingdom more magnificent than the one that had been lost now rose beneath the heavens—untouched by time, blessed by something that had never existed in this world before, born entirely from the miracle of Authority of Genesis.

We did it. We actually did it.

　While Kai and the others were consumed with Myrath's aftermath and the rebuilding of an entire kingdom, Demon Lord Belial made his own move—using the distraction as cover to send two of his subordinates directly into Horizoncrest itself.

　They moved carefully, patiently, exactly the kind of infiltration built to avoid notice.

　Their method was simple and cruel: approach a civilian, "adopt" them under some invented pretense, and extract whatever useful information they could about Kai or the wider Kobayashi family.

　If the civilian gave nothing useful, they'd be killed, and the search would simply move to the next target.

　One afternoon, they found their opportunity—a human girl and an elf girl, returning together from a nearby town, laughing about something neither of them would get the chance to finish saying.

　The two subordinates approached them with practiced, disarming ease, and neither girl had any reason yet to suspect danger.

　What Belial's people didn't know was that they'd been seen.

　Aeron's two sons—the elder serious and steady, the younger still finding his footing in the world—had spotted the exchange and quietly began tracing it.

　The subordinates took both girls outside Horizoncrest's borders, to a quiet spot near the neighboring town's edge, and began questioning them about Kai directly.

　Neither girl said anything useful.

　To make a point, one of the subordinates killed the elf girl outright, cold and deliberate, watching the human girl's face for the exact moment terror finally broke her silence.

　That was the moment Aeron's sons arrived.

　The clash that followed was massive—elves carry considerable anti-mana even without a formal naming, and both brothers fought with everything they had.

　But the subordinates answered to a Demon Lord directly, and the gap in raw power showed itself quickly, however hard the two boys fought against it.

"Take her and go," the elder brother told the younger, holding the line against both subordinates alone. "Get to Elaine. Tell her everything."

　The younger brother obeyed, dragging the surviving girl—Miko—away from the fight, running for Horizoncrest's border as fast as either of them could manage.

　They didn't get far before the two subordinates appeared directly in front of them, cutting off their path entirely.

　The younger brother's stomach dropped—not because it was them, but because it meant his own brother hadn't managed to hold them.

"This is a pain in the ass," one subordinate muttered. "Belial's going to kill us if we don't bring him something useful."

"Maybe this elf boy knows something," the other said.

"I'd rather die than tell you a single thing about Lord Kai," the boy said, steady despite his own visible fear, and turned to Miko.

"Go. Now. As fast as you can."

　He cast what enhancement and healing magic he had left onto her, giving her every advantage he could spare, and pushed her forward.

　The moment she started running, one of the subordinates fired an energy bullet directly at her retreating back.

　The boy threw himself into the blast's path without hesitation.

　He held the two of them off long enough for her to disappear beyond the border—but it cost him everything he had left to give.

　By the time the subordinates finally broke through what remained of his defense, there was nothing left to threaten.

　Miko reached Horizoncrest alone, breathless, carrying news that was about to change everything.

　Elaine heard the account from Miko directly, and the color drained from her face with every new detail—the ambush, the elf girl's death, both of Aeron's sons caught in a fight they should never have had to face alone.

　She went to Aeron herself, because some news couldn't be delivered secondhand.

　His wife and daughter were there when she told them—that one son had bought time with everything he had, that the other's fate was still unconfirmed, that Horizoncrest's own borders had been violated by something considerably more organized than random hostility.

　She told Eris next.

　Enzo after that.

　And then came the question none of them wanted to actually answer.

"Someone has to tell Kai," Elaine said, quiet, dreading it.

　Nobody volunteered immediately.

　Everyone in that room understood, without needing it said aloud, exactly what kind of reaction this particular truth was likely to provoke.

　It was Nyxara who finally broke the silence.

"Tell him," she said, flat, no room for argument. "Or nothing gets done properly. He deserves the truth, and frankly, so does Belial deserve whatever's coming to him."

"You could handle Belial yourself," someone suggested, hopeful.

"I offered," Nyxara said. "Kai told me not to interfere. I intend to respect that, however much I'd genuinely enjoy ending this myself."

　In the end, it was Eris who told him—quiet, careful, holding nothing back.

　Kai's expression went completely blank the instant she finished, the full weight of what had actually happened settling into something that had no warmth left in it at all.

"Demon Lord Belial," he said, voice flat, deadpan, rage burning cold beneath every syllable, "you just crossed the line.

"And it will get you killed."

　Elsewhere, the two surviving subordinates returned to Belial's own domain, delivering their failure in halting, uneasy pieces.

"The girl escaped," one finally admitted.

"So?" Belial said, entirely unbothered. "Is there an issue?"

"She knows you sent us," the other said.

"How."

"We—we'd already decided we weren't letting her go alive," the first admitted. "We said things we shouldn't have, assuming it wouldn't matter."

"And then?"

"Two high elves interrupted before we could finish extracting anything useful," the second said. "We killed them. But in the chaos, the girl got away."

　Belial considered this a long moment.

"So the issue is that the Kobayashi family will already know what happened here, and that Kai will already know it was me."

"Yes, my lord."

　Ritte—Belial's own subordinate, standing quietly nearby—moved without warning, ending both failed operatives instantly, efficient and without ceremony.

"My lord," Ritte said, turning back. "How should we proceed?"

"He'll come to me himself," Belial said, something satisfied in the certainty. "I'm sure of it."

"Should we move against Horizoncrest first? Eliminate him before he arrives?"

"No," Belial said. "Nyxara and the newly evolved dragon are currently stationed there.

"And there's a girl—Eris, I believe her name is—something strange about her, though I doubt she's noticed it herself yet.

"Going there directly would be a poor move. Better to let him come to me. Away from Nyxara's interference."

"Preparations, then, for his arrival?"

"Yes," Belial said, settling back into his throne, hand against his jaw, a slow smile spreading across his face.

"This will be the perfect opportunity to finally absorb him.

"And with him, everything his Null actually represents."