The sandstorm surged forward, covering the entire village. Soon the entire mirage village made of heat haze was swallowed by white sand before going up in flames.
White flames went up everywhere, faint sparks dancing before me. They were the sparks of life that circulated the Round Garden of Principles—firedew sparks. I leisurely made my way into the white sandstorm that swallowed everything in its path, as if I were on a casual stroll.
A light flashed briefly before me. I reached out and grabbed the space beside it.
“Where do you think you’re going, God of Demise?” I asked.
The god in a white cape and turban had tried to pass by me in one rapid bound. Anahem glared at me sharply for grabbing his left arm.
“Did you think you could pass in front of me so easily?” I said.
“Misfit.”
Anahem clenched the arm in my grasp. His muscles bulged, and particles of magic power rampaged wildly. The shock wave of it sent sand flying.
“Oh? Is it a contest of strength you want?”
I sent magic into my own right arm as Anahem tried to lift his captured arm up, holding his sturdy arm down. Black and white magic struggled for power, and the sand at our feet blew into the air.
“What are you plotting with the human children of this village?” I asked.
Anahem’s brow furrowed at my question.
“Human children? Ridiculous. There is no life in this Withered Desert. Everything is a mirage from the light of demise.”
“Hmm. So you’re not using the firedew to create children?”
His magic rose further, slowly lifting my arm that was holding his own arm down.
“You’re the one who stole the firedew. And you dare to shift the blame onto me? Have some shame!” he roared, shoving my arm back. “I will show you what it means to lose a contest of strength!”
A sandstorm of magic power was released from his body as Anahem pushed my arm up with all his might. He was about to shake my arm off completely when he suddenly froze.
“Sorry about that, I got distracted thinking about whether you’re lying, or just simply an idiot,” I said.
“Mwuh?!”
I sent more magic into my arm and pushed down with increased force. Anahem’s arm slowly sank back down, returning to where it originally was.
“I didn’t think you’d be able to overpower me while I was preoccupied. It seems you have a tremendously strong arm there, God of Demise.”
“Grrruh!”
I concentrated my magic and mind on pushing back, and the God of Demise buckled at the knee.
“Oh, you can withstand a lot too. The average god would have already been flattened.”
“Fool,” Anahem spat. “No one in their right mind would challenge me in the Withered Desert.”
The white sandstorm blew harder in response to Anahem’s vigor. The God of Demise clenched his teeth and started running along the sandy ground. The Withered Desert swirled to support him, wrapping clouds of white sand around my arm and backing his limbs. He exerted all his physical and magical power, as well as the converted power of his divine domain, to lift his arm up and throw me off.
“You’re the one who will be crushed! Raaaaaaaaagh— Blegh!”
I swung my arm down with my entire body, flattening him completely. Anahem was buried into the sand all the way up to his chin, only his head sticking out.
“I have a question for you,” I said, stepping on top of his scalp.
But the next moment, the resistance under my foot disappeared. The God of Demise’s body had turned into white sand and crumbled. He blended into the Withered Desert itself, unable to be seen. But his magic power could still be felt hanging over the area.
“Fine, you can listen that way. Human children are here. They called themselves the holo. Isn’t it strange that they’ve survived in this desert where none can live, and on top of that, are able to evade the Divine Eyes of the God of Demise in his own domain?”
“Fool,” Anahem’s voice echoed from nowhere. “Doubts are meaningless to me. Thoughts and conjecture are for those who have naught. The wisdom of demise is carved into my body. Unlike the impertinent Dilfred, I have no need to stare into the abyss. When one life ends, I gain all of their wisdom.”
“I see. I get it now.”
The sandstorm swirled violently, covering my field of view.
“This is your demise, misfit!”
A figure suddenly leaped from the white sand. He drew his scimitar, Guzelami, and thrust it forward.
“You’re simply an idiot,” I concluded.
Using the spell Eleonore, I created an artificial source to appear in front of me. The faint light became a shield, blocking the Withered Blade’s slashes focused on the new source. In the brief opening the artificial source created, I sank my Vebzud-covered fingers into his source.
“Struggle all you want; you mortals will never reach the God of Demise. Like the sands of this desert, you crumble and burn in Guzelami’s flames.”
I glared at his order with my Magic Eyes of Mauve, but it had no effect. The layered shield made of artificial sources was set on fire the moment Guzelami touched it, turning into grains of white sand. The blade continued thrusting straight forward, piercing through my magic barrier and anti-magic ward and into my skin. I grabbed his right arm with my Vebzud hand just before it could reach my source.
“It’s a little different from when you fought Eleonore,” I noted.
Sparks of fire hung around the Withered Blade—firedew sparks. They were supporting the order of demise, dyeing the blade a reddish-white.
“Everything comes to an end. Before me, you mortals are nothing but specks of sand. All you can do in the face of my scorching blade is burn.”
The burning blade glowed a blinding reddish-white. His boastful words were backed up by the abnormal magic power in the scimitar.
“Hmm. A blade that burns through sources without question.”
A blade that could slip past everything, with a lethal sharpness when it came to sources. It was a source-killing weapon that far surpassed Vebzud.
“However, if it doesn’t hit, it’s no different from a stick.”
Black magic particles erupted from my body. When I clenched my arm and pushed him back, the blade of Guzelami slowly withdrew from my skin. I mustered a little more strength, and Anahem’s right arm gave out an ominous creak.