Chapter 857: War in the World of Black and White

"Lord, we found it."

The half-human creature riding the massive strange fish lowered its head reverently toward Twelve Eyes.

Twelve Eyes sat upon his divine throne, all those eyes staring fixedly at the great hall on the ground below that was gradually solidifying into form.

"How many years has it been? I have finally awaited this day. I, too, can finally return to my Divine Kingdom, return to my world, and see my people again?"

His voice was filled with excitement, joy, and a faint trace of sorrow.

Twelve Eyes was a natural anomaly.

He had never possessed a race that mirrored his own.

As the descendant of a weak magical beast, he had exhausted everything, spent countless eons, and obtained the qualification to become a god.

Yet because of a

</path> war, he came to learn that he was, in truth, merely a monster with empty divinity.

He did not want to be a monster. He was a god, a god who protected his people.

On the battlefield, he had struggled desperately to conceal himself, all for the sake of returning to his Divine Kingdom afterward.

But...

Twelve Eyes recalled the scene from that day.

That true pinnacle, that genuine god, had casually tossed him into this world.

Leaving only the command to "erase all traces," along with the ability to create those divine eye monsters, before vanishing without a trace.

It was also on that day, when he discovered that his abilities perfectly complemented those divine eye monsters and that he was nearly the same race as those creatures, that he finally realized—he was merely something that had been created...

He was unwilling to accept this. He had his own home, things he needed to protect.

Throughout countless eons, he had struggled desperately to search for those traces.

He had found the treasury, but that treasury, capable of withstanding even the fading End, was not something he could possibly break through.

Twelve Eyes wished to inform that True God, praying day and night, yet he never received any response.

So he went mad.

After spending day after day using everything in this world to create divine eye monsters, then devouring them into his belly, he suddenly realized something.

Wait... only wait.

No matter how many eons passed, the End would surely open that treasury.

Destroy the treasury, then erase the existence within it.

He would surely be able to return!

So, he fell into a deep slumber.

Perhaps it was because of the End, or perhaps because this world had been taken over by him.

Twelve Eyes' divinity and power, along with his sole apostle, were all steadily increasing in strength.

If he were within the Divine Sequence, there was no doubt that he would be one of the highest-ranked in B-grade.

He had transformed this world into a Divine Kingdom—though it was only the size of a sesame seed, it was still a Divine Kingdom.

A [God] situated within their Divine Kingdom was invincible.

Twelve Eyes picked up a sword and issued commands to all the divine eye creations.

Endless beams of light seemed to flood this world.

All the black and white was engulfed by deep blue.

The earth vanished, replaced by a pitch-black abyss resembling the underworld.

The main body of the treasury was revealed.

The phantom silhouette upon it grew increasingly chaotic, finally unable to withstand the relentless barrage of attacks.

Twelve Eyes' apostle, a half-human creature named the Ocean Current King, rode that strange fish and leaped down.

The trident in his hand slammed fiercely into the outer shell of the treasury.

The next second...

The anticipated scene of a bloody geyser did not appear. Instead, a mass of crimson-red flames surged violently out from the breach in the treasury.

Wait? Color? Flames?

A flicker of confusion stirred in the Ocean Current King's mind. He instinctively raised his trident to defend, only to be sent flying by Augustine, who wielded a Flame Spear.

Immediately after, Lancelot, Scoundrel, Bedivere, and all the Wuzhong units charged into battle together!

Added to that were the demon mech-soldiers from the [Demon Card · Decisive].

Dozens of machines soared upward to meet the sky-filling divine eye monsters.

Even if they were outnumbered, even if every single enemy's strength was not inferior to their own.

Yet their master was not afraid, and as loyal mechanical lifeforms, they naturally possessed that same courage.

Not only that.

The power of the Disaster Card was also unleashed at this moment.

In the world of black and white, the moon rose, its silver-white tinged with hints of pale blue, adding a touch of vitality to this space.

[Disaster Card · Intelligence Machine Crisis]

When one Disaster Card's ability was used, a second and third followed.

Flesh-and-blood machines were still machines. They could be controlled by the Overdrive Command, and naturally, they could also be affected by the Machine Crisis.

[Mechanical Enlightenment]

One by one, weak intelligences were born within the bodies of the countless divine eye monsters scattered across the sky.

And then came...

[Machine Rebellion!]

They descended into madness, ignoring friend and foe alike, attacking everything around them.

Twelve Eyes felt his absolute control over them slipping away.

Rage spread through his heart.

"Why? Struggling? Enough. Mere insects. Let me play with you properly. I am destined to return to my Divine Kingdom! Weakling!"

He began competing with the Machine Crisis for control over the creatures, yet could only barely reclaim half of them.

The Sea of Bone Graves was also drawn forth by him.

The bones of countless dead divine monsters attempted to erupt with power.

But behind Ye Qiyan, who was within the treasury, another Card Sequence began to shine.

[Disaster Card · Eternal Ice Cold]

The sea of bone graves was frozen solid in an instant.

He had long since discovered that those divine monsters' bones could not leave that sea.

Another source of support was neutralized.

Twelve Eyes' eyeballs twisted incessantly. That face, which was utterly revolting to humans, was saturated with murderous intent.

"Foolish, weak insect. Your struggle is meaningless."

He swung the long sword covered in eyeballs.

From several regions that Ye Qiyan had never explored, even more divine eye monsters of different varieties came surging forth. Among them were many different forms, apostles that Twelve Eyes had spawned and divided within this world.

The fading End's aura grew ever stronger, and boundless pressure came raging toward Ye Qiyan.

All sorts of negative effects appeared on Ye Qiyan's mech-soldiers.

The divine might of Twelve Eyes' Divine Kingdom further empowered the monsters on his side.

One side waxed while the other waned.

It seemed... he was going to lose?

Indeed, Ye Qiyan confirmed one thing once again.

He was still very weak.

A smile remained on the black-haired young man's face. He said with a laugh to the ever-gentle maid beside him:

"Lisette, do you think I'm about to lose?"

"Absolutely not~"

Lisette said with certainty.

"Why?"

Ye Qiyan feigned curiosity.

"Because, Master, you have not yet taken her hand. You have not yet made a miracle happen. Right now, this is only the beginning~"

"How clever."

The black Inverted Cross arrived silently~

Red Tears stood on her tiptoes and removed the Crown from atop it.

"Caw! Caw!"

The Raven cried out.

"Gurgle..."

Gluttony hungered.

The Crown came into his hand, and as his fist clenched, cracks gradually spread across its surface.

When it shattered,

the hymn of the Demon Overlord resounded through this space.

One after another, Inverted Cross marks appeared upon the demons and machines.

But that was not enough.

Ye Qiyan called up Miatira's Light Screen and, in his permissions column, found an authority he had obtained as a reward when he first acquired Miatira—one he had never used before.

[Authority · the End]

"But you all guessed wrong~ Since this world is doomed anyway, if we're seeking revenge, let's do it today. Destroy everything, along with those monsters and that uncoded False God."

Just as he was about to press the option to activate the authority—

Alfroise, who had been secretly suppressing the coffin, seemed to sense some tremendous terror and spoke out urgently.

"Don't!"

At the same time.

Inside Ye Qiyan's train, the little cube robot, unnoticed by anyone, had secretly made its way behind that coffin.

Seeing the increasingly radiant fragment, it pressed the contact signal that belonged only to it and its master.

Ye Qiyan's hand stopped mid-air.

The [Anchor] and the [Judge] emerged from the Void Card Repository and appeared beside him.

At that very moment, the last storage unit in the storage carriage began to tremble continuously.

His brow arched slightly. Sensing that vaguely familiar feeling, he looked toward Alfroise.

"You... what are you hiding?"