Chapter 280

The black tower suddenly fell silent; Xing noticed her simulated image fluttering lightly, and she gazed, wanting to speak but holding back, at a vague silhouette generated in the simulation.

That silhouette lay in the depths of the universe where even starlight could not reach, its form seeming to waver between illusion and reality…… Only with the aid of starlight could one glimpse the amber at His wrist.

What is He swinging?

That thing——if it can still be called a 'thing'——each swing tears and shatters something. Xing felt her consciousness forcibly stretched, compelled to comprehend an incomprehensible trajectory: not up-down, not left-right, but a motion that transcends three dimensions and defies reason.

Starlight twisted around Him, forming eerie vortices like sparks flying from an anvil struck by a massive hammer. When His hammer fell, what shook the earth was not a deafening boom but the silent whimper of whatever lay beneath it; Xing faintly sensed a laugh within that sound, or perhaps a chorus of myriad voices.

Xing reached up to touch her cheek, as if something had splattered onto her face… the sensation was not pleasant.

——

The Valkyrie of the End.

"Hey hey, that thing in the depths of the universe…… must be Keliput, right?" The war god Ares gulped, staring in astonishment at the shadow that shrouded countless galaxies.

He struggled to describe Keliput's 'existence' with feeble words. Although in Belobog, Xing had once caught a glimpse of His gaze——the gods resting in the lounge had also been fortunate enough to catch a sight of His divine form——the feeling then was utterly different from now. Even now, Keliput…… though far beyond the firmament, they could sense the fury carried within His hammer.

Though mortals called them gods, they could not in the least comprehend His voice! As the hammer fell, the gods seemed to grasp something, only to forget it instantly in the tremor of the next blow…… In the end, only a primal, animal-like shudder remained.

Pluto Hades' shoulders were tense; he stared fixedly at the shadow in the firmament, his clenched lips paling: 'Is He…… building a wall? Could He be trying to fend off the swarm of 【Propagation】 with a wall?'

"No… wrong, He is not building a wall but hammering something." Shakyamuni's voice was soft; he shifted his gaze from the firmament to the lush scenery outside the window.

Outside the window, a cherry blossom petal drifted down among the flowers. Shakyamuni's gaze followed it, seeing the butterfly perched on a branch slowly flapping its wings——a rhythm natural and harmonious, as if just awakened from a great dream of 【Propagation】. Farther off, the ants resumed their usual order, crawling out of their nests in succession to seek food.

"……Propagation! Propagation has vanished!"

Shiva suddenly realized, pointing at the insects outside the window and shouting excitedly.

"Now I see—was His recent movement a battle against 【Propagation】?" Zeus belatedly realized, his expression somewhat disappointed. He had imagined that a war among the star gods would be a splendid spectacle, but in fact they weren't even qualified to enter the arena as spectators.

They could only 'feel' from afar the changes brought by the divine war.

"Old man, don't feel regret; the fact that we cannot see such a battle with our naked eyes is precisely what's worth celebrating."

Loki toyed with the dagger in his hand, the corner of his mouth curling into a teasing smile: 'Back when a destruction mandate crushed a star, the burst of light blinded countless gods. Now the true form of the star god strikes with a hammer, and who knows how many star systems its aftershock will shatter—yet you still want to spectate such a grand scene… Old man, if you're not afraid of death, don't drag us down with you.'

Zeus thought it over and seemed to find some merit in that.

"Everyone, although the insects outside have broken free from 【Propagation】, is the 【Propagation】 star god truly dead?" Susanoo suddenly asked.

"Oh? Why do you ask that?" Shiva looked at him, bewildered.

"Think about it carefully—this assembly of gods' war seems far simpler than we imagined; although many star gods participated, the truly decisive force appears to be only those few hammer strikes of Keliput."

Susanoo lifted his gaze to the firmament: 'Although the simulated universe can be sped up, how long did this divine war actually last? Five minutes? Ten minutes? We don't even know whether the 【Propagation】 star god resisted at all. I'm not belittling the might of 【Preservation】, but I also cannot believe that a star god capable of endangering the universe would die so offhandedly.'

Zeus stroked the thin beard on his chin, pondering: 'So you mean… 【Propagation】 is still alive?'

"Star gods are intimately bound to their paths; does a star god's fall signify the extinction of its path? I believe that as long as the Propagation path endures, the Insect King will not perish, and may even stage a comeback someday."

——

The Funeral of Frieren.

"…Sai, Lady Seirei?"

Kanze approached cautiously to inquire; about five seconds earlier, she had seen Lady Seirei on the throne suddenly change complexion, large beads of sweat tracing down her cheeks as she clutched her mouth tightly, her pupils shrinking in an instant to pinpoint black dots.

……Never in her life had she seen Lady Seirei in such a discomposed state.

Could Lady Seirei have been intimidated by Keliput's hammer?

"……No, no," Kanze hastily shook her head, trying to dispel that thought which was both disrespectful and unrealistic.

From the moment Keliput's first hammer fell, only they, the first‑class mages, had been shaken all along; Lady Seirei's complexion had never changed—until five seconds ago.

"Lerien… you will push your internal perception magic to the limit." The slightly recovered Lady Seirei swiftly issued the order to an elder seated below the throne.

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the elder closed his eyes; as the original first‑class mage, his vast magical power surged and roiled, and the moment he mobilized it, a ripple‑like aura formed around him. The entire scrying lasted a full three to four minutes before he slowly opened his eyes.

"How is it? Lerien, did you perceive anything?"

The elder shook his head with regret.

"Is that so? Then you've merely missed it……" After her composure returned, Lady Seirei's lips curled into a faint smile: "Just now, in that instant, I sensed the concept of 【Propagation】 being diluted. In other words, 【Propagation】…… He is dead."

"Not only is His body shattered, but what matters is the separation and fragmentation of His concept. I sensed Him being diluted, the collective force also fracturing; this collapse spread gradually with each heavy hammer of Keliput, until the final strike…… 【Propagation】 was completely undone."

Kanze froze.

"……Is it really that simple?"

"Hmm, far faster than I imagined." Lady Seirei lifted her gaze to the blue‑green moon in the firmament, its light gradually fading: "It seems the power gap among star gods is immense—compared to others, 【Preservation】 is simply overwhelming."