Vol 6. Chapter 158: The Daughters’ Choice

—Atos...

“I didn’t think he’d step into the battle this quickly.”

Leon tightened his grip on the Thundercloud Blade as a crushing pressure surged from Atos’s direction.

Even for Leon, facing the ruler of another world, it was impossible to remain completely calm.

“This battle doesn’t just determine Samael’s future—it decides Aurora’s fate. If we lose... the consequences will be beyond me. I must win. I must.”

Atos’s gaze met Leon’s with equal intensity.

In those crimson pupils was the disdainful arrogance of a supreme being.

He already knew that the man before him was the one who had slain Shadow—Leon Casmod.

Samael, a realm where even Saints of the primary rank could “save the world”—but only because a disaster so great had threatened it that the world needed to be “saved.”

And now, that disaster... was Atos.

One far beyond any opponent Leon had ever faced.

Atos was curious: would Samael’s so-called savior be able to turn the tide this time?

But soon, Atos’s attention shifted away from Leon and swept across the battlefield.

Though the Void's numbers were relatively few, the momentum was entirely on their side. Atos instantly noticed the Silver Dragons’ clear disadvantage.

He scoffed, slowly turning his gaze back to Leon.

“Looks like even with your personal appearance, and even if I hadn’t descended into Samael myself, my pets would’ve devoured all you pathetic creatures eventually. It’s only a matter of time.”

Leon didn’t take the bait.

He could see Atos’s words for what they were—psychological pressure.

After all, he and Noa had just temporarily sealed off most of the Void rifts. Even if it was short-lived, it was enough to buy the Silver Dragons time to stabilize the situation.

And Atos had only appeared after they closed ❀ Nоvеlігht ❀ (Don’t copy, read here) the rifts.

That alone proved Atos wasn’t as confident as he claimed—he’d come because he was impatient, uncertain of the outcome.

He was worried.

He wasn’t as relaxed as he pretended to be.

Leon didn’t respond. He silently gathered mana, gripped the Thundercloud Blade, raised his arm, and whispered:

“Noa, go support Anna and Sherry. I’ll take care of Atos.”

He could’ve taken Noa with him into battle. He could’ve let her fight alongside him against the false gods.

But when it came to Atos... Leon didn’t believe her presence would help.

Yes, Noa now had full command of the Primordial Force. She was a formidable warrior.

But to Leon, her identity as “a daughter” meant more than any amount of “firepower.”

No one knew the true depths of Atos’s power.

He was unlike Shadow, whose limits could still be estimated.

Atos commanded the entire Void and the countless monstrosities within it.

Leon had no confidence that he could defeat such a being.

That’s why he wanted Noa to leave.

But of course Noa understood her father’s intentions.

She didn’t move. Instead, she shifted her gaze from Leon to the distant figure of Atos and said quietly:

“Dad, the situation is critical. I don’t want to argue. But just know this—if something happens to me, it’s my choice. You don’t have to take responsibility. And you absolutely don’t have to feel guilty.”

Leon’s pupils trembled as he looked at her small frame.

“Noa...”

What he didn’t know was that—on this war-torn night—both Noa and Aurora, in separate places and different circumstances, had said nearly identical words:

“This is my choice.”

They had grown up, shaped by the love and guidance of Leon and Rosvisser.

They had developed their own will—and resolve.

He and his wife could no longer treat them as helpless little girls.

Leon wasn’t sure whether to feel proud or overwhelmed.

But since Noa had spoken so clearly, he couldn’t force her to leave anymore.

“Still,” he said, “Don’t get hurt, Noa. Because if you do...”

“...?”

“Your mom will kill me when we get back.”

Noa shook her head and laughed.

Only her dad could crack a joke like that at a time like this—finding humor even at the edge of disaster.

“Alright, got it, Dad.”

Atos watched the father and daughter.

Were they... laughing?

Even with a massive enemy force before them, they were smiling?

Atos’s brows twitched.

“Lowly beings,” he muttered. “They can’t even manage the most basic emotional restraint. You don’t deserve to live in such a beautiful world. Therefore...”

His predator’s eyes swept across the battlefield.

“Before I take control of this world, I’ll clean out the trash.”

He raised his massive crimson greatsword and drove it into the earth before him.

A wave of eerie violet energy flowed from his hand and seeped into the hilt of the sword.

That energy slowly entered the crimson eye embedded in the hilt.

Soon, the eye began to twitch violently. Bloodshot veins spiderwebbed across its sclera.

Noa’s heart tensed.

“He’s about to strike.”

“Get ready, Noa.”

“Understood!”

In the next instant, countless violet beams shot out from the eye on Atos’s sword.

The beams were dense, precise, and devastatingly powerful.

In a flash, everything within a hundred meters around Atos was vaporized... Even his own Void troops.

Void Technique: Demonblade—Blight of the Forsaken Light

The beams swept across the battlefield like a net. Blood and flesh burst into the air wherever they passed.

The Silver Dragon soldiers who reacted fast enough dodged in whatever ways they could.

Leon activated his Sumeru Shadow just in time, shielding both himself and Noa.

Void monsters were cut in half. Their shrieks were layered with the sounds of boiling blood and splintering bone. It sent a chill through every spine.

Leon poured everything into reinforcing the blue bones of his Sumeru Shadow.

Even so, when the beams struck its frame, deep gashes tore across it.

Had the beams targeted a single point instead of sweeping in lines, the Sumeru Shadow would’ve shattered within seconds.

Leon had never encountered anything like this. An attack so widespread, so lethal, it could penetrate Sumeru Shadow itself.

The beam barrage lasted two full minutes.

And when it finally ended, the once-chaotic battlefield had been cleared into a vast, empty space. That is, if you ignored the corpses of the Void beasts and Silver Dragon warriors strewn across the field.

Noa stood in shock, eyes wide.

She stared at the devastation.

“This kind of indiscriminate attack... even killing his own troops...”

“Safina-sensei and Kaiser were right. This guy really is insane.”

Looking at the fallen warriors... the rage in her heart surged.

“He’s clearing the battlefield... making room... But why? Those Void creatures still had plenty of combat value. Why kill them?”

Leon narrowed his eyes, recalling what the Safina siblings had once told him during the Lantern Festival—about the Void’s two factions: the Descensionists and the Homeland Loyalists.

“Could it be—?”

He didn’t have to wait long for the answer.

Atos raised his massive sword again.

Behind him, a colossal Void rift opened—a gaping wound in the air, like a titanic eye.

From its depths poured armored Void warriors.

Unlike the previous beastlike monsters, these were equipped, disciplined.

Noa stared at the new arrivals behind Atos.

“Judging by their formation and step, they’re far more organized than those previous creatures.”

“This is Atos’s real army.”

Leon nodded.

“Formed by the Descensionists and the Homeland Loyalists. Atos never cared about the frontline Void creatures. He cleared the battlefield to make space for these.”

The Descensionists wanted to invade Samael for a better world.

The Homeland Loyalists wanted to restore vitality to the Void.

But under Atos’s threat of force and massacre, both sides had followed him—abandoning their principles to trample another world.

Whether it was the earlier monster horde, or this new organized army, their numbers far exceeded the remaining Silver Dragon soldiers.

With sword in hand, Atos dragged its blade across the scorched earth, carving burning trenches as he strode toward Leon.

“Well then... Are you ready to be consumed by the Void, Leon... Casmod?”