A dark space.

Selimia lay sprawled there.

"Ugh."

She didn't know exactly what had happened. All that remained was the last memory she had seen.

"That thing..."

A human figure identical to herself. Recalling that she had undergone the process of becoming one with it, Selimia belatedly turned her head.

Nothing was visible. It felt as if her eyes had completely lost their function.

"Where are you!"

She tried shouting first. But there was no response. Selimia placed her hands on the floor and stood up.

Although she still couldn't see anything, the fact that there was a floor suggested there would be walls as well.

She staggered, her hands outstretched in all directions, to find out if there was anything to touch.

Then, something caught her fingers.

"Found it."

Selimia immediately opened her palm. She tried to gather and use the cold chill, but she couldn't.

So she clenched her fist and swung it at the wall right in front of her.

It was a solid wall. She frowned at the impact that felt like it would crush her fist. Even so, she didn't stop swinging her fist.

Finally, after the sound of something breaking, she could see light seeping in from the crack.

Tearing at the wall with both hands, she was finally able to completely cross over to the other side.

It was a snowfield. A scene that seemed to replicate the space she had lived in unfolded before her eyes.

She began to walk through the snowfield, her feet sinking in.

'It's cold.'

For the first time in her life, she was feeling how cold the chill was.

'Was my power taken away?'

She couldn't feel the power she possessed. She stopped for a moment.

Instead, she could feel a presence. There was no need to say whose presence it was.

"!"

Where she turned to look, a being identical to herself was sitting collapsed. Selimia hurriedly headed in that direction.

"You."

At Selimia's call, the being lifted its head.

"You took my power, didn't you?"

"...It is Aium."

"What?"

"My name."

The being, who identified itself as Aium, stood up and looked at Selimia.

"And the power you speak of, has been reverted to me."

"Reverted?"

Selimia frowned.

"By whose authority?"

"Do not speak so insolently."

Aium said.

"You are nothing but a part of me."

"You're the one who's being ridiculous."

Selimia replied.

"I move by my own will."

"Is that really so?"

Aium stretched her hand towards her. Then, Selimia couldn't do anything, as if her body had frozen.

"I don't know how you, who are nothing but a separated will, have not disappeared, but that too will only be for a moment."

"Keuk...!"

"Do not waste any more time."

A pressure as if her whole body was being crushed.

Selimia gritted her teeth and resisted it.

"My power, give it back."

"I believe I told you it is not your power."

"It's my power!"

For a moment, the ground shook. Selimia's eyes widened as she shouted.

"The power I was born with, that you did not have!"

"...Everything you have experienced exists for my sake."

Aium, who had shown a slight waver, spoke again with a calm expression.

"Your independence is merely temporary."

As she said that, Aium tried to absorb her consciousness.

'Why?'

But it didn't go as planned. Even though she was overwhelmingly superior in power, Aium couldn't absorb her.

'Don't tell me.'

Could it be that the other's consciousness was so strong that it couldn't be absorbed one-sidedly?

'Impossible.'

Aium was a divine being. A divine being even greater than what Clay thought. Naturally, her consciousness also possessed a commensurate rank.

"Why."

Selimia said with a pained expression, but with a sneer.

"It's not going well, is it?"

"Did you, pull some kind of trick?"

"No."

Selimia looked straight at Aium.

"You were too relaxed."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's not just the mind that can control the body."

The body could also control the mind.

"The body has been with me longer. If you were going to take it, you should have taken it all at once."

"You..."

"Thanks to that, I've also gotten used to this inner world and come to my senses."

The body had not yet recognized either of the two minds as its master.

"And, you're not the only one who has taken something."

"!"

Selimia closed her eyes for a moment.

"Your memories, your experiences."

"Stop it!"

"They're all flowing into me too."

What kind of being Aium was, and what position she held among the ancient gods.

"All..."

Selimia's words were cut off.

She frowned.

"What?"

A mutter to herself.

"You possessed, this much power?"

"Stop!"

"Is this why you were Aium of Eternity?"

Then suddenly, she wore a confused expression.

"What is this? Why are the demons..."

Aium rushed over and punched Selimia in the face.

Selimia, unable to finish her words, tumbled across the snowfield.

"I told you to stop!"

Aium's face was flushed.

"It is not for the likes of you to know!"

"......"

Brushing off the snow covering her body, Selimia stood up.

"The likes of me?"

A strange light flickered in her eyes.

"No."

Aium bent over under immense pressure.

"There shouldn't be much difference between you and me now."

"You bastard, my power...!"

To the gritting Aium, Selimia leaped and closed the distance in an instant.

"I haven't even used that power properly yet."

Selimia's fist struck Aium's abdomen. Aium's eyes widened as she clutched her stomach and staggered back.

Selimia followed her and struck her face with her elbow. While Aium was staggering, Selimia also regained the power of the cold chill.

"Freeze."

In an instant, a cold chill shot up from the ground and enveloped Aium's body. Aium tried to break free from the cold chill, but it was useless.

From Aium's legs to her waist, she was frozen in an instant.

"Tell me about what I saw."

Selimia said, bringing her face close to Aium's.

"Why were there no humans when Elhaen descended upon this world."

What Selimia had seen was a fragment of the memories Aium possessed.

When Elhaen descended upon this world, there were no humans there. If you were to ask what was there, it was, on the contrary, only demons.

"Demons were supposed to be hideous creatures that threatened humans. Beings that encroached on human territory."

Selimia was demanding to know why there was no sign of humans at that time.

"...You don't need to know."

Aium's eyes widened.

"That is not a memory for you to have."

"No."

Selimia swung her fist at Aium again.

"I will take this memory."

"And I will take the power you had and return with it."

At this very moment, Selimia judged it as an opportunity.

"I will take it all back and become a strength to His Majesty."

Aium, with both her legs bound, couldn't dodge the fists Selimia swung and was continuously beaten.

"...Kuk."

But instead of screaming in pain, she burst out laughing.

"What's so funny?"

Selimia asked, showing her displeasure.

"What's so funny."

"That you think you will win."

Aium broke the ice and moved her legs.

"Even if your consciousness doesn't easily come over to me, that doesn't mean you can defeat me."

Selimia's consciousness had only been created a short time ago.

"Compared to me, you are nothing but a novice."

Aium emphasized that point and walked towards Selimia.

"And the difference in combat experience is even greater."

Before Selimia could swing her fist again, Aium's leg drew an arc first.

Selimia, who was hit by a kick before she could properly register it, was sent flying into the air.

"Die."

Aium followed her and launched an attack, moving her fists, feet, and every part of her body she could use.

Selimia began to be beaten to the point where she could barely breathe.

"I will pass judgment on your arrogance."

Aium was engulfed in anger. At the fact that she had been overwhelmed by Selimia, even for a moment.

However, she did not think she would lose. As she had said herself, there was a huge difference in rank between her and Selimia.

As Selimia thought, the gap as beings might have been surprisingly small, but in terms of experience, there was bound to be a clear difference.

"You know nothing."

Especially the interpretation of the memories she possessed.

Unlike Selimia, who didn't know what those memories meant, she knew everything.

"What kind of being Elhaen is."

Why she had no choice but to compromise with Elhaen.

"In order to save this world, I had no choice but to accept the false myth he sought to build."

If she hadn't, Elhaen would have destroyed this world as it was.

"Isn't it just that you did it, simply, to save yourself?"

Selimia replied, raising her arms to block the attack.

"You turned traitor, to save yourself."

"Foolish."

Contempt filled Aium's eyes.

"You've received my memories and you still don't know? I am a being that must not disappear. I am the weak point of this world."

Weak point.

At those words, Selimia's eyes widened.

"What?"

"If I die, ruin will come to this world. Elhaen knew that. The fact that to swallow this world, he just had to target me."

Aium gritted her teeth.

"When I accepted it, that being changed history. To naturally turn this world into his own territory."

"You, don't tell me."

Selimia finally realized what her memories meant.

"What kind of absurd thing have you done?"

"The absurd thing was done by Elhaen. And what's even more absurd is,"

Aium looked straight at Selimia.

"that I cannot undo what I have done now."

Spilled water.

A long time had already passed.

"If I provoke Elhaen like this and make him try to kill me again, the world will be destroyed anyway. So hand over my power and disappear quietly. I will take that power and remain silent."

Aium chose to live on as she was.

"Discard your foolish thoughts and lay down the burden that is too heavy for you."

"......"

Selimia lowered her head as she was hit by the pouring attacks again.

'I see.'

Her worries about herself.

She felt like she knew why she was born, and why she was more drawn to Clay.

'We were in the same situation.'

Beings born from the irrationality of the gods.

Even if they didn't know, they had no choice but to recognize and care for each other.

"I am..."

Therefore, Selimia now knew what she had to do.

Grabbing Aium's swung fist, Selimia said.

"Your last guilt, Aium."

(End of Chapter)