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Let us turn back time a bit.

There was a barren wilderness where no humanoids came close. No, it was not just the humanoids. Even magical beasts and demons did not come near his territory. They understood that if they approached that place, they would definitely be eaten with no room for negotiation. Any poor victims who did not know this would have their corpses exposed and weathered down to the bones.

A man stood in the middle of that wilderness with his arms crossed. He was the ruler of this territory…He was Leon, the Lion King who was said to be the strongest individual among the walking calamities known as the Tyrannical Twelve Stars. He closed his eyes and asked himself as he recalled his defeat a few days ago.

What am I missing?

He had reached the limit of Level 1000 long ago. It wouldn’t increase at all, regardless of how many times he ate others. He simply couldn’t break through the limit set by the Goddess. However, it should be possible to break through. It had to be possible to do so. Ruphas and Benetnash had shown that it was possible to make it a reality. They had already gone ahead of him.

What’s the difference? What’s the difference between them and I? What am I lacking?

In terms of inherent qualities…Leon’s inherent qualities were definitely better than theirs. He won by such a large margin that they weren’t even comparable. Both Ruphas and Benetnash were certainly considered geniuses. They could even be considered prodigies. But even then, they were still significantly inferior to Leon, who had been born at Level 1000.

There were those who were born the strongest right from the start and those who were not. He shouldn’t have lost. He shouldn’t be inferior to the two of them. But the reality was that Ruphas and Benetnash had surpassed him and risen above him.

This very fact made him truly dissatisfied from the bottom of his heart. He just couldn’t stand it.

Why? Why can’t I overcome this wall? Why can’t I go beyond Level 1000?

The more he thought about it, the more he could not understand why. He was merely accumulating irrational rage. Blood vessels emerged on Leon’s log-like arms as he bashed a nearby mountain in frustration. His superhuman strength literally crushed the rock, shattering the moderately sized mountain into pieces.

However, Leon wasn’t satisfied. He realized his own inadequacy.

No, it isn’t like this. This much doesn’t compare with Those Who Left First. They can shatter planets, but I can’t. Benetnash can easily penetrate the planet and emerge from the other side, but I can’t. Ruphas can destroy a planet with a single arcane magic, but I can’t.

Although his strength should be comparable, the scale of destruction was completely different.

There was a wall. It was the wall that separated those who had transcended and those who had not. It was the wall of a single level that separated Level 1000 and Level 1001. Unless it was broken through, one’s damage would be limited by the laws of this world. No matter how much one’s status was boosted, there would still be a point where one couldn’t reach.

Furthermore, the figure of the cheating crab, who could ignore the wall despite being Level 800, flashed past Leon’s mind for some reason.

“Damn it—! Is this it!? Is this…Is this my limit!?”

“You’re looking pretty roughed up, eh?”

“!?”

He suddenly heard a voice from behind him. In response, Leon did not even bother wasting time to look back and simply swung his arm. This alone created destructive wind pressure, sweeping the land behind Leon clean.

If anyone trespassed into his territory, there would be no questions asked. All of them were to be eliminated and reduced to dust. However, the intruder didn’t even move slightly after receiving the attack. He was still standing coolly with his arms crossed.

“…Who the heck are you?”

After Leon turned around to look, a man with long white hair came into view. His skin was blue and his vertically slit eyes were golden in color. He seemed to be a demon, but a quick glance gave a sense of incongruity.

What’s with this guy? His presence feels strange for a demon.

He had a sense of holiness, making Leon feel very unpleasant. It was incomprehensible how he could be unmoved despite receiving that attack. In addition, the fact that he could come so close without being noticed raised Leon’s caution.

“Greetings, Lion King. My name is Sol…Sol of the Sun, a demon of the Seven Luminaries. By the way, I don’t really like the epithet Sun. It isn’t beautiful and it’s easily confused with Mar’s Fire at first glance. Therefore, when referring to me, Heavens…Yes, I’d be glad to be known as Sol of the Heavens.”

“The Seven Luminaries? Here I was wondering who you were, but what a letdown. Aren’t they just a gang of small fries?”

“That’s rather harsh, but I can’t deny it. A group of Level 300 individuals would certainly seem like a gathering of weak soldiers from your perspective…They’re just insignificant existences.”

The white-haired man—Sol didn’t seem to mind being insulted and continued talking with a light laugh. He appeared to be taking it too casually. It didn’t seem like a response that a member of the Seven Luminaries should have before the Lion King.

His strange presence stopped Leon from immediately jumping into action. Something was wrong here and his instincts sounded an alarm.

“But can you forgive their weakness? They didn’t want to be weak. They were born weak. In order to not exterminate the humanoids that had been weakened as a whole, weaklings were intentionally gathered together. In a sense, they are rather pitiful. As a strong person, shouldn’t you generously tolerate them?”

“You seem to imply that you’re different from them.”

“Oh, indeed. I am actually different.”

Sol laughed fearlessly—and vanished.

At the same time, a kick was delivered to Leon’s stomach. The impact that struck Leon easily penetrated the Lion King’s abdominal muscles. The attack almost made him regurgitate the contents of his stomach! Leon’s giant body was blown away with one kick, crashing through the mountain behind him and flying several kilometers away in an instant.

Before Leon could stand up, Sol landed with his arms still crossed.

“Well, it’s something like this. How was my kick? I’d be glad if you are satisfied with it.”

“You *******!”

Leon’s temper instantly reached its low boiling point. He immediately closed the distance and swung his thick arm. Sol blocked the single attack with one arm but was sent flying backwards after that. He did not fall down, but the ground beneath his feet was blown away and two tracks were carved into the surface as he flew backwards. When he saw that his arm was numb, he smiled deeply.

“That’s a good attack. It’s been a while since I had this feeling.”

“Are you mocking me!?”

Leon closed the distance again, but this time, Sol jumped forward as well. Their arms collided, while their kicks and knees smashed into each other. The shockwaves spread three hundred sixty degrees in the area, causing a sudden gust of wind to surround them.

Th—This guy…!

“Our power is about the same. Then, how about speed?”

Sol rushed at him with quick punches and kicks. In response, Leon launched a storm of barrages, resulting in many attacks and defenses between them. There were smashes, kicks, thrusts, deflections, diversions, blocks, and evasions. A melee combat between equal opponents began.

But there was a breakthrough in the fight as Sol’s punch struck Leon’s lower jaw and sent him flying upwards. He then jumped and overtook Leon, dropping his heel down on him in mid-air!

Leon crashed into the ground and created a crater, while Sol descended quickly in pursuit.
The latter directed a knife-hand strike at Leon who was standing up, but it struck thin air as Leon suddenly vanished.

Sol calmly moved his head sideways. Immediately, his cheek was grazed as Leon’s fist suddenly struck where his head had been. Leon had quickly moved behind him to make a surprise attack, but it was anticipated and evaded.

The wind pressure from Leon’s fist gouged out the ground before him as if sand or whatever had been scooped up. Of course, the earth wasn’t as fragile as sand, but this demonstrated how powerful Leon’s punch was.

But the punch didn’t hit. Without looking back, Sol grabbed Leon’s fist and threw him over his shoulder. While Leon had no footing in the air, Sol raised his palm towards him and released mana.

“Hah!”

This was the Sun-attribute arcane magic, Photon Buster. As implied by the name, its effect was to simply bombard the target with mana in the form of light. A thick ray of light completely engulfed Leon’s body, making it impossible to evade. An explosion followed.

But Sol didn’t just stop there. He vanished from the spot, moving swiftly to Leon as if he was teleporting. He grabbed Leon’s hair and brought his knee to the latter’s face! Leon counter-attacked with his claws, but Sol evaded them, grabbed his arm, and then threw him away once more.

Leon dug into a nearby rock, while Sol raised his palm in his direction again.

“Photon Rain!”

Bullets of light surged forth from Sol’s palm one after another at a speed similar to heavy rain. They struck Leon mercilessly and exploded, shaving off his stamina. There was no compromise and no reservation. Anticipating Leon’s powerful vitality, Sol used arcane magic to stab at him like rain in order to stop him completely.

But what was with this amount of arcane magic? He had been firing great skills consecutively such that it seemed as if he had unlimited magical power. In order to corner Leon, he was firing arcane magic wildly in such a way that it seemed as if he wouldn’t run out of mana.

“It’s useless. Take this!”

Sol put his hands together and pushed forward. The atmosphere trembled merely from the concentration of magical power before he fired. The scattered stones and rocks in the wilderness rose into the air as if they were defying gravity.

He was gathering so much energy that he was generating gravity of his own and creating a temporary state of weightlessness. Violet lightning surged through Sol’s body and concentrated in his palm.

“Vanish!”

This was the Sun-attribute arcane magic, Photon Smasher. While it was in the same tier as Photon Shooter, it was ranked higher within the same category. Although its range was inferior, its power even surpassed Solar Flare, which was Ruphas’ specialty.

Of course, this was purely based on the arcane magic itself without accounting for the caster’s individual power. If it had actually collided with Ruphas’ Solar Flare, things would be different, but it didn’t matter for now. It was irrelevant to the present situation…After all, there was no doubt that it had extraordinary destructive power.

The beautiful torrent of light broke through the atmosphere of Midgard and went beyond its mother planet. Such a scene was nothing surprising during a battle of this level. Even so, a planet which was so densely packed with such monsters was truly abnormal.

A line of scar was carved into Midgard. Sol crossed his arms and looked at the smoke. Leon…did not reappear.

“…Is he dead? That was more boring than I expected. Or perhaps, he wasn’t as good as the rumors said.”

When the smoke cleared, Leon was nowhere to be seen. Was he completely destroyed? Or was he blown away somewhere? Or did he flee with his tail between his legs?

Well, it didn’t matter. Whichever case it was, the result showed that he was no one significant.

“Well, that was a disappointment. I was hoping to have a wonderful fight, but…Lion King Leon. He didn’t live up to his reputation. In that case, it seems the other Twelve Stars will not be promising opponents either.”

Sol muttered to himself and then flew off without looking back. Now that he knew the difference in power, it was unnecessary to waste any more time. He might still be alive, but it didn’t matter. Leon was no match for him anyway.

Unfortunately, if the strongest Leon is only like this, the other Twelve Stars won’t be much of an opponent. As expected, the only ones who can entertain me are Ruphas Mafahl and Benetnash. Maybe it’d be more interesting to go there now?

“…Ah, I know. Don’t worry. First, I have to complete the task that was given, right? To be honest, it’s boring, but I’ll prioritize it first. The main dish can come later.”

Sol muttered to himself as if he was talking to someone. However, there was nobody there. It was as if he was talking to himself.

“The Fire Ouroboros…is a light sleeper to begin with. It’ll be fine even if he is left alone. First, it will be the Wood Ouroboros. Then, pass on the instructions to the Earth Ouroboros. After that, we’ll wait for you to launch a simultaneous attack. Anyway, that Ruphas Mafahl…Haha, she really is an awesome fellow, since she managed to force the Goddess to move the ouroboroses.”

Sol flew in the sky and headed straight for his destination. His destination was Alfheim, where the Wood Ouroboros slept.

“As expected, the most difficult one is the Moon Ouroboros…I have no idea what he’s thinking. Apparently, he’s acting with a different goal in mind than that of the Goddess. Even if I go to deal with him, I’ll probably be hurt down to the bones. Well, that’s interesting in its own way too.”

The last of the Seven Luminaries laughed fearlessly and finally arrived at his destination, Alfheim.

There seemed to be a barrier which warded off intruders… but he couldn’t care less. Sol collided with the barrier headon and forced his body through it. Of course, the barrier resisted, but what meaning was there to it?

Sol broke through the barrier like it was merely a thin flap of skin and then landed before Pollux and the others. The members who were gathered there were quite unexpected, but it made no difference in what he had to do. It wouldn’t shake the certainty of his victory.

This was because he knew there was an insurmountable disparity between them and him.

Image from Light Novel Volume 7