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High above in the air of Midgard.

He was in an area even higher than Vanaheim – in the area around the stratosphere.

Blue skin and gold eyes. Long black hair that reached his back and enveloped in a jet black overcoat. In this world, this man was the King of Demons.

Behind him, there was an army of high-level magical beasts which obeyed him without showing the slightest bit of fatigue.

He – The Demon King Orm endlessly flew high above in the air for a particular goal: going around in search of “that”.

Including today, it would already have been more than a week.

He was informed that it was in this area; however, even as the Demon King, it was difficult to capture “that” which continuously moved around.

Nevertheless, his effort had paid off.

Right now, the thing that he had continued to look for was right in front of his eyes.

“I’ve found it now.”

Orm muttered and looked up. In that place was a ship.

A flying ship with giant wings growing out of it. Above that strange ship full of oxymoronic objects’s mast stood one man.

The tip of his bright golden hair, which shone under the sunlight, curled and spiked up. He was a young man that gave off a delicate and subtle feeling notwithstanding that his countenance maintained a level of manliness.

His muscularly-built body was probably slightly over 180. The combination of his facial expression and the way he stood made him look graceful.

One of his eyes was hidden behind an eyepatch, combined with what he was wearing, one could not help but think that he was trying to say, “I am a pirate.”

From the top, he wore a white coat and on the back of that was an embedded emblem of black wings.

His name was Castor.

Also known as – The Tyrannical Ways 12 Heavenly Stars, one of the Gemini of the [Twins].

“So you’ve come… I’ve already found out that you were looking around for us since a few days ago. What is your business with me, esteemed Demon King!?”

“Castor, huh? I have no business with you. The thing that I’m interested in, is a hidden treasure in that ship.”

Even with the Demon King in front of him, Castor did not falter. Likewise, the Demon King also did not break his fearless and daring smile.

It was an Explosive atmosphere – nevertheless, both side remained their composure.

It was as if each party knew that the one that was going to come out victorious in the end was themselves. Notwithstanding, in that place, there was not one bit of carelessness or negligence.

“I see, so you’re after the riches. If that’s what you want, I don’t mind giving you what you’re seeking?”

“No no, you see, unfortunately, what I’m seeking isn’t something that can ever be exchanged into gold. What I want… is the Key That Seizes the Heavens.”

“No can do. The only one that can take hold of heaven is my master. It will never be you!”

“So you’re that adamant to be under Alcor, huh. In the end, together with your sister, it seems that’s all you guys will ever amount to.”

Orm sneered as if to provoke him, however, Castor gracefully let it slide.

As a start, neither side revealed their hands and just had a dodgeball with words.

“Indeed, it’s true that I’m under Ruphas-sama. I won’t deny that I loyally follow her commands. However, I never had any intention to be below you, the King of Demons.”

“Is that so (hou), are you suggesting that I’m below the 12 Stars? If you’re going that far, even if it’s me, it hurts my self-esteem. Even I can be sensitive.”

“My apologies, it was insensitive of me. But unfortunately, I’m quite blunt, you see. I only say things that are facts, you see.”

The smiles they were giving off gave a very refreshing feeling, there was not a shred of maliciousness.

As long as one did not listen to the words they were speaking, one would be able to imagine them as best friends of many years having a flowery and nostalgic conversation.

Nevertheless, the words that were spoken were poisonous. It was as if thorns were stuck onto words and then pitched at the other party with all their might.

“Is that so, is that so…. I really want to test that out.”

“I suggest you stop. It’s not my preference to get involved in fights where I can already see the outcome.”

Orm narrowed his eyes a little until only a thin slit was left as if to challenge Castor and the air around him distorted like a mirage.

At that same time, Castor grasped the anchor as if it was his favourite weapon.

Originally, anchors were used to hold a ship in place. However, this anchor’s size was something that a human could hold onto and its length was modified to be like a spear.

An anchor… or rather, it might be better to say that it was a spear that was like an anchor.

But it was only the size was ordinary, its weight was out of the norm.

Lightly grabbing onto that anchor which could shatter the ground just by putting it down, Castor jumped off his beloved ship, Argo.

Subsequently, he stopped mid-air and faced Orm from the front.

“But if you say you’re still going to come, I won’t hesitate in being your opponent. Of course, you’ll have to be prepared for an appropriate amount of scalding.”

“I’ll be let off with just a bit of scalding, huh. How nice of you.”

“Even scalding from a full-body burn is still considered scalding.”

One flash – another flash.

The anchor which was swung at the speed that its sound could only be heard afterwards became like a gale as it assaulted towards Orm.

However, Orm guarded against that with his arms and countered by releasing condensed mana which he formed in his palms.

Castor maintained his composure as he continued to spin the anchor to blow away the condensed mana, subsequently swinging widely.

“Wind, heed my call!”

From the anchor that was swing down, a blade of wind was released.

Dispite being the same Wind attribute, it was on a completely different league when compared to Jupiter of the 7 Luminaries.

If it was a small island, it would not be strange for it to be cut into two by the large blade. And if it hit head-on, even if it was Libra, she would not be able to avoid taking damage.

Nevertheless, even this was blown away with a single hand by Orm as he closed in on Castor, then leaving a scratch on Castor’s cheek with the simple pressure of his kick’s after-effect.

“Fuu. As to be expected, if it’s an individual strength, you’d come out above, huh.”

With just a few seconds’ worth of exchanges, Castor was able to precisely assess and determine the difference between each other’s prowess.

“As to be expected”… if it was an individual fighting prowess, the other side was above him. Even if the other side was doing a handstand, he was not sure if he would be able to win.

However, that was something he already knew from the start and something already pre-determined. It was nothing to be surprised about.

From the very beginning, Castor’s true strength did not come from his individual self. If one were to only consider individual fighting prowess, Leon and Libra would be superior to him.

Nevertheless, he had no doubt in his belief that he was still the one with the greatest war potential within the Tyrannical Ways 12 Heavenly Stars.

The battles were not limited to one own’s power. The [Army]’s strength was what mattered the most.

Castor raised his right hand up into the air.

With that as the signal, many shadowy figures gathered on the deck of Argo.

They all individually released strong and majestic auras, imposingly awaiting for a sortie order.

For the first time, composure disappeared from Orm’s face and he showed a grim expression.

“Heed my call, my comrades (Argonauts)! Show me your power! Our arch-enemy is here!”

Command – at the same time, heroes who were called the [Argonauts] all jumped out.

The number of them was approximately fifty, all of whom were over level 500.

No, many strong ones amongst them even surpassed Castor and reached level 1000.

These heroes were the living remnants from the great battle 200 years ago. No, it was not a correct expression to call them living remnants.

It was because these heroes had, absolutely without a doubt, died once before.

The identity of these guys were those heroes that had once fought on Ruphas’s side.

They were defeated and had lost their lives, yet were reanimated as fairies. They were the warriors who had sworn their loyalties towards the black-winged master.

Some of those that had passed away did not ascend and stayed behind in this world.

They were the vengeful spirits, they were corpses which moved, they were the magical beasts and many other shapes and forms.

However, some of the existences amongst them… only those existences with strong souls were able to become exceptions and retain their previous life’s memories and rationality, allowing them to retain their minds and become [Heroic Spirits].

Castor’s younger sister… the other half of the [Gemini], the Fairy Princess Pollux was able to use her skill [Argonauts] which allowed her to be able to put those Heroic Spirits into artificial bodies made out of mana, thereby reviving them onto this world, turning them into an army.

In exchange for how broken and cheat-like that skill was, she herself had neither the skill in taking command nor possessed battle prowess of her own.

As such, the older brother Castor led them and fought on her behalf.

In other words, it was a skill which could not be utilised if one of them was missing. It was a skill which required the two of them to act as one.

That was what the [Return of the Heroic Spirits (Argonauts)] was.

“Look carefully, Demon King! What you see is our real power, our bond! The Fairy Princess’s blade, the Black Wing’s army led by this Castor!”

Matching with Castor’s voice, the Heroic Spirits all aggressively moved out.

Orm’s mana bullets were fully blocked by the Priests’ shields.

The Sword Masters’ swords shredded the magical beasts which followed Orm, and the Grapplers’ fists blew away the giant magical beasts.

One Alchemist transmuted and caused a storm of blades, whilst another Alchemist transmuted a gigantic golem to blow away multiple magical beasts at the same time.

Those that were considered strong 200 years ago were without a doubt, powerful.

Individually, they were mighty warriors possessing strength able to match thousands and could rival an army of a country on their own.

Outside of the time they were under a mobilisation order, the effect of the skill was cancelled; thus, it was not possible for them to increase their number using Monster Tamers’ skill or Alchemists’ transmutation. Nevertheless, it was not a mistake to call them the most powerful squad in Midgard.

Even the Demon King knew of their fearsomeness.

That was exactly why he had brought the army of magical beasts with him.

However – there was too much difference in quality!

The army of magical beasts which were by no means weak was defeated one after another, they were exterminated one-sidedly.

“Listen, Demon King, you’re definitely strong. If it was just based on individual prowess, you are an even match against my master! Those magical beasts are also not weak. But that’s just that.”

If it was a simple comparison of strength, the gathering of the magical beasts was not inferior.

Nevertheless, the battle was still one-sided.

The magical beasts were a group, but they weren’t an army at all. The best they could be called was a “group.”

There existed no order or formation. If there existed a hundred magical beasts, there would be hundred magical beasts fighting in the way they wanted.

However, the army of Heroic Spirits was different. If there was a hundred of them, they would still be one.

Having the strength of the hundred, they moved as one and loyally faced the enemy as one.

They each protected one another’s back, encouraged each other and they each gave courage to others so that they can stand against even the strongest of enemies.

1 + 1 was not 2. It was even possible to become 10 or 100.

That was what the army was. That was what the union meant.

“Against me, in the name of Ruphas Mafahl, you, who command the subordinates to only fight as a group, shall have no chance of winning! As the commander, you are far inferior in quality against my master!”

Castor slid in the air and slammed his weapon into Orm.

Castor’s anchor slammed onto Orm’s arm multiple times, causing the sparks to light up like a firework.

The black overcoat fluttered and the white coat shook.

The two men become a shooting star that swam around in the air which repeatedly clashed with each other.

If this one-on-one were to continue, Orm would surely win.

However, from the side, a Strider provided assistance to Castor by chopping at Orm’s sides dealing a slightest bit of a scratch, followed by the Sorcerer’s magic swallowing Orm.

“This is the end, Demon King! Scatter, Heroic Warriors! This attack will end him!”

Following Castor’s command, the Heroic Spirits all backed out at once.

What was released was an absolute highest-tiered Wood attribute arcane magic!

The storm raged wild and lightning thundered.

What laid behind Castor at that moment was the imposing and majestic aura of fifty gods.

In this world, there was only one true “God” and that was the Goddess Alovenus.

Nevertheless, faith and religion had always branched out based on the age and civilisation at the time. There was a countless number of “Gods” that was created upon the imagination of the people.

This was a result of something or someone after they were buried deep in the darkness of history by the name of Alovenus, perhaps called a heretic leading them to be persecuted and punished, otherwise labelled and treated as a devil would be… an illusion given birth by those deprived beings’ imagination. This was a manifestation and summoning of those.

“— [The God Who Possesses Fifty Names]!”

Matching Castor’s edict, fifty fake gods all moved to attack.

There were those that were born as the Chief of the Gods from the figure of imagination, out of myth or a legend.

There were those that were born as War Gods. There were those that were born as the Gods who presided over the realm of the dead.

There were those demi-gods who inherited blood from both the gods and the people.

There were some fake gods who breathed flame out of their mouths. There were some fake gods who crushed things with their fists.

They created raging storms and thundering lightning and with the glistering aura of the Gods, they trampled everything in their paths into absolute submission.

By the time everything was done and dusted, there no longer existed a single magical beast in the aftermath.

The figure of Orm – there, he no longer existed.

“So it’s done.”

Staying afloat in the air, Castor looked down on the magical beasts.

The magical beasts who could no longer maintain their physical forms returned to mana, bound to bless this world.

In any event, he was able to somehow defend “that thing” that his younger sister had entrusted onto him.

Ever since 200 years ago when his master fell, he had continued to protect that thing using the ship and the spirits.

With the single misuse of that thing, the world would break apart. The Key That Seizes the Heavens. There was no way that he could give such a thing to the demons.

That thing belonged to his master who would one day return.

Although his sister, the fairy princess, did not possess any battle capabilities, she had a strange ability.

And she had announced. She had announced, “Master will definitely return, one day.”

Subsequently, she had ordered Castor to protect the key. All this happened 200 years ago.

He, who could only fight and command things, could not understand. However, he thought that his sister could see things that were to come in the future.

Or perhaps his master had ordered something to his sister before the fateful battle.

That was why Castor was here.

He had continued to fight for the past 200 years because he had believed in his master and his sister.

“Anyways, I’ll change the location of the ship. Before the next thing comes.”

Castor who was convinced of his victory tried to return to the ship.

But it happened right after that.

Suddenly, a black ray of light scattered past the cloud and pierced through the ship.

“Wha!?”

So there was still an enemy left!

Keeping an eye out on the smoking ship that was sinking down into the clouds in his peripheral, he armed himself with a weapon as he turned around.

The heroes also readied themselves into a battle stance, individually arming themselves with weapons.

And then they saw.

Swimming through the clouds, something enormous… an appearance of something way too enormous.

“….. Wh… wha!? Th, this is….! No way…. It can’t be….!?”

In terms of length… how long was it!?

One km? No.

Ten km? No!

That was something so enormous, something so long… something so abnormal that it could even lap around Midgard….

That enormous shadow split the cloud and stuck its head out, causing the heroes to feel fear.

“Aa, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!?”

They were without a doubt, winning as an “army”.

They had successfully exterminated and expelled the “group” that Orm had brought with him.

But they did not know. That in this world, there existed things that were simply unreasonable.

The existence of the absolute “individuals” who stood above an “army”.

For the first time, on that day, they understood.

The true reason why the 7 Heroes were defeated –.