[-12,310 QH]

[-8,620 QH]

[-15,090 QH]

[QH: 1,015,120/1,051,140]

[Accolade Activated: System Implement - Immortal Variant]

[Your Quantified Health has been fully regenerated!]

“Tch!” If it hadn’t been for [Grand Battle Contemplation], Nathan Hyun-Creed would’ve been caught in the sprawling mass of tendrils or tentacles or whatever the heck Zagan had. They scratched him, bounced off the [Compound Myth Armor], and he pulled back a fair distance away from the Beast.

Even for the supposed “strongest Slayer in the world”, this was a hard match-up. Let alone fighting high in the mesosphere where there wasn’t any lick of light other than these half-ethereal blobs. Freakish things, shifting between two states: intangibility and tangibility. None of the Beasts had a consistent shape or size or even color but had a consistent mass, acting similarly to a sentient slime blending in with its surroundings. Within their bodies were bright, star-like motes. It was difficult to determine their size but for comparison’s sake: it’d be like fighting a moving mountain.

Zagan was one of nine Cosmic Beasts that Caller Kreutz of the Kreutz Sungrazers had summoned. Alter, the Executive Support Team Leader (XSTL) to Gadabout, had named them after the Kings in the Ars Goetia: Baal, Paimon, Beleth, Purson, Asmodeus, Vine, Balam, Belial, and of course his current adversary, Zagan.

Of the nine, Purson and Belial had been killed, and the current mission aimed to add Zagan to the list.

Each of the Beasts had a special ability. Purson had a defensive time dilation power and Belial could distort the weather, and thus was killed first to prevent any natural (technically unnatural) disasters from wrecking the coasts. Nathan had personally thought that they were lucky. Too lucky, that Belial didn’t do anything devastating.

Similarly to Purson, Zagan’s ability was defensive in nature. Simply put, hyper-regeneration but to an absurd degree—like Nathan's own, but greater. Initially when the Ordo Disaster began, everyone had concluded that Zagan was the easiest of the nine to kill. It lacked the offensive ability compared to Asmodeus, lacked a straightforward defensive ability like Purson’s, and didn’t pose an environmental threat like Belial or Baal.

That was where they were wrong. Previous rotations had killed Zagan before. First was a cooperation between Hunter and Cheonma, had approximately destroyed eighty-six-percent of its mass. The next day, Zagan regenerated and grew stronger. Duskfire took a stab at it, destroyed ninety-nine-percent of its mass. The next day, Zagan regenerated and grew stronger.

In Zagan's third iteration, he caused multiple casualties. If this game continued further, then it could be downright impossible to kill him. So they had to absolutely, completely obliterate Zagan where literally nothing remained. Else he’d keep reviving itself, keep growing, and eventually become unstoppable.

So Nathan had decided to volunteer to subjugate Zagan. Alone. To the displeasure and criticism of the commanding generals and Slayers present within Busan Naval Base, including Gadabout, who had falsely claimed he was doing this out of pride.

Zagan soared, slithering through the air like an odd cross between a slime and a snake. Internally, gem-like colors irradiated his body and highlighted the stardust dancing from within. He didn’t make any noise despite being a Beast; only the wind spoke for him, ominously buzzing and whining, creating heavy gusts through every little move.

Nathan watched, gritting his teeth. He resisted the wind easily—he dealt with worse after all—but even he was starting to regret being so obstinate with the others. Exactly because he could do it alone, he had to do this.

Suddenly, the same gem-like colors forced themselves out of Zagan’s body, curved and was launched as if missiles. A few dozen of them, all flying in different angles and velocities. Nathan tightened his grip around the [Spear of Longinus] and cocked his arm back.

[Skill Activation: Omnipresent Cosmic Arts - Helios Fire]

At least a dozen golden phantoms appeared from his body. In unison, they thrusted together and countered with their missiles. Tiny, sun-colored balls that flew faster than the gems had, packed more power too. Each one tracked their targets, chased them down and they popped.

The air was littered with translucent golden spheres hovering in the air, the shells bubbling with heat.

[-50,363 QM]

[QM: 1,525,435/1,575,798]

[Accolade Activated: System Implement - Immortal Variant]

[Your Quantified Mana has been fully regenerated!]

A condensed breath leaked through the silts of his helmet. Unlike most battles he fought, he had to restrain himself with Zagan. Leaving even a single atom unaccounted for was beyond the margin of error. He had to destroy the Beast in the most optimal series of moves, each perfectly executed. Any unnecessary attack risked chopping off a piece.

But he had years of experience knowing it’d be much easier said than done.

Zagan soared higher, higher, and blanketed the immediate sky with his mass. Nathan looked on and his heart thumped. What little light remained was smothered by the Beast, hovering up there like a mighty hawk spreading its wings.

The air shifted. Nathan couldn’t tell what happened initially. A second later, he would get his answer. Squinting, he could make out almost imperceptible dark wisps, each possessing cosmic sparkles like a child throwing sprinkles on an ice cream cone. They looked harmless.

Right until one had stabbed him right in the stomach.

[-50,111 QH]

[QH: 1,001,029/1,051,140]

[Accolade Activated: System Implement - Immortal Variant]

The wisp couldn't penetrate his [Compound Myth Armor] but it felt like a sledgehammer to the guts. Nathan whipped himself backwards in his flight, held [Longinus] high and channeled mana through the shaft, illuminating the spearhead white-gold. Normally, this could bring day to the darkest theater but he only had a few meters worth of light here.

And what he saw next widened his eyes: an impossibly large number of wisps were coming after him. Nathan was reminded of what he had seen when the Cosmic Beasts arrived. It was as if they were sewn together by the same cosmic threads that created Everything. Then Archknell emerged to the forefront of his thoughts, him and his gentleness, and a wave of indignant boiling grief bubbled inside Nathan's heart.

His knuckles must’ve been white from gripping the [Longinus] this tightly. This was as far as his emotions would bring him.

Nathan sucked in a breath, and propelled himself backwards.

[Skill Activation: Starflight]

[Starflight] was his flying skill, one that he’d spent years (perhaps even a decade now) mastering, to the point where its QM drain was minimal. Even at its fastest, when he appeared as a white smear than a whole man to any witness. Even now, as he cut through the artificial darkness that Zagan created, feeling the threads pang and bounce off his armor and fruitlessly attempt to entangle him in these thorns. He was too fast for them to latch onto, and soon hopelessly too fast for them to even reach.

Nathan increased his velocity, tearing through both air and strings until he emerged free from the pseudo-demesne, seeing Zagan’s realm from the outside. It sort of looked like a massive octopus leaking ink.

[Compound Myth Armor has taken damage!]

His armor was chipped in several places: thin lashes and a small dent was present where he was first hit. That shouldn’t be possible—or at least, improbable. [Compound Myth Armor] had been forged using several mythological-grade pieces, merging various defensive passives together; so considering Zagan of all things was able to chip it…

Then it’d have to be those strings which must’ve possessed an absolute creation-type power that worked both ways: absolutely creating and absolutely destroying. Seemed to confirm what the others had said.

Ha, that power reminds me of a certain someone...

Behind his helmet he creased his lips as Zagan returned to its original blob-like shape, the wisps dissipating. Once again, the Beast's size dawned on him. This was up there in terms of magnitude; in fact, this might be the largest monster he'd ever faced. And he faced it all: moving trees, a giant turtle one time, even gods in their ultimate forms. But something about Zagan haunted him. All the others were comprehensible. You could fundamentally understand what they were, but this?

Nothing about this made sense, which only contributed to his cautiousness.

“Breathe,” he whispered to himself, hovering, watching Zagan. “This is just like any other monster you’ve faced before. Simply relax and calm your beating heart..”

For a moment, Nathan shut his eyes and dreamt himself at home. After a sigh, he was immersed. It was an ordinary day in Ordo. For the first time in a long while, nothing happened. No important meetings. No sudden portal excursions that required his expertise or being called to Europe to hear what the Global Guards wanted for the umpteenth time. Nothing. The world didn't need Kosmos today. So Nathan's schedule was wide open from dawn to dusk and immediately he had something planned: staying at home, urging Sera to take the day off and spend it with him and Ariella.

Nathan opened his eyes. Underneath his armor and wrapped around his left wrist was a braided cord bracelet that had colors and shades that were beyond him. It was an F-Rank item, provided zero benefits. But it gave him more reassurance than even items of the highest grades.

“Alright,” he said as both a mass of tendrils and shooting stars clamored towards him. “I oughta end this.”

He disappeared, and thus none of Zagan’s attacks reached him.

A white streak coursed through the air like the brightest comet. From the trail, golden flares were dropped for a moment, then took on life and tracked Zagan after like heat-seeking missiles. They weaved between the tangle of tentacles and struck center mass directly, leaving small, insignificant holes that, while would be regenerated instantly, they’d definitely get the Beast’s attention.

More of those stars chased after the white streak. They exploded ahead of him and created bright yet eerie imperfect spheres that distorted reality within, creating obstacles in his path. Nathan cursed as he twisted around them, using [Infinite Calculation] to predict their trajectories to a T.

He went over, under, always being one step ahead in spite of the intelligence that Zagan possessed. Even when the Beast pulled a clever move: blocking Nathan’s path with a wall of those reality-distorting bubbles, close enough where it was impossible to dodge in time. Or at least not without injury.

Nathan slowed down, straightening himself in the air while bringing [Longinus] back.

The sky was then brightened in blinding white and the streak continued, piercing through the whirring skies.

In this world, the Slayer known as Kosmos was a man to be both feared and respected. The Hero of the Great Crisis, the first and only SSS-Rank in existence (a lie, there was another). He embodied the legend of the struggle, of perseverance, where no matter the intensity of the threat, victory would be his. Even if his enemy were the gods or the stars themselves, he'd win and bring order to this world. And Zagan wasn't anything special.

No amount of tentacles or projectiles reached Nathan; even if Zagan tried to move, due to his outrageously mountainous size, he would always be slower than the Slayer. Nathan was flying circles around the Cosmic Beast, thwarting any attack, restraining himself to using only the power necessary. Until the golden moment showed itself.

Just like Purson and Belial, Zagan will join his brethren.

And that moment came. He hovered above Zagan, sweat trickling down his head, unable to stop a smile from forming underneath his helmet. It was done. [Infinite Calculation] was running inside his mind like a computer program: spitting out numbers, using those numbers for further calculations, and determined the solution.

Nathan held the shaft of his [Spear of Longinus] with both hands, whispered a chant under his breath, and the spearhead glowed. Countries across the world wanted to know Kosmos's secrets. Countries tried to recruit him time and time again. The Global Guards were determined to turn him into their puppet through diplomacy and coercion. And upcoming Slayers wished to be the first one to defeat him, to take his crown like Gadabout wanted all those years ago.

But most people, most Slayers, wouldn’t have seen this magic. As cheesy as it sounded, he only used this skill whenever he was genuinely challenged. Since this skill's creation, he used it about a dozen times in serious warfare. And for a dozen times, nothing remained afterwards.

“I call to thee, cosmos.” Above him, the dark, dark sky was overtaken by a starry night. “The Natural Order is hereby threatened.”

The Cosmic Beast rampaged towards the world's strongest Slayer, but by then, it had been too late.

Reality itself was being overwritten by the will of the universe, and it was beautiful. “I have witnessed worlds begone. I have seen worlds forlorn. The Mother is without her child, and the absence of such is Chaos.”

Nathan twisted [Longinus] and the cosmos bloomed and every star was falling like raindrops. And he beckoned, “Hear me, universe. I am the child of this Mother. By my name, Kosmos, this world shall not be theirs, for I am the Slayer of Chaos.

“Come—!”

[Demesne Implementation: Starry Realm of Order and Cosmos]

A demesne was established, large enough to encompass a small country, and no one thus far was able to break out. Weaker demesnes acted as specialized arenas, giving the user a boost to their abilities. In the highest form of demesne implementation magic, it could act as another world with its own laws, where the user was God.

For Nathan, his world had taken on the form of a picturesque cosmos where all were stars and clouds became stardust, appearing as gorgeous purple strokes and luminescent greens and dazzling collages painted on the awe-inspiring black expanse.

There was no Earth to speak of.

There was only the universe, as Nathan dictated.

In his [Starry Realm of Order and Cosmos], the rule was this: any enemies caught within was designated to be an Agent of Chaos, the malignant force to the Mother. A faux-mother was created within the demesne. As the Agent of Chaos was recognized, Nathan was hereby gifted with power to destroy Chaos.

In other words, he was given a significant boost to his abilities without the drawbacks of actually being blessed by the Mother, or the Earthwill.

“As long as I’m here, you will not harm this world. You, the Sungrazers, or even Sirius Aethfell himself.” Nathan raised [Longinus]. “I will personally find the Dragon King and give him a second death. With or without the Almagest!”

Zagan gazed up with whatever eyes he had and saw the starry night crack open. White tears broke the sky into pieces, and one would think Nathan was opening the gates to Heaven.

From each tear came a large spearhead fitting for Zagan’s size, the design matching the spearhead found on the [Spear of Longinus]. They populated the demesne until Nathan was certain that the Cosmic Beast would fall. Just one spearhead made him look like an ant in comparison, and there had to be at least one hundred present.

What could the Beast do, but watch?

Nathan dropped his spear, and released his lances.

[Skill Activation: Hundred Lance Cloudpierce]

And Zagan was cut down.

Nathan levitated, watching as the Cosmic Beast was shredded. But inside his ethereal mass was something that disturbed Nathan truly.

Something that he had seen for himself, like all the other Slayers had.

Deep within Zagan was a pinkish-red blend pouring out like a thick smoothie. Oozing like blood. It didn’t fit the Cosmic Beasts’ physiology but that was exactly the point. This, as the scientists analyzed the corpses of Purson and Belial, was flesh. Earthen flesh, made from humans and elves, dogs and horses, dragons even, anything that the Beasts could get their hands on.

They had merged with the flesh of the Earth to avoid the Mother’s eye.

Perhaps they were weaker for it.

Once [Hundred Lances Cloudpierce] expired, there was virtually nothing left of Zagan. The rest of him drifted around in small particles of cosmic mass and flesh, no different than specks of dirt that needed to be wiped down.

“Collapse,” beckoned Nathan, and the [Starry Realm of Order and Kosmos] began shattering like glass.

The demesne fell, and he returned to the mesosphere of his world.

And Zagan was nowhere to be seen. As if his remains had been vacuumed.

[You have defeated the Cosmic Beast Zagan!]

Nathan checked his QM.

[QM: 247,094/1,575,798]

[Accolade Activated: System Implement - Immortal Variant]

No wonder he was feeling light-headed all of the sudden. When was the last time he’d been this low on mana? Years? [Starry Realm] was incredibly mana-extensive, so were [Hundred Lances] and that was the low-power version of [Thousand Lances Heavenstrike]. Well, it didn't matter. This was the best excuse to be this low; he might as well force [Immortal Implement] to do its job.

Zagan was defeated. Six of the Cosmic Beasts remained.

Nathan called in using the System. “Subjugation confirmed.”

“Confirmed down here,” said Zenko, the Division Team Leader of the Asia-Pacific Division of the Asian Alliance in the Otherguards. A mouthful of a title. “Return to Busan immediately.”

She chuckled afterwards.

“What is it?” he asked, maintaining a strong and stoic tone.

“Gadabout was doubting if you could actually do it. Honestly, I was hovering over the button myself. I suppose this is why you are our beloved SSS-Rank, Kosmos. You always seem to prove your naysayers wrong each and every time.”

Nathan smiled under his helmet. “I’ve brought you more time to rest before your rotations.”

“At least try to indulge in my flattery, please?”

He went silent.

Zenko sighed. “Okay, I understand. Kosmos is a faithful husband first. I never had a chance anyway, haha. Enough chatter. Let’s speak when you return to Busan.”

Nathan nodded and began his flight back.

~

[SLAYER PROFILE PAGE] - KOSMOS Statistics Skills Medals Accolades Body Krait Name Rank Name Rank Name Rank Strength SSS8 Mind SSS9 Thousand Lance Heavenstrike SS+ Slayer of Behemoth C- The System Chosen EX Constitution SSS3 Spirit SSS9 Impervious Body S Destroyer of Sukunahikona A System Implement - Immortal Variant SSS Fortitude SSS5 Perception SSS8 Titanium Mind S+ Hero of Ordo A Aphrodite's Kiss SS Agility SSS7 Willpower SSS10 Grand Battle Contemplation A Kingkiller SS Celestial Spirit Fusion SS Celestial Guardian's Tenacity A+ The World's Greatest SSS Dragonheart SS Basic Information Starflight S+ Vatican Blessed S+ Heavenblessed S+ Registered Name: Nathan Hyun-Creed Starry Realm of Order and Cosmos SSS Family Man C Slayer Name: Kosmos Infinite Calculation A++ Founder of Angels Guild A Emergence Level: SSS7 Omnipresent Cosmic Arts SSS Victor of the Endless Rivalry S Quantified Health: 1,051,140 Earthwill Communication ??? Dragon Slayer S Quantified Mana: 1,575,798 System Appraisal B+ Witness to the Conqueror ??? Equipment Name Rank Spear of Longinus SSS Compound Myth Armor SSS+ Grace Series - Seven Rings SS Blessed Wedding Band of Prosperity C Ariella's Bracelet F Automatic Potion Injector B