I’m the Madman of This Family

Rukan’s attacks had no technique. He simply unleashed the Power of Chaos, Ether, wildly.

But that was enough. Rukan proved that with overwhelming speed and destructive power, technique was unnecessary.

Keter’s arrows were strong, fast, and ever-changing, but they couldn’t pierce Rukan’s Ether Shield. It wasn’t because Ether itself was a higher power than Ain Soph, the divine power.

Ether, Ain Soph, divine power. Though their names were different, their origins were the same. The power to create something from nothing and turn something into nothing. In other words, the power of creation and destruction.

However, their focuses differed. Ether leaned more towards destruction, Ain Soph was neutral, and divine power leaned more towards creation.

Regardless, all three were undeniably ‘divine power,’ and this created an immense gap between Keter and Rukan.

Keter wielded divine power, but he was still human.

Rukan, however, had abandoned his humanity. Thus, he could wield divine power with almost no backlash. He could draw on Ether almost infinitely.

On the other hand, the more Keter used divine power, the more his body couldn’t withstand it. There was a limit to how much a human body could handle divine power.

Keter chose to age and die a natural death as a human, rather than becoming a transcendent being and living eternally.

That was the karma and price Keter chose to wield divine power.

Even so, it was only because Keter had a special ‘body’ that he could fight Rukan. He possessed the genes of all species, so his life force wasn’t that of an ordinary human.

But no matter how strong his life force was, life itself was part of creation. A battle of power against a spiritual entity was inherently impossible.

‘An opponent I can never defeat.’

Keter also felt it. If things continued like this, he would self-destruct.

And for good reason. Rukan was completely at ease. Both his offense and defense were solid. Though there were countless openings, he countered them with near-infinite Ether, making it impossible to find a solution.

‘There’s a reason he appeared so confidently.’

Keter, of course, was also confident. After escaping from Ruquer’s underground, he had clearly reached the 8-Star realm, Irregular.

But Rukan had undoubtedly reached a realm beyond 8-Stars, a 9-Star realm that didn’t even have a name.

‘Now, what should I do?’

It wasn’t that Keter didn’t have a trump card. He had the arrow that could kill a god, ‘Misteltein,’ and he hadn’t yet used Lord Eslow’s authority, ‘Authority Nullification.’

‘Even if I use Authority Nullification, it’s only for a moment, and I can’t use it twice in a row.’

Rukan wasn’t stupid. He didn’t just have one layer of defense but hundreds of Ether Shields. Even if Authority Nullification easily pierced one shield, it would be blocked by the multiple layers behind it.

‘Authority Nullification won’t work. Then the only option left is Misteltein.’

A clear 9-Star. Perhaps even higher. The arrow that even the Heavens Sovereign feared, Misteltein. Using it would surely kill Rukan.

But Misteltein also kills its user. Keter had threatened the Heavens Sovereign, ‘I might be an exception,’ but it wasn’t a threat he made with certainty. It was more of a ‘you die, I die’ kind of threat.

Suddenly, Keter let out a soft laugh.

‘In the past, I would have shot Misteltein without even thinking.’

Because he had nothing to lose. He fought with the mindset that if he died, so be it, so his opponents always retreated in fear first.

But now, he had much to lose. His heart was filled with many things. The feeling that it would be a ‘waste’ to lose all of this surged uncontrollably.

Keter also knew. These emotions were undoubtedly a weakness. That’s why he used to think it was foolish to openly cherish something precious.

And that was still the case.

‘I’m a fool. So I’ll fight like a fool.’

Keter immediately pulled out Misteltein from his palm.

Smoke rose from his palm. When he first received Misteltein, he couldn’t control divine power well, so it only stung a little.

“……!”

Rukan, who had never retreated, immediately stepped back the moment he sensed Misteltein’s presence. He increased his defensive barriers from hundreds to thousands of layers.

Misteltein looked like a crudely made arrow from a branch, but it was more than that. It instilled an instinctive ‘fear’ in divine beings. Rukan also felt that fear.

Keter only showed Misteltein and then shot Milky Way.

Until now, he hadn’t shot Milky Way because his allies would be caught in it, but now that they had all retreated, he had no reservations.

An overwhelming explosion, enough to dissipate Ruquer’s fog, occurred in a chain reaction.

Hundreds of arrows shot per second, all of them Milky Way. A destructive power that could erase a city from the map in less than five seconds.

But it couldn’t completely pierce Rukan’s Ether Shields. For every shield destroyed, more were created.

Thanks to that, Rukan wasn’t injured, but he was extremely tense.

‘I can’t see him.’

Once he transcended the physical limitations of a body and became a spiritual entity, it was common sense not to rely on vision anymore.

But now, with Ether enveloping his entire body and Milky Way’s explosions consuming the surroundings, Rukan couldn’t even sense Keter’s presence through his instincts.

‘That arrow he was holding, what on earth is it?’

Rukan didn’t know about Misteltein, but he felt an instinctive fear. That’s why he was extremely wary of the current situation.

Unaware of the penalty that using Misteltein would kill the user, he was on edge, not knowing when Misteltein would come flying.

“There you are!”

Rukan stretched out his hand. An Ether spike pierced through the explosion and extended outward.

But Keter wasn’t there. Only a doll made of Ain Soph, shaped like a person, was pierced.

An opening appeared in the shield as he attacked. Keter, as if waiting for that moment, peeked his face through the gap.

Rukan, as if expecting it, launched a second strike—

The spike’s spear grazed Keter’s upper body. It was originally aimed at his neck, but Keter dodged it.

He avoided instant death, but it was a critical hit. Keter fell to the ground, powerless. But Rukan didn’t pursue him.

“Can I trust a sneaky bastard like you?”

Rukan clenched his fists and struck the ground repeatedly. Ether gathered in the shape of fists and poured down onto the ground.

The cliff that had formed from their battle was crushed, and the ground sank hundreds of meters.

The air was sucked out and then rushed back in, creating a whirlwind. It was as if a hole had been punched through the world.

A moment later, the explosions caused by Keter’s Milky Way subsided. Standing tall in the air wasn’t Keter, but Rukan.

To anyone watching, it was clear that Rukan was the winner.

But Rukan didn’t let his guard down.

‘I don’t know where the arrow will come from.’

While wary of Misteltein, Rukan descended to the ground. The pit was so deep that it took a while to get down.

Keter was lying there, limbs intact, but his entire body was covered in blood.

Rukan spoke for the first time.

“Even with such power, you’re still attached to your body.”

Rukan was spotless, without a single wound. In fact, wounds couldn’t exist on him. Though he appeared human, it was a disguise. His body had no blood flowing through it. It was made only of hollow energy.

Keter, lying down, replied.

“What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s bad. The body is imperfect. Even a small wound can kill you. It’s a breeding ground for weak life forms.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

Keter repeated the same words. Rukan’s brow furrowed.

Keter stood up. Shaking off the dirt and blood from his battered body.

“How does it feel to be a perfect being?”

“It’s filled with a satisfaction you’ll never know.”

Rukan, intending to humiliate Keter as the victor, reached out when Keter didn’t react as he had hoped. He planned to cut off his limbs and take him away to torture for an eternity.

There was no need for additional actions like reaching out. The attack was carried out by will alone.

Ether blades aimed at Keter’s arms and legs. There was no process of being shot. The phenomenon of being severed simply occurred to Keter.

Keter’s left and right arms were cut off.

Of course, a transcendent being could still fight even with limbs severed, but it wasn’t without consequence. It caused a significant loss in combat power.

But more importantly, it meant Keter couldn’t defend himself. It was a sign that his strength was exhausted.

At the moment very close to victory, Rukan turned his head. The branch-like arrow, Misteltein, grazed his face and embedded itself in the wall. Keter’s decisive strike with Misteltein had missed.

Only then did Rukan smile. He had dodged the Misteltein he had been wary of. Keter, with both arms severed, seemed to have lost the will to fight.

Even if it was a ploy to induce carelessness, it didn’t matter. There were no variables. He had won perfectly.

Or so he thought—