I created my own system

Chapter 402: A better Champion

Apollo's POV

I am…

How should I say this… shocked?

No, that is not it.

This overwhelming feeling I never knew I could feel—it clouded my senses like a thick veil of fog.

I was at a loss for words, unable to escape the feeling of awe toward a being that made me wonder…

How could a tool gain something far beyond what it was created for?

The noise around me seemed to overlap. My eyes remained fixed on the knight staring down at the being who bore the will of a God.

I never cared for them before, but now—

How should I say this?

I acknowledge them now.

It seems their devotion to their God is so strong that it could generate such power, one capable of contending against a being with five authorities.

But still—

I will never acknowledge their actions.

Their disregard and negligence caused too much pain for it to ever heal within this lifetime.

"It seems I can't find it in my heart to spare them, though I don't have any right to do so."

My eyes then landed on my friends. Their expressions mirrored my own disbelief.

The vast rectangular monitor floated at the center of the kitchen. The only sounds inside the room were the boiling soup on the stove and the continuous dripping of water from the sink. The noise repeatedly struck our ears, yet none of it distracted us from watching intently.

The screen rippled like liquid glass.

Within it, the battlefield unfolded in terrifying clarity—light and darkness continuously colliding. Vibrations shook the scene as gravity slammed into the fleet before shifting into stopped time itself.

No one spoke.

They only watched.

Until Keith's expression twisted into something I could barely explain.

He was frowning, but not out of anger or annoyance. His fists were clenched at his sides, yet there was no hostility in them.

I understood.

The reflection of the Sacred Flame flickered across his irises.

His frustration was obvious. He was trying to understand something he considered impossible.

My attention shifted toward another figure whose expression was just as bewildered.

Agnes unconsciously covered her mouth.

Blair had gone pale.

Samael's usually composed expression had cracked, his brows furrowed in genuine disbelief.

Aaron leaned forward slightly, as though proximity alone might help him understand what he was seeing.

On the screen, the Knight stepped through frozen time as though strolling across calm water.

It wielded gravity as if it were part of its body—something natural.

It bent space without strain.

And the Sacred Flame—

Samael swallowed hard.

"I gave it to him… so how?" he muttered.

Silence answered him.

Agnes slowly shook her head.

"I don't get it. I only granted a small fragment of my blessing. It was supposed to accelerate its movements, nothing more."

She was in complete disbelief.

I couldn't help but chuckle as she messed up her hair like a frantic witch.

She was utterly confused to the point she began moving erratically.

Manipulating time to that degree was something even I could only do to a limited extent, so I wasn't particularly shaken by it.

But then my expression changed as I recalled how space itself had bent to alter the trajectory of the sword strike.

Damn.

It was so smooth that I had been left staring with my mouth open.

I had no right to laugh at my friends now.

Aaron seemed to feel the same. Looking at him, I could tell he still hadn't recovered from the shock.

Blair's voice trembled.

"The blessing I gave was only a fragment. A defensive one meant to shield against distortion, not… not command it."

Samael narrowed his eyes.

"I… I only bestowed something meant to reinforce it. Just a layer of protection. Nothing more… but…"

He covered his face with one hand, clearly unable to process what he was seeing.

Blair exhaled sharply.

"I only gave that knight the ability to form simple thoughts. A fragment that would let it process information using Apollo's code as a blueprint." He paused. "It wasn't supposed to construct words."

"It shouldn't be capable of that."

My friends and I were practically having a mental breakdown as we tried to understand how such a being came to exist.

Yes, we had helped shape its existence.

But what we were witnessing…

Was not what we thought we had created.

I tightened my grip around the controller. I had been using it to send commands, but now—

It was moving on its own.

The knight had completely broken free from my control.

Just thinking about the possibilities exhausted me, yet the conclusion still felt impossible.

"What do you think, Jeremiah?"

{I am not certain yet. My analysis is incomplete. I have not gathered enough data to form a conclusion.}

I simply nodded.

Even I couldn't find anything useful.

The screen flickered violently, drawing our attention back.

There, we watched the two representatives of divine power clash once more.

Our Knight dissected Niccolo's attack mid-execution.

My mouth remained slightly open as I watched the speed of its analysis and execution—techniques I personally input into its code.

I couldn't help but gulp.

How?

"You know, I'm feeling a bit annoyed by the fact that it's better than me, even though I've had my blessing my entire life."

Blair commented bitterly, fully aware of how difficult it was to control the authority of Mystics.

"All of us struggle to use our powers," Samael murmured, "and yet…"

His eyes remained fixed on the screen.

"It's using them as if they were natural parts of itself."

Agnes stepped closer to the monitor, golden light washing across her face.

"To make things worse, the knight is refining them," she whispered. "It's using our blessings in creative ways. Removing inefficiencies and focusing only on what they can actually do."

On screen, the Knight shifted seamlessly from gravity to time, from space to flame, without the slightest delay between transitions.

To make matters even more unbelievable, there were no signs of backlash.

No physical exhaustion.

No spiritual strain.

Though perhaps that was because it was artificial. It's physique is capable of handling inhumane pressure.

The atmosphere shook once more as colliding divinities surged like endless rivers.

No resistance at all.

Aaron's jaw tightened.

Space was being manipulated to a magnitude far beyond his reach.

It filled him with doubt, yet he remained silent.

None of us spoke after that.

Because we already understood.

The artificial warrior we had deemed a weapon had become something far beyond our own capabilities.

That realization settled heavily within the room.

Samael stared at the Knight as it ignited Sacred Flame with flawless control. No wasted energy. No unnecessary movements.

The amber light reflected in his pupils, igniting a deep ambition within him.

I could tell.

He craved that level of mastery over his own blessing.

His gaze remained glued to the screen until he finally spoke to Keith.

"Somehow, we created something even more dangerous than this war."

Keith nodded slowly.

"And the fact that it doesn't have emotions to restrain it…" he muttered. "That thing is terrifying."

"…Say, Apollo," Blair suddenly asked, curiosity breaking through his disbelief. "Can bestowal blessings evolve on their own? Beyond the scale the giver originally intended?"

I shook my head.

"It shouldn't be possible. At least, not from what I know." I paused. "However… it could happen if a stronger existence interfered. Someone capable of controlling the blessing more completely than the one who granted it."

My explanation was met with silence.

But the implication spread through them immediately.

The Knight was powerful—yes.

But fragments alone should never have reached that level.

Unless—

Samael's eyes sharpened.

"Don't tell me… it's them?"

Keith turned toward him.

"But aren't they bound by the oath?"

The discussion shifted instantly because of the possibility I had raised.

The thought that the Gods themselves might have interfered created a question none of them could ignore.

Why only now?

They tried to find answers, their voices slowly filling the silence that had consumed the room.

Above us, however—

Beyond mortal perception—

Faint ripples of divine will pulsed across the heavens like distant lightning.

The Gods were watching.

They had not intervened directly because they had already chosen a champion to carry their will.

One that would end the war that should never have happened.