novelraw Chapter 544
Chapter 544
Just as Backtrack Water prepared to withdraw, he looked up—and froze.
Rowan Mercer was still there.
A translucent energy barrier surrounded him, intact. Untouched by the explosion.
The only thing truly destroyed was the five-clawed metal dragon, now shattered into countless fragments drifting in the air nearby.
So he survived.
Backtrack Water took a slow breath and clenched his fists. His magic was nearly exhausted, but his body remained. And his body alone was enough to stand among the strongest.
During their initial exchange, his physical strength had clearly surpassed Rowan’s. Creating that metal dragon had undoubtedly cost Rowan a great deal of power, and surviving the final detonation couldn’t have been cheap either.
He wouldn’t be able to summon another one.
There was still a chance.
"Restore."
Rowan lifted a hand.
Time folded.
The scattered metal fragments trembled, reversed, and snapped back into place. In seconds, the five-clawed metal dragon stood whole again beside him, flawless as if it had never been destroyed.
Backtrack Water stared.
The spell Rowan had used was a branch of time magic. Restoration through temporal regression. And Rowan’s control over it had reached an absurd level.
For him, repairing a shattered artifact was trivial.
He could have simply reassembled the fragments through force and reforged the dragon manually. But restoration was faster. Cleaner.
This was the advantage of having too many options. The same problem, solved effortlessly in multiple ways.
If Rowan hadn’t been testing his newly acquired refinement techniques, this fight would have ended long ago. Against someone like Backtrack Water, he didn’t even need to transform or rely on his inner realm.
He could have frozen time and killed him outright. Or invoked judgment magic to erase him instantly. Or overwhelmed him with pure annihilation.
Instead, he was experimenting.
"How is this possible...?"
Backtrack Water felt his composure crack.
But as a knight, he didn’t retreat.
With a roar, he charged the metal dragon barehanded.
Blood sprayed.
Claws tore into him. He struck back with raw force, smashing armor and tearing scales apart. His body was absurdly resilient. Stronger than most Saints had any right to be.
Rowan watched quietly.
"He really is stubborn," he muttered.
If it were Rowan, he would have fled the moment victory became impossible. Retreat, regroup, return stronger. Or bring allies.
Charging a rebuilt divine construct head-on was lunacy.
Still, the physical strength was impressive. Worth studying.
After a brutal exchange, Backtrack Water managed to shatter the metal dragon again—but he paid dearly. His body was broken, barely able to stand.
"Restore."
Rowan gestured once more.
The dragon reformed instantly.
Backtrack Water’s eyes widened.
"Fuck—"
He collapsed unconscious.
"Poor stress tolerance," Rowan said dryly.
He waved a hand, and Backtrack Water vanished into Rowan’s inner realm, sealed away for later study. Angelic rituals. Saintly worship. There was value there. Plenty of it.
Afterward, Rowan restored the dragon one final time, then adjusted the temporal anchor slightly.
The dragon dissolved.
The bridge reappeared in its original form, stretching calmly across the river as if nothing had happened.
Whether restoration returned the object to a dragon or a bridge depended entirely on how far Rowan rewound time.
He returned to his secluded room and didn’t immediately move against the remaining members of the Right Seat of God. First, he searched Backtrack Water’s memories.
Aleister’s intelligence had been incomplete.
If Rowan wanted a full picture of the Right Seat, this was the fastest way.
Backtrack Water wasn’t their leader.
That role belonged to Right Hand of Fire.
Which meant Right Hand of Fire was likely even stronger.
Strong enough that Rowan needed to be certain whether he was dealing with someone on Aleister’s level.
The memories flowed.
Backtrack Water’s life had been... complicated.
He hadn’t originally belonged to the Roman Orthodox Church. He was once a royal knight of Britain. He abandoned that title to save the Third Princess, lived as a mercenary, and ultimately joined the Right Seat to protect Britain from the shadows.
As for Right Hand of Fire—
He was far more dangerous.
He wielded the power of the Archangel Michael, aligned with fire, and possessed the Divine Right, a mythical authority capable of shattering planets if fully unleashed.
The reason Backtrack Water had come to Academy City was simple. Right Hand of Fire believed that with both the Imagine Breaker and the 103,000 grimoires, the Divine Right could be fully awakened.
His stated goal was world peace.
To correct inequality. To prevent tragedies born from coincidence and overlapping miracles. To make everyone happy.
Rowan frowned.
"Then why start a Third World War?"
Aleister’s version and Right Hand of Fire’s version didn’t match.
One of them was lying.
Rowan trusted Aleister more. If Aleister were lying, it would be exposed almost immediately. He had no reason to fabricate something so easily disproven.
Which meant Right Hand of Fire was likely deceiving his own people.
Backtrack Water had simply been a loyal knight—too rigid to question it.
"I’ll see it myself," Rowan decided. "Let’s find out what this Divine Right really is."
By Rowan’s estimate, even a perfected Divine Right wasn’t enough to threaten him. Shattering a planet wasn’t exactly impressive.
It wasn’t a universe.
And without the Imagine Breaker or the grimoires, Right Hand of Fire couldn’t access its full potential anyway.
Rowan vanished.
He reappeared inside St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.
"...Interesting."
His perception swept the cathedral, and he paused.
Below him, Right Hand of Fire was already fighting the Pope.
Not arguing.
Fighting.
It looked very much like an attempted coup.
Rowan stayed where he was.
Let them tear each other apart.
"Seems the old Pope has some teeth after all," Rowan said, watching with mild interest.