novelraw Chapter 170 : Chapter 170
Chapter 170 : Chapter 170
Chapter 170
A being awakened with the birth of the world.
From the moment she gained consciousness, she was a Transcendent .
[Silvana.]
The Transcendents around her called her that.
Spending a long time with them, she instinctively realized her position and power.
At the same time, she recognized that there existed life forms of a much lower class than themselves in the world.
Mortals .
Though their innate appearances and personalities varied, they all had one thing in common.
They were finite.
The short lives of mortals were always filled with busily moving somewhere, clashing and bickering with each other.
Silvana watched them as they struggled for survival.
Even their desperate lives, which they claimed were changing the world, were merely a pitiful shackle in the eyes of a Transcendent like her.
Mortals would live and perish, and another mortal would take their place, continuing the cycle.
However, among them, there was one species that caught her eye.
Elves.
These beings were born with long lifespans for mortals, but their proliferation was slow.
They were exceptionally mysterious and quiet life forms, living in small groups within the forest.
Their lives, though humble, were not vulgar, and this sparked her interest.
Around that time, an unwholesome game spread among the Transcendents.
An infinite life was bound to have periods that approached with boredom.
While there were Transcendents who couldn't bear the boredom and took their own lives or disappeared after conflicts.
A few Transcendents, to escape their boredom, sought new stimulation by intervening in the world of mortals.
To them, the mortals naturally became a ‘plaything’.
When mortals faced the true form of a god, they could not handle the difference in status and would perish, and a few Transcendents began to enjoy this.
They would transform into the likeness of mortals and infiltrate their ranks, only to lay waste to their world in an instant.
A civilization collapsed in the blink of an eye.
A species went extinct, unable to leave behind descendants.
Watching such gods, Silvana clicked her tongue.
[What a vulgar act, unbefitting of their status.]
To break helpless beings for sport.
Was it not a pathetic act, to the point of being ashamed to share the same status?
[What a bunch of pathetic beings.]
She whispered as if finding them pathetic.
And she simply watched indifferently as other Transcendents moved busily to find amusement in the world of mortals.
How much time had passed like that?
A variant appeared among the species called human.
[Adamas.]
A mortal who had awakened the power called mana, scattered throughout the atmosphere.
A power the gods knew of but had felt no need to use.
He mastered the potential he had discovered.
[An interesting vermin has been born, hasn't it?]
A god who found his existence interesting approached him.
He was a god known among the others for his cruel execution of mortals.
The gods expected that this mortal, too, would become a god's plaything, unable to even die with his limbs torn off, and she was no different.
But not even a day had passed.
[…]
For the first time, an incident occurred where a being called a God was annihilated by another being.
Adamas, the God-Slayer.
The one called a variant quickly became famous among the gods.
“Humans are not toys.”
After that, several more gods attempted to contact him.
Those who had a relationship with the annihilated god sought revenge.
Those who had questioned their own existence sought to justify the death of a god.
Those who valued authority went to him to inflict divine punishment on a lowly mortal.
And without exception.
They all met the same result of annihilation.
By that point, even the gods who had been watching with leisure recognized the gravity of the situation.
A mortal who could bring a Transcendent to annihilation.
[A lowly mutation.]
It started as a minor reaction from someone.
But it soon became a great wave.
[Mana? The energy overflowing in Mother Nature?]
[Do you defy a god with such a mere trick?]
Some, out of resentment for the annihilation of their kind.
Some, feeling a sense of crisis that what was impossible was no longer impossible.
And others, finding amusement in the unforeseen situation.
Gods, united for various reasons, sought out the one mortal.
But the power of mana he wielded had already reached the realm of Authority.
When several more gods were subsequently annihilated.
The ‘Lord’, who led the host of gods, gained insight into the situation.
[Killing is not the only way.]
He said there was a way to inflict pain greater than death without killing.
One god agreed.
Another god consented.
A considerable number of gods accepted the ‘Lord’s’ idea.
Soon, the blacksmith god melted down hundreds of Authorities to create a single blade.
And a battle between Transcendents and a mortal ensued.
In the ensuing clashes, Adamas could not withstand the barrage of the gods' Authorities that poured down like a cannonade.
Even after being slammed into the ground.
[You shall not receive the blessing of oblivion.]
He resisted desperately even as his vaunted mana was being offset by hundreds of Authorities.
[You shall live in frozen time.]
He could not cast off the shackles of a mortal.
[Spend eons in agony.]
And in the end, he was sealed in the cold blade, roaring.
“Detestable bastards.”
His eyes were blinded upon facing the Lord's true form.
“If the day ever comes when this seal is broken.”
And though his human body was burned away as the price for facing so many divinities.
“I will tear every last one of you to shreds!”
He shouted without the slightest intimidation.
But in the end, all that was left before the gods was a blade engraved with their Authorities.
[I shall keep this.]
No one questioned the Lord’s words.
Having achieved their goal, the gods scattered once more to the corners of the world.
However, they did not know.
That the influence scattered by a single human had newly transformed the world.
***
A change came over Silvana.
The biggest turning point was that she began to feel boredom.
An emotion not strange to befall a being who lives an infinite life.
She was not unaware that this change had begun with the existence of a mutant mortal.
After the mutant named Adamas was sealed, she had not heard what the Lord had done with that blade.
Instead, she had only heard a rumor somewhere that the power of mana had begun to spread among the mortals.
In any case, she could not allow herself to be consumed by boredom and die.
Nor did she feel the desire to play with humans like livestock.
After contemplating for hundreds of years, Silvana transformed into the form of an Elf.
Her body, turned mortal, seemed to become one with nature, dyeing the surrounding air with a subtle divine power.
Her long golden hair scattered softly, and her green eyes held a tranquility that seemed to pierce the very earth.
As she slowly raised her arms, a wind imbued with life swirled around her before touching the ground.
Divine power bloomed from her fingertips and seeped into the ground, and from there, life began to grow.
[O earth, reclaim the life you have lost.]
As she whispered, small buds grew from beneath her feet.
At first, they were tiny blades of grass that bloomed.
Swoosh.
As her mana seeped into the earth, the buds grew rapidly, transforming into large trees.
The trees instantly stretched their branches towards the sky, and their leaves swayed, forming a green sea.
Soon, the surroundings began to transform into a lush forest.
Vines stretched between the trees, connecting them, and moss and grass grew densely on the ground.
Warm sunlight poured down from the sky, and wherever her touch reached, life blossomed.
Small animals peeked their heads out from between the grasses, and birds chirped from the treetops, flying towards her.
The forest created by Silvana was in perfect harmony with the world.
Her divine power filled the forest with vibrant energy.
Decades passed since the sudden appearance of the forest.
The wary Elves also began to flock to the forest she had created, one by one, and settled down.
The Elves revered her, calling her the ‘God of the Forest’.
After several more decades, the forest she had created began to be called Elvenheim.
[…]
Silvana was looking at the sky.
The mortals were pursuing development in their own ways, changing the world.
The development of civilization was beginning even without her doing anything.
She was merely lying down, observing it with indifference.
A clear sky spread above her head, and the occasional breeze confirmed her existence.
Then, a strange energy stirred in the quiet surroundings.
[…]
Silvana did not even feel the need to get up.
She already knew who the visitor was.
Cronis, who governed ‘Time’.
A Transcendent like her, who possessed a special ability among the other gods.
[You look bored, don't you?]
Cronis, who had taken the form of an Elf like Silvana, looked down at her from above and spoke.
[…]
She felt no need to answer and ignored him, continuing to gaze at the sky.
But Cronis did not give up.
[Why have you taken the form of an Elf?]
He asked again.
[I thought you had no particular interest in mortals.]
Thinking it would become troublesome if she ignored him further, Silvana reluctantly answered.
[Just because.]
It was a light answer, carrying no particular meaning.
Indeed, the form of an Elf was just one of the forms she had chosen.
Cronis was silent for a moment, then nodded.
[Why have you come?]
She asked.
Cronis answered as if he had been waiting for that question.
[I saw the future.]
[The future, you say.]
Silvana narrowed her eyes.
The ability to see the future, that was a power closer to foresight than insight.
Cronis shook his head and said.
[No, this is different from foresight.]
[You're as talkative as ever today.]
Unlike his usually quiet demeanor, it was a characteristic of Cronis to talk endlessly once he started.
Silvana intended to pay no mind to his words, letting them be like the passing wind.
But this time, it was a little different.
[So. What brings you here?]
Cronis smiled.
[I came to inform you of your end.]
At those words, Silvana paused for a moment.
[…]
She briefly thought about what she should say.
As if he had no intention of waiting for an answer, Cronis continued.
[It will also be our end.]
It was a calm voice.
As if speaking of a fate that had been decided long ago.
Her mind became complicated.
A slight annoyance welled up.
She did not like this kind of joke.
[What do you say, Silvana.]
Cronis extended his hand.
[About the end of the gods, I wish to tell you what I have seen.]
That she would die.
That the gods would meet their end.
They were all words that were hard to believe.
As she was wondering how to react to such an absurd story.
[Will you spare me a moment of your time?]
Cronis’s hand was still extended towards her.
She had no choice.
She slowly stood up and took his hand.
[I don't intend to let it slide if you spout nonsense.]
Various emotions were embedded in her indifferent words.
[Of course. It will be more interesting than lying still and gazing at the sky.]
Cronis showed a confident smile.
That she would come to learn that his appearance was like that of the Elven kings was a matter for a later time.