novelraw Chapter 214 : The Changing History of the Continent (1)
Chapter 214 : The Changing History of the Continent (1)
Chapter 214: The Changing History of the Continent (1)
Chwaaaaak!
Raion immediately leaped straight into the gap and split apart the wind that Luseo had raised.
“Is that irritating to you?”
“What a strange thing, doing something so pointless.”
As the Demon King Luseo said that, pitch-black energy billowed from his entire body like smoke.
Chwaaaaaaak!
The smoke spread in all directions, making one feel a terrifying presence.
[Tip : A world crisis has arrived.]
[Tip : The Goddess’s help is required.]
[Tip : The Goddess forcibly opens the gate.]
“……What?”
This time, there were not even any choices.
As the notification window closed, it felt as if the air of the sky itself began to vibrate.
Dudududududu―!
“Is a lofty being really coming in person?”
Perhaps amused by something, Luseo’s lips curved slightly upward.
Then, a rift formed in the sky, and a brilliant light burst forth, shattering outward like fragments of glass.
Chwaang!
Clusters of multicolored light leaked out through the gap.
‘She’s really appearing? I thought a being like that couldn’t interfere with the Middle Realm.’
As I guessed that my power was the Goddess’s blessing, countless thoughts passed through my mind.
Was an existence like the Goddess truly all right? If she was a being that truly existed……
‘Why did she bring me back to the past?’
That question had followed me relentlessly ever since I regressed.
However, back then, there had not been even a trace that hinted at an answer, so I had pushed it aside.
And now, the present was different from back then.
‘The safety of the Middle Realm? Or a personal objective?’
Most of the continent was already in ruins due to the Demon Race’s influence.
Most notably, the imperial capital had suffered tremendous damage. The very existence known as the Demon King had been created from the bodies and souls of the Empire’s people……
In the meantime, something crossed over through the shimmering rift where dozens of colors flickered.
Starting from pale toes, then calves, then thighs. Fluttering golden fabric wrapped around the body.
What slowly revealed itself was a woman.
She let silvery hair that seemed to reflect light flow long past her waist.
Tiring!
[Tip : Due to the absence of the administrator, the system will shut down.]
The contents of the suddenly appearing notification window explained everything.
[Administrator ＝ Goddess]
The two existences were one and the same.
The doubt I had questioned countless times was resolved with ease.
But the problem started now.
Why had the Goddess, who had remained silent until now, appeared here…… And the reason was not difficult to discern.
“Kuh!”
With a surging sensation welling up in my chest, I dropped to one knee.
It was because most of the mana that had been rapidly circulating through my Aura Circle drained away in an instant.
It had not been something I had intended myself. The destination of that mana was the entrance through which the being presumed to be the Goddess had just emerged.
‘Did I open that gate with my own power?’
In the blink of an eye, the amount of mana that had surpassed even the Demon Realm’s nobles by several times plummeted to one-twentieth.
Of course, even that was still extraordinarily high by the standards of an ordinary human.
However, as the mana drained rapidly, it struck directly at my vital energy and blood.
‘So this was what you rapidly grew my power for!’
My teeth trembled.
Meanwhile, the being presumed to be the Goddess slowly opened her closed eyes.
Even such a simple action carried overwhelming authority, creating a suffocating silence.
[I am an ancient existence. I govern the sun and blessings. The suffering and sacrifice of my children have called me forth.]
The Goddess spoke not with a direct voice, but as if her words resonated inside one’s head.
They were clearly conveyed even to me, standing far away.
‘Called you? What bullshit……!’
As a sense of foreboding crept over me.
The Demon King Luseo Dicanderon leaped toward the Goddess.
In an instant, the heights of the two beings became equal.
“I did not expect the Goddess Zigasis to appear here in person.”
[……King of the Demon Realm, you have committed a grave sin. This land is one upon which our protection descends. How dare you spill blood here, beyond your own land.]
“Are you really asking because you do not know?”
[The meaning of existence lies in the land where you were born. To step beyond it is an act that disrupts balance. Coveting what you cannot possess cannot become a reason.]
Zigasis gazed at Demon King Luseo with the same lofty expression.
In response, the air trembled as if it might tear apart under the surge of Luseo’s enraged energy.
“We were not born there from the beginning! Did you not make us that way!”
[We, too, merely follow the choice of the Supreme Deity.]
“Zigasis! The Demon God told me. That the one who made us fall there was you!”
The gently lifted corners of Zigasis’s lips drooped and stiffened.
[Everything is the Supreme Deity’s choice.]
“Heh heh heh, are you toying with the Supreme Deity? Or is the Goddess deceiving the Supreme Deity?”
[I do not heed empty words. Do not insult the Supreme Deity.]
“Cut the useless talk. I am Luseo Dicanderon. And as the body of one blessed by the Goddess, I declare this!”
As his shout continued, Zigasis’s expression hardened beyond stiffness and twisted into something ferocious.
[How dare you—! Defy the Supreme Deity’s choice! Do you intend to break the established laws!]
Zigasis’s voice, layered dozens of times over, resounded thunderously.
Even so, Luseo did not stop and continued speaking.
“With the blood and souls of my kin as offerings, I reject your blessing! Thus, the sin of betrayal leaves my hands and turns toward the one who bestowed the blessing!”
[This is a forbidden decree! One that no one may overturn!]
As the two clashed, I, who had been kneeling on one side, felt not only my mana but even my stamina being drained away.
Even the power that remained while the Goddess stayed was flowing out through me.
‘What am I, some kind of battery!’
From what I could tell, the Demon King’s true objective had been the Goddess Zigasis from the very beginning.
The conquest or destruction of the continent had merely been part of the plan to achieve that goal.
Of course, to me now, even that was not important.
‘If my stamina and life force keep draining like this, I’ll die!’
Zigasis had used me as a sacrifice to manifest herself in the Middle Realm.
Naturally, I did not want to be used like that.
‘……Is there no way? If only I hadn’t even received the Goddess’s blessing…!’
At that moment, something crucial flashed through my mind.
Another ability that had bloomed along with regression. It might also have been planted by the Goddess, but it could still be a possibility.
“Ex, extract(抽出)!”
I clutched my own chest with my palm and shouted.
“Ex…, blessing!”
As the shout I had decided upon after much deliberation rang out, the notification window that should have remained silent appeared.
Tiring―!
[Do you wish to extract(抽出) the designated target?]
“Yes!”
[It is a part of the soul. It may greatly affect life. Do you wish to proceed?]
“I do!”
[Proceeding.]
It was already as good as decided.
Along with my reply, I saw the system’s response.
Then, I felt my entire body growing hot.
“Aaaaaaah―!”
At that moment, the eyes of Zigasis, who had been loftily floating in the air, turned savage as they fixed on me.
[How dare you! How dare someone try to discard the blessing received from me!]
“Guh! Wh-whether I throw it away or not is my choice. You gave it without any choice to begin with!”
Even as my voice trembled, I felt the energy draining from my body.
Was this what it felt like for flesh and bone to be separated while consciousness remained awake?
“I never wanted this kind of power in the first place!”
[Who do you think made a soul that did not belong to this world grow strong!]
“What? Didn’t belong?”
[That is precisely why I chose you! An alien soul! A soul that flowed in from outside! It did not belong to this world at all!]
For an instant, doubt arose within me.
Because I had believed that returning to the past had also been the Goddess’s power.
But considering the conversation so far…… it seemed that the Goddess Zigasis knew nothing at all about regression.
She appeared to regard me as nothing more than a soul that had crossed over from another world.
“So that’s why you chose me?”
[Of course! The more alien the soul, the greater its greed for power!]
It was not wrong.
When I had lived for long years in another world and then returned to my former homeland of a world, I had yearned to become stronger than anyone else.
“……When did you choose me?”
[When you first awakened my blessing! To one who is unprepared, it becomes nothing but poison!]
“You must be referring to the Aura of White Lightning Flash.”
[What use is realizing that now. No one may discard my blessing at will!]
At that moment, the energy being extracted from my body began to cling back to me.
Pure white energy extended long, mucous-like tendrils and latched onto me.
‘This is the Goddess of the sun and blessings? Isn’t she just an obsessively unhinged woman?’
The aura of the enraged Goddess Zigasis was like fire.
Even in the energy draining from my body, heat like the Goddess’s wrath was transmitted.
“Extract(抽出)!”
I gathered my strength once more and hurled it out with everything I had. Not just my voice.
I poured it out to the utmost, using a portion of my rapidly diminishing life force.
[What this Goddess Zigasis has given cannot be discarded at will!]
“Whether I throw it away or not is my choice! And I never needed it!”
If all my power had been given by the Goddess, I might have hesitated somewhat.
But she herself had said that the power she gave began with the ‘Aura of White Lightning Flash’.
Until then, everything had been achieved purely through my own effort.
[This world is in danger! With the Demon King’s invasion, it is heading toward destruction! You could endure because you had my blessing. Without even that, this world is finished!]
After anger came persuasion. Of course, it did not work on me at all.
“That’s for me to deal with! So, y-you just get lost!”
[Do you truly think you can survive after doing this!]
“That’s none of my business.”
At last, the divine blessing that had clung to me like a leech completely separated from me.
At the same time, I clenched my teeth against pain worse than before, until my strength was drained.
Meanwhile, the divine blessing escaped from me and shot back like an arrow to the Goddess Zigasis, who was hovering in the sky.
‘What is this, some kind of parasite…….’
It looked just like a leech that had been stuck to its prey fleeing back to its host.
The pain gradually subsided.
Then, the enraged Goddess Zigasis let out a shrill scream.
[Because of you, this world will race toward its end!]
The rift through which Zigasis had passed began to convulse.
At last, the surface of the rift burst outward again like shards of glass, and beams of light extended out and seized her.