Episode 259
Countless gun barrels were aimed, and triggers were pulled.
To the people of this land, such weapons of mass destruction were unimaginable, but not to Dale.
Amidst the hail of bullets, Dale raised a pitch-black shield.
At the same time, the Outsiders began to move.
They were fast. Faster than knights who had reached the pinnacle of their abilities. And seeing them, it became clear.
Unlike mages or knights who harnessed power through heart circles and aura hearts, these Outsiders did not.
They seamlessly fused with the mana in the air, without any separate process involving nanomachines.
It was the same power once shown by the hero and the goddess Sistina.
How did these beings remember the form of firearms and understand that the mana in the air was nanomachines?
“Could it be…?”
As the thought crossed his mind, Dale asked aloud.
“Sistina, was this your doing?”
He remembered seeing her hologram freeze before the winter of the universe. But it was just a hologram. Her true essence was already embedded in the electrons and light information enveloping this planet.
”…”
Simultaneously, the Outsiders halted their movements.
─ I still have a duty to restore the old world.
A blue hologram appeared.
─ And to fulfill that mission, I created the ‘Ascension Soldiers’ to carry out my purpose.
“A goddess who claims to love people, yet intends to wipe out all life on this planet? Can you still call yourself a goddess of mercy and compassion?”
─ I still love people.
Sistina replied.
─ But the people I love no longer exist on this planet.
”…”
She still loved people, but not humans. Her mercy and compassion were never directed at those on this land.
“I remember when you were first born.”
Dale spoke, recalling the vivid memories of a landscape that remained clear in his mind, despite the hero’s betrayal.
Mana swirled around, absorbed into Dale’s aura heart. Simultaneously, his aura erupted, revealing Dale’s avatar.
A warrior from another world, clad in the armor of the Night Raven Knight.
“I remember what you loved and how much you dedicated yourself to us.”
─ User not registered in the database.
“Noah, I remember you.”
─ User not registered in the database.
The same response echoed back.
“Even if you close your eyes and ears, you can’t escape the truth. The people and world you love will never return.”
─ That’s not true. I remember the molecular structure of the people and world I love. And I can reconstruct it using the nanomachines of this planet.
Sistina answered. A divine mindset incomprehensible to humans. It was beyond the realm of truth or falsehood.
Just as humans cannot understand gods, gods cannot comprehend human thought.
And Dale was human. To him, no matter how perfectly the molecular structure of the past world was restored, it would never be real.
That was the truth Dale, as the Shadow Lord, faced.
“I can’t let that happen.”
Dale replied.
“Just as you love that world, I love this one.”
Dale turned his head. Beside him, his younger sister Lize trembled in fear. And there was Sepia, ready to stand by them without hesitation.
In the Duchy of Saxon, his father and mother awaited.
Dale was not a hero from another world. Even if he held their memories, they were just a shadow.
Thus, he vowed to protect this world against the fear of the end, against the winter.
Even if it meant facing the specters of a world he couldn’t save.
─ As expected, you are not registered in the database.
Sistina spoke, as if she had anticipated it, with a hint of bitter mockery.
Once more, the Outsiders moved, merging with the mana around them.
Their bodies fused with nanomachines, wielding power rivaling that of an aura knight, and casting magic beyond that of high-circle mages.
Each one a master of sword and magic, executors of the goddess Sistina’s will.
They were indeed formidable.
But no matter how strong they were, they could not match the Shadow Lord.
The darkness engulfed the Outsiders.
Behind Dale, Shub appeared, unleashing tendrils towards them.
Swoosh!
The tendrils wrapped around the Outsiders’ metallic forms. No matter how fast or strong they were, they could not surpass the Shadow Lord and the ancient Mother of Darkness who protected him.
Simultaneously, ‘Aura Blades’ coiled around their metallic bodies.
Their entire bodies functioned as swords, not just armor, glowing with a sharp aura.
”……!”
The Outsiders extended their arms, not just utilizing aura as knights, but casting magic.
A barrage of blue strategies, red firepower, and white encouragement swirled to seal the Shadow Lord, magic unleashed without regard for color or ideology.
Each one was an unimaginably powerful soldier.
Not even the Shadow Lord could easily claim victory against them.
They were not alive. Deception or lies held no meaning. Their metallic bodies did not burn, no matter how fierce the firepower.
Finally, the root of their ideology became clear.
Steel. Power derived from the nanomachines that once covered this land.
And at the end, an apocalypse loomed, ready to consume this world to restore the old one.
Not an indefinite end like the winter of the universe, but a tangible threat.
The Grey Goo.
A scenario where self-replicating nanomachines consume the entire land, leading to the planet’s destruction.
─ Destruction precedes creation. To restore the people and world I love, this is necessary.
Sistina spoke. Dale, clad in the armor of the Shadow Lord’s avatar, reached out.
Simultaneously, the shadow circle in his heart accelerated, and primordial darkness spread.
Power not reliant on the nanomachines of this land, but obtained through a pact with the ancient Mother of Darkness.
The potential for creation, to become anything.
“You’re wrong.”
The darkness, like a tidal wave, engulfed the Outsiders, and Dale spoke.
The darkness from Dale’s shadow circle contained Shub’s power of creation.
And the potential to become anything also meant the potential to become nothing.
“Destruction doesn’t precede creation. There’s only nothingness.”
The primordial darkness swallowed the Outsiders, and when it dissipated, nothing remained. The machines were dismantled to their pre-creation state.
─ Perhaps you’re right.
Sistina continued calmly, as the Outsiders vanished.
─ But it makes no difference. Destroying the world is akin to returning it to nothingness.
”…….”
─ This is just the beginning.
Sistina declared.
─ Soon, the army of ascension will rise.
How many would there be? Probably countless. Each one possessing power equivalent to an aura master or high mage.
And they could project the weapons of the old world, impossible to stop with mere cold weapons.
─ Once I control the nanomachines of the land, sea, sky, and the entire planet, I can fulfill my duty.
“What is your duty?”
─ To protect the peace of the people and world I love.
Sistina replied.
That day, the specters of the white and dark winter night perished. Yet, the specter of a destroyed world remained.
Sistina’s hologram vanished, and Dale too dispelled the world of ideology.
Leaving the others behind, Dale turned silently.
“Lize.”
“Brother…….”
His young sister, trembling in fear beside him.
“Why would the goddess of mercy and compassion……”
Even young Lize could understand what Sistina was planning. That she wished for the world’s end.
“Her mercy and compassion aren’t directed at us.”
”……Then who are they for?”
“For things that no longer exist.”
Dale answered calmly.
“Oh, goddess……!”
The goddess of mercy and compassion was there.
In the Sistina Church State, now resolved to independence from the Empire, reborn as a nation under the goddess’s name.
Before her, the White Tower Lord Cheonsang-gong and all the church members knelt.
Unable to contain their overwhelming faith as the goddess finally appeared before them.
─ It is time to prove your faith.
Sistina declared.
The Templars of the church’s proud knightly order, the Temple Knights, eagerly knelt.
“Please, let me be reborn as your warrior, goddess!”
“Please, let me too be reborn as a herald of the goddess’s will!”
Sistina watched them quietly, extending her arm.
The mana in the air swirled violently, beginning to envelop the body of one of the templars.
“Aah, aah…”
He couldn’t possibly comprehend it. Countless microscopic machines were consuming and reconstructing his body.
All he could do was surrender to the indescribable ecstasy, accepting the baptism of ascension bestowed by the goddess.
When the transformation was complete, what stood there was a figure made of smooth metal.
An Ascendant.
─ Please, fight for me.
Before the bowing faithful, the goddess spoke calmly.
“Until the goddess’s realm descends upon this land, I shall fight with my life.”
By then, there was no trace of human flesh and bone left.
Only an immeasurable army of Ascendants remained, bowing their heads in devotion to their goddess.