The Light of the Beginning (5)
Boom! Crash—!
Thunder erupted from within the mist, sending shards of debris flying in all directions.
The remnants of what was once a colossal throne scattered like pebbles on a street.
Their short flight under the celestial dome ended with a splash as they plunged into the dark waters below.
Splash! Whoosh!
The fragments sent up a spray of water. Dalen shook off the droplets from his sword.
“A fine blade.”
Even after cleaving the evil god’s throne in two, the dragonbone sword remained unscathed, not a single tooth missing.
Its broad, sturdy guard and the long handle, which felt secure even when wet, were testament to its craftsmanship.
Even for Lveron Ahakim, renowned as a master of mithril, it must have taken painstaking effort to work the bones and byproducts of a great dragon to this extent.
This masterpiece, crafted from the bones of dragons slain by the Holy Knights, was comparable to the sacred sword Tortanis, which the dragonslayer himself had modified.
“I’ll have to pay him back when I return.”
He swung the sword lightly and looked up.
Before him lay a spectacle of countless stars adorning the celestial sphere, debris scattered everywhere, and a thick mist blooming like flowers.
The spot where the massive black throne once stood was now obscured by fog.
Yet, despite the throne’s destruction, the evil god was not dead. Dalen could sense its presence, diffused within the mist.
[Dalen. I sense movement.]
“I see it.”
With the warning from his spear, his senses sharpened. His right foot slid back, his left foot forward.
This astral throne was Enaxagus’s stronghold.
In the heart of enemy territory, even if victory seemed within reach, a single moment of carelessness could spell the end.
Just because the throne, isolated like an island on the dark sea, was shattered, didn’t mean the evil god’s power, spread across the entire infernal realm, would vanish.
At that moment, a pale hand began to part the mist from within.
Ssshh—
He immediately leveled his sword.
The creature was a master of spells, rivaling the dragon gods.
And the most effective way to deal with a spellcaster had long been established.
Whether they chant or weave signs, the key is to strike before the spell is cast.
Splash—
Three concentric circles formed on the water’s surface.
[Heh.]
As the mist dispersed, laughter echoed from behind him.
[Dalen! Behind you…]
Prepared, he reacted swiftly. As he turned, twelve violet beams shot toward him from behind.
───────
He spun, deflecting six.
─────┤!!!
He raised his sword, deflecting three more.
Ssshh— Fwoosh!
With Arvor’s chains, he caught one. With the spear’s flames, he consumed two.
Blue frost froze the magic, repelling it, while crimson flames swallowed the beams whole.
The red and blue powers clashed with the violet, creating a destructive rainbow. Through the shimmering droplets, the evil god’s form emerged.
[Yes. I expected you to block that. Then—]
Three more steps.
The figure vanished.
Feeling a chilling intent pressing from above, he quickly looked up.
The stars that had been drifting in the night sky suddenly halted.
··· ··· ··· ··· ···.
Amidst the tens of thousands of glimmers, a silent symphony of malice and curses unfolded.
/＼/＼/＼/＼/＼
The hostility, stretching beyond the horizon, pricked his skin.
”…Damn it.”
Was this what it felt like to be rejected by the world he stood upon?
As he forced a curse through his constricted lungs, the stars and sea simultaneously shimmered.
The celestial stars shot down beams of light in straight lines.
From the violet-tinted sea, threatening magic surged forth.
‘Dodging is impossible.’
In the split second he dissected time, he made his decision.
The entire visible space was filled with an onslaught. There was no room to move. Any step would result in being crushed by the world.
Thump.
It didn’t matter. The absence of space could be carved out.
Thump.
He felt his heart pounding fiercely for the first time in a while.
Gripping his sword with both hands, he took a deep breath.
Hoo.
Just like when he faced the grand archbishop possessed by a demon long ago.
Just like when he tore apart the demon that corrupted the holy knight in the labyrinth.
The breath he gathered filled his lungs with oxygen and magic.
The searing heat spread through his veins, reaching every muscle fiber in his body.
Using the boiling dragon’s blood and bones as a foundation, pure power erupted explosively from his toes.
Boom━━━
His step crushed the violet magic of the sea.
Crack━━━━━━━!
The tip of his sword shattered the descending starlight.
A blinding darkness flashed before his eyes.
A deafening silence filled the surroundings.
Beyond the suppressed sea and shattered starlight, the true form of the evil god, resembling a giant larva, was revealed.
Hundreds of pale hands hung limply. The creature spoke.
[…Have you truly surpassed divinity?]
The evil god’s voice trembled slightly.
Its mask-like face gazed intently at Dalen’s sword.
Faint smoke rose from the blade, and the shattered starlight scattered like dust around it.
To withstand the world’s power head-on with a single strike… The evil god shook its head, muttering.
[Fine. I admit it. You are stronger than I am.]
”······.”
[But no matter how strong you are, you cannot kill me. I am one with this hell. This infinite world is my true form.]
There was no response. Dalen simply walked toward it, sword lowered.
With each slow step, the evil god’s expression twisted further.
[Even if you tear my flesh and shatter my soul, it won’t matter. As long as even a fragment of this hell exists, I will rise again…]
“Then I just need to erase this place.”
[…What?]
Dalen stopped in his tracks. The evil god halted its retreat, shivering.
“You said the problem is the hell you’ve merged with. So if I erase it, you’ll disappear too.”
[What are you thinking…]
“It’s not difficult. When worlds collide head-on, they inflict irreversible damage on each other.”
Before it could respond, he swung his sword.
Starlight fragments scattered from the blade, and the mist crumpled like paper at its tip.
───━━━
It was a familiar sense of dislocation.
The boundary of the world crumbled and tore, as the laws and order of another world seeped in.
──━━│││
The air heated and cooled.
Bubbles within floating droplets sank downward.
The sea surface bubbled and boiled, and the starry sea began to crack.
[You…!]
┃┃││││┃┃
「Domain Descent」
「The Light of the Beginning Shining on the Snowy Mountain」
A pillar of light first illuminated the darkness.
「The Closed Sky of the Snowy Mountain」
Dark clouds erased the starlight.
「The Waterfall Rising in Reverse」
The sea water, defying gravity, surged upward.
「The Ashen Sky at the End」
From the horizon, an ashen hue spread.
「The Bicolor Dragon」
「The Thunderous Sea that Swallowed Hell」
「The Frost Guardian Above the Sky」
「The Dragon’s Breath Scattering in the Forge」
Dragons of lightning and flame swam through a sea of multicolored lightning.
From the forge that broke through the frozen sea, tens of thousands of weapons poured forth.
In the unrestrained unfolding of the domain, the celestial sphere shattered, and the sea of darkness began to vanish.
Amidst the collapsing world, the evil god, mouth agape, shouted.
[Do you… do you know the price of what you’re doing? Are you aware of what you’re unleashing?]
The evil god’s voice was unstable. As the hell collapsed, it too was losing its original form.
Its limbs, thin and brittle like branches in a drought, crumbled. The heavy larva-like body melted away.
[What is divinity? It is called god because it moves the world at will. And you intend to collide with that world head-on? It’s not just my hell that will be destroyed!]
Dalen silently watched the creature’s disintegrating form. He knew as well.
What happens when domains collide. The results when different laws and orders clash.
[Your world will collapse too! Your hierarchy, your domain!]
Scars left on the real world, not shadows, do not fade.
Some peaks of the snowy mountain, which clashed with Dalen’s domain in the labyrinth, remained collapsed.
If the opening of a domain overlays a shadow, descent moves the real body.
The power of a god moving the world comes with a price.
[Do you not realize the value? Everything you’ve built will crumble!]
“Of course it’s a waste, you bastard.”
The evil god froze. Dalen chuckled.
“I’ve been through hell in this damned medieval land. Especially because of you.”
It’s not that he felt no regret.
Regret wasn’t entirely absent.
Yet, Dalen’s decision remained unchanged. He tilted his head back, gazing skyward.
“I’ve seen the outcome.”
His eyes pierced through the dark, stormy clouds and the tumultuous sea of lightning, beyond the celestial sphere where stars danced, to the inverted landscape of the great hell.
Above the four hells merged into one, hundreds of people were locked in a desperate struggle.
Heroes, each unlocking their own domains, drawing forth their power.
Ignoring injuries and death, they faced the infernal armies, each world line reaching its own conclusion.
“I’ve seen the results of wrong choices. Hundreds of times.”
Some fell without ever gaining the strength to protect anything, but not all met a powerless end.
There were those who gained the power to move mountains, who achieved the feat of slaying gods in human form.
Yet, they too were tragic figures. Despite their power, they could protect nothing, becoming the protagonists of even more miserable endings.
There were times when they survived beyond the world’s destruction, except for the necromancer and the war god’s cycles.
But finding no purpose in a ruined world, they abandoned further growth and deleted their characters.
“I grew stronger to protect, not to survive alone in a destroyed world.”
[…]
“I can’t repeat the same mistake. Right?”
The end for those who lost sight of their purpose was always tragic.
It was the same on Earth in his past life.
Among those who amassed wealth they could never spend and endless fame, how many were consumed by depression and despair?
Many endured days soaked in alcohol and drugs, eventually driven to end their own lives.
”…Yes.”
The evil god, whose body had completely crumbled, spoke.
It was not at its peak. Inside the melted shell, something the size of a human writhed, speaking in a human voice.
“I acknowledge your resolve. But human, I’m not talking about power. I’m talking about your life.”
“Hmm?”
“Have you forgotten that a domain is a vessel for power? Where do you think power without a vessel will go? Do you think your fragile body can withstand the pressure of that power…!”
“Well.”
Dalen shrugged. He spoke.
“We’ll see.”
His words were quiet, almost a murmur. Footsteps followed, as if on cue.
Crimson hair fluttered in the wind. It had been a while since he’d seen her in battle attire.
“Dalen.”
“Camelia.”
“This time, I won’t ask again. I am your spear.”
“The cliff where the reborn ancient dragon rests.”
The woman wielding the spear transformed into the shape of a giant dragon.
“The echo of spirits spreading through the graveyard.”
Hundreds of thousands of souls soared toward the starlight with a wailing cry.
“The black sun that burns the mortal world.”
The black sun cast an ominous twilight, reaching even the four hells united across the sea.
At some point, Dalen found himself standing on solid ground. Snow crunched beneath his feet. It was a snowy mountain.
”…Negotiation. Let’s negotiate.”
The evil god spoke. Inside the melted body, a human figure stood.
Dalen shrugged again and drew his sword. He walked toward the figure without a word.
“What do you want? It’s not wealth or fame, is it? You’ve already ascended to divinity, so it can’t be immortality. How about the pure love of women? Or wisdom to unravel the mysteries of the world and see beyond?”
The evil god, now fully revealed as a well-built young man, gestured passionately, wearing a pitch-black mask.
“Alright, then something else. You came from another world, didn’t you? How about a way to return there? Creating a passage between worlds is a challenge even for me, but with you, it might be possible.”
His retreating steps left long tracks in the snow.
Of course, Dalen’s steps also left tracks in the snow.
Naturally, his forward pace was faster than the other’s retreat. The distance between them quickly closed to within a dozen steps.
“Wait! Don’t think this is a solution! Hell is the sediment of humanity’s sins and malice. It’s a cycle that can’t be ended with mere force!”
Five steps.
The retreating young man stumbled and fell.
“My true form is as it is because of that. Just like Temomron and Sume, our origin is humanity’s sins… Agh!”
Three steps.
The sword’s tip traced an arc.
The severed foot could no longer push against the ground.
The young man’s back sank into the snow.
“As long as humans… continue to fall, evil will always return.”
“I know.”
”…What?”
One step.
The sword’s tip plunged into the ground.
The young man, his lungs and heart severed, screamed silently.
His empty hand groped at his waist. The axe was still there.
“You guys died once thousands of years ago. Even if I kill you now, similar ones will appear in a few thousand years.”
He stopped walking.
His hand moved at his waist.
A long bone handle protruded from the young man’s forehead. It was a dragonbone axe.
“Someone else will handle it then. Whether it’s a game or a novel, whatever.”
”······.”
“Won’t the Well of Reversal take care of it? I don’t need to know everything, do I?”
No answer came.
Dalen sat down heavily in the snow.
His backside quickly grew cold and damp. He considered entering the nearby cabin but decided against it.
It was just an empty cabin with no firewood, only a few pieces of moldy jerky.
He sighed deeply and looked up at the sky, seeing the dark clouds. Above them was the sea of lightning, the black sun, and the star-filled celestial sphere.
Rumble…
Thunder echoed.
As worlds overlapped, various landscapes collided and vanished, creating the sound.
A flash of light would send a fistful of dark clouds flying. Another flash would take a handful of the starry sea. Yet another would claim a spire of the Palace of Ruin. A peak of the ash-colored snowy mountain.
The flashes continued for a while, almost tediously. Until his cold, damp backside became comfortably warm and damp.
After some time, all the flashes ceased.
━━━━━━━
A bright light filled his vision.
The world formed from countless thoughts, and the great hell formed from countless sins.
As the two worlds completely overlapped, the light that burst forth was white.
Like the screen at the start of a game.