Chapter 224
Chapter 224
Chapter 224
New Phase (1)
"…You're going to surrender?"
"Yes."
A beauty with long purple hair.
She had quite a different feel from Yev….
No, before that, I couldn't adapt at all to seeing the disgusting monster that had been writhing with tentacles transform like this.
"Why would you surrender? Krakar is dead, but it's not like you've completely lost your chances of victory, right?"
"It's meaningless. Without Krakar, even if we win, we can't close the door to the middle realm. And what comes after that is impossible too."
Rudian understood Ktuna's words.
Even if they annihilated Rudian and his forces and took over the planet, what would follow next was interference from the heavens.
No matter how little interest the heavens had in earthly affairs, if a major fire broke out in their neighborhood below, they would at least take a look.
'This planet's very existence is the only passage through which beings from the heavens can descend. Ktuna alone wouldn't be able to block that passage with her power….'
It was reasonably logical.
Only reasonably so.
"But I still don't understand. If you waged war aiming for hegemony, that means you were prepared for annihilation, yet you're giving up this easily?"
To that, Ktuna answered very simply.
"Because I think I can survive by staying next to you."
"……."
Who said they'd accept you?
Seeing Rudian's dumbfounded expression, Ktuna continued speaking calmly.
"Now you'll have your final battle with Berus. The alien forces under my command won't interfere with your fight, at the very least."
"…If you're going to say that, shouldn't you first do something about the ones swarming toward the planet?"
At those words, Ktuna's gaze turned toward the Water God.
The Water God understood that look and nodded.
—Fine, if you truly swear surrender, I'll open the path.
"I swear."
Ktuna promptly declared her oath.
It seemed she couldn't even contact the outside due to the special nature of the Water God's secret place.
In an instant, the pressure of water force on Rudian's body loosened, and simultaneously, he felt the barrier with the outside world considerably relax.
During that time, Ktuna began moving her mouth and muttering something in an alien language.
After moving her lips for a while, Ktuna turned her gaze back to Rudian.
"I've conveyed my will to the lesser gods within my sphere of influence. Krakar intended to sacrifice all our forces to destroy the planet if he died, but I have a slightly different opinion."
Unlike Krakar, who had been quite emotional, Ktuna was a ruthless realist.
"I don't necessarily have to kill Berus with my own hands."
'Terrifyingly persistent.'
That wasn't something that could be seen as mere ambition.
Unless she had a personal grudge against Berus….
"I'm quite useful. I'll be of great help to your plans."
"Ugh…!"
Rudian couldn't hide his complicated feelings and let out a groan.
"What do you plan to do if I don't accept your surrender?"
"Since I've been abandoned by Mother, even if we return to outer space, our place will be gone. Nug and Yev will try to eliminate me. In that case, I'll mobilize all our forces to smash the planet as Krakar originally planned."
'This crazy….'
That wasn't a simple threat.
If the 'negotiation' broke down, Ktuna really intended to do that!
"How about accepting the surrender?"
"…Death King?"
While Rudian was frowning, a leisurely voice flowed in from beside him.
"Right now, the most important task facing you is reducing variables. Even more so since Baal was defeated. Ktuna would make a good substitute."
"……."
In terms of trustworthiness, Baal and Ktuna were about the same.
But unlike Baal, who had cooperated obediently with the same goals until now, Ktuna was a relationship where trust had to be built from scratch.
Considering the intensifying situations ahead, a complete replacement for Baal would be impossible.
After experiencing intense conflict for a while, Rudian sighed and made his decision.
"Your relationship with Garganta, the exact plans you would have carried out if you had taken over this middle realm, and your hostility toward Berus… Spill all that information. Then I'll accept your surrender."
While it might seem like harsh treatment at first glance, for Rudian, it was quite a lenient judgment.
Ktuna readily nodded.
And slowly began to speak.
"About a thousand years ago, Garganta told us. When the Great Liberation Day happens in the future, the first targets would be us outer space deities."
"……."
Though the causality was reversed, such a thing actually did happen.
In the original Chapter 4 Mythical War, when the Great Liberation Day occurred, the heavenly gods who had cast off all restraints first opened fire on outer space, which had invaded the middle realm, before fighting among themselves.
It was a kind of presumptuous crime for coveting the middle realm, which, though not their territory, belonged to their management area… but as a result, an enormous number of outer space deities were mentioned to have died.
'From what she's saying… it was destined to happen that way even if they hadn't invaded here?'
While Rudian was thinking that, Ktuna's words continued.
"But even if that happened, Mother wouldn't protect us. So let's find a way to survive on our own… That was Garganta’s first proposal."
"Was Garganta indeed a spy from outer space?"
Though it was information he already knew, he needed to confirm it through Ktuna.
"Garganta… during the creation period when Berus waged war against the sun god Mars and his faction, he helped Berus and in return rose to the position of one of the Seven Great Gods. Mars at that time was truly a powerful being, unlike the weak one now."
Even that Baal was less influential than Mars, so it was understandable.
"The heavenly gods at that time only regarded the suddenly appeared Garganta as a survivor from the previous era, not as an outer space deity. Though there was also the fact that the source of Garganta’s power wasn't Outer Force… it was thanks to his contract with Berus to hide his origins."
Garganta was a kind of evidence that outer space and the heavens had formed an alliance.
Though he was thinking differently now, at least that's how it was then.
"Garganta thereafter blended normally into the heavens and solidified his position as one of the Seven Great Gods. And on the other hand, he gathered forces to check Berus."
The lightning god Raihon was a representative figure of that.
"He boasted that if we somehow occupied this planet, Garganta could cause chaos within the heavens to prevent their eyes and ears from turning this way. He said it was fully possible if the accumulated dissatisfaction of the archangels exploded."
'…Heaven's Fall!'
Rudian casually asked a question while pretending to know nothing.
"But that would only buy time. What was the next objective?"
What flowed from Ktuna's mouth was an enormous plan that would upset the balance of the entire universe.
The Water God and Death King also watched Ktuna's mouth with interested eyes.
"When Garganta caused chaos in the heavens, we planned to use that opportunity to close the door to the middle realm and open the path to the Creator God's temple."
Their plan was beginning to take concrete shape.
"And we planned to release the Avatar of the End, who would be bound there, into the heavens. Just breaking the seal would require one of us, either me or Krakar, to sacrifice ourselves, but if we got that far, the plan would be virtually complete."
"You're insane. Were you planning to destroy the world?"
The Death King glared at Ktuna with a disgusted expression.
"……."
Rudian fell deep in thought.
'In the original, didn't these guys' plan fail while also succeeding?'
In the original Chapter 4, Berus dies futilely by the Avatar of the End.
Though Ktuna and Krakar perished in Chapter 3, Garganta was still alive, and perhaps he carried on their will to cause Heaven's Fall.
Considering Ktuna's obsession and persistence, it seemed quite possible.
There was no need to think about what happened after that.
"Good. Finally, your persistent and clear hostility toward Berus. What's the reason for that?"
"…That's."
For the first time, cracks appeared in Ktuna's cold expression.
***
"They're retreating."
The allied forces stationed near the atmosphere were actually confused when the monsters that had been charging at them like madmen suddenly retreated out of nowhere.
"What? Now of all times?"
When they came, they charged like madmen, but when they left, they retreated in perfect order as if they were different creatures entirely.
"That's definitely movement that's only possible with orders from a higher entity… Don't tell me brother succeeded in dealing with Ktuna?"
Gray voiced the most likely hypothesis.
"…Already? That guy went without even the Seven-Colored World?"
Only an hour had passed since Rudian disappeared.
"But it's enough time for a decisive battle."
Maria said with her arms crossed, sounding somewhat dissatisfied.
She was slightly displeased that he had taken Luciella instead of herself, who was the strongest fighter.
Then Rebecca, who was beside her, pouted with a similar expression.
"Something feels uneasy…."
"Isn't their retreat proof that Rudian won?"
Elvin tilted his head and expressed his doubt.
"The problem is probably that their retreat is too orderly. There's also a possibility that the battle didn't go as expected. Rebecca must have realized that point."
"Ah, no… it's not that kind of uneasiness…."
Rebecca muttered in a small voice and turned her head.
"……?"
"It's nothing. Whatever it is, it'll be revealed soon."
Rebecca's senses couldn't be ignored.
Though she wasn't born a warrior, she possessed sharp senses close to foresight that surpassed even the highest-level warriors.
Immediately, the expressions of the surrounding comrades darkened slightly.
CRACKLE!
Just as the alien forces had moved somewhat away from the planet.
A spatial movement gate began to appear somewhere in outer space.
Since those present couldn't miss such a thing, all eyes immediately focused on that spatial movement gate.
"…It's Rudian!"
Elvin, who confirmed who had emerged from that gate, called out in a bright voice.
"No particular injuries either. Looks like the battle ended well?"
"……."
"……."
Elvin, who had been happy thinking things went well, suddenly trembled greatly at some pressure felt from behind.
SHIVER!
It wasn't killing intent, but a feeling of his spine rapidly freezing.
"…What's that now?"
Rebecca's sharp voice pierced Elvin's ear from behind.
'Huh? Come to think of it….'
It was natural that Luciella appeared behind Rudian.
Her expression was somewhat coldly hardened, but she appeared unharmed without any visible injuries.
But when he witnessed the slender beauty with purple hair who crossed the gate after Luciella, Elvin ended up repeating exactly what Rebecca had just said.
"Really, what's that now?"
The situation definitely seemed to have been resolved smoothly….
Elvin felt a headache coming on automatically.