Chapter 266
Chapter 266
Chapter 266
Reunion (2)
I clearly remember the moment Rebecca disappeared. The scene where she blocked my path and vanished like dust by Berus' hand. It was such a deep trauma in my heart that I never wanted to see such a sight again. But...
"...Uh."
"Hehehe..."
Rudian's eyes widened as he looked at Rebecca, who was giggling foolishly before his eyes. After Rebecca had completely fused with the red world, her hair had turned red. But the woman before his eyes now retained her orange hair just like when they first met.
"...Is this an illusion?"
"Huh...?"
SQUISH!
Rudian grabbed both of Rebecca's cheeks and pulled them. The texture stretching like rice cake wasn't bad, but Rebecca's face immediately contorted as if she felt pain.
"Ow..."
"Ah, sorry."
Rudian released his hands from Rebecca and turned his head to look at the Demon God. There was no reason to come this far just to deceive him with a simple fake or trick him with an illusion. That meant the woman before his eyes was definitely Rebecca.
The Demon God, meeting Rudian's dazed eyes directly, spoke.
"It's one of the special characteristics of the Seven-Colored World."
"Special characteristics... Weren't all the Seven-Colored Worlds destroyed...?"
"Of course, the Seven-Colored World was destroyed when you and Berus collided. That impact also caused the collapse of all dimensions."
The Demon God showed Rebecca a warm smile. It was an expression like a grandfather looking at his granddaughter.
"Four of the Seven-Colored Worlds. White, red, purple, and black were originally not powers permitted to the Middle Realm."
These four Seven-Colored Worlds, each symbolizing Heaven, Demon Realm, Outer Space, and Underworld respectively, were indeed powers that had too great an influence on the fragile Middle Realm.
"Therefore, four higher divine beings each took charge of managing one."
"What does that have to do with Rebecca appearing here?"
At Rudian's direct question, the Demon God twisted his lips as if slightly displeased.
"Tsk, impatient fellow. If you listen carefully, I'll tell you."
"..."
"Anyway, in the case of the four Seven-Colored Worlds, we, the original owners, can designate contractors."
"...Owners? Wait, that means..."
Rudian's forehead slightly contorted. If that was true, then the ownership of the red, purple, and black worlds had never belonged to Rudian and his companions from the beginning.
A deep smile flowed from the Demon God’s lips.
"Kukuku... There was a reason why Baal proposed that bet to you before."
"...Damn bastard."
After the previous battle with Marbas ended, there was a reason why Baal, who had visited Nevan's imperial palace, had such confidence when he made that 'rock-paper-scissors' bet with him. A match where victory or defeat couldn't be determined from the start.
"Well, returning to the main topic... the designated contractor's life belongs to the owner."
"But wouldn't the contract become void if the Seven-Colored World that serves as the medium is destroyed?"
"Sharp. That's correct. But beings of our level can extract the contractor's life even from such a battlefield."
"Then...!"
"However, the Death King is still somewhat immature as a supreme divine being, so he probably failed. I'm not sure about Shub's case. She has the ability, but that woman doesn't have much affection for other life forms unless they're her direct lineage..."
"...Ah."
Still, he was happy that there was a possibility Luciella was alive. The Demon God stroked Rebecca's hair and said,
"Even so, with the red world gone now, you can consider it impossible for this child to be of any fighting strength. Far from opposing Berus, she'd definitely be devoured by the void space if she left this space."
"Then..."
"Well, what you might call a waiting heroine. How about it? Doesn't it make you desperately want to survive to the end?"
"..."
The moment he heard those words, Rudian looked at the Demon God with a quiet expression.
"Why are you looking at me with such eyes?"
"Why are you showing me such kindness?"
For a lofty divine being equal to Shub or Berus... he seemed too human. Enough to think there must be some ulterior motive.
The Demon God’s answer to Rudian's interrogation was concise.
"Just because."
"..."
"What, don't you like it? Should I take her back?"
"N-no..."
When he came out like that, there was nothing Rudian, in the position of the weaker party, could say in response. The Demon God patted Rudian's shoulder.
"As you said, think of this as my small kindness toward you. The reason for that kindness is hard to explain."
"Hmm..."
Rudian lowered his head with a slightly gloomy expression. Because he had a vague idea of why he was showing such kindness.
'Farewell... huh.'
It was an ambiguous and incomprehensible word, but Rudian gained conviction from that word and Rebecca's appearance this time.
'The end of chronicle... I just hope it's not that kind of ending.'
Rudian shook off his thoughts and raised his head.
"I understand. Then... I'll gratefully accept your kindness."
"Haha, good, good. Then shall we start training right away?"
At the Demon God's words, Rudian nodded. He was happy to meet Rebecca, but now was the time to save as much time as possible to increase his chances of victory.
***
Surprisingly, the training with the Demon God didn't take very long. From the beginning, Rudian, who had obtained Shambhala, was at a level that could be counted among the best in all of heaven and earth, and since it was simple transmission of techniques rather than promotion or development of new realms, only about two years had passed.
"Will you be okay, Rebecca?"
"Mm-hmm... I really want to help Rudian, but... there's nothing I can do right now."
During the two years of receiving guidance from the Demon God, Rudian and Rebecca shared long conversations and warm affection. If not for the Demon God's presence, they could have been considered practically newlyweds.
"Actually, even now it feels like a dream. Back then, I thought I'd never open my eyes again..."
Rebecca smiled bitterly and gently embraced Rudian.
"Rather... it might be nice to stay here like this forever."
"..."
For the past two years, Rebecca had looked extremely happy. Even if all connections had disappeared and only Rudian remained in the world, she cherished the time spent with Rudian while grieving for the lost connections.
"But then... that wouldn't be right."
At Rebecca's words filled with wistful emotion, Rudian slowly embraced the back of her head and whispered,
"Don't worry. We'll be able to meet again soon."
"...Yes."
Rudian, who had separated from Rebecca, turned his gaze toward the Demon God, with whom he had developed some affection over the past two years.
"Now it's time to part."
"...Yes, master."
Over the past two years, Rudian had received teachings from the Demon God and heard countless stories. Numerous mythic-level secrets involving Berus and the outer god Shub, the machine god Deus. And stories about the Demon God himself as well.
Most surprising of all was not that the Demon God had lived for eons measured in hundreds of millions of years, but that the Demon God himself was someone who had risen from being an ordinary human to a divine position, just like Rudian. It was also the moment he realized why he felt such deep humanity from the Demon God, unlike other gods.
"If you succeed and restore the original world... you'll probably face a choice."
"..."
He wouldn't know what that choice was until the time came, but...
"I hope you'll make a choice without regrets."
"Thank you for your teachings."
Rudian bowed deeply toward the Demon God. He would never be able to meet him again. That was the nature of the Demon God's special characteristic.
"Probably when you go outside... Shub will have completed all preparations. It's not a particularly difficult task, but remember just one thing."
"...?"
"Don't walk the same path as Berus."
He didn't understand why the Demon God was saying this. But what Rudian needed to answer, and wanted to say, was decided.
"Yes, of course."
***
SWOOOOSH!
Shub's purple-glowing domain was visibly losing its color.
-Shub.
"..."
The Great Black Goat. The god of Outer Space. Shub's power, which truly embodied infinity, was enough to match even Berus, who had broken the framework and become an existence outside the world.
But that evenly matched fight couldn't be maintained for very long.
"As expected... there's no answer through conventional methods."
Even though nearly infinite Outer Force had flowed in, Berus' appearance remained the same as at the beginning.
-Shub.
"Yes, do you want to devour me? If you swallow me and my domain, you'll truly reach the realm of the creator god..."
-Graaaah...
Berus' current appearance was like that of a monster that had lost reason and intelligence, but that was only how he appeared on the surface. In reality, it was simply that normal conversation couldn't be established because the being called Berus existed completely outside the framework of the world.
Though this couldn't be expressed normally, Berus' power and cunning remained intact.
Then, Shub, who had been looking at the sky and calculating something, chuckled and turned her gaze back to Berus.
"Yes, it's about time."
-...?
"If you were your original self, you could have read this causality, but it seems you've lost that ability due to the side effects of becoming an existence outside the world."
SQUIRM!
Even though all her facial features had disappeared, Shub seemed to see Berus' eyes twitch slightly for a moment. It must have hit a nerve.
Shub spoke to a boy who had been quietly waiting behind her.
"Nug."
"Yes, mother."
The twin who had emerged from Shub's womb along with Yev in the beginning, Nug, answered.
"Please take good care of that child."
"..."
"It couldn't be helped that I gave my karma to a human child instead of you."
"I understand. Without Yev, my existence is only half-complete anyway."
"...I'm sorry."
"..."
In his entire life, over hundreds of millions of years, Nug had never heard the word "sorry" from his mother. It meant the debt Shub was feeling now was enormous.
"It was an honor to serve you."
Nug fully understood what Shub was trying to do now. And then he quickly kicked off from his position and headed toward a girl who was receiving the karma of an 'outer god.'
-Shub!
Just as Nug left the area, Berus' massive body pounced on Shub. Originally, Shub should have used her power to push Berus away, but for some reason, she smiled warmly and simply let her arms hang down.
POOF!
Shub's small body was swallowed directly into Berus' body.
-...?
Berus was puzzled by Shub being devoured without the slightest resistance. But Berus soon set aside that question and began absorbing Shub's body.
Nearly infinite Outer Force, and the 'divinity' of Shub, who had experienced countless genesis, began to dye Berus' body purple.
-Finally!
CRACK! CRUNCH!
The body of Berus, who had become a monster, began to contract and compress, changing back into human form.
There were two reasons why Berus had targeted Shub. One was to collapse Shub's domain, the only one intact in all dimensions. The other was to absorb Shub's divinity to restore his body that had been twisted outside the laws back to its original state.
And not long after...
"Ku, kukuku...!"
Berus' body, which had become a monster, returned to the appearance of a human youth as before.
"Finally... I have achieved everything."
Becoming an existence outside the world meant, conversely, that he couldn't easily interfere with the laws of the existing world. But by gaining Shub's power as well, Berus finally became a perfect being who transcended all laws.
"Now, I have overcome fate and become an existence that surpasses the creator god... I can truly recreate the world!"
For the first time, mad laughter burst from Berus' lips.
"Kahahaha!"
Why had Shub allowed herself to be absorbed so meekly? That question still remained, but Berus didn't particularly care. Now, everything was over.
"That won't happen."
"...Hm?"
Step, step.
A jet-black sword reminiscent of the former Diablo suddenly protruded. Berus, holding that sword in his hand, frowned at the brown-haired youth, Rudian, who had suddenly appeared in the area.
"...Weren't you dead then?"
"Well, having a tough life is my specialty."
Rudian, shrugging his shoulders slightly, pointed the Heavenly Demon Divine Sword he had received from the Demon God at Berus and declared,
"...I came for the final showdown, Berus."