Chapter 263
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 263
Allied Forces Headquarters. The office of Grand Mage Ain Soph Fingard.
"Chairman, the mana measurement results are in."
The voice of a Magic Tower researcher crackled through the crystal ball.
These were the measurements regarding the movements of the Gate of Dimensions—the great calamity soon to befall the continent.
The Chairman nodded, casually dismissing the information. He had no need for such reports; the very mana that composed this world was signaling him directly.
Vmmmm—.
A faint vibration of mana resonated against his skin. As the hour of destruction drew near, this vibration grew steadily stronger. He let out a deep sigh, feeling the mana particles trembling as if in fear.
"Hah, the day has finally come. Watson, what is the current location of the Demon King Extermination Army?"
The Chairman's loyal confidant, Watson, bowed his head.
"Yes, sir. The Demon King Extermination Army has crossed the barrier and is currently advancing into the Demon Realm. I have received word that their entry into the Demon King's Castle is imminent."
"Is that so?"
It seemed the Demon King Extermination Army had successfully infiltrated the Demon Realm while it was fractured by civil war.
‘How times have changed.’
Initially, there had been fierce opposition to forming the army, as the nations were still struggling to recover from the previous devastation. But they couldn't remain on the defensive forever. Cowering inside a fortress was no solution.
With a civil war raging in the Demon Realm, it was the perfect opportunity to end the Human-Demon War once and for all. Under the firm resolve of Princess Beatrice and the support of Saintess Elena, the extermination army had been successfully mobilized.
The Chairman had played his part by leaking a specific piece of false information.
‘The Orb of Life, held by Demon King Roen. I told them that with it, and the power of Saintess Elena, the victims of the Human-Demon War could be resurrected.’
It gave the army a cause, however fabricated. Now, using that as their driving force, they had reportedly reached the very doorstep of the Demon King's Castle.
So far, everything was proceeding according to plan—exactly as he and Roen had discussed in the past.
With a faint smile playing on his lips, Fingard turned his gaze to the girl sitting opposite him.
"Miss Joshua, what is your take on the current situation?"
Joshua the Prophet.
She was young, but her prophetic abilities were unparalleled. Surely she could provide an answer for a situation where not even an inch of the future was visible.
At the Chairman's question, Joshua spread her hands and examined her fingernails as she spoke.
"Hmm, I’d say this was a foreseen outcome, wouldn't you? Honestly, what happens next is all up to him. Side characters like us have no room left to intervene."
"Characters, you say? Those are quite meaningful words."
His master had once said the same—that this world is a collection of stories, and they were merely the people living within them.
Joshua continued.
"Who isn't a character in this world? We just have different roles. I'm an observer, you're a supporter, and someone else… has to be the protagonist."
"Then let me ask the observer. Miss Joshua, do you believe this plan will succeed?"
The grand plan, established the moment Demon King Roen received his calling. A plan to deceive the world and ascend to the throne of the Demon King, to shoulder every burden and struggle alone to save this world.
How would this long story finally conclude?
To this, Joshua smiled brightly, her voice full of conviction.
"I believe he will succeed. After all, he's the world's best gamer—and the true hero who has saved this world time and time again."
Three years had passed since sealing the Demon God beyond the dimensions and performing the succession ritual. And it had been one year since unilaterally ending the Human-Demon War.
Inside the laboratory in the basement of the Demon King's Castle.
Beep-beep-beep—.
"A strange mana reaction has been detected! Mana density is rising rapidly!" a researcher checking the mana meter shouted.
The mana reaction was skyrocketing. It had far surpassed any predictable level, whether natural or artificial. This was clearly an intervention from outside the dimension.
The moment we had prepared for—yet hoped would never come—was finally here.
"The location is near the Shaitan Meteor Crater! It's the site where the succession ritual was held!"
I nodded and rose from my seat.
"Everyone, to your positions. Prepare to activate the magic circle."
The researchers moved in perfect sync at my command. Most demons in the Demon Realm wanted my downfall, but not all of them. There were those who respected my will and my plan, choosing to lend their strength. They had been working in the castle's basement, preparing for the day the Gate of Dimensions would open.
I felt a pang of guilt for these researchers who had aided me, but once this was over, their memories would be erased. It would be for the best—for me and for them.
As I stood, Ciel and Yutena rose to stand on either side of me. Gilean, Amur, and Carmilla, who had been on the battlefield suppressing the rebellion, had also returned and now followed behind me.
I spoke to Aslan.
"I’m entrusting this place to you, sister. Please, hide when the time is right."
"…Mm."
I had entrusted the defense of the Demon King's Castle to Wodanaz, and the laboratory to Aslan and Ariel. They were charged with the crucial mission of preventing the rebels from invading the lab while also disappearing before the human extermination army appeared.
The humans must not find out that Demon King Roen was capable of resurrecting the dead. The time for them to reveal themselves would be when Elena put on the performance of "resurrecting" people with the Orb of Life.
Leaving them to handle things, I departed for the meteor crater.
I arrived instantly at the Shaitan Meteor Crater through a Gate of Space.
Krrrrrrumble—.
In that moment, a deafening roar that felt like it would shatter my eardrums erupted, accompanied by a fierce storm of mana lashing against my cheeks. A powerful mana storm and lightning descended upon our party the second we arrived.
Inside the storm, it was impossible to see even an inch ahead. The Colosseum, where I had fought the final battle against the other successors, had already been swept away by the gale, leaving no trace.
All that remained was a vortex of black demonic energy. It gaped open like a black hole, ready to swallow everything.
I deployed a barrier to protect my companions and looked up at the black sky.
Gwoooooh—.
A massive vortex completely covered the heavens. Shattered rock fragments, caught in the swirl, floated in mid-air in defiance of gravity. The order of this world was beginning to collapse. The whirlwind of black mana was tearing down the boundaries of spacetime, throwing the dimensions into chaos.
Chijik—.
Just looking at that maelstrom made me feel as if the very identity of my existence was blurring.
‘The power of chaos, which destroys the boundary of order.’
If swept away by that power, this world would become a void of nothingness.
I raised a hand, gauging the amount of mana draining from within me. And finally...
Tzzzzzt—.
It was the moment all the mana passed down to me through the succession ritual vanished from my body.
Flash—.
A brilliant light burst forth from the dark vortex filling the sky.
Pajik—. Pajijik—.
Beyond the raging vortex, a faint crack of light appeared. Like a bolt of lightning striking down, the crack spread in all directions, gradually growing larger.
‘Now!’
I spread my hands and used my authority over space to wrench the crack open.
Jjeojeok—. Jjeojeojeok—.
As I imbued my hands with authority and pulled, the dimensional boundary began to tear open like a widening wound. Instead of closing the Gate of Dimensions, I forced it open, allowing even more of chaos's power to pour out.
Kwaaaaa—!
As the rift widened, the power of chaos gushed out like water bursting from a dam. Soon, the chaotic energy began to swallow the entire meteor crater.
I felt the immense energy of the chaos filling the crater—a wave of destruction that would annihilate this world, yet at the same time, the last hope to return everything to how it was.
This pure power of chaos would be my greatest ally.
I turned my head and shouted, "Ciel!"
"Yes!"
Answering my call, Ciel pressed the magic device. Simultaneously, the pre-installed magic circle activated.
Wooooong—.
A blue magic barrier spread out from the Shaitan Meteor Crater. It connected to the ley lines of each region invaded during the Human-Demon War, creating a grand magic circle that spanned the entire continent. The blue light emitted by the circle, formed by linking ley line to ley line, adorned the dark sky like an aurora.
Chwaaaa—.
The true nature of the grand magic circle, activated by sacrificing a million innocent lives, was revealed.
‘A magic circle that converts the immense power of chaos into the mana of order.’
What if I could wield this power of chaos—which held the might to lead the world to ruin—according to my will? Not only could I safely perform the resurrection ritual for the million souls, but I could also close the Gate of Dimensions.
This energy filling the massive crater was the very power I had longed for. This colossal magic circle was a miraculous product born from the Fruit of Wisdom.
Bubble-bubble—.
With the activation of the magic circle, the chaotic power filling the crater began to seethe. It looked like a massive cauldron filled with boiling liquid.
Watching it, I gritted my teeth.
‘This must be my final alchemy.’
A true magic achieved by sacrificing a million lives—an alchemy upon which the fate of the continent rested.
Bubble-bubble—.
As the power of chaos began to boil under the magic circle's influence, the mana of order rose like steam.
Gwoooooh—.
Feeling the overwhelming mana welling up, I clenched my fists. First, I sent a portion of this explosive mana to the Demon King's Castle through the magic circle's circuits, then used the rest to close the Gate of Dimensions.
Geudeuk—. Geudeudeuk—.
As I pulled my hands together, space itself began to be dragged along as if caught in my grasp.
Kudeudeuk—.
The authority of spatial manipulation, manifested through immense mana, began to crush the massive vortex and seal the forcibly opened rift.
"Hngh!"
As I poured out every ounce of my authority and mana, the Gate of Dimensions began to close, inch by inch. My body's mana circuits overheated as if they would burst into flames, and my Mana Heart began to spin frantically.
Just before the dimensional rift shut completely...
‘That is….’
I could make out twelve undulating wedges beyond the Gate of Dimensions. The shackles that imposed a racial limit on each species—the proof of the covenant made with God. The source of the "great cause" the demons had so desperately yearned for.
But now, I think I understand. I understand why the first emperor cast those possibilities beyond the dimension and made a covenant with God.
Wooooong—.
As it was continuously exposed to the power of chaos, the Fruit of Life in my possession began to emit light. It was the gift God had left in this land to stand against chaos.
I bit my lip, gazing at the brilliantly shining golden fruit.
‘In truth, I had another choice.’
There was another ability the Fruit of Life possessed, besides storing souls.
‘The power to restore the world.’
Even after the power of chaos had swallowed the entire world, I could use this Fruit of Life to recreate it from the very beginning. After everything had returned to nothingness, life would sprout anew from a single small seed. Hundreds of millions of years would pass, and this land would once again teem with living beings. A completely new world, born after everything from the past had been erased.
Perhaps that might have led to a better outcome than the present. But I did not choose that path. I did not want to let the world where my loved ones lived disappear. No matter what price I had to pay.
I let out a wry smile, mulling over the conversation I once had with the Chairman.
‘...Now I finally understand what the Chairman said.’
Back then, when I asked Fingard about the Orb of Life after reading Roen's diary, he had told me:
"You could become a savior who brings ruin to this world, or a demon king who chooses his own ruin."
‘A savior who brings ruin to the world.’
The only being who could make the Fruit of Life bloom—a savior who would grant new life to this land after everything was destroyed. I wouldn't be able to protect anything from the past, but new life would sprout because of me.
Or.
‘A demon king who chooses his own ruin.’
Though I would sink alone, shouldering everything, I would be able to protect what I wanted. In the end, I chose the latter with my own hands.
And...
‘The first emperor who made the covenant with God was the same.’
He, too, must have had a choice.
The racial war that plunged the entire continent into conflict. The desperate path of continuing the struggle, repeating development and evolution to finally reach chaos—an infinite power. Or, the path of ending the war and harmonizing with everyone by making a contract of mana through a covenant with God, sacrificing the potential of the species as the price.
He chose the latter. He, too, must have wanted to protect this beautiful world just as it was. Although the side effect was the birth of demons who follow chaos, he likely didn't regret his choice.
"……"
I stared at the faint shape of the wedges visible beyond the Gate of Dimensions before looking away. Then, I fully manifested the authority wrapped around my hands and sealed the rift.
Krrrrrumble—.
THUD—!
After a desperate struggle, the Gate of Dimensions was completely closed. The power of chaos that had raged through space and the abnormal phenomena that ignored the laws of physics vanished.
The world had returned to normal.
"Huu... Huu..."
With this, my long fight was over.
And...
"……!"
My physical body, too, had reached its limit.