The Cruel Truth
Gaia, the Supreme God.
Originally, she was a deity without a name. Because she was the first existence, she had not been granted one, and it was only later, after being discovered by the Absolute Gods of other dimensions, that she was gifted a name.
In particular, the gods had given her that name to place shackles upon her, for her power was beyond their comprehension. A name carries that much weight.
However, the name she was given—accepted with a "call me whatever you like" attitude because she hadn't asked for it in the first place—failed to bind her in the slightest. In that ambiguous state, a long time passed. Over those ages, the name intended for bondage transformed into one of reverence.
It was a name bestowed after much deliberation, intended to be the most powerful among all goddesses, for she was an existence of overwhelming might.
Gaia, the God among Gods.
Gaia, the God of Earth.
Gaia, the Mother Earth Goddess.
Gaia, the God of Gods.
Or, Gaia, the Planetary God.
"You are..."
Kaits instinctively started to address her as he would any other god, but he faltered.
Is this god different? Is she something other than the rest? Kaits had experienced countless regressions and met nearly every god in existence. But he had never once encountered this goddess. He didn't know what philosophy she held, or if she even participated in this damned 'Race'.
The Supreme Gods were all either bizarre or rotten to the core, but this was the one existence he knew nothing about. For that reason, for the first time in a long while, Kaits decided to use an honorific not as a mask, but in earnest.
"You are, Yeodre's..."
Crack.
His left leg froze and shattered. There was no warning. Before he could even frown, thud—gravity crushed him, pinning him to the earth.
'...So, even speaking his name aloud is displeasing to you.'
Kaits was certain now. Considering Yeodre's uniqueness, Love Heart was not his primary deity.
In truth, Love Heart possessed power rivaling the Supreme Gods, despite her clumsy nature keeping her ranked as a High God. However, she was a poor match for handling Yeodre, both in compatibility and raw power. She was likely just one of his assigned deities—a side branch.
'His true guardian deity is likely the goddess before me.'
With Gaia as the central pillar of the faction, the existence of the 'gods' in charge of Drae made perfect sense.
Kaits glanced at Ravand and the Scholar. They were beings with powerful 'souls' and 'ranks' capable of standing against gods at any given moment. That was why they were qualified to be called a Hero's party. Yet, even they, with their world-chosen talents, were shivering in front of Gaia, their breath turning to white mist.
'Just how high is her rank...!'
Kaits ignited his light. The light he himself found repulsive. The arrogant light bestowed upon him by the Fanatic Nanar, meant to look down upon all... it distorted, then cracked and froze.
An absurd phenomenon where even light was frozen. It wasn't just ice; it felt like a concept from a higher dimension. Looking up, he saw that she, too, seemed displeased with Nanar, her expression darkening further at the sight of the light.
'Too strong.'
The Memory World was the authority of the Record God—a domain of another deity, meaning gods were more restricted here than when exerting power in the mortal realm. Yet, the power she had just casually exerted was nearly at the level of Nanar influencing the world.
The Fanatic was known as the main deity of Elynar, boasting the highest recognition and massive causality, allowing her to exert power close to her true self. But this god, Gaia, was an existence known only to other gods or the Five Great Divine Beasts. It was an environment where it was difficult to possess causality. And yet, to have this much power? For the first time in a long while, Kaits felt a shiver of dread.
But he had achieved his initial goal. He stood up with limbs that had already regrown, his eyes narrowing.
"Why are you attacking me?"
Gods were all self-centered. But in any space, attacking 'creations' should be strictly forbidden.
...No. Given her rank, she might not be bound by the world's restrictions. Gaia did not answer; she simply stared at Kaits in silence.
In that gaze, which looked upon him as if he were something trivial, Kaits realized perfectly that for Gaia, tearing off the limbs of the Hero Kaits was easier than tearing the legs off a bug.
"Go back."
For the first time, Gaia's lips parted. Her voice was as beautiful as her celestial, untouchable appearance. But contrary to the beauty that should have felt warm, her tone was as cold as the deep winter.
"You may not see the secrets of my beloved."
Beloved. Kaits blinked.
'...She doesn't hate Yeodre...?'
Yeodre had been subjected to all manner of persecution. His body was so unstable that one had to think so, and unlike typical Outsiders, he had received no support whatsoever. He lacked the 'Special Perks' that made Outsiders powerful, and his body was the very same one he had used in his original world.
'Usually, Outsiders possess bodies capable of looking down on humans from the moment they arrive, but he didn't.'
He even doubted if Yeodre possessed a resurrection ticket, the safety device given to adapt to the harsh otherworld and one's own power. Having been persecuted to that extent, he had thought perhaps he was hated by his guardian deities for some reason. But seeing Gaia's frigid attitude, it seemed she was simply angry that someone was peeking at Drae's memories.
Moreover, beloved? Gods might have some affection for the users they were in charge of, but ultimately, they themselves should come first. Yet, that attitude was truly like someone doting on a beloved child. If so, why was Yeodre left in such a state? And why did the Planetary God Gaia intervene in a mere memory? Was the memory beyond that point truly that fatal?
What kind of memory could it be?
"I don't understand. Why would a god of your stature go to such lengths to hide a human's memory?"
Gaia did not answer. She simply maintained a cold expression, showing her firm will not to step aside.
Crack, crack.
With that alone, a chill that froze the entire memory space could be felt. The Record God, who maintained this space, should have intervened, but perhaps they were taking the brunt of Gaia's power, as they couldn't even open their mouth. She was truly an opponent of a different rank. But Kaits had always challenged those of higher rank. He summoned his courage.
"So, you refuse to show me?"
Whoosh! Kaits drew his sword of light.
"Then I shall see it, even if I have to force my way."
Kaits's eyes flashed as he drew upon his power.
This was his secret technique, drawing upon the power of 'all regressions' he had experienced. It was a technique that consumed immense power, something he could only use once or twice per regression. Originally, it was power he should have saved for 'that damned guy', but Kaits judged that he had to use it now.
The effect of this technique was quite simple. Unlike ordinary reincarnators who grew stronger with each regression, Kaits only brought back knowledge, not the strength of previous lives. This technique had a powerful effect that made that harsh penalty seem worth it.
Instead of bringing back the strength of previous lives, Kaits calculated and aggregated the number of regressions he had experienced and the power he had gained, then amplified it.
Kuaaaaaa!
Kaits's aura grew uncontrollably powerful.
The power when using this secret technique, 'Reincarnation Unleashed', was absurd. In this state, Kaits's power could, with some exaggeration, be compared to high-ranking gods. It was only natural, as it was power that Kaits, who already possessed high rank and strength, had suppressed while enduring the penalty. And the knowledge and combat experience accumulated throughout all his regressions allowed him to exert specs that transcended even the gods. His combat methods, which even absolute gods had no need to learn, allowed his power to literally transcend divinity.
With 'Reincarnation Unleashed' successful, his eyes emitted a five-colored light. The intense power erupting from the Hero's body stretched out as if to shatter the memory space.
"...Ah!"
"Haa!"
Ravand and the Scholar were swept up in the Ryunar Kaits had unleashed and came to their senses. Drooling at the mouth, they immediately realized what Kaits had done and focused their attention forward.
And then.
Crunch, crack.
They witnessed Kaits, who had used 'Reincarnation Unleashed', collapsing as his entire body froze.
"...Captain!"
"Kaits!"
Ravand and the Scholar dashed forward. Gaia did not even cast a glance at the two.
Bang.
By her will alone, the earth rose like spikes, trapping the two.
"You little!"
Ravand's dagger, which could even cut through Adamantium, drew an arc.
Clang. Clang!
But the dagger bounced off, throwing sparks. What on earth was so hard? By the time they thought that, the earthen spikes had shifted and bound them tightly.
The Scholar pulled a magical tool that looked like a bag from his robes and equipped it. Several large mechanical arms, looking like spider legs, sprang out from behind him. The metal arms, made of a powerful alloy that could tear apart high-risk monsters in an instant, were imbued with special power capable of standing against the Demon King class and even the energy of gods, thanks to the techniques the Scholar had researched for years.
And then.
Creak. Creak.
"No...?"
The multiple arms each melted, crumpled, corroded, froze and fell off, or hung limp while sparking. Gaia still wasn't looking at the two.
She was staring at the Hero.
Despite his body freezing, Kaits thrust his sword forward. It was a sword imbued with thousands of destruction techniques that could erase an entire dimension if they broke free from their 'stages'. As Gaia glared, the sword and something invisible collided with a Kuaak.
Krr-crack!!
".....!!"
The sword, pushed back by the formless energy, was crumpling. Even as he gritted his teeth against the absurd power, he pushed the sword forward...
Crack. Crack-crack.
Spiderweb-like cracks appeared in all directions.
"!"
Feeling the memory space itself on the verge of collapse, Kaits leaped backward. The standoff resumed.
In the brief silence, Kaits desperately racked his brain. Even if the memory space collapsed, he could just re-enter, but Gaia would appear again. No, would she even leave him alone to re-enter this memory in the first place? This was likely the first and last chance to see the memory Yeodre had hidden.
'...There is no possibility of winning.'
He knew it from that one exchange. As the information suggested—no, he should say the information was lacking. That goddess was too strong.
"Go back."
As she spoke in a cold voice, crystals froze, and Yeodre's memories began to freeze over. And at that moment, Kaits discovered something that hadn't been there before.
'A door.'
That was likely the door leading to the memory Drae had hidden. He had tucked it away so securely that one couldn't reach it by simply waiting. The door to the memory Drae had hidden was behind Gaia.
'Even if I can't win, I might be able to slip past.'
Yes, he 'might be able to'. To think that he had to exert power rivaling a god with all his might just to slip past her side—it was so inefficient it made him want to laugh.
Gaia reached out her hand. Everything in front of her, everything within her field of vision, froze into crystals, blocking the path to the door. Soon, even his vision was completely cut off by a mist of cold. In the silent memory space, Kaits racked his brain to come up with a clever plan.
"...Let's go back, Captain..."
It was Ravand's shrinking voice that broke the silence.
"There's, there's no need to see more. The verdict is already in."
"What do you mean?"
"We came into this memory to judge whether Yeodre was fit for the position of the Sword of Light, didn't we?! Do you think a psychopath serial killer, no, a mass murderer like that is fit to be the Sword of Light!"
"......"
What was the reason for entering Yeodre's memory world? It was to see his humanity to determine if he was fit to be a comrade, and he had confirmed his humanity enough. Kaits did not answer, and Ravand clicked his tongue.
"Yeah. Captain. I knew it."
Ravand knew that the story about the Sword of Light position Kaits had mentioned was close to an excuse. "I don't know why you're curious about this guy's memory, but shall I guess? The content of the memory he wants to hide."
"......"
"From what I've seen so far. He wanted to go wild, but he couldn't because of his father's curse-like words to live kindly, right? Do you think that crazy bastard would have left the person who put such a shackle on him alone?"
"What are you trying to say?"
Ravand inhaled deeply.
"He. Yeodre killed his own father. If you ask how he killed his father while having such a shackle, the words to live kindly had been going on like brainwashing for a long time, and he must have thought his father, who brainwashed him, was bad. That it was okay to kill him. He killed him with his own hands, happy because it fit his criteria. Maybe that father was a criminal."
It wasn't a very implausible story. Drae's father actually knew people from special forces like Rachel Han. Whatever mission he performed, he wouldn't have been a saint-like human who hadn't committed a single sin.
"And once he killed him, he felt guilty, so he forgot the fact that he killed him and hid it away. Twisted guys often distort their memories to rationalize themselves, don't they?"
The Hero's party had seen such cases quite often. And the Scholar shook his head.
"I don't think that's it."
Ravand looked at him with an incredulous gaze. She didn't truly believe this speculation was the truth either. She just wanted to escape from that goddess and get away from Yeodre's memories, so she was trying to persuade Kaits. Wasn't he also terrified of Yeodre's overwhelming mental strength?
But the Scholar was a rational man to the end. He calmly stated his opinion.
"If he were such a hated existence, Yeodre wouldn't still be keeping his words to live kindly. Of course, since he didn't value his friends as much as he thought, that father figure could be a possibility."
Ravand asked back in a shrinking voice.
"No. Keeping the words to live kindly would be following them forcibly because of brainwashing..."
"Do you think brainwashing is possible for Yeodre, who has this much ego?"
She had nothing to say. His mental strength was in a different league from humans. It was clear that Yeodre had been keeping the words to live kindly of his own free will.
However.
"Does that change the fact that he's a crazy bastard? I'm against it. Such a guy is a comrade, and with how powerful the future enemies are, I don't want to fight alongside a guy who's like a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment."
"...I'm of the same opinion."
The Scholar affirmed. Ravand, who had been wondering what he was doing when he seemed to disagree but then affirmed, distorted her expression, and he said:
"What I want to say is Yeodre's powerful yet unstable ego. Ravand. As you said, he is a ticking time bomb. His current state is suppressing his desires and bottling up his anger. On top of that, I think it's dangerous to accept someone as a team member who doesn't even remember whether he pushed his friend Seo Yerin or not."
In the end, the Scholar also wanted to properly speak about the danger of Yeodre so that Kaits would give up. Above all, where was the need for Kaits to take the risk? Kaits's reincarnation was bestowed by one of the most powerful deities among the Absolute Gods of other dimensions who came to Elynar.
And Gaia in front of them was an existence equal to, or even greater than, that indescribable deity. If he fought her any more than this, there was a possibility that Kaits's reincarnation would end completely. Even if it didn't end, he would suffer a fatal wound. There was no need to take such immense risks just to see a single memory.
'I know well that you want to meet your peers, Kaits.'
Kaits had spent too much time. He had continued a fight without promise for a long time. He must be exhausted. And he met a man who had endured ten thousand years as if it were nothing. He might have thought he had found a peer after a long time.
'But that's not it. Yeodre is different from you.'
The Scholar looked at the Hero with a serious face. Ravand also sent an eager look to withdraw quickly. Kaits listened to the opinions of his two old comrades in silence, then eventually nodded.
"I understand."
"Captain!"
"......!"
Seeing the two people whose faces brightened, Kaits reached out his hand.
"You two go back first. I will see that memory and return."
"Cap...!"
The two tried to respond individually so as not to be sent away. But there was no way the two could stop Kaits, who was currently exerting the power of a god through Reincarnation Unleashed, and a moment later, the two were ejected outside the memory world.
In the meantime, Kaits gathered all the power in his body and poured it into a single point. It contained the risk that the memory world could collapse in one blow, but he had no choice. To get past that monster, he needed to sacrifice everything.
"How foolish."
Gaia's voice echoed from everywhere. She had already taken control of this entire space.
"When you have enough trouble achieving your own dreams, why are you so obsessed with my beloved? You who struggle in vain."
Flash—!!
A single strike unleashed in place of an answer. The intense thrust shattered the crystals and surged toward Gaia beyond them.
"I understand. You must think you've finally met an existence similar to yourself."
Swish.
Gaia moved, and immense divine power—Ryunar—swept through the world.
Pop-pop-pop-pop—!!
The memory space expanded infinitely. And then, a giant body, far exceeding the size of a continent, appeared as Gaia, composed of Ryunar. The attack that would have shattered even Kaits's dimension was easily blocked just by her reaching out her hand.
"Insolent."
Her eyes and tone were chilling. Unfazed, Kaits threw his body forward.
"End this regression here."
Gaia raised her hand. The immense power contained in that hand.
"......"
Kaits smiled for the first time in a long while.
A weakness. He could see Gaia's weakness.
'Usually, it's a weakness that can't be called a weakness, but...'
Kaits gathered all the liberated power into his body. He gathered even the remaining power that could allow him to unleash Reincarnation Unleashed a second time, and charged, using himself as a bullet. He shot forward, aiming solely for the door behind Gaia.
This power was not an attack that even Gaia could easily ignore. Of course, it wasn't a fatal attack either. It just meant she couldn't act like she was shooing away a fly as she had done until now. She could kill Kaits at any moment.
'If she exerts even a little bit of power, I'll be crushed.'
With that much power, his reincarnation would likely end as well. Until now, she had treated Kaits like a child and had never exerted her true power. Because even a little bit of seriousness might have killed Kaits.
However, unlike before, Kaits's desperate charge required her to pour out at least a little bit of power to stop him. And she didn't do that. Gaia raised her hand with a bewildered expression, taking only a defensive stance. Her weakness.
Kindness.
Any other deity would have attacked without caring if Ravand or the Scholar died. But Gaia had attacked only Kaits, merely neutralizing the other two, and waited until they had finished persuading Kaits. Even just now, she had said 'this' regression was over. Even though Kaits, who would take the memory of meeting Gaia back to the next regression, would be a nuisance, and even though she had the power to suppress other absolute gods and end his reincarnation, she didn't do so.
That was because she was kind. It was because she had a gentle disposition, enough to be named a 'Planetary God' who loved everything within the planet.
"......"
Only Ryunar was emitted from her raised hand. The wall mixed with divinity and Ryunar was absurdly powerful, but Kaits's current attack was immense power that could erase even most deities.
Kuaaaaaa.
The world shook. The memory space trembled as if it were about to collapse at any moment.
"Ugh, Aaaaaaaa—!!"
The seasoned Hero exerted power beyond his limits.
Bang!!
Kaits's charge pierced through the wall of Ryunar and reached the Ryunar that formed Gaia's shape.
Crackling.
Sparks flew for an instant, and Gaia's Ryunar body was blown through. There was slight resistance, and with that resistance, all of Kaits's power was exhausted. He didn't slow his momentum and headed for the door, and Gaia reached out her hand toward Kaits, who was moving far away, then lowered it.
"Very well."
The kind goddess said, with as much mockery as she could muster.
"Nothing will happen just because my beloved showed a little bit of his shame."
And then.
Creeeeeak.
Kaits opened the door and entered inside. Inside the entered door, the memory world flowed like waves.
He had wondered if Gaia would chase him, but fortunately, that didn't happen.
'It's not that she can't, but that she won't.'
She was a goddess who cherished Yeodre enough to call him beloved without shame. She must feel sorry for invading this space. Relieved, Kaits was finally able to look around.
Crack. Crack-crack.
'...It's breaking.'
Perhaps due to the aftermath of the collision between Kaits's full power and Gaia's power to block it, the memory world itself was collapsing.
Soon, it would collapse completely. He would see at least this memory before then. Having finished his judgment in an instant, Kaits realized the flow of the memory world had stopped and focused his gaze on the scene before his eyes.
The place was narrow. The dojo he had seen before. In the very center, they were there.
In front of Kaits's eyes...
There was a man on the verge of death, and a young Yeodre kneeling in front of him with a cold expression.