Chapter 482: Proof of Existence (70)
Chapter 482: Proof of Existence (70)
The world is dyed in a brilliant silver.
Everywhere the wave of starlight swept past, color began to fade. All things, stripped of their saturation and momentum, gradually slowed their pace.
Eventually, everything came to a halt.
In a monochrome field of vision, within a vacuum of power, I alone held my breath.
A searing pain burned in my retinas. Golden mana surged, etching unfamiliar information into my sight.
Countless trajectories and threads of spacetime.
The world I had seen until now was nothing more than a mere fraction. The phantom trajectories and threads of space I had witnessed in every battle were likely nothing more than stepping stones to perceiving this very landscape.
Yet, even this was but a superficial perception.
The true reality of the world lay beyond this. With a click, like something snapping into place, space itself began to rotate.
I felt a gaze.
An existence, both myriad and singular, was looking down at me. Before I knew it, an endless void had surrounded me.
How could I even describe this?
It was a realm that a mere creature could not dare to look up at. A torrent of pure power swirled, birthing all manner of natural disasters.
Earthquakes, tsunamis, typhoons, and other wraths of nature that humanity could hardly endure.
Truly, its limits were unknowable. As my senses expanded, I was forced to realize just how much of a speck I occupied in this world.
My breathing grew ragged.
Where is this? Who am I?
My oversensitized nerves perceived the entire world as a single entity. Within it, my existence could not be seen, heard, or felt.
Suddenly, I was looking down at myself.
One of the many gazes shining down upon me was my own. My consciousness drifted further and further away from my frozen body.
I was being swept away.
An instinctive sense of crisis flashed through my mind, but I could only stand there, helpless. My instincts as a living being crumbled, and facts that had once been obvious now felt alien.
How do muscles move?
How do I regulate my breathing, and how do I distinguish 'me' from the world?
Not a single thing was a given anymore. The flow was majestic, yet it did not move without cause. A new contemplation repeatedly destroyed and recreated my ego.
Now, even the sound of my breathing felt vague.
The sea of truth surged indifferently. My consciousness was shaken to its core by its ebb and flow. It was something a mere human's mental strength could never withstand.
Suddenly, a sense of lethargy overcame me.
It felt as though everything would end if I just closed my eyes; every effort felt like a futile struggle.
Then, all of a sudden.
"……Do not crumble."
A whisper seemed to brush past my ear. My fading mind snapped awake instantly.
Where? Where did that voice come from?
My vision returned. I was standing in a monochrome world.
A land of silence where the crowd of tens of thousands, the judges on the high cliffs, and even the Saint and Saintess remained motionless.
A man stood behind my back.
His weary golden eyes turned toward me indifferently.
"Can you face it?"
My eyes turned toward the flip side of the world once more.
I understood the man's advice not to be swept away in an instant. If one were to witness this even once, it was only natural to lose one's self and become part of that flow.
To be honest, I couldn't easily find the courage.
The hand gripping the sword hilt trembled. The tremors soon spread throughout my entire body.
It hurt, and it was exhausting.
Was this truly the path I had to walk?
I felt like crying and whining like a child. But I couldn't let myself fall apart like this.
I steeled my resolve.
An unwavering mindset was the very foundation of one's mental imagery.
The silver aura that had swept through the world began to scatter brilliant light once more. Fragments of stars embedded themselves into the air one by one, guiding my blade.
Just before I adjusted the sword's point according to that guidance.
A lingering trace of anxiety I couldn't quite discard remained, and I glanced back to ask.
"……How should I move forward?"
For a while, there was no answer.
The man simply stared at me with an inscrutable gaze before letting out a faint sigh.
"First, take a step."
Immediately after I took that step.
"After that, do not resist."
The world went black.
Even clichés like a gale or a ray of light felt insufficient. The sword became a single beam of light, piercing through the Saint's body.
Before I knew it, I was gasping for air, my knees hitting the ground.
And then, the world regained its color.
Splat. The sound of blood bursting forth.
"……The Saint is bleeding!"
Astonished cries shook the entire mountain, and the delayed aftereffects of the sword strike wrung the muscles of my entire body.
I couldn't even let out a proper groan.
I forced myself to swallow the blood rising up my throat. Even as my vision blurred, I gritted my teeth.
It was shallow.
My sword, shimmering with silver aura, possessed a sharpness that could cut through steel like pudding. Nevertheless, the sensation when I struck the Saint was far too shallow.
Could human flesh, made of blood and bone, really be harder than steel?
I had to get up quickly and prepare for the next clash.
Somewhere, I felt a hand fumbling to stroke my cheek.
My eyes slowly turned forward. Along with my clearing vision, I felt droplets falling onto my palm.
It was the Saintess.
As if her tear ducts were broken, tears streamed incessantly from her pale pink eyes. Her throat, unable to even let out a proper sob, released stifled, hitching gasps.
It must have been hard for you.
It was strange. I wanted to scream that my whole body was in pain, and I wanted to cry and wail that I was exhausted and wanted to quit.
But the moment I saw the Saintess's tears, all that suffering felt like nothing.
I simply felt the urge to embrace the Saintess, who was hanging her head and weeping.
"Why, why… hic, did you do that……?"
Having lost all strength, I couldn't even answer properly as I panted for breath.
Seeing me like that, the Saintess's weeping grew even more intense.
"It, it hurts… it's so hard, you must have wanted to give up long ago… Why, whyyy……!"
Her suppressed questions were overflowing.
This was likely the Saintess's unfiltered heart.
A sorrowful cry erupted.
"I-I am nothing! I'm just an orphan girl who didn't know any better and was full of herself! For me… there was no need to go this far, none at all!"
"Because I believe in you."
The Saintess stiffened for a moment.
Then, she asked back in a trembling voice.
"Because, because I am the 'Saintess'……?"
"Because it's you."
I chuckled, as if telling her not to worry, and spoke with conviction.
The blood that had been surging up just moments ago settled down. I had found it difficult even to draw a ragged breath, yet my voice was strangely calm.
It might have been a bluff.
However, I truly believed in the woman before me. I trusted her steadfast will and her sincerity toward the weak. If someone were to ask me if I believed in the Heavenly God, I couldn't say for sure even now.
But I believed in a single human, not a god.
And I believed in the miracles that a human could achieve.
"Whatever it is, it's fine. Whether you're the 'Saintess' or a crybaby girl from an orphanage… it's you."
Tears welled up in her pale pink eyes again, and soon the Saintess collapsed and began to sob. I looked down at her with pity for a moment before staggering to my feet.
In my heart, I wanted to share more of this reunion with her.
But for that, the enemy I had to face was far too strong.
I had to grip my sword and pull every muscle in my body taut.
And then, amidst the buzzing noise—an explosion.
"Ehehe, fufu… Hahahahahahahahaha!"
The sound of laughter erupted, vibrating through the atmosphere.
The ground shook, clouds of dust rose, and the crowd of tens of thousands screamed as all sorts of noises mixed together.
Surging mana formed a haze. Through the melting landscape, a pale light from his eyes shone down on me.
For an instant, flickering eyes filled my vision before vanishing.
Faced with such overwhelming pressure, I forced my trembling body to calm down.
The Saint was looking back at me.
The side of the robes he wore was tattered, shredded by a blade. The blood-soaked cloth testified to the fact that a wound had once been on his body.
Though it had already vanished without a trace.
A voice soaked in excitement and joy rang out.
"Truly, the world crafted by the Lord is endlessly marvelous! How did you do it, brother?! How were you able to evade the eyes of this humble servant!"
His panting breath and eyes that were not just excited but bloodshot spoke for the Saint's state of mind.
His face was filled with pure ecstasy.