Chapter 210: Primordial Sun (4)
Chapter 210: Primordial Sun (4)
A suicidal attack.
Why didn't I think of this?
It was the most obvious conclusion.
It was something we had done countless times.
Something I had done as well.
Anyone possessing a spear of absolute destructive power would consider it.
And yet, I failed to foresee this attack.
Why?
Was it because I was blinded by the prejudice that an attacker always has a reason? That because they have nothing to protect, they would prioritize their own survival above all else?
Screeeech.
I wanted to use my strength to break free, but I couldn't exert any proper force now that our bodies were already being ground away.
One and a half legs.
And with one arm gone, I could no longer escape the speed of Spatial Destruction.
So, I simply lifted my head and looked at my enemy.
I looked at the face of Deva, whose arms were nearly gone, leaving him unable to even restrain me properly.
His face was serene.
As if he had fulfilled his purpose.
And because I, too, was washed over by a strange sense of peace, similar to his.
"I have one thing to ask."
I opened my mouth.
"What is it, O Strong One?"
"Why go this far?"
Didn't you come here to plunder?
If so, returning home safely should have been your priority.
The moment you die, the destruction of your kin follows as a matter of course.
Therefore, believing in your own immortality and retreating with your people would have been the logical choice.
It was a short question that couldn't contain all those doubts, but...
"A part of it was the competitive spirit that comes from meeting a strong foe."
He spoke and smiled.
Unlike his previous smiles, this expression was so magnificent it seemed to overwrite his ferocious features.
"However, a single calculation was running deep within me. If the Strong One who protects the other races disappears, then in the end, we shall be the victors."
"Even at the cost of your own life?"
"Yes. For only then can we survive."
…
With those words, I understood.
In this Demon Train, there are no villains attacking with pure malice, nor are there righteous Heroes defending their kin.
There is only the will to devour others to avoid extinction.
The prosperous world I saw here was only peaceful on the surface. In reality, they must be plundering somewhere else, just like these people.
"Plundering to protect, huh."
I blankly muttered the thought I hadn't considered before.
"Indeed. We simply wish to survive. And I shall tell you one more thing. You asked me why I sacrificed so many of my people."
As he spoke, Deva let go of me. With a generous expression, he continued.
"Our race has a concept called Karma. The belief that one who commits a wrong will eventually be swallowed by that wrong…"
"Our culture has a similar concept."
"A coincidence… or perhaps something found across many races. Though for us, it is a phenomenon that truly exists."
Saying this, Deva looked at the flame on his back.
The flame was growing smaller, flickering toward extinction.
"I performed countless good deeds until this flame grew to this size. And, my flame, since this war began…"
Deva paused for a moment.
As if atoning for something.
"My flame has continued to shrink. Even knowing it was wrong, I told myself it was necessary for my kin and accumulated the karma of evil deeds. But please, know this one thing. My heart grieved for it."
"Isn't that just self-satisfaction?"
"If I didn't think that way, I couldn't have endured it. I was exhausted. So, for me, this was the final way to preserve my karma. The last choice to avoid sacrificing the innocent without abandoning my kin."
…For some reason, I could empathize.
His actions were clearly evil.
But the flow of his thoughts and emotions… were things I had felt somewhere before.
However, one question remained.
"…You said your race would be the victors because they are strong."
"Did you not see? Each member of my race is distinctly stronger than those of the other Demiurges."
Yes. I conceded that.
Excluding Al’shel, they were stronger than any race I had seen on the Demon Train.
But one strange point occurred to me.
"Zess is still here."
If she, the absolute being, exists, then a 'strong race' means nothing.
The moment she descends, the world will be erased.
Among those I've seen, including O-Ranks, I have never seen a being more suited for destroying a civilization than her.
If she unleashed her full power, a planet the size of Earth would become a glass marble in an instant.
"Does your race have another absolute being who can stop Zess?"
Perhaps I had grown attached without realizing it, for a faint trace of worry for his race seeped into my voice.
At my words, Deva tilted his head, then suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Hahahaha! Do you still not understand?"
"Understand what?"
When I asked back, Deva clapped his two remaining hands and pointed at me with another.
"In this world, you are playing the role of 'Zess'."
* * *
Hearing those words, many things clicked into place.
Why I had ascended to this high place.
Why I had a faint, precognitive inkling of what would happen.
Why I felt such affinity toward the other races.
This was a world she created.
Perhaps it was the past world she once ruled.
In the original timeline, Zess would have stood against them instead of me.
I couldn't know what the outcome was then, but at the very least, I was the one who had filled Zess's vacancy to stop them now.
"…Did you know about Zess's ability?"
"The power to turn the past into a world, or perhaps the power to create a world within oneself where others can live."
I see.
It was a simpler Otherworld Erosion than I thought.
Though the fact that it left no room for interpretation was a bit unusual.
"Then, are you, standing here now, a falsehood created from past memories?"
Had Deva fought this battle with such sincerity even knowing that?
If he knew of Zess's Otherworld Erosion, he must have known he was a false existence.
"Haha. Does the fact that I am a remnant of the past or a falsehood truly matter so much?"
It was a question that could trigger an identity crisis, yet Deva laughed heartily as he spoke.
"Right now, I am here, a strong foe stands before me, and my kin who believe in me are all around."
He looked down at the ground, watching his kin being defeated one by one.
"Rather than deny these emotions and this reality, I shall give my all. Even if I am a falsehood, to the 'me' of right now, this is reality and truth."
Even knowing it was a lie, did the death of his kin still bring him sorrow?
Such a light flickered in his melancholy expression.
"And, there is the possibility that this is reality. She often used a tactic of mixing reality and the past to induce despair. There were those who, despite it being clear reality, were deceived by Zess's eloquence and manipulated surroundings into believing they were false, and thus offered up their necks. She is a more cunning being than she appears. She seems straightforward and temperamental like fire, but she thinks deeply and deceives others. Even the fact that others know her abilities was likely spread by her own hand."
As if reminiscing, Deva looked up at the sky before speaking again.
"Of course, right now, it seems certain that this is a false past. For a being like you, Lee Ha-ram, could not possibly exist in this Demiurge."
"I see."
I replied to him.
I tucked away the anger that had now vanished deep into my heart.
If this place wasn't reality, then my anger should be directed at the beings of the past, not this man.
Of course, since there was no one to unleash this anger upon, it would likely just pile up somewhere inside me again.
However, once my head, which had been filled with rage, cooled down due to that mindset, I knew what I had to do.
"Come out."
It's been a while.
Wooooong.
With the sensation of the air vibrating, The Hammer vanished.
My vision was dyed black.
Black Particles fluttered for a moment.
The Red Pry Bar appeared in my remaining right hand.
The Pry Bar and the black dress that manifested looked around greedily for power.
But unlike before, they didn't devour power indiscriminately.
Instead, I instinctively understood something.
They were seeking my permission to feast.
…What had changed?
The last time they appeared, they had simply consumed everything.
Well, it didn't matter. Something must have changed without my knowing.
So.
"Devour."
The moment my permission was granted.
The dress began to greedily absorb the Otherworldly Power present in the surroundings.
Whoosh.
Flames erupted.
Despite absorbing a massive amount of Otherworldly Power, it didn't sprout black tentacles, spikes, or wings.
Instead, green flames bloomed around me.
As if it had devoured the ability of Zess herself.
"…I see. You were a qualified Ascendant."
Deva, watching this, muttered to himself.
"What is an Ascendant?"
As the green flames restored my body, which had been destroyed by the spatial collapse, and began to crawl slowly toward Deva, I threw the question at him.
"I can only say… one who is worthy."
Fwoosh.
The green flames touched Deva.
His body was slowly swallowed by the green fire.
Based on my experience of being hit by those green flames, it must have been excruciatingly painful, yet his face didn't show a single change in expression.
Instead of a scream of agony, something else came out of his mouth.
"I see. So this is how I died in the past. I expected my karma to be able to withstand Zess's flames, but her fire is far too hot."
As if he had realized something from that information alone, he wore a look of transcendence.
However, I countered his realization.
"No, it probably went similarly. You landed an unavoidable, effective blow on Zess, and Zess likely unleashed all her flames in response. Based on my impression from fighting you directly, the only reason you lost was because you lacked an attack that could overcome Zess's regeneration."
In terms of Weaponry Skills, Deva was superior.
In terms of special abilities, Deva was also superior.
Their raw strength was evenly matched.
However, Zess had that nonsensical regenerative ability and the flames that guaranteed a loss for her opponent. That was likely how the battle played out.
"Is that so? At the end of my path, I have heard a good story. Thank you, Strong One."
Grin.
With only his face remaining, he spoke his final words.
A testament that no one but me would ever hear, as he was but a remnant of the past.
"I have one last request. I know it is shameless, but… could you find out if my kin are still alive in your time?"
…That final wish was for nothing other than his people.
And so, I gave him an answer.
"If I have time."
"Thank you."
Whoosh.
With those final words, Deva turned into a handful of ash and vanished.
And my vision flickered into green.
* * *
When I came to, I was back in The Sea of sand and glass.
My body, which had transformed into the Black Marauder, had returned to its original form.
My body seemed fully regenerated as well, as I felt no discomfort anywhere.
"You made it back alive?"
Greeting me was Zess's cheerful voice.
"Yeah."
"You saw it all, right? Seeing as you're back, you obviously won."
"…Was all of that real?"
"Yes. That sentence only shows the past; it cannot distort it. Of course, I can swap things around, like putting you in my place… Ah, of course, if the characters change, a different ending comes out, but since it's ultimately my memory, it doesn't affect reality."
I see.
As I nodded in understanding, Zess suddenly tore her mouth open in a manic grin and spoke.
"Now then. That was the war of the Demon Train. What are your thoughts?"
As if this was her final question before she would help us.