Chapter 398
Chapter 398
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 398
Chapter Title: Where All Filth Converges
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All filth flows to one place.
The land for those who have forsaken faith: Alkeya.
Alkeya, accessible only through a massive vertical cavern, receives no light from the surface. The pitch-black shaft resembles a passage to the abyss itself, its depths impossible to observe from above.
...In the primordial era, this was the site of the Pantheon.
Once a symbol of religion that enshrined countless gods, this place had been claimed as her domain by "her." The Pantheon became her forge, and the beautiful azure waterfall that once cascaded into the earth was transformed into a torrent of filth.
Alkeya is no longer a holy site of religion.
Nor is it a land for offering prayers.
This is the land for those who reject faith.
A sanctuary for those betrayed by the very god they served in their final moments, after forsaking all divinity. An altar created in the lowest depths of the world, from which to curse the stars in the highest heavens.
The forge of the Apostate, Gletus.
And so, Alkeya rejects all beings who possess divinity. Even if they are primordial gods.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ I plummet into the depths of the abyss.
Is it from losing too much blood? Or the poison? Or both? In any case, my mind is hazy. Belnoa blinked, feeling as if fog clouded her thoughts.
...I can't hear it.
The Goddess's voice no longer reaches me.
Her form is nowhere to be seen.
The connection with her hadn't been severed, but Belnoa could feel it had grown infinitely faint. Was it a property of this land?
"...Hoo."
Belnoa exhaled shortly and extended her arm.
Confirming that the shadow tendril extending from her fingertips embedded into the wall, she yanked it toward herself. Clinging to the wall like that, Belnoa regulated her breathing.
The pursuit hadn't followed her into the vertical cavern.
Even looking up, she couldn't see the outside. The same held true looking down. Nothing but darkness that threatened to strip away her sense of direction.
'...Certainly, at that final moment.'
The Goddess had said it.
This place was a trap she had been lured into. Now, with the connection severed, the likelihood of that being true was high. So, should she escape this place?
'For now, I need to climb back up.'
Belnoa shot a shadow toward a wall slightly higher up. The moment she tried to pull her body toward the anchored shadow—
Rumble, rrrumble.
The wall shook. She couldn't tell where the vibrations originated, but they were growing closer. When they intensified enough, Belnoa's instincts screamed a warning.
"...!"
Belnoa retracted the shadow connected to the wall.
The instant she kicked off the wall and leaped downward, something burst from the very spot where she had been clinging.
Scraaaaaape!
Shattering the sheer cliff like a blade—what emerged was a massive Earth Dragon. But unlike the Earth Dragons known in the world, its entire body was covered in razor-sharp carapace. Belnoa knew what such a beast was called.
'...An Armored Dragon!'
The Armored Dragon that burst from the wall burrowed into the opposite side and vanished, only to erupt again. The moment one revealed itself, the entire wallface trembled.
Scraaaaaape!
A horde of Armored Dragons poured from the wallface.
No fewer than five of them. Belnoa broke into a cold sweat and, instead of shooting upward, fired her shadows downward. Embedding them into the wall and pulling herself, she plummeted deeper into the abyss.
The Armored Dragons were all oriented upward.
They showed no interest in anything falling into the vertical cavern below, reacting only to those attempting to ascend—as if ensuring no return was possible.
"...Tch."
As pulverized stone from the Armored Dragons rained down, Belnoa gritted her teeth. Armored Dragons were symbols of calamity.
The Apostate, Gletus.
Then this abyss must be her domain.
Belnoa finally understood the Goddess's words that this was a trap. But realization came too late. Escape back the way she came was impossible; she had no choice but to descend further.
The abyss shrouded in darkness.
Even knowing what lay within, Belnoa had no options. As she fell, she pressed hard on her side. Pus oozed from the open wound.
...I have to keep my promise.
I have to keep the promise to return, but now she doubted she could. Belnoa let out a long sigh.
2.
Roars, heat, chill, and flashes of light.
Arctia, which should have been shrouded in darkness, blazed like midday under the glow of spells. Debris from clashing spells. Heat and light sources.
Mana scattering blinding flashes filled the air, followed by another boom. A fierce roar shook Arctia once more.
'...Impressive.'
The First Lunatic, the Nameless One.
He unleashed seventeen spells while expending others to reinforce thirty more, wielding his shadows. Flashes erupted everywhere, heat sweeping the area. Yet even that heat failed to halt the enemy's advance.
Whoosh!
Piercing through the fireball, accelerating. Kicking off the ground melting into a sea of flames, Raniel surged forward. The Lunatic clicked his tongue at how effortlessly she shattered high-tier spells merely by cloaking herself in mana. Astonishing. Truly astonishing.
'Has four years passed since that time?'
Four years ago, when he encountered her in the capital's Mage Tower, the Lunatic hadn't gone all out. Not fully, at least. He couldn't reveal everything on human soil.
Of course, the same applied here.
Far from his core domain, the Lunatic couldn't unleash his full power. Still, this place lay within the reach of the shadows. Meaning he could wield far more spells than back then.
However.
Even so, he was being pushed back.
In the past, Raniel had been wounded without dismantling his ancient spells. He recalled her borrowing the Watcher's eye, risking injury for a short decisive battle, yet still suffering greatly.
'But what about now?'
Even against more spells than before, without borrowing the Watcher's power... she was piercing all his ancient spells. Dismantling most of them. Frowning at the unraveling circuits, the Lunatic wondered.
How on earth?
"...Looks like you've mastered ancient circuits in the time I haven't seen you."
Raniel let out a scoff at the Lunatic's mutter.
"Mastered my ass."
She could simply see them.
Even without the Watcher's eye, Raniel had reached superhuman realms. Her vision expanded, thoughts accelerated, and now she even read providence itself.
'As if I couldn't read a mere ancient spell.'
Raniel slid past the Lunatic.
Her swinging hand sliced the air, seizing his head. Though his body was formless shadow immune to physical force, her ash-mana-cloaked grip latched onto the intangible darkness.
"Finally caught you."
Gripping the Lunatic's head, Raniel slammed him into the ground. With a boom, stone shards flew everywhere. The spell that followed next emitted light.
Smash. Ashes to Ashes. A blinding flash threatened to sear the eyes.
The ground cracked open with a rip, riiip. Amid the shock, heat, and light, the Lunatic tried to manifest a spell... but—
Flash! Flash!
Flashes appeared without warning, smashing into his circuits. In an instant, they shattered, and platinum spikes about two meters long pierced his entire body. Dozens of flashes. The Lunatic, now resembling a hedgehog, vomited filth.
His shadow twitched.
Spells flying without prelude.
Those incomprehensible ones were the most irritating.
"This is maddening, truly."
The Lunatic let out a hollow laugh.
Through the gaps in Raniel's fingers clutching his head, her eyes gleamed coldly.
The Lunatic detached one of his fingers.
Offering the severed finger as catalyst, he manifested a spell. Annihilation. A beam of light shot from Raniel's blind spot toward her head... but—
"What are you doing?"
Clang. Without even turning, Raniel swung her arm, batting the incoming flash aside. The intercepted light bent vertically, piercing the barren ground.
The Lunatic chuckled hollowly, looking up at the empty sky.
The massive circuit floating in the sky, which he had been dropping, was now bound by platinum chains and frozen in place. Everything was inexplicable. These prelude-less spells, those bizarre platinum chains.
"This is awe-inspiring."
The Lunatic's body flowed downward.
His dripping form slipped from Raniel and reformed in midair. Even the filth he had vomited coalesced back into shape.
"What on earth happened in these four years?"
"Ask the god you serve."
Raniel brushed the dust from her hands and looked up.
"Thanks to you, I've been through hell and back."
Platinum light gleamed within her blue eyes.
Gazing at her, now wielding even starlight, the Lunatic sighed deeply.
"No wonder Skeval was screaming."
He shrugged.
"Twenty... no, now thirty? Reaching this realm at a mere thirty..."
"I'm still in my twenties, you fuck."
Bristling at the odd remark, Raniel snapped her fingers. Chains flew from all directions as the Lunatic peeled off a chunk of his shadow. The moment the shadow seeped into the ground, the earth shook violently.
What rose from the ground were hundreds of corpses.
Humans who once lived in this city, now transformed into filth and seeped into the earth, all revived and began grabbing at Raniel.
"Impressive as it is, you know it too, don't you?"
The Lunatic was caught by chains, Raniel by hundreds of corpses. Sighing, he said,
"This changes nothing."
The Lunatic shrugged his form.
Whether platinum chains or prelude-less spells, they could harm him... but the Lunatic could never die.
"I don't die. You know how to kill me, don't you? Useless as these are."
Only weapons beyond common sense, like the First Holy Sword, could repel him—permanent erasure lay in an entirely different realm.
"A war of attrition favors me."
Thus, the Lunatic was relaxed.
"How about we call it here and make a deal..."
"You know,"
Raniel looked upward.
Even with her limbs seized by corpses, she remained calm. Even as they sank teeth into her and clawed her.
"That deal? You think spilling it to that senile lizard's ears ends it just like that? It's all risk, no reward."
A deal regarding taboos.
The moment it was made, the Ancient Dragon would openly target him. That was Raniel's point, and the Lunatic could only chuckle hollowly.
"You think I can't blind that blind lizard's sight? If I couldn't manage that, I couldn't have forged a god."
The Lunatic nodded toward the sky.
Though most barriers were shattered, his scattered mana lingered there.
"My mana blinds the Ancient Dragon's eyes. Those eyes that read present and future through flows—they can never observe me. The same here."
Raniel shot back,
"So, the Ancient Dragon's gaze doesn't reach here?"
"Never."
"I see..."
Raniel smirked.
"Should've said so sooner."
She exhaled briefly.
"Guess I can use it then."
...Use? What?
Before the Lunatic could question, Raniel's lips moved. She uttered something, and for an instant, he felt time had stopped.
In the halted time.
Pushing through the corpses biting her arms, Raniel's hand extended. She removed her glove. Revealed on the back of her hand was a circuit.
A circuit never seen before.
One rotating counterclockwise.
With a creak, grind, lightning sparked from the spinning circuit. Then, with her circuit-etched hand, Raniel gripped the air firmly.
In that moment, the lightning transformed.
The color of the arcing lightning, the mana array, the foundation of the spell, the very providence defined in the area—it all began to warp. Space groaned in protest.
"...What is—"
"What else."
Raniel smiled in the frozen time.
"What you failed at."
Azure lightning, infused with starlight, flashed platinum. The platinum starlight burned to crimson-black, crumbling remnants reforming into...
What remained was lightning of grotesque form and hue. Whether it could even be called lightning was questionable.
Raniel lightly swung her lightning-clad hand.
The corpses grasping her disintegrated upon contact. Stepping forward beyond the crumbling bodies,
"I was looking for a place to test it anyway."
Perfect timing, you bastard.
3.
Continuing downward, Belnoa passed through some kind of barrier. The moment she did, the enveloping darkness lifted in an instant.
"...Ugh."
Her feet finally hit solid ground with a thud. Blinking, Belnoa looked around. Gone was the darkness, replaced by light. Not the blood-red glow of a demon realm lit by a crimson moon... but warm light, like sunlight on human lands.
Unaccustomed to light, Belnoa blinked up. She had descended through a vertical cavern, yet before her stretched a vast plain.
The sky was even blue.
As she gazed at the blue sky, wondering if she were dreaming, Belnoa lowered her head. Her vision, unaccustomed to light, gradually recovered. The moment she could see clearly, she gasped.
Occupying half the vast plain—and more, half-embedded in the inner wall—a temple.
Someone stood at its entrance.
A human of diminutive stature for guarding such massive doors. Not a beast, but human. The middle-aged man wore a single sword at his waist. The instant Belnoa recognized his face, cold sweat dripped down.
Even if Armored Dragons guarded the temple entrance, they wouldn't instill such dread.
Guarding the temple entrance was once the strongest swordsman. The sword's superhuman who withstood the Sword of Death. A human who ascended to the pinnacle with no blessings, just one blade.
The superhuman of the sword, Kuntel.
Now a familiar, he glared at Belnoa.
The moment Belnoa instinctively stepped back, a chilling shing echoed.
Kuntel drew his sword.
Immediately after, Belnoa's vision split in two.