Chapter 433
Chapter 433
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 433
Chapter Title: Revival of the Forgotten Gods
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Thousands of years ago, in the era known as the primordial age, the archmage of the ancient dragons tore open the heavens. By committing the taboo of Opening the Heavens, he dragged all the false gods down to the earth and buried them deep within the Myriad Gods Temple.
Countless faiths vanished.
Countless gods were stripped of their names and forgotten.
Thus, Alkeia, where the myriad gods were interred, was no longer a temple for worshiping deities. It became the Myriad Demons Temple, a prison for the false gods. Now, tens of thousands of years later, the Myriad Demons Temple would once again become the Myriad Gods Temple.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ■■■■, ■■■■. ■■■■■■■■■■■■. ■■. ■■■■. ■■■■. ■■■■■■. ■■. ■■■. ■■, ■■■■■. The air trembled. Space creaked. The immense presences of the revived gods pressed down on the entire area.
"......"
Raniel gazed silently ahead.
Beings once called gods now blocked her path. Towering colossi whose tops vanished into the clouds, lowly deities crawling on the ground, gods swinging massive pillars...
Countless gods charged toward her.
Each time their feet slammed into the earth, it boomed with thud, thud echoes. The heavens themselves shook. Though stripped of their divinity, forgotten and nameless, they had once hung in the firmament like stars.
Fallen or not, they remained transcendent beings.
Compared to these colossal entities, Raniel standing firm on the ground looked utterly pathetic. A mere human facing forgotten gods. Yet...
The nameless gods never let their guard down.
Even after losing reason, self, pride—forgetting everything—there was one thing they could never erase. Something unforgettable even after tens of thousands of years.
"I, right here, right now..."
It was the figure of that one insignificant human who had stood before them eons ago.
"...will drag you all down."
A mere human, pathetic compared to gods.
"I'll crush you, smash you, and bury you in the lowest depths of this land. That will be the greatest gift I can offer her."
The gods had laughed at those words.
All the gods had mocked that human.
A mere human challenging transcendent beings above the heavens? Impossible. The most belligerent war god descended to trample him, but...
"My name is Yormun. Yormun van Draconic."
The war god descending from the sky was torn apart and slain.
The human laughed amid the shower of divine blood.
"The name of the human who will kill you all."
Yormun van Draconic.
The gods could never forget that name. That day, that moment, right there, every god met death. They had to feel fear toward a single human.
⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ ■■. ■■■■!! As if vowing it wouldn't end the same way, the nameless gods charged at the human. Their footsteps boomed thud, thud, carving deep into the earth. The first colossus to reach her slammed its foot down.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 BOOM!
The moment the tower-like foot crushed the human. The colossus's foot, ankle, and leg convulsed violently. Then—boom. Its leg exploded. Divine blood and flesh sprayed everywhere as the legless god screamed and toppled.
Thud, thud.
The crippled god collapsed, dust clouds billowing skyward. From amid the rising dust, the human emerged. Unscathed, she let out a chuckle.
"I heard some senile lizard knocked the gods down a peg, but I wondered how that was possible..."
Her eyes gleamed icy blue.
"Now I get it looking at you lot."
Clink, clank.
Chains unfurled from behind Raniel's back.
Thud.
Now Raniel charged toward the gods.
The gods facing the blood-soaked human assault recalled the same scene: the human who tore them apart.
⚙ NAMELESS ROAR ⚙ ————————! Human, human, mere human.
Reviled guide.
Terrified by their natural predator's return, the gods bellowed monstrous roars as they lunged at the human.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Before the surging black inverted cross.
Gloria watched the rising dust with the cross at her back. Explosions and godly screams echoed ceaselessly. The dust clouds dispersed in blast aftershocks, only to billow again.
"Ahaha."
Gloria laughed at the sight.
Raniel finally wrenched off the colossus's head and hurled it toward the apostate. The flying head never reached her, caught and pulverized by other gods. Blood rained down in splatters.
More impressive than I thought, the apostate muttered.
Raniel van Trias, heir of the covenant.
In recent years, she had gained strength enough to challenge divinity itself. This mage, surviving the boundary of life and death time and again, rivaled her past selves.
She really does resemble her.
Grand Archmage Cardi van Armiel.
The great sage who proved her might by plucking the eye of an ancient dragon. It felt like witnessing Cardi's prime. No, perhaps even surpassing it...
"But, junior."
Gloria smiled.
"You're not the only special one here."
From the start, Gloria had been wary of 'Raniel.' Her strength exceeded expectations, but she was still alone. Gloria glanced toward the revived calamities she had awakened.
Calamities reborn by drinking divine blood.
Humans struggled before them. Bleeding, wounded, falling without breaching the disasters. Gloria sneered at the sight.
"You can't win alone."
The forgotten gods would revive endlessly.
By the time Raniel broke through their infinite resurrections to reach here, all would be over.
"You've lost, child."
The apostate smiled bitterly.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
The black lake churned.
With the flooding lake filling the grand cavern, Kellhalhm and Resti hovered midair, clinging to summoned familiars. Instinct warned them not to touch that lake.
"Split."
And that choice was correct.
Dozens of circuits bloomed around Kellhalhm, spewing spells in every color. The split spells struck the lake—no explosive roar followed.
Crackle.
The spells crumbled upon contact. Kellhalhm frowned. The mana itself had decomposed. The filth filling the cavern decomposed everything it touched.
...How to counter it?
No answer came easily.
The lake didn't wait for him to think. It surged violently, then began to overflow.
"...Coming!"
Resti yanked the line tethering her familiar. It accelerated away, a water jet piercing where they'd been moments before.
Sizzle!
The jet hit the wall—crumble. The rock disintegrated. Resti gritted her teeth, glaring at the lake. It was a bad matchup for her.
...I'd have to unleash high-grade familiars.
They'd just melt away.
Then she needed masterpieces... but even unleashing them here, she had no idea how to clear that lake. Besides, they were meant for the apostate subjugation, not Alkeia annihilation.
Churn.
As she pondered, the lake rippled. Its center whirled into a vortex, sucking in surrounding water. A water pillar erupted skyward from the eye.
A pillar shooting toward the ceilingless sky.
The moment it touched the heavens—drip. Water droplets fell. Then pat-pat-patter, intensifying into a downpour. Whoosh.
Sizzle!
The familiar's wings crumbled under the rain. As if decades passed in seconds, it became a skeletal frame plummeting to the ground.
Thud.
Resti leaped off, shielded by barriers. She summoned a new familiar, but it wouldn't last. Her protective barrier chipped away with each raindrop.
"Summon."
A gate to another realm opened, familiars pouring out to shield Resti and Kellhalhm... but they wouldn't hold long. They needed a plan.
"Lord Kellhalhm, a way..."
As Resti spoke—
Kellhalhm grabbed her nape and hurled her toward the cavern wall.
"...Ugh!"
As she hit, he snapped his fingers—click. An earthen wall erupted, encasing her. As she opened her mouth to yell, she met Kellhalhm's gaze amid the familiars.
He smiled bitterly.
Then, black lightning matching the lake's hue struck from the stormy sky. It pierced all familiars, swallowing Kellhalhm.
Kaboom.
The world went pitch black.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ "...Beast King."
Rak glared at the rising beast on the plain. It was the Beast King. But different from the one he'd faced. It drew its sword.
Shing.
Foul sludge dripped from its fingers gripping the blade.
The Beast King's body was formed of divine blood. A fake mimicking it, yet bearing its memories.
But...
Its presence wasn't overwhelming.
Unlike Barta, the Beast King Rak knew, it lacked pride. Its aura was faint. Just a mere imitation?
Grip.
Rak gripped his sword, aiming at the Beast King. His foresight showed no disruption. He kicked off, charging.
And then—
The Beast King, head bowed, looked up. Its sickly green eyes met Rak's—the foreseen future shattered.
——————!
The Beast King roared, jaws wide. An eerie cry Barta, who deemed himself human, would never utter. A beast's howl.
The Beast King's monstrous bellow.
The wail of the pack lord, apex of all species. The earth quaked at its call. Black blood on the plain, black sludge pillars—life spewed forth.
Thud, thud, thud!
Crashing from the sky, rising from the earth: the apostate's beasts. Not for 'swordsman Barta,' but arrayed for the true Beast King.
The beasts answered their king's call.
With glowing red eyes, the horde filled the plain to the horizon. At its center, the Beast King pointed its blade at Rak. The beasts surged as one.
The beasts obey the king's command.
Barta wished to remain a swordsman, but he was the apex of all beasts. The one they hailed as king. Wielding thousands, tens of thousands with a gesture.
Beast King, lord of beasts.
Its beasts obey.
Rak's gaze wavered before the onrushing horde.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ ...Capture it? That?
Destel's eyes shook.
His lips parted and closed repeatedly. He tried imagining piercing that colossal monster, but nothing came.
"U, unit..."
Still, Destel issued orders. Stall, endure, find weakness. He swapped armament.
Mimicry: Immortal Tritan.
The hero of the previous generation, Immortal Tritan.
His arms were a greatshield; he symbolized 'guardianship.' Destel slammed his massive shield into the ground.
Boom.
A bell tolled; a protective barrier formed around him. Each root lash rocked it with thud, thud.
Step.
Belnoa stepped beyond the barrier. Chloe began chanting. Watching them, Destel bit his lip.
...No hesitation in their actions.
They meant to take it down and press on, support Raniel. To them, it was just an obstacle. Destel grimaced watching Belnoa charge the roots, head bowed.
Gripping his shield tighter.
Clang, clang—roots battered the barrier. Destel frowned at a sign only visible downward. Eyes wide.
"Chloe!"
He shoved her.
Roots erupted not from ahead, but below. Dozens whipped inside like lashes. Piercing.
And—spurt.
Blood sprayed long.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
"You can't win alone..."
"Why do you think I'm alone?"
Bathed in godly blood, Raniel shouted.
"You're misunderstanding something."
Raniel chuckled.
"You think I'm worried about them?"
She glanced around.
Paths split in four directions. Disasters blocking each. Without sparing them a look, Raniel laughed incredulously.
"Why would I be?"
Thud—she stomped.
"Not worried at all."
She declared.
"If they were weak enough to falter here, I never would've brought them this far."
Raniel's judgment of others' strength was unmatched. She affirmed it: they could break through these calamities.
What comrades needed wasn't doubt.
Just trust and conviction.
Raniel was convinced. They'd pierce every obstacle and reach her.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Moments after the black lightning struck and the world blackened, amid charred falling familiars, Kellhalhm opened his eyes. Body burning from the strike, his expression unchanged.
"So that's the structure."
Analyzing the intruding mana's nature.
His superhuman computation reached a conclusion instantly.
Whoosh!
He landed on the lake amid the downpour. It rose to his waist, but his body showed no change.
Crack—Kellhalhm cracked his neck.
He'd half-expected it: the lake's property was 'corrosion.' Accelerating time on contact, aging decades in moments. Lethal to life, varying by resistance.
But not to him.
Kellhalhm walked toward the center. He was human who seized eternal life. He'd cursed that eternity, but now he smiled.
"Finally, a use for it."
Arms spread wide as he advanced.
Hundreds of circuits unfolded around him.
"This time, I can protect them."