Chapter 220: Outer Gods and Defying Heaven (4)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 220: Outer Gods and Defying Heaven (4)
Ruraka could not understand what he was seeing.
Standing before him was an Outer God with black skin and four arms.
An entity that had consumed countless humans in an instant without a second thought.
An Outer God possessing such incomprehensible power that it had leveled the Kingdom of Calliban’s outpost with a single fist.
It stood there, looking exactly as it had then.
Its back was turned to the ashen world as it stood tall.
It naturally commanded the fear and awe of every barbarian present.
That was how it should have been.
[You... how on earth are you here—]
Ruraka rubbed his eyes.
He checked to see if the sight before him was reality.
He rubbed his eyes again and again.
However—
The incomprehensible Outer God, the one who had crushed the outpost with One Fist, was trembling.
It was even stuttering.
Betraying the gazes of awe fixed upon it, the entity was feeling nothing but sheer terror toward the being in front of it.
The situation was so beyond comprehension that Ruraka began to wonder—
"!"
But before he could even form a thought.
Who exactly is she—
The girl smiled.
Yutia Bloodia, who had remained silently composed until now, offered a benevolent smile to the Outer God standing before her.
She raised a finger.
And then.
Splat—!
The head of the trembling Outer God shattered.
As if the overwhelming and awe-inspiring power it had shown the barbarians was a lie, its end was pathetically hollow.
At that moment, as an indescribable sense of futility filled the eyes of the barbarians—
Snap.
The headless body of the Outer God, which had been collapsing to the ground, moved unnaturally to regain its stance.
It immediately swung a fist at Yutia.
BOOOOOOM—!!!!
The punch was so powerful that the earth shook and the swirling blizzard momentarily ceased. It was intense enough to send dozens of barbarians flying like leaves in the wind.
Then.
Neltar’s head began to regenerate.
In less than a few seconds, Neltar’s head was perfectly restored.
A look of deep frustration was etched onto his face.
However, he soon let out a low growl, as if steeling his resolve.
[……Think carefully. You know as well as I do that us fighting here isn't a good option.]
Neltar issued a warning with a grave expression.
At that, Yutia spoke for the first time.
"And why is that?"
[Do you really think even you can deal with me without taking any damage?]
"Do you really think I can't?"
A deep smile.
Neltar’s face contorted further at the absolute certainty contained within it.
Through this brief exchange, he realized it.
It was no longer possible to resolve this through conversation.
Thus.
[Just why—]
Neltar spoke as if he truly couldn't understand, but—
"I'm sorry, but—"
Yutia maintained her thick smile as she continued.
"That person feels a bit uneasy knowing an Outer God is still drawing breath."
The moment those words left her lips.
[Don't think that I, of all beings, will die easily without taking anything with me—!]
Neltar roared and raised his fists.
And then.
Crunch—!
Once again.
His head was blown away.
* * *
The barbarians stared blankly at the scene before them.
The chieftains, the tribesmen, and Ruraka alike.
What dwelled in their eyes was no longer fear.
The emotion that dominated them was, quite simply,
Awe.
A battle that filled their entire field of vision.
Just by witnessing it, they all felt the same singular emotion.
The black-skinned Outer God lunged at the girl, swinging its fists.
Yet, every single punch only struck the earth.
The snow covering the ground scattered into a blizzard, and the entire land shook, triggering avalanches.
Yutia evaded the fists by stepping aside just once, as if she were playing a game.
The moment the spiteful Outer God pulled its fist from the ground and swung at her again—
Splat—!
Both its arms exploded.
It wasn't just the arms.
The forearms.
The legs.
The stomach.
The shoulders.
The chest.
And finally, the head.
In a split second.
The entity burst apart as if it had never existed, staining the surroundings with blood.
Yet, even though its entire body had been blown to pieces—
Boom—!
Neltar regenerated, defying a clear death as if it were nothing.
He swung his fist at Yutia once more.
A clash between the incomprehensible and the incomprehensible.
Everyone’s mouths hung open at the sight of a majestic battle that seemed like something passed down from the Age of Gods.
However.
Neltar, the Outer God facing Yutia, was—
This... makes... no... sense—!
He was in a state of pure shock.
He had known what kind of being Yutia was from the very beginning.
There was no way he couldn't know.
No, he had to know.
She was...
The identity of the girl playing with him, an Outer God, like a toy...
She was a companion of the black things that had once driven the world to ruin, and the first creation of the Aberrant Blood.
And the black things...
Splat—!
Neltar’s vision momentarily went dark before returning.
The girl was still standing there without the slightest hint of fatigue, looking down at him.
Doubt grew and began to dominate his mind.
He simply couldn't understand.
Unlike other Outer Gods.
The moment he descended, he intentionally refrained from moving and hid himself by making a deal with the barbarians.
He waited until he could manifest properly.
And now, he was fighting her in a state where he had perfectly manifested as an Outer God.
And yet, despite that.
Why... can't I reach her?
Neltar could not touch the girl.
Literally, he couldn't land a single blow.
This was incredibly bizarre.
He was not weak.
In fact, back when this world was originally the world of the gods.
He had boasted a power greater than others as an Evil God who preyed upon gods.
And above all, back then.
His fist had definitely reached her.
And yet.
It definitely had.
So it should reach her now—
But his martial might did not connect.
As if it were never meant to reach her in the first place.
I don't recall her having such an ability—
"!"
Reaching that point in his thoughts, Neltar suddenly widened his eyes and stared at the girl.
Because a single possibility had occurred to him.
It was something absolutely impossible.
But if it wasn't that impossible thing, this situation could not be explained.
No, could it be—really? But that—that should be absolutely impossible—……!!
At the same time, his mouth fell open in disbelief.
As if responding to his realization, the smile on the girl’s lips deepened.
"I see you've noticed."
Her whisper vibrated through the air.
"……!!!"
The moment he understood the meaning behind those words.
Neltar was horrified that the 'impossible' option had turned out to be the truth.
"You, to your own kind—!"
The moment he was about to explode in rage.
He saw it.
Yutia’s hand forming a seal.
And.
Her index finger rising to her lips, tracing a "shh" shape.
With that final gesture.
He sensed his death.
The Outer God Neltar.
He does not die from physical attacks.
Nor from magical attacks.
Even by severing space or dimensions.
He does not die.
Under any circumstances, he regenerated his own body.
Unless his core was destroyed, he would never die.
However, there was one thing even he could not escape.
The very ability possessed by the Aberrant Blood, who had created the creature before him.
The one thing no one could avoid—
Is—
Is—
Is—
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Splat—!
Neltar’s head exploded.
Then his heart burst.
His stomach.
His arms.
His hands.
His legs.
His feet.
One by one, they burst apart, scattering red blood flowers across the ashen snow mountain.
However.
He could no longer regenerate.
A definitive end.
A total silence descended upon the snow mountain.
In the midst of it.
Yutia Bloodia, the girl who had killed an Outer God as if it were nothing, spoke.
"Ah."
As if suddenly remembering something, she let out a low exclamation and turned to look at the barbarians.
Then, her finger—
Swish—
Lightly traced the air.
And.
Splat—!
The head of Ruraka, who had been staring blankly at the battlefield until a moment ago, exploded.
In that moment, when everyone was so frozen by the sensation of the air turning to ice that they couldn't even let out a groan.
"Hmm, I see."
Yutia, who had burst his head with a dry indifference as if it were no big deal, spoke.
From the center of gazes tangled with fear and awe.
"It would be a bit of a waste to kill everyone when there are so many heads here. So—I'll give you one chance."
Her red eyes glowed.
"A very glorious and honorable chance to worship the Great One."
She offered a proposal.
A proposal that could absolutely not be refused.
* * *
The moment he heard the voice, Alon realized he was somewhere else.
Not the northern snow mountain where white snowflakes had been fluttering just a moment ago.
But in a darkness like an abyss where nothing could be seen.
Alon stood within it.
Just as Alon was about to use his brain to figure out what was going on—
[Anomaly.]
"……Anomaly?"
He questioned the term used to describe him, but unfortunately, the heavy voice that seemed to contain the abyss did not answer him.
Instead.
[Bear this in mind.]
It continued calmly.
[The formula of Defying Heaven, which only an anomaly of this world can use, is different from the ordinary.]
Just like the man in the mirror Alon had seen at the end of Greinif’s roots.
The voice continued its message.
[Do not limit it merely to magic—]
[Do not limit it merely to power—]
[Do not limit it merely to status—]
[Simply embrace everything. Harmonize.]
[What you have obtained is the key, with not a single useless piece, meant to lead to one place alone.]
[If you keep that in mind, you will be able to reach it.]
And at the final moment.
[O Defier of Heaven.]
[Our—]
Just as he was about to hear the words of the black thing, Alon’s vision flipped.
The snow mountain.
It was the pure white snow mountain.
Alon realized he had returned.
As he stood there with a dazed expression—
[You crazy—! Wake up! Wake up!!!]
[Kyu!?]
He soon snapped out of it at the sound of a voice coming from below.
At the same time, he witnessed it.
The sight of Basiliora drenched in blood.
"……Basiliora, you, the blood—"
His voice trembled involuntarily.
However.
[You idiot—! This isn't my blood, it's yours!!!]
At Basiliora’s following words, Alon realized that blood was pouring from his own face.
"……Haa."
His strength left him as if he were becoming anemic.
Barely clutching his head, Alon looked at the snow mountain visible beyond the old door before closing it.
The door closed weakly with a creak.
Just in case, he opened and closed the door several times.
But he could no longer return to that place from before.
Instead.
"……?"
At some point, a piece of parchment was gripped in Alon’s hand, which was holding the doorknob.
Alon unfurled the parchment, its origin unknown.
* * *
Thousand Year Ice.
A man who belonged to no tribe and worshipped a god the barbarians did not believe in, becoming an Apostle of that god and gaining the power of great nature.
Fundamentally, he did not get along very well with the barbarians.
Or rather, to be precise.
The barbarians disliked Thousand Year Ice immensely.
His eccentric personality, often called a freak, was one thing.
But he believed in a foreign god, not the gods the barbarians revered.
In contrast, Thousand Year Ice did not dislike the barbarians that much.
This was due to his kind nature, which was uncharacteristic of someone born and raised in the North.
That was why, when he heard the sound of the horn flute earlier, he moved toward the source of the sound.
He knew well that the sound wasn't calling for him.
But if a chieftain blew that horn, it surely meant something incredibly dangerous was happening.
However.
Contrary to his intention to rush there immediately, his ankles were caught.
"You, who on earth are you?"
"You'll find out soon enough. I don't think I need to introduce myself right now."
A young man who looked handsome by anyone's standards blocked his path.
"Then why are you stopping me?"
"Well, how should I explain this? Hmm—"
Clear blue eyes that showed not a hint of tension.
A relaxed smile played on the lips of the young man whose captivating blue eyes shone.
However—
"For your sake, and for the sake of the person I serve?"
In an instant, a pressure so powerful it made even Thousand Year Ice, who was called a clear powerhouse, flinch, weighed down the air.
"So, I'm asking you for a favor."
At the sight of this monster 'requesting' a favor while winking with utter nonchalance—
"……."
Thousand Year Ice gasped.