Chapter 248: Enlightenment (5)
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 248: Enlightenment (5)
The brilliant white light that had snatched everything away now returned the stolen senses to everyone on the vast snowy field, fairly and impartially.
First came the sense of hearing, filled with the sound of the howling wind.
Next, the sense of smell, as the air felt cold enough to freeze the lungs, and the sense of touch, feeling the biting chill.
And finally, the sense of sight.
“…….”
Everyone could only stare blankly ahead.
There stood Baarma.
With his torso and right arm completely gone, Baarma lay there, collapsed and helpless.
“Ah.”
“Ah—”
Voices broke out at the unbelievable sight.
A low exclamation rose from the Allied Forces.
A groan of utter despair escaped from the believers of Baarma.
They all stared forward as if possessed.
That eerie, quiet silence—
“Ugh— Aaaah—”
Was shattered by the despairing voice of one of Baarma’s believers.
It was a groan of someone who couldn't believe the situation.
Clang— Dropping his weapon, he stared blankly at Baarma, whose torso and right arm had been blown away.
“Aaaaah!”
As if unable to accept reality, he shook his head repeatedly before turning and fleeing with a shrill scream.
It was a pathetic sight for a believer of Baarma, who had been slaughtering demi-humans until now.
However, that flight instantly spread fear to the other believers.
“Ugh—”
“Aaaah—”
The believers, who had shown a faith that seemed unshakeable, began to drop their weapons one by one and step back.
A fissure created by a tiny shock.
The contagion of fear broke out in an instant.
“O-Our god is—”
“This can’t be—”
It spread in all directions.
“No way, this is impossible—”
“We can’t win— we can’t win—”
On and on.
“Aaaaah!”
“Aaaah, why is this happening—!”
Ceaselessly.
“…….”
It wasn't a situation where a fierce battle was taking place.
It wasn't a situation where a blade was held to their throats.
Yet, the believers fled more desperately than ever before.
To stop them, the Apostles who had received power directly from Baarma stood in their way.
However, the fissure that had already formed caused uncontrollable chaos.
The moment they saw the red wave scattering into the distance—
“Ah— Aaaaah—”
A small exclamation of disbelief escaped from the Allied Forces, who had been crushed by despair.
“Did we… win?”
“We… defeated Baarma?”
“……The God has brought us victory!”
That exclamation soon turned into a powerful hope, enveloping the entire Allied Forces in an instant.
Cheers erupted like thunder.
A thrill spread everywhere.
The Allied Forces embraced one another regardless of race, shedding tears of joy.
“Marquis, are you alright?!”
“……I feel like I might die. But I’m fine. I can still walk.”
“Godfather.”
“Line, you did well.”
“No. If you hadn't bought time against Baarma, it would have been practically impossible to aim the weapon.”
Alon let out a low sigh.
As he stumbled toward Line and Penia—
[Heh— Hehehe—]
A voice was heard.
A very unpleasant voice.
Everyone who had been celebrating their victory turned toward the source of the sound.
There stood Baarma, his torso missing, standing up with a smirk.
[Hehe— things ended up like this before I could call them forth. Truly a pity. But—]
Baarma continued speaking as if the blood flowing from his mouth didn't matter.
[—I’m not quite in the mood to just take the hit and exit the stage.]
He moved his hand toward the mouth on his right thigh.
Riiip—
■■■■—!?
Riiiiiiip—!!
■■■■■■■■■■■■■!!!!
He tore it open.
And then.
An abyss suddenly erupted from the torn mouth.
In an instant, it created a massive circle as if devouring the empty air.
Rumbleeeee—!!!!!
It soon began to absorb everything.
Grin—!
[A gift for you.]
With a twisted smile, Baarma spoke.
[Let’s see how well you handle this.]
He threw the black abyss he had created toward the Allied Forces and was absorbed into it himself.
As it began to suck in everything around it like a black hole, Alon frowned.
“Marquis—!”
Even in this urgent situation, Penia, who had been seriously contemplating something, shouted urgently as if she had realized something.
“That! It looks different, but it’s similar to a Strange Gate!”
“……!”
“Looking at it, the space hasn't been properly constructed, but its essence is the same as a Strange Gate!”
“Then if we go in there—!”
“Yes, we can try! However—!”
Penia looked back with a furrowed brow.
There stood the Allied Forces, staring blankly at the abyss flying toward them.
Could they do it?
For a moment, doubt flickered in Alon’s mind.
However, his hesitation didn't last long.
“Defying Heaven.”
At Alon’s murmur, his body was enveloped in a white radiance.
At the same time, with countless stars rising into the sky, Alon created an Icicle behind his back.
Hand Ice Seal
Ten Knots
He immediately formed a seal and expanded his mana, trying to stop the path of the abyss.
“Tsk—”
Unfortunately, he only managed to twist the path slightly further down.
The abyss continued to suck in everything around it.
Crasssh—!!!
Before reaching the Allied Forces.
The abyss, slowly crashing into the ground, shattered the foundation and began to dig into the earth.
Naturally, the ground where Alon, Penia, and Line were standing also collapsed in an instant.
The three began to fall, losing their balance.
He saw Magrina and Ryanga trying to force their frozen bodies to move.
It was the same for the others.
Nangwon and Ria were looking down in shock.
Ar also spread her small wings, which she couldn't even fully unfurl yet.
But.
“Don’t come!”
Their actions were stopped by Alon’s single command.
Alon stared intently at the children looking down at him.
Using the still-active Defying Heaven, he sent a final farewell to each of them.
“Marquis—! I think we have to do it now! If we get sucked in like this, we won’t even have bones left! We have to do it now! Starting nowww!!”
At Penia’s squeezed-out shout as they fell together—
“Whew—”
After finally catching his breath.
He recalled the formula she had mentioned before.
He formed a seal without stopping Defying Heaven.
With that, in the abyss that had been empty until a moment ago.
A purple world began to gradually take shape, as if geometric figures were being fitted together.
“It—it’s working!”
Penia looked on with joy as the world slowly formed.
Alon gritted his teeth and spat out the Phrases Penia had told him, one by one.
With that, the abyss began to be decorated with a purple world.
A floor was created.
A sky appeared.
Buildings were formed.
Living creatures appeared.
In reality, he was merely calling forth shapes according to the laws Penia had grasped.
But it felt as if he were creating a world.
As Alon continued to recite the Phrases—
“M-Marquis— I think we need to go a bit faster. The size of the abyss is starting to shrink. We have to complete it before that power completely disappears—!”
At Penia’s urging, Alon looked outside.
Just as she said, the abyss Baarma had thrown seemed to have exhausted its strength; between the spaces Alon was constructing, the gray sky was visible along with the abyss.
It was a strange situation where time and space were tangled in a mess.
Seeing that sight, Alon recited the Phrases even faster.
At that moment.
■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■—!!!!!!!!
A bone-chilling voice, loud enough to tear the ears of Alon, Penia, and Line, was heard.
The three of them looked up at once.
“N-No way—”
With Penia’s voice full of shock, they saw it.
■■■■■■■■■■■—!!!
“……!”
The figure of a Hungry Ghost with pale skin, forcing its body through the black space-time.
* * *
“This is impossible— this shouldn't be possible?”
Penia muttered blankly, her eyes wide as if it were something that could never happen.
“……!”
Similarly, Line, who had used all her strength to control Agathon, frowned as she saw the Hungry Ghost squeezing into the reconfiguring space-time.
Alon, who was forming the seal, also realized that the situation had taken a turn for the absolute worst.
“It’s a shell—!”
“What?”
Penia shouted.
“That Hungry Ghost is a shell with no reason left! I can’t feel any intelligence from it! Its appearance is also very different from the one we saw before……! It must have been caught in the debris of space-time!”
Alon examined the Hungry Ghost’s appearance while operating the seal with a head that felt like it was about to explode.
The Hungry Ghost had already crossed more than halfway into the space-time, tearing through the space he was constructing.
Indeed, as Penia said, it looked very different from the Hungry Ghost they had fought last time.
Compared to then, its size had become mindlessly large, but its movements were very sluggish.
The face was definitely the Hungry Ghost they had faced before, but only basic survival instincts surged within its pale eyes.
“We have to push it out somehow! It’s already unstable because it’s an artificially created space, not a natural one! If that thing pushes its way in, the entire space will collapse—!”
“……I’ll do something about it—”
“No, Marquis! If you stop operating the magic here, the world that’s barely being created will collapse again! If that happens, it’s all over! We won’t be able to return to the original timeline!”
Penia immediately began to operate her magic.
However, her expression was not good.
Penia already knew.
That with her power, she couldn't push out that thing which had already crossed more than halfway.
Alon hesitated for a split second.
His mind, already using Defying Heaven, was in a state of overload.
In fact, he was already at his limit.
Even so, Alon had one method he hadn't used yet.
A clear way to push that Hungry Ghost out of this space without collapsing it right here.
But the reason Alon hesitated was because of the risk.
Alon’s body was already at its limit.
If he took one more step here, he might survive.
But in the end, he would inevitably suffer permanent damage.
As he hesitated for a moment.
“Godfather, I’ll try to do something about it.”
Line’s calm voice rang out.
“It’s impossible for you right now.”
Alon replied without a moment’s hesitation.
If she were in her normal state, it might have been possible.
But not now.
Pluto, which she could summon limitedly, was too rushed to use now.
The same went for Agathon, which she had just obtained.
However, despite Alon’s dissuasion, Line wore a calm smile.
“Don’t worry, Godfather. There is a way.”
She turned her body in front of Alon, who was forming the seal.
Turning her back to the Hungry Ghost that was tearing through this space—
Crasssh—!!!
She began to fire Golden Tubes in all directions.
The Golden Tubes, fired in an instant, drew dizzying magic circles.
They formed a massive barrier between Line and Alon.
Penia, who was standing on Alon’s side watching this scene—
“Lady Line!? What’s being drawn now are Severing and Sealing Arrays!”
She was horrified as she realized the identity of the magic circles.
“……Line, you—!”
The moment Alon’s eyes widened.
Line, who was looking at him with a calm face, whispered softly.
“……This is nice.”
“What……?”
“Being able to see your expression, Godfather.”
She then smiled brightly, as if relieved.
“To be honest— I was a bit jealous of Seolrang.”
The Golden Tubes continued to form dizzying magic circles.
Increasing in speed, they began to block the space between Alon and Line.
“Stop, Line.”
“Don’t worry too much, Godfather. I’m not falling into space-time. Since Baarma’s power is already exhausted anyway, the place I’ll fall will just be the basement of the World Tree.”
The Golden Tubes, erecting a wall to sever the space, covered Line’s feet.
“You don’t need to sacrifice yourself.”
“No, I have to do it. Since that thing will crawl out instead of falling into space-time, I have to hold onto it well.”
The Golden Tubes covered Line’s knees.
“I… do not want to sacrifice my family.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes, so—”
“That’s why.”
The Golden Tubes covered Line’s waist.
“What did you say……?”
“Godfather. I don’t want to see my family sacrifice themselves either. Especially you, Godfather, because you are my family, more special than anyone else. And—”
Then, the Golden Tubes covered below Line’s chest.
“Rather, this is something I want to do.”
“……Why?”
“Because— I, just as I think of you, Godfather—”
By the time the Golden Tubes covered around Line’s collarbone.
Line, wearing a pure, clear smile without a hint of regret—
“—I want to be a special person to you too, Godfather.”
She whispered quietly.
“We will be able to see each other again. Time won’t flow inside the Sealing Array. So—”
Soon.
“Even if hundreds of years pass—”
The moment the Golden Tubes completely severed the space.
“—I’ll be waiting.”
Until you find me.
With her final voice.
……The incomplete purple world was finished.