Chapter 174
Chapter 174
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 174
Chapter Title: Root (4)
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A place that humans could only reach after accumulating sufficient stature and attaining enlightenment.
The terms "Shedding the Shell" and "Transcendence" originated right here.
Shedding the Shell meant casting off the limitations of humanity, while Transcendence signified breaking free from the shackles of causality to be reborn as a true god.
"I never thought I'd lay eyes on this place."
Lodbrok's spirit had appeared beside Theo at some point, reaching out to caress the massive iron gate.
"Rodi."
"Are you in your right mind now?"
Lodbrok turned to look at Theo, his face somehow brimming with petulance.
'He kept calling out to me even when I was lost to the curse.'
In truth, Theo had heard Lodbrok's voice—and those of the Phantom Sword's ghosts—as they desperately tried to bring him back to his senses amid the darkness.
But at the time, in his deranged state, he'd dismissed them as delusions of persecution, convinced they meant him harm.
Now that sanity had returned, overwhelming guilt washed over him.
"I'm sorry for causing you so much worry."
"Hmph! Considering how I nearly got dragged into that curse because of you... Hoo!"
Lodbrok showed no sign of accepting Theo's apology easily.
And rightly so—since their minds were linked through channeling, any mental blow to one would transmit fully to the other.
Especially for Lodbrok, who was in the midst of recovery; it must have been truly perilous.
"One box of mint choco ice cream."
*Perk!*
"Ahem! You're not seriously trying to bribe me with something like that, are you?"
Lodbrok whipped his head away with a huff of displeasure.
But Theo didn't miss how his ears had perked up for an instant.
'I half-expected it, but he's genuinely into mint choco.'
Well, that opened up options.
"No way. I'm just saying whatever makes your heart content. How about throwing in a mint choco latte on top? Once this war's over and we head back to Wintera, I'll bring them to you every day for a whole month."
"Latte?"
"You don't know it? It's coffee mixed with mint choco. Supposedly all the rage in Wintera these days."
"Oho! Humans really are ingenious! What a brilliant idea!"
Theo, a pure coffee purist, personally thought it tasted like toothpaste squeezed into a cup and couldn't fathom why anyone would drink it.
But hey, to each their own.
"Ahem! Very well. Your devotion as my companion is commendable, so I'll forgive you this once."
As Lodbrok nodded readily, the Phantom Sword's ghosts—who had emerged outside—stared at Theo with looks of utter dismay.
-You're the only one who'd tame a dragon with something so absurd.
-No, forget that—we suffered for you too! You owe us!
-Yeah, after all the hell we went through because of you...
"But aren't I treating you all to a rare sight in return? When else would you get to come to a place like this?"
-Well, true...
-Eh, trying to slither out of it again.
-Getting more sly by the day, aren't you?
Grumbling all the while, the ghosts followed Theo's gaze to the iron gate.
The entrance to the Pantheon.
They'd only ever heard of such a thing in legends and myths, never dreaming they'd witness it firsthand. Excitement flushed every one of their faces.
Could they glimpse the fairylands where immortals played go, or Valhalla where great warriors gathered?
-At least we raised our successor well; even in death, we're treated to spectacles like this.
-But is that rumor true, though?
-What rumor?
-Ancestor. The one who ascended to godhood after death. If it's real, maybe we can see him?
-Oh, yeah?
In that moment, all the ghosts' eyes turned to Lodbrok.
Theo's followed suit.
'There was that legend, for sure.'
Legends of Ancestor Sigurd's end varied wildly.
One said he'd peacefully passed in front of his descendants after establishing roots in the North, his lifespan at its end.
Another claimed he'd fallen battling demon beasts from the Demon Sea beyond the Great Wall.
Yet another whispered he'd secluded himself to pursue greater enlightenment, still watching over the Ragnars somewhere in the Winter Mountains to this day.
But the most widely believed was "Ascension."
That he'd attained enlightenment, gained divinity, and ridden a pillar of light from the heavens straight to the Pantheon.
As a Ragnar descendant, how could Theo not wonder?
Which of those countless legends held the truth?
Yet...
"......"
Lodbrok merely pressed his lips tight, saying nothing.
An ominous air hung about him, as if to say not to pry.
"Then I'll open it."
Theo chalked it up to some reason and placed his hand on the gate.
If Sigurd truly entered the Pantheon, they might actually behold him.
He was just about to apply strength when—
*Kraaaarrrumble!*
A thunderous roar exploded from the sky, so immense it felt like it could shatter eardrums.
Theo, Lodbrok, and the ghosts all snapped their gazes upward in unison.
Far off, black storm clouds were massing rapidly.
Accompanied by fierce gales, lightning, and torrential rain.
'No, that's...!'
But as the clouds drew close enough to discern with the naked eye, Theo realized he'd been mistaken.
Those weren't mere storm clouds.
It was a mass of yokai.
-Wh-what the hell is that...!
-A Demon Sea beast? But its stature's too immense!
-Is it kin to the [Nameless Lord]?
The "clouds" were in fact a amalgam of countless grotesque monstrosities.
Like hundreds crammed into a confined space, limbs protruded haphazardly, and from rent flesh oozed endless brains and blood.
Eyeballs plastered across its cellular mass rolled every which way before locking onto Theo.
*Ooo—*
*Oooo— Ooo—*
As the ghosts said, Theo sensed it was akin to the [Nameless Lord] yet fundamentally different.
Its hideous form was beastly enough, no doubt.
The demonic aura it exuded echoed the [Nameless Lord] so closely it seemed born from the Demon Sea's depths.
Yet something was subtly off.
The [Nameless Lord] was amorphous but gave a sense of "wholeness."
It possessed will and personality, at least.
Intelligent enough to find Theo "amusing."
But this thing? No.
Through [Hatchling Synchro], Theo saw it lacked any consistent thought pattern.
Countless lives tangled, thoughts clashing without resolution.
No prediction, judgment, or reasoning—just pure instinctual savagery.
A monster in the truest sense.
Grotesque Might, Maddened Divinity.
Itself.
*Kieeeaaaaak—!*
The Grotesque Might, Maddened Divinity gaped its maw and unleashed a piercing shriek.
Theo hurriedly levitated his three swords and drew Drake's blade.
-Damn it all!
-To think we'd fight freaks like this even in death!
-Another [Nameless Lord]-like abomination? Ridiculous!
The ghosts rushed into combat stances too.
Ready to borrow Theo's power and activate the Chronograph if needed.
But Lodbrok alone remained calm, eyes fixed elsewhere.
"No need for us to step in, it seems."
No need to ask what he meant.
Above the gate, hundreds—thousands—of shooting stars streaked across the sky.
At the trails' ends massed celestial warriors wreathed in golden halos.
Theo knew instinctively.
Those were none other than.
"The gods of the Pantheon...!"
Seeing them in the flesh, they seemed far too resplendent to match the childish deities from messages.
No—they overwhelmed everything.
Each was a complete world unto themselves, ultimate embodiments of concepts.
Which was precisely why Theo could read nothing from them.
They loomed too profoundly beyond his grasp.
Perfect and Flawless.
That described them perfectly, didn't it?
No doctrine, icon, or legend in the world could capture that majesty.
From the darkness surged the Grotesque Might, Maddened Divinity.
From the light advanced the Perfect and Flawless.
Black and white clashed amid the heavens, shaking earth and sky.
As if the world itself teetered on annihilation—or creation—
"Sigurd!!"
Lodbrok suddenly shot forward, bellowing.
A voice laced with sorrow, desperation, pain, rage, envy, resentment.
Theo had never seen Lodbrok so overcome with emotion.
'The Ancestor?'
Theo's eyes tracked where Lodbrok stared.
At the fore of the Pantheon's heavenly host stood one man.
Black hair, crimson eyes.
His features screamed Ragnar unmistakably—and bore an uncanny resemblance to Theo.
As if this was what Theo might become, grown to full stature.
-Is that him...?
-So the ascension legend was true...!
As the ghosts marveled in awe.
"Answer me! Sigurd!"
Lodbrok bellowed again.
Poised to revert to his true form and soar skyward any second.
Then Sigurd glanced their way, lips moving faintly.
'Lodbrok.'
Theo read the shape perfectly.
'This is not yet your place.'
He shifted his gaze, locking eyes directly with Theo.
His lips stirred once more.
'So return whence you came, distant descendant. And.'
Sigurd flung his hand toward them roughly.
'Blessed by the chains of causality.'
*Whooooosh!*
In an instant, a gale-force wind hurled Theo and his companions back outside.
[You have been forcibly expelled from the Pantheon.]
Theo felt himself plummeting toward the ground.
His expanded self contracting endlessly smaller.
And below, slowly...
......
...
..
.
.
.
[You have safely arrived at the 13th floor.]
[Congratulations! You have not only fully scaled the White Tower but also visited the Pantheon beyond, successfully completing Scenario Quest #7.]
[Rating: S+]
[As reward, you have obtained ownership of the White Tower, an ancient dragon relic. Consult the Guardian for details.]
[As additional reward based on rating, you may now freely wield <Nirvana>.]
"To think you'd even glimpse the Outer Gods... Far beyond my expectations. Now I see why the other Guardians hold you in such high regard."
Kertosukus had appeared at some point, glancing sideways.
There gathered the Fairy Dragon and the other Guardians, faces grave.
Maga, still nursing her grudge against Theo, avoided even meeting his eyes.
"Outer Gods?"
Theo recalled the entity devoid of proper form or coherent thought.
Its prowess against the Pantheon's host was certainly worthy of the term.
"Hm... Truth be told, these matters carry such weight that I intended to withhold them until you'd sufficiently mastered the ancient dragon's relic."
Kertosukus stroked his chin with a smile.
"But having seen the Pantheon and Outer Gods, there's no point hiding it now. And at the point you've attained Nirvana, it was folly to view you as just another ordinary Chosen anyway."
The explanation continued.
"Outer Gods are precisely those who hail from 'outside' this world. Unbound by its laws, they are ravenous monsters that devour whatever crosses their path."
"Then the reason the Pantheon was built there...?"
"Indeed. To bar the Outer Gods. That is the Pantheon's very purpose."
"......!"
Theo's eyes widened slightly.
Then another thought struck him.
The Outer Gods' aura had mirrored the [Nameless Lord].
So what tied them together?
As if reading Theo's mind, Kertosukus added to the explanation with a knowing smile.
"The Nameless Lord—as you call it—is but a fragment comprising the Outer Gods, thrust into this world as vanguards. To counter them, the Pantheon dispatches the <Guardians>."
The Pantheon holds back the Outer Gods from the heavens,
while on earth, the Guardians battle the Nameless Lord.
And...
'If their war fails and the world meets its end, a Reset occurs...!'
It felt like a blunt object had smashed into Theo's skull.
One step closer to the world's secrets—and time's.
"Wait! Then what exactly are the Ragnars...?"
"The bridge connecting those realms."
Kertosukus smiled.
"A clan bearing the duty to safeguard the world."