49. God (God) (3)
49. God (God) (3)
The god Inkrinew was dumbfounded.
A lowly human who couldn't even operate an aura in his body was walking toward him, spouting insolent drivel.
A lowly mortal who couldn't even wield ki dared to do such a thing.
He had mercilessly beaten down Duke Balzac, the strongest in this space, and let him feel the gap in power firsthand, yet the man still acted so rudely.
A being with no ability. Could it be that his mind wasn't any good either?
Inkrinew felt surging anger.
And on the other hand, a laugh escaped him because it was all so utterly ridiculous.
As he thought, the mortal existence of humans was so very pitiful, yet also fascinating.
Step.
Yuma, who had stepped onto the Seat of Oracle without any hesitation, stood in front of Brigitte.
"...Yuma."
Brigitte slowly opened her mouth. Her fine, pale pink lips were trembling faintly.
Yuma placed a hand on the shoulder of the 1st Princess, Brigitte.
"Ask the question, Brigitte."
Yuma's quietly subdued blue eyes met Brigitte's.
"What is it you want to do?"
Yuma was testing Brigitte.
He was curious what this imperial princess thought — the one who, though their bodies had been far apart, had walked alongside him with the same purpose up until now.
If she voiced the choice to kill one of the two, he would be fairly disappointed.
Brigitte felt a strange sensation.
The fear of Inkrinew she had felt until just a moment ago was lifting.
Because of the appearance of the being called Yuma.
It was simply a vague faith.
Vague faith in a being who had accomplished impossible things thus far.
Because of that, Brigitte was able to speak honestly.
"...Both of them. I don't want to let either of them die, the two who came here for me. Even if it meant dying alone, that would be one thing, but..."
At those words, Yuma slowly nodded.
"Understood."
That answer was enough.
Brigitte had not disappointed Yuma.
"U-huh-huh...!"
From the side, a laugh like that of an innocent young boy leaked out. It was the god with purple skin, Inkrinew.
"U-huh-hah-hah-hah! Honestly, what are two lowly mortals saying, talking about not wanting to let anyone die? I cannot help but laugh. As I thought, mortals are so pitiful but amusing...."
Having said that, Inkrinew approached Yuma.
"Just what exactly are you believing in to act like this? Human."
Yuma didn't answer that question.
He voiced a different question.
"Do you not know me?"
He wondered whether a god might have observed his existence in advance. Or not. It was a question about that.
Inkrinew tilted his head.
"Why would I possibly know a measly, inferior mortal like you? A lowly being whose name isn't even written on a single line in the Book of Revelation."
The Book of Revelation.
Yuma realized that this entity called a 'god' wasn't the type to look down from the heavens and spectate the world.
"When I, this god, am a member of the privileged class who can even kill those recorded in that Book of Revelation, mind you."
The Book of Revelation, in which the future of this world was written.
And the fact that gods could read it.
That seemed to be the source of the gods' knowledge.
The 1st Princess Brigitte, Cloné, and Bel were probably beings whose names were written in the Book of Revelation.
Yuma took out the shortsword, [Black Dragon Bernak's Fang], from his subspace pouch.
"You won't kill anyone."
Yuma's words resonated lowly.
"Not Cloné. Not Bel. Not Brigitte. You won't kill any of them."
Schubertche, the golden-haired 1st Imperial Prince, had been frozen in fear of the divine power and on his knees ever since Inkrinew began to fully unleash it.
The 1st Prince thought Yuma was insane. He deemed that the man had undoubtedly lost his mind completely.
'Utterly powerless. Humans are.'
He had earnestly wished for the oracle to be twisted, that was true. However, he hadn't wished for it to crumble down so unjustly.
Wasn't this situation simply a case of them all becoming the god's playthings?
And what in the world was that War God Yuma saying?
How could he hold his head up so stiffly? Before such a god.
Duke Balzac was barely maintaining his breath.
Blood was stickily matted in his reddish-brown hair.
"...War God... Yuma, that being is a god. It is not a being a mere human can defeat. You must choose one of the two... who to kill."
Duke Balzac, sprawled on the floor, coughed up a mouthful of blood as he spoke.
Marquis Kairos was also crushed by Inkrinew's oppressive pressure and on his knees.
'No matter how much of a War God he is.'
In the end, he was merely a human with the title of a god.
How could a human possibly defeat a real god, who had reduced Duke Balzac to that state with just his divine power, which appeared as mere 'lines'?
Everyone except for the three standing upon the oracle and Hestia of the Cat Tribe doubted Yuma.
Soon, they were mentally envisioning Yuma's corpse, cold and dead.
Inkrinew stared at Yuma with red eyes.
"Behold, everyone is looking at you as if you are a madman. Human."
Yuma did not avoid those red eyes.
"Nothing changes. No one dies."
Inkrinew's eyebrow twitched.
Just what was this human believing to act like this? So he used one of the god's authorities.
The authority to view the 'Causal Name Register' of the target he was facing.
Crackle!
Space distorted. And from the very faintly distorted gap, a small scrap of paper popped out.
Inkrinew narrowed his eyes.
"Oh ho."
The register of all living beings Yuma had killed up until now appeared.
The Master-level Ten Seats of the Astes Empire.
The Grand Master-level former Ten Seat, Sword God Kronos, and the Conqueror King Kamet.
The hundreds of warriors who had followed the Conqueror King.
And the Black Dragon Elkham-Akreon.
The King of the Giant God Tribe, Ades.
Certainly, it was hard to believe that a being who couldn't even operate ki had achieved such a slaughtering record.
"You have killed quite a number of exalted beings. Very well, I shall admit I disrespected you too much."
Riiip!
Inkrinew tore the paper.
The paper soon turned to dust and drifted through the empty air.
"However, what you have accomplished, there is no way I cannot accomplish as well. Those beings are all creatures who would die with a single flick of my wrist."
There was no way it was an empty boast.
[Lv.666] Inkrinew
Because it was spoken by the god of Level 666.
A truth containing not even a bit of exaggeration.
"If no one here is to die, then you would have to kill this god... Keu-keu-keuk!"
Inkrinew tore through space and pulled something out.
Shing─
It was a sword that was clearly extraordinary, even at a single glance.
[Balmung]
The Sword of Wailing and Annihilation.
"You, kill this god? Ah, how very amusing."
This Balmung was also just a tool.
It was a highly durable tool for containing his own mighty divine power and materializing techniques.
Inkrinew intended to show them hell from now on.
"Princess Brigitte, and you. This task, which could save this empire if you just killed one person. The weakness that prevents you from picking that one person. Because of that, everyone here will die."
Yuma believed what he had seen with his own two eyes.
And even now, he found a possibility within it.
"Starting with you. And then the rest of the humans too, all will be annihilated."
Inkrinew pronounced a death sentence upon the humans.
And with the tip of the blade facing the ground, he lightly struck downwards.
Kuuuuuuuung
Centered on the tip of Balmung's blade. Centered on the ground where Inkrinew stood, a black circle spread outwards.
And that black circle covered the entire temple.
It covered the entire surrounding land.
Blackness.
The color black pervasively covered the world.
The shape of the temple could not be seen.
The shape of the ground could not be seen.
The entire world fell into a complete blackout.
Even the blowing wind.
Even the air in the atmosphere could not be felt.
Even the flow of time seemed to have stopped.
'It's all over now.'
Duke Balzac fell into complete despair.
This black-and-white world was a world densely filled with the 'lines' that had struck him down.
Death.
A world of death itself.
A vista that could only be unfolded because one was a god.
An inescapable world of death had unfolded.
A created being.
There was no way a mere human could oppose a god's authority.
The Grand Sword Master did not doubt it, not in the slightest.
That Yuma's death.
And his own death, which would follow after.
"Wail, human."
Step.
Yuma simply walked.
Toward Inkrinew.
"This is the resulting value created by your wrongful actions. You shall be the first to die. And then, one by one, everyone else shall die."
Step.
The darkness slowly began to consume Yuma's body.
Starting from his feet, he was stained by darkness. And the darkness climbed up to his knees in an instant.
Yuma opened his mouth.
"No one dies."
Yuma believed what he had seen with his eyes.
That was why he could walk even now.
Yuma had seen it.
In the 'line' directed at Duke Balzac.
A single point of light shining at the very end of that line.
A point that could be taken as a 'Parry Point'.
Step.
'In this attack too.'
The Lines of Death combined to form a Plane.
And in this World of Death, born from those planes combining countless times over.
'─There will be light.'
Ultra-Focus
He found it.
A handful of light.
The single light within the blackout.
Bullet Time
Time slowed in an instant.
He poured out everything he had.
Kkiiiiiig────gii────iiii.........ii────iiii......iiiik─
Find that single point of radiance.
Right after the 30 seconds of Bullet Time's activation passed.
'Light.'
He found it.
Faint, but unmistakable light.
Within the pitch-black darkness. There was a single point of light.
The shadow of death was slowly passing over his shoulders.
Kkwaak─
He tightly gripped his most beloved sword, [Black Dragon Bernak's Fang], which he had swung the most since falling into this world.
There was only one chance to strike that light.
Precisely.
As he had always done.
He had not a single point of doubt in his own 'parrying'.
He struck the light.
He took it as the 'Parry Point' that would kill this World of Death.
He could do it.
He had to accomplish it.
Ka─────ang!
A clear, ringing sound resonated.
Jjeo─jeojeojeojeojeok!!!!!
The radiance that had been a single point cracked.
And began to shatter the pitch-black death.
The scenery of the pure white temple slowly came back into view.
"...Human, you are─."
The purple god's face contorted.
Absolute Counter
A World of Death.
Enough power to swallow a whole continent and annihilate every single living being breathing in every nation, in every space on that continent, in a single blow.
Ten times that power.
Ten times the 'Conclusion' that Inkrinew himself had unfolded reversed its course.
Toward the caster.
The god, Inkrinew.
Inkrinew doubted his own eyes.
The world of Conclusion was dissipating.
And something similar to that conclusion.
Kugugugugugugugugugugugu─────!!!!!
No, a wave of energy, a conclusion compressed several times over, could be seen shooting toward him.
Inkrinew had manifested in the Middle Realm with his true body.
It was the body of a god.
Not some human body, but a god's sacred body tightly bundled with divine power.
A body possessing defensive and regenerative powers far stronger than a dragon's.
But─
Kkwadeuk
That body was being obliterated.
Kkwadeudeuk
A black pillar that soared up from the ground in an instant.
That black pillar chewed up and devoured Inkrinew's body.
"What are you...."
Inkrinew realized it at once.
This black pillar was his own Conclusion.
"What in the world are yooooooou──────!!!!"
For the first time in the god's existence, Inkrinew felt fear.
The being born not long after the very beginning of this world felt fear.
His body was being erased.
The offensive power of Conclusion. The power to seize life.
That power, stacked several times over in layers, was this pillar.
The body of a god was being erased.
"Humaaaaaaaaan!!!!!!"
His thighs were devoured. His lower body was completely devoured. And then his upper body was devoured.
All that remained was his head.
Inkrinew's head drifted through the air.
The scenery of the original world returned completely.
And everyone who got up and faced the current situation was gaping in shock.
A god was dying.
'If I just send my soul to the Divine Realm, I can reconstruct my body...!'
Inkrinew struggled desperately until the very end.
But.
Kkwang
His head shattered.
And the purple light, his 'soul', was struck.
The power of Conclusion.
That power he had taken for granted and lived by as a god.
Inkrinew had forgotten the terror of that power.
Because he was always the one concluding the world.
His soul as a god was distorted by half.
-Why do you... possess... such... power──
From his soul, a sound like weeping echoed through the temple.
-I do not want to die...... I cannot be extinguished. I am a god. A god, I tell you!!! There is no reason for me to die!!!
"There is a reason."
Yuma's cold words reached Inkrinew's soul.
"It is because you coveted what is mine."
Kkwajik──
Inkrinew's soul was completely shattered.
The purple light was completely extinguished.
Just like that, a god died.