The Stars Are Twinkling
Long before the Emperor and the people of the human empire sealed away the Chosens, battles between transcendent beings—catastrophes on the scale now unfolding in the Gehenna Great Forest—had been far from rare. The earth shifted. Entire landscapes were torn apart and remade. It was nothing unusual for land once overflowing with life to be twisted into a wasteland of death.
Even after the Great Emperor sealed the Chosens away, such disasters never returned to the world, and yet their traces remained. The most famous example was the Dragon Bones Embracing One Another in the Osiria Mountain Range. And even so, with a few exceptions, the people of this age had no real grasp of what kind of power the Chosens possessed.
Memory was a fickle thing; unstable, liable to fade and warp with time. When that memory was passed from one person to another, its weaknesses only became more pronounced. In the present day, everyone who had actually remembered the distant past was dead except for the Emperor. Even if the events from those days had been written down on paper, people were the sort who needed to see them with their own eyes before they would truly believe.
They were a suspicious, stubborn lot. So when historians spoke of the strength of the Chosens, the people of today dismissed it all as something from history—no, as little more than myth. They thought it was exaggerated nonsense meant to glorify the Emperor, the empire, and the legitimacy and achievements of their ancestors. After all, although the Emperor who protected the empire was himself a Chosen with transcendent power, he had never once revealed that power to the world.
And in this world, the clash of transcendent beings raging through the Gehenna Great Forest must have felt like a thunderclap splitting the heavens.
"Complete ghoul annihilation confirmed... the D-rank red response is no longer appearing."
"What the hell, you’re telling me that’s possible? Hey, observation team! Have you measured the unidentified monster’s presence value!?"
"W-well, the gauges just keep showing zero..."
"That was a flame so massive it could have covered the entire wilderness region of Gehenna Great Forest! We already got enough data from just now, didn’t we?! Check it immediately!!"
"It’s not a device malfunction! The true ancestor’s measurement finished without error!"
"Damn it, you’re telling me that kind of presence value could come from one individual? That makes no sense..."
It wasn’t only humans.
"That was nothing less than divine wrath, if you ask me. What terrifying power..."
"All those ghouls... gone in just two strikes..."
The beastmen and the Lizardmen alike were staring with their mouths hanging open at the surreal scene unfolding across the wasteland.
"Damn it, Lord Behemoth! I like Lord Behemoth!"
"O-oh wow, the orcs are speaking politely!?"
"Once this fight is over, I’ll sell you Behemoth figurines I made myself."
"Damn it, dwarves! I like you people!"
"We can all hold hands and live as one family..."
"?"
Even the singing elves and Satania were left speechless.
Only then did they begin to understand, in fragments, the true power Behemoth carried within him. If it was Behemoth, then perhaps—just as the prophecy carved into the Lizardmen’s stone tablets had claimed—destroying the world might truly have been within his reach.
The True Ancestor, who had been watching the battle calmly with her arms folded, also realized that this was no ordinary situation. A hot wind swept over her. She looked out across the wasteland, now blazing like a furnace of hell. It had been the place where her loyal ghouls had been advancing only moments ago. Aside from the blood dragon guarding her side, not a single subordinate remained.
That was a crude necromancy I only learned from the King of the Dead, but even human soldiers should have been able to put up a fight. And yet they vanished without even resisting...
In the beautiful eyes of the True Ancestor, the immense figure of Behemoth was reflected. Sensing her master’s intent, the blood dragon Bloodgeist took to the air. Blood Tepes drifted along the shadow cast by Bloodgeist.
There was no creature in this world as vast and aesthetically overwhelming as a dragon. Once, Blood Tepes had been so captivated by the majesty of dragons that she had taken the largest of them as her servant—this was Bloodgeist, the blood dragon. Before the appearance of the Transcendent Dragon King, Bloodgeist had been the largest living creature in existence. And yet, compared with Behemoth, whose head touched the clouds...
So huge.
The blood dragon Bloodgeist spat crimson flames at Behemoth. Behemoth moved his right arm, and a hurricane roared into being. The storm he raised snuffed out the blood dragon’s fire. Trees and boulders that had sunk deep roots into the ground were ripped away and hurled through the air. Bloodgeist lost his balance. The power was so overwhelming that even a dragon of that size could not regain his footing.
He is strong.
The True Ancestor’s silver hair fluttered wildly in the wind. Even after the trees and stones had been torn from the earth and vanished, her feet remained planted firmly on the ground.
I want to see his face.
From below, she couldn’t make out the enormous face hidden behind the clouds. Bloodgeist descended to the ground, and Blood Tepes climbed onto his back. The blood dragon rose once more. The True Ancestor’s heart quickened. It had been far too long since she had met a being equal to herself, and she found the moment exhilarating.
What purpose did that creature have for standing in her way?
The True Ancestor did not feel insulted. Someone like that was entitled to block her path, unlike a mere mortal. Above the clouds, Behemoth and the True Ancestor faced one another. A human girl was perched on Behemoth’s shoulder, and she too gave off a special scent—one of that same bloodline unique to the Chosens, beings granted the right to toy with the world as they pleased.
"Why do you block my path?"
The True Ancestor asked, folding her arms.
When no answer came from the other side, she went on.
"The struggles of the strong are a unique form of amusement unlike anything else in this world. However, I have more urgent matters to attend to than fighting you."
To kill the fools who had dared to use her as they pleased. To punish the Emperor and the humans who had sealed her away. And then—
"I must rid my domain of the cockroaches that took root there while I slept."
Hatred flickered in the True Ancestor’s red eyes. To her, everyone in this world was a bug, with the exception of those few who, like herself, possessed extraordinary power.
"Move aside. There is no reason for us to fight right now. I shall indulge you after I have finished everything else. Or would you rather stand with me and bring down the empire?"
The corner of the True Ancestor’s mouth curved slightly.
The Emperor’s way of dealing with the Chosens was vicious. He was still alive, and she had no doubt that his methods had not changed since ancient times. If these people were Chosens like herself, then surely they must also harbor hatred for the Emperor.
"I only want the Emperor’s life. Everything else I will gladly give to you. The world’s territories? Hundreds of millions of slaves? If you desire them, take as much as you like."
It was surely not a bad offer from their perspective. The True Ancestor waited for their answer. The girl standing on Behemoth’s shoulder muttered something to him, but the distance was too great for the True Ancestor to hear. The sight made her feel as though they were conspiring together, and that did not sit well with her at all.
In truth, Lucy was only translating the True Ancestor’s words so that Behemoth could understand them.
Behemoth nodded.
Then he opened his mouth and let out a thunderous roar that nobody else could understand.
"Ah, can you hear me?"
Lucy used a large-scale amplification spell. Her voice spread on the wind, and the clear voice of the blonde girl echoed across the Great Forest. It was not only the True Ancestor who heard it. Every demi-human living in the forest heard her voice.
"What in the world is that voice?"
"Where is it coming from?"
The demi-humans lowered their weapons. Then their gazes lifted toward the sky. The clouds parted, and the red full moon shone down on them like a spotlight. Up above, everyone could see the True Ancestor standing on the back of the massive blood dragon, as well as Lucy perched on Behemoth’s shoulder.
Lucy had no idea her voice was reaching every demi-human in the forest. The spell had merely introduced itself as the only way to speak to the True Ancestor, so she spoke with more irritation than usual.
"My name is Lucy. And the huge person here is my friend. I’m not going to say it’s nice to meet you, because you’re a wicked villain who tried to hurt everyone in this land."
Lucy took a deep breath. She wasn’t used to speaking harshly to others, but she had to. People who didn’t realize they were doing wrong needed to be scolded.
"I love the Gehenna Great Forest. I love this land, where everyone works hard every single day. From now on, my friend and I are going to keep living here peacefully and happily. World conquest? Hundreds of millions of slaves? Gold and silver treasure? I’m sure those are tempting offers to some people."
Lucy was steadfast. She straightened her shoulders, straightened her back, and spoke the words in her heart without hesitation.
"But my friend and I don’t need any of that. A life spent moving forward together with the people who live on this land feels far more precious and worthwhile. So we’re going to protect this forest from you."
Satania, standing beside the elves, gave a small laugh. It was exactly the sort of thing Behemoth and Lucy would say—two people who genuinely loved living an ordinary life.
The True Ancestor’s face twisted. The words spoken by beings who possessed the power to toy with the world sounded so modest, it was almost laughable—almost the sort of thing a bunch of bugs would praise.
"I cannot understand it."
"What doesn’t make sense is you."
"If that truly is your answer, then today you shall vanish together with this land."
The True Ancestor looked at them with eyes cold as ice. She decided there was no value in continuing the conversation. Even after witnessing Behemoth’s power, she still judged that she could win. After all, she was the supreme True Ancestor. How could a creature who had not even been born in her own age possibly defeat someone who had fought for centuries?
Behemoth’s flame breath was within a range of power she could easily replicate. And as for the girl who shared her kind’s blood, her strength was still difficult to measure, but judging by her mana reserves, she seemed no different from an ordinary human.
The True Ancestor’s mouth twisted. The red moon turned redder still. Vast mana surged from her. As the mana of the vampire ranked thirteenth among the supreme Chosens erupted outward, the air began to tremble violently.
At last Behemoth spoke. Lucy scratched her cheek.
"Yeah, I think offering a hundred Ppangdu instead might have sounded more tempting."
The True Ancestor possessed power greater than any opponent they had faced so far. So this time, they would have to be serious. Behemoth drew upon his source. Countless stars glittered in the heavens. Their brilliant light, pouring down upon the world, was absorbed by the black spines along Behemoth’s body.
The power of the stars was a different substance from the mana generated within the world. That was why the Lizardmen, who had come from another world, gathered the faintest traces of stellar power instead of rich mana and used it as their energy source. They called this miraculous energy Starlight, or Astral Glow. It was a substance that no human measuring device could ever hope to perceive.
Behemoth’s black spines drew in more Starlight than the Lizardmen’s Starseeker had collected over the course of hundreds of years. The beast created to shatter stars had decided to protect the lives those stars had created, and so he chose to smash the True Ancestor before him.
It’s some kind of energy I’ve never seen before. It isn’t mana. What on earth is that... no, what exactly is that monster?
The True Ancestor manifested a crimson spear into the world, the strongest blood magic she had painstakingly forged over decades for the sole purpose of piercing the Emperor. A bad feeling crept over her, but she never once stopped. At the same time, Behemoth gathered the Starlight in his mouth.
And then Behemoth spat out that beautiful starry radiance, and the world turned blinding white.
The True Ancestor realized her defeat in that instant. Even if you added together the mana of tens of thousands of mages, they still would not have been able to imitate what she was seeing now. The True Ancestor’s crimson spear, so dense with power, shattered like glass before the might of the stars.
"W-wait just a minute!"
Even Lucy, protected by layers upon layers of barriers, felt a chill run down her spine from the sheer force of the destruction.
The world’s colors returned to normal. The red moon vanished, and the meaningless starlight rained down like falling snow. And in the center where everything had returned to nothingness, Behemoth gave a decisive thumbs-up.
So intense was the sight that everyone who witnessed Behemoth’s miracle would never again be able to erase what had just happened from their minds for the rest of their lives.
Two Divinities Acquired.