A King Worshipped by Gods
“……?!”
[You've turned back time? That's no easy feat... It's astonishing that the multitude of gods allowed it.]
Adel could hardly believe Kalderet's nonchalant response. He had clearly regressed through time, and in this life, at least, this was his first encounter with the wolf.
'How...?'
Regression wasn't merely sending the body back to the past. It was returning to one's past self in that era. Only memories carried over from the previous life.
[No, perhaps not permission—submission. Even high gods couldn't detect a regression.]
Thud—thud—thud—
Kalderet gazed at Adel with evident curiosity.
[If there was any uncertainty about how much your regression would twist the future, they wouldn't have helped you. Only domination, not requests, could make it happen.]
The wolf's head nodded as if in understanding.
[Indeed. You stand above the gods. Higher than any high god... my contractor.]
“……Impressive.”
[Of course. Don't underestimate me. Even if the worldline twists and dimensions shift, my scent never fades. I can smell the void so thick on you.]
Kalderet smirked at his stunned expression.
[You've been with me for quite some time, haven't you?]
'……!!'
In that instant, Adel realized it. The void scent Kalderet sensed was the trace lingering in his own memories.
[What humans call miracles are just godly interventions, after all. It's laughable to think there's anything in the world even gods don't know—regression twisting the worldline included.]
Kalderet addressed him directly.
“You're right. I was your contractor.”
There was no need to hide it. Lying before a god was pointless, and if Kalderet could detect traces of his memories, reading them outright wasn't impossible.
[Intriguing. So what brings you back to me this time?]
“To become king.”
[Kuh... kuheheh.]
The black wolf's laughter revealed gleaming white fangs in the darkness.
[What a petty desire. A being reeking of void dreams only of becoming king... the pinnacle of material greed.]
Roooaaar—!!!!
In that moment, darkness surged toward Adel.
Boom—!! Boom—!! Boomboom—!!
As if he'd been waiting, Adel ignited the heat stones encircling him just before the darkness touched.
Fwoosh...!!
The heat stones blazed fiercely, radiating intense warmth.
[If you seek a contract with a god, you must endure the trial they impose—you know that much, right?]
The void devoured even temperature itself. Despite burning every heat stone he had, Adel's body trembled like an aspen leaf.
Crunch—
In truth, the heat from mere stones was nothing compared to the chill forged by a god.
[Pitiful child. Do you think those tiny pebbles will help?]
The cold bound him tighter, inflicting agony like being trapped in ice. Yet Adel gripped the heat stones harder.
“They won't help at all.”
Adel stared into the darkness.
“But they might help more than anything.”
He knew. Right where he gazed, Kalderet lurked.
The ancient god of void embodied the entire space he'd created.
“This is the realm of the mind. Not the physical heat of stones, but unwavering conviction that warmth persists—it will shield me from your void.”
[So your mind is stronger than a god's trial?]
“Naturally.”
[Insolent fool.]
Thoom—!!!
Gravity crushed him as the enveloping darkness pressed in.
“Kuh...!!”
Adel clutched the heat stones.
Crack...!
Boom—!!!!
But the infiltrating darkness coiled around them, shattering them into dust.
Roooaaar...!!!!
With the stones' heat gone, bone-chilling cold descended upon him without mercy.
[I wonder if that frail body can overcome my void.]
“Ridiculous. You recognized my regression, yet you spout such nonsense.”
[......What?]
“Kalderet, you're the one mistaken.”
Crack—
Defying the crushing chill, Adel slowly lifted his head.
“Would the gods permit regression for a mere human's dream of kingship?”
As Adel predicted, the space shuddered.
“And you know it too. I was your contractor. My regression happened because of you.”
Thud—thud—thud—
He took slow steps forward.
“A goal convincing enough for you—that's why we meet now.”
[......A goal convincing to me?]
“My regression wasn't for petty greed. Even the gods desired it.”
Chill—
To his astonishment, Kalderet—a god—felt fear toward a mere human. It made no sense; neither physical nor existential power should allow it. Yet instinctually, he wary of Adel.
“I killed them with these hands. Over twenty high gods. They wanted it too—the future I'd forge would save their lives.”
[You're...... no ordinary contractor.]
“Right. I'll become a true king.”
Roooaaar—!!
The darkness receded, revealing the black wolf standing before him.
“A king worshipped by gods.”
[Very well...... I'll watch if you qualify to become a human above gods. Whatever your past life, your current body is pathetically weak.]
Crack...!!
Clang—!!!!
As the darkness vanished, cracks spiderwebbed between Adel and Kalderet, like invisible glass shattering their spaces.
[Let's see if you're worthy to face the void's trials ahead.]
Adel realized he'd entered a new void realm.
“Foolish words, Kalderet.”
He smiled faintly.
“I told you—I was your contractor.”
As if piercing the void's veil, Adel tracked Kalderet's presence even in this oppressive new space.
“A trial I've passed before.”
He strode forward without hesitation.
“No way I'd fail now.”
* * *
Thump...... thump.......
In the utter silence of nothingness, an eerie, discordant sound echoed faintly.
Adel realized it was his own heartbeat.
Darkness, then light. Yet his vision remained swallowed by void.
“Truth is always in its place.”
Darkness didn't hide truth, nor did light reveal it perfectly.
“Darkness conceals truth, light blinds it. Kalderet, what you're saying is that truth exists nowhere.”
That was the void. A deficient space where nothing existed—and anything could.
“That's why you're an ancient god. Nonexistent truth mirrors the future—no fixed signposts.”
[Have you devoured a serpent's tongue? You speak well, Adel. But where is our truth? You'll be buried in frozen earth before finding it.]
Then it came.
From blinding white light, a figure emerged, addressing Adel in an icy voice.
Thud—thud—thud—
Flesh sloughed off with each step.
“......”
A lifeless body staggered toward him.
“Karon......”
Half-rotted face, bones starkly exposed—no longer human.
Clack—
Teeth chattered.
[You killed me. Killed your comrades. Erased even gods. You think you can find truth?]
Adel stared at Karon.
Once comrade and friend, this reunion as undead crushed his heart.
[Your life is cursed. Peace for one who slew gods and comrades?]
Shing—
The sword in the half-shattered corpse gleamed with pure blue light.
“Doubtful. That sword is unbecoming of you.”
Karon's guardian dragon, the ancient heavenly dragon Qunzel's fang-forged blade.
Fwoooosh...!!!
The blue light ignited into flames, flickering resentfully, pitifully toward Adel.
[I'll hunt you eternally. Until your death is miserable...!!]
Splat—!!
An arrow struck Karon's head, shattering the skull into powder.
[......Guhk?!]
Head caved, Karon staggered from the impact.
“Hmph.”
Gruesome sight, but Adel mercilessly nocked another arrow.
Swoooosh...!!!
The arrow screamed through air, embedding in a knee with a wet thunk!—snapping the leg.
[You......!! Killing me again, even in death. Are you still my friend?!!!]
Kneeling on the shattered knee, Karon cried out in apparent resentment.
“What nonsense.”
Despite the dying form, Adel's gaze remained ice-cold as he looked down.
“Me kill you? Even dead with your tongue rotted off, speak straight. You tried to kill me.”
Splaaash...!!
Thud—!!!
Adel yanked the arrow free and drove it into the nape below the half-ruined head.
[......Guhk!!!]
“Screaming when you can't even feel pain......”
He slammed the arrow downward with all his might.
Thump—thump—thump—
Undead or not, a faint glowing heart shape pulsed in Karon's chest.
“You led high god contractors against my back. Comrade or not, you saw me as a threat.”
[Kaaaaahhh!!!]
The sharp arrowhead pierced toward the heart.
“What were you thinking, using me? 'We've used him enough. Gods, let him die in the next battle.' Something like that?”
[You, you bastard......]
“Which god did you pray to? Might as well kill that damned one with my arrow too.”
Thud—!
Clatter—!!!
Adel seized Karon's collar and yanked.
“Kalderet, don't think this pathetic ploy will shake me. I've endured worse—with you, no less.”
Where eyes should be, only void stared back from Karon's face.
Adel knew a god lurked there, watching.
“If this shook me, I wouldn't have returned. Don't waste time.”
Grip—
Adel clutched the half-shattered face in his hand.