Chapter 101
Translator: uly
Chapter: 101
Chapter Title: Angel
Revenge had now bloomed across both continents.
Though they wielded swords of different names, they would ultimately converge. Their fates intertwined, drawing the kin of sin together as one.
"Oh no..."
The angel who had received the revelation wiped away her tears and hurried out of the temple. This place was neither the eastern continent of Helred nor the western continent of Gehenna-it was the floating world, commonly known as the inverted world, Or's corpse.
In other words, it was the final refuge where the refugees of the heavenly race, whose nation had perished after Or's death, had hidden themselves.
"The Hero is coming."
The angel Jemira, who took the form of a woman with six pairs of wings, removed her mitre and gazed up at the pure white sky of this place. Sure enough, something blue was scattering light as it approached through the firmament of this sunless realm.
It was the massive whale-like form carrying the Hero-Yahm, the Mir of the great sea, symbol of life.
"The Mir... and together with the kin of sin..."
Jemira clasped her two hands in prayer while using her other two to touch the ground as she knelt.
"Praise the fallen benevolent god. El Or, please look upon them with mercy."
Thus, her prayer reached not the heavens, but this land, the corpse of Or.
***
"This place..."
Bulki murmured in awe, gazing at the light streaming through the helm window of Hoshekh Hatar. At that moment, Dabagnel sneaked up and tickled Bulki's finger. Locking eyes with the pure child who instinctively wanted to entrust her heart to the Hero amid this wondrous sight, Bulki smiled and said,
"It'll be okay. Let's keep going."
Bulki scooped up Dabagnel's small body and walked closer to the window. As his eyes adjusted to the pouring light, the flesh of El Or, the body of the god, finally came into view. Its sheer size couldn't be gauged precisely from this distance, but it seemed at least half the size of the Sonain Empire.
Though its head, arms, legs, and torso followed a structure similar to a human's, its surface flowed like vast white clouds in massive convection currents, and what appeared to be the head bore no eyes, nose, or mouth-instead, horns resembling enormous wings protruded from it.
Blue lines extending from the chest couldn't be identified, but they coursed throughout the entire body.
"But why is that over there like that?"
However, as Dabagnel pointed out, those blue lines originating from the god's heart abruptly ended at Or's lower body. Pitch-black masses, like storm clouds, seemed to drift toward the chest.
『Or was originally a being that could not exist in material form, so he could only maintain his shape here in this inverted world. But Or is dead. When a being of rift perishes, his corpse likewise produces effects alien to this world. His flesh and bones are rotting away.』
"Lord Yahm..."
Through the gentle vibrations conveying Yahm's voice, Bulki instantly realized that the rotting lower body was what had birthed the merfolk he had faced.
Like creatures of the sea, devoid of reason yet immortal-not truly rotting, but born from corruption itself. The divine pollution that had seeped bit by bit into the original world each time Yahm's avatar passed through this place.
『Maamak. We named those pitiful beings leaking bit by bit from the bottom of the world through this inverted realm 'abyss dwellers.' Of course, we can't block them all.』
"Does that mean there are more beings like you, the great sea's Mir Yahm, in this place?"
Rondnel, the half-dwarf who had approached the window and scowled at the Maamak, asked.
"Isn't this Or's corpse, half-dwarf? The heavenly race that vanished with him in the myths must remain here too. That's why the Mir's body is sealed in this place."
Following Rondnel's question with a sharp reply was the sun fairy Shainelius. She was still perched by the window, tending to Yao Rkeshhet, her sword and bow in one.
『Correct, sun fairy. When I realized I would create the great sin and have my body sealed, I willingly chose this inverted world as the site. Or's corpse would surely have a malign influence on this world, and I thought it needed tending. And here, I'met the angels who survived Ivelhac's invasion.』
Yahm increased speed. As the light pouring through the window grew brighter and faster, the great sea's Mir continued her explanation.
『Among Or's corpse, blocking the Maamak alone at the waist is the Archangel of Judgment, Jeker. Protecting the sacred blood in the chest is the Archangel of Faith, Tehila. Receiving revelations through Or's will from the head is the Archangel of Prayer, Jemira. They lead the remaining angels.』
Or's will. The power that remained after Or's death, sustaining this floating world like a vast light. Wasn't that precisely why the Hero Bulki had sought the Mir and come here-to obtain it and unleash that overwhelming power in the future? Realizing he had reached his destination, Bulki steeled his resolve once more. He would obtain that power.
To lead everyone down the right path.
"Great Mir Yahm, then are we heading to where Jemira is?"
『No, radiant Hero of glory. We can't go straight to the head. First, we must go to Or's right arm where I am sealed. We're almost there. Everyone, prepare to disembark.』
At Yahm's words, everyone except the child seemed to steel themselves. Naturally, the Hero bore the heaviest burden, but now he clung to hope, striving not to yield to the abyss. Once this was done, he could end the tragedy forged by the great sin and even lead the demons.
He could stop his friend.
"Bulki, let's disembark together."
But no matter what precious hope he harbored, there was a far older plan. The witch Lilith approached the hope like shadow and spoke. Here, the Hero would learn the truth.
"Yes, let's go down. After you, healer."
And through that truth, he would resolve to slay the god, his true enemy.
***
Yahm's avatar rolled its massive body, boring through Or's flesh into the interior. Piercing the cloud-like layers, the fallen god's skin had already been paved by the heavenly race with their architecture in places, but other sections-shattered when Lucifer slew him-revealed eerie, mist-shrouded surfaces. Yahm flew toward the deepest depression among them and finally reached the site of her own sealed body, expelling Hoshekh Hatar before flying off again.
"Alright, everyone, disembark!"
Under Captain Dayagnel's guidance, the Hero's party began establishing a camp there. There was no need to scout for safer ground.
"Lord Yahm is... ah."
This was the place of Yahm's body, Or's right arm.
It was a sanctuary in itself.
Within a colossal sphere depicting constellations, sun, and moon as if crafting the heavens in orb form, Yahm freely swam her vast body. It must have been cramped for a Mir's flesh, but the great sea's Mir, symbol of life, seemed to accept her fate. While the others quietly set up camp, the Hero approached the seal.
"At last, we meet for real."
"Greetings to the Mir of the great sea."
Cheret, the Glory Mir, approached beside the Hero. Seeing Yahm, Cheret shook her neck sadly, and Yahm spewed water as if 'laughing' before addressing the Hero again.
『Soon, through my voice, the Archangel of Faith, Tehila, will arrive leading the angels. Rest your bodies until then. After you and your party depart, I'll protect the others. Of course, Cheret, you could stay and catch up with me after all this time.』
At Yahm's words, Cheret stamped her feet a few times, transformed into light, and entered the seal.
"Ah, yes. I'll leave it to you."
With that, Bulki returned to the camp setup. His body was utterly exhausted too, but he decided to endure until meeting the heavenly race. Until they conveyed Or's will to him. Thus, the Hero swiftly erected shelters for the others using his sword.
Boom!
At that moment, a massive pillar of light crashed near the camp, and from within it, the archangel appeared. He resembled a human but had two pairs of arms and three pairs of wings, his rock-solid frame clad in platinum armor.
His wings were fluid like flowing silk, draping to the ground like a mantle under their weight. A halo shone around his head, and his eyes radiated sacred golden light without visible pupils.
"Come forth."
As he raised his hand, countless smaller pillars of light erupted, from which an army of angels poured out. They all resembled humans with one pair of arms and two pairs of wings, but lacked the archangel's golden glow. Watching the mythic heavenly host materialize in all its superior majesty, everyone else fell silent in awe.
"Archangel."
Bulki, of course, did not. Bulki boldly stepped forward, looked up at him, and declared,
"I am Bulki Sonain, Hero of the great Sonain Empire. Guided by the Mir of the great sea, Yahm, I have come seeking Or's will."
At the Hero's proud words, Tehila glanced over the camp and commanded his army.
"Bind the Hero and imprison the rest. I will personally hunt down the Terror."