Chapter 93
Chapter 93
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 93
Chapter Title: What is Death
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The Immortal Golem was truly a paradoxical existence.
It was like death that had overcome death itself-a state impossible to describe clearly. Why? Because an immortal was both dead and alive at the same time, and this Golem named Goilelem was neither truly dead nor alive. But this world was inherently full of contradictions.
"The Queen of the Frozen Earth. Not our passionate and beautiful queen, but this icy one-she commands the immortals. She imposes her will like the Demon King. Our kin who died countless times here, and everything we created... when they become immortals, they follow the queen's will. So kill them all."
Harpyia spoke, leaving his rotten lower half stuck to the thin ice as it was. At the same moment, the Immortal Golem swung its fist precisely at the Golem carrying Elis.
Boom!
"Kill them all."
The falling snow whipped into a frenzy by the gusts of wind, and at the same time, the immortals charged at the other Golems. Most were night goblin warriors, but here and there loomed enormous figures as massive as a Golem's hand. They resembled Mir but were much smaller and couldn't fly.
Boom!
But immortals knew no fear by nature, so dozens of the small Mir-like creatures clustered together and smashed their bodies and heads into the Golem. Black ichor and ice burst forth, toppling one Golem. Elis remembered they were serpent bats, a species long extinct.
"These aren't the only things on the Frozen Earth! Every creature that has existed on this land since ancient times becomes an immortal, dominated by a spirit entity! That spirit is controlled by the queen..."
When Elis's Golem clashed with the Immortal Golem, it seemed Harpyia was trying to relay some information, but then he suddenly deflated like a Golem that had lost its core and ground to a halt. It must have been the work of that queen, sealing his mouth and stealing away the faint breath he had been clinging to.
"Damn it... Sweep them all away for now!"
Elis grabbed hold of the Immortal Golem and pulled back from the battlefield, the only one doing so. At her command, the other three Golems moved toward the fallen one, only to tangle with thousands-no, tens of thousands-of immortals, sinking into them like quicksand.
Watching those sticky things clump together, it almost looked like an old woman on the brink of death desperately clinging to life without end. The Golems ripped away each other's deaths, stomping the ground and kicking. It also resembled a newborn child practicing its first steps.
Or perhaps they were dancing some joyous dance.
Boom!
Elis drove her Golem into a frenzy, pummeling the enemy Golem's neck with her fist and tearing at its chest. Even made of the same material, it had hardened further upon becoming immortal and wouldn't break easily. But was it because of that increased density? It was excessively heavy and slow.
"Then!"
Her Golem, glowing even brighter blue, knocked the blacker one flat. Even as it fell, it lashed out with ferocious fists, but fortunately, lacking any will of its own, it didn't target the head where Elis rode.
"Die!"
Elis raised both hands and smashed down on the Golem's head, and at the same time, her controlled Golem let out a heavy roar as it hammered the Immortal Golem's head. Not satisfied, she smashed again, and again, and again.
Her rage erupted like an earthquake.
"Kuh!"
Was she too immersed? Or unable to contain the madness bursting forth under the name of revenge? In that instant, she lost her balance and tumbled toward the enemy Golem's pulverized head.
Ruuuumble.
The Immortal Golem, which wouldn't fall from a crushed head alone, rose and shoved back against the Golem Elis had just fallen from. With no neck of its own, it gripped and strangled the other Golem's neck. As the giants battled, ice rose and scattered like an avalanche. Elis raised her shield-the buffer that had softened her fall-to block the cold, dead eyes.
"Urk."
Finally clearing away the ice and snow, Elis reached out again to control her Golem. Its left hand clawed at the core in the chest while the right battered the side relentlessly.
That was when it happened. The burst-open Harpyia targeted Elis's back, swinging her sword viciously and knocking her down.
"Gah!"
Elis rolled to a stop and looked back at the Harpyia-now just a sword, arm, head attached to it, and one wing. Was it fortunate that, lacking consciousness, it hadn't stabbed? He flailed his remaining arm, swinging the sword in endless desperation.
"Haa."
Only then did Elis notice the immortals behind Harpyia and the battle with the other Golems. The immortals-were they serpent bats?-formed a massive snake that coiled around a Golem, while Joins or some flying creatures rained down from above, and crawling ones on the ground sucked the Golems into a swamp-like mire.
There was no sense of anyone winning. They were just mixing, shattering, exploding, dancing a frenzied dance.
"Ha."
They said madness was life itself.
The queen's faithful servant, bearing her severed wing, now swung his sword with distant eyes for another queen. The bizarre giants born from the study of life punched toward moving deaths even after losing their own. Then what of my life?
She realized now that nothing alive remained on this battlefield.
Truly nothing lived. Madness merely overflowed. Absurd. Contradictory. But they said that was life.
"If you strive, it comes true; if you wish to live, you live. If you wish to die, seek peace. Hold hope toward the righteous and strive again, achieve again. That continuity, that harmony-that's what this world should have been."
Elis approached the thing wildly swinging a sword, blocked its blade, and stomped its head until it burst. Harpyia moved no more, finally laid to rest eternally on the frozen ground.
"But even striving brings no achievement; those who wished to live died, and those who wished to die live again. Nothing continues, all drowned in absurdity. That was my life."
For some reason, a poem welled up in Elis, and she burst into tears. That bizarre wail wove together contradictory emotions-like a newborn's first cry mixed with an old woman's deathbed sob.
"Hic. Huhuk. Hn..."
Demon King and Hero, demons and empire, horns and swords. Caught between those vast hatreds, this pitiful being-neither life nor death-shed red tears like hot blood amid the cold snowflakes.
"H... Ha, haa, haha, hahaha! Ahahaha!"
And then, she laughed.
'Knight's Spear Piercing Death'.
Crackle, ziiiiiing-
Elis's sword roared with a thunderous boom, extending toward the heavens with tremendous force. That violet pillar instantly turned a vengeful, ominous red.
Shwaaaaaaaa!
And it slashed down. Like a red wall had appeared, the mountain of sword energy cleaved through the Immortal Golems and the intact ones before vanishing.
She wept and laughed again.
She slashed wildly. The night stained red along her sword's path. Mountains, snow, and death all crumbled beneath that crimson light. The intense heat from the red glow melted the entire mountain. Thus, in this black battlefield, only tears and laughter remained.
That mad laughter would later be sung by a Promnain bard like this:
「Ani avad nefesh (Ani avad nefesh)
Ye who have lost yourself
Bakah sachak nefesh marah (Bakah sachak nefesh marah)
Resist ye who weep and laugh
Shaga kul kun asaf (Shaga kul kun asaf)
Gather and reap the madness within
Ani sha'an nefesh (Ani sha'an nefesh)
Ye who have laid yourself down
Ani demah nefesh halakh (Ani demah nefesh halakh)
Yield to those like yourself
Nacham kul kun asaf (Nacham kul kun asaf)
Gather and reap the vengeance within
Yerutsa motza chazut alam (Yerutsa motza chazut alam)
The thread of inheritance hides its form
Shamayim ani er'el mut (Shamayim ani er'el mut)
Even that which pierced the heavens fades
Ken para (Ken para)
Thus, receive it
Nagad netzach er'el (Nagad netzach er'el)
The true self revealed
Shaga yaval nacham (Shaga yaval nacham)
Vengeance bearing madness
Netzach shaga er'el (Netzach shaga er'el)
To the truly mad one
Shavat gamal (Shavat gamal)
Grant rest
Or mut kun asaf (Or mut kun asaf)
Gather and reap as hope fades
Kapua eretz ravah (Kapua eretz ravah)
Wetting the frozen earth
Promnain ravah (Promnain ravah)
Wetting Promnain
Olam ravah (Olam ravah)
Wetting itself
Ani avad nefesh zavah (Ani avad nefesh zavah)
I command ye who have lost yourself
Yerutsa Rahav (Yerutsa Rahav)
Inherit the sword
Yerutsa Rahav (Yerutsa Rahav)
Inherit the sword」
"Haa."
Elis withdrew her vengeance from her sword and let it drop limply to the ground.
No, she had no choice but to let it fall. From that technique just now, even rock had melted like a pit. With power like that, how could her frail, delicate body endure? Like Harpyia, half her body was already gone.
Her tears and laughter stopped, and snow fell once more.
"Guard this place."
Four Golems-no, five including the last one Harpyia had tried to protect-rose again. She knew their cores were intact through the madness, but seeing their bodies regenerate felt like they were brand new. The mountain-like giants obeyed her command.
"Now... I have to go again."
Elis barely lifted her sword, dragging it as she moved. Still radiating heat, the snowflakes around her and her footsteps vaporized without settling.
If she continued down the path she'd come, only the Frozen Earth would stretch out, but if she veered slightly toward the mountain range's end, to the river's source, a human city would appear. Promnain, holding all the truths she sought.
Thus, her vengeance would finally carry its madness to this land.
Thus, repeated deaths would end as life returned.
Thus, she would learn why she herself had revived.
"Whew."
Encounter even one more immortal, and it was over. If that happened, more would swarm, forcing her to repeat everything she'd done so far. So she had to hurry. Any hesitation would make the descent immeasurably longer.
"Huh?"
But was it fortune amid misfortune? What appeared before her wasn't an immortal, but a living being. For some reason, he had an arrow trained on her.
He was clearly a wolfkin.
"Damn."
She gripped her sword tightly and stepped forward slowly.