The Last Hero's Eternal Craft
As soon as we entered the domain of the Nectar Well, just as expected, Jumito nearly died among the most ferocious and powerful creatures that lived in the watershed of the Nectar Well.
“By the heavens. What in the world are these colossal monsters?”
These are the worst lifeforms in my ecosystem. Though their numbers have decreased somewhat after I created the Fourth Legion Commander.
“A legion commander… Is it on the same level as Yogur-tosoth?”
If Yogur-tosoth heard you say they were on the same level, he’d be furious. As the First Legion Commander, he’s special. There’s nothing he can’t do. He’s omnipotent no matter where he goes and serves as the ultimate weapon of my ecosystem. But the Second Legion Commander has the role of restoring the world, and the Third slowly destroys enemy worlds. They each have different purposes.
Still, I explained that Yogur-tosoth was indeed the second most powerful being in my ecosystem after myself.
After all, the only one with any real command ability was Yogur-tosoth, and the Fourth Legion Commander hadn’t been created with the intention of actually commanding anything—its title was largely honorary.
In any case, the jellies of my Nectar Well were truly enormous. The puddings that hunted those jellies were equally gigantic, and the agar that asserted its presence among them. The gumi trees that had evolved beyond mere protection to become both offensive and predatory tools.
To clean this place out, you wouldn’t need an army—you’d need carpet bombing. The only viable method was to level everything with missile strikes, and even then, the jellies that would grow even more colossal in the later stages might simply endure it.
Regardless, in terms of individual stats, Jumito far surpassed them. After all, there were no ordinary creatures stronger than a legendary Ascendant.
But there were so many of them. Their aggression was overwhelming. They had evolved fiercely just to drink one more drop of nectar, and had grown even stronger to suppress those who had evolved just as fiercely. And they absolutely refused to tolerate outsiders.
If I’m not careful, even becoming a Level 9 legendary Ascendant might prove meaningless. I could still die here.
“Even so, there is work to be done here.”
Carving stone, you mean?
“It is a task worth devoting one’s entire life to.”
To be honest, those will crumble in an instant.
Jumito let out a soft chuckle at the response.
“Yes. I suppose they will. That’s fine. If I were afraid of things breaking, I never should have built them in the first place.”
Whether that spirit still remained within him or not, Jumito began carving one sculpture after another into the structures that rose above the desert floor—structures that were either living creatures or merely the shells of living creatures.
He seemed to already know that this work was ultimately meaningless.
In the end, carving into the shells of living creatures meant either provoking a counterattack, or the creature shedding its skin and abandoning the shell, or simply having the carving trampled and destroyed by nature itself.
Yet he deliberately chose to carve into the gumi trees or the carapaces of slow-moving jellies rather than solid stone floors or relatively sturdy stone walls. I didn’t know why. But I was on my way to find out.
The interference was overwhelming, but since his actions weren’t particularly harmful when examined closely, Jumito somehow managed to leave behind hundreds of carvings on the creatures of the Nectar Well before finally reaching its center—the majestic Guremmy Bear Reefs that encircled the Nectar Well where Abhojuth resided at the very bottom.
The area around it was quite chaotic. Jellies swarmed across the surface, and bisyakheets struggled desperately against Abhojuth’s tentacles in their frantic attempts to drink the nectar. On top of that, all manner of creatures—those living on the islands above the well, the fish beneath the lake—were constantly killing and being killed in a ceaseless frenzy.
Yet for all that, the Nectar Well could also be called the most beautiful place in my ecosystem. It was there that Jumito cut apart jelly shells, gumi trees, and coral to create some kind of sculptural form.
What he made was a boat resembling a canoe. He set it afloat on the lake, rowed it gently, and slowly made his way toward the center of the waters.
This was practically suicide. I grew anxious and asked.
Jumito rowed the boat—which could collapse under attack at any moment—out to the middle of the lake, tossed the oar somewhere, lay down on his back, and gazed up at the sky.
The blazing sunlight of the Dessert Desert poured down, mixed with the winds and radiance of the Great Firmament from his homeland. He stared at that vast sky above the lake where both existed simultaneously.
A hero who had lived for hundreds of years, yet still young, closed his eyes and spoke with serenity.
“You were right.”
About what?
“I… we simply could not accept defeat.
We could not admit that our spirit had been crushed beneath overwhelming power. We could not admit that our very spirit had led us to that defeat.
So even if we died, we thrashed about desperately just to leave behind some trace that we had existed in this world. While I let the others live, I remained here to die.”
What had been created from that resolve was the legendary ruin he had built alone in the capital of a civilization that once existed. An incredible achievement, yet honestly, a meaningless place where no one could receive the bonuses from that legacy.
“But I understand now. No matter how hard we try, we cannot overturn the original outcome—the defeat itself. Could I have managed my species’ legacy forever? Suppose you are defeated.
Would the next god show me mercy? And the one who defeats him? And the final victor? In the end, I would be nothing but trash who keeps betraying even the gods for the prosperity of my own kind.
Then the only option left is for you, who accepted me, to win. But your victory would ultimately mean my failure.
After all, my civilization is gone. My god has perished, and all my kin have left for other worlds. They departed saying they would have their revenge, but after hundreds of years not a single one has returned. There is probably no hope left.”
…….
“If that is the case—if everything I built will crumble, if my species will ultimately become foreigners in another world and be forgotten in this one—then what was the point of creating and piling up that enormous structure?
The city I built. What meaning did that legacy truly have?
I pondered it. And I found the answer.”
I waited for his answer in silence. Using my divine power, I artificially manipulated the surroundings so that no other creatures could attack him.
I would never normally go this far, but if he died here without me hearing his answer, even I would feel too wronged.
“At first it was a sense of responsibility to restore my homeland. But there came a moment when I went beyond that point.
I simply enjoyed building things. The joy of rebuilding an entire city by myself was what moved me.
I didn’t realize it when I was a slingshot user. But now I know. I am someone who truly loves creating and building things.
Whether it remains or not no longer matters. I didn’t build it to last forever. I built it because the act of building and creating itself brought me joy.
No one kneads rubber believing the slingshot band will never break. Isn’t it enough if it simply doesn’t break during the next battle?”
It’s a strange analogy, but you’re right.
Jumito chuckled softly, almost foolishly.
“The steles I left behind, the carvings I made on the creatures here—they’re just play. They’ll probably all disappear with time. That’s fine. It was fun just making them.
Yes. Nothing can remain forever. But we can continue forever. Even if the form changes, even if it becomes twisted into something unimaginable from its original shape, we can keep going.”
Jumito fell silent for a moment, then spoke again.
“Like life.”
Like life?
“Yes. Like life. Like living creatures that constantly change form, evolve, and continue to exist. In the end, not only our civilization but every civilization will crumble into the Great Nature that has no civilization at all. In that sense, intelligent beings and civilizations are ultimately meaningless.
However, the work we do as living beings may be meaningless, but we can continue it until we die. That is true immortality. Not stopping anywhere, but endlessly moving forward.”
…….
“O God. I have a request. I have made up my mind. Please make me a part of your world.”
Now? At this point?
“Yes. I have no desire to leave behind my current body or mind. My existence, my history—they are not important. They would only bring sorrow.
Just as the sugar lumps abandoned their intellect and gained life in return, I too wish to abandon myself and gain life instead.”
A being that does nothing but create endlessly?
“And a being that carries our spirit. Even if this ecosystem is completely defeated one day, a being that will not go extinct but remain.
A being that will leave behind a trace that the Dessert Legion of this ecosystem once existed in the world. And above all, a being that will remain most vividly in your memory. Is that possible?”
…….
“O God?”
I answered slowly.
Just to be clear, I am not a god. I am the Demon King.
“Haha! The Demon King. I see. Yes, you are merciless and evil. You erased my god, the people I loved, and all my kin. You simply watched in silence as I struggled in vain.”
…….
“But if you insist on calling yourself the Demon King, then at the very least, when someone who hates you chooses to end his own life, shouldn’t you refrain from crying?”
I am not crying. I have no idea what he’s talking about.
I really am not crying. Not a single tear falls from my clone, its form completely hidden beneath the robe.
I simply feel a bitter, disappointed sorrow at the thought that I could never reach the answer this man had found, and that unlike him, I could never meet my own ‘end’ and leave the world with a light heart.
“Send me on my way. If you did not lie.”
It is already done.
“Yes. I see. I will be devoured by this well. Becoming part of its flow.”
Twitch—!
As the descendant of a ruined race, now reborn anew—answer my call.
Twitch—! Twitch—! Twitch—!
He was vanishing. Jumito felt his consciousness and body being offered up as a living sacrifice.
An almost infinite amount of divinity tore him apart piece by piece, completely stripping away his personality. His body, soul, authority, traits—everything was being used as material to birth something new.
This was death. He had not died fighting the Demon King who had slain their god, but he held no regrets. At last, he could die not as the descendant of a ruined race, but as himself.
Yet if he had any lingering attachment, it was that he could not see whether the enormous legacy he had created was still being properly protected. If only he could confirm that it remained intact…
World Shaping
In that instant, as his body was being dismantled by divinity, Jumito realized he was no longer lying in a boat but upon the altar of a ruin.
He had been teleported from the Nectar Well to the proud legacy he had built.
Jumito willingly offered his body to the thing crawling toward him from beyond the grave.
As he was dragged away, he was able to confirm that his legacy still stood intact before departing.
His personality was separated and sent to the underworld, to where his kin awaited. His body and soul were offered as sacrifice to the entity that would soon descend.
A legacy is not a structure. The meaning it represents is the true legacy.
The legendary legacy he left in the city after casting off all lingering attachments. And the steles, inscriptions, and writings he left behind as he wandered the world once more—those too were another mystery and achievement.
From that point, rubber-like threads began weaving themselves together in a frenzied lattice, giving birth to a new creation.
Come forth! Fifth Legion Commander of the Dessert Legion! One who can go anywhere and build anything! The space-time weaver who spins the threads of the end—Wafflach-Nacha! I grant you what you desire. Descend now!!!