Author: Xerenity

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177. Compromised Happiness

Two towers that didn’t match the field of lava were formed.

The one created only from mana was transparent and glowed blue, while the one with added magical energy was far more thick and solid.

The towers that rose up stood still without movement.

These towers only acted on my will.

This meant that both the start and end of the attacks would be dependent on my will.

These towers were going to pour down attacks on Gera, but it wouldn’t be a problem.

After all, her ability would return the attack back to the tower, not me.

Making some distance between the towers and I, I commanded the attack.

The core of the tower, located near the upper half of the tower, had a massive density of mana and magical energy compressed.

It seemed stronger on another level than what I had seen before in a fight against myself.

The towers attacked without end.

However, it didn’t even take a few seconds for Gera’s ability to activate.

Thankfully, it was the moment that my theory came true.

The attacks that were headed for Gera all changed targets to the towers and began to destroy them.

A tower made from mana with an attack made from compressed mana.

It was a fight between spear and shield, but it seemed that the spear won by far.

The core that unbeknowingly torn away at itself was slowly losing that brilliance in its glow.

However, the situation of not being able to deal damage to Gera remained.

If none of the attacks I used worked, then this would end up as a tie.

I, who failed to defeat Gera, would not be able to defeat the remaining gods.

That would cause the Unrivaled God, Karupedan, to enrage, and it seemed obvious that the rage of this god would not only consume me, but Earth as well.

Thus, it would be my defeat.

However, there really wasn’t a way for me to find out, and I didn’t have any other ideas.

The only answer I had was to try things out for now.

From the first skill I learned, Ice Orb, to the most recent ones I’ve learned, like Blizzard and In Storm.

I decided to use all my attack skills in order.

Only one cast for each of them.

Any additional casts would return back to me like poison.

****

“Whew….. I think I’m going to go crazy.”

“……”

Only 5 skills remained.

I even summoned Devil Avatar and King Suwoo to launch an all out assault, but it didn’t even leave a scratch on her body.

Even the Full Heal that healed summoned creatures couldn’t take effect due to the debuff that prevented me from healing, and instead laid on the floor pathetically.

Chained Explosion, Blizzard, In Storm, Iceberg, and Formless Sword Aura.

If I didn’t get through her with these 5 remaining skills, then it was the same as my defeat.

I continued attacking all this time, but Gera’s shield? Or whatever mechanism behind her defense, I did not find out.

With a desperate plea, I cast Chain Explosion.

A total of four explosions. Each explosion had different amounts of power behind it, and my Mana Shield shook violently.

Since the area of effect wasn’t large, I got as close to Gera as possible before detonating my body.

My mouth that had only spoken cheers now only let out sighs of disappointment.

“Damn it…. Just what kind of a shield is this!”

The attacks that followed resulted in the same.

Despite using every attack that I could pour out, I wasn’t able to defeat the undefeatable Gera.

To obtain twice the attack power, I had used King’s Marbles.

Looking at the many leftover marbles, it seemed all was in vain.

With a dejected heart, I looked at Gera.

“Even till the end, you remain in the same position.”

“……”

A vast amount of time had passed, but Gera remained in the same pose, continuing to let out red steam the entire time.

I moved close to her.

You might be thinking that I might be trying to land a punch on her out of frustration, but that wasn’t the case.

Rather, I was going to admit my defeat to Gera, who didn’t attack at all and gave me a chance instead, and it might be strange, but it was to show my thanks.

Until now, Gera gave plenty of opportunities to humans.

It must be that I failed to turn that opportunity into success.

Her robe had turned ragged from all the attacks that I had poured on her.

Between the shredded bits of her robe, her thin frail body showed.

“To think that I am defeated by myself, of all things. This is enough. I’ve lost.”

“……”

“What more are you expecting?”

“……”

“….. Have you not given up yet? Even now, you refuse to give up on humans? Huh? But there are no other options left. There isn’t a way for me to defeat you. Unfortunately, it seems that I’m unable to meet your expectations due to a lack of potential.”

“…….”

“Thank you. This is the most I can do for you.”

When I first saw her, I felt bothered by her form.

Just what did she go through for her form to turn this wretched.

Regular healing skills didn’t work on other life forms besides the Awakened.

However, since I obtained the proficiency to wield all powers, that rule was nothing to me at all.

I was able to use heals on any life forms that still clung on to life.

Putting a hand on Gera’s shoulder, I casted Mega Cure.

I did worry that since the target was a god, it wouldn’t work, but thankfully her form slowly began to recover.

When her body that was similar to dry firewood had recovered somewhat, Karupedan suddenly appeared before us.

“What? Are you here to make fun of my pride from when I boasted before?”

“What are you doing.”

Karupedan had an expression full of rage, unlike anything she had shown me before.

It seemed that she was extremely upset at something.

Not at me, but it seemed that she was mad at Gera.

“…….”

“Gera! What are you doing!”

“What do you mean? The loser to this bet is me.”

“Stop right now…..”

“What are you saying?”

“Why are you always covering for humans?”

“Karupedan.”

“…….”

“Aren’t you hungry?”

“What?”

It didn’t take long for her form to completely recover.

Removing the robe that covered her head, Gera looked at Karupedan with maturity.

Her jet black curly hair ran down all the way down to her back.

With freckles all over her face, her face looked young, somewhat similar to my age.

Showing a perfect even set of teeth with a smile, she continued to speak.

“If it’s bread….. I could buy you much better and tastier food as much as you want…… I’m sorry.”

“Gera. What are you saying! Just answer me. Why to the humans…..”

“I’m sorry that I wasn’t able to protect you. I should’ve shown you a better world. I’m sorry. Please forgive me for only planting the seeds of resentment towards the world.”

“……”

“It’s not too late for you to stop your hatred of humans. You’re not that kind of a child.”

“You’re a fool who gave over your life to a human.”

“There’s no need for you to return the pain we’ve went through.”

“Us? Ha! Since you’re nearing your death, you’ve reobtained your past memories? So. Has anything changed? Reobtaining memories of the past that you were so curious about and meeting such a pathetic death again. Is this what you wanted?”

“Karupedan……”

“Shut your mouth. Do not address a peerless god’s name so casually. I feel goosebumps from disgust just from feeble minded weaklings calling me like yourself.”

“If there is another life after our deaths for us….. If we are allowed that privilege. Will you be my sibling again?”

“Idiot.”

Just like that, Gera spoke her last words and turned into smoke, disappearing from the world.

I couldn’t make heads or tails of this situation.

I merely had cast heal on her.

After being completely healed into the most beautiful form in the world, she had faded from the world like that.

Was this the only way to kill Gera?

Since they were gods who could not kill themselves, it seems that was the only logical conclusion.

“As expected, for her to not move at all…..”

“Hehe. I thought she would be a difficult opponent. I guess you got lucky?”

Karupedan quickly had come back to her usual playful expression.

She was acting as if she hadn’t even heard what Gera said.

Almost like how she didn’t show any care that Hai Yanta and Lai Yanta had perished, she seemed only eager to the next fight.

The reason why Gera had merely retaliated and not attacked wasn’t because she didn’t have any ways of attacking.

I had considered the possibility, but to think that I was right on the mark.

With what Karupedan had said and how Gera had completely perished, I could tell.

Gera’s defeat was planned.

As she had said at the start, she had given me an endless amount of opportunities.

It was to allow me to find the solution on my own.

My heart should be filled with joy on how I had taken another step forward on closing the gap between the Unrivaled God and I, but instead, my heart was heavy with a sense of dissatisfaction.

The look in Gera’s eyes in her last moments. Her last words. Even the childlike expression she had towards Karupedan.

It was so pitiful that I couldn’t find a shred of happiness to express.

I didn’t know if Karupedan knew that or not, but she continued regardless.

“With this, you’re halfway there, I guess?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“Hm? About what?”

“Gera’s last words. Aren’t you curious about the hidden meaning behind those words is what I mean.”

“Is that important? The past. Of course I’m curious. Of how I became a god. I am curious as to how I lived that I ended up on the seat of a god.”

“……”

“But…… What I want right now is to be completely obliterated from existence. I’m not going to cry tears from such pathetic emotions!”

“Won’t you regret it?”

“What do you mean?”

“That you have only shown her the most shameful display at her last moments. Do you have the confidence to not regret it?”

“Kuhaha! What? Such a pathetic emotional will from her causing me regret? Don’t make me laugh. I’m a god. A god who rules over all to boot. Someone like that regretting? Isn’t that too much even for a joke?”

“Humans are but an insignificant life form that you have created. Being one of those humans, should I tell you my opinion?”

“Kehe! Well, it’ll be amusing. Let’s hear it.”

“I think you’ve wasted countless years of your life with how you lived.”

“What?”

“Despite not living for a long time, I can see. I can tell how she thinks of you.”

“Don’t act so full of yourself. I’ll hear out those words after you’ve killed all the gods. Do you understand?”

“As you will.”

“Not a single person is on my side. Both humans and gods alike!”

Karupedan frowned and showed her displeasure.

However, what she had said just now had a very big flaw.

I didn’t know why, but I could feel it.

Just a moment ago. I speak of how literally the only one on the side of the Unrivaled God had just been obliterated, considering that even her last words had Karupedan in mind moreso than herself.

“Then let’s head for the end.”

“Hehe.”

“Who is next?”

“……”

---

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176. Gera’s Ability

A middle aged drunkard kicked the door and came in.

He was so drunk that he didn’t seem aware of how hard he kicked the door open.

Waving a loaf of bread in his hand, he spoke.

“Oho. Karupedan is here too? You’ve grown up a lot since I’ve last seen you.”

“……”

“What reason have you come….”

“What reason! I’m here to claim payment for the very same bread that child is eating.”

“Karupedan, you’re done eating, right? Can you go to your room for a bit?”

“Yep.”

“Heh heh! Sure. Hurry up and grow up lots. Only then can you also…..”

“Sir. Over there……”

“Sure, sure.”

With the appearance of this man, Gera’s expression soured.

It didn’t seem as if this was the first time for Karupedan, who put the small amount of leftovers in her mouth and walked towards her room.

It was merely a piece of bread.

It wasn’t enough for one to eat their fill, and it wasn’t anything tasty with flavor.

It was just a fist sized plain bread.

Even if they were orphans, this food could be purchased with not even a half a day’s work.

However, for these siblings, who were denied all help, it had become something they could only obtain by paying a steep price.

Gera stopped the man from speaking of foul subjects and guided him to her bed.

Karupedan, who had been playing in the mountains all day, fell asleep near instantly in her room.

After all, she was too young to understand what was going on.

She must’ve thought that Gera-unni had obtained the bread through work.

She must’ve thought that it was her share of the bread that’s left for her on the table as usual.

There was no way that she would’ve known that no one gives work or money to the children of traitors.

Because of that, she didn’t learn the weight behind the bread that she ate for years.

Karupedan’s rage and desperation began not when she had become an orphan, but when she became old enough to understand what Gera was going through.

****

Gera’s robe fluttered as if a strong gust of wind was blowing over it.

Both of her hands were raised towards me, and a red mist rose from them.

I had already swallowed a King’s Marble, and also had many more filling my mouth from cheek to cheek, so I didn’t feel that threatened.

‘Feel free to attack as much as you want. You won’t be able to touch a hair on me.’

I didn’t have anything against Gera, but this was an opponent that I had to defeat in order to progress.

To achieve the new goal I had, I needed to defeat her.

Ignoring the pose she took to attack, I casted a Meteor infused with mana and magical energy.

As expected, I felt that the strength behind this attack was something difficult to handle as of yet.

After all, at the same time as I cast the spell and thought so, the Meteor had already struck my enemy.

Despite being a God of Death, it seemed that she couldn’t stop this attack.

Similar to bullets ripping through a piece of paper, Gera’s robe was ripped apart. Her body that had been completely hidden now was in plain view.

Her skin was pale without any complexion, and she was thin enough to be mistaken for a mummy.

It was enough for me to mistake her hand and feet as roots of a tree.

If how the gods appeared was the same appearance of their forgotten memories…..

She must’ve gone through an unbelievable amount of pain.

However, the problem wasn’t her form.

It didn’t matter if she took on the form of a tree or flower.

Gera knew that she could not avoid my attacks.

She also knew of the abilities of the Awakened, since she was the one to have given them out in the first place.

Instead of avoiding my attack, she had chosen to attack, keeping both of her hands that were letting off steam up.

She kept her hands up even until my attack struck her.

However, strangely, I didn’t see any effects from her attack.

Her hands just kept on letting off steam.

I knew that dragging on this fight will cause Gera to suffer more.

I thought that the least I could do for her was to finish her off in a single hit, so I can at least reduce the amount of pain she would feel.

After all, it was a situation where I was 100% sure of my victory.

Looking at Gera, I suppressed the frustration I felt and casted Meteor again.

Nine orbs appeared in the sky, then all came crashing down at once.

However.

“Urgh! What is this…..”

I felt that my life was threatened without reason and swallowed a King’s Marble.

A minute hadn’t passed yet, but my body had moved reflexively to try to survive.

On top of that, I cast Mana Shield, which was something that I hadn’t done in awhile due to using the marbles recently.

The entire area was covered in flames.

I was standing amongst the intense flames that had enough power to turn anything into ash.

That’s right. Instead of striking down Gera, the Meteor struck me instead.

Was it because my control over my power was lacking?

No. That wasn’t the case.

Until now, no matter how critical the situation was, I didn’t fail to cast my spells properly.

Despite using powers somewhat beyond my control, I believed that this didn’t occur because of me.

Thankfully, I didn’t receive 100% of the damage.

It was quite a shock, but the damage I received was light. I could easily recover with some healing spells.

I could taste salty blood in mouth.

At the same time, I felt uneasy.

I wasn’t sure what injured my invulnerable body. I also was concerned about how my attack came back towards me.

I believed that the answers to these questions laid with Gera.

I asked her, who stayed still with her hands still raised.

“I guess this is what you meant? The power that I’ll need to face the gods I’ll be facing after you.”

“……”

Gera didn’t answer.

A confirming silence.

To better understand the current situation, I stopped my attack.

If this is Gera’s true power, then any further attacks were rash.

It wasn’t just my attack being reflected back at me, but rather the target of the attack I used being changed to me, so it was that much more dangerous.

Also, when I was talking to her, I saw her form and couldn’t hide my surprise once more.

Only her robe was torn away, while the rest of her body didn’t have a single wound.

Was there an exception to the power of the Piece of Time and Space?

Was it possible for her to break the rules the Unrivaled God set.

‘Was it an illusion or some kind of hypnosis? However, I had my Titan Boots. These boots should block all status effects. I don’t like it, but recovery comes first. The plan to take down Gera follows after.’

Staring at Gera, I casted Mega Cure.

[Target cannot be treated.]

[Target cannot be treated.]

“Damn it….. What is this bullshit!”

Gera didn’t take any damage. Compared to that, not only did I take a small amount of damage, but the effect from the Piece of Time and Space that denied healing was applied on me.

It was hard to believe this situation.

I felt as though I’ve fallen into a perfectly orchestrated trap.

Gera remained still even now, and didn’t attack me at all.

It seemed that she wanted me to continue attacking until I would collapse from exhaustion.

Calming myself down from the encroaching suffocating anxiety, I reorganized my thoughts.

The biggest issue was the attack that came at me.

However, trying to understand this part was a contradiction in its own.

I could only assume that this was Gera’s ability.

I didn’t know if she was controlling me or the attack projectiles.

If it was the first, then I couldn’t guarantee victory.

However, if she really was controlling me, then I would be still casting spells on myself.

If it was the latter? I would have a chance if I tweak my attack pattern even a little bit.

Second issue was that Gera did not take any damage.

She had received my skill with a 100% attack success rate directly.

She didn’t dodge or defend at all, and I had confirmed landing my spell directly on her with my own two eyes.

However, instead of receiving any damage, only a bit of her robe was torn.

It didn’t make any sense.

Was it because fire type attacks like Meteor didn’t work on her?

This theory also didn’t make sense.

The Piece of Time and Space allowed me to completely ignore resistances of my enemy.

Taking that into account, what type of attack I sent out didn’t matter.

The inside of my head had gotten complicated enough to give me a headache.

Continuing to ponder, I had arrived at a point where I could not even believe in her existence.

No matter how I looked at it, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

Was there a secret to the area surrounding us, similar to how it was for Hai Yanta and Lai Yanta?

Was it possible that the Gera was facing was just an illusion?

I had to find a clue.

I carefully cast Frost Orb.

It was a pure Frost Orb that wasn’t mixed with mana or magical energy.

It was because I had come to the realization that my attacks could return back to me.

“……”

The Frost Orb flew towards exactly where I had aimed for.

She was able to reflect Meteor, but not Frost Orb?

I tried to think of the difference between the two skills.

First, I knew that the type didn’t matter, so I put that out of the equation.

The skill’s level. It could also be that one was transcended, while the other wasn’t.

Also, Meteor Call was an area of effect spell, but Frost Orb was a single target spell.

“Ah, whatever!”

Risking the damage being returned to me, I cast Meteor.

I couldn’t find a clear answer, and there really wasn’t any other method.

However, the result was quite satisfying.

The attack that I had thought would strike me smashed into the pool of lava instead, where no one was.

This made me remember a monster back in the level 34 dungeon.

An elongated circle shaped monster that looked similar to a mirror hung up on a wall of a room.

That monster perfectly reflected the attack I casted.

This situation was very similar to how that creature reflected both the skill’s amount and type down to the dot.

It was only a theory, but it was also true that it had weight to it.

It seemed that Gera had the ability to completely reflect the attack that she received towards the attacker.

The unsolved mystery was on how she didn’t receive any damage doing so.

It wouldn’t be too late to figure out that part after I proved this theory.

‘I don’t know what type of shield she’s using, but I will penetrate it eventually. I cannot use the same attack two times in a row. I have to do only one at a time.’

Before attacking, I looked through my skill list.

The amount of skills that filled the list made me wonder just when I learned so many of them.

If my calculations were correct, each skill could be divided into four levels of power.

The power of a regular Awakened. Empowered by mana. Covered in magical energy. And finally, both infused with mana and magical energy.

And even excluding the attack skills on the list, I could conjure up at least 200 different methods of attacks with my mastery over mana and magical energy.

Gera didn’t attack anyways.

Instead, she merely waited for me to.

Near her, I began to conjure Mana Towers.

One only from mana, and another mixed in with mana and magical energy.

“It would be great if I made the right guess…..”

“……”

---

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175. Meeting with the God of Death, Gera (2)

“Kehehe. Do you see that area that’s burning bright red? That’s where Gera, the God of Death, lives.”

“Right.”

The place that Karupedan pointed with their finger looked like a place one would imagine if they thought of hell.

The floor was bubbling with lava, and pillars of flames rose up out of the ground all over the place.

However, I didn’t hear any painful screams.

Well, the stereotypical images of what we imagine heaven and hell to be like were made from our own minds, so there should be differences between that and the reality.

It didn’t seem that the wicked were punished and good deeds were rewarded.

To me, who was walking over there without much concern, Karupedan asked.

“Hm? Did you not hear from Barub? And what Lai Yanta spoke of before……”

“I heard.”

“Huh? But you’re still going to kill Gera?”

“……”

“I thought that this fight would be the most interesting one, but it doesn’t seem so?”

All the gods had agreed to destroy Earth.

The only person to stand against that was Gera.

However, it must’ve been too much to stand against everyone alone.

Instead, Gera had empowered the humans with special abilities.

What we were blessed with were the powers of the Awakened.

Not only that, but Gera had made skillbooks, artifacts, weapons, armor, and other items that assisted in the growth of the Awakened.

As if amused by what Gera created, Karupedan had created additional items far beyond the powers of what Gera could create.

What both of them created helped humanity.

However, the reasoning differed for each of them.

Gera had created them to save humanity.

Karupedan did so to watch humans struggle as they died.

The only god to have assisted the humans, Gera.

Karupedan must’ve thought that I couldn’t kill Gera.

Without the interference of the Unrivaled God, I would be far too lacking to defeat Gera myself.

After all, since Gera had given me this power, this same god could take it away.

However, the host to this game was the Unrivaled God, Karupedan.

That’s why it would be impossible for Gera to steal back the powers gifted to us, even if it’s to survive.

Of course, this was only taking into account of our combat capabilities.

What Karupedan was truly aiming for was humanity’s nature.

You could say that this was similar to how they had created an illusion of my mother during the previous test.

After observing me all this time, I didn’t understand why they still thought so.

To think that someone as pathetic as this held the title of  Unrivaled God ruling over all domains.

It was enough to make me smirk from how absurd it was.

Not even looking at them, I spoke to Karupedan.

“Haven’t I already proven myself in the test to obtain the power of the Piece of Time and Space? I won’t be shaken by petty emotions. To be precise, I do my best to make sure that I don’t.”

“Without the help of Gera, humans would’ve been butchered already. Kehe. You’re planning to repay that goodwill with murder?”

“I think you still don’t understand what humans really are like. It’s pretty common between humans to pay favor with acts that would turn them into sword enemies. Anyone can do it, and it can happen to anyone. It’s nothing big.”

“Hehe….. This is more amusing than I thought? This is far outside of my expectations. I’m pleased!”

“So why didn’t you make us better?”

“…….”

“Also, how would you know for sure? Gera could’ve given us power just to watch us suffer like you did. How could we know for sure that Gera wanted to really help us. And if this God of Death was going to help us in the first place, Gera should’ve done a better job. Don’t you think so?”

“Hehe. Sure. You should confirm it yourself. Gera won’t be an easy opponent.”

“As long as I have King’s Marbles, I can face anyone.”

“Hm…. Is that so? I’ll see you in a bit. After you prove what you just said, that is.”

“What are you saying……”

“Heh. Then go on ahead.”

*****

“It’s hot enough to suffocate here.”

Matching the scenery, an intense heat followed.

Well, this place was the equivalent to the inside of an active volcano.

For a place that a god who has blessed us humans lived, this place seemed far more barren than the places that the Goddess of Light and God of Darkness lived at.

Perhaps due to this god residing over death, this place felt as though it should be hosting the most wicked and cruel god instead.

It was then.

“You’ve arrived?”

“……..”

“You’ve heard from Karupedan already, right? I am Gera.”

“Uh? Yes……”

Draped in a black robe, Gera appeared.

The black rope covered this god’s entire body.

One could easily mistake this as just moving cloth.

This god’s voice was nothing like any of the other gods’ voices.

Even with gods that did not have a gender, I could at least differentiate their voices between masculine and feminine, but it was impossible with Gera.

The sound of a machine? Inbetween? There was no way to describe it.

Their voice was something that wasn’t in either category.

Not only that, but this god was speaking respectfully towards me.

For a god who ruled over all domains to respectfully address a human of all species was a concept that was hard to grasp.

At their mannerism towards me, I also naturally found myself addressing them with respect as well.

“I was waiting for you.”

“……”

“In your travels here, I can see that both your body and heart has weathered vast amounts of injuries from both large and small winds.”

“Um……”

“I am aware already. You must be here because of Karupedan’s greed. Hai Yanta. Lai Yanta. You’ve met the two of them already, right?”

“Yes, that’s right. Did the two of them come for you? Since you hold domain over death, I guess that’s obvious.”

“No. They did not come to me.”

“……”

“I wonder if Karupedan’s curiosity has been sated somewhat. The two of them seemed to have completely been obliterated from existence. After all, even though I hold domain over death, I wasn’t able to see them.”

“Is that so. Then you must be aware of why I’ve come here, right?”

“Yes, that is the case.”

“I’ve heard. You’ve given help to the humans. The power of the Awakened, artifacts, and the such…..”

“Help…. I’ve only given a chance. I gave humans a chance to rise up on their own two feet. A chance to prove that they can face and withstand the ridicule and trickery of the gods.”

“I wonder. Do you think that we’re doing well as you had hoped?”

“Of course. Plenty. Humans have shown me potential far beyond what I had hoped for. They’ve done so until now, and I have no doubts that they’ll continue to do so in the future.”

“……”

“Your expression doesn’t seem well. I guess it’s been hard to accept? That you have to continue killing in order to progress.”

“Hm…. I was happy that I had obtained a new goal.”

“As expected. After all, conquering the demonic realm threat had accomplished your goal.”

“Yes. Until I met you, that was the case. I even saw loneliness and emptiness in that crazy god who is probably watching us from somewhere even now.”

“They are a lifeform that has to live eternally, for who knows how long.”

“Is it because you two are blood related? Despite not being able to see a peep of your face and the rest, I can feel the same feeling from you.”

“To think that you can read into it that far. It seems that you’ve far surpassed the limits of humans. It’s not because of the new abilities you’ve obtained, but because you can sympathize with those in a similar situation as yourself, right? Now, what will you do?”

“…….”

“It seems that I’ve asked a pointless question. Seems as though you’ve already made your decision ahead of time.”

“That’s right. I did boast it to Karupedan, but it seems that standing before you, I cannot say a word of it.”

“Will you defeat me and progress forward?”

“Yes. I have decided to. And I have to.”

“The order in which Karupedan introduces the gods. What do you think it means?”
“…..”

“It seems that you’ve caught on from my question.”

“Is it the strength of the gods? That won’t be an issue. Even if strong opponents keep appearing before me, I won’t lose.”

“I suppose that you’ve put your faith in the King’s Marbles.”

“That’s right. It’s an artifact with an absolute rule from the Unrivaled God. I can’t help but put my faith in it.”

“There will be 3 more gods after me. You won’t be able to surpass them with your current pride.”

“What do you mean…..”

“I am not an existence that gives help to humans. I merely give them the chance. The answer, you must find on your own. However, I can tell you that after defeating me, the ability you gain may serve as the chance I’ve mentioned.”

“Is that so….. I don’t harbor any ill intent towards you…. But you are aware, right? Karupedan, god who shares your blood, has offered me this insane deal.”

“Of course. I am aware. I always thought that a day like this would come.”

“Then……”

At the same time as me swallowing the King’s Marbles, Gera’s attack began.

****

“Karupedan! What have you been doing here all this time?”

“Hehe. Gera-unni. ¹ Look at this. I brought them from the mountain in the backyard.”

“What if you lost your way! You. You’re going to get scolded when we get back home!”

“Hehe. If you take a bite of this, you probably won’t. It’s really tasty. I brought it back for you, unni.”

“Let’s get back home quickly. Night will fall soon.”

“Yep!”

Holding each other’s hands tightly, the two sisters headed for the worn down home that radiated a dim flickering light.

While still in the Larkenta’s holy land territory, this was a house secluded far off from the rest.

The small child appeared to be somewhere between the age of 6 to 7, and her sister, who seemed a bit bigger, appeared to be only 10 years old.

The interior of the home they opened the door was far more shabby than the exterior.

Other than the small candle they lit for lighting, there was no warmth to be found.

A frigid home without parents, family, or anyone to greet them.

The basket on the kitchen table that should’ve been filled with bread was empty, and only chipped and cracked tableware was present.

It was a situation where one should be worried about today’s meal.

Yet the two of them had bright smiles on their faces, seemingly without reason.

Karupedan, who had searched all over the mountain for fruits and had now put them on the table, had climbed up onto the chair and was tapping the floor impatiently.

Briefly enjoying the scene with satisfaction, Gera quietly opened the cupboard and took out a fist sized bread to hand it to her.

“Here. Eat up.”

“Hehe. What about you, unni?”

“Unni got tired of waiting and ate some ahead of time.”

“That’s not fair! We should’ve eaten together!”

“Hmph! Why did you come so late then? If you’re late again like today, I’m going to eat all of it next time.”

“Hehe!”

“You were hungry, right? Is it good?”

“Yep!”

It was expected that a war that waged on for dozens of years produced orphans.

Those children would stay with their neighbors, or if lucky, go to the castle and do odd jobs to barely keep afloat.

These two were also orphans from the war, and despite not sharing blood, due to being in the same situation, they relied on each other more so than how actual siblings would.

But why? Why were the two of them living alone without anyone caring for them?

The reason why these children didn’t receive any help from around them was simple.

It was because they were the children of traitors.

Their parents committed crimes, and after a very long period of torture, were pitifully executed.

In Larkenta, no child below the age of 15 were killed.

No matter what crimes they committed, or even if they are the children of criminals.

This was a rule that had been followed for a very long time, and it hadn’t been broken once.

As Karupedan was eating her bread with a smile, the rotting door opened with enough force to break.

---

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 174. Meeting with the God of Death, Gera

After I defeated the God of Darkness, Hai Yanta, the Unrivaled God Karupedan appeared.

They must have been observing this fight from somewhere.

They had an angry look in their eyes and a scowl on their face.

It must be because of the King’s Marbles.

They must know that by bringing a mountain-load marbles with me, I could defeat anyone excluding themselves.

I bluntly asked the speechless Karupedan.

“Why are you staring at me like that?”

“Uu……. Obvious victories are no fun.”

“I’m just doing as you decided, right? I’m perfectly following those rules you’ve set.”

“Kehe. I guess so. Shall we go meet another god?”

“Huh? Well, sure. Do as you will……”

I thought that they had just looked over this a lot easier than I thought they would have.

It was strange.

If they changed the rules to which we’ve agreed upon now, it was true that it’d be a huge problem for me.

Karupedan continued to walk forward slowly.

Usually, they would’ve teleported my snapping their fingers.

From the beginning, it was incredibly difficult to even guess at what they were thinking.

“But you know.”

“Hm?”

“The God of Darkness, Hai Yanta, died.”

“Yep!”

“To cut to the chase, will Earth’s nights disappear?”

“Hey. What do you take me for. Have you forgotten that I am an Unrivaled God?”

“Ah……”

“All those you will be killing going forward, I can do all their jobs in their stead, so don’t worry. Their duties were carried out by such trivial powers. There’s no way I couldn’t do them, is there?”

“…….”

“Kehe. Right. I will eventually die by your hands too, right?”

“You speak of it so easily that it’s hard to comprehend for me.”

“You wouldn’t know. A life where you welcome and look forward to death. What would a human know, when they only live a hundred years?”

“I guess so. So what will happen once you die?”

“You can do it instead.”

“Huh?”

“Didn’t I mention this before? If you kill a god, all their abilities are transferred onto you. Even the powers I have, you will inherit.”

“Are you telling me to feel the same pain you’ve felt until now?”

“Kehe. Dunno, not sure what will happen. You’ve heard already from Barub, right? As expected, he speaks too easily.”

“……”

“It’s as Barub said. I was a god from the start. I don’t remember anything before that. Even though I’m an Unrivaled God who holds the reins of the celestial plane. Isn’t that funny? Despite not even remembering my past, I control all dimensions.”

“……..”

“However, it’s different for you, right? You’re slowly building up your strength to rise to the up. There’s no guarantee that you’ll go through the same process. Not only that, but you’ll keep your memories of the past.”

“I asked a pointless question. After all, none of your mean spirited pranks will end until I kill you.”

“Kuhut. True, true.”

“But why are we walking towards the next destination? We can go there easily, can’t we?”

“No real reason. Just because. I guess I want to enjoy what time remains? Look around. Isn’t it beautiful and wonderful?”

“Whew…. Sure. Who’s next?”

“Lai Yanta. The God of Light. Light and darkness. If only one of them disappear, then the other becomes pointless. There needs to be light in order for darkness to stand out, and there needs to be darkness for light to be beautiful.”

“Hard to believe that the one saying this ordered me to kill them.”

“Heh. Is that so?”

I followed them for a long while.

In Earth’s time, it seemed that we had been walking for over 3 hours.

Karupedan was walking far ahead of me, and looking at their back, I felt a sense of loneliness.

Is it because I’ve come to grasp their past and future somewhat? I knew that they had a part in the portals that appeared on Earth, but I couldn’t help but feel pity.

Soon, the god stopped in their tracks.

It seemed that we had arrived at our destination.

They directed me towards where I needed to go by raising their chin, then promptly hid their form.

There, I could see a cube shaped tunnel.

Similar to an entrance of an evacuation bunker, a door on each side made a small doorway.

Walking over there at once, I opened the door and went down.

A light so intense that I nearly couldn’t open my eyes lit up the entire area.

Almost as if starting at the sun, I felt pain in my eyes.

No matter how much I had physically grown, it seemed that I couldn’t do much against the light emitted from a god.

Without a choice, I had to close my eyes and rely on Eye of Insight as I moved forward.

Going down the last step, it happened as I arrived on the smooth floor that seemed polished.

“What…. Are you? Are you the one who killed Hai Yanta?”

“……”

I could hear a clean and pure voice, as if jade marble was rolling around.

The source of the voice was a woman dressed in fancy clothing and accessories.

A peerless beauty. There was no other way to describe her beauty.

With clothing fitting of a heroine from fairy tales and slender tall height, you could say that she was the definition of what a beauty was.

However, no matter how she looked, it didn’t change the fact that she had a part in making the portals on Earth.

Fluttering her dress, Lai Yanta came closer and spoke.

“Well, I want to thank you. He had a form that was too unsightly for a god. He wasn’t beautiful at all. Isn’t that so?”

“Lai Yanta?”

“That’s right. I am the Goddess of Light, Lai Yanta. How do I look? How does my beauty that cannot be compared to his?”

“It seems everyone here is insane. Comparing this place to Earth, Earth is a really nice place to live. A fellow god like you has died. And on top of that, nothing like this had occurred before. Even still, you blabber on like a poisonous snake?”

“I figured something like this would eventually happen. To every god in the celestial plane. I didn’t expect peace to last forever.”

“……”

“The one to have you kill the gods must be Karupedan, right? On top of that, you must’ve obtained a massive amount of power from them. That’s why you were able to kill Hai Yanta.”

“Nope. The only help I got from them was being guided to this place. As you are aware, they’re quite out of their mind.”

“I guess so. If any help was given, it must be from Gera. A sympathetic God of Death. Isn’t that quite the irony? This place is quite amusing.”

“Since you know of my goal, I won’t drag this on.”

“Oh. You’re planning to kill me? Even though I’m this beautiful?”

“Are you saying that while considering the age difference between the two of us? You’re way too old. Not beautiful at all.”

“Look at how you talk….. You really aren’t beautiful at all, aren’t you human?”

“Even so, you’ll be ash when you die, just like the rest. Nothing more, nothing less.”

“Hm…. Do you really think so?”

“Yep. I guarantee it. You cannot beat me. It’s the same with all the other gods.”

“Hoho.”

“AH!”

With a deafening roar, Lai Yanta emitted a light intense enough to call it the light of the century.

Not only could I not open my eyes at all, but it was almost too bright for me to see her form using my Eye of Insight.

It seemed that the powerful light that was penetrating even through my closed eyes was making me lose my sight.

Urgently swallowing a King’s Marble, I tried to block the light with my hands.

“I’m not sure how it was with Hai Yanta, but it’ll be different with me.”

“……”

I could feel my body burning up in an instant.

At the wave of her hand, the light became solid projectiles and flew towards me, causing a massive explosion.

To think that I’d be able to feel hot despite consuming a King’s Marble.

Not only that, but to think that even during my invincible state, I couldn’t stop the light from blocking out my sight.

I didn’t take any serious damage, but I couldn’t hide my surprise at how much it was affecting me.

Was this the reason why Karupedan didn’t say much regarding the use of the marbles?

I felt slightly more afraid of the powers that the gods I’ll be meeting in the future wielded.

Covering my eyes with one hand, I raised the other. Then.

“What? You unsightly fool!”

“I don’t like seeing that beautiful face pathetically crumple. Seems I’ll have to turn off the light?”

“Kuuu!”

The area around me and Lai Yanta was suddenly covered in darkness.

That’s right. I had used the power that I had obtained from Hai Yanta.

Lai Yanta and Hai Yanta.

Their powers were incredible and were equal to each other, but with my mana and magical energy empowering it, the darkness was enough to overpower the light.

The light that lit up the area began to shrink, and the light that she emitted also began to dim.

The darkness was slowly eating away at Lai Yanta’s light.

Quite frightened, she tried to break through the darkness that was closing in her like a cage.

If she was able to get through the encasement of darkness I put around her, she would be able to use the light left around the area and put up a desperate struggle.

However, she didn’t have enough strength to do so.

This was the first time this goddess was facing against an overwhelming force.

Without being able to put up almost any resistance, she slowly lost her light.

“Kuaaa. This isn’t beautiful. No……”

“Why didn’t the two of you get along better? To be fair, in my arsenal of magical spells, do you know I have these spells called Meteor and Iceberg? How these two skills interact with each other is exactly how your relation is to each other, I guess.”

“Kuugh! Please stop it…. Please….. The light! The light is……”

“Please get rid of it. Please. The portals and monsters. Let us live. I’m sure you’ve heard many prayers like these. Isn’t that so?”

“Kuhgh! Please……”

“Think of it as punishment for your crimes. This punishment is too light compared to what your small little head cruelly conjured up.”

“Kuuu…..”

I was able to defeat the Goddess of Light, Lai Yanta, without doing much.

All I did was use the power I obtained from Hai Yanta.

I could’ve destroyed her by a bombardment of attacks, but you could say that I chose a quicker and easier method.

This also was a chance for me to test out my new power.

Completely encased in darkness, her body turned cold and rigid, unlike the beautiful form that she had sought after.

Her beautiful form was nowhere to be seen, and it was as if I was looking at a twisted crop dried out from a drought.

At my will, the darkness dissipated, and the bright line that lit up the area had already disappeared.

From where she fell, her soul rose up like smoke and came towards me.

It was the same as when I had defeated the god of darkness.

It was the process of her power being inherited by me.

Her soul that finished leaving her body was instantly absorbed by me.

“Ah….. It’s a disgusting feeling as expected.”

“Kehe.”

“Is it amusing?”

I didn’t know when they had arrived, but Karupedan was standing right next to me.

“Nope. It’s so boring that it’s nearly unfun.”

“Then why didn’t you stop it? I’m sure that you can change the rules if you wanted to? You could even get rid of the King’s Marbles as if they never existed in the first place.”

“Then I’d have to change too much. If you didn’t have these marbles….. Then you wouldn’t be alive, and who would I be killed off by? Hehe. Moron.”

“…….”

“Kehe. Will you keep going like this?”

“Yep. There’s no point in dragging this out, right?”

“Hm…. Then let’s go. The next is Gera. The God of Death, that is.”

“Gera…..”

“Kehe. Something amusing about what I said?”

“I’m sure that you know it all already, since you’ve been sneaking peeks, right? Don’t ask me something you already know.”

“Hehe. Yes, yes. This Unrivaled God dared to upset a human. Sorry.”

“……”

“Let’s go!”

-snap!

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173. Be Careful of What You Say

Hai Yanta had the form of a white haired old man.

It looked as though he had difficulty even staying upright.

His hands continued to shake, and his body was drooping without any vitality behind it.

Even still, his mouth kept blabbering on.

“Kuhu. You humans think that you are above the rest. Well there are parts that I do acknowledge. You all have a decently high intelligence, are able to adapt to the environment, and made quite the progress.”

“……”

“However, do you know what the gods of the celestial plane that hold reign over your lives think while seeing all of you?”

“If it was me, I’d be proud. Isn’t that why you created us? To see us obtain enlightenment and stand up on our own two feet to progress forward…. But seeing how you speak about us, it seems that you think the complete opposite.”

“Kuhhuhhuh. Truly revolting. A mere human being makes jokes with a god? Predicts what the gods think and mocks it? This is why you humans must be completely obliterated from this dimension! Not knowing their place, thinking they’re the best, and dare challenging the gods with their recklessness and stupidity is precisely why!”

“You’re speaking nonsense, hm? You made us with such great effort, yet now you’re spouting bullshit? Telling us to die?”

“I can’t help but sarcastically laugh. I saw that you freed yourself from the monsters? I had hoped that you all would be slowly drowned to death by them.”

“I had thought it possible, but it were you gods that were behind it?”

“Planned? Not at all. We merely let it happen. All we did was to follow the playful whims of the Unrivaled God Karupedan. It was they who made the demonic race, who were created to be much stronger than you, and was also the one to connect the dimensions.”

“……”

“Ah! You call those living amongst you as the Awakened, right? Those who imitate the powers of gods that is.”

“You know well. Me, the one who’ll be killing you, is also one of the Awakened.”

“Foolish boy. Be thankful of Karupedan’s blood relative, Gera. Gera was the only one to show sympathy towards the humans and given you all power. Of course, Karupedan knew of what Gera was thinking. Of course, there was no way that the peerless god wouldn’t be aware. However, they pretended otherwise. It must have been very amusing for them. To see humans struggle and flail about trying to survive….. Kuhuhu. And on top of that, they had created skills and equipment for these Awakened, then spread them out for the taking, so how amusing must have been from them to spectate this show.”

“Guess I have to take off Gera from the death note.”

“You’ll be meeting Gera soon. Gera’s domain is over death. It will be a fate that will find you soon.”

“Is there anything else you all are to blame for? Poverty, disease, war, or anything like that. Are any of these your fault to blame.”

“Kuhahat! Don’t be so full of yourself…. Poverty? Disease? War? All of them are things that humans brought upon themselves. All of your greed had brought them upon you! That’s the true nature of humans, and that’s the class that they are. Now do you understand your situation? Human!”

“On trying to insult you, I ended up being insulted instead…. Well, let’s put the facts together.”

“…..”

“The Unrivaled God Karupedan and all the gods of the celestial plane look down upon the humans, with the exception of the God of Death, Gera, right?”

“Kuhat. Disgusting human. You show arrogance until the end……”

“I’ll take that as a yes. Next. Despite taking only a snap of a finger from Karupedan to wipe out all of humanity, I, a human being is still alive. What’s the reason? Is it because they can’t due to their blood relation with  Gera?”

“What? Pfft! As expected, you aren’t even worth facing. Of course, they could cleanly wipe you out. However, wouldn’t the pain that you humans suffer be too short then. As I have said, to watch all of you slowly die while suffering. That is the method which we truly want you all to perish by.”

“Enough. Did the peerless existence tell any of you other gods how to act before talking?”

“What?”

“I asked if any of you had received warnings before.”

“I am a god. Who would dare to command us…..”

“Listen well. No matter if you’re a god, human, or monster, it’s not okay to just blabber without thought, alright? For something you can be hit once as punishment can turn into something that deserves being smacked dozens of times. There’s a saying, seeing is believing. I’ll show you what it means soon, so enjoy it, okay?”

“Kuu…. Arrogant fool….. I shall begin the annihilation of humans starting with you. I shall send warriors of the celestial plane stronger far beyond comparison with the likes of the monsters from the demonic realm to the human realm! Every day, their lives will be a living hell. All that you share blood with and those that are acquainted with you!”

“You win the prize. Instead of being hit dozens of times, you’ll need to be hit hundreds of times.”

“Kuhuh!”

The moment that I had finished talking, I stabbed my sword into the pitch black darkness.

For some reason, his brows furrowed and he let out a painful moan.

Was it to prepare for some kind of attack? No. It was because I had thought that instead of killing Hai Yanta with my sword or skills, I should kill him with my fists.

Hearing him blabber on, an anger I did not carry before had boiled up.

My shaky determination and goal had become clear thanks to him.

I shall kill this god.

Their complacency was far beyond anything that I had felt in the human realm.

To experience it in simple terms, it was that a parent had given birth to a child.

Instead of giving the helpless child that couldn’t do anything on their own love care and love, they had wanted nothing more than the child to perish.

Not only that, they had borrowed external power to harass them.

“Your responsibility isn’t over after giving birth. You at least have a duty to follow. You don’t understand, do you? It’s been fun for you all this time, right? Great God of Darkness, Hai Yanta. Let’s get this started.”

“It’s amusing to see you only running your mouth.”

“It won’t be over easily. Until your life ends, I will bring you to the edge. I shall teach you that you cannot get used to pain. I want to teach you at least a fraction of what suffering humans had to go through.”

Above me floated a sack made from mana, similar to a speech bubble.

I shoved my hand in and pulled out a fistful of marbles.

Shoving them into my mouth, I charged at Hai Yanta with my body that had changed to the color of charred black.

Using my Eye of Insight, I saw each of my fists giving off intense sparks.

I had condensed mana and magical energy to empower my body.

The result was similar to an explosion, as if two materials that shouldn’t come into contact with each other had.

As if still amused by me, he stood still with a thin wrinkled smile and some supplies on his back.

I landed the punch on Hai Yanta’s face.

I could feel the deep impact my fist had.

Following that, as if a cannon had gone off, a shockwave of sound and quaking force rang out through the area.

I had definitely landed a critical blow.

As expected, his face was blown apart.

The path that my fist had traveled had left nothing in its wake.

I even thought that I need him to not die this easily.

“Kuhhuhuck!”

Letting out a short scream, his body melted to the floor like a melting snowman.

However, due to the King’s Marbles empowering my Eye of Insight, there was no way for him to escape my eyes.

All he did was to hide his body into the darkness in a hurry.

Using the darkness around him, he was recovering his face that had been blown apart.

He was in the middle of recovering from such a critical wound.

“Wait. Recovery?”

Wasn’t that strange?

One of the powers from the Piece of Time and Space I had obtained was the power to prevent recovery altogether.

But here he was, recovering as if that power didn’t exist.

Was it because he was a god?

That wasn’t probably it. That was near impossible.

This Piece of Time and Space was a power made and given to me by the Unrivaled God, Karupedan.

No one could break the rules that the peerless god created.

Even if the opponent was a god…..

After all, the world functioned only to the whims of Karupedan.

Following that train of logic, my conclusion was simple.

This body that I was seeing was merely a part of the whole.

To be precise, all of the darkness in my view must make up Hai Yanta.

The form of an old man he took was merely a part of his entire existence.

I now understood why he had let out a painful moan when I had stabbed my sword into the darkness.

“Oho. So it seems that this darkness itself is your body and your strength?”

“Kuhak! Karupedan! That crazy bitch had given you, a human, peerless power!”

“Feeling pain for first time? How is it? Can you withstand it?”

“Kuu……”

“Knowing your true form, I’m relieved, you know? This means that you won’t die until all the darkness in this area clears. This means that I’m able to kill you in the same way that you tried to kill humans, in a slow painful death.”

“You think that I’ll just sit here and take it! Ahhh!”

“It’ll be like that. It’ll be a one sided fight, where you’ll be the only one taking it.”

With a yell from him, spears made from darkness appeared all around and charged towards me.

However, it was impossible to pierce the body of an immortal.

All the attacks that reached me shattered powerlessly, scattering to the floor.

It was such a pathetic attack that it was almost unreasonable.

It could only be so. After all, the King’s Marbles was another rule the the Unrivaled God had created.

When I had confirmed the existence of a pure white Gate and headed to the celestial plane to face off with that god, do you know why I accepted their offer?

It was because they had said with their own mouth that I could use all the power at my disposal.

This included all of the powers of an Awakened, the Demon King’s, and even the artifacts that I could obtain.

That god must’ve not realized just how much of a disaster those words would bring.

At this rate, I would not only be able to defeat the God of Darkness, Hai Yanta, but all the other gods with ease.

“Let’s get this started properly. Kuraa!”

I kneeled in the darkness.

There wasn’t a need for me to chase after his form to attack.

My mentality was to hit and hit them again.

I gathered more mana and magical energy to my fists than my previous attack.

Following that, both my arms slammed into the ground, letting out a thundering noise.

“KUUAAAAAA!”

On the point at which my sights focused on, I continued my attack with reckless abandon.

I could see an end to the darkness that had went on endlessly.

Almost as if getting rid of a plug in a filled swimming pool, all the darkness seemed to get sucked down the point at which I was attacking.

“KUHUCK! KUHHUH!”

After regaining my composure and looking around me, I could see the beautiful scenery of the celestial plane.

I couldn’t hear the pained screams any longer, but only heard his labored breathing.

Half of the marbles in my mouth had been used up.

It must be that I had swallowed them unconsciously.

The only darkness left of Hai Yanta was the form of an old man.

Going over to him and grabbing him by his head, I spoke.

“Two, four, eight. I think roughly 10 minutes had passed?”

“Huhuh…. Huhuh…..”

“Thanks to gods like you, humans had to suffer like this for 41 years.”

“Kuhuh….. I… I am….. the darkness’….. Kuhhuh…..”

“I hope that you realize, even if you do later.”

Hai Yanta’s form was crumbled and blew apart all over.

The God of Darkness had been completely obliterated.

At the same time, I had obtained another power that I could use.

I wondered how much I could grow stronger.

It seemed that I really would arrive at a point where I would be stronger than the gods.

“If this is how things will go, even I am afraid of myself…… Even still, I’ll keep going until the end.”

---

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