Ch.1002Twilight

I continued forward.

With a body that naturally transformed back into a demigod’s form the moment I crossed the boundary of the mortal realm and reached the heavens.

The starlight I emitted illuminated a river of green nebula stretching straight through the center of the universe.

That was the true form of the World Tree.

It was both its divine body and the domain it occupied within this infinite celestial realm.

As I continued along that river, at some point the green stream split into countless tributaries, intertwining to form a massive crown.

It was a nebula in the shape of a tree, composed of divine energy.

From its center, obscured by countless branches, I felt an intense presence burning like the sun.

I knew instinctively. That was it. That’s where the World Tree’s divine core resided. The crystallization of its divinity. The source and essence of its being.

I flew toward that place, radiating my crown-shaped halo and the cross-shaped starlight blazing from the center of my chest.

And, finally.

“…So you’ve come after all. I should have killed you earlier.”

I came face to face with the god of fairies.

—-

The moment I reached the World Tree’s divine core after swimming through the celestial realm that resembled the center of the universe, all darkness vanished like a receding tide, and a new world unfolded before my eyes.

A vast prairie and lush forest, clear lakes and a natural paradise filled with exotic flowers and herbs.

If fairies had a concept of heaven, this sight would surely be it.

In this paradise, a fairy woman with long green hair stood suddenly at the shore of a vast, clear lake.

Her hair was so long it overflowed, covering everything around her. Flowers bloomed between the strands, swaying gently in the breeze.

“Finally, we meet. Are you ready to burn to death?”

I glared at her, Durandal now resting on my shoulder, having turned golden.

Her silhouette was so thin it bordered on emaciated. She looked like a woman who had never held a sword in her life.

Perhaps because of the way she glared at me, she appeared vicious rather than delicate.

The woman was wrapped in long cloth like ancient traditional attire, with decorations made of flowers and tree branches hanging all over her garments.

In her slender arms, she cradled a half-burned skull as preciously as if it were a child.

So this is the true form of the World Tree.

It wasn’t a form I was seeing for the first time. When Varnir Freyus released his demigod status, the same woman had been clinging to his back.

Unlike then, when she appeared like a spirit without substance, she wasn’t translucent now, and her two legs were properly attached.

“Preparation to die…”

The World Tree opened her mouth. Her strangely resonating voice was mixed equally with despair and resentment.

“Star from beyond the world, bearing Elpinel’s resentment.”

She pronounced Elpinel’s name oddly.

“I admit it. The moment Varnir… he fell. And the moment he let you in here, we had already lost.”

The World Tree declared defeat. Judging by her speech, the World Tree’s true self seemed to lack combat ability. But I couldn’t let my guard down.

It was a bit strange that after raging about how much she hated me until just now, she immediately admitted defeat when facing me directly.

Clearly, she had some ulterior motive…

“I will acknowledge this… but could you not stop here?”

“What?”

I asked back in disbelief.

I had been quietly listening to see what she would say, but I never expected her to beg for her life at this point.

“It’s too late for that kind of talk.”

I was truly dumbfounded.

She needed to say something that made sense for me to listen. If I was going to stop here, I wouldn’t have started in the first place. Besides, strictly speaking, this wasn’t even a war we had started.

“Do you think I would accept such words after witnessing all the atrocities committed by you and your offspring?”

“What atrocities are you speaking of?”

The World Tree asked back. Pure nonsense.

“Well, why don’t you ask those whose lives and souls you’ve taken? What did I do so wrong? I’m sure they’d answer quite enthusiastically.”

War. Human farms. Living sacrifices. Spiritualization of souls.

These atrocities had been going on for at least a thousand years.

The crimes committed by the World Tree and fairies were so vast and vicious that even the most merciful judge would sentence them to death without possibility of redemption.

“Even after obtaining the status of a god, you still judge the world from a human perspective.”

More nonsense.

Your words sure get lengthy when you’re about to die.

“All beings that walk the mortal world continue their lives by consuming other beings. This has nothing to do with concepts of good and evil. It’s simply the natural order of the world.”

Ah, so you’re going to gloss over it with such words?

Order? That’s quite a grandiose excuse.

“Like other trees, I merely consumed the nutrients offered by the children who tended to me, and in return, I gave them the fruit of blessing as compensation.”

The World Tree continued her excuses.

It was somewhat disgusting.

“Using the dead as nutrients for the living to enjoy the fruits, and when their lifespan ends, becoming nutrients for the next living beings—this is the natural cycle of life. What is wrong with that?”

“Cycle of life?”

“Yes. What I have done is merely following the cycle of life and death, the natural order. To consider that a sin—”

“You’re talking nonsense.”

I gripped Durandal’s hilt tighter in my right hand until it nearly crushed. Anger and contempt settled on the blade’s tip.

“Everything you’ve said is wrong. I don’t even know where to begin pointing out the flaws.”

I had listened briefly out of curiosity to see how far her sophistry would go, but she just kept spewing endless nonsense.

“Natural cycle? Ha, this is absurd. How is a structure where humans are sacrificed and only you and the fairies reap the rewards this so-called natural cycle of life? That’s not a cycle. It’s plunder.”

I extended my left hand to grip the lower part of the hilt. The mana in the runes engraved on both my wrists resonated with each other, emitting a low rumble.

“Stop pretending to be a force of nature. You are nothing but plunderers who have stolen life, dignity, future, and even souls from humans to use as food.”

“…Survival of the fittest is also a law of nature, is it not?”

Did she truly believe that? If so, it made me want to laugh bitterly. This must be what they call a fundamental difference in thinking.

From the beginning, I had never seen anyone who truly adhered to the principle of survival of the fittest among those who invoked it.

The survival of the fittest they advocated was, in reality, merely a fancy way of packaging their treatment of everyone except themselves as prey.

“Survival of the fittest… Well, fine. Let’s say such a law exists. You’re saying you believe in that law, right? Fine, I’ll respect that.”

I forcibly awakened the power of murder Karma that had been suppressed by the divine starlight.

It was by no means an easy task to handle such opposing divine powers simultaneously, but the emotion of anger paved the way for killing intent to mix with the starlight.

The murder Karma that flowed into my demigod body using it as a channel seeped into the engravings on both wrists.

“Then I shall embody that law for you.”

As the successor to the god who blessed humans.

Inheriting the resentment of all humans who have died.

“All that they should have originally possessed. Everything stolen from them by you. I will plunder it all back. From you, from those precious fairies you surround yourself with.”

I pointed Durandal at the World Tree.

“As you said, as the stronger one.”

The two runes that had been resonating now violently fluctuated, spewing forth mana mixed with murder Karma like a flood.

[ ᚲ ] [ ᚻ ]

Kenaz, Hagalaz.

Fire and destruction.

“The runes of twilight…!”

The World Tree’s face contorted as she flinched back from the power of god-slaying divinity contained within the surging mana.

“But it’s incomplete. I know. The twilight runes total four. With just two runes…!”

“What do you know?”

I poured all the power contained in the star at the center of my chest into the blade, grinning. The divine starlight and the power of murder Karma mixed with the runic magic and blazed.

“What’s lacking… can simply be filled with something else.”

The twilight runes finally found their moment to fulfill their role. Instinct taught me how to use them.

The original function and power of the twilight runes is to connect four different runes to manifest the power to destroy gods.

[ ᚨ ] [ ᚻ ] [ ᛏ ] [ ᚲ ]

The fire of the warrior who destroys gods.

But the runes I had obtained were only half of that—just the “destroying flame.” So, I substituted the runes of god and warrior that I hadn’t obtained with something else.

With myself.

The Star Goddess. The divine nature of my demigod self substitutes for the rune symbolizing god.

The Star of Murder. The source of murder Karma that this body was born with replaces the warrior’s rune.

Two runes. Divine power and murder Karma. All these powers resonated and mixed together, melting into one another to transform into something entirely different.

I poured that power into Durandal’s blade.

A sword forged from Elpinel’s divinity. The sword of endurance, the strongest and most unbreakable on earth.

– Kigigigigik!

That golden sword screamed madly under the tremendous burden, yet withstood it without a single crack.

Normally, this would be impossible.

The true sword that had refused any power except Karma, making it impossible to contain murder Karma and runic power, finally bent its will before such immense power.

L’une des douze épées qui défendent l’humanité.

One of the twelve swords that protect humanity. A new engraving overlaid the oath engraved on Durandal.

An engraving meaning fire and destruction.

And thus, finally.

– Hwararrrrk!

The golden blade was engulfed in flames.

Flames like the twilight sun added the oath of god-slaying to the oath of endurance, creating a sword of crimson-gold flame.

I instinctively knew.

The name of this power, the name of this sword.

Lævateinn.

Leviathan.

That was the true power possessed by the twilight runes. The flame of the warrior who destroys gods.

“…Could you really have achieved it?”

The World Tree, facing the twilight of god-destruction, trembled her pupils and stepped back.

“The final legacy of Xanten, the fruit of the failed twilight plan…?”

The fear she had been hiding with a somewhat dignified attitude was now clearly visible. It was quite amusing.

“Are you afraid?”

I approached her with the sword of twilight.

“Good. Savor it fully. That emotion is precisely what all those sacrificed to you must have felt in their final moments.”

To burn the fairy god to ashes, to make her pay for the consequences of her many karmic debts.

“Wait, calm down! I still have something to offer…!”

“Save it. I’ll listen in your next life.”

I raised the sword high above my head and brought it down in a vertical slash.

The crystallization of all my power blazed like the sun on the blade.