Ch.106Ep.106 D-2

“It’s only a matter of time at this rate. We need to make a decision.”

“How can we…? Father… Father is gone…”

Brina responded to Poseidon with a dazed expression.

Her eyes were swollen from crying so much.

Kraud’s death.

For Brina at least, it was as shocking as losing an entire world.

The strength of her father, who had always protected their clan with his powerful force, was no longer felt.

Poseidon, understanding how great her sense of loss must be, considered what to say but chose to remain silent.

In some ways, Kraud had been like a father figure to Poseidon as well.

Despite his flaws, he was, after all, the reincarnation of Cronos.

“First, we need to return to Kadinant. Fighting on favorable ground would be better than running and fighting like this.”

Arsia, who had been examining the future with her precognition for a while, made her decision.

Her ability, though limited in time, had been a great help in escaping from Azathoth.

As her Divine Order awakened, the range of her future sight had expanded explosively.

As a result, their escape route was mostly determined by Arsia.

They weren’t so disoriented that they wouldn’t utilize the advantage of being able to see the future.

“It’s all over. There’s no point in continuing this.”

“Nonsense! You said it would be fine when the boss returns!”

“Let’s say he does come back as you claim. Can we hold out until then?”

“That’s…!”

“We can’t. If Chaos or Azathoth appears right now, who’s going to face them? Are you planning to abandon someone else and run away again?”

“Stop it!!”

When Yog-Sothoth began arguing with Arsia, Brina raised her voice.

This kind of argument was a waste of time in an already chaotic situation.

“Who doesn’t know there’s no hope? But we still have to struggle and fight! That’s why we joined hands with you!”

“…”

“Next time, I’ll be the one to stay behind! I’ll hold them back no matter what it takes!”

“…I’m sorry, Brina. But I think I should be the one to stay.”

“You…!”

Whoosh.

Just as Brina was about to protest Poseidon’s words, a chilling presence enveloped the surroundings, and a hateful face appeared.

“Ch-Chaos! That’s impossible! In the future I saw…!”

“Did you really think you could see all futures involving an Ascended Order with just your Divine Order?”

Arsia’s eyes widened at Chaos’s words.

With her Divine Order, she could see futures involving Ascended Orders.

But from what Chaos was saying now, it seemed that even seeing the future wasn’t completely reliable.

To think that their successful escapes until now might have been mere coincidences.

They had encountered Chaos without any preparation.

If Azathoth joined in here… it would truly be the end.

“Everyone run! I’ll—”

“I said I’ll stay behind.”

As Brina tried to summon her Blood Ghost Divine Order, Poseidon blocked her path with Triaina.

Brina was about to shout, asking what he was doing, but seeing the determination in Poseidon’s eyes, she couldn’t even open her mouth.

[Don’t throw your life away for half-hearted revenge. Live and plan for the future.]

[But what about you—]

[I’m stagnant water. The newbies can’t grow well unless the stagnant water drains before it rots.]

Clang!

After conveying his intentions through telepathy, Poseidon thrust Triaina into the ground and called out.

“To Chaos, the creator who established Olympus. I, Poseidon, a junior of Olympus, request an audience.”

“Oh…?”

Chaos found Poseidon’s sudden outburst intriguing.

It was clearly a ploy to let his companions escape, but such tactics couldn’t stop him anyway, so he decided to humor the request.

“I beg you to grant my companions time to escape.”

“I don’t particularly like being bound by sentiment like this.”

“Please. Be satisfied with just me.”

Thud!

With those words, Poseidon pulled out Triaina and stabbed his own heart.

Both sides were shocked by the unexpected turn of events.

Even while coughing up blood, Poseidon spoke.

“Isn’t this… enough… Let’s end this here…”

“I’ve seen your self-harm. I thought you might do something interesting, but I guess this is it.”

Chaos lost interest in Poseidon and concentrated the Ascended Order of Void in his palm.

The crystallization of transcendent power that could suppress even the regenerative abilities of the goblin clan.

Yog-Sothoth, who was opening a gate for their escape, frowned at the sight.

‘That power would annihilate my very existence even if I were hit.’

There was no way Poseidon could withstand it.

Stabbing himself with Triaina seemed like a reckless move no matter how he looked at it.

Just as Yog-Sothoth was biting his lip, Poseidon shouted.

“Everyone, run!”

Whoosh!

Poseidon’s body transformed into water and instantly grew enormous, engulfing Chaos.

“What?!”

The startled Chaos hurriedly attacked the liquefied Poseidon with the Ascended Order of Void, but—

Boom.

Though the areas hit by the attack disappeared momentarily, the water molecules quickly restored his body.

Seeing this, Chaos couldn’t help but smile.

“Interesting. You’ve completely transformed your body into water itself?”

“From the moment I saw you here, I gave up on the idea of surviving anyway.”

As Poseidon spoke, he glanced back.

Though they hadn’t been together for very long, Arsia and Brina’s eyes were wavering.

They seemed to sense the farewell.

But that was only for a moment. As Yog-Sothoth opened the door, they escaped with gritted teeth.

Once they disappeared, Poseidon let out a relieved laugh.

“Ah. Now I can fight more comfortably.”

“Fight? Do you think you can fight me with your abilities?”

“Come on, it’s my last moment. Can’t you give me the grand title of a ‘fight’?!”

Crash!

Poseidon rapidly cooled the rising water and poured it onto Chaos.

However, Chaos didn’t even blink as he shattered all the ice fragments with the power of Void.

“Is that all?”

“Of course not!”

Whoosh!

As Poseidon quickly crossed his arms, water rushed toward Chaos from all directions.

Even a being with an Ascended Order had to frown at the sight.

Each stream carried an incredibly irritating power.

“Tch.”

Finally, Chaos fully activated his Divine Order of Void and annihilated all the water approaching him.

Poseidon didn’t stop.

He had to hold Chaos back until his life force was completely depleted.

‘I trust you all. You can do this.’

He was willing to sacrifice his life if it meant the world could achieve victory.

Meanwhile, inside the gate opened by Yog-Sothoth—

“Damn it… damn, damn, damn, DAMN IT!!”

Uncontrollable anger erupted from Brina’s mouth as they fled.

They were running away again.

They had sacrificed someone precious and allowed another person to be sacrificed.

It shouldn’t have been like this. They should have stood and fought together.

“Clear your mind.”

“What did you say?”

“Poseidon made a rational choice. If we all die here, it would be a meaningless death.”

“How can you say that…!”

“Both of you, stop it! This was Poseidon’s choice!!”

As Brina was about to get angry at Yog-Sothoth’s cold words, Arsia intervened loudly.

“I told you fighting among ourselves isn’t a good choice! Poseidon… entrusted us with his faith! To somehow achieve victory against Azathoth and Chaos!”

Both Kraud and Poseidon, who possessed not just a little but tremendous power, had sacrificed their lives.

All for victory.

“So to repay them, this is our best option! While he buys us time, we should retreat to the safest place possible.”

“Arsia…”

“We can win. Definitely!”

Arsia shouted through gritted teeth.

She couldn’t say that losing Poseidon and Kraud wasn’t sad for her too.

It was sad. Of course it was sad.

But they had entrusted them with their faith.

They had willingly chosen sacrifice to achieve victory for the future.

Now it was time to repay them.

Stopping Azathoth and Chaos’s schemes by any means necessary.

That was the only way to repay those who had departed.

**********

“Huff… ugh…”

“…Excellent. With this, our test is complete.”

At Larga’s words, Radios’s eyes, which looked like they might collapse at any moment, flashed.

Since he said it was over, there was only one thing left.

“From now on, we will transfer our Divine Orders to you.”

Awakening of the Ascended Order.

It had truly come within reach.