Ch.119Ep.119 What I Must Lose, What I Can Gain

Lilia said there was a way, and that he should find it within himself.

But Radios had no idea what to do after hearing those words.

Even though he’d received advice, it was like the principle that crossing a wall requires enlightenment.

What method could possibly exist to resurrect the dead, especially those who had disappeared without even leaving souls behind?

First, his plan was to shake down Azathoth and see what information he could get.

The creature had lived for an immense period of time, so it should know more details about this world.

Just ask Lilia? That wasn’t it.

She had said this universe was an unobservable world and didn’t know most of the truths.

Though she did say Radios’s universe was the first case.

It seemed she was getting quite a headache as more and more unobservable universes appeared.

In other words, Azathoth was the being who knew this universe best.

And to interrogate him, Radios had reached the point where he needed to use Subduing Dead.

But what was this?

In the past he witnessed after drawing the creature in as his subordinate, there was an answer.

Only then could Radios understand what Lilia meant when she said he had the power to save others.

The Truth Beyond.

The root cause of how Azathoth and Chaos could make the world like this, and the reason they had no choice but to abandon their humanity.

Azathoth and Chaos had paid the price demanded by the Truth Beyond, and through that price, they repeated the cycle of destroying and creating the world.

And the Truth Beyond was this world.

That is, it could be considered the core of the universe that existed before this universe was born.

If it were destroyed, this universe would perish, becoming a barren wasteland where not a single living thing could grow.

Lilia had also said that each universe has a core, and when that core reaches the end of its life, the universe perishes.

The core of the universe where Radios lived was the Truth Beyond.

Azathoth had stopped his obsession and become dejected since the topic of the Truth Beyond came up.

Even though he had seen Azathoth’s past, Radios hadn’t absorbed everything.

Azathoth had literally lived for an enormous amount of time.

Even Radios’s brain circuits wouldn’t be able to handle absorbing all his memories in such a short moment.

The fact that ten minutes had passed since he said “I’ll tell you” without saying anything.

Radios could judge that whatever the Truth Beyond possessed was greater than he thought.

That’s when it happened.

“Finally, it’s all over.”

“Lady Brina?”

“You don’t need to be formal anymore. What’s the point when you’re much stronger than me…”

“Are you feeling alright, I mean, are you okay?”

“More or less. I messed up one spell and got internal injuries, couldn’t even participate in the final battle… tsk.”

Brina still didn’t seem fully recovered, as she appeared uncomfortable moving her body.

Well, it wasn’t just anyone, but Azathoth who had destroyed her spell.

Internal injuries was putting it mildly—her insides must have been completely turned upside down.

Even though she was a dokkaebi, it must have taken an enormous amount of time to recover from such internal damage.

“How’s Arsia?”

“…She’s in really bad shape.”

“I see…”

Radios was aware of the situation.

That Arsia had foolishly used her Divine Order to the extreme to see a victorious future, and ultimately lost her sight.

Since her Divine Order used her vision as a medium, it was essentially the same as having her Divine Order revoked.

Nevertheless, Radios didn’t immediately go to take care of her.

Arsia was a strong woman, and she could shake it off and rise again anytime.

And if he could learn even a little more detail about the Truth Beyond.

He was convinced that he could not only save other people, but also restore Arsia’s sight.

“Azathoth. I gave you time. If you still don’t intend to speak…”

[The Truth Beyond… is much more dangerous than we think.]

“What?”

[Do you think I suddenly became corrupt? As an excuse, 70% of the factors in my corruption involved the Truth Beyond.]

Azathoth’s explanation continued like this.

Feeling bored with life, Azathoth discovered the Truth Beyond by chance.

He shared this fact with Chaos, the only friend he could trust.

But the power possessed by the Truth Beyond was so immense.

If this fact passed to others, it could cause great calamity.

Therefore, Azathoth and Chaos decided to hide the Truth Beyond from everyone.

[But it wasn’t easy. The Truth Beyond always demanded a price.]

In exchange for accepting the condition that it wouldn’t be visible to others, Azathoth and Chaos had something taken from them.

The problem was that they weren’t aware of what had been taken from them.

This was something he could only realize the moment he became Radios’s subordinate.

[The humanity that living beings should inherently possess. At that time, our humanity was taken by the Truth Beyond.]

“So to sum up what you’re saying, this Truth Beyond bastard took away your humanity. And because of that, you brought the universe to this state?”

[…To be precise, no. I had thoughts of putting the universe under my control from before…]

Azathoth’s goal had already been set, and the Truth Beyond had merely fanned those flames.

But having realized the true value of the power possessed by the Truth Beyond, he and Chaos continued to cling to it.

[Little by little, without even our knowledge, we handed everything over to the Truth Beyond and became broken. In the end, with the thought that only I was right, I ascended to become the king of the universe…]

“So you’re saying you stopped going there because you didn’t know what the Truth Beyond would demand?”

[Yes…]

After hearing Azathoth’s story, Radios couldn’t help but fall into contemplation.

Just from the story, the Truth Beyond seemed like such garbage that it could truly be called a bastard.

But since Azathoth in front of him was also one of those bastards.

Nothing could be proven except by seeing with his own eyes.

“Open the door to the Truth Beyond. Since only you can see it, you should be able to open it, right?”

[…Reconsider. If your humanity disappears, who knows what will happen.]

“That would be a problem. But…”

Even if his humanity disappeared, there were people who would stop him before he went berserk.

Three of them, in fact.

There were probably people observing this situation from above even now.

If Radios were to lose his humanity, they would stop him by any means necessary.

Therefore, Radios wasn’t afraid.

Would Lilia have told him about a method that could potentially lead to his corruption in the first place?

“So guide me.”

[…Understood.]

Azathoth mumbled some incantations, and a massive dark iron door appeared.

The eerie energy emanating from it was ominous beyond compare.

Brina must have instinctively sensed the danger too, as she grabbed Radios’s shoulder.

“Radios. It’s dangerous. The malice coming from there is… just too…”

“I know. But I have to go.”

“For what reason! The battle is already over! Now we can just rest!”

“I need to save them. The precious ones who were sacrificed in this battle.”

“..!”

“I won’t stop until I achieve that.”

Hearing Radios’s determination, Brina had no choice but to remove her hand from his shoulder.

Radios was looking much further ahead than she was.

She had only thought that the battle was over and that they should mourn those who were sacrificed.

Radios was looking even further ahead, thinking about resurrecting those who had died.

His confident answer and eyes filled with determination.

Brina nodded as if entranced by him.

And Radios.

“Take care of Arsia. See you next time.”

Without hesitation, he launched himself toward the Truth Beyond.

**********

“It’s dark.”

[It wasn’t like this when I came before… Something’s strange…]

Azathoth remembered clearly what the Truth Beyond had looked like.

Heaven.

It was literally a sacred place full of radiance.

He didn’t know how it had changed to become so dark.

[You should be careful. Something doesn’t seem right.]

“I know that without you telling me, you bastard.”

Radios first used his Judgment Divine Order to scatter light.

It was to check how wide the space was.

Even though tens of kilometers were swallowed by light, the end was nowhere to be seen.

They had been walking in pitch darkness.

“Is this the right place?”

[Yes, it is.]

“Then why is it like this…”

He even thought this might be a trap prepared by Azathoth.

Of course, since Radios knew all the intentions of his subordinate, he didn’t doubt him.

For now, he continued walking.

In a place where nothing could be heard and nothing could be felt, Radios didn’t stop walking.

With the conviction that something would appear if he kept walking.

After walking for a long time like that, Radios.

[A new presence has appeared.]

“This voice is..?”

[Welcome, Radios Magnum. Since you’ve come to meet me, you should take a simple test, right?]

“…Ha!”

No matter how he thought about it, the being speaking to him now was the Truth Beyond.

And yet, it dared to say it would test him?

“Grrrrrr…”

As the voice of the Truth Beyond cut off, something stirred with a sound, and numerous glowing eyes bared their teeth toward Radios.

“Ah, it was them?”

And Radios knew their identity.

“Hounds of Tindalos, huh.”

It seemed he was being severely underestimated.