Ch.1264I Will Now Commence Sun-Drying.

The earth trembles. The sky tears apart.

The ceiling, studded with blue crystals, splits open as white light pours down, and the widening crack collapses like a waterfall cutting through rock.

Outside, looking up at the sky, disaster was unfolding.

A catastrophe beyond imagination, not only for those who had lived buried underground for hundreds or thousands of years, but even for us who had come down from the surface.

【 Look. The light descends. 】

The one who had destroyed the ceiling of the abyss looked up at the crumbling sky and laughed.

【 Beams of deadly light that will incinerate this wretched burrow. 】

A dragon of corpses, standing upon the trampled body of a dead ancient dragon.

The culprit who caused this great collapse by marching with an impossibly vast army of the dead, hunting the ancient giants and dragons that had supported Naraka’s ceiling.

The demigod of death who had surpassed his prime self using methods he would never have dared attempt before.

“Your Excellency, you must return to the fortress. That light is harmful even to you—”

Arthur, who stood behind Garmerlic as if attending him, swung his sword to shake off the dragon’s blood covering it as he spoke frankly.

The brilliant beams of light flowing from beyond the broken ceiling were divine radiance that would burn all who had awakened divinity and reached transcendence without exception.

The constraint of Heaven’s Wall, completed by the celestial El-Pinel and the ascended ones pouring out their divinity without reserve, remained an insurmountable disaster even for Garmerlic, who had obtained power beyond his prime by assimilating with the remains of the bright dragon.

Looking at the light streaming through the cracks like now was no problem, but if it touched him directly, he would burn until he could no longer endure.

Given the nature of that flame, which burned more fiercely the stronger its target, the time he could withstand it wouldn’t be very long.

【 I know. That’s why it’s regrettable. It’s undoubtedly a spectacle I’ll never see again. 】

Thus, Garmerlic turned his back on the collapsing ceiling and returned to the fortress, laying his body in a cavity beneath the temple where not a single ray of sunlight entered.

‘The die is cast. How many will die remains to be seen… but a disaster of this magnitude will certainly claim no small number.’

What he had done was literally a catastrophe where the sky was torn and the earth overturned.

The weak would be annihilated, unable to withstand even the falling rocks, and the strong who failed to avoid the light would burn like kindling.

And death would overflow.

A river of death to serve as nourishment for the fulfillment of his secret wish, for the resurrection of the vanished goddess.

‘I will fill this abyss with death to create Her.’

With the echoing roars and screams as his music, Garmerlic swore as if making a pledge to himself.

That he would revive his goddess by any means necessary.

‘And if that is not enough, I will make the entire world her womb. Not only the surface world that will soon perish, but even the high heavens!’

Even if it meant covering the entire world in death.

—-

The frost giants’ stronghold in northern Naraka, the Utgard Ice Fortress.

The majestic fortress, carved from one side of an iceberg emitting a cool blue light, sparkled as it reflected the magical light from the magic circle spread in the sky.

It was a defensive and intercepting magic deployed simultaneously with the cracking of Naraka’s ceiling.

The blue magic circle spewed forth frigid cold air and launched massive ice chunks like artillery shells, intercepting the meteor shower of rock fragments falling from the light.

– KWAGWAGWAGWANG—!

Thunderous noise and flashes of light.

As ice and rock collided and shattered, a silver-gray blizzard swirled in the void, and shockwaves shook the atmosphere, scattering a rain of fragments in all directions.

– JJEOJEOJEOK!

The dirt and rocks that weren’t intercepted froze and shattered the moment they touched the surface of the magic circle.

– GOOOOO….

Thus, the frost giants’ Utgard Fortress withstood the catastrophe of the tearing sky and earth without a single scratch.

Even the sunlight pouring down couldn’t reach the interior of the fortress, instead scattering in distortion as it reflected off the surface.

Thanks to this, the frost giants who had already gathered inside the fortress remained unharmed, neither injured nor burned.

The defensive magic deployed at the right time and the perfect evacuation. It was a swift response as if they had been informed in advance.

【 Garmerlic kept his promise. 】

In fact, it was only natural. The frost giants of Utgard already knew that Naraka would soon collapse, having been informed well in advance.

And that wasn’t all.

“Indeed, it seems we did well to tell them where those creatures slept. Though it seems not all of them were killed…”

【 Some will have changed their dwellings, so it can’t be helped. But there’s no need for concern. In the end, they’ve merely postponed their predetermined death. 】

They not only knew about it but even contributed to it.

By telling them the approximate locations of the old giants and dragons supporting Naraka, and by directly slaughtering some giants themselves.

That was the result of the alliance condition that Loki of Utgard had made with Garmerlic. The outcome of negotiations to collapse Naraka, which had stood firm for thousands of years.

Though their purposes differed, their interests aligned in the need to destroy Naraka, so they joined hands without hesitation and faithfully fulfilled their respective roles.

And thus, Naraka finally faced imminent collapse.

Though complete collapse wouldn’t be achieved since some giants and dragons remained alive, one couldn’t expect to be fully satisfied at the first attempt. For now, even a partial collapse was sufficient.

Unlike the Undead Duke who could hide in the underground of the underground using fortress transfer, the frost giants had to block the celestial light with their own power.

【 How is the consumption rate of the divine repulsion field? 】

“It’s still within the expected range. It will start to deplete rapidly once we reach the surface, but until then, there should be no problem.”

【 Smooth progress. Our thousands of years of research weren’t in vain. 】

Divine repulsion field.

It was a technique and countermeasure that the frost giants had perfected over an enormous amount of time, unable to set foot on the surface due to the constraints of Heaven’s Wall.

A special field that reflects and distorts light originating from divinity, concealing themselves by blocking the gaze of Heaven’s Wall.

Loki had engraved this technique throughout the entire Utgard Fortress, perfectly protecting the fortress and himself from the pouring sunlight.

Since the field’s sustaining power wasn’t infinite, it would eventually break if continuously exposed to light, but it was enough to not fear the flames of Heaven’s Wall for a while.

But isn’t it just buying time with an inevitable end?

【 How much longer until we can open the gate of Ginnungagap? 】

That time-buying was precisely the key.

Their goal was to open the ‘Gate of Ginnungagap.’

For this, they needed to gather enough power to open the ‘gate’ while the divine repulsion field held, then reach the entrance of the gate on the surface.

“It will take about seven days and nights. Since the undead moved faster than expected, the magical power hasn’t been fully charged yet…”

According to the mage-scholars of Utgard, the time needed to gather such power was roughly a week. A period that could be considered either long or short.

【 Seven days and nights… that’s a bit long. How much could we reduce it by using the surface vermin as sacrifices? 】

“The calculation already includes their souls.”

【 Is that so? Then we cannot shorten it further… we must hope that no intruders come. 】

It was a timeframe long enough to cause some anxiety for Loki, the king of Utgard.

“Who could possibly do that? Garmerlic has no reason to oppose us, and the others will be too busy responding to this disaster.”

【 It’s too early to make assumptions. The future remains an unknown realm even to us, and fate always mocks arrogance and overconfidence. 】

One week in the collapsing Naraka.

Their fate, the success or failure of their grand plan researched and discussed over long years, hung in the balance during that week.

Since the fate of all born in this world was already determined by the primordial god Ymir, their destiny was likely already set.

At least, that’s what Loki thought. He had failed to recognize the existence of variables imported from another world, not this one.

So he simply waited.

For the moment when the fate that Ymir had allocated to them at the moment of creation would finally arrive before them and unveil itself.

======[ Haschal ]======

“Wow, it’s really collapsing…”

I muttered blankly.

What would it be like if all the mountains in the world simultaneously triggered landslides?

Everywhere I looked in the sky, all I could see were waterfalls of dirt and boulders falling like meteor showers.

The sun’s light, brilliant enough to burn the retina, reached the underground for the first time in thousands of years as the sky and earth convulsed and writhed.

Rather than a spectacular sight, it was a scene that made one feel instinctively gloomy, both figuratively and literally.

[ Snap out of it! This is no time to be sightseeing! ]

Ah, right. That’s true.

I was momentarily stunned by this unimaginable disaster, but thinking about it, this was no time to be like this.

The rock fragments pouring down like meteor showers would mercilessly sweep over and crush my fortress and subordinates, and the light from the surface would probably try to burn even me.

The worst imaginable—no, an unprecedented emergency that couldn’t even be imagined.

“Turankai-! Call everyone to dig trenches and cover the top!! Sorcerers, protective spells! Maximum output! Everyone else, prepare to intercept!!”

What I needed to do wasn’t to stare blankly at the sky, but to move frantically to minimize the damage somehow.

“Haschal! You need to hide first! If that light touches you, probably…!”

“I know! I’ll find a way to avoid it, but save your own lives first!”

While desperately avoiding the pouring light like a bat in a cave.