Ch.1284Netherworld

“What the hell is this?”

When my vision, which had suddenly gone dark, regained its light, an ashen world unfolded before my eyes.

From mountains and vegetation to the earth and buildings, everything was cracked and broken, covered in ashes and dust—an abandoned world.

Countless spirits swam like clouds in the sky, with a black sun fixed eerily at its center, and something impossibly massive knelt beneath it.

A giant woman’s corpse with a semi-transparent body made of ice, with black veins spreading throughout.

Her head and both arms had been torn off, and her lower abdomen was completely empty as if all internal organs had been removed.

Additionally, her chest had been violently excavated as if her heart had been forcibly ripped out, with dried bloodstains like black vines flowing from the hole.

‘What on earth is that…?’

Like the remains of an abandoned ruin, an empty shell not worth even a glance. I could tell. That was clearly such an existence.

Nevertheless—

‘What is…?’

For some reason, I couldn’t take my eyes off it. Even as my eyes burned as if melting, with tears of blood flowing down the corners.

What is that…? No, I think I know. I realized it.

That is death. Death that has reached death. The remains of the ancient goddess Bellona, who bestowed the providence of death upon the world.

Despite losing life, soul, and divinity, it remained fixed at the center of this world, supporting the world itself.

Like a wedge—like an anchor fixing the masterless world so it wouldn’t drift away.

It was literally the pillar of the Field of Mortality.

—-

‘Field of Mortality…? This is the Field of Mortality? Why am I in such a place…?’

As the belated question crossed my mind, my foggy consciousness rapidly became clearer.

Yes. I was definitely swept away by Garmerlic’s power… and when I opened my eyes, I was here. With only an unnatural awareness that this was the Field of Mortality.

‘So… I’ve fallen into the Field of Mortality now…?’

A sudden trip to the Field of Mortality—could I have actually died?

‘…No, that’s not it.’

I realized it instinctively. Having died once before, I knew well—this was something different from death.

The vague sensation of death in my memory, that distant feeling of my very existence fading away, wasn’t there.

That means I didn’t die instantly from some unknown power, but rather fell into the Field of Mortality while still alive… or something like that.

That’s somewhat fortunate, but not enough to be relieved.

Whether I fell here alive or dead, it was certain that I was isolated in this space, and I couldn’t even begin to guess how to escape.

How do I get out of here? I decided not to think about the possibility that I might not be able to leave. There was no point.

In the first place, I wondered if it was even possible to permanently imprison someone like me just by offering some sacrifices.

I couldn’t say with certainty that it was impossible, but it would require much more immense power—power like that of the primordial gods.

Transcendental divinity that reaches the end of providence, like the power once possessed by the goddess kneeling under the black sun.

So, there must be some limitation to this power that Garmerlic manifested. Unlike the rightful master of the Field of Mortality.

“…Ha, this is insane. What is this now?”

The next moment, I bit my lower lip hard and forcibly closed my eyes. To resist the bizarre sense of devotion that was unconsciously infiltrating my mind.

Ha, right. A god, and one of the most powerful primordial deities at that?

To think that mere remains, nothing but an empty shell, could twist my mind and evoke unconscious worship. How powerful must it have been in life?

I could somewhat understand the reason for Garmerlic’s fanatical worship, that insane obsession.

– Grr.

But I have no intention of worshiping an already dead corpse.

“Hnngh…”

Exhaling heated breath between my fangs and lips, I forcibly turned my body, which wasn’t moving well, away from the goddess’s remains.

Even that made my head clearer. Clear enough that I felt I could open my eyes again.

I roughly wiped away the tears of blood that had flowed down and lifted my eyelids to look at the opposite side of the goddess’s remains.

And I thought again. No, I spoke. To my roommate in my head who would be as bewildered as I was in this situation.

‘How do we get out of here? Any good ideas?’

[ …. ]

There was no answer.

At that moment, I realized. With a tremendous sense of emptiness, as if more than half of what constituted myself had disappeared.

Hersella was gone.

At this moment, only I was here. The connections that had linked me and Hersella were all severed.

The power of the Karma of Murder that we had shared control over, the wolf’s blessing that had flowed through my veins and granted me unprecedented strength.

No, not just that.

The protection of the fire tribe that had permeated my skin, the dragon bones I had gained from devouring a great dragon, even the mana of the runes engraved on both my wrists had vanished.

All that remained in me now was the divinity I had built up myself and a body that had lost its abnormal strength and toughness.

‘Did it… separate just my soul? From Hersella’s body?’

The current me had become purely myself, with everything related to Hersella’s body and soul separated from the usual ‘Haschal’.

…In other words, I had become that much weaker. It meant that not one, but three or four pillars supporting my strength had been pulled out.

It seemed like I would return to normal once I escaped from here… but how exactly do I get out? Could I escape by cutting through space itself with Sky Slash?

Or perhaps, if I destroyed the black sun or the goddess’s remains behind me—

– Thud.

The sound of footsteps—no, a leap—penetrating my hearing, which had become somewhat dull from losing the wolf’s blood.

All thoughts in my mind vanished instantly, and a lightning-like surge of vigilance focused all my senses in that direction.

“There you are. I didn’t expect such a margin of error in the summoning coordinates.”

A black-haired woman with dark eyes who had leaped high into the sky and was now diving toward me in a parabolic arc.

I realized her identity as soon as I saw her.

Right, it was definitely called an “Invitation to the Field of Mortality.” If you invite someone, it’s only natural for the host—or servant—to come out and greet them.

“Aha, I get it now. So I just need to beat you to death, is that it?”

And if the invited guest causes too much trouble, it’s only natural to be thrown out.

“Well, perhaps?”

Garmerlic smiled and extended her left arm to the side. The darkness that burst forth took the form of a great scythe, leaving a long afterimage as it swung down toward me.

“If you can!”

“You think I can’t?”

In response, I gripped Durandal in my right hand—wait, where’s my sword?

A belated realization. No wonder I felt strangely empty; my hands were completely bare. Not just Durandal, but Frosting as well.

“What happened to my sword?”

“It must be with your body!”

As a result, I ended up swinging bare hands against the scythe.

I could roughly guess what would happen next, so instead of trying to block the scythe with my bare hands, I desperately kicked off the ground and threw myself sideways to avoid it.

– Crash!

As soon as I confirmed that the scythe had shattered the ground after missing its target, I charged again. I dove in, targeting the gap just before he could retrieve the scythe.

“Kyaaat-!”

A fist aimed at his head. Garmerlic twisted her upper body sharply to avoid it, then reached out with her blackened right hand toward my face.

“You’ve gotten slower.”

“That’s what I was thinking!”

I grabbed her wrist with my left hand to stop it, then pulled hard while driving my knee toward her abdomen—

– Crack!

“Ugh…!”

Garmerlic stopped me by stomping on my instep with her toe. The bone might have been crushed, as considerable pain surged through.

“How dare you step on me!”

Gritting my teeth, I infused divinity into my leg to enhance my strength, then thrust upward to knock her away.

With a whooshing sound, Garmerlic flew backward and crashed into a half-destroyed ruin like a shell, completely demolishing the ancient structure.

– Boom!

And immediately, she emerged again, covered in ashes and dust.

With the gap reopened between us,

Garmerlic formed a new scythe and prepared to charge at me, while I lowered my stance to counter this, regenerating my broken foot bones with divinity.

– Crack, crack…!

…Is it slower because my body has weakened? Should I try to buy some time?

“Durandal remains with my body… that means you dropped only my soul here, leaving my body behind?”

“That’s right.”

Garmerlic nodded slightly. Responding to the conversation willingly, as if there was no rush.

“And I suppose the reason I’ve sprouted legs that your subordinates would appreciate is because only my soul came down here, not my physical body?”

“Aside from your vulgar sarcasm, that would be correct.”

I see, so that’s why all the blessings and protections engraved on my body, as well as Hersella’s soul, have all disappeared. Except for the divinity accumulated in my soul itself.

I roughly understand the principle… but then shouldn’t you appear in your living form…? Not in the form of a woman, whether it’s an imitation of Bellona or whatever.

Has even your soul completely become female?

I’m not one to talk… but to think that in just a few months, even your soul has become a woman. You must have had the talent for being female from the beginning.