Ch.17858. We Are Here. (3)

It was a blackened staff, well-charred and discolored.

It didn’t appear to have been shaped or formed by human hands.

Its natural curves and extensions remained perfectly preserved.

Heba stood there, gripping it with one hand and planting it on the ground.

Unlike how he treated me, the war god Verethragna’s attitude toward her was extremely aggressive.

As if he were facing something worse than insubordination.

As he shouted with his eyes coldly wide open, the surrounding air seemed to drop several degrees, sending chills down my spine.

This was not the intimidation a mere boy could project.

“Hmph.”

But.

Heba was smiling instead.

“I don’t quite understand, but truly, this is an impartial space. Even someone as weak as me can interfere freely.”

Lifting her staff from the ground, Heba charged fearlessly toward the war god.

The boy who stood his ground to meet her attack clearly conveyed the sentiment that she deserved neither the minimum courtesy nor qualification to face him.

However.

Heba skillfully wielded her staff along with a knife she had somehow produced from her sleeve.

The boy, exhibiting divine prowess, blocked, parried, and evaded each attack with his bare hands.

Surprisingly, Heba’s hand movements were flawless.

The boy continued his counterattacks, but Heba appropriately avoided and deflected them while launching her own offensive.

Their exchange of blows unfolded more intensely than I had imagined.

But when her wrist was suddenly struck and she lost the knife in her left hand, the boy seized it and skillfully slashed at her pitch-black garment, cutting away a portion of it.

Even that was limited damage because Heba had dodged well.

“Did you underestimate me because I’ve lost my power and authority?”

“Of course I did. In the past, you wouldn’t have even allowed such an approach, would you?”

They exchanged words as they exchanged blows.

Heba had accepted that respect and reverence were now meaningless and unnecessary.

Only one thing remained.

Fighting.

Struggle.

A battle to the death.

If we don’t defeat them, if we don’t kill them, we’ll ultimately have to bear the yoke and fate of the defeated.

“How careless!”

Heba deflected the knife with her staff.

The boy deliberately dove in, thrusting the knife deep.

Heba barely avoided it and countered by striking the inside of his knee with her instep.

As if he had been waiting for this, he reversed his grip on the knife and brought it down toward her leg.

She narrowly escaped with just a cut to her skin.

Their exchange of attacks happened in an instant, and the boy pressed in again without giving her a moment’s respite.

Her cool movements as she barely avoided his attacks, deflected with her staff, and looked for openings were nothing short of extraordinary.

“You have remarkable physical skill!”

“Is that a compliment?”

The tip of her swinging staff grazed the bridge of the boy’s nose.

Then as Heba quickly pulled back her body, the boy’s intention to close in was neutralized.

She maximized the distance to keep him at bay with her staff, never overreaching when she attacked.

In contrast, the war god exuded confidence.

Though Heba was in the precarious position, she fought as if she had some kind of certainty.

That was something I couldn’t quite understand.

The boy seemed to feel the same way, as he slightly widened the distance and asked:

“I acknowledge your movements are extraordinary. But you… you have neither the capacity nor the skill to face me. Yet how do you stand against me?”

“Does that matter?”

There was something about the boy’s observation and Heba’s response that caught my attention.

The realization struck me in just a few seconds.

“……”

I forced myself to stand up.

“Have you finished catching your breath?”

As I staggered toward them, the boy gave me a dubious look, as if I had rejected a kindness he had offered.

He admonished me:

“If you want to win, you should use whatever you can. Right now, you should be focusing on recovering your strength, not forcing your will to face me with that unstable body.”

Who doesn’t know that?

But is that really the answer?

“When you’re in the middle of moving… if you rest too much because you’re tired… your body just collapses there. Let’s say… that’s the example.”

“Huh.”

Forcibly steadying my breathing… I glanced at Heba once… and moved forward instead.

With all possibilities locked away and my body far from normal, all I could do was make the most of the opportunity given to me.

“This will be different from before.”

The knife in his hand, though small in length and width… would be more than enough to cut flesh and pierce organs.

Slitting the throat would be fatal in its own way.

With a tap, he instantly closed the five-step distance between us at incredible speed.

His momentum and velocity were beyond simply throwing his body.

Rather, because he pushed off from the ground, it was even harder to predict and defend against than if he had just lunged.

Pretending to charge in but hesitating for half a breath, no, even less than that, he shifted to the side and came at my left flank.

A move deliberately forcing me, with limited mobility due to the sword in my right hand, to make a violent movement.

If I couldn’t respond to this, he would dive into my torso like a flying bird.

So I responded by keeping my upper body still and pulling my left foot diagonally back.

With the sword in my right hand jutting forward, it was impossible to put momentum into the blade.

But moving just the length of a finger was enough to counter with force without much difficulty.

It’s not about swinging the arm violently to make a sword strike powerful.

In real combat, opportunities to maintain perfect posture from beginning to end are actually rare.

Posture breaks down frequently, and whether from lack of stamina or injury, being in optimal condition is uncommon.

Clang!

In that sense, wielding a sword with a reverse grip requires less strength than holding it normally.

With a normal grip, you need to precisely control the movement of your wrist and arm.

With a reverse grip, you just need to hold it firmly and focus on elbow movement.

That alone makes the sword both an excellent shield and a useful weapon for close-quarters combat.

However, being a sword, there’s always the risk that if my blade is pushed back, it could harm me instead.

So I focus on ensuring the sword doesn’t turn toward my body while also making sure my wrist doesn’t bend awkwardly and fail to absorb the impact or take unnecessary damage.

Clang! Clang! Crack!

The boy’s knife came at my body like a gust of wind several times, only to be blocked, and since it was blocked, he immediately redirected it to target my arms and hands, but I deflected it outward and appropriately withdrew my body.

Retreating clumsily would only give the opponent momentum to charge.

The dynamics between one who retreats and one who advances are fundamentally different.

Whoosh!

The staff that grazed my earlobe came down diagonally.

I deflected it with my sword, but Heba struck down again, forcefully hitting the boy’s knife.

She had aimed for his head, but the boy skillfully raised his knife to block it.

However, the force behind her strike was greater than expected, and the boy’s blocking knife was pushed back.

Though it was a glancing blow, the impact seemed minimal to him.

“How impudent!”

The boy grabbed the staff that had hit him with his empty left hand and pulled Heba toward him.

She let go of it without hesitation and, as she was being pulled, launched herself to kick him squarely in the face.

“Damn—!”

Thud!

I immediately blocked his attempt to stab her with his knife.

Thanks to that, her foot landed squarely on his face with her full weight behind it.

Thwack!

The sound was so loud that it seemed like bones might have cracked.

Perhaps because the boy had pulled Heba with such force.

Even after striking his face, Heba was flung dozens of steps away in one direction.

Dense sand dust spread like a fog cloud, as she flew away and the boy, his face struck, rolled on the ground several times.

“How utterly vicious!”

The boy stood up abruptly and exclaimed as if lamenting.

His pristine white clothes were in worse disarray than before.

Unlike when he had rolled voluntarily, this time he had been sprawled out involuntarily.

“This resistance is unnecessary. Have you still not grasped the difference between us?”

“…Then have you ever willingly admitted defeat in a losing battle?”

Heba, staggering to her feet, retorted with irritated eyes.

To this, the boy:

“Of course not. I only know victory. Momentary defeats are merely part of the process.”

“Then you understand why we’re doing this.”

“You, she, and I are in different positions. Forcibly judging differences as equal and fair is truly absurd. Do you think a small bird can fly in the same realm as a great phoenix?”

“…So in the end, only you are glorious and only you are righteous?”

“Is there a problem with that? We walk the right path, and we guide and lead those who walk the wrong path. What judgment is needed for this?”

“Is that your reason for persecuting us?”

“You make me repeat myself. Your sins and your power are both great, so if your hearts turn astray, it becomes a significant threat. Is it wrong to prevent that in advance?”

“We! Even if we want to live quietly, peacefully… you narrow-minded beings can’t even guarantee that!”

“It’s a matter of possibility. Ignoring and neglecting the clearly visible possibility of disaster is the height of foolishness. I can understand and sympathize with your situation, but allowing and permitting it is another matter entirely.”

“As expected… we can’t communicate.”

“We are communicating. But there is no room for allowance or acceptance.”

“……”

Why engage in an argument when it’s obvious words won’t get through?

Is it to vent emotions, to find some relief?

Ah, yes. Perhaps that’s the only way to alleviate the festering, boiling rage inside.

I think I was like that once too, but I’ve forgotten quickly.

Or is it that my physical state is so compromised that I can’t think straight?

This is a different kind of exhaustion from mere fatigue.

I’m certain that if I close my eyes here, I’ll truly fall into an eternal sleep.

“I see. I understand. I won’t ask for anything more.”

Win by fighting.

That’s the answer in the end.

But…

Looking at her cold eyes, I felt her thoughts and intentions were clearly different from mine.

“You, even after coming this far, you don’t know who I am, do you?”

“Hmm.”

It seems so.

“Kariel.”

Heba called to me with a request.

“If this space is maintained any longer, you won’t be able to endure. So, please let it go.”

“Are you sure? It’s only because I’ve lost my divine status and power that you can even inflict damage on me like this. Right now, perhaps! You might be able to steal victory from me. Yet… you ask him to give up this advantage? This resolute decision he made while crossing the line between life and death?”

“You too, I see now, talk quite a lot.”

“What did you say?”

Krrrrrrrr!

And.

Finally, the steel warrior collapsed.

The golden greatsword he had been holding also fell conspicuously onto the ground.

-Dividing among yourselves when you should be standing together. This is why you fail. Even I, the master of doubt, consider whether to doubt or not, but you… haha. How amusing.

The earth dragon moves.

It flies toward us without hesitation.

“The situation has changed. Perhaps you too should follow that woman’s request this time. But… what that means—”

The sound of the earth dragon striking the ground drowns out all other sounds.

A boom like an explosion.

The tremor shakes the earth’s axis, making it difficult to even stand.

‘Not yet, was it?’

Dominatur Peccata.

I came here to use this properly.

I pushed too hard.

But honestly, how can I not be angry?

Irritation welled up.

At their lofty gaze and high perspective… rage boiled within me.

‘Nevertheless.’

Every action has meaning.

Don’t degrade your actions as meaningless or useless.

Once you’ve started.

Push through to the end.

See it through to completion.

Both the beginning and the end.

All will be in my hands.

The boundary of light surrounding my body scatters.

Even the darkness shrinks to the size of a shadow.

Along with that.

“Even crisis is but a gust of sandy wind to me! Thus it is proven! I always triumph and will certainly triumph…”

Yes.

May you always win.

…Without ever facing defeat.

Just keep winning.

“…?”

That small voice.

The war god who was proclaiming victory with that complacent voice. Verethragna.

And the form of darkness that had changed from the earth dragon, the serpent that was also a form of darkness. Ahriman.

“But what can we do?”

For some reason, Heba was displaying a sad yet somehow extremely, extremely chilling smile.

“Isn’t victory only meaningful when there’s a stage for it?”

“You wench…?”

“As a servant of Múspellsmegir, I beseech you. Father of all trees. Fulfill your duty as the destroyer of worlds! Only you!”

I shall purify this land!

“In the name of the great destroyer, the divine Sinmara…”

“Bahraaan—!”

The boy, now returned to his war god form, urged with a voice like lightning.

In that moment, his avatar bodies struck down around us.

But one step ahead.

“Hævateinn.”

With that name.

From the blackened staff held in the war god’s, the boy’s hand.

Suddenly, a fire demon erupted.

The red pillar of flame abruptly transformed into blue fire.

The war god’s body was engulfed in flames.

But the scale was so immense that it seemed to have already consumed the boy’s small body.

Screech!

A phoenix emerged from somewhere and dove into the blue pillar of flame.

This too was a sight I had seen before.

However, it was somewhat different from that time.

Back then, wasn’t the phoenix facing bright red flames?

“Back then… I couldn’t unleash any of it properly.”

Heba staggered toward me.

“Now… it’s different…”

She looked confused yet somehow relieved, and for some reason, extremely dismayed.

“Now, it begins.”

With the sound of a lamb’s cry, the boy emerged from the inferno and screamed, supporting his burned body.

“Aaaaargh!!”

Yet, he didn’t struggle.

Standing firmly, he screamed in agony.

But he endured it completely.

“Yes! I remember this! It was you! The branch that inflicts wounds! So you were the keeper of the unburning branch of the World Tree!”

“…You’re persistent.”

The lamb’s cry sounded repeatedly.

The phoenix, the burning war god still alive.

And the rest of the avatars who were caught up in this, all defiantly stood up.

But they were all burning alive just the same.

“Do you know something?”

If I had to guess who she was speaking to, it would be me.

Since she didn’t raise her voice.

However, the war god, despite his deranged state, seemed to have heard this and demanded an answer.

Heba didn’t even give him a glance.

From the burning body of the boy, and from the encirclement of the massive avatar bodies.

An enormous killing intent unlike anything I had ever experienced erupted.

It took my breath away.

But.

The worst thing for me right now wasn’t their killing intent or hostility.

“……”

The pain that had disappeared returned like a relapse.

Due to the terrible pain and my already powerless physical state, my condition was still at its worst.

“It’s hard, isn’t it?”

“……”

Heba comforted me with words that were closer to a soliloquy than a question.

When had my body collapsed?

I was half-leaning on her for support.

She gently held me up as if laying me down.

“That is a divine object that once destroyed the world.”

And once it’s ignited, it won’t extinguish.

…It will eventually burn everything in the world.

Until everything that can burn is gone.

“Before, I hesitated… the pain of being burned alive was too much… I couldn’t bear it, so I faltered… and that’s why we were destroyed.”

How much she must have regretted that.

“But now, it’s okay.”

She spoke with labored breath.

“…I just confirmed that there is no more hope in this world.”

She whispered softly.

“Release the locks. From the first… to the seventh.”

No sooner had those words ended.

The blue flames… turned black.

As the black flames rose and blazed into the sky.

The world, all things under heaven and earth, burned darkly ablaze.

…Before our eyes now, the black destruction that once burned the world had arrived.