Ch.192Life and Death (6)

They moved simultaneously, but the results were different.

The new deity couldn’t even draw her sword.

Of course, those solid fists and strong bones, the dragon martial arts dwelling in that body boasted a sharpness that could overwhelm ordinary weapons even when bare-handed.

But that wasn’t enough against a god. It wasn’t completely ineffective, but it would only work against “any ordinary god.”

It didn’t apply to the God of Death. At this time when death was rampant across the continent, the God of Death was stronger than before she was nearly sealed.

So despite being able to track the trajectory with his eyes, he could barely react.

Luwellin crossed his arms as he saw the beautiful woman who had turned black rushing toward him.

He took a typical defensive stance. A flying kick landed on those crossed arms.

Crack! The bones ached. It was a powerful and “painful” kick that would have sent pain rushing through him if not for his Mourning ability.

It was a swift kick like the punishment of sinners, like the fear of death that torments humans throughout their lives.

Luwellin wasn’t pushed back by the kick. He was too light to be pushed.

Light yet powerful. Like a strong impact with only the weight removed. Luwellin opened his mouth in bewilderment.

“Wait! It’s a misunderstanding! Let me expl—”

Crack!

Before he could finish, a flurry of attacks rushed in. Following the kick came a punch with a twisted body, an upward kick, a downward kick, and more, all pounding on Luwellin.

Among them, a downward kick shut Luwellin’s mouth. He bit his tongue. Ugh, part of his tongue shot out of his mouth and rolled on the floor.

For a moment, a pain that couldn’t be ignored even with Mourning surged to the back of his head, and Luwellin’s teeth clenched as his eyes burned with anger.

But soon reason suppressed his anger.

He needed to stay calm.

His opponent was a god. Not just any god, but the God of Death.

She could be an effective and capable ally, and she was a deity he could sympathize with and pity due to her similar circumstances.

Luwellin would have gone mad too if he had seen someone kill his sister and absorb her soul right before his eyes.

So he could endure. For now. Luwellin finished his thought and stepped back with his teeth still clenched.

“Please! Listen to me! I’m not the one who killed the Goddess of Life!”

Bang, crash!

As Luwellin dodged a kick by leaning back, the attack slid off his armor and smashed into the wall.

Lucilla tried to intervene but seeing her brother trying to explain, she stomped her feet in frustration.

Seeing her brother being hit filled her with rage. How dare they, how dare they hit my Sejin.

The whites of her eyes turned black. Her demon eyes emitted light. Yet she didn’t rush in.

She was not only his lover but also his older sister. She couldn’t interfere when her brother was trying to do something.

But there was a limit to that too. As Luwellin took the attacks raining down on him like a downpour, he gradually felt the back of his head tightening.

‘I definitely dodged that.’

It was strange. He tilted his chin back when he saw an attack aimed at his head, but oddly, the kick still hit its target precisely.

Crack! As he endured the shaking brain with his Mourning debuff nullification, more attacks poured in.

Evasion somehow didn’t work.

Just as all living beings cannot escape death, evasion didn’t exist against the divine punishment delivered by the God of Death.

If that was the case. Gritting his teeth, Luwellin gripped North Wind in his left hand and clenched his right fist.

Dragon Takedown.

The strongest martial art Luwellin possessed. A technique for facing something stronger than oneself, a martial art of defying superiors.

However, a technique whose meaning had faded when used by something like a human with the strongest physical body in this land.

Luwellin used this technique to deflect the attack coming toward him.

Crack!

When he struck and deflected the kick with the back of his hand, a noise close to metal striking rang out. His hand trembled slightly, and a clear opening appeared along the pushed-back leg.

Deflection was a technique that even enabled counterattacks. However, Luwellin didn’t thrust an attack into the clearly visible opening.

Enduring, gritting his teeth, he spoke in that gap.

“Although the divinity of life has entered me… that was never my intention! I would rather, rather return it if I could!”

The God of Death paused momentarily.

But it didn’t last long. Attacks continued to pour in. Luwellin let out a groan with his teeth still clenched.

‘This is maddening. Why won’t she listen?’

Heat was gradually rising. Anger filled his eyes, and curses built up under his clenched teeth.

As he deflected a fist aimed at his head with his elbow, Luwellin shouted.

“I actually pitied you and sympathized with you! I love my sister too, love her as a man! Because I pitied you who had reached a similar path as mine, I accepted your proposal! This isn’t even what I wanted!”

A rare sincere confession from Luwellin’s mouth. Lucilla, who was ready to rush in at any moment, froze in shock, and the God of Dreams opened her mouth wide.

But the God of Death continued to attack without the slightest hesitation.

Because of this, Luwellin’s patience was reaching its limit.

‘Why on earth…?!’

The God of Death attacking in rage and himself facing her.

As Luwellin’s divinity reached his brain, intuition whispered to him.

Perhaps the death of the Goddess of Life wasn’t Luwellin’s fault.

Considering how much time had passed since they merged.

And considering they were the Goddess of Life and God of Death.

The death of the Goddess of Life was likely due to the God of Death.

The moment he realized this, Luwellin closed his mouth.

It was too cruel a truth to speak. Even if he was angry.

Since life cannot always overcome death, at some point death had overwhelmed life.

Life had been crushed under death and died.

For a long time, death had remained alone, waiting for a reunion with a lover who would never return.

It was too cruel a story. Luwellin tried to give a roundabout explanation, but.

A kick penetrated through his sympathy and compassion. He couldn’t block it in time.

Craaack!

“Sejin!”

Lucilla shouted as Luwellin’s neck armor cracked and his body was lifted.

Lucilla’s form dove into that opening. A front kick thrust through the distorted space.

The God of Death didn’t block that attack. She took a hit to the ribs and flew away.

Luwellin and the God of Death rolling on the floor happened simultaneously.

His neck hurt. Even though Mourning should have made it just numb, he felt pain.

No, considering the repeated activation of Mourning, it was natural.

He was doing his best, not wanting to fight, explaining and accommodating.

Luwellin gradually stood up, chewing on his anger.

He could sympathize.

He had pitied her.

That’s why he helped with the separation. Even after things turned out this way, he was ready to accept and explain, not fight.

Despite being able to counterattack, he didn’t.

Yet she kept attacking. Fighting her, he knew she wasn’t just insane with rage, having lost her reason.

“I did my best.”

Words uttered in frustration. The anger seeping into those words made the space tremble.

Luwellin felt the divinity striding through his heart and stretched out his right hand.

Then he drew a line in the air with his extended thumb.

One horizontal line. Blue light rose along where he had drawn.

“I didn’t want to fight. If possible, I wanted to take you, the remaining one, to the pantheon.”

But she was all attack. Luwellin realized his patience had reached its limit.

Folding his thumb, he thrust his index and middle fingers down toward the blue horizontal line. The vertical line he drew down also glowed blue.

It looked like both a cross and a sword.

There was no need to confirm which one it was.

Fzzzt…!

The interlocked blue light grew like sprouting offspring or branches.

The growing blue light formed a blade, created a hilt, and formed a cross-guard between the blade and hilt.

A typical sword. But not of ordinary length.

The blade and handle together were about 2 meters long. A length that overwhelmed ordinary greatswords.

Luwellin gripped the Night Sky Sword in his hand, which scattered blue sparks in all directions.

The sword shone like a star. Light spread along the trajectory of its drawing, and white-rippling eyes stared with a predatory aura.

A pressure that made even the God of Death pause. Luwellin held Starmass in both hands and said.

“From now on, it’s your fault.”

Crack!

The noise that rang out at the moment of his leap was all there was. Wrapping anti-demon power around his entire body, Luwellin flew like a bullet.

The anti-demon power formed into a bullet shape greatly reduced air resistance, and Luwellin was suddenly at the God of Death’s side.

Acceleration and attack that seemed to disappear and reappear.

The God of Death thrust out her leg in anticipation of a counterattack, but all she could see was her own extended leg.

Then where was the attack?

A hand wrapping around her thigh. Before the God of Death could react, her vision blurred rapidly.

A simple attack that just grabbed her leg and slammed her to the floor. But due to strength far beyond human capacity, it was lethal in itself.

A monstrous strength that mortals couldn’t withstand and only historical monsters could face. The God of Death curled her body.

Booooom!

The tower shook. Lucilla stepped forward without even calling her brother’s name.

There was no need to give signals, receive cues, or coordinate with each other.

Her accumulated experience and understanding of her brother made her move immediately. The God of Dreams watched what was happening while neatly placed at the entrance of the tower.

Crack!

The God of Death, slammed to the floor, kicked upward while still lying down. Her leg, thrusting from below to above, was as fierce as her love that had aimed for the heavens.

She even couldn’t dodge it. At the moment of impact, Luwellin twisted his head, but the attack hit his face as if he had never moved.

His head was bent back. The taste of blood in his mouth.

Luwellin spat blood through his slit mouth, gritted his teeth, and fixed his head with his neck muscles.

The sword attack flying through the air targeted the God of Death, who had stood up using the force of her extended leg.

The blue spreading light flickered in countless forms and strengths like an image reflected in a kaleidoscope. It was difficult to block. But she blocked it.

It would be dangerous not to block. The God of Death’s judgment was accurate.

Swish!

A sound spreading like tinnitus and blood droplets falling. The black eyes of death drew a line in the air, and an arm was cut off.

At that moment, the God of Death exerted her divinity.

She twisted fate. She reversed the result of being cut, and at the last moment, she twisted her arm.

Crack!

The sword attack stuck as if caught on bone.

Amputation is not an easy skill. The angle of entry and exit must be the same, and the direction of the blade must be consistent.

Otherwise, it only tears. The sword attack focused on cutting power but had no weight.

So it didn’t tear. The God of Death shook off her bleeding arm to deflect the blade and swung her leg widely.

But.

“Form alteration.”

Whoosh, the sound of rushing wind. Heat as if the sun had suddenly appeared. The God of Death reflexively twisted her body and swung her fist, but.

“Star’s Heart.”

With a crack, her thrust fist was deflected at the elbow and bounced away.

Her fist melted. It was burning. A deflection that tilted her body.

At the end of it was Lucilla, wearing leather pants and a shirt, showing a spinning kick with a large body twist.

A spinning kick that used the entire body, as elegant as a leaf falling from a tree.

It hit her forearm raised belatedly, and her body was lifted.

Thud, her body bounced lightly and collided with the tower wall, scattering stone fragments.

Rumble!

She felt her flesh burning and bones melting. Despite it being just a kick and elbow defense, it felt like being roasted over fire for a long time or splashed with lava.

But she couldn’t just lie there. The God of Death exhaled and stood up, seeing the siblings rushing toward her.

Completely simultaneous attacks, perfectly matching each other as if filling each other’s gaps.

The moment the God of Death stepped forward, she barely comprehended the attacks pouring toward her.

She rushed in and swung her fist at Luwellin. When her thrust fist was deflected by the blade, attacks immediately followed.

Her side, shoulder, wrist, and then her wrist was cut off by a sword attack coming from the side. There was no time to fill the gap created by such a wound.

Immediately a fist thrust from the side. Her body stiffened from the burning fist and its intense heat.

In the moment of staggering, the living sword continuously invaded her vision, aiming for her head, neck, heart, and spine.

The God of Death stretched out her hand to block the blue-gleaming Night Sky.

Crash!

Amidst the scattering flesh and bone fragments, the God of Death finally had to allow an attack on her leg.

The blade that cut deeply through her thigh and her body tilting greatly.

A knee rising to target that opening.

A knee kick delivered with firm thighs hit her chin, and her jawbone melted and fell off.

Once should be enough, but of course not.

At the last moment, the God of Death raised her half-cut arm to block Lucilla’s spinning kick.

Crack!

Her body flew away. The siblings followed.

The God of Death exerted her divinity and stretched out her hand.

It was the arm that had been cut off. Sticky blood shot out from her arm like tentacles, reconnecting the severed body part and returning it to its owner.

Lucilla flinched at the attack that grazed her side.

Clang!

That wasn’t the end.

Luwellin saw the God of Death catching his sword attack with her teeth.

She immediately twisted her head to pull the sword from his grasp and kicked it away. Despite blocking with crossed arms, the force pushed his body far away.

While Luwellin was rolling on the ground with wide, surprised eyes, the God of Death pulled out the blade that had been stuck in her lower jaw and raised her fist.

Bang, crack!

“Ugh…?!”

Lucilla’s groan of surprise.

Because the God of Death had deliberately taken her heat-filled fist head-on, accepting it deep into her chest, and then delivered a headbutt.

Her vision blurred. A natural human reaction unavoidable even for a homunculus.

Seizing that gap, the God of Death twisted her body greatly, pulling out the arm deeply embedded in her chest, and thrust out her leg.

A picture-perfect spinning back kick. With a tearing sound, Lucilla flew away.

While the two siblings rolled on the ground, the God of Death quickly regenerated.

It had always been like this.

The world never permitted her love.

The entire world was like that.

All humans and gods living in the world pointed fingers.

Yet she remained steadfast without breaking. It was the same now.

She could do anything for her love.

Literally, anything.

She looked back at the dead face of Life and sighed.

“I know it’s not your fault.”

Words that came when Luwellin was grimacing and gripping a newly drawn sword.

As he froze in surprise, the God of Death said sadly.

“Life died because of me.”

As he opened his eyes wide in shock, she continued.

“Steward, I know well that you were born a predator. I also know that even if you don’t want to, when a god dies near you, you drag in and devour that divinity.”

It was a very unexpected statement. Luwellin had never heard of such a thing, and even the God of Dreams found it completely new.

But she had no intention of explaining.

“Isn’t it as natural as the rising and setting of the sun?”

She simply loosened her body, clenched and unclenched her fist, and exhaled a long breath.

With a completely calmed demeanor, having suppressed her anger.

“So I’m going to kill you.”

She declared.

“I will extract the devoured divinity of Life from within you, kill you, kill your lover, and kill the God of Dreams over there to resurrect Life.”

She took her stance.

A stance that looked like a form of jujutsu, with her hands loosely extended toward Luwellin, high but not tense.

“Let me tell you in advance. I’m not doing this out of any ill feelings toward you.”

The deity, having completely regained her composure, concluded with a bitter smile.

“I’m just doing what needs to be done.”

Rejecting all negotiation and compromise, the God of Death ran forward.