Ch.211Chapter 211. Into the Abyss in Search of Hope….

Yes, I was facing a being that could rightfully be called a god.

Not only had it cracked space itself, but just one finger emerging through the rift was enough to nearly cover the entire interior of the temple.

I realized it was impossible to even attempt to measure the size of its main body, and merely facing it made my mind feel distant and hazy.

“Ah, you…”

But Gwen didn’t despair despite facing it.

Perhaps because she had already reached her physical limit, or because her mind had gone too far to make normal judgments.

“Did you… come because you heard my prayer?”

Either way, the noble demeanor she had tried to maintain until the end was now crumbling as she placed hope in what appeared before her.

Just watching the bright smile forming on her lips gave me a chilling feeling.

If what appeared here was truly an outer god, it could potentially become involved in her future in some way.

-Woooong.

As if confirming my prediction, a finger extended toward Gwen.

After she carefully placed her hand on that finger, a strange power began to spread from it, consuming her body.

“Ah, ahhh.”

Her body convulsed repeatedly as it accepted that power, and the exclamations flowing from her mouth gradually became infused with ecstasy.

“I understand…”

She had realized something.

Hearing her words at that moment, I could immediately sense this fact.

“A witch…”

Beings who have accessed knowledge from other dimensions through some means.

Those who accept this knowledge commit acts beyond common sense and human ethics without guilt, eventually causing cracks in the order of the world.

“The beginning of the Lord of Corpses was a witch.”

At this moment, in this world recreating the past, I was confronting the birth of what could be called the source of all evil.

Realizing this, Gwen whispered before me.

“I understand everything…”

Unlike before when her voice was soaked in agony, now it sounded much more at ease.

“Why this land has become like this… what beings like you intend… I understand it all.”

Yes, she was now a vessel that had accessed the knowledge of outer gods.

For her, who now possessed the power to distort the world’s order, physical pain would be of little concern.

“And how to make the tragedy of this land… disappear.”

As she exerted her power with both hands clasped together, the tentacles rooted around them began to contract.

No, they weren’t just shrinking—they were drying up.

The fleshy parts gradually rotted away, leaving behind corpse-like remains with clearly visible bones.

“Ah, ahhh… how fleeting life is.”

As this power spread beyond the temple to the entire city, I too was not exempt from its effects.

If my avatar hadn’t created a barrier to protect my body, I too would have rotted away.

The power that Gwen, now awakened as a witch, was exerting had such an absurd potential.

“No matter how much we crave life, no matter how noble we were… in a world beneath them, it’s not strange for everything to disappear or collapse at any moment.”

By the time this power had returned everything in this land to death.

She had exhausted her strength and knelt on the floor, her trembling gaze now turning toward the coffin before her.

“But my love…”

With an infinitely tender voice that seemed impossible for a being who had transcended human ethics.

“I want to believe that your teachings were not wrong.”

With an infinitely human whisper that made it impossible to think of her as a monster who had abandoned the human heart.

“Even if this truth I now possess teaches me that everything I will achieve is meaningless… I hope it doesn’t mean that everything we’ve achieved until now was meaningless.”

That prayer taught me one thing.

Even though she had experienced tragedy and received knowledge from a transcendent being to reign as a calamity.

The last thing she did with her remaining strength was simply to give rest to those who suffered and honor their deaths.

“So, my king…”

That was the end of Gwen Hwibar, a queen and saint, and a noble woman who had loved one person.

“Be eternal…”

With those final words, her body collapsed to the floor, but the smile on her face looked infinitely peaceful.

Because she maintained that heart until the end, her life could be buried in this land, wrapped in dignity and beauty.

-Thud.

And the power inherent in her body uses that heart as a root to revive her flesh.

As a being like an avatar that would inherit that life…

A being that would later grow into a great calamity known as the Lord of Corpses.

“Ah, ahhh. My love.”

But even knowing the sin she would commit, why does this beginning moment appear so heartbreaking and pitiful?

“Even with this cold body now devoid of blood, I feel my heart beating for you… In the fragments of an age foreseeing that everything will crumble, I reminisce about our memories and feel longing for him.”

I know.

That even the most terrible calamity began from “humanity” that I too can empathize with.

“If you hold the same heart as mine, please rise.”

I could understand in this moment, watching that past, how desperate her current prayer was, even in a dead body.

“Even if it’s a lie, it’s alright.”

From her lips, as she faced her companion who had been revived…

Now reduced to a skeleton with all traces of life gone, sorrowful joy began to leak out.

“That lie too can exist because your will was that righteous. Because I believed it was right until the very end, the current me could exist.”

She whispers with both hands clasped together.

As if feeling her heart beating despite it having stopped.

Even if not, she was immersed in nostalgia for how it once was.

“So I will gratefully accept this new life and follow your teachings.”

Her hands, remembering that warmth, gradually began to extend forward toward her companion.

“If your heart remains the same, please take my hand.”

What would unfold after taking that hand would be hell for the living.

The wise king would surely have foreseen such a future.

He would know that what he sought to achieve as a dead body would never be what he wanted when alive.

“In a world about to collapse… if it is truly your wish to leave a little more beauty in this world.”

But surely she felt the same way.

Nevertheless, if she had inevitably awakened to such an ideal, perhaps in this desperate world, it might be considered the best option.

“…I.”

Unable to shake off such thoughts, Baudouin Britannia finally grasped her hand firmly.

From that moment, he fell to become the Azure Knight of Death, a knight who would protect the calamity that followed the ideal he had left behind.

That was the beginning of the calamity known as the Lord of Corpses.

Because they were infinitely human…

It was the end of a monarch and saint who tried to accept a world heading toward infinite despair.

-CRASH!!!

At the sound of collapse while watching this birth, my mind suddenly became alert and my gaze turned toward the source of the sound.

No, there was no need to turn.

I saw that the place where Gwen and Baudouin had just joined hands was being swallowed by something that had erupted from the ground.

“…Huh?”

What’s going on…

Why were those two people suddenly swallowed by that pitch-black entity?

Shouldn’t she have awakened as the Lord of Corpses after this, reviving corpses and growing into a calamity threatening humanity?

-Crunch, crunch.

No, this isn’t something that happened in the past.

Something has changed. It’s something that shouldn’t exist in this space itself, different from when an outer god intervenes.

“Run away from there right now!”

My avatar’s shout came as I was blankly staring at that absurd scene.

Just as my body, belatedly coming to its senses, leapt out of the temple, the temple was completely swallowed by something that had surged from underground.

-CRASH! CRASH!

Debris from the building fell among the surging soil.

As it created disorder around and raised dust, my gaze gradually began to move toward the massive shadow existing between them.

A giant Undead made of entangled corpses… Though smaller in size, I had seen something similar before.

“Void Predator…?”

Yes, what appeared at this moment was the being that Baudouin had named the Infinite Void Predator.

A being like Gorgon Zola, who had devoured the Lord of Corpses, had now appeared at this tragic scene and swallowed Gwen and Baudouin.

But why?

This time period should be about the fall of Briton and the birth of the Lord of Corpses, so why did Gorgon Zola suddenly appear and swallow them?

“…Thought remnants.”

While I was questioning this, my avatar, facing the emerged Gorgon, began to speak in a tense voice as if realizing something.

“That creature has degenerated into a monster that wanders in response to thought remnants… the residue left by the living and the dead. And this place where we are now is filled with thought remnants.”

“…That crazy monster can interfere even in the afterlife?”

“There’s no other explanation. Moreover, that creature originated from Briton… it’s not impossible that it unconsciously came here following the remnants of its own past.”

In reality, it devours both the living and the dead indiscriminately, and now it’s even invaded the afterlife to eat everything that catches its interest.

What the hell is that? Why has such an absurd monster appeared before us?

“…Ah, ahhh.”

But regardless of whether I understood it or not, Gorgon Zola had now revealed itself before us.

As I watched the scene with rigid eyes, it began to spread its arms in the moonlit place after devouring the entire temple.

“Most benevolent king, most noble saint…”

Baudouin and Gwen.

As if clearly aware at this moment that it had completely devoured the tragic love of these two people’s past.

“Your memories are being transmitted to me as I consume you. I feel my hunger being satisfied as my knowledge grows.”

A voice becoming elated with ecstasy at that.

But even that was only momentary.

Soon, dropping its arms limply, it began to gaze up at the moonlight endlessly with its empty eyes.

“…But it’s not enough.”

Crunch, crunch.

The flesh inside the skeleton writhes.

“With this, I cannot satisfy my hunger.”

Those things, responding to his emotions and rampaging, continue to swell his body and increase his presence.

“I must know more. That is my only wish. That is the only reason for my existence.”

And there would be no limit to that process.

Sensing this, I watched as he prepared to plunge his mouth into the ground below.

“So I must accept more into this body!”

And with a CRASH! his head plummeted.

As soon as his mouth plunged into the ground closed, cracks formed in the earth, and the aftershocks began to reach where I was standing.

Yes, this is a space made of thought remnants.

To him, for whom both the living and the dead are merely prey to be devoured, this world itself could be considered his excellent prey.

“Run away now!”

Yet despite my avatar’s shout, why?

Why am I just standing here staring at that monster despite my avatar’s command?

“This space will collapse soon! If you don’t get as far away from that creature as possible…!”

“…Garam.”

I could immediately understand the reason.

Because the area was filled with the energy of the dead, I felt the faint energy that had been noticeable since that monster appeared becoming more prominent.

“Garam is in there.”

“What?”

“I said Garam is inside that creature!”

I don’t know why that child is inside that creature.

Whether he was swept there during the process of coming to the afterworld, or if he had already been eaten…

“…I need to go inside that creature.”

But either way, I came this far to find that child.

If I don’t return with him, everything I’ve gone through so far will be for nothing.

How could I think of fleeing from that monster?

“Are you insane?! Are you saying you want to enter that monster’s mouth right now?!”

“I can clearly feel the energy of life even from here. If Garam is alive, there must be a way for us to survive inside too!”

“Betting your life on such a speculation is foolish! If by any chance it doesn’t go as you think…!”

“Lend me your help. Annabelle!”

A desperate cry.

Receiving that call, she stopped her previous exclamation and began to stare at me blankly.

It’s a natural result. If she has a different identity despite having the same foundation as me, she couldn’t ignore the current name.

“Annabelle Britannia. That’s your name, right?”

“……”

“Annabelle, you’re knowledgeable about this world and the dead, so you might be able to find a method I couldn’t.”

I pleaded earnestly once more to that child.

To my avatar who is also an independent being from me, or who could even be called my sibling.

“Please, lend me your strength to save Garam.”

At that desperate request, Annabelle stared at me for a while, then began to sigh while clutching her head.

It’s natural for her to be reluctant. From Annabelle’s perspective, not Pailoi’s, Garam might not be such a precious existence.

“Damn, how did I end up sticking with someone like you.”

Nevertheless, Annabelle didn’t refuse my request and tried to settle into the armor surrounding my body.

Clearly feeling that solid energy, I conveyed my sincere gratitude to her.

“…Thank you, Annabelle.”

-Shut up and focus. Even I don’t know what will happen after this.

Yes, the place we’re about to enter is the void that devours even the afterworld.

Feeling the entrance to such a passage gradually being aimed at me, I quietly took a deep breath and prepared to face it head-on.

“Come on, you damn monster.”

The only small life existing in this place.

As the mouth tracking that energy opened and created a storm, I too prepared to boldly enter that place.

-CRASH!!

Seeking hope.

Taking a step toward an abyss deeper than hell.