Ch.236Chapter 236. Advent of the God of Destruction

“I can feel it, the power of my ancestor…”

The blood flowing through my body tells me.

That what has appeared here is the avatar of the Destruction God.

Though it may be merely a manifestation created using fragments of the original body, it’s a sufficient tool to fulfill the role of destruction.

‘Yes, if I fill myself into that vessel…’

If I inject the necessary energy into that tool, the human known as Irie Haven will disappear forever from this world.

Not just her body, but her consciousness, even what might be called her soul… everything.

‘That will end my mission.’

It might be a final fate more empty than death itself.

Yet Irie didn’t simply fear it.

Because she had been running toward this all along.

Because this would finally put an end to all the journeys she had taken to get here.

‘Through fulfilling my mission, the world where the people I love live can continue to exist.’

Hers had been a life devoted vaguely to her mission.

As a member of the prophet clan, she trained in astrology and mastered her powers…

After receiving all the power of her clan to follow the fate bestowed upon her, she left her homeland and set foot on unfamiliar land.

She didn’t care what awaited her.

She never thought the path guided by the one who gave her this mission could be wrong.

‘Just by following that vaguely determined path, I met you.’

Following her desire to prevent destruction, she encountered an otherworlder.

Though the Destruction God’s will existed in that guidance, she didn’t think it was merely the result of following a predetermined fate.

Though the beginning may have been bewildering and embarrassing, she knew the fluttering she felt after meeting him was her own.

‘I’ve been conscious of you since I saw the future where we would be together. I thought about you every day, never forgetting you, and got to know what kind of person you were by seeing your past.’

Though their meeting was brief, even when apart from him, she had imagined their future together while thinking about him.

She reflected on his harsh life after entering this world, gradually growing her feelings…

Until finally they lived in the same home, slept in the same bed, joined their bodies, and confirmed their feelings for each other.

‘Though our coming together may have happened suddenly… you made me accept such a potentially rash choice without regret.’

The more she felt the truth of his heart, the more she longed for him during their time apart.

Even knowing the future where he would return to her side, she yearned to feel more clearly the kindness she couldn’t know from just a confirmed future… that warmth.

‘I liked you for that.’

Because her life had been devoted only to the mission given by someone else, she found herself increasingly captivated by a life led by her own heartbeats.

‘Even if I hadn’t known our fate, if I had met you, I surely would have felt the same way.’

Yes, this is love, she thought.

If she could fulfill her mission by being true to such feelings, that would be the most ideal future.

‘I think it’s fortunate. That you were my first.’

Having chosen a path that embraced both mission and love, her heart was now filled with happiness without a trace of regret.

‘I was happy. Because you were my first.’

Because she knew the world would go on even after she disappeared.

Even without making a prophecy, she could be certain that he would preserve her traces in that continuing world.

‘I sincerely hope you’ll be happy. I hope you can manage well even after I’m gone.’

With that wish in her heart, Irie Haven slowly opened her eyes.

The moment she saw the shadow drawing closer than before, she spread both arms to prepare to welcome it.

“Destruction God. I offer my body to become your path.”

To accept her who came to save this land, and through him, to erase what shouldn’t exist in this world.

And with that, to seal all the cracks inflicted on this world, to usher in an era of nothingness free from the interference of outer gods.

“Please, lend me your power to fulfill the mission given to me… to protect my love!”

As if responding to her cry, the avatar gradually reached out toward her.

As her connection with it grew stronger, Irie prepared to accept her fate with a faint smile.

This is the end, she thought. This is where her role ends.

-Shwaaak!

Yes, at this moment, all she felt was that belief.

Her focus was solely on the avatar before her, all her nerves concentrated on their connection.

-Kwaaang!

She could never have predicted that a being with such fierce power would intrude at this moment.

“…Huh?”

By the time she gasped, a purple blood storm was already swirling around.

Only after becoming aware of the bloody smell did Irie regain her senses and unconsciously begin to look down.

“What, what is…”

Lying there was the head of a woman with red long hair… with the same appearance as herself.

As that head lay there alone facing her, Irie quickly held her breath and began looking around.

“Destruction God. Wh-what is happening…!”

-Kwaddeuk!

The sound of flesh being crushed.

Feeling her consciousness rapidly cooling, Irie slowly began turning her head sideways.

What existed there was something that had suddenly intruded into this space.

“De…”

She couldn’t identify what it was with her eyes.

The fierce current of power emanating just from its presence was devouring what should be a publicly visible form, displaying only distortion.

All she could do was guess who was creating this overwhelming presence through such an absurd aura.

“De-mon Lord…?”

Demon Lord Solomon.

He whose mind should be occupied with beings from other worlds had suddenly intruded here and attacked the avatar.

That was the full extent of the situation Irie had just confirmed.

-Kwaddeuddeuk!!!

Irie could immediately guess that what was being crushed in his hand was the avatar’s flesh.

Then what could be the reason?

Could it be that he had anticipated the Destruction God would descend here to annihilate her, and prevented it?

“Ah, aah… no…”

No, he is a being who has lived in emptiness for eternal time.

With his reason numbed beyond normal judgment, he merely moves according to the instincts created by his desires.

“This isn’t it! This isn’t the trivial thing I wanted!”

He simply responded to the strong power that drew him in.

He had dealt with the unusually powerful ones in this city one by one, and still unsatisfied, turned his attention elsewhere.

What he found at the end was the avatar trying to descend here.

“Where is it, where is the place I feel power…”

But that’s not enough.

Dismantling an empty shell gave him no satisfaction whatsoever.

“Ah, yes. It’s over there…”

But it was easy to trace where that trail led.

Feeling his gaze turn toward the sky, Irie held her breath and reflexively began reaching out toward where the Demon Lord was.

“W-wait. What are you trying to…!!”

-Kwaaaaa!!!

With the explosion, a current of power surged up.

It became a flash beyond an afterimage, stretching toward the crack in the sky above.

Toward the passage connecting this place with the outer dimension…

The place where beings called outer gods resided.

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!!

And soon after, a fierce explosion erupted.

When light that shook heaven and earth burst forth from it, the eyes of all beings on the ground focused there for a moment.

Survivors hoping to live, monstrosities created from the mixture of deformed beings and extraterrestrial matter, demons and interdimensional invaders…

-Kwarrrrrung!!

Among them was a prophet who had failed to prophesy this moment.

There was no way she could have predicted it.

According to plan, he who should have been annihilated with the Destruction God’s descent had instead invaded through the passage where her power should have come through.

“It can’t be…”

It’s an absurd story.

No matter how ridiculous power one possesses, that applies only to mortals who live with their feet on the ground.

Even if one crossed over from another dimension, due to the limitations of their origin, it should never be possible to compare with a cosmic being.

“What on earth is…”

Then what is that?

The flash filling the sky, the explosion erupting with it…

“What on earth is happening! Destruction God!!”

What could be happening at the scene where a mere insect has intruded?

Why are the effects reaching even this place, a completely different dimension?

-Kwaaaaaaaaaaa!!

With the current of power that burst forth at the end, the sky shattered into pieces.

As fragments like debris rained down, Irie hurriedly picked up her crystal ball that had fallen to the ground.

“The connection…”

This is the only way for her, situated on this land, to interfere with that place.

So for the sake of her mission, she needed to somehow contact her, but…

“The connection is… broken?”

No matter how much power she poured into the crystal ball, it felt completely empty, as if the core had been removed.

-Kuuung!

As a chilling sensation washed over her, a roar echoed, and Irie’s gaze quickly turned behind her.

Something that had been thrown through the split crack and crashed into the ritual site where she was located.

Amid the dust scattered in all directions by the impact of the collision, something buried within it slowly began to raise its body.

“…Haha, haha.”

An emaciated body.

Rough white hair that not only lacked care but showed no signs of vitality whatsoever.

Both legs trembled just from standing, and both arms hung so limp they swayed with the movement of the bent waist.

“Hahahahahahaha!! Ahahahahahahahahaha!”

But he was alive.

Despite falling from that high sky, he stood intact before her, bursting with madness.

A being with such an alien body that one couldn’t properly distinguish whether it was a child or adult, man or woman.

“Aah, this is the best~”

He expressed his ecstasy without reservation, uttering a voice filled with joy.

Just encountering it made her spine shiver and her mind dizzy with goosebumps.

“I finally found it. I finally found an opponent who can satisfy me! Ahahahahahaha!”

How on earth…

How could someone with such a body exude such an absurd presence?

“So it failed in the end.”

While blankly staring at this being’s exultation, she sensed someone approaching her.

Turning her gaze in response, she began to see the figure of someone all too familiar to her.

“Merilyn…”

“I did my best.”

Mephisto Rage, pressing down the silk hat on his head, turned his gaze away.

But that gaze was directed toward his former master who was filled with unprecedented joy at finally finding what he wanted.

“I tried to hold his attention until the ritual was complete… but the things in this land weren’t enough to capture his interest.”

That’s nonsense.

They directly summoned fragments of outer gods to this world and mass-produced monsters based on them.

Those who fully wielded that power were in a state where they could easily overwhelm even Heroes.

Is he saying that even those who could barely be matched by dragon-level beings weren’t enough to capture the Demon Lord’s interest?

“And honestly, I hoped. If a god-level being appeared directly, it could defeat him.”

But what was even more unexpected was that the Demon Lord directly invaded the world of the outer gods.

Not just confronting them but directly clashing and returning to the ground with his body fully preserved.

Not content with that, he focused his attention only on the crack in the sky, as if dreaming of a rematch with them.

“Well… even if the difference is like that between insects and humans, there are cases where a crowd flees in panic from a single wasp.”

Yes, what stands before them now is a being who, after spending a long time in emptiness, has even seized the power to kill great beings.

Because he never stepped forward, there was no opportunity to measure his power, and they certainly didn’t expect him to cross over to their world and counterattack directly…

A variable that forced them to decide to close even the crack they had opened for descent.

-Kwarrrrrrung!!!

But he doesn’t give up.

Having decided to prioritize preserving his own existence over his mission, his eyes watching the rapidly closing dimensional crack still burned with competitive spirit.

“Ahahahaha! Ahahahahahahaha!”

The vast current of power emanating from the hand extended in fidelity to that instinct.

Everything in the path where it poured violently distorted, and then everything around began to be drawn into the spatial distortion that occurred.

As if defying gravity, the air in the area and light debris from the ground…

-Kwaaa! Kwaaaaaaa!!!

In the midst of this dizzying scene where such collapses gradually increased in number, Irie could only stare at the spectacle with empty eyes.

There was no way she could handle this situation with a clear mind, where even the Destruction God felt a sense of crisis and severed their connection.

“…Well, this is the kind of world it is.”

On the other hand, the demon who had somewhat anticipated this situation merely expressed his thoughts while looking at his master’s actions with indifferent eyes.

“Because this is the kind of world it is, the beings watching over such a world can’t be any different.”

In a world where everyone falls equally into the abyss.

Humans, demons, different races and the dead, even beings called calamities self-destruct, fight to death, and disappear swept up in unintended events—this is the world they recognized.

Would it not be too narrow-minded and arrogant to believe that such a natural order would be an exception just because they observe from beyond the universe?

“You there.”

The one who made them realize this was his former master, Demon Lord Solomon.

He denies the absoluteness of those who consider themselves great, and it’s impossible to even dare predict his future… a being who deserves to be called a calamity to the gods themselves.

“Come to think of it, I sense an energy similar to what I just encountered…”

“Then does that mean I can also quell the emptiness I feel by facing you!? Hahahahahahaha!!!!”

The moment that being’s sadism was aimed at her, the prophet finally lost her grip on reason and collapsed to the ground.

There was no way she could maintain her composure.

Who in this world could possibly defeat him, who seeks to kill even the god she believed would drive away calamity?