Ch.249Epilogue – The World After Destruction (1)

Even the sky, once equally open to all, is now nothing more than a relic of the past.

The power that spread from the shattered sky absorbed everything on the ground, until even the land beneath our feet disappeared, leaving us without even the freedom to resist.

Does hope truly exist in such a world?

In this world, isn’t a miserable end all that awaits us no matter how we struggle to survive?

Despite everyone foreseeing this fate, those who had survived until now continued to suppress such predictions and fought to live another day.

They formed alliances with the different races they had long been hostile toward, excavated ancient arcane knowledge buried deep underground, employed evil arts forbidden by society, and utilized remnants that had flowed in from other worlds…

About half a year after survivors had prolonged their lives through their own methods, things that shouldn’t exist in this collapsed world began to appear one by one.

Groups formed as people with common purposes and values gathered together…

Beyond that, collectives worthy of being called “nations.”

“Let go of me! Do you know who I am?!”

But becoming renowned also means becoming an easier target for those with malicious intent.

Queen Celestia, one of the leaders of such a nation, was currently being dragged into a temple established by cultists, chained alongside her close aides.

“How dare filthy, worthless creatures like you treat me with such disrespect?! I am Queen Celestia! The leader who will raise humanity again in this collapsed world and usher in a new era!”

Celestia berated them with a voice full of dignity.

Emboldened by her outcry, her aides around her began shouting at the black-robed cultists leading them.

“That’s right! Do you have any idea who she is to commit such acts?!”

“Release these chains now and beg for mercy! Otherwise…!”

Then came a thunderous sound—CRACK!

As one of the cultists swung an axe, splitting open the head of an aide who then sprayed blood, Celestia and her remaining aides belatedly grasped the situation, their faces turning pale.

“Who you are doesn’t matter. Mere humans are all considered equal beneath the great ones.”

“So quietly submit to your fate, as everything follows the will of the great beings…”

‘Great beings, nonsense.’

Just madmen who lost their minds because they had nowhere else to go.

Celestia followed them while inwardly seething, clenching her fists tightly to suppress her anger.

‘Damn it, why do I have to suffer this humiliation?’

Celestia couldn’t help but feel furious about the situation.

The empire’s collapse and the world turning upside down had seemed like an opportunity for her.

With the world crumbling and even the powerful being annihilated, her position as a lower noble had suddenly risen—if that wasn’t an opportunity, what was?

‘Yes, this was my chance, a chance to open a new era for myself!’

Though the fortune she had accumulated for her family’s prosperity became meaningless, she had fortunately settled in a place where ancient technology-powered weapons were located.

Starting with the emergence of these weapons as the earth collapsed, she had gathered people around her. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call her the savior of this ruined world.

But just as she was one step away from rising to such a position, who would have thought that everything she had built would collapse due to a rebellion that coincided with the cultists’ invasion?

‘Why are all the people under me so incompetent and stupid…!’

Of course, she had worked them to the bone without allowing them time to sleep in order to build the framework of a nation, and while she enjoyed feasts, she had fed them mere breadcrumbs while making them work—but wasn’t that necessary to create a great nation?

They should have felt honored and grateful to serve a great monarch like herself. How could they have been so foolish as to rebel against her and ruin everything?

“Oh, the sacrifices have finally arrived.”

But even as she resented them, the situation had already unfolded.

Celestia, who had been trembling with helplessness, turned her gaze toward the voice, and her eyes soon widened.

“Ahhh~! Aaahhh~♥”

Passionate moans echoed from all directions.

Between them came countless sounds of ripe flesh colliding.

And the faces of the men and women making these sounds were all in a state of ecstasy.

“Haa, haa. It, it feels so good~♡”

“Harder~ Thrust harder~!”

Yes, Celestia had arrived at a scene of orgiastic debauchery between naked men and women colliding with each other’s flesh.

And all of them appeared to have lost their minds, with unfocused eyes and drool dripping from their mouths.

Celestia’s expression crumpled as she witnessed these clearly abnormal scenes.

“What vulgar…!”

“Khuhuhu, vulgar? What harsh words you speak.”

A black-robed man walked steadily across the path through this depraved scene, approaching the restrained Celestia.

However, the gold trim embroidered on his robe indicated that he held higher authority than the other cultists.

“We are in the presence of the great High Priest.”

And confirming this assumption, the disciples bowed their heads before him.

Celestia, outraged that they would bow to someone else in her presence, gritted her teeth and glared at the man called the High Priest.

“You people, what exactly are you doing here?”

“Khuhuhu, what are we doing? We’re simply using our power to rebuild the collapsing world.”

“Nonsense!”

“Nonsense? Why would you think that?”

The High Priest returned her outburst with a question.

Then, proudly spreading his arms, he continued:

“It’s been half a year since the world collapsed. Many have lost their lives, and those who remain continue to desperately struggle for survival. By continuing to survive, they prove their strength to the great ones who look down upon this world!”

“Prove their strength?”

“Yes. Both you and I have lived until now to prove ourselves to the great ones. And the children born of those who have fought for survival will surely grow to be more powerful beings than the previous generation of humanity!!”

The cult’s High Priest grew more passionate as he expounded his teachings.

Then, looking up at the temple ceiling, he began to cry out in ecstasy:

“Oh yes, this is the will of the gods. To cast away the unworthy to the other side of the collapsed world, and to replace them with strong beings who multiply in number… Opening a new era in this way is precisely the mission bestowed upon us by the great ones who destroyed this world! Hahaha!”

Celestia felt a chill run down her spine at his laughter filled with madness.

The nonsense about great beings and the mission of survivors was just the ravings of a lunatic.

The problem was that they intended to drag her into their insane ideology.

“And you too have been given the opportunity to join us in this great work.”

“You bastards! You dare to use me as livestock to breed offspring?!”

“Oh my, livestock? What disrespectful words. We are clearly offering you the opportunity to become a ‘mother’ to those who will lead the new era.”

Khuhuhu, the High Priest laughed as he closed the distance between himself and the restrained Celestia. Then his slender fingers began to tear at Celestia’s clothes.

“Yes, someone like you could provide superior genes. This delicate face, sturdy chest, and robust hips…”

“You, beast! How dare you touch…!”

“Haha, seeing how full of energy you are, I’m sure you’ll bear children well.”

Snap!

With the flick of his fingers, the cult disciples brought something to his side.

Soon, a syringe held in the High Priest’s hand contained a drug that glowed with a mysterious color.

“Of course, experiencing this suddenly must be confusing for you. But don’t worry. Once you receive an injection of the great one’s blood, you will surely be liberated from all worldly concerns and be able to focus on your mission.”

What nonsense.

So because he couldn’t persuade her directly, he would inject her with drugs to make her just like those engaging in the orgy around them?

“…I will never forgive you.”

She felt disgusted with herself for being restrained and unable to resist.

“When I get out of here, I’ll turn everyone who did this to me into minced meat! I’ll make you regret this!!”

Nevertheless, unable to shake off her resentment, Celestia hurled one final curse.

Considering even this as cute and pathetic resistance, the High Priest gripped her neck with his own hand and aimed the needle.

And with a thrust, the needle pierced her artery and the drug began to be injected.

Celestia, receiving the substance into her body, began to tremble at the sensation rising from within.

“Keugh, haak…!”

She felt heat rising, her vision blurring, and her head becoming foggy. The anger she had felt toward them until now subsided, and she felt strength draining from all over her body.

As Celestia shuddered and collapsed to the floor, the disciple who had brought the drug approached the High Priest and spoke urgently.

“High Priest. I apologize, but I have something to report.”

“What is it?”

“I confused the aphrodisiac with poison.”

“Kuhak!!”

Celestia vomited blood and collapsed to the floor.

As the deadly poison rapidly circulated through her bloodstream, she couldn’t withstand it and finally rolled her eyes back and perished.

Unless she had immunity, it was a lethal poison that destroyed the body in an instant, making it pointless to try to save her now.

“Oh dear, we’ve lost a precious vessel.”

“I’m sorry, High Priest.”

“No, it’s alright. People make mistakes.”

Although there was regret at the death of a promising individual, it was merely regret and nothing more.

Since people had always been the most valuable resource after the world collapsed, he could forgive the mistake of a disciple who showed devotion to the gods.

“Come to think of it, passing on the blood of such an uncooperative person probably wouldn’t have been good for future generations anyway. The same goes for all of you, right?”

And that malice extended to the aides of the now-dead leader.

As his sinister gaze and syringe were directed at them, the watching aides began to scream.

“Hee, heek!”

“S-someone save us!”

“Ahahaha! No matter how much you cry and scream, it’s useless! This place is a utopia we reached by following the guidance of the great ones! It’s like an impregnable fortress that no one from the outside can invade!”

As he said, this place was built on floating land.

The large and small floating bodies surrounding it blocked invasion from outside, and the forces hidden throughout had the power to annihilate any intruders who managed to break through.

Of course, if someone with power and an army beyond even that came, they might break through, but how many groups larger than their cult-gathered collective could exist in this collapsed world?

-KWAGAGAANG!!

A thunderous explosion followed, reaching the ears of the confident High Priest.

Reflexively turning his gaze toward the source of the sound, he saw debris pouring down from the split ceiling of the temple.

And with a crunch and boom! The debris fell precisely where the disciples stood.

The reason for this surprisingly accurate movement was that someone who had just jumped down from the split ceiling was controlling the debris through innate power.

“Wh-what! What is…?”

-KWAGAGANG!

Additional flashes of light poured down on the astonished disciples.

As their bodies were torn and sprayed blood from the spear-like attacks, multiple shadows emerged from the slowly descending debris.

“Sigh, look at these guys.”

More than ten armed forces.

And at the forefront stood a pink-haired woman in a white cloak and a spear-wielder in black armor.

“No matter how chaotic the world has become, there should still be some lines you don’t cross.”

“What should we do, brother?”

“What do you mean, what should we do?”

The man who appeared to be leading the group created a spear in his hand and said with flashing blue eyes:

“Wipe them all out.”