Book 11 Chapter 29

Side Story Episode 9.

The Forgotten War, Spider Lord Subjugation Battle (9)

“It’s impossible to succeed. Creating your own dimension is impossible. Only gods can do that.”

Mir warned.

“According to the legends of creation, the Creation Gods sacrificed their most important possession when creating the world.”

“…?”

“I also have divinity. Only a fragment, but if I sacrifice that and my most precious possession, wouldn't it work somehow?”

The moment Mir’s eyes widened, I placed my index finger before my lips.

Right.

What I offer as a price is my life.

* * *

「How comical. You are the first human since <The Comers> to obtain divinity of the same caliber as 'us'.」

Ashuron's eyes, which had been observing the dimension, narrowed as if intrigued.

He had confirmed the divine object in the shape of a cross rotating in the center of the hole pierced in my heart.

This divine object was proof that a human body held divinity, in other words, the symbol of a transcendent being.

「If you have received the power of the Creation Gods to that extent, then your strange feat of escaping My Thousand Year Snow Prison is understandable.」

「That wasn't my power.」

「This, too, is good news. If what you rely on is this insignificant dimension, then I shall suppress you along with this dimension!」

Was it confidence that he would fight on equal terms?

Ashuron's humanoid form emerged from the pale, repulsive, and nauseating skull of his main body.

And it landed on the ground with a rhythmic movement. The main body, standing guard behind, did not disappear.

It was as if it resembled the form of my power wielding Asura.

「…」

「…」

A calmly beating heart.

The intersection of divinities, making my entire body tremble.

And the next moment, we began to run toward each other, and at the same time, Asura and Ashuron's main bodies clashed.

Pwoooong───!

Asura's second arm tore at Ashuron's chest… and in retaliation, Ashuron's spider leg slammed into Asura's chest.

The instant Asura was flung back.

Ashuron spewed hundreds of spider webs from his entire body, wrapping around Asura, lifting him up, and then slamming him left and right.

「Is this all you can do, even if you amplify your power with your own dimension?!」

The entire front of Ashuron's main body tore open disgustingly.

Hideous fangs were revealed through the tearing cross-section. Spider teeth. Poisonous liquid dripped from their tips.

Poisonous smoke poured out from the hundreds of spider maws like a blackish-blue tidal wave onto Asura.

「Hahahahahahahahaha!」

Right, so you believe that.

This dimension is not simply a dimension that amplifies my power. Unfortunately, that's just a secondary condition.

This is a space that amplifies the power of my friends.

“Siegongseom (Space-Time Annihilation).”

At that moment, a rift several times larger and more colossal than usual was drawn across the horizon.

Like shattering glass, *clang*, the rift broke open widely, banishing everything located above it to another space.

The wave of poisonous liquid, and Ashuron's countless legs and the upper half of his body were severed.

“Drunken Archer Secret Art, Cheonaengsal (Thousand Oriole Sting).”

A vast amount of magic, woven into illusory arrows, pierced through Ashuron's chest, scattering blue-white light.

“Uh…?”

“Hmm…?”

As soon as the two stood by my side, their eyes widened at the reality revealed before them.

A hole had been pierced in Ashuron's chest, and rotating at its center was none other than an inverted cross…

Although I already knew, Ashuron let out a mocking laugh, perhaps realizing the meaning of Rem and Miria's gazes.

「That is so. I, Ashuron, was originally a mortal like you. But I realized the irrationality of the Creation Order and knelt before the great master of the abyss, taking divinity.」

During that time, Ashuron's fierce attack continued, and I had to fully deploy Asura to block his offensive.

「With the power of a god, I dominated and isolated this world, teaching the humans of this land the rules of power. So that they could reach transcendence like 'us'!」

Rem, who had leaped high, escaped from the shadows of Asura and Ashuron, securing a firing angle, and shouted.

“This madman!”

No sooner were they nocked on the bowstring than thirteen arrows were fired.

Even with a minuscule amount of magic, they were woven into arrows comparable in size to the Cheonaengsal.

Those arrows would undoubtedly be difficult for even old nobles to block, but the opponent was an ancient god.

“You, who so cruelly slaughtered and bred humans, were once a human like us?”

The arrows could not penetrate the mist of poisonous liquid and rotted and oxidized in mid-air.

「Your path is stained with the sin of hypocrisy, truly rebellious! Five Absolute Gods are already gathered to discuss the providence of the new world, so no matter how much you struggle, it will be meaningless!」

Even as he said that, he instantly closed the distance to kill Rem, but a colossal spear blocked his path.

Bart's Dragon Bone Spear.

The sword energy output by the spear, gleaming with draconic majesty, cut two of Ashuron's spider legs but was blocked by the third.

「Truly powerless you are, but do not lament. The power that can be generated by such bare flesh and bone is inherently so weak!」

When Bart was flung far away after dozens of heavy exchanges, a wind blade that tore through dimensions surged towards Ashuron.

「──!」

At that moment, I led Asura and clashed with Ashuron once more.

As Asura's nine arms and Ashuron's spider legs gripped each other in a test of strength, Ashuron said.

「Yes! If you intend to fight me, willingly give up your life as the price of this battle, like this one!」

My companions' faces turned pale.

I felt their bewildered gazes fix on me.

Ashuron gave a sneering smile.

「Haven't I told you? The power of creation is always like that. It sanctifies the work of suicide as the providence of sacrifice and discusses it as a great value!」

「…」

「Why should that be accepted as a matter of course? It is the strong who determine the laws of the world!」

One of Asura's arms was severed by Ashuron's spider web. The same intense pain erupted in my body.

「It is also the strong who establish and control all order! It is also the strong who are worthy of achieving transcendence!」

Miria rushed to block it, but was helplessly flung back by Ashuron's spider leg, rolling on the ground.

「But why does the rule of creation compel the strong to unconditionally sacrifice themselves for the weak?!」

Ashuron's spider webs simultaneously gripped eight of Asura's arms.

「There is no such thing as a future in the order of creation!」

He began to pull in various directions.

「Nor any possibility!」

Agonizing pain that tinged my vision yellowish.

「Nor any rationality!」

Asura's first and third arms were ripped off, scattering countless particles of light.

「You, buried in a misguided order that suppresses and condemns the strong chosen by the world!」

Followed by the fifth and seventh arms.

「Are merely!」

Bart, who had rushed to help me, was blocked from approaching by the poisonous liquid Ashuron spewed.

「Enraptured by the self-satisfaction derived from helping the weak!」

As all the arms were torn off, I felt a thread connecting my reason to my mind snap.

As Asura, with all its arms torn off, roared in pain, Ashuron flung the powerless Asura away.

I, linked with Asura, likewise rolled across the ground as if bouncing, and ended up crashing into Rem, who had been aiming Cheonaengsal at Ashuron.

「There is no possibility in the world of creation. Know this well, that as Creation first turned its back on 'us', 'we' also abandoned the world of Creation!」

Ashuron approached, his massive body dripping with foul mucus.

I laughed.

Even as Asura, and I with him, were caught in his grasp, and death encroached close.

「No possibility in the world of creation, you say… Then what in the world am I, standing before you…?」

At that instant, the void rippled once more, and with a resounding tear, the dimension split.

Siegongseom (Space-Time Annihilation).

An ultimate technique using Shurpeng, but even more powerful and fierce than Miria's usage.

For this was the 'true' Siegongseom, cast by 'Rista', who harbored a dragon spirit in her body.

「───?!」

As Ashuron's hand was severed, a soft wisp of smoke wrapped around my body, which was plummeting from the air due to the recoil.

Friede, the Oracle of the Fire Dragon.

She appeared in her witch's attire, before ascending as a dragon. As she was manifested from light, her body glowed softly.

「I was an orphan, you bastard.」

Ashuron immediately stretched out his other hand to snatch me from the mist.

「Chosen strong ones, my ass. I was barely scraping by day to day, only thinking about when I would die.」

But a brilliant beam of light pierced right through his hand.

Not just his hand, but the arrow of light, 'Original Cheonaengsal', flew, perfectly engulfing almost 30% of his chest beyond it.

I could see Serwebon trembling from the recoil of being shot from the hands of the Archer Saint, Kiese.

「The order of creation you cursed back then, it came to me.」

If I hadn't met the Dean, I would have lived and died an orphan.

「This dimension I created isn't to empower me…」

If Rista hadn't come to me that day.

And if I hadn't met Friede and Kiese.

I would have lived out my life as a grumpy old man in the magic tower, certainly.

「What I show you through this dimension is possibility…」

Ashuron's spider legs, extended simultaneously from both sides.

*Clang*, with a metallic sound, a giant man handcuffed on both hands grabbed them with unreal monstrous strength and threw them back.

Demon Slayer, Kassel Rincan.

「Who connected me, an immature human, from the past to the future and completed me───!」

*Pabababababak!*

Thousands of arrows, at which even high-ranking Ancients would scream, lodged themselves in Ashuron's back and exploded.

「──It is the possibility of this world!」

The hwacha developer, Master Smith Nils Blantz's Singijeon (Divine Machine Arrows).

「Now engrave this clearly in your eyes, Ashuron!」

And there was a being spewing fire from the sky above the arrows pouring from the hwacha; it was the Red Dragon Alakish.

It doesn't end there.

Friends met at the Magic University, beast-men warriors led by Griffion, even minor connections like Chunhwaillyong Celine, all manifested as light.

「This is my Asura!」

All the threads of destiny connecting past and future, previous lives and present lives, now converge here, in this dimension.

That is my dimension.

That is this world, created by sacrificing everything I possess.

「It is the Asura Mirror of My Life!」

* * *

“Crazy, is this real? This is right, isn't it? It's our ancestor, right?”

Rem seemed incredibly honored to meet her respected ancestor.

“The Oracle of the Fire Dragon, Friede, no less.”

For similar reasons, Valen Sids and Bart paid their respects to Friede and Rista, respectively.

Miria, who had been looking at her past self with a faint smile, eventually approached and sighed.

“Really, there's no stopping you.”

「Miria.」

“This is your choice, isn't it? Nothing's changed from 300 years ago… How many more years do I have to wait now?”

I had nothing to say.

If I could return alive, I wanted to say let's truly start a family, but my lips wouldn't open.

It was also uncertain if there would be time to say it then.

「Compared to Carenden's Asura, it is utterly insignificant! Can dozens of insects gather and contend against a god?!」

As Ashuron roared in fury and gathered all his spider legs in one place, the dimension began to tremble.

「What a god needs is only overwhelming power of their own!」

Everything writhed.

The outer wall of the dimension melted away, exposing the inner cosmos of creation beyond.

「With this, you shall properly learn the truth! That inferior weaklings are useless no matter how many gather!」

It was the turbulent abyss that swallowed and corrupted the three thousand worlds. The divine might of an ancient king who commanded that power at will.

「To seal the divinity, we must aim for that divine object.」

On my hundred-year journey of life.

I shall put an end to it, right here.

「Everyone, help me.」

Bart and Friede were the first to rush forward.

“Go, Rain!”

The sword energy and fiery breath, sharply and colossally spewed by the Dragon Bone Spear, put a halt to the abyssal storm.

“Kuh, thank you for giving me the chance to fight alongside our ancestor!”

The Cheonaengsal arrows shot simultaneously by Rem and Kiese, back to back, crossed each other and pierced the abyss's core.

「All of this!」

Valen Sids' dimensional wind blade subdued the spider webs that dyed the entire world black.

「Such a futile resistance!」

Beyond all that disgusting slime.

The Demon Slayer seized Ashuron's main body's five pairs of spider legs, which were thrashing about, fixing the target.

“Go!”

At that moment.

The dimension rippled in an X-shape.

The simultaneous slashes unleashed by Rista and Miria, a double Siegongseom.

“Lin!”

The spider legs were sucked into the tearing dimensional rift.

Creating an X-shaped incision on Ashuron's chest beyond it, exposing the divine object.

Although his rapidly regenerating body tried to conceal the divine object.

「!」

Hundreds of Singijeon arrows raining down prevented the flesh from reattaching.

Take this, Ashuron…

And then Alakish.

With me on his back, avoiding all the bombardments, the spider webs flying from all directions, and the mist of poisonous liquid.

He carried me to Ashuron's core.

This is what I have received throughout my life.

And what raised me.

The possibility of this world.

Ultrafine spider webs rushed towards me as I leaped from Alakish's back.

Griffion, Barlzen, Celine.

Those warriors blocked the spider webs, even as their arms, legs, and bodies were pierced.

So once again.

The light that must be returned to this world.

Lillian's flame, Wieber's wind, and Nora's water simultaneously opened the final path, while Logan threw me forward with all his might.

I pray.

And that light of connection.

May it be passed on to my children, and may those children pass it on to the next generation in the same way.

At that moment, flames blazed in the air, taking the form of a staff.

Alakish's Staff of the Messenger.

I seized it and thrust it powerfully straight forward. Straight until it touched Ashuron's divine object.

So now, here.

I end the nightmare that is you, with my own hands.

*Tak.*

Commemorating that moment of rupture.

I was able to access the inside of Ashuron's divine object, that is, the deepest part of his divinity.

「Did you see that, Ashuron! If it were just my power alone, I wouldn't have even made it this far, to stand before you!」

Finally, I see it.

Ashuron before he became king.

The source of his soul.

「Meaningless, you say? No future? Shut your mouth! This is the power of connection! It is the power of creation that circles around and creates eternity!」

The bloody battle within.

The fierce close-quarters combat, where hundreds of blows were exchanged, until I plunged the staff into Ashuron's heart with the staff techniques I learned from Rista.

I don't remember the details now.

「You… you all… may think yourselves eternal… but you are wrong…!」

However, at that moment.

I clearly remember the mindset I held, even as my heart felt like it would burst and I gasped for breath.

「What is truly eternal is the heart…!」

Those beautiful connections raised me.

Those brilliant encounters made me who I am today.

And those sorrowful farewells allowed me to reach this point.

「It is the heart, of people…!」

The light passed from heart to heart does not disappear, but continues to the next era, and the era after that, illuminating the world.

That is the truth I awakened to.

And the providence of creation.

「With that utterly impoverished perception, having never lived eternally, do you now dare to debate truth before me?!」

Nothing was in vain.

The light that began with <The Comers> and illuminated this land.

It has been passed down through the Dean, Rista, Alakish, and countless other connections, and now lives and breathes within me like this.

So.

Now that I am like this.

Standing before you.

「Sacrificing, you say? Nonsense! This is merely returning what I have received!」

I wanted to shout that.

And that mindset, I clearly remember even now.

「This lowly beast────!」

As I struck away his arm, spun my body, and thrust the staff into his heart, I activated elemental deployment.

Light.

The elemental rings bound together, weaving a dazzling rainbow-colored ring, now exerting its power.

「───Gu, GuAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!」

The characters spinning within that ring were the verses of the Creative Hymns. Integrating the sealing formula of the Light Script Array and the power of the Creative Hymns into one.

*Charrrrrring, pababababak!*

Dozens, hundreds of layers of chains of light surged from the four sides of the dimension, piercing the vital points of Ashuron's body.

Those chains were chains of light.

However, upon closer inspection of their structure, one could see they were all composed of character strings from the Creative Hymns.

This was a seal that had extremely amplified the power of creation.

「Ke, ketas, you, you…!」

The instant he was pierced by those chains.

The power of the spider webs that were about to pierce my heart.

And the regeneration power that had been rapidly restoring Ashuron's body disappeared.

「Don't think, this is the end…」

Even as he spoke, chains continued to appear and pierce Ashuron's body.

「I am the one who devours worlds…!」

As if resisting.

Even the hands that had been moving to grasp the chains soon ceased their movement.

「The day when everything you, everything that you so preciously… built, crumbles… and vanishes…!」

Black liquid spewed from the mouth of Ashuron's human form.

It was divine blood.

Even as he spewed that blood, Ashuron contorted his mouth into a smile and let out a chilling, mocking laugh.

「I, I will surely awaken again… and devour everything… This is not a warning, but a prophecy…!」

*Charrrrrruk.*

With the sound of chains coiling, Ashuron's body was lifted into the air and fixed in place.

「Spend your lifetime's nights in fear! Until the day your mortal life ends and you are buried in the earth! Forevermore!」

At the same time, the human form that had separated from the main body began to break down into a viscous substance.

「Ha, ha, hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha────!」

Ashuron's main body's face twitched before it finally slumped. It was sealed, suspended by chains.

It's over…

I finished it…

Kneeling on the ground with a thud, I blankly looked back at my companions.

While the living connections rushed towards me.

The connections who had died earlier nodded with faint smiles.

Ah.

Now I have completed my path.

Then I, too, now.

To that side…

* * *

「Your time has not yet come.」

*Thud.*

From somewhere in the space dominated by black mist, I felt a staff push against my forehead.

「You, who possessed divinity, died, but you, who possessed humanity, survived. Go. There are still things left for you to do in your life, with your life.」

Things to do in my life, you say.

What is left, exactly?

「Your children, I could not do well, but I hope you act without regret. Cherish them greatly. And let them know love.」

* * *

As I opened my eyes again and coughed up a clump of blood-tinged breath, cheers erupted from the weeping soldiers all around.

Tears poured from Miria's eyes as she hugged me, then she squeezed me so hard I felt crushed.

I told Valen Sids and Rem, who were looking down at us, to help me, but no one listened.

“I don't know how many times you've pulled this fake death stunt.”

“This bastard's story should be made into a fable, a lesson to teach people not to lie.”

As expected, only Bart helped me in this situation. The bastards.

That day, the war that claimed countless lives ended, and the forces of the abyss were defeated.

The Youngest Prince Alkyuta was sealed with the sacrifice of two white true dragons.

Hushingyeong Jayun only ran out of energy after killing three Fay-corps, and then the yellow true dragon Yoshuhar sealed him with the power of his severed lifespan.

Sealed with the souls of true dragons, the power of that seal goes without saying.

Shar'kas broke the seal early because the King had awakened, but the King will now sleep an eternal slumber again within the dimension I created.

The battle that day was a triumph, having thwarted the Spider Lord early.

Yes, to future generations, it might be described as a simple triumph, but from the perspective of modern people, too many lives were lost that day.

I do not know if what I did that day was truly the right answer, even now as I record this.

Not even a little.

* * *

The Water Dragon Yeriserica's wounds from the ancient king were too deep, and she could no longer maintain her physical body.

Yeriserica handed over the White Dragon Legion (now too few in number to be called a legion) to the last white true dragon, Mirngardia.

Thereafter, Yeriserica's body was now becoming one with the World Tree.

The water dragon's body, wrapped around the World Tree, was already covered in a vibrant blue moss.

“Did I truly do the right thing?”

It was after a global funeral.

To meet Mir and Nen again, I rode on Akie's back (!) and visited the Idea Peninsula, at the World Tree's lake.

“Perhaps, as people say, my overconfidence in being able to defeat Ashuron led to the deaths of too many people.”

I asked, as if to myself.

Too many names were inscribed on the memorial stone, including not a few names I knew, such as Nora and Wieber.

“Akie unnie! Look how much Nen has grown! Nen is even starting to grow horns!”

Akie had to try hard to calm Nen, who was frolicking with joy.

Akie, who was said to have defeated the White Young Lord Shar'kas, seemed to have matured considerably. Not because she spoke perfectly, but because of her aura.

Mir, on the other hand, the only one who noticed I was prepared for death, wouldn't leave my side.

“If I had just touched the sealing ritual, wouldn't it have ended without casualties? I… I really feel like a selfish bastard. How could someone like me be a Great Sage? I'm glad I lost my divinity and became an ordinary mage. This suits my station perfectly.”

The water dragon, now only able to appear for very short periods even in the 'Pure White Dream', said she would dedicate herself solely to Mir's education.

[Child of the spring breeze.]

Therefore, I hadn't expected an answer.

[I tried to live righteously. I did my best to create a world where all could live in harmony together by doing good.]

The next moment, strings of text floated up blue above the lake.

[That was neither altruism nor an act stemming from consideration. It was my extreme selfishness.]

“What…?”

[Looking back, it seems all those actions were merely me wanting to tell the world with my life that Carenden's decision to leave me behind was an excellent judgment, and that keeping me alive like this was not in vain at all.]

No words came to mind.

I only thought I had to retort.

That if you were selfish, then there wasn't a single altruistic being in this world.

[We are weak, and originally do not know love. Just as you and I did, we only gradually come to know fragments of it through favoritism.]

“…?”

[Whether you did the right thing or not, the future will teach you. A distant future that neither you nor I can see.]

Though she couldn't possibly express emotions, I felt as if Yeriserica had given that gentle smile.

The lake became still after a single gentle ripple.

After that, no further answer came.

“Lady Yeriserica…”

My third 'future' looked up at me worriedly through her white eyelashes.

“The Water Dragon can no longer maintain her consciousness for long. She is in the process of transferring fragments of her consciousness to the World Tree.”

As I stroked the head of the third 'future' as if to say 'don't worry'.

Just behind them.

The boisterous laughter of the first 'future' and the second 'future' was heard.

The future will tell me, she said…

I forced a wry smile mixed with self-deprecation and anticipation.

And I lifted the third 'future' up, held her in my arms, and returned to the first and second 'futures'.

As I was with those 'futures' that day, I suddenly found myself forgetting all sorrow and bursting into laughter.

- Cherish them greatly. So that those children may know love.

I might not live to see the answer to this future.

But when these children eventually grow up.

And when I must one day leave these children in this world and depart.

Ah, I really did well then…

Looking back on this day.

I held a humble dream that it would be wonderful if I could think like this.

Truly, a humble, singular…

<Side Story. Spider Lord Subjugation Battle, End>