Book 17 Chapter 40

125th Chapter

Ancient Rulers, Ancient Madness Summoning the Sea Wind (14)

Later, after the Warrior Party's journey ended, Kies recounts that situation like this:

- It was as if the entire world had been submerged in the sea in an instant.

The Sea Palace Key, crafted from a special stone called deep-sea stone (深海石), is the crystallized thought of Shu'Yurkula, the ancient ruler of the sea!

But it was broken?

Shu'Yurkula's thoughts, a furious rage over the failure of his mission to realign the celestial bodies, now engulf the world!

'Th-this is…!'

Litha tried to say something, but only bubbles gurgled out. Even looking forward stung her eyes! Because they were underwater!

Shu'Yurkula is the ruler of the sea!

In other words, it would be easy to understand that his power takes on the nature of the sea, and the runaway thoughts have materialized with the power of the sea.

'I-I didn't know… that he had such a trump card!'

Litha was immersed in bewilderment.

Tajirmum was plunged into shock.

'Surely, he didn't unleash this even when he was being subjugated by the <Ones that came>… Is he abandoning his mission to that extent?'

However, fortunately, the blue true dragon Tajirmum is also a loyal subordinate of the water dragon Yeriserika, who controls water!

His breath and wingbeats create a path in the sea!

Litha, Kies, and Nils were able to regain freedom from buoyancy and their breath.

[He is rising!]

"Lord Tajirmum, what in the world happened?"

[☜(@-@)!!!]

In the direction Kies urgently pointed, what in the world was this! Lacoom's flesh was being sucked into and absorbed by Berj!

"Berj, you crazy—!"

Before those words finished, Lacoom's power, his authority, completely merged (合一) with Berj.

It would be fortunate if that were all.

From far away, countless chunks of flesh were gathering from the lagoon in the southern part of the city. They belonged to Baoba and Divanugo.

「Hurry!」

The blue true dragon Lageldaran, with Link and Lynn surrounded by a water protection array on his back, commanded them to pursue the flesh and head to the battlefield.

「I will protect this city, these pitiful people, from being submerged in the sea!」

That very instant, the single moment when he released the restraint on Baoba to save Link, was when Berj broke the Sea Palace Key!

What a coincidence!

If coincidences are this twisted and entwined, is this really a coincidence? Or is it the stratagem of the abyss, looking down upon this land from outer space!

「Hee, heeheehee, Shahheehee, Shahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!」

Berj, who had absorbed all of his comrades' abyssal powers, incredibly, his presence had become comparable to an absolute existence.

His hideous appearance was terrifying!

Hundreds, thousands of deep-sea creatures twisted and intertwined, forming the shape of a demon! Ah, why in the world did you allow such madness!

「When the existence of the Sea Palace is endangered, it takes on a form to raise a Sea Palace elsewhere. It can control the power of all sea creatures, and take on their forms. Like this.」

Suddenly, a gigantic, elongated tentacle pierced through the sea and shot upwards, coiling around Tajirmum's neck, then slammed him down onto the parted sea.

「Ugh…!」

Tajirmum was struggling against the sea that was trying to re-engulf the land, so he had no time to evade it, making that blow truly fatal!

"Lord Tajirmum!"

Litha immediately cut off the tentacle, but Tajirmum's body had already suffered a powerful blow!

"Shlurshlurshlur, Lord Berj has awakened."

"Khehehe, now there's no one anywhere who can defeat him."

"Insignificant humans, you will become our food and slaves, serving him."

With the entire island, excluding the city, being swept away by the sea, the Nagas had already begun to proclaim their victory, truly making it a desperate situation.

"Attack, Nils, Kies!"

But Nils's light bullets and Kies cannot penetrate the sea! Even if they do penetrate the sea, they cannot exert their original power.

「Asura's clone, is this really okay?」

On the other hand, Berj's attacks, constantly emerging from the sea, were more than enough to continually drive the three into a corner!

「Hm? Soon my sea will engulf everything, and then that fake will die without me even needing to step in, won't he? Hm? Try using some power.」

Tajirmum's consciousness was gradually becoming muddled!

It is impossible for a lake to hold back an ancient sea! If a lake meets the sea, it is simply absorbed into the concept of the sea.

The moment the waves, the tidal wave, as a colossal darkness, were about to engulf Litha, Kies, Nils, and Tajirmum, at that very moment!

"Osarius-style Hand Seal, 5th Star. True: Permafrost (眞 : 永久凍土)."

As soon as that voice was heard, the first to be flustered was Berj!

It was a dark blue valley…!

The waves that had been trying to swallow them from both sides just moments ago, instantly froze completely, turning into a valley.

「Kalenden? No… I heard from the Nagas that he had vanished without a trace.」

His voice was trembling as if shaking, so it would be no exaggeration to say he was truly terrified.

"Link, Link, Link!"

Fortunately for Berj, the one who landed in the middle of this battlefield the next moment was not Kalenden!

It was Link!

And the boy riding on his shoulder was Lynn! He was still an immature being, whose very stature was a greater difference than heaven and earth compared to Kalenden!

"[The Strongest Mage] appears. Kh, this was good. I can proudly check this off my bucket list."

"Lynn!"

"Oh, Litha, what's up? Your face is pale. Looks like you had a tough time? I just came back after dealing with one guy with Link."

Link stroked Lynn's head with his thumb.

"Ah, don't do that!"

In such a critical moment, does he know that his usual demeanor, unchanged, comes as a great comfort to his comrades?

「Nothing will change just because two small fry have been added. What does rapid freezing matter? Look at the size of this sea. The size of the sea is the size of mass! How long can that thin ice possibly withstand this?」

Litha raised Shirpan with a reverse grip.

'I need to cut the sea…'

Entering the sea is no different from suicide.

I definitely understood it from that one strike. Fighting underwater is too disadvantageous for us. It's no different from Berj's domain.

Then, a strategy where I open the sea, and Kies and Lynn deliver effective blows at that moment… Ah, is that the only option?

'My hand…'

The fatigue from this battle, which had lasted over a day, and the excessive consumption of lifespan caused the tip of her sword to tremble.

Her hand was shaking.

This battle, it needs to be concluded as soon as possible… It was at that very moment.

"Litha, Litha, Litha."

What gently settled on the Warrior's head was fire, a being of fire given life, the sun parrot Pipi.

"Pipi? Your coming means…!"

Litha's eyes, looking back in the direction Pipi had flown from, glowed with emotion when she finally met what she had been awaiting.

"Genesis Holy Light Creation of Heaven and Earth (太初聖光創世天地)."

It was light.

If each and every character, each and every rune, could be like light, it would probably feel like this.

If each and every word could brilliantly illuminate the heart like the dawn, it would feel exactly like this.

"The Earth was Void and Formless (地乃空曠混沌)."

Each phrase, each syllable, rises like a sun and a moon… gently and warmly illuminating the world engulfed by ancient tidal waves.

"Darkness upon the face of the deep (淵面晦冥)."

This is the Hymn of Clarity, the first among the hymns established as the Seven Hymns of Genesis.

The primal light, the song of creation.

The heart that the parents of Genesis held at the moment of creation, transmitted through song. That melody imbued with the love of creation, 'it was good to behold.' The Hymn of Clarity (彰明詩篇).

"Pride…!"

At that moment, Lynn, who turned back following Litha's cry… never forgot Pride's appearance for the rest of his life.

'A person can truly look sacred.'

Just like the Dean, who prayed for all of us every dawn. He can become just like that.

"Spirit of Holy Light (聖光之靈)."

The scroll of the Hymn of Clarity unfolded long and dazzlingly, fluttering around Pride, who was kneeling and praying earnestly, truly appearing sacred.

「No, no… Stop them! Kill them all!」

It was Berj who reacted more desperately than anyone to that tremor. Abandoning the advantage of the sea, he leaped onto land.

"Hymn of Clarity, he completed that in less than three days?"

"Believe in Pride!"

In answer to that cry, or rather, perhaps there was no need to answer. Lynn and Kies stood on either side of Litha.

This is comradeship.

This is a party.

Unyielding in the face of any despair, any nightmare, but rather sharing hope and courage with each other… This is the Warrior Party!

"Link, Link, Link!"

Link swung the massive chains, dangling from the handcuffs on both his hands, crushing the Nagas into bloody pulp.

[Sorry, but entry is forbidden here!]

Nils's Captilt-II's light bullets pulverized the Nagas approaching Pride, dodging the chains.

「Get out of the way! Following his will, the world will once again be submerged in the sea of madness by me, Berj!」

Berj's strike! The previous one was dangerous, but this one is even more so!

The bone structure of his left arm hardened, forming a sawblade… the power of corruption rotates along its edge.

Simply put, it's larger, more powerful, and a mere graze can be a fatal wound.

"I won't let you—!"

But that, that attack requiring at least ten defenses for a single blow, was met by the light of the holy sword!

"—I will return the light of everyday life to the world, to the people!"

However, Berj's strike, with the combined power of four Sea Emblems, was not something a mortal could easily block and parry.

「How dare a fake like you, in front of the celestial directives, act so recklessly—!」

But there was no problem, Litha thought.

"—Just as you said, if I were alone!"

Because now, the light rays of Serwebon, with their clear radiance, not only slow down Berj's offensive but even push Litha forward.

"I might have been able to do nothing—!"

And again, no problem.

There's no need to block it head-on.

Berj, who was pushed back, monstrously spewed deep-sea tentacles, piranhas, and crustaceans from his entire body.

"—I, humans!"

The light of yellow-green, ice walls imbued with electricity, surged up in hundreds of branches, blocking all of it.

"Human (人)—!"

She never thought she could finish this journey alone from the beginning.

"—As its etymology implies, a being that cannot stand alone!"

She never had the confidence from the beginning that she could end this war alone.

"A being that can achieve anything together—!"

But she dreams.

No, she believes.

If with the Warrior Party, if with these connections allowed by the providence of Genesis…!

"—A being with infinite possibilities from the moment of creation!"

She believes she can complete this mission of creation and reach the goal.

"Therefore, because of that—!"

Berj possessed hundreds of attack patterns and dangers, but the light, the light of the holy sword, simply broke through all of them head-on.

This is not something that can be achieved through mere passion, like spirit or bravado. Not without the skill forged for such moments, supporting it.

"—You lot!"

The tearing sounds of impact, clashing dozens of times in a single second, are heard by others as just one sound.

"How dare—!"

It's the same for Kies and Lynn, who are closest to the battlefield. Both were in a state of extreme concentration, like a trance.

"—I won't let you trample us!"

Help Litha, protect Litha, defeat Berj.

That single-minded resolve.

The light of the World Tree flows and undulates endlessly, piercing and intertwining Berj's body to seal it, while countless electric frost shards surge up to protect Litha from fatal wounds and isolate Berj's power whenever it explodes.

"Haaaaaaaaaaa—!"

Endlessly, without limit, Lynn thought during the dozens of clashes in an instant.

"—Aaaaaaaaaah!"

That regeneration ability, it's really annoying, isn't it?

That single thought caused dozens of runes to unfold in his mind.

After selecting and combining the most suitable runes, the mathematical formulas needed to apply those runes to providence were solved 137 times in his mind within 3.2 seconds, soon deriving the answer.

'What is it?'

Berj felt a sense of incongruity the next moment.

Litha's offensive was too, too fast.

So fast that this magnificent body couldn't react in time.

'Can she even produce a speed that overwhelms me? How?'

But soon he realized the answer, or rather, the harm inflicted on his body.

Litha hadn't gotten faster.

At some point, the frost that instantly covered the surface of his body was slowing Berj down extremely.

"Practical application of Yeosogyaedae-ban, this is the first time I've completed it without anyone's help."

"Kyung!"

"Dude, your power is my power, so using you is only natural."

How dare, how dare a worthless human, and such a young infant at that, smile at me?!

"Lynn!"

Litha cried out urgently.

All attacks instantly focused on Lynn. But this too was no problem.

At that moment, above Kies's bowstring, who stepped forward in front of Lynn, a massively intertwined magic was emitting a piercing sound that seemed to tear eardrums.

'10-shot Multi-shot, Spiderweb (多重射擊 : 蜘網).'

The power of the World Tree, which swallowed the attacks that tried to consume Lynn's life and went further, refracted here and there, cleverly avoiding Litha, and then pierced directly through Berj's core.

"I will tear you into thousands of fragments with a slash that cleaves dimensions—!"

Because of the frost covering and eroding his body, the hole created by that blow isn't quickly healed.

That gap, that opening!

Targeting the very weak point where Berj briefly lowered his offensive for regeneration, Litha tilted her holy sword diagonally, and dimensions shimmered along its trajectory.

"—Spacetime Annihilation (時空殲)!"

Is it ending just like that?

Has that power, which cleaved the massively surging sea, ended everything?

'It has to end.'

Litha wrapped the blade of Shirpan with a bandage and hung it on her back.

This was not bravado.

The sword was agitated from the extremely long battle. More than anything, she herself was exhausted. She no longer had the strength to swing the sword further.

「Th-these humans dareeeeeeee—!」

But at that moment, Berj's body surged with colors, and the maws of Baoba and Divanugo simultaneously sprang out.

It was absorption!

Even the frost covering his body, even the slash that cleaved the sea itself, Divanugo's maw absorbed all of it. And the moment it was about to burst out through Baoba's maw!

"Separation of Light and Darkness (遂分光暗)."

The chanting of the sacred words (聖言) that form the Hymn of Clarity ends.

That power, containing the story of how the will of Genesis created heaven and earth in the beginning, and the heart of Genesis that said the world fashioned with love was good in His sight, descends once again (再臨) upon this land.

That story, those words, rise as dazzling chains, piercing Berj's body and soul, and binding him instantly.

「Th-this is—!」

That power, which expels all beings contrary to the will of Genesis outside of providence, overwhelms even the dignity of the Sea Emblems that once dominated the primordial sea.

「—No, it can't be! I am Berj! I am a Sea Emblem! I am the gatekeeper of the Deep Sea Palace!」

Because this space, this dimension, this world is originally the world, domain, and territory of Genesis.

「I will submerge the world in a sea of madness, and correctly establish the flow of the celestial bodies—!」

In the light of Genesis, his body burns, and in the light of creation, his soul, defiled by the abyss, is banished into the fissures of dimension.

「—Guaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!」

It was clearly dazzling, yet not dazzling, so brilliant, yet rather faint and warm in the barrage of light, Pride cried out.

"Until the time appointed by the will of Genesis, howl to your heart's content in that hellish fissure prepared for you. By Pride, the Dragon Priestess."

The light, which almost vaporized Berj and sent him somewhere, soon was sucked back into its source… into the scroll of the Hymn of Clarity.

"Hey, make sure to write this line in my biography. I actually said it, without any historical embellishment or anything. Got it?"

The scroll, which had reached its peak of light, gradually lost its brilliance, then slowly rolled up and fell into Pride's hands.

Her body was drenched in sweat.

It would be no exaggeration to say her entire body was wet with sweat, but it was her consideration alone, pretending to be fine to her comrades after such immense exertion.

"Tsk, just putting a spoon in a finished meal. Where's your conscience?"

Then Lynn mimicked spitting on the floor. Kies concurred!

[<(-ㅁ-)>].

Perhaps unable to tolerate that refutation, or perhaps an extension of the prank, Pride raised both fists and chased after the two traitors!

"Are you done talking now? If it weren't for me, Pride, it would have all been over! Instead of saying, 'Oh, thank you, Priestess, for saving us. I'll arrange a proper drinking party today with only cool older brothers,' you two! Why aren't you coming here? Hey! Where are you running off to!"

Litha, who was watching the commotion, let out a sigh of relief and was about to slump down, but Link caught her and lifted her onto his shoulder.

"Link!"

"Link, Link, Link."

Nils, who had approached Link's side, opened the cockpit door and came out.

"Well, it's always a boisterous party, isn't it? It's surprising they have the strength for that after just breaking through the jaws of death."

"Isn't it?"

"Yes. That's why it's always such a… good party."

▶ ▶ ▶

"Why are you suddenly laughing?"

Snow-covered General's Star, Baekbon (白本).

Kasena Page asked.

"This is hardly a situation to be laughing, is it? Right? It's not."

They were imprisoned for attempting to assassinate the leader of the White Wolves.

The Snow-covered General's Star is an extraterritorial zone.

Everything is decided by the internal military court of the White Wolves. More than anything, he worried about the well-being of Alakish, who had faced the old nobles alone for their sake.

"Well…"

The boy, Rain Ludwig, opened his mouth, then closed it again.

"Why, what is it?"

"You wouldn't understand even if I told you, so I won't."

"You! Don't annoy me and tell me."

Even if he told them, they wouldn't believe it, and they truly wouldn't understand.

The boy recalled his previous life.

Even then, during those days of journey, there were certainly countless formidable foes. Of course, there was no being with a rank as high as the Young Master Baek Shar'kas.

'But even if there had been.'

The fight against that enemy wouldn't have been as terrifying as it is now.

'At that time, I… wasn't alone. Whenever I looked around, 'you all' were there.'

Ah, why can he no longer use the expression 'we' and must refer to them as 'you all'…

The boy revealed such… feelings that he could no longer share with anyone, nor reach anyone, with just a faint and sorrowful smile…

Other than this, there was no way in the boy's heart to explain these emotions, and there were no longer any in the world who could see this and understand the boy's feelings…