Chapter 135 - Episode 19. War of the Six Gods (8)
Chapter 135: Episode 19. War of the Six Gods (8)
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That was when Ethan heard a faint voice.
As waves of lava swallowed everything aboveground, someone was calling for him.
It was incredibly faint, but unmistakable.
A prayer.
Someone was praying to him.
「This is far too shabby to be called the ‘Graveyard of Crows.’」
It was impossible.
He had no Vicegerent or Followers. All his World Force was gone. Even his remaining Dolls were gone.
Then who could possibly be praying to him?
Could it be...
Ethan opened his eyes after recovering the slightest bit of World Force from the power of that prayer.
“Why are you...”
His former Vicegerent, the Follower who had betrayed him.
Jihan stood there, silver light spilling from their entire body. They seemed to have somehow survived the fierce battle.
Ethan smiled faintly at Jihan.
“I see. Were you waiting to devour me? Do as you please.”
He had already known that Jihan had created a 「Part」 capable of using ‘God Devouring.’
Yet Jihan shook their head.
「Even if I devour you, I will not survive.」
Jihan looked down at their wounds.
Both hands, the ones needed to use ‘God Devouring,’ had been completely destroyed. Everything below where their intestines had been was empty. Their lower jaw was shattered too, leaving them unable to speak. It was a miracle they were still holding on.
「I have already suffered God Severance. That bastard Rakers even took my ‘Concept God.’ Even if I survive by some miracle, I will only become a Lost One in this state.」
Jihan collapsed onto the ground.
「It is fortunate that prayer does not require both hands. You were never a god who cared about empty formalities.」
Together, they looked up at the night sky of the ruined world. Scalding lava rolled toward their feet like sea foam.
This was the result of the past five hundred years.
It was laughable.
A former Follower who could do nothing but pray, and a powerless god who could do nothing but silently listen to that prayer.
Ethan looked up at the sky.
The immense wound Jaehwan had left in it.
A small painting of destruction he had created by dedicating his life to it.
It was certainly a magnificent sight.
Yet another thought came to him.
Was it truly enough to simply watch that? Could he really say that he had lived his life just to see it?
Was he not curious about that World After the Fall?
「Ethan, have you ever prayed?」
Jihan had been his Vicegerent for an age, even if they were no longer his Follower. They must have already known his heart inside out, even without their link.
Feeling as though he wanted to smoke a cigarette, Ethan answered.
“I wonder. Perhaps I should, even now.”
Who would hear a god's prayer?
Then his former Vicegerent answered.
「Do you want to fly again, Crow?」
A Vicegerent. A being that carried out a god's will and fulfilled that god's long-held desire.
A chilling sensation ran through Ethan's mind.
“Jihan.”
The light in Jihan's eyes was fading.
They had left him, claiming there was something they wanted to do.
They had openly foretold their betrayal before joining the ‘Alliance,’ saying they could not achieve what they wanted in Ethan's Worldview, 「Graveyard of Crows」.
And yet that person now said,
「Turn me into your Doll.」
They were asking him to accept them again.
「I still have World Force and trust left. If you turn me into a Doll, you can live.」
“No.”
Jihan had left to pursue their dream. Taking them back now, especially as a ‘Doll,’ would be no different from acknowledging their failure.
“Stop talking nonsense. Use the ‘Door’ and go to a higher floor. Your injuries are grave, but if you are lucky, you may survive.”
「I know the state of my body best.」
Jihan's prayer was growing weaker.
「I heard that the ‘God Without a Vicegerent’ only accepts dying ‘Followers’ as their Dolls. Was that rumor false?」
“...”
「You have not flown enough yet.」
While Ethan hesitated, the waves of lava had already drawn close.
「There is no time. I will not last much longer either.」
Jihan's breathing was growing harsher.
Ethan asked, “Do not regret this.”
「You will be the one who regrets it.」
Ethan looked at Jihan with confused eyes.
He could not understand why the person who had betrayed and left him was making this choice.
But Jihan was sincere.
Ethan slowly placed a hand on Jihan's head. Jihan's soul form began winding around his fingertips.
Almost no time remained. He was not sure whether he could turn Jihan into a Doll in time, or adjust them into a state that could be possessed.
Jihan's fading prayer reached him like a strange language.
「To be honest, I forgot all that grand talk about equality between gods and humans a long time ago.」
It sounded like a letter abandoned halfway through.
Jihan continued.
「What importance could such things have? The era we lived through has all faded away. The passion we had then disappeared long ago. Everyone we lived alongside is dead, and nothing precious remains.」
“Do not speak, Jihan.”
Jihan's prayer was fading. Their life force was rapidly going out.
「For so long, I searched for the world I wanted, for a god who could give it to me. Yet after wandering in circles, the final world I found was here.」
Jihan's eyelids slowly fell.
「Now that I see it again, the world you see is not so bad either.」
“I said do not speak.”
Ethan swallowed back the lump rising in his throat.
What was a world? What were gods and Followers?
Why did gods and Followers exist in this world, forcing them to live through such pain? Why did those who could give nothing to each other have to endure life while producing nothing but tragedy?
As if answering Ethan's question, Jihan's lips parted.
「This is my final prayer.」
Like a dying candle burning through its last wick, the prayer was distant, yet clear.
And Ethan knew.
For the rest of his life, he would never be able to forget this prayer. It would become the one question he would have to contemplate forever.
「Live on, God Without a Vicegerent.」
A moment later, lava swept over them, and everything disappeared.
[The Worldview, 『500 Years Ago, the Age of Great Revolution』, has been destroyed.]
[Searching for survivors.]
[There are no surviving passengers in this Worldview.]
[All Tasks on the 6th Floor of 〈Metaverse〉 have ended.]
* * *
〈Metaverse Six Gods War〉.
The incident in which three of the Alliance's Six Gods were killed on a battlefield from five hundred years ago shook the entire 《Abyss》 the next day.
―Shock! Half of the Metaverse Six Gods are dead!
―Who will become the new Six Gods Candidate?
―The disaster created by a single ‘Awakened One.’
People wondered about ‘Jaehwan,’ the one responsible for this incident, and about how the balance of power in the 《Abyss》 would change because of it.
―Who is ‘Naked Stab’?
―Who will be the new ruler of 〈Metaverse〉?
A man with flaming hair muttered as he rapidly flicked through the news on the screen.
“I told you, the ones below know how to fight. Right?”
As if responding to him, flames flickered lightly in the air.
“Still, these bastards are late again, God.”
The man lounged deep in a luxurious chair, his legs stretched out across the table.
His nickname was the ‘Scorching Karavan.’
He was one of the most famous Vicegerents in the entire 《Abyss》.
The reason was simple. It was because of the god he served.
A god said to have the worst personality among the Seven Divine Thrones, and the owner of 「Crimson Flame Tribulation」, one of the strongest 「Settings」 in the 《Abyss》.
The gods of the 《Abyss》 called this great god with reverence.
Third Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones.
Owner of the Third Site, ‘Tropical Night.’
The God of Flames, Ignis.
Ignis was currently irritated inside Karavan's head.
The goddess's voice echoed in his mind.
[Those Seven Divine Thrones bastards have never arrived on time even once.]
Karavan rose from his seat and casually looked around the interior of the pure white hall.
〈Sacred Hall〉.
This was where the Seven Divine Thrones held their conferences every few years.
For the past hundred years, there had been no real agenda. They only exchanged a little idle chatter before leaving. Still, unless there was a special reason, attendance was mandatory.
“The First Seat will not come this time either, right?”
[I told you before, I have never seen that bastard either. Or perhaps...]
Ignis's gaze turned toward the ceiling.
The hall's wide-open ceiling.
[Perhaps the First Seat is already here.]
The ‘Sacred Hall’ had only six seats. The reason there were only six seats despite being the meeting place of the Seven Divine Thrones was simple.
The remaining seat was somewhere high in that distant, invisible sky.
A moment later, a bright pillar of light appeared over one of the seats.
Someone had joined the meeting.
A pale, slender handsome man with black shaggy hair covering his eyes.
Only one of the Seven Divine Thrones preferred Vicegerents with that sort of appearance.
Second Seat of the Seven Divine Thrones.
Owner of the Second Site, ‘Naraka.’
The Dragon God Droyan.
With an enormous pillow Doll hanging from their back, Droyan perched lazily on the chair, held the Doll close, and gazed at it affectionately. Then Droyan suddenly began speaking to the Doll.
[Mimi Nya, you are late, so you should apologize to the other gods.]
Astonishingly, the drawing on the pillow Doll looked teary-eyed and bowed ninety degrees toward Karavan. A speech bubble even rose above the pillow.
‘Sorry! Sorry!’
Karavan watched the sight with a slightly dazed expression before muttering,
“I cannot get used to that one, God.”
[Neither can I.]
While god and Follower whispered together, a pillar of light appeared above the seat opposite the Second Seat.
When the light faded, a mysterious figure in a white mask appeared.
One of the Seven Divine Thrones.
Owner of the Seventh Site, ‘Epoche.’
The God of Madness, Nameless.
A mysterious Divine Throne about whom almost nothing was known among the Seven Divine Thrones.
Even Karavan had hardly ever spoken with Nameless.
Ignis began speaking through Karavan's mouth.
[So... there are only three this time?]
The meeting could hardly proceed in this state.
One was staring only at their Doll, while the other had never once spoken through an entire meeting.
Ignis let out a quiet sigh and began.
[The First and Sixth Seats have never attended properly, so fine. But why have the Fourth Seat, Pest, and the Fifth Seat, Chronos, not come?]
[Mimi Nya, tell them how I could possibly know that.]
Ignis frowned.
[Putting that aside, the reason I called you all here is...]
[Mimi Nya, it is obviously because of the Metaverse in Caspion. Is that right?]
‘Metaverse! Metaverse!’
While Ignis's lips moved in flustered silence, the Dragon God Droyan continued, red eyes gleaming.
[Mimi Nya, I heard the Third Seat has been completely obsessed with the naked man in the Metaverse lately?]
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