[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 243: Descent of the God (3)
A year had passed since I turned back ti.
In that ti, I had been able to enjoy happiness I could never have even dread of in my previous life.
And yet, I still rember.
It cos to without warning.
Like a thorn embedded deep within .
The endless expanse of snowfields, the raging blizzards, the biting cold that crushed my lungs.
So distant.
A life that never ended.
Of course, after returning to the past, the Blessing of Revival was no longer a curse but a gift that allowed to change the future.
But that is only the result.
A good outco does not justify the process.
That is why I want to ask.
Why did it have to be ?
Out of all the countless people, why was I the only one bound to an unending life, struggling in agony?
If there was a reason, I wanted to hear it.
No, even if there was no reason, I still wanted to ask.
Why was I condemned to such a cruel life?
"Dale..."
As if she could read my heart, Iris looked at with trembling eyes.
"...Alright."
She nodded quietly.
Clutching the holy relic of Grace hanging around her neck, she nodded once more.
"I will call upon the Forest God through 'Descent.'"
"...Please."
[Hmm… I don’t quite understand the situation, but you want to summon the Forest God through Descent?]
"Yes, that's right."
[Understood.]
Grace nodded.
[First, bring forth the full power of the ‘Seven Eyes.’]
"Okay."
A seven-colored aura began to rise from Iris’s body.
It closely resembled when Callia used the ‘Blessing of the Seven Stars.’
The difference was that while Callia’s presence overwheld those around her with sheer power, Iris exuded a divine sanctity, as if a miracle was taking place before our eyes.
[Alright, let's begin. Follow my guidance and move the power of the Seven Eyes slowly.]
Grace placed her hand on Iris’s head.
A rainbow-hued radiance enveloped them both.
“…Ah.”
With a soft gasp, Iris’s eyes widened.
The rainbow light in her eyes shifted, turning deep green—identical to my own.
I swallowed hard as I watched Iris, now cloaked in a green aura.
'This is different from Callia’s blessing.'
Callia had borrowed the power of a god to manifest their presence.
Iris, on the other hand, had borrowed the god’s spirit to descend into her own body.
Unlike Callia, who had rely borrowed divine power, Iris made it feel as though she herself had beco the god.
"Ah, ugh… ah."
Iris's body trembled violently.
I hurried toward her, but Grace raised a hand to stop .
[Focus. Don’t resist the god’s power—just accept it into your body.]
“…Aah… Yes… Mother.”
Iris answered with difficulty and took a deep breath.
Ssshh
The unstable green aura gradually began to settle.
[…Hah.]
Grace let out a quiet chuckle as she watched.
[She amazes . This is her first ti using Descent, right?]
Though I wasn’t sure, judging by Grace’s reaction, it seed the ritual had been completed successfully.
“……”
Iris remained silent, her head drooping like a puppet with cut strings.
Then—
She slowly lifted her head.
No.
The being before us was no longer Iris.
“It’s been a long ti, Grace.”
The Forest God, speaking through Iris, gazed at Grace with a faint smile.
[I greet the Forest God.]
Grace drew a holy sign in the air and bowed her head.
The Forest God looked at Grace’s translucent spirit with sorrowful eyes.
“You, too… have not been able to escape the passage of ti.”
[I am only human.]
Compared to the lives of gods, a human’s existence was but a fleeting mont.
“Heh. Don’t say such things. Even gods do not live forever.”
The Forest God smiled faintly and continued speaking.
“…They do not live forever?”
At that mont—
Iris’s green eyes briefly returned to their original color.
“Oh? You maintained your consciousness despite being linked to ?”
Her eyes turned green again.
“This is truly your first ti using Descent?”
[Yes, it is.]
“…Incredible. Even Grace fainted the first ti and lost our connection.”
[Hehe. My daughter is exceptional.]
Grace puffed up her chest proudly.
“So, to answer Iris’s earlier question… Yes, it’s true. Even gods do not live forever.”
This was different from what was written in the Seven Stars Church’s scriptures.
Even though I wasn’t a devout believer like Iris, I, too, had never doubted the eternity of the ‘Seven Gods.’
Yurina, Elisha, and Lanez, devout believers themselves, also seed visibly shaken.
It was only natural.
It was common knowledge that gods were eternal and immortal.
“After the Tree of Creation burned and vanished, even the gods were bound by the concept of lifespan. Of course, our lifespans are far longer than those of humans, but still… nothing in this world is truly eternal anymore.”
The Forest God spoke with a bitter smile.
“…Wait a second.”
I slowly approached the deity.
“What nonsense is that?”
[Son-in-law! How dare you speak that way before a god?!]
Grace cried out in alarm, but I barely heard her.
“There is nothing eternal left in this world?”
Then what about ?
What was the life I had suffered through?
That endless nightmare, that unceasing despair—what was it?
“Then what was it all?!”
A surge of emotion erupted from within .
The feelings I had buried, the mories I had suppressed, the pain I had endured—
It all boiled over at once.
“Why… Why was it just …? Why was I the only one who couldn’t die and had to live forever?!”
“…What?”
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
The Forest God looked at in confusion.
I clenched my teeth, glaring at her.
“Hah, so you’re going to play dumb?”
Crack!
I roughly yanked open the shirt I was wearing, revealing the Stigma engraved on my left chest.
The distinct mark of the ‘God of the Forest.’
"You… You were the one who gave this to ! You were the one who made eternal!"
"……."
"And now you say that nothing is eternal? What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Then what was my life?
What was that excruciating eternity I endured?
"…I’m not sure what you’re talking about."
The God of the Forest shook their head with a flustered expression.
"It seems there has been so misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding?"
"Yes."
The God of the Forest nodded slightly.
"I… have never given you anything."
"…What?"
What were they saying?
"Look! Right here, your Stigma…!"
"That is not my Stigma."
"What do you an…?"
"No, to begin with, the mark on your chest… isn’t even a ‘Stigma.’ It only resembles one in form but is sothing entirely different."
"……."
Then what?
What the hell are they talking about?
The mark on my chest isn’t a Stigma?
Then how am I able to wield magic?
Why do I have the blessing of revival?
"Then… what is this?"
"…I don’t know."
"You don’t know?"
A god says they don’t know.
Then who in the world does?
"It’s as if it’s shrouded in ashen mist… hidden from sight."
"……."
It was the sa thing Professor Elisha had said when she examined my body with the Blessing of Insight.
"But one thing is certain."
The God of the Forest looked into my eyes and continued.
"Within you… lies sothing far greater than divinity itself."
Sothing greater than divinity?
Does that an the power residing within surpasses even that of the gods?
‘That’s ridiculous….’
Suddenly.
The massive figure I had seen in my ntal realm resurfaced in my mind.
The deep, ashen presence that effortlessly suppressed flas burning as if they would consu the world.
"—Ah."
A quiet gasp escaped my lips.
The scattered pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
—I was never able to accumulate mana through breathing techniques like other heroes.
Of course.
The mark on my chest wasn’t a Stigma.
It was only natural that I couldn’t accumulate mana like others.
—The only way for to accumulate mana was by burning my own body with the Primordial Fla to generate it.
The deaths I repeated every day to increase my mana.
It was all to stimulate the Primordial Fla through my "death."
I had thrown my own body into the blazing fire as fuel.
And then.
—Mana is a byproduct of the Primordial Fla burning the Tree of Creation.
"Hah."
I clutched my head and let out a hollow laugh.
The clues had been there all along.
The answer had always been written on the test paper.
It was almost laughable how late I was to realize it.
"Hah, haha."
mories.
They ignited like fire, filling my head.
—Why wasn’t my Stigma burned?
The flas of the Primordial Fla, which incinerated Stigma.
Even the demonic fire that devoured divinity had never burned my Stigma.
—There were not one, but two.
—Cadet Dale has two powers residing within him.
Yes.
Before I embraced the Primordial Fla, there was already another power residing within .
—Inside you, there is a power that extinguishes fire.
If it was a power capable of extinguishing the flas of a Demon God, there was only one possibility.
—In any case… there is no such thing as ‘eternity’ left in this world anymore.
In a world where eternity had vanished.
The reason I alone remained eternal.
"I see… so that’s how it was."
I placed my hand over my left chest.
Closing my eyes, I sank into my ntal realm.
Whoosh!
Before my eyes, flas blazed.
Beyond the violently surging fire, a massive form enshrouded in ashen mist appeared.
As I slowly reached out, the ashen mist gradually dispersed.
‘It wasn’t the Seven Gods who granted eternal life… it was you.’
As the ashen mist vanished—
Standing there, gazing down at —
Was an unimaginably colossal tree.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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