The space convulsed once more with a deep creaking.
“Are you all right?”
“Thanks to Han Seol holding it together, I can endure it. It’s closer to a summoning than an invasion.”
“That’s a relief. You must stay healthy.”
No one had approached my room yet. Perhaps the r-Queen, like the King of Devourers, had no suitable subordinate to send. It was fortunate for , but I could not let my guard down, for she would not withdraw willingly.
“All right, then.”
I strode toward the achievent reward. The spear, taller than I was, glead flawlessly from tip to poml, as if carved from jade or pearl for a festival rather than forged for battle. Though much shorter than a jousting lance, it still bore a deadly elegance.
I grasped the shaft—surprisingly light. I could draw and wield it with one hand. Checking its status, an information window flickered into view.
[Three Kills of the Divine (神殺) – Undecided
A single shaft of pure white light to fell false gods.
Even in a child’s feeble hand, it pierces a transcendent.
※ Bound to Han Yujin]
A weapon designed to slay transcendent beings. I raised the white spear.
“False gods.”
The system, upon inspecting my achievent, had pronounced them thus. Not deities, but transcendent hunters who had wielded the world as if they were gods.
I studied the info window again. The power to kill transcendent beings—and the limit of three—troubled . Perhaps the na commorated my slaying of three transcendent foes, including Chatterbox. Or perhaps the spear could only destroy three transcendent beings before losing its potency.
Even the latter would suffice.
“Ready, partner?”
“If you call that, I might cry.”
“Then cry. I do miss you.”
We were partners in this endeavor. Still, I felt a pang of guilt and added, “We’re not exactly friends yet, you know.”
“That wounds deeply.”
What was he on about? He was always telling I wasn’t Han Yujin. Yet here we were. Mana began to pool where the snake had fallen, so dense it seed about to drip like liquid.
“...Grace, I’m counting on you.”
— Beep! —
My bluebird companion answered crisply, rging into the gem on my bracelet. The jewel glowed for a mont. Words alone would not end this; I returned the spear to my inventory and stepped forward. Thanks to Seol-i, the space had ballooned with mana.
Drip, thunk.
Raindrops fell from the dizzying heights of the ceiling. Wherever they struck, grass sprouted. Tender shoots and tiny puddles, stems thickening into branches and blossoms bursting in every color.
As if a god had descended, the broken marble floor vanished, replaced by a wild, rain-sodden adow. Then—
Slither—
Gold-red scales rippled across the grass, the sinuous body of a crimson snake piled like a hill of jewels. Clink—tal ornants chid, distant as a mountain echo. I tilted my head back. There, amid the cliff-like slopes of his chest and belly, were the snake’s eyes. Each ti the long earring brushing his shoulder swung, bells tolled with a deep resonance. His true size rivaled that of a grand temple.
Even the proudest S-Rank hunter would bow, yet I stared upward. A “Fear Resistance” ssage blinked, but I ignored it. Long, pillar-like claws brushed the storm cloud swirling around him, sending torrents of rain crashing down. I blinked, droplets on my brows dancing across my vision.
Tiny one.
His voice thundered like a mountain’s echo.
I will not prolong this.
There was a gleam of amusent in that tone.
Will you defend your world?
Would I clutch the three rightful Shards ⊛ Nоvеlιght ⊛ (Read the full story) and stand my ground? Though I had slain his subordinate, the King of Devourers still harbored favor toward . If I pledged to hand over the Shards, he would withdraw peacefully.
“I will not add words.”
Whatever excuse I might offer, the answer would be the sa.
“Yes.”
This was the land where those I loved had lived and would live—and where I would also remain.
Very well!
A peal of laughter shook the air. The Snake King laughed as if delighted.
No matter how small, nothing is weak. Even in defeat, the defier stands as strong as any victor. Only the feeble bow their heads of their own accord!
His voice, charged with joy, tremored through . I lowered my stance. In a single instant, all would end. Seong-hyeonje watched us, then inhaled deeply.
You are, indeed, a lovely creature of life. Co.
With generous arms outstretched, the King of Devourers leapt, springing off the ground to dizzying heights. Footsteps appeared beneath my feet—steps he ford for . I climbed, leaping from tier to tier.
Up, up: the perspective of a transcendent. I ran as far as my legs could bear, stepping on the pillars he conjured, never falling.
The Snake King watched, laughing as though proud of the tiny thing ascending ever higher. But when at last our eyes t—
Now fall.
A rciless sentence. In a scale-covered hand appeared my curved sword, Shamsheer. Though I could flick it aside with a finger, he held it in respect for one who dared challenge overwhelming power.
The ruby-inlaid blade slashed toward . Its force staggered . Amid the storm of blinding magic, a new footing appeared like a leaf drifting in the wind—a stepping-stone to climb still higher.
Clang—!
The sword descended. Blue light flared beneath its red edge. For a mont, my defense nullified even a transcendent’s strike. The world’s hardest substance—the translucent bracelet—cracked. Simultaneously, I sprang from the last platform.
Above the transcendent’s gaze.
The white spear was in my hand. The venom-laced ruby blade arced toward again. I drew back and thrust forward—an F-rank user’s D-rank Piercing skill.
That’s—!
Vvvrrr— The King’s blade halted mid-air, frozen as if ti itself had stilled. White light enveloped his sword. Like countless snakes, the radiance snaked along the spear, across its wielder’s arm, and then his body. In an instant, the entire space turned pale.
Shaaaa—
Rain fell anew. Golden chains ford in midair, coiling around to lower safely to the ground. The wet earth splashed beneath my feet. Before stood the King of Devourers, now reduced to twice human height, his form hazy in the downpour. Even the rain left his gold-tinted red hair damp. He brushed wet strands from cheek and brow as though marveling at the sensation.
“Amazing,” he said, gazing at the white spear. His look held no regret, despite his impending end.
“You appear oddly relieved.”
“Is there any cause not to be?”
His nace vanished; he smiled like a young man.
“I am a creature that claws for life. Yet I have lived so long—along a linear path without cycle.”
“Then....”
“It does not an I wished to die. As long as there is a path, life walks it; and to perish thus is life, too.”
The King of Devourers reached toward . Sssik—a quiet sound as the bracelets on my arm transford into writhing snakes.
“I have fed and been fed upon to endure. I regret none of it, yet I wondered whether I myself have devoured even my own lineage.”
“Your lineage’s potential?”
“Yes. He who consus all and shares nothing enjoys unending life.”
His talon tapped beneath a young snake’s jaw. His mana spread outward.
“From the rot and decay springs new growth.”
Power amassed across unfathomable eons, now dispersing as nourishnt for his scattered descendants—into the seeds sown across the world, into the two young snakes before .
Perhaps the King had awaited this mont, for he could not die nor allow himself to lose. Had he fallen to a stronger transcendent, he would not have been scattered thus but utterly consud.
But I was no transcendent. Compared to them, I was but a mortal life, carrying children in my arms and pressing on.
“King of Devourers—.”
“My na is Rhanahi. In your world’s tongue, it ans pogranate seed. Born alone within an egg, I had none to na , so I called myself thus after the fruit through which sunlight passes.”
“A lovely na.”
His form grew more translucent, the scenery behind him fading into view. Ti was short.
“I feel so regret—after all your aid... another transcendent struck first to die yet left a curse behind.”
“A spiteful one.”
“There are many who curse as they perish.”
He laughed softly.
“Then I will bless you. You shall have countless children.”
“...Pardon?”
A blessing, yes—but still odd. “I already have too many.”
“Children will rember and love you, and one of them shall rise to the greatest heights cradled in your arms.”
“T-Thank you.”
His promise of my children’s greatness was welco, though I was still trying to process it. The King’s presence faded. He glanced at his own vanishing form.
“The Source is not an infinite cradle of life.”
“The Source?”
“The Source creates worlds and consus them again. Filial rebels call it blasphemy, but I do not. There can be no rebirth without sacrifice. Rabbits eat grass and foxes eat rabbits; the dead enrich the earth. Creation’s power springs only from consumption. Know this: recently, the Source’s power to create worlds has waned.”
If the Source’s power were finite, then one must harvest creation to replenish it.
“What the filial rebels do now is akin to killing every fox to protect rabbits. An overabundance of rabbits will desolate the land.”
“...Yet we cannot simply accept ruin.”
“Such is life. All live, so die, and all must die in ti. The system at least provides better prey for the rabbits—gives them the strength to flee the fox.”
“The problem is excessive intervention.”
The King nodded.
“And worlds devoured by transcendent birth—transcendents never consud worlds themselves. They grew within the faint possibility death itself fed.”
“Do you know of the Crescent?”
“I know little of that distant lore. What of it?”
“Yes. There are many transcendent allies under the Crescent Moon. One spear will not suffice.”
“I understand.”
I would exhaust my power before reaching the Crescent, let alone face many at once.
“But once, Rhanahi, you could not even face .”
Rhanahi smiled in satisfaction.
“I wonder how far you shall reach. To save all worlds is near impossible. Yet new ans to make the impossible possible must exist—like you before .”
“Actually, I did not set out to save all worlds. I only had one person I wished to protect.”
One person. My world had been that small.
“No being is born great. Every journey begins as a seed.”
His voice faltered. His form nearly vanished as his remaining power gathered into a radiant mana stone.
“So I entrust you with my legacy—my child.”
“...Excuse ?”
My vision flared bright, then settled. In place of the King’s body lay not a mana shard but—
“Hey, over here!”
A gold-tinged red egg lay before . He entrusted his child to —for to raise! And it was an egg! That egg had never hatched successfully before!
“What on earth—!”
“Congratulations. You have one more.”
Seong-hyeonje clapped lightly. So that was the reason for this blessing? I was dood to be single forever! Still, I gathered the egg and tucked it into my pouch. At this rate, my children’s facility for awakened and other races would be packed solid.
I sighed heavily and faced Seong-hyeonje. The white spear was back in my hand. As the King said, I could not charge the Crescent yet. Instead—
“Are you ready?”
“I ought to be the one asking that.”
Seong-hyeonje summoned the system window. I assisted him. A vast screen appeared, woven with countless mana circuits in dizzying complexity.
“System Creator Authority: Authentication Requested.”
To the system’s deepest, most critical settings.
One cannot destroy the system itself—it was forged by transcendents and connected to the Source’s power. But perhaps a fragnt...
Seong-hyeonje drew forth the system linked to our world—the gateway transcendents used to enter. I pulled the spear taut.
Crack-crack—
I thrust it ho.
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