Chapter 642
The boy cut the throat of a living god.
His faded, matted hair fluttered vainly, and the massive body toppled into the sea with a thunderous crash.
Simon hovered in the sky with the power of holiness, watching the scene indifferently.
All that remained now was the goddess’ upper body, standing still with her raw severed neck exposed.
[Ha……!]
Ever Kire gripped the skin of her own face with both hands.
[Kekekekekeke! Kekeke! Hhhh, ha! Hahahahahahahaha!]
She bent backward at the waist, exploding into mad laughter.
She was clearly insane. Simon spoke in a sharp voice.
“Goddess is dead. Now only you remain.”
[Goddess is dead?]
Ever Kire’s head creaked as she stared at Simon.
[Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense. Nonsense!]
She spread her arms wide.
[When you cut my neck, you should have realized! A goddess is not a living being! Do not try to define a god by the logic of mortals!]
Once again, radiance erupted from her body. Blood poured down from her eyes, nose, and mouth.
[My goddess!]
She was making a wish—to resurrect the deity.
Simon couldn’t allow that. He crouched low, preparing to launch.
Shhhaaaak!
Space warped, and the giant hand of the goddess came from Simon’s blind spot. His animal instincts made him thrust the scythe in his grip to block it, but he couldn’t stop the overwhelming force pushing him away.
‘Khrrk!’
Simon twisted in midair, angling himself toward Rock Island.
Space stretched endlessly, and only when his feet finally struck the ground did his flight stop.
Kugugugugugu!
His legs carved deep scars into the earth.
The surrounding wheat fields rose like living things, propping him up from behind.
‘Tch, how far did it shove me back?’
Wiping cold sweat, Simon looked ahead.
Far away, the headless goddess stumbled forward. Slowly, her arms lifted and touched the severed stump of her neck.
Thup. Thup.
The desperate movement of her hands was filled with the panic of something missing that must exist. Then—
────────────!
The headless goddess roared.
The sound came directly from her neck, bypassing vocal cords or mouth, a bizarre timbre that rattled the air. White lightning struck, and the waves raged violently.
[Please wait a little longer! My goddess!]
Ever Kire descended and hurled herself into the open stump of the goddess’s\ neck.
[I, who was once your very part, now return to your embrace!]
Simon bit his lip.
He wanted nothing more than to fly straight at the goddess again.
‘……This is bad.’
Burning agony surged through him. His muscles twisted and tore from within.
The residue of the Essence of Purification within his body had clashed with the Essence of Harvest, sparking a violent backlash.
“Khrrrk!”
Thin blood spilled from his lips. This was dangerous. At this rate, the holy energy would soon run wild and burst his body apart.
“Simon!”
Lete, seeing his condition, hurried over.
“What’s happening!?”
Simon, dripping with sweat, cried out:
“Bring the Saint of Harvest here!”
“Huh?”
“Hurry! Please!”
Lete didn’t waste time asking further. She spread her authority to sense the holiness, then ordered Ran to fetch the unconscious Saint of Harvest.
“Are you all right? What’s going on!?”
Lete sat beside him in panic. Simon’s hollow eyes sank into thought.
‘How can I return the essence of harvest…?’
There was no time to recreate the essence-removal surgery Anna had undergone, nor could he recall it clearly.
But—
‘Just as I received it, I can also give it back…!’
Simon slowly stretched out his hand and grasped the Saint’s limp hand.
Then—
‘!’
The world turned pure white.
[Oh, thank you! You kept your promise, didn’t you?]
He saw once more the smiling form of the Essence of Harvest. The pain and dizziness quickly faded.
The pact with the essence—
He had received its power to fight, and now he was to return it to the Saint of Harvest. With the backlash tearing at his body, Simon had no reason to refuse.
If he kept holding onto it, he would die.
[Ah, and one more thing.]
She pointed behind him. Simon turned to look.
Two white thrones.
One shaped from flame, the other from grass and trees.
[When I dwelt inside you, I realized something. It wasn’t chance that you had ‘qualification’.]
“……Qualification.”
[Yes. If you continue collecting the remaining thrones, one by one… and when all seven thrones gather at your feet—]
Her fading figure smiled faintly.
[I’m eager to see what will happen then. The first, and the only, Saint-Child.]
“Huuhhh!”
Simon’s eyes snapped open.
His once-white hair had turned blue again, and his eyes had returned to normal.
As he caught his breath, a startled face filled his vision. Lete clutched his hand tightly, her shoulders hunched.
“Y-you scared me!”
“……?”
He wondered why she looked so flustered. His cheek suddenly stung. Simon touched it, squinting.
“Did you hit me?”
Her face flushed crimson.
“I-I couldn’t help it! You closed your eyes and wouldn’t wake up!”
A Saint ought to heal the patient, not smack him awake.
Simon chuckled softly and pushed himself up. With the essence gone, his body felt far lighter.
“Where’s Ever Kire?”
“There.”
Lete pointed toward the sea. The headless goddess’ body radiated holiness.
“Ever Kire’s fusion with the goddess is nearly complete. She’ll attack any moment now.”
Kugugugugugugugu!
As if to confirm her words, the goddess invoked Lete’s authority.
Her body turned into starlight, soaring skyward before plummeting at the speed of light into the heart of Roke Island.
Kwaaaaaaaang!
Lete hurriedly spread a holy barrier. Roke Island shook violently, cracking apart, some fragments sinking into the sea.
[Aaah—]
Ever Kire’s voice rang out.
The upper body of the headless goddess had fused with Roke Island itself. Even at a glance, she was colossal—her towering form surpassed the height of any mountain on the island.
And those unnaturally long arms… when she spread them, they nearly spanned the entire length of Roke Island.
[You, who wield the same omnipotent power as I do!]
On the goddess’ chest, Ever Kire’s facial features appeared.
[To cut the goddess’ throat with holiness was a mistake!]
The goddess lifted both arms skyward. Holiness churned in her hands and condensed into the form of the same colossal scythe Simon had used to sever her neck.
[Hahahaha! This power! Yes, this power! With this, the world is mine!]
The scythe grew larger and larger, and Ever Kire burst into a frenzy of laughter.
[From now on, every human born on the continent shall forever worship and revere the beheaded goddess!]
All across Roke Island, the statues began to twist. Pillars and monuments warped into the image of the headless goddess raising her scythe aloft. The standard she had set was being imposed upon the world itself.
Watching the goddess slowly forge the scythe, Lete’s face slackened with despair.
“How are we supposed to stop this…?”
“No need to worry.”
Simon rose confidently to his feet.
[Hahahahaha! …Hm?]
Even Ever Kire sensed something was wrong. The scythe’s form refused to stabilize, constantly shifting shape.
Crack!
Crrrk!
As if struck by some critical error, the scythe’s structure kept distorting without end.
[Khrrrk!]
The goddess’ immense holiness was being sucked wholly into the scythe.
But that wasn’t enough. Her wrists fused with it, and soon her entire body was being drawn in.
[Wh-what is this?!]
Ever Kire had wished for the scythe Simon had used, the Scythe of Termination, to be replicated perfectly.
But that was undeniably—
[Aaaaaaaaaghhh!]
—beyond her ability.
The goddess’ body was being devoured by the scythe, which now grew larger than her own form.
But a wish, once cast, could not be undone.
The wish sought endlessly to recreate an impossible scythe, consuming both Ever Kire and the goddess’ power in the process.
A god—was destroying itself.
‘……Just what in the world…’
Lete stared blankly at Simon.
‘What did that guy make earlier? That wasn’t any saintly technique I know of.’
“Lete.”
“Y-yes.”
“Now’s our chance.”
Tuduk—Thunk—
The world around them began peeling away like strips of skin, fragments falling to the ground.
The first signs of disintegration. Beyond Ever Kire’s self-destruction, her power itself was trembling.
Simon stretched out his hand.
“Before Ever Kire can recover, we have to strike.”
Lete clasped his hand and rose.
“What’s the plan? The Saint’s essence has left you, and my holiness won’t work against her.”
Simon smirked.
“I’ve got a way.”
And then—
The two marched toward the rampaging goddess.
Simon had returned to being a necromancer. He conjured Darkness in his right hand, while his left was encased in Feer’s bone, gripping the Greatsword of Destruction.
Lete summoned the power of Saint, raising holiness in her left hand.
Tch!
Tatat!
Both of them broke into a sprint.
In each of their hands, Darkness and Holiness swelled ever larger.
“This… this will really work, right?”
“It has to!”
Simon barked.
“If the people of the continent don’t want to worship a headless goddess!”
“And if you don’t want your Roke Island turned into ashes!”
The closer they got to the goddess, the faster they ran. Ever Kire, obsessed with forging the Scythe of Termination, didn’t even notice them.
Simon raised his right hand; Lete raised her left. The orbs of Darkness and Holiness swelled dangerously, sparking at their edges.
Kwaaaaaarrrk!
The two spheres scraped against each other, crackling violently. Together, they leapt into the air.
“Haaaaaaaah!”
They hurled them forward—Darkness and Holiness spinning, fusing, hurtling toward the goddess.
Slaaaash!
But it wasn’t over yet. Simon hefted the Greatsword of Destruction in his left hand. Its blade was plastered with haematology circles, learned in his classes.
Their effect: blood storage.
And inside it—Simon’s experimental SM-1 blood, one of the key ingredients of Chaos.
“Here I go!”
Lete, still airborne, drew down the power of the stars and affixed it to the hilt.
Gravity’s might.
Using it as propulsion, Simon roared and hurled the greatsword.
Thoooooooom!
Wrapped in starlight, the sword streaked across the sky, trailing like a meteor.
It split the space between Darkness and Holiness perfectly.
Bzzzzt!
As Simon’s blood ignited between them, purple sparks flared. Simon and Lete collapsed, tumbling to the ground. Spitting dirt, Simon whipped his head up.
“Please!”
Lete shouted too, her voice cracking.
“Hit her!!”
The purple blaze swelled around the sword.
Ever Kire, still struggling to wrench herself free from the runaway scythe, at last sensed the attack. She spun around.
[This… pathetic thing!]
She wished for it to stop.
Any attack, in this world, could be made to stop at her whim.
But—
[?!]
It didn’t work.
The power of Chaos raced toward her, staining the world purple.
[What is……!]
Neither the Scythe of Termination nor that violet energy could be denied even with the authority that forged gods.
[Just what are you, you……!]
Krrrrraaaaaaash!
The force of Chaos pierced straight through the goddess. Finally, she collapsed.
‘We… did it.’
Simon smiled faintly, collapsing to the ground.
At last, the false world began to crumble.
Everything warped by Ever Kire returned to normal.
The statues of the headless goddess reverted to pillars and monuments. Shattered pieces of the arena reassembled themselves, Roke Island settled back upon the sea.
The goddess’ massive arms stretched to the sky—together with the unfinished Scythe of Termination. Her form dissolved into nothingness.
Fwooooooosh!
And then—
“Ah!”
The distorted realm peeled away, revealing once more the empty arena as it had been before.
Superb.
When are we getting more free chapters?
Thanks for the new chapters
Very good story and translation but half the chapter aren't for free and it is wayyyy too expensive will it stat like tjis foreve or will it get free after some time