Chapter 643
The moment he opened his eyes.
"Ah!"
At last, the sight of the empty arena, before it was distorted, began to slowly come into view.
‘Thank goodness. I came back!’
Here and there, spectators and students lay collapsed on the ground.
They appeared to be unconscious, but safe. Looking around, Simon saw that Sasha and the Saint of Harvest had also safely escaped.
"Are you alright?"
Beside him, Lete sat down, looking utterly exhausted.
Sweat poured down her like rain, and her hair was matted with dirt and dust.
"And you?"
Even in such a state, her bright smile had not faded.
"As you can see, still breathing."
"Thank goodness."
"What about Ever Kire?"
Lete shrugged.
"She’s probably dead. The Goddess was destroyed, and that woman took our attack head-on. So that’s probably why the world returned to its original state."
That would be a relief. But—
Simon was already sensing a creeping malice rising from the ground.
Fsshhh—
Through the cloud of dust, Ever Kire rose up like a broken wooden puppet.
Her chest bore a massive hole carved out by Chaos, yet she still moved.
[Uhhhhh—]
Her mouth opened.
[Goddess, Goddess, O Goddess!]
She gagged, shoving her hand down her throat, before collapsing face-first to the ground. Even as her head cracked against a rock, bleeding profusely, she sprang up again, thrashing her head and spewing saliva.
Lete frowned and looked at Simon.
"Looks like her condition’s even worse."
"Probably because she was struck by my Chaos."
Chaos carried the effect of temporarily shattering one’s reason. Lete said bitterly, as if fed up.
"Just give it up, Ever Kire. Your plan has already failed. Stop struggling—"
[Failed?]
Her pupils spun wildly.
Even amidst the madness of Chaos, there was something chilling about her voice in that instant.
[Not yet! Not yet! Do you have any idea how many years I’ve spent preparing this? That I couldn’t erase you all was unexpected, but soon the sacred relics I prepared will activate!]
She raised her arm.
[This time, I will make God—!]
Her words cut off. Her body suddenly cracked apart, like glass splintering into countless fractures.
"Sorry, but that won’t be happening."
Step.
A man appeared, his crow-feathered cloak fluttering, a small dagger in his hand. Or rather, it was closer in size to a fruit knife.
When he threw the blade into the air, it unfolded like a map, transforming into the shape of a magic circle. He activated the runes.
Zzzzzzzztttt!
Ever Kire’s body was split into eight pieces. She screamed in agony.
"Agent Alastair!"
It was the Crow Agent, a loyal subordinate of Neftis, who had worked under the Dark Emperor Festival all along.
"Well done, Student Council President. And Saint. I’ve been waiting for you to emerge."
Alastair spoke with a gentle smile before gesturing with his hand.
"Seize Ever Kire."
Shrrrak!
Shrrrak-shrrrak!
Necromancer agents appeared out of thin air. They bound Ever Kire’s broken body with Darkness and pulled it apart.
[My body! You thieves!]
Ever Kire used reality manipulation. Like magnets, her fragments tried to reattach themselves, but the necromancer agents summoned more Darkness to restrain her.
"Prioritize the wounded."
At Alastair’s command, teleportation circles spread throughout the arena, transporting the unconscious civilians. Transportation-type undead carried people away, while Haematology spells levitated others into the air.
It took less than a minute to evacuate every civilian from the arena.
‘As expected of them.’
Simon clenched his fist in admiration. Ever Kire, still desperately clutching her scattered body, shrieked.
[Daring to oppose a God!]
"A delusional zealot who mistakes herself for a deity, is it?"
Alastair spoke calmly.
"Sorry, but your ambitions end here."
[Hahaha! Kkyaahahaha! Do you really think so? You fools have no idea what I’ve prepared! This island will soon—!]
"If you mean those relics you mentioned earlier—"
He pulled a chalice from his cloak.
"You mean things like this?"
[!!]
Ever Kire’s eyes blazed red.
"Seems I was right."
Alastair dropped the relic to the ground and crushed it underfoot. She writhed in pain as if her own body had been destroyed.
"We weren’t sitting idly by on the outside. To overlay your powers on reality itself required a wide-range ritual using sacred relics. We figured that out."
Two years ago—the Volendi Village Incident, when Ever Kire was first reported to have turned a distorted world into reality.
—A village no one knew existed, found in ruins. Its roofs and walls were interlaced with human bodies as building materials.
And there, within a 20-kilometer radius, sacred relics for White Magic had been unearthed from the soil and riverbeds.
While Ever Kire fought Simon and Lete, Alastair and Kajan had analyzed her holy wavelengths to triangulate the relics’ locations.
Alastair lifted his crystal communicator.
"Report, Kajan."
—This is K-1. We’ve secured the tenth and final relic.
—All guardians eliminated. All agents standing by at the relic sites.
Alastair closed his eyes.
"Destroy them."
[Noooooo!!]
Through the communicator came the sound of relics shattering, and Ever Kire’s howl of agony split the air.
Lete’s eyes lit up.
"It’s working. Her holiness is weakening!"
Alastair gave a calm nod.
"A false god, dying."
[Hahaha! Humans—mere creations—mocking me!]
She pointed accusingly.
[You’re the fakes! I alone am reality!!]
Ever Kire’s mouth opened unnaturally wide, and a power squeezed out from the depths of her being spilled onto the ground. The floor of the arena cracked apart, and the air itself turned crimson.
The necromancer agents held fast to her fragmented body with black magic, but her ability distorted reality, weakening their spells.
Lost in fanatic ecstasy, she shouted:
[I am God!]
"You still have strength left to thrash around?"
Alastair frowned, about to step forward.
"!?"
From inside his cloak, a communication crystal pulsed with sound. Startled, he pulled it out and activated it.
"Yes, this is Alastair. Have you finally ‘come out’?"
Even in such a crisis, the Crow Agent prioritized the transmission over striking.
Simon stared at him in puzzlement. The crystal’s shape was somewhat different from others he had seen. Though muffled, he heard a reply.
"We’ve restrained Ever Kire, but her resistance is fierce. Yes, the coordinates?"
Alastair relayed the coordinates through the crystal.
Woooooooom!
From the sky, radiant golden light cascaded down.
It wove itself into a vast circle, filled with symbols and diagrams, and then condensed into a brilliant pillar of light that shot straight down.
The beam pierced Ever Kire’s chest, where she had been mending her broken body.
[What is this!?]
Ever Kire weakened again. The warped reality she conjured flickered, collapsing and reforming.
Fwoosh!
A golden tunnel opened in midair, like a great door. From within popped out a small girl.
Silver hair flowing softly. Blue eyes shining.
And a long battle robe unlike any seen before.
"Ah…"
Simon’s mouth fell open.
"Lady Neftis!"
She glanced at him, raising her hand in greeting.
"Hi, Simon!"
"A-are you alright?"
But Simon’s reaction was unusual. His trembling hand pointed at her, and Neftis tilted her head quizzically before looking down at herself.
"Ah."
Blood trickled down her forehead, and her robe was torn at the hem.
The appearance of one who had just returned from a brutal battlefield.
Never before had Simon seen Neftis in such a state, bleeding and worn. His heart lurched.
"It’s nothing."
But with a light snap of her fingers, her body returned to its flawless form. Seeing this, Lete swallowed hard.
"That woman…"
The one who founded Keyzen. The supreme leader of the Dark Alliance.
She had lived more than 300 years, the pinnacle above all necromancers.
The Witch of Death—Neftis.
She walked step by step toward Ever Kire, who writhed against the Curse of Time.
"So you’re the zealot who dares to call herself a god."
[Witch of Death!!]
Her ability raged even further. Reality warped wider, while the power of Time fought to strip it away, a tense balance snapping back and forth.
"How thorough."
Neftis muttered, running her fingers through her long hair.
"You staged everything so I’d be forced to intervene, twisting dungeons with bait… but your real goal was this. Such a plan isn’t something a deranged human like you could devise."
[What nonsense are you spouting!?]
"Nonsense? Hm. So you were being used after all."
Neftis raised her arm.
"But it doesn’t matter anymore."
The golden pillar piercing Ever Kire’s chest grew larger.
[Kraaaaaagh!!]
Ever Kire unleashed her final power, even distorting time itself.
[I am God!]
"We’ll see."
Neftis clenched her fist.
"Do gods not drink mother’s milk when they’re born?"
Above the golden pillar, a colossal Darkness magic circle unfolded.
It rotated, shifting into the shape of a bucket filled with black liquid. The contents poured down upon the pillar.
Rooooarsh!
The golden pillar turned pitch-black as the dark water flowed, the two hues coexisting in one beam. Neftis pressed her palms together.
<Neftis Original – Reincarnation>
Ever Kire’s body impaled by the pillar began to shrink.
No—she was growing younger.
Into a schoolgirl attending Efnelle.
Into a lost little girl wandering aimlessly.
Into a baby crawling in the gutters.
And further back still—
Szzzzzzz!
Two dark gods leapt out, touching Ever Kire’s body.
Suddenly, her shrinking frame swelled back to adulthood, then began to age rapidly instead.
"Oh?"
Neftis’ eyes glimmered.
Skipping entirely past her prime, Ever Kire’s form withered into that of a wrinkled old hag.
The price of abusing her powers, burning away her lifespan, draining too much life force. She had never had much time left to begin with.
[S-stop it!!]
Ever Kire thrashed in agony.
But Neftis completed the black magic.
Slice!
A chilling sound of something being cut apart—her body collapsed into nothingness.
A zealot who plunged Roke Island into crisis, who even dared to create a goddess—yet her end was empty.
Simon and Lete could only gape at the sight.
Woooong!
Her power vanished, and the distorted world snapped back into place. The sky cleared, light breaking through the clouds.
Neftis withdrew both black magic and ability, turning her gaze to Simon and Lete.
"There’s much to discuss. But first, I owe you my thanks."
She smiled.
"Children of both factions’ future."
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