༺ Gathering (5) ༻
“Hello, Terdan.”
Alaysia greeted him with a smile.
Terdan grumbled as he saw her wave while being pinned beneath Vera.
[You’ve finally crossed the line—!]
The giant clenched his fist.
He pulled it back and then thrust it forward.
“Are you going to kill everyone else too?”
Flinch—
Terdan’s fist stopped before it could even hit the ground.
Rumble—!
However, just that air pressure alone turned the palace into a mess.
Fortunately, no one was injured, but a sense of dread settled in the hearts of those present.
Alaysia’s smile deepened.
Terdan glared at her resentfully before speaking.
[Did you think I came alone? Me?]
“I don’t think so. Mm, I can feel them.”
Alaysia spoke as she swept the back of Vera’s head, still in that position.
“Let’s see…”
Her moving eyes turned to a corner of the hall.
Where the darkness had fallen, someone was walking out from the shadows.
“Nar.”
[Oh my, looks like the braindead whore couldn’t hold back and has caused trouble again.]
It was a glamorous blonde woman with a crimson dress and twelve arms.
She had a dark hole in the middle of her face.
[This is why uneducated girls are no good. It’d be more beneficial for the world to just rip off your lower half.]
Her twelve arms stretched in various directions, her hands forming mudras.
Right after that…
Ddududuk—
Alaysia’s body twisted.
From head to toe, her entire body began to curl like a rope.
Ddududuk—
Blood and flesh spurted out like a fountain as her body twisted, throwing Vera away.
[How is it? I’m thinking of tearing off your lower half to give to the children as a toy.]
The answer came from somewhere else.
[Queen, stop.]
Whiiiiiiiii—
A wind blew.
Then, a chilling air enveloped the beings surrounding the place.
Nartania looked up at the ceiling.
[Are you on her side, Lizard?]
A dragon covered in ice was roaming the sky above.
Locrion, the First Dragon, spoke.
[Her head is mine.]
A chilly energy began to fill the space, followed by rising glaciers.
Kwaaang—!
A glacier shot out at an untraceable speed, piercing through Alaysia’s head like a skewer.
[Don’t be greedy.]
[Oh, how utterly you lack in dignity.]
Nartania scoffed.
Locrion withdrew his gaze from her and looked at the entrance to the hall.
[King of the Dead, what do you think? What will you take, excluding the head?]
Nartania let out a laugh.
[Are you here, too?]
Bang—
The doors to the throne room opened, an ominous black mist flowing out from it.
Thud—
Something tapped the ground.
Then, within the mist, a blue ghostly flame glowed.
[…The soul.]
A gloomy, sticky, yet unbearably hot rage embroidered the space.
[I will take her soul.]
The corpse had muscle fibers clinging precariously to its bone.
His whole body was adorned with all sorts of brilliant ornaments, and a black mist continuously rose up to envelop him.
[I will cast it into the deepest abyss of all my hells.]
Sizzle—!
Darkness swallowed him up.
The black swamp that was constantly burning took the form of a human, reaching out its arm and grabbing Alaysia.
Crunch—!
Something broke from within his fist, blood oozing out.
However, everyone present knew one thing.
The vile witch wouldn’t die so easily.
“Wow. It’s been a long time, everyone.”
A laugh was heard from within Maleus’s hand.
Just then, his hand was forcibly opened, and a blood-soaked Alaysia crawled out.
“Let’s see…”
Alaysia’s eyes surveyed her surroundings.
She looked up at Terdan and Locrion, who were observing her from the torn ceiling of the room, and to Nartania and Maleus, who were hidden in the darkness below.
“Aedrin couldn’t make it, and Orgus does as he pleases, so…”
Her gaze finally stopped at Renee.
“Have you summoned everyone you can?”
“I’ve left one out.”
Renee exhaled heavily as she unleashed her divinity.
“You thought I wouldn’t know?”
Full of ridicule, she raised her arm.
The strange constraint that had enveloped the entire space and constricted her body was familiar to Renee.
“Don’t steal someone else’s puppy like that, you rotten bitch.”
She reached out her hand and clenched it into a fist.
Boom—!
A white current screamed from the tips of Renee’s fingers.
It spread around and tore the darkness apart.
“Oh…”
Just as an exclamation escaped from Alaysia’s mouth, a large figure sprang up from the ground and crushed her.
Kwang—!
What crushed her was a dark beast’s front paws.
The golden eyes of the beast followed, growling menacingly.
A white arm around the beast’s neck moved.
[How dare you…!]
It was Gorgan, who had arrived here first and fallen into the trap.
He escaped from the trap through the gap Renee had created.
Nartania chuckled and spoke to the emerging Gorgan.
[Ah, so you’ve been knocked out all this time?]
The pure white arm swung and a wave of energy materialized from thin air, aimed at Nartania.
Eight of Nartania’s arms formed a mudra.
Screech—!
With a strange noise, the wave of energy disintegrated.
[Why? Are you embarrassed?]
[Shut up.]
The tension between the two transcendent beings made the space vibrate.
Renee clutched her cane tightly, gasping for breath under the intense pressure.
‘…I’m regaining control of my body.’
She felt it while using her authority, but it seemed that the force that had bound them was indeed Gorgan’s.
Although she couldn’t see, she could sense that the other Apostles and the Heroes were also regaining their control.
‘Now we have the upper hand.’
Seeing them argue among themselves did make her feel a bit uneasy, but it wasn’t too bad.
They all shared a common goal in the form of Alaysia, providing a temporary truce.
Renee checked the remaining amount of divinity within her.
‘I still have some leeway.’
I can use it a few more times.
Enough to last until we end Alaysia’s life.
Renee clenched her teeth and weaved a spell.
As expected, Marie and Miller, having regained control, assisted her.
Alaysia sighed.
“Fighting again will make Aru sad.”
Clang—
She pushed away Hyria’s front paw that was holding her down and stood up.
Her body had fully regenerated, and she wore a relaxed expression even amidst this situation.
Alaysia looked at her siblings who had gathered for the first time after a long time, with a sullen face.
It was the first time she showed anger after blabbering nonsense all this time.
“…Don’t do anything that would make Aru sad.”
[Isn’t it you who makes him the saddest?]
“Nar, you’re so mean.”
Nartania felt a shiver go down her spine.
It was from disgust.
[Stop calling me that. It makes me want to rip your mouth open.]
“Aru wanted us to get along well.”
[You killed Aru with your own hands, didn’t you?]
“He’s not dead.”
She replied with the same old argument.
Then, Nartania stopped at Alaysia’s unyielding attitude.
A silence fell.
The moment when the Apostles, Heroes, and Ancient Species pulled out their weapons and aimed at Alaysia, Nartania’s shoulders suddenly shook, and she began laughing.
Flinch—
Everyone froze.
[Could it be…?]
It would have been strange if they weren’t surprised by her absurd laughter.
All eyes were on Nartania.
They awaited her next words.
Soon after, she spoke.
[…Do you really think that empty shell, the body that reincarnated without his soul, could be Ardain?]
What her finger pointed to was none other than Vera.
Vargo’s eyes widened enormously.
Subsequently, the others also showed surprised reactions.
It wasn’t just them.
Everyone present, except for Nartania, Alaysia, and Locrion, was taken aback.
Even Renee realized that the person Nartania was talking about was Vera.
Her mind became clouded as her heart sank.
Nevertheless, Nartania continued to speak.
[Ah… you foolish girl. That’s just an empty shell. Once Ardain’s soul is gone, it’s just a human body. I mean, you’ve just been chasing an illusion for years.]
“It doesn’t matter. If the vessel is empty, then it can be filled.”
[So, is that why you’ve gathered all these?]
Nartania’s hand pointed towards where the Apostles and the Heroes were located.
[Because they contain the souls of Ardain? Because proof of his existence is needed? All these things that are crammed inside Vera’s body…]
“It’s not Vera. It’s Aru.”
[…Huh.]
Nartania’s words stopped.
No one could take another move.
That was because the truth she revealed was too shocking.
[What…?]
Gorgan asked in a trembling voice, and Nartania answered with a snort.
[Didn’t you know even though you’ve been following him like a lapdog?]
Vera, who still hadn’t come to his senses, was there.
As Gorgan looked at Vera, he finally realized what had been bothering him.
‘It’s not that they’re similar…’
It was indeed him.
That was why he felt so familiar.
Even though his soul had left his body, and even when that very existence had been altered…
It still felt familiar because he was Ardain.
’…The body.’
It was the body that Ardain would periodically change into.
The vessel that would contain him.
“Gor, you understand now, right?”
Alaysia smiled as she spoke to Gorgan.
“Aru will come back.”
For a moment, his heart wavered.
A nostalgic feeling arose at the thought of meeting someone he had missed so much.
However, Gorgan knew.
[That’s nonsense. Ardain won’t come back. Even if we piece together his torn soul, his being will become something entirely different.]
“Who decides that?”
[The Parent.]
“What if our Parent is gone?”
[What…?]
Alaysia took a step forward.
Her seemingly calm face began to show madness along the words that followed.
“What if our Parent is gone? What if we rewrite the rules from the beginning? What if we’re not eternal, not immortal, not perfect?”
Gorgan realized as he looked into her eyes.
‘This is…’
Evil.
No, it was pure.
It was so pure that it appeared evil. It was that kind of desire.
“Nothing would be able to stop us. We’ll be free from duty and responsibility. We won’t have to scatter and separate. We can all live in a vast flower field.”
Step—
Hyria stepped back, feeling an instinctive threat from Alaysia.
It’s impossible.
Gorgan felt an indescribable rejection of the incomprehensible idea.
Gorgan felt an indescribable revulsion at her unthinkable idea.
And then, he felt fear.
Squelch—
A glacier lodged in Alaysia’s head.
[Listen, wench.]
Locrion’s head descended from the sky to the ceiling of the room and then right in front of Alaysia’s nose.
Facing her up close, Locrion spoke.
[No one can defy the laws of the Parent.]
The dragon’s mouth opened, and within was a strange night sky with hundreds of billions of twinkling stars.
[Disappear.]
The night sky shot out and enveloped Alaysia.
