Chapter 272 – Tutorial 59th floor (7)
Editor: Tide
I was out of my mind. The air that had been excessively hot with the heat caused by the Zit Pop already cooled down and the ever-changing weather change caused dizzying gusts of wind.
[Warrior! I have to come forward now.]
“Shut up! No!” I cried out to Ahb.o.o.boo, who said he wanted to aid me. Ahb.o.o.boo’s words in themselves told me how difficult the situation was.
[You’re going to die!]
I ignored Ahb.o.o.boo’s words, even though it was true that things were not going well. It was a battle between the native G.o.ds, who had been around for hundreds of thousands of years, and me. Of course, I was at a disadvantage.
The sphere of energy that had appeared in the air continued to move forward. To win this fight, I had to decrease the distance between the G.o.ds and me, since there was no chance of winning a long-distance battle.
And as soon as those d.a.m.n indigenous G.o.ds knew that I was a threat, they held hands and attacked together. The two of them had been at each other’s throats just moments before, and now they were in perfect harmony.
Suddenly, the air before me distorted, and a mysterious force grasped my body. I tried to wriggle out using force, but the arm-like power wrapped around me didn’t budge. My left shoulder, which no longer had an arm, felt like it was burning.
The invisible force was unrecognizable to me. Although I risked tearing Talaria’s wings, I attempted to fly with them, but the binding didn’t unravel. It seemed that it was not physical force, but some kind of barrier.
[Yes! It’s a barrier!]
A barrier was most definitely something out of my reach. I always wanted to learn more about barriers, but I had been told that it would not be enough. However, thanks to such an inquiring att.i.tude, there was a straightforward rule that I knew about barriers:the overlapping of multiple barriers created a barrier that functioned in various directions.
Currently, there was only one recently formed barrier holding my body right now. Before the barriers overlapped, it had to be destroyed. The concept of a barrier was probably to restrict my movements with my arm as a medium.
As soon as I finished thinking, I gathered my strength, and a red sphere was placed on my right fist and shoulders.
d.a.m.n, I had never used this technique with my shoulders. In this case, I hadn’t ever practiced.
“Zit Pop!”
An explosion broke out on both sides. Initially, light and heat should have been generated to cover the whole area, but the surrounding area was just as affected since the explosion was trapped in a s.p.a.ce.
Of course, my right arm and my left shoulder burst. If I had formed a Zit Pop on my fingertips and exploded it, I could have minimized or not suffered any damage. However, in the case of my right hand and shoulder, I had formed a Zit Pop on the flesh. It was impossible for there to be no damage.
╔═══════════════╗
[Time suspended]
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When I was about to break down and finally get out of it, a new difficulty appeared. The s.p.a.ce where the barrier had been was strangely disturbed, and a powerful force emerged. I didn’t know what the h.e.l.l it was, nor did I dare even to think to look directly into the s.p.a.ce. I could sense a little hole in the air that sucked everything in.
What is that?
The force pulling me from both sides made me feel like my body was in the midst of being torn apart.
How many seconds can I hold out? No, it probably won’t be in seconds.
Suddenly, I felt a layer of power over my body. I a.s.sumed it was Ahb.o.o.boo’s, but it ended up being the G.o.d of the Sky’s power. Thanks to this, I relaxed in a situation where I was about to be torn to death.
[Contractor, we must get out of this quickly.]
[Twist the s.p.a.ce!]
[Not possible. That degree of intervention-]
[No. Not that one. The s.p.a.ce on my side. Don’t twist both sides, just one! To reverse the rotation of the two areas!]
There was no certainty, and we didn’t even know what the mysterious power was. I rambled, but the G.o.d of the Sky managed to understand what I wanted.
The next moment, my body shot forward at a speed that was hard for even me to comprehend. Although I was using a time-reducing technique, I broke through the air currents and thought that I might be flying into s.p.a.ce. Fortunately, the speed dropped sharply. Without any impact, my body came to a complete standstill, floating in the air. It was the power of the G.o.d of the Sky. This time, I couldn’t help but say thank you.
[No need! But I’ll take your greetings!]
What are you saying?
[Warrior, I did that…]
I could vaguely hear Ahb.o.o.boo’s voice from a distance.
[It’s my power anyway!]
The voice of the G.o.d of the Sky was heard, too, and he seemed to be more shameless than I thought.
[Come down slowly. The distorted s.p.a.ce has been sealed, but it takes some time to disappear completely. You’d better not come down here until then.] he spoke.
I decided to take a breather for a while, as advised by the G.o.d of the Sky. That was a perilous experience. I felt like I came back after shaking hands with the Grim Reaper, and not my great-grandfather, who had pa.s.sed away over the river of life and death.
[Warrior, if I help a bit, the odds will go up a little.]
No, it’s better not to.
I sacrificed one arm for this opportunity, so I had to learn and go through more.
Then two native G.o.ds began to rise towards where I was, and I was sure they were thinking of ending me and establishing a bond.
[Warrior…]
I needed more time, and although I was adjusting quickly, if I got a little more used to it, I’d be able to find out more.
* * * * * *
[Jengent]
The sky was burning.
Hail as big as rocks poured down and melted in the air, and water flooded in.
The battle between the G.o.ds and the ancient demon was phenomenal. While I was watching, I wondered if what I was seeing was all just an illusion. The original plan to attack those G.o.ds with cannon fire seemed ridiculous. When he heard my plan, the demon had made a preposterous face because he knew how ridiculous it was. It was evident that my soldiers and I were of no use in the upcoming battle against the G.o.ds.
A sense of shame overwhelmed me. When the capital fell, I was stationed in the neighborhood. When I first received a request for a.s.sistance about a disturbance in the capital, I was worried about the people. Recently, many had been using explosives to deal a blow to the city capital and the royal palace. Naturally, I predicted such a disturbance. It was all the more so because the radio was soon cut off.
The enemy must have attacked the communication tower first, so I was glad I got the message before that. Thinking so, I led an army to the capital.
When I arrived at the capital, the first thing I saw was the dark sky filled with black smoke. The capital city spewed black smoke like a chimney, and the sky’s original color was masked.
People ran out through the gates, pushing each other in order to get home. The sight of tens of thousands of people running out was devastating. Every time ten people escaped out of the gate, a hundred people were crushed to death elsewhere. I didn’t even think of getting a unit through the gate and just tried to calm the troops down somehow and reduce casualties.
But soon, I could understand people’s feelings, too. Why they were so terrified, and why they had utterly lost their reason. All sorts of things were falling over our heads: flames, ice chunks, liquids that melted flesh, monsters we’d never seen before, and fragments of sharp metal. People were all scrambling forward so as not to die.
Only then did I realize that it was not just a scream that came out of people’s mouths. It was an appeal. They prayed to G.o.d as they died. They prayed for mercy and forgiveness.
Some parents gave up escaping and prayed for the safety of their little children. There was a sorcerer who cried, “What in the world is their sin?” Not a moment later, a rock fell over his head, smashing him to pieces.
The popular belief was that all this a heavenly punishment given by the G.o.ds was because the people were not faithful enough.
There were many kinds of clans, and the G.o.ds were fair to all of them. Fairly indifferent, that is.
It was easy to see that the G.o.ds were not punishing people. They were quarreling with each other. Their bodies could not even be seen with the naked eye, but I could sense it. The powers they wielded were directed at each other in the sky. What fell over the capital was nothing but a remnant of their forces.
That was how people died. I couldn’t reach where the G.o.ds were fighting over the capital, and I couldn’t get inside the gate. In that situation, I had no choice but to do my best to rescue people.
I saved people like crazy. I was running around, yelling at soldiers, gathering people, and clearing up the collapsed walls’ rubble. Perhaps because I was so stressed, my memories after that were all mixed up.
When I came to my senses, I was in a city many miles away from the capital with less than 2,000 survivors, and more than half the soldiers dead.
Too many people had died. None of the clans in the capital city had survived, and no royalty or n.o.ble, who was close to the capital, could escape. The capital, which was the start of the kingdom, was ruined.
Just like that, the kingdom collapsed. Territories along the border had been taken over by other countries. It was clear that the other lands would soon be claimed, too.
As general commander of the Capital Defense Force, I became a sort of centerpiece. The people who were in a weak position gathered around me. All the royal troops a.s.sembled except for the soldiers stationed on the border. The royal family outside the capital stepped up further as they supported me, and the neutral territories came in one by one.
I became increasingly busy, and my sadness and longing faded away. Instead, anger grew in its place.
Many days had pa.s.sed as I continued to scream at doc.u.ments and people’s faces when a particular piece of news came in. There was a report about the confrontation between the archmage and the demon. The winner of the match, the archmage, was seen turning into a monster. The observing sorcerer said that the reason the G.o.ds devastated the capital might have been to take over the monster-turned sorcerer.
I immediately led the whole army that night to the place where the monster had been seen, with all available troops and cannons. People stopped me, saying that instead of searching and capturing monsters, I should gun them down.
I thought the G.o.ds might chase the monster.
As we advanced with great force, we also sent a large number of troops from other countries. The compet.i.tion got fierce, but I thought it wasn’t bad. The more troops gathered, the better. I didn’t know if I could be done without them.
And then I met an ancient demon. I recognized it at a glance. That was the ancient demon I had only ever heard of.
The devil only kidnapped commanders and sorcerers from each country without any difficulty. Looking at him, I thought he might help me fight against the G.o.ds. If I could get the help of the demon, I would offer my soul to him.
That was what had happened, but the G.o.ds appeared, and my thoughts changed again. No human could directly face the power of the G.o.ds without being torn down. No matter how powerful the cannons were, no matter how many soldiers there were, they were helpless before the power of the G.o.ds.
It was obvious. I had led the soldiers here and killed them by my baseless judgement. I didn’t even think of bringing back the number of injured people and just wanted to kill the G.o.ds.
Then, an unknown power covered the area. A large sphere blocked all kinds of disasters falling from the sky, and an explosion ripped through the s.p.a.ce. The explosion did little to us, perhaps because of the protective sphere.
Only after the dust and light cleared a bit did I notice that a man was flying in the sky. It was him—the ancient demon.
I could see the demon was protecting the people and fighting the G.o.ds.
His glimmering wings and attacks against the G.o.ds seemed too holy for him to be a demon. Instead, he looked like a hero from all angles much like the Founding King, who, when a great flood covered the continent, destroyed the great monster that caused the flood and established the kingdom.
The demon was just like the king, whose mythical achievements make me believe that he was not human.
“If you don’t need my soul, what do you want from me?” Back in the spire, I had asked the demon, but his answer was somewhat unexpected.
“Collect faith,” he said.
“Faith?”
“Uhh… Let people cheer me on.”
Cheer? You want me to cheer for the demon? I couldn’t understand.
“It’s better to get people’s support, isn’t it?” was all the demon had said. If he was the demon, could he do that? He protected the people and rushed towards the G.o.ds to protect us, but all he wanted in return was the people’s support.
There was a commotion around with the surviving soldiers were shouting at the sky, and some kneeling and praying. I stretched out my neck and grabbed a soldier by his collar unknowingly.
“Do you want to pray to G.o.d in this situation? You moron!” I screamed at him.
The soldier looked at me with teary, bloodshot eyes and shouted, “I’m praying for that hero!”
For whom?
“All I can do is pray for him!”
I let go of the soldier’s collar with a muddled mind. The soldier immediately knelt again, closed his eyes, and began to pray.
I picked up the radio with my trembling hands. A message was delivered to all the commanders under my command.
“Cheer and pray for that hero. He is the Founding King, the founder of our kingdom! The Founding King has returned to stop G.o.ds who are fascinated with madness and attack humans!”
As the soldier said, the only thing we could do was pray for that demon.
* * * * * *
“It’s the best.” I had no choice but to murmur when I saw the G.o.ds approaching me.
The core of the sorcerer’s source was in my stomach, along with the core of the source given by the G.o.d of Remorse asleep in my mana circuit.
Ma.s.sive forces were gathering into these two cores. “This is indeed the power of the source.”