Chapter 163 : Chapter 163
Chapter 163: Phantom Liberty (1)
I couldn't understand.
The Age of the Gods had ended when all the gods on this land departed for the heavens── the Divine Realm.
But why was I still here?
If I truly were a god, I should have ascended to the Divine Realm with them.
Why was I not chosen?
And why did the beings on this land still call me a god and worship me, me who was not chosen and was left behind?
I couldn't understand.
Why they would come to me, asking me to solve every problem, even those unrelated to my ability, believing that since I was a god, I should be able to resolve all their issues.
I once directly asked what exactly they wished from me.
The looks they gave me are unforgettable.
They said, how could I not know such a thing, being a god.
I said I didn't know the human heart.
I also said I was not worthy of worship.
I was confused.
I was merely something left on this earth, abandoned.
I was just a False God who failed to ascend to the heavens.
I never desired worship, from the start.
All I wanted was to be where I belonged.
Since I was born, this world had been full of unknowns.
Nevertheless, I tried my best to become their god.
If there was a reason I was born into this world, it must have been for this.
Someone asked me to grant them eternal youth.
So I granted it.
That was something I could do.
Someone asked me to grant them immortality.
I granted that as well.
That too was something I could do.
They were delighted.
Therefore, I wanted to grant everyone eternal immortality.
So they wouldn't have to worry about aging or death anymore.
And so I could solve their pain and sorrow, which were outside the scope of my abilities.
Though I was an abandoned being, I was a god to them.
I wanted to grant them what they wished for, as much as possible.
I wanted to grant them salvation.
However, when I brought up this idea, the answer I received was not what I had expected.
But at the same time, it was the answer I had been longing for.
I knew I wasn't a god.
I knew I wasn't human.
Then what exactly was I?
I finally heard the answer to that question.
──Ah.
So that's it.
I was a monster.
***
“Pariah, what on earth…!”
Toric couldn't finish his sentence.
It was because Pariah had grabbed Toric by the collar and lifted him up.
“Do you know what you bastards have done, Toric…!”
Seeing this, Evie reacted immediately, drawing her dagger and slicing his wrist, but as expected, Pariah used his arm, which was fine as if the slicing hadn't happened, to punch and send Evie flying.
“Why, why are you trying to kill her…!?”
Miki moved to charge at him, but Toric stopped him and continued speaking.
“Isn't she the god you all have revered…!”
“A god?”
Pariah countered with a voice full of rage.
“She's no such thing as a god…!”
And the hand lifting Toric tightened its grip.
“She is merely a monster who doesn't understand people at all, who tried to embalm us on the spot in the name of granting us salvation…!”
“What…?”
“And you bastards, you woke up that monster again…!”
“Embalm, what is that even…”
“I will kill that monster.”
Pariah gritted his teeth, crunch, and said.
“If you interfere again, then I'll strike you bastards down first…!”
After saying only what he wanted to say, he vanished suddenly once more.
“Shit, again…?”
Evie, who had been hit and sent flying by Pariah, slowly got up, clutching her abdomen where she had been hit.
“Hey, what that bastard just said…”
“He definitely said, embalmed…”
But now, what bothered her continuously was the remark he left behind, more than the pain in her abdomen or her anger toward Pariah.
“…We have to find Rine first.”
It was not my place to explain the truth behind that statement, and in any case, there was no time for a calm explanation.
My companions, who heard me, seemed to understand that fact, even if they still didn't grasp the situation.
“Where on earth did she disappear to now…?”
She is still in Shurina.
To be precise, she is in the sky above Shurina… in the ‘heavens.’
As gods often are.
I had to go meet Rine.
『──Attention all forces!』
Of course.
『The ‘False God’ has returned! I repeat! The ‘False God’ has returned to Shurina!』
The priority was to safely escape from here,
『The outsiders who brought that ‘False God’ into this city are still in this Divine Palace! Find them and kill them!』
Listening to Kurt's voice, which resonated loudly even in the basement through magic.
“Let’s go.”
The companions, who seemed to sense this fact, nodded without anyone speaking first.
Then, I tore the side of the dress skirt, which was only cumbersome for running.
Immediately upon escaping the basement, the soldiers guarding the Divine Palace blocked our path.
“Get out of the way, you bastards!”
It was Evie, who avoided the spells flying at her with flashy movements, and slashed them down with the black and white daggers held in both hands.
Meanwhile, Miki, who blocked all the spells instead of avoiding them by holding his shield high while Evie was stirring up the middle of the enemy formation.
『Blow!』
Instantly released the ‘shock’ he had absorbed, returning it in full.
──Boom!
The 「Tailwind」 that erupted from Miki's shield directly followed the incoming spells and simultaneously hurled the charging soldiers holding weapons far away.
And we ran straight through the path that had been cleared without any hesitation.
The soldiers who belatedly tried to chase us.
“Everyone! Look at me!”
Instantly flinched the moment I, standing furthest back, quickly turned my back and took off the 「Witch's Eye」.
Then, towards the soldiers who became ‘charmed’ by looking at my beautiful face.
『──Protect us!』
I shouted the 「Word Command」.
“──!”
At that moment, all the soldiers who were looking at me with eyes stained with the light of charm── to be precise, dozens of soldiers within 20 meters── all turned their backs to follow my command and directed their weapons toward the other soldiers not dominated by 「Word Command」.
It was the effect of the necklace around my neck, the 「Witch's Voice」.
“H-Hey!? What in the world are you guys──”
“We protect her!”
“Are you betraying us now!?”
“I…! I must protect that beauty…!”
“W-What are you talking about!?”
With this, we no longer had to worry about the rear, but.
“They are there! They are the outsiders!”
Soldiers who had spotted us and were charging were still in front.
It was inevitable, as this Divine Palace was where the most soldiers in all of Shurina were constantly stationed.
However.
“Brother Toric!”
“I understand!”
Toric, who leaped much higher than usual thanks to Lily’s ‘blessing,’
“Ugh-ryaaaahb──!!”
Crashed──!
He smashed the floor with his powerfully slammed axe, and instantly 「Crushed」 the tightening encirclement.
And no sooner had he done that.
“Woah-oh-oh──!”
He let out a roar of 「Rage」, causing all the soldiers who charged without being caught in the radius of 「Crush」 to flee in terror, struck by 「Fear」.
Thanks to this, we quickly slipped through the soldiers who were either sprawling on the ground or hastily running away in ‘Fear.’
The soldiers of Shurina, who had accumulated long experience thanks to their long lifespans, were naturally high-level strong individuals by continental standards, but they were no match for us, who had already dealt with Krom's elite soldiers.
And, from the start, we had no intention of fighting them individually.
The only thing important to us right now was how quickly we could escape this place and find Rine.
“Get out of the way! Damn it, just move!”
Therefore, instead of dealing with each of them, we chose to ignore and pass them by like this.
But, when we were close to the ‘exit.’
“──Your reckless rampage ends now!”
“──!?”
Boom!
Kurt, who appeared, shaking the ground and blocking our way, was someone we absolutely could not ignore and bypass.
The moment he brought down a blunt weapon as massive as his own huge body, we stopped running and flinched in our tracks.
If we had stopped even a moment later and been hit by that blow, it would have been our bodies, not the floor, that shattered.
But immediately after delivering that heavy blow.
“Miki!”
Kurt rushed toward Miki, who was in the lead, with a speed that seemed to defy time.
The moment he brought the club down once more.
“Ugh…!”
Clang!
Miki’s expression, who had barely managed to raise his shield to block, twisted in pain.
Then, the 「Tailwind」 that couldn't bear the shock burst out unintentionally, actually sending Miki flying.
On the other hand, Kurt, who also took the wind, merely staggered one step back and was fine, resulting in Miki being the one slammed onto the floor.
The shield that flew with Miki was crumpled, with the part that clashed with the club dented inward.
Just by seeing that, we could tell how powerful that last blow was,
“Go bury yourselves back in the basement you came from, you dwarves!”
Kurt aimed that same strike at Toric, who was standing beside him, once more.
As if ignoring the basic rule of ‘one time per turn.’
Kagagak!
The strike clashed with the heavy axe blade Toric swung, and even the 「Raging」 Toric began to be pushed back, unable to overcome the force.
“That bastard…!”
Crunch!
Evie, who simultaneously bit the pill in her mouth, spat out vaporized Gloom and rushed forward instantly.
But even that swift speed of Evie, with a long trail of undulating purple light.
“What──”
Kurt ‘reacted.’
He dodged Evie's dagger aimed at his neck and quickly twisted his waist to swing the club.
Whoosh!
Evie barely managed to evade the blow, but the air pressure created by the swinging club was something she couldn't avoid.
“Kugh…!?”
And so she was sent flying.
Of course, since she hadn't taken a direct hit, she landed lightly and quickly regained her posture.
As you can see, Kurt was a ‘boss’ who combined Miki’s resilience, Toric’s strength, and even Evie’s speed.
“──Hey, Bard.”
And that boss was glaring at me, who possessed none of those qualities.
“Go on, try one more of your strange tricks.”
He scoffed at me, as if he knew very well that the 「Word Command」, which had definitively worked the first time, wouldn't be easily effective this time.
While we had simply ignored the soldiers until now and kept running, this fight with Kurt was unavoidable no matter what.
To put it plainly, it was a ‘fixed event.’
“I'll spare your life.”
So.
“And for the humiliation you put me through, I'll make you taste the same humiliation.”
I never planned to avoid him from the start.
“I'll take you as my bitch.”
“Try it if you can.”
Kurt dies here.