Episode 1117 Nerga
Whoosh!
It burns unstoppably.
The flames, having grown as massive as the Soul Tree, now resembled a wildfire. Only the endless soundof things turning to ashes could be heard. The chaotically twisted giant roots and branches served as the death screams.
Before long, the cracked sky shattered like a glass window.
Fragments of the sky scattered, reflecting the scene of the Soul Tree being burned at the stake. Consequently, the mirror-like transparent area turned crimson.
Kugugugugugugu… … .
As the Gate of Death was completely sealed, the world collapsed. The spatial framework that maintained the interior of the Gate crumbled, and a sense of floating enveloped everything.The Soul Tree of Death plummeted. The souls residing within the shattered Source Body were unable to rise and fell into a bottomless, mysterious darkness.
The Nine Gates are ‘Fragments of Destiny’ connected to the First and Fifth Worlds.As the ties with the First World were severed and the precarious balance collapsed, the Fragments were suddenly exposed to the gravitational pull of the Fifth World…
Reality, and death.
The Gate of Death spans both sides and possesses an inherent subordinate structure in which the absence of one side inevitably causes it to tilt toward the other.
The space inside the collapsed Pendrenho gate passed through the gap between the two worlds.
The gaps in the world.
The Soul Tree and the souls it absorbed departed for where they were meant to go. The darkness of the rift was so deep and vast that their forms vanished before they knew it.
Only Sarkannon clung to the cliffs of the abyss and refused death.
[… … !… … !!]
The Rift of the World is the domain of the Second Apostle.
Although irresistible causality was pulling him, he could endure it, at least a little, because he was a retainer of the Apostle who completes destiny.Sarkannon’s head was hidden by his robe and could not be seen. Within the darkness cast beneath, there was nothing but a desperate sense of duty.
Eventually, Sarkannon began to climb the cliff.
[For the sake of Yuksado’s will.]
With his right arm shattered by the magic swordsman Dael and his entire body nearly destroyed by the Giant of the Sea and Tearel’s super-level magic… he desperately moved upwards while gripping a small crack with his remaining left arm and right leg.
If it had been the other members of the Apocalypse, they would have long since been dragged to the fifth world, but Sarkanon was different.
The 4th Commander of the Xerion Empire.The 4th minion of the Apostle of Death.The Apocalypse of Death.
As a being granted the power of death, he was able to delay his own death.
[please.]
I dare not accept an unsatisfactory end. I must prove my worth as a member of the noble Apostle’s retinue. I must prove my reason for existence for the sake of ‘your’ destiny.
[A second chance───]
Even he himself did not know the reason, but it was the instinct of the familiar itself.
* * *
The one-eyed creature poked its head out from the nape of Tearel’s neck and looked up at Verden.
[……dad?]
Verden was first taken aback by the word, which had no connection to his current self. In fact, the guy’s presence was more confusing than the word referring to his father.
Giant of the Sea.
The being created by Verden using the corpses of aberrant creatures and super-level magic possessed reason. The intelligence characteristic of an intelligent being was glimpsed in its single eye.It was difficult to understand.After all, when designing the giant with super-level magic, rationality had certainly never been taken into account. What he had envisioned was a pure emotional being that would not be denied entry to the Four Gates… one that hated fate.
It’s not because of magic. What acted as a variable was something more physiological… … No way.
Verden displayed insight.
Divine Power.
To be precise, it is the blood of God.
It seemed that the deity, whose details even Verden did not fully understand, had caused results that contradicted magical theory.This could be interpreted as the creation of an entirely separate and independent personality, deviating from the principle of using corpses to construct the undead through black magic.
The giant born of
It was completely engulfed in dark magic, so its divine power could not be detected from the outside, but only its creator, Verden, saw through its origins.
A being endowed with divine power.
Verden already knew what such people were called.
“Are you my apostle?”
The giant of the sea, who had shrunk to the size of a palm, immediately knelt and prostrated himself.
[Apostle of Curse. A. Behold. Father.]
Unlike earlier, when he was like a child, his voice was low and mature. I could not possibly deny the sense of kinship. It was just like blood ties.
Verden reached out his hand.
The giant of the sea hesitated, then carefully climbed onto his hand. Its large eyes, disproportionate to its size and likely to appear terrifying to others, blinked.
Then Thearel spoke with difficulty.
“It was radical, but… his help was immense. Without him, at best… we would have been mutual destruction.”“Is that so?”“Besides… he can even… distinguish the traitors to humanity. Radical, but.”
Verden opened his eyes wide.
Is that really true?
[It is not possible to distinguish all. worthless. people.]
The Giant of Obstruction described the Follower of Fate as a worthless one. Contempt and hatred toward Fate were conveyed through the light in his eyes.
Why did I come to have such an ability?
The cause was clear.
Verden created a proxy by pouring out all his negative emotions toward fate, along with his blood, solely to deal with Sarkannon—that is, the Apostles’ retinue. He designed it to instinctively target the Xerion Empire rather than the World Alliance.It is likely that, under this influence, it became capable of randomly detecting beings subservient to fate.
“Verden…….”
Tearel grabbed his collar.
“There is a follower…… in the Luas religion.”“……!”“Be careful.”
With those words, Tearel’s eyelids closed. His arm went limp. He was not dead.Although his life force had been replenished by taking the highly concentrated Lissandro’s Fruit Potion, his mental and magical powers had hit rock bottom, and the vicious evil that was eating away at his body moment by moment had not disappeared.
The divine power of the Luas religion might be able to heal it, but Tearel is a transcendent being. Therefore, this fraud, which multiplies by feeding on the life of a transcendent being, should be beyond the reach of even a miracle.
Based on my insight, it is difficult to assert that it can be overcome on its own through the homeostasis of the transcendent.
We cannot leave it unattended.
Verden very slowly unleashed the Magic of Destruction he had been preparing for the decisive battle. As a consequence of casting
Hiss… … .
Verden heightened his concentration and manipulated magical power in the smallest possible units. He plunged his hand into the dark red sea and scooped up only what was necessary.
A dark radiance flashed for a moment.
Hyun-roe – Flowing Electricity
The lightning of magic flowed into Tearel’s body and spread across the localized area.The blackened, dead skin fell off in an instant.
The sound of sleeping Thearel’s breathing became much more relaxed.
The subcutaneous tissue hidden beneath the skin was visible through his blue eyes. At first glance, it appeared as though his abdomen had been gouged out, but since Sarkanon’s energy was gone, he would be able to recover from such a wound with rest.
“If there are followers of fate in the Ruas religion, then the rooting out of traitors through heresy trials cannot be trusted. Not that I ever intended to trust them, though.”
Verden asked the apostle.
“Who was the follower?”
Since Tearel said it was violent, the actions shown by the Sea Titan must have been extremely violent.
[I heard. He. Is. the. Archbishop. of. Seongyeom.]
Did you kill him?
[Separated the upper and lower body, then trampled and crushed the upper body, Father.]
He murdered seven archbishops in front of everyone.
This is a serious matter.
Killing a key figure of the Holy Kingdom in front of everyone is a huge problem, but it is an even bigger problem because the Holy Kingdom’s deities can revive the dead Archbishop through the grace of resurrection.The Luas religion will be hostile toward the giants on a massive scale. Since Thearel likely defended the giants, they will have to bear the diplomatic burden later on.
The only saving grace is that the giant… the Apostle of the Curse appeared to have disappeared as the Gate was sealed. As long as we don’t let his survival be discovered, we can somehow get through this.
Verden erased the aftermath of the war from his mind and devoted himself to reality.To the Apostle standing before him.
“I am sorry to say this, but I do not know how to create an Apostle. There are still many things I do not know about divine power, either. So, I ask you: do you understand by what principle you were born as an Apostle?”
[An apostle is like an essential fragment of God.]
If it is a fragment.
[I. Was. Born. From. My. Father.’s. Fundamental. Emotions. The. Beginning. of. Defying. Heaven. The. Spark. of. Rebellion. My. Father. Who. Was. Dying. After. Being. Subjected. to. Human. Experiments. Hated. Heaven. And. Ultimately. Rejected… … The. Curse. Against. Fate.]
The giant continued speaking.
[Father. Did. Not. Intention. Yet. Breathed. That Heart. Into. Me. Along. Noble. Blood. And. Endowed. Him. with. A. Part. of. Essence. Thus. I, the. Apostle. of. the. Curse. Was. Born.]
An apostle is a part of God. By being endowed by God not only with power but also with one of His most important essences, he is like a being who represents His subject.
So you are saying that even if I hadn’t had the Apostle in mind, the result was bound to be the way it was given the process?
[Since He has already created apostles, the process must have been natural.]
“……Eloris.”
The Apostle of Dawn—Eloris—was resurrected by dwelling in the remnants of an evil god. The evil god who became her vessel also held the divine blood of Verden.
I didn’t get a similar feeling from Eloris to that of an Apostle.
[It is because it was mixed with other divine powers. And not only that Apostle, but I, too, am in an incomplete state as the Father’s Apostle.]
A cursed aura rose from the giant’s body.
[When the Father’s divinity is exalted, the Father’s Apostle will finally be able to fully wield His power.]
Apostle, yet imperfect… … .
Verden understood the guy’s explanation. Thanks to him, he was able to learn the principle of the Apostle’s birth, which even Eloris, who had merely been chosen by the Goddess of the Morning Star, did not know.
Verden asked.
“It looks like you’ve exhausted most of your strength within the sect. How long will it take to recover?”
[Most of my being is dead. Regeneration of my physical body and dark magic is necessary. Currently, my capacity has shrunk, so I cannot handle Father’s power; therefore, I have no choice but to rely on recovery through time.]
The giant of the sea calmed the curse.
[However, it can transform into the form of a curse and be concealed without being detected.]
“Like, by the side of a transcendent being?”
That is correct.
“Then stay with Thearel for the time being. Since there will be almost no outsiders coming and going while the Transcendent recovers through homeostasis, it should be the most comfortable environment for you.”
Verden looked across the lake.
“I would like to send you to the Blue Mountains where Eloris is if possible, but the current war situation does not allow for such leeway. It is also dangerous to take you with me.”
The war at Lake Pendren has ended, but the battlefield is the entire continent.
However, the damage to the Pendren Suppression Corps is significant, making it impossible to continue the next battle, and it is unclear what drastic measure Akand will take now that he has realized the loss of the Fourth Commander and the Four Gates.
I cannot let my guard down for even a moment.
[Understood, Father.]
“…….”
As Verden stared blankly and remained silent for a moment, the Giant of the Sea flinched. That was right. The problem of the unwanted child was not yet resolved.One wrong move and it would be an orphanage.It was the moment he was wondering if he should hastily bring up his father to stir up paternal instincts.
Nerga.
[!]
It is your name.
It was a name derived from an ancient word meaning protection. Although it is close to the exact opposite of a curse, he named it that way on purpose. After all,no parent would want to name their child with a negative connotation like a curse.
In other words, the Apostle of Curse was acknowledged by Verden. Even though he was an unintended child, he gained the right to call him father.
[Nerga.]
The one eye of Nerga, the apostle of curses and giant of hindrance—became bright and alert.
* * *
Father is weak.He is frail because he is kind-hearted.
The worthless will ceaselessly dig into the father’s weak points.Therefore, the task at hand is set.
Cursing every being that interferes with the father.
It does not matter whether they are followers of fate or resistors. The same goes for those who have nothing to do with either. It is an easier path to exterminate them than to be bothered and used by both forces.
Apostle Nerga possessed the abilities of Verden, but there was no line to guard. To be precise, he had absolutely no intention of guarding that line.
It only does not tarnish the dignity of the intelligent beings that Verden values.
Nerga was skilled in assassination, scheming, and intrigue.
