Chapter 569: Who are you?

I gazed into Zebrililith’s eyes as I listened to her horrifying words, which even held a hint of childlike innocence. At the same time, I intertwined my fingers with the treasure sword.

A being whose flesh, organs, and brain were made of liquid. Killing it with a sword strike would be difficult. I had never heard of anyone killing water even in the countless tales of heroes and warriors.

And yet…

「…I’m truly glad you’re my enemy. Die here and leave nothing behind. 」

I raised the treasure sword over my shoulder. Unpleasant thoughts raced through my mind on that moment. My mouth was strangely dry.

Zebrililith was like a mother of demons, constantly devouring things and giving birth to demons. Though fallen, she was undoubtedly once the goddess of demons. Even now, she continued to conceive and give birth to demons.

Therefore, if what she said was true…If humans were truly being transformed into demons…

How many of those demons that we had been killing were actually created by this thing?

Did that mean I had killed beings who were once innocent human beings?

「Oh? You intend to blaspheme a Deity? It won’t lead to a good outcome, and besides, it’s impossible. A Deity is absolute. I think it would be much better and more enjoyable to become good acquaintances with me. 」

「If a Deity like you is so absolute, then the word “blasphemy” wouldn’t even exist. Words exist because it’s possible. 」

「Words always express desires. Living things exist because they have desires. Even impossible desires are sustenance for living things. There’s nothing strange about someone putting them into words. I appreciate that way of being in living things. 」

She looked very similar to a human, yet her words were transcendent. Her choice of words, which surveyed living things from above, asserted that she was outside that framework.

I exchanged glances with Eldith beside me. As I gripped the hilt tighter, the treasure sword drained magical energy from my body, intensifying its purple lightning glow.

I drew a line with the sword. I swung it again, aiming for Zebrililith’s skull. The sword, bursting with magical energy, tore off the upper half of her face. While this would be a fatal blow to a living being, it meant nothing to a liquid god. But it was enough to buy me some time until Eldith was ready.

But the girl, even in that state, smiled fondly. My throat tightened. A cold sensation crept up from my toes.

「I understand what you’re saying. We, too, were fed up with our mechanical creators. Their tyranny, arrogance, and disrespect were unbearable. 」

Mechanical. That word sounded familiar. Not all my memories were clear, but I remembered Gear Rabel saying something similar. Perhaps, it was the mechanical gods she meant at that time? Rabel had said they were the very first gods. But now, there was no time to pay attention to such words. Each word Zebrililith spoke intensified the chills in my spine. My heart pounded like an alarm, and I even began to feel dizzy.

…I had an intuition. I had to silence her. That was the most urgent matter.

Instinctively, Eldith unleashed her overwhelming magical power upon the surroundings. A dense curse that, for any human, would be fatal just by looking at it. It was even called the Origin Magic. A portion of the black water evaporated in response to that curse.

「…That’s why I destroyed them. But I’m different. If I were a god, the entire world would be immersed in evil, and the entire world would be bound together in a demonic solidarity. 」

But Zebrililith continued speaking, seemingly unfazed. She felt no danger whatsoever just as no human being would feel threatened by a fly biting a piece of their skin.

「…So, let’s be good acquaintances? 」

It felt like my heart was being seized. My whole body stiffened as if bound by chains.

That’s when I finally realized.

…I shouldn’t have gotten close to this thing.

In the age of myths, a time when demons were even more densely concentrated than they were now, words possessed a stronger magical power. Sometimes they could deceive, drive people mad, and subdue them. A power far more vivid than the spells of today.

And here…I was inside the belly of Zebrililith, the progenitor of countless demons. Every word, every gesture, was imbued with demonic energy.

Before I knew it, Zebrililith’s face was no longer visible. Neither her innocent expression, nor her anger, nor her sadness, was there. No, perhaps gods didn’t have faces at all.

Only her voice resonated…it was a very a demonic sound.

「Now, say my name, nameless demon. Calling my name will be a tribute to the time when I reigned as a goddess over this world. It’s all about restoration, not remembrance. In mythology, time can be traced back endlessly. Become a part of my myth. 」

At this point, I realized I had misunderstood Zebrililith’s true nature.

From her past actions and Shadraput’s words, I had mistakenly believed her true nature was to give birth to demons.

But that was wrong. It was different from the Giant King Flimslat’s true nature being boundless destruction, or the Sky Dragon Vrilligant’s true nature being blasphemous usurpation.

…Uncompromising assimilation without exception was the true nature of the Spirit God, the Bastion Beast Zebrililith.

She had probably devoured other races in the past as well. Perhaps her “good acquaintances” referred to assimilating them by giving them new life.

A heavy air filled my lungs. The demonic sensation sometimes transcended physical reality. What could be felt through my skin became vague, and the organs that controlled the nervous system went haywire, thrashing about.

I saw Eldith’s knees give way. She was in more serious agony than I was. She had inherited Drigman’s powers to a great extent, and Drigman once served this god. How weak must the mind of a single individual be to stand against a god?

…I had to admit it. Even in its fallen state, Zebrililith was undoubtedly a god.

Gods looked down upon all things and forced them to submit. They possessed the power to dismantle reason and tear apart the joints of the world. It was almost unbelievable that anyone had ever defeated this being in its full power. It made me feel the absurdity of this world.

I didn’t even move a single finger. I felt utterly defeated for the first time in a long time. I thought I had come so far, yet there was still an insurmountable wall before me. Altia seemed so far away now…I couldn’t even reach Zebrililith.

Perhaps, it was reckless to even attempt to confront the demon that reigned supreme over the world and now threatened to devour it, with only two people. Such a thing was only permissible in heroic tales. The strategies I had considered were not only useless, but I couldn’t even put them into practice.

What meaning did it have to ask Shadraput and Leu for help?

「Ah… 」

I let out a sigh. My knees gave way.

Ah, it had been a long time. Crawling on the ground, gritting my teeth, and despairing.

To be honest, I knew. I knew it. A mere mortal chasing after a hero. This kind of thing would inevitably reach its limit somewhere. Just as Vrilligant said that everything that had a beginning must end. I, too, would have an end.

And this was just where that end came. In the end, nothing had changed from before. With resignation, I had to say goodbye to myself.

「…Lugis! I’m alright, don’t worry about me! 」

I looked at Eldith, who was raising her voice. Even though she was on her knees, she didn’t seem to have lost her consciousness. She was truly a hero.

「So, your name is Lugis. Call me by my name. You and I… we could be very good acquaintances. 」

The fallen god spoke. Without malice or ill will, with unwavering goodwill. Her voice felt unbearably sweet. I was even tempted to pierce my ears right then and there. I even wished that the words I had just heard would be the last voice I ever heard in my life.

The temptation of a god was so beautiful and unbearable.

「…He’s my knight. Leave him alone. I won’t let you control him. 」

I saw Eldith stand up, while her legs were greatly unsteady. She stood so weakly, as if she could be knocked away by a single glance from Zebrililith, yet she stood.

When we first met, I thought Eldith still had emotional weakness, but now she possessed an abundance of qualities befitting a queen…a hero.

The girl who had been broken in the past now stood as a hero. And, unbelievably, she was protecting me.

I couldn’t help but be angry at myself. Despite how many times she had saved me, I realized I had secretly wished she would abandon me and run away.

It would’ve been so much easier if she had just said, “I don’t care about you anymore”, and run away. I was disgusted by my own baseness for wishing for that, even though I knew she wasn’t the kind of elf to do such a thing.

That was right. I couldn’t run away, nor could I give in to despair. I was her knight, her hero. Therefore, there was only one course of action I could take now.

It was simple. All I had to do was cast aside what she had desperately clung to and insisted upon.

I gripped the treasure sword tightly. I nodded in response to the magical energy emanating from the sword and its palpable sense of urgency.

…And then, a flash of purple lightning mixed with the black once again and severed Zebrililith’s head. The black water exploded and evaporated.

「…Oh, I see. 」

Zebrililith, as if understanding, began to reconstruct her body again. I cut that body in two, as if killing her. I already knew how to kill her. It was just a matter of whether I could do it.

「That’s right. You’re the one who killed that child, Vrilligant…The Great Evil Lugis. That’s how it is. Human, you can’t reach me like you once did. 」

「…Well, we’ll see. Even gods and dragons die eventually. You’ve killed enough already. You might as well die now, Great Demon. 」

I unlocked the Original Text. The treasure sword clearly indicated that my own body was no longer human.

I could hear the gears turning powerfully inside my body.

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