Chapter 576: A Day of Joy

The fortress-like beast crumbled and fell.

In that instant, the sound vanished from the world, and even the flow of time lost its color.

Greedier than the dead, yet more pure than a baby. A colossal body that devoured people, the earth, and even the world. Its outer shell, which was the embodiment of waste and ruin, crumbled away.

There was no need for the copper dragon to spew hellfire anymore. The beast stopped its march, embracing the demon city, with which it shared an era, and died.

The city of dragons that once symbolized the heavens, and the spirit god that once ruled the earth. With the giant king gone, the collapse of both of them signified the end of ancient mythology.

Giant King Flimslat. The Evil Dragon Vrilligant. And the Spirit God Zebrililith.

The three great demons that once ruled the world, controlled evil, and dominated humanity. Great gods who, even after being defeated by Altia, didn’t meet their demise.

Today, their mythical age truly came to an end.

The one who felt the end of an era more than anyone else did was the spirit god, or goddess so to speak, Zebrililith.

The clash between the demon city and her body wasn’t merely a physical one. What fell on her was the very city that once worshipped her. The demon city was a city that embodied the worship of dragons and demons alike.

What destroyed faith wasn’t reality, but always another faith. Now, the masses of dragon worship and spirit worship were clashing and devouring each other. The only possible outcome was mutual annihilation.

「It’s sad. So, so sad. In the end, restoration was not possible, and my thoughts and actions were nothing but a reminiscing fragment. Even a god is powerless before the whole world. 」

Zebrililith said softly. Her voice didn’t convey any sense of dread or tragedy. It was as if she had exasperated, yet accepting the present. She didn’t look like someone who had just seen death.

The colossal body that had protected her, and even the temple itself, were on the verge of collapse. At this point, even if the Fairy King’s curse were gone, it would be meaningless.

「I won’t say I’m sorry. You had to die for us to survive. 」

「Oh! You were thinking about that? No, demon…no, Lugis. There is no good or evil in this world, only victory and defeat. You won and I lost again. That’s all there is to it. 」

Inside Zebrililith’s collapsing body, Lugis swung his treasure sword with one hand and took a step closer. Zebrililith easily understood what he was about to do.

That was precisely why it was so inexplicable.

How could such a human possess an Original Text that could kill a god?

He was mediocre. Zebrililith wasn’t talking about his talent or physique. He could be considered heroic if she considered only the state of his mind

However, his mediocrity lay in his emotions. No matter how much he professed evil, his essence recognized good and even despised malice.

However, those who possessed an Original Text often lost their sense of good and evil. In order to make an Original Text work, every being who used it had their emotions distorted, making their own hidden, animalistic desires reach the surface.

For Zebrililith, who had seen even the contours of his soul, it was utterly inexplicable. Why was he given an Original Text that governed death?

As Lugis approached Zebrililith, he drew the sword’s hilt to his shoulder and raised the treasure sword vertically. There wasn’t a trace of hostility in this action. Only a quiet will was contained within.

He was indeed not suited to be a hero. Those who, when faced with someone they must kill, wondered if there would be another way except killing were neither heroes nor demons.

Pathetic, Zebrililith thought.

「You’re going to kill me, aren’t you? Then, you need to get closer. You won’t be able to overcome what you need to overcome if you continue like this. You can no longer die peacefully in your bed. You must even hear the voices of those who hate and resent you. I told you, humans will eventually fear you…No, that’s not right, they will either love you or fear you. The future generation will have no choice but to do the same. A hero is someone no one can remain indifferent to, isn’t that what a hero is? 」

「I used to be hated by people all the time, so this is better than that. 」

「Oh, you’re quite the talker, aren’t you? 」

Lugis slowly approached. Zebrililith felt him, even though her eyelids were closed. In a few seconds, they would be within each other’s range. The air felt tense, and a magnificent collapse enveloped the surroundings, yet the space between them remained eerily quiet.

Zebrililith had lost her temple, and even her body and soul were facing death. Almost no magical power remained in her body.

Yet, Zebrililith moved as if she had been waiting for this moment. Lugis, too, raised his treasure sword in response.

…Their mutual, yet non-hostile, killing intent intersected.

In a space where even breathing had been lost, Zebrililith’s black water pierced Lugis’ limbs and invaded his body. Normally, for a mere living being, that alone would have been enough to shatter their limbs.

Lugis swung his treasure sword down in one swift motion.

A shimmering purple lightning trail pierced through the former spirit god’s body. The blade cut through Zebrililith’s left shoulder, slashing her heart, and exiting through her right flank.

Black blood splattered all around, signaling the god’s death.

Zebrililith sighed, looking at her wounds without much emotion. From the start, her own death was inevitable. It was a choice between dying alone or not.

And the answer was already clear. He had shown he had surpassed her.

「Lugis…」

Zebrililith spoke with her wounded body. It seemed like a god delivering an oracle. A chilling cold struck Lugis’ skin.

Zebrililith absorbed all the accumulated black water into herself, pouring her final strength into her fingertips. The magic of the mythical age transformed into blood and allowed her legs to stand.

Then, slowly, yet solemnly, Zebrililith opened her eyes and looked at Lugis.

What was embedded in her eyes looked like light itself.

It was the majesty of when Zebrililith was a god. A relic of the mythical age when she surveyed the entire world. Now, with that, she looked at Lugis directly.

「…Let’s be good acquaintances if we ever meet again. 」

The words were spoken with an affection that seemed unbelievable because they were directed at one who had killed her.

No, perhaps that was only natural.

Just as the essence of Flimslat was “destruction”, and that of Vrilligant was “plunder”, if we were to name Zebrililith’s essence, it would be “birth”. To give birth to demons and make them one with her very being. One could say that everything this colossal body had accomplished was Zebrililith’s original essence.

But if her original essence was to give birth to all demons…

Conversely, all demons in this world must consider her their mother. And Lugis was no longer human, but a demon.

Therefore, Zebrililith accepted death as if speaking love for her own child.

She smiled slightly after gazing at Lugis with her shining eyes. Perhaps, she was watching over her child’s departure.

…With this moment, the age of mythology came to an end.

Zebrililith, a symbol of the great catastrophe and the last remaining being to retain the essence of myth, ended its more than a thousand-year life on this very day.

—

The death of the Great Demon Zebrililith. Every historical record mentioned this day.

It was impossible to ignore its fall regardless of the perspective or viewpoint from which it was depicted. She was truly one of the symbols that colored this era, and her end was often depicted as a turning point in history.

At the very least, it could be said that everyone rejoiced and cheered at the end of the great catastrophe.

The Great Demon was dead, and the evil that threatened humanity had finally vanished. The fact remained that the continent belonged to humanity even if there were wars between humans.

On this day, humanity reclaimed the hegemony of the continent that had been lost due to the rampant evil.

Countless historical records documented this day as a day of joy.

Nevertheless…

Zebrililith’s death wasn’t the only thing that happened on that day.

The Great Demon’s death was so shocking and such a significant event that some aspects were left out of the records.

But those events, too, were a turning point in this era.

Raisho, an elven scribe said to have been close to Lugis, left behind words attributed to Lugis in his chronicles.

On the same day as the death of the Great Demon Zebrililith…

…Fort Medraut, defended by General Richard Permilis, fell.

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This is a very good chapter…the end of this chapter gave me goosebumps…!

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