Ep 76. Who Are You? (6)
The deities of space and death were, from their very beginning, untouchable.
Clyus’ divinity alone had rendered them invulnerable in almost any scenario; he could separate, isolate, and manipulate space at will. In the rare case that an individual could see through the elf’s manipulation, Felicir was able to subdue their threats. The two deities’ authority had remained unquestioned throughout time.
But now, that history was announcing its end before their very eyes.
Felicir awkwardly stood in place. His eyes emptily scanned the surrounding area, letting his thoughts process the situation at hand.
The deity of life – who should’ve been nothing more than a faithful servant to him – was suddenly standing in opposition to her owner.
A lowly monster – beings that were practically no different from beasts – was reading a deity’s spatial manipulation, and holding their ground against the Reaper himself.
The dragonkin that he’d allowed to last were now standing with their resurrected lord, hungry to kill the divinities that had claimed the world in their lord’s absence.
‘It seems like yesterday when I was standing on that side…’
Serenis, Karas, and the Raizel-Aldrid pair were all impervious to the Reaper’s divinity. In other words, to them, Felicir was no more than a mere human.
In reflection, his current position wasn’t all that different from the emperor he’d first taken the divinity of death from – especially with Clyus no longer able to provide him with any sort of protection or escape. Even though Felicir had never considered that aged imbecile of a ruler to be his equal, somehow he’d still wound up in the same position.
Serenis’ calm voice struck at the Reaper’s ears.
“Anything you wish to say?”
“…Ha.”
Not a hint of fear could be found in the dragonlord – not her voice, nor her eyes. If anything, Felicir could hear a hint of relief from her words.
‘How nostalgic.’
After an exasperated sigh, the Reaper raised both his hands into the air in a surrendering gesture.
“I’ll admit…I didn’t think you’d be so well-prepared, dragonlord. A monster, a dragon…and you somehow even managed to bribe Aldrid.”
The deity of life winced in silence at the Reaper’s choice of words. On the other hand, Serenis merely raised her left hand to face its palm towards the Reaper, a glowing orb of starlight materializing before her.
“A poor choice for one’s final words.”
“…I suppose only death awaits the defeated. But see, it’d be quite the shame to die alone.”
When Felicir tapped the ground with his foot, Gio’s unconscious body began to twitch and jerk by Serenis’ side. Following suit, bubbles began to foam over the headmaster’s mouth with a pained groan.
When others took note of the groaning archmage, the Reaper curved his lips in a thin smile.
“My divinity is practically limitless. You should know this already, dragonlord.”
“…And your final act is to take another life with you?”
“Ha! No, that would be far too little. If I were to die, I’d like the world I made to accompany me.”
Serenis visibly flinched at the threat that was layered into the statement.
“…Rubbish. Even you couldn’t kill the entire star in such a short time.”
“Would you care to find out? I’ve done it once, I can do it again. I wouldn’t even have to spare the dragonkin this time.”
“…”
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A deathly malice welled up in Serenis’ eyes. However, as soon as she took note of the fear in Aldrid’s expression, her heart began to sink.
It wasn’t a bluff.
The fact that Aldrid was remaining silent with such a fearful look only meant that the Reaper was perfectly capable of his claims: the crazed deity before them really could eradicate all life on the star in a heartbeat.
‘…Again.’
Those that were under Aldrid’s protection would be spared.
Monsters like Karas, and non-living objects, would also be spared.
But what about everyone else?
Not a single exception would be made. Man or dragon, insect or plant – nothing would be spared. The millennium-old genocide would plague the star once again, and the present world would vanish.
Serenis’ eyes shook under the weight of the ensuing silence.
‘…’Liberate the star’?’
Was that really the right decision to make?
Duty? Liberation? Of course they were important. But sacrificing the present to fulfill them was a decision only a madman would make.
If none were to survive the present, then the future that followed carried no meaning.
“…”
Felicir could see the dragonlord’s hand trembling in predicament. Her spelled orb was beginning to tear apart.
An eerie grin of satisfaction formed over the Reaper’s expression.
It was a hollow victory, but in the end, he’d survive. And as long as he survived, there’d be another chance to deal with the looming threat before him.
“Give up, dragonlord.”
“…”
“And I swear I won’t lay a finger on your kin. I do honor my promises – as I have to your son.”
Despite the evident reluctance in her eyes, Serenis slowly began to lower her trembling hand. The spell she’d formed began to die away without ever firing at its target.
‘…I win.’
As long as he lived, Felicir could devise a new way to eliminate their target. Now that he knew exactly what they were dealing with, he even had an excuse to enlist every other deity in killing the dragonlord. There were at least dozens of ways to render Aldrid’s protection ineffective, and a million more to kill the demonlord before him.
Or perhaps he could simply threaten her to suicide by taking her kin hostage – just like he had with Vulka.
Felicir clasped his own mouth. He couldn’t hide the triumphant joy on his face otherwise.
But just when the Reaper was about to relish in his small victory, a meek voice came from within the portal that was still glowing behind them.
“…He’s bluffing. He wouldn’t.”
Felicir widened his eyes at the familiar voice.
It was a voice that he shouldn’t have been hearing in that moment.
“…Felicis?”
There was no mistaking it; it was the deity of mana’s voice. If anyone would recognize it, Felicir would. It was his dear sister’s voice.
And from the other side of the portal, the deity of mana was biting her lips. She had to internally scream at herself over and over just to move her lips.
‘I can’t run away forever.’
Felicir’s divinity had no limit on the number of lives it could take; one flick of his wrist, and killing the city would’ve been a trivial matter for him. But despite this, he’d went through the trouble of going to the institute to manually facilitate a massacre. He’d went through the trouble of employing humans to slowly do the work he could’ve done in a split second.
And the deity of mana finally spoke the reason out loud.
“He wouldn’t kill the star. Not when he doesn’t know where I am.”
“What? Felicis, why would you-”
When his sister finished her sentence, the triumphant grin on the Reaper’s lips immediately disappeared. A new realization slowly dawned on him.
‘She’s not talking to me to begin with. She’s talking to…’
But Felicir’s realization was far, far too late. Before he could even finish his thoughts, a piercing light burst forth from Serenis’ orb, punching straight through the Reaper’s heart.
Heaps of blood spewed out from his chest. Dissolved in the crimson liquid were the black fragments that he’d so preciously kept throughout the last millennium.
Blood trickled down from Felicir’s lips. He staggered back a few steps, spilling streaks of blood from his chest.
“…Ha.”
Even now, the Reaper could make his words come true.
Before the divinity from his broken shard would fully leave his body, he could still make one last act. One small gesture, and the world itself would accompany the Reaper to hell.
But the thought hadn’t even struck his fading consciousness.
His sister was right; Felicir still didn’t know where Felicis was. And if he indiscriminately killed every life on the star, he’d be killing his own sister.
He’d long become a deity, and yet, the last bit of humanity left within was preventing him from crossing that trivial boundary.
“…”
‘…Haven’t I always known…’
In this entire world, there was only one person that death could never kill.
And on this star, there was only one person that could truly kill death.
‘…That it would end like this?’
✧ ✧ ✧
Aymeia slowly opened her eyes. Once again, a strange sensation was tugging at her entire body.
‘This again.’
Something didn’t feel right.
As a deity that governed over celestial bodies, Aymeia could create and manipulate celestial bodies at will. For a thousand years, she’d thought that was all there was to her divinity – just like the other members of the Twelve.
But recently, the very star she stood on seemed to grow further and further distant; alien, even. It was almost as if a higher entity was slowly robbing her of her domain.
Before, whenever she touched into the star’s depths, she’d felt nothing but hollow serenity; after all, the star they occupied was an object, not a living creature. But strangely enough, she could now feel a churning will resonating from within, almost as if it were alive.
Grief.
Regret.
Overwhelming desires that were being held back by a conscious will.
And right now, that will was slowly transforming the world they stood on. For the very first time, the star itself seemed to be screaming back at its oppressors to cease their toying.
A quiet whisper came forth from the deity.
“…Who are you?”
No answer came back. Her small voice faded out into the cavern’s depth.
But surely, they heard her question.
And surely, they’d know the answer.