The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 177 – The Primordial Demon, Brunhilde Subjugation (5)

A shattered sun.
A twilight sky.
A distorted landscape.
A burning world.

Flames surged from the earth, reaching toward the heavens as if trying to touch it. They stretched upward, carving cracks into the fractured sun. Through these fissures, more flames poured forth.

Fire erupted from the ground.
Embers rained from the sky.

In this world that mirrored hell itself, wings vast enough to eclipse the sun’s eye unfurled and flapped. In their wake, flames danced—burning the sky, scorching the world, blazing with magnificent brilliance.

Again, the wings beat.
Following their motion, the flames gathered, swirling around Brunhilde’s form.

Crack, Snap

Then, like a butterfly emerging from its torn cocoon, Brunhilde tore free from her nest of fire.

Her appearance had transformed completely.
Her tattered body had been fully restored. The wings of flame had reverted to demonic wings formed of membrane.

“We still have some time left. Shall we talk?”

Instead of her shattered bone armor, she now wore armor of living flame. She held a single spear in her hand.
The halo that had once floated above her head was gone, replaced by a massive inverted pentagram that loomed behind her.

With regal dignity, Brunhilde walked through the empty air, stride by stride.

Surrounded by flames so intense they seemed able to incinerate anything in sight.
Standing beneath the fractured sun, at the very heart of hell, Brunhilde spoke:

“I wanted to have a conversation with you, now that you’ve shown everything.”

Cold energy spread outward, pushing back against the fierce heat of the flames. Drifting feathers exuded demonic energy, cutting through the falling embers.

“You know as well as I do—whether I kill you or you kill me, it will be decided in an instant. So, let’s talk for a bit.”

Clink — Brunhilde hung her spear in midair and crossed her arms.
Her demeanor was peaceful, showing no hostility.

I too pulled my consciousness back to reality.
I relaxed my stance and reined in the energy that had been flowing freely.

“Ahaha, thank you. Now, where should I start…”

With less than two minutes remaining, amid a hellish landscape that seemed to embody total destruction, Brunhilde appeared remarkably composed.

“What do you think we are?”

“Forgotten… heroes.”

“Hmm—and what else?”

Brunhilde’s voice cut sharply, as if telling me not to play innocent.

So you knew all along.
Brunhilde, Valoran, Tylant, Carpeng.

If they had been mere Beasts of the End, stripped of reason and driven only by instinct, they wouldn’t have understood this. But they had forcibly reclaimed their minds at the cost of their lifespans.

Imagining how Brunhilde must feel, sensing the emotions of those connected to my soul, I slowly parted my lips.

“…Fragments of the Key.”

Clap — With a bright smile, Brunhilde clapped her hands as her elegant tail swayed.

“That’s right. We are fragments of the Key. Pieces meant to open the door to the Higher World. Those you call Masters—those children carry the divine essence of Lilith. Then what about us? What do we contain? What could we hold? Do you know what realm we reached?”

I recalled the heroes Valoran had shown me, the experiences I had felt and endured during the trials.

The [True Energy] that permeated their bodies.
The level they had reached, the level “I” had reached.
And what they had tried to fully transcend—

“Apotheosis. We, once mere mortals, ultimately reached the realm of godhood. Thus, divine essence was embedded in our bodies. Had time continued, had we broken through the final barrier, our souls too could have held divine essence.”

Crackle, Sizzle — As Brunhilde’s emotions intensified, the heat of the flames burning with her feelings grew fiercer.

“Yes. We truly… could have transcended the end of this world, leading all living beings to the ‘Higher World.’ But we failed. The time given to us wasn’t enough.”

Though she spoke with a smile, her voice carried deep regret and endless self-reproach.

“…This Higher World you speak of… what exactly is it?”

Snap — Brunhilde flicked her fingers, and the flickering flames froze. The drifting smoke stilled. The air stopped. Space itself halted. Time stood still.

The light from the cracked sun dimmed.

“A world where beings aren’t fabricated. A world free from predetermined order. A world without fixed destinies, where concepts don’t imprison, where rules don’t bind—where one can live wholly as oneself among perfect beings. For example, the Demon Realm where I lived and—”

The Celestial Realm where Valoran lived.
The Phantom Realm where Tylant lived.
Another Phantom Realm where Carpeng lived.

And then,

“The world where you lived.”

Tap, Crackle — As Brunhilde exhaled, time resumed its flow.

“Then I must also be a fragment of the Key—”

“That’s right. ‘You’ are a fragment of the Key. But you are not.”

“What do you mean I’m not…?”

“Let me rephrase. Someone walked that terrible path of thorns in your stead. Betrayed and abandoned by those they trusted, by the entire world. Someone who killed their beloved with their own hands, twisting and shattering causality. Eventually, this ‘Hypocrite’ who claimed to be the end of all things—she became a fragment of the Key in your place.”

“What are you saying…?”

Crack, Snap — Dark light seeped through the fractured sun. It reached toward Brunhilde’s very essence, extinguishing her flames, binding her body.

Yet Brunhilde smiled, unconcerned.

“But you know what? Besides the Hypocrite, there was another—an arrogant, foolish, and obstinate human who willingly chose to become a fragment of the Key.”

The Sword of Victory.

“Unlike us, she wasn’t summoned from the Higher World. Yet she was stronger than any being imaginable. So powerful that victory against her wasn’t even conceivable. She could have transcended the end. She could have contained complete divinity and overcome everything. She could have led all who followed her to the Higher World. But she didn’t.”

Brunhilde’s weary gaze
Looked at the rift torn in the sky.
Looked at her own flames.
Looked at the cold energy suppressing her heat.
Looked at the feathers blocking her flames.
Looked at the blood energy enveloping my body.

And then, she looked to the heavens.

“Perhaps because she was originally a resident of this world, her desired victory wasn’t distorted, but perfect. That’s why she chose to become a fragment of the Key. With that power, at the cost of all her [True Energy], she twisted the rules. She left two beings in a single era, creating a ‘variable.’ She opened a path—a path toward perfect victory. She postponed the choice that had been her duty.”

A self-deprecating smile.
Yet within it lingered hope and gratitude.

“Arrogant woman. Ahaha! I said I wanted to talk, but I’ve been doing all the talking. It’s been so long since I’ve had a conversation, I got carried away. But… I’m sorry. There’s not much time left, so I should end this now.”

The massive halo behind her flickered. In response, her flames burned more fiercely.

“When I die, my essence will seep into your soul anyway. But then, I won’t be able to remain as a complete ‘self’ like I am now. So, while I’m still of sound mind, let me ask one final question. You don’t need to answer right away. Just show us when the final moment comes.”

The dark light intensified.
Like a shell peeling away, the fractured sun revealed a black sun hidden behind it.

“Challenger. What choice will you make? Will you shatter the heavens as I did? Will you deny them like those foolish celestials? Perhaps you’ll halt them like a timid beast, or perhaps charge toward them like a reckless one.”

Brunhilde’s outstretched hand gripped her spear.
All the flames moved with her motion. They swirled. They merged. They cascaded. They surged. They raged, burning the sky and setting the world ablaze.

I did not answer.
I could not answer.

But Brunhilde…
As if pleased by this,
As if relieved,

Smiled more genuinely, more brightly, more happily than anyone.

“Yes. Whatever choice you make, I hope you don’t walk the same failed path we did.”

The cracked, fractured sun gave way, revealing the perfect form of the black sun.

“Forge ahead without breaking, following your own path.”

Dark light descended.
Even this darkness was consumed by Brunhilde’s flames.
Black flames that burned everything, even her own existence.
They extended toward the world.
They rose to shatter the heavens.

“At the end of everything, make a choice without regret.”

Brunhilde’s world screamed. The fiercely burning flames were torn apart, shredded, twisted together.

The massive halo behind her flickered.
The screaming world rose.
The contorting flames gathered at her spear’s shaft, compressing.
They overlaid. They formed a new shape.

What emerged was a spear to kill gods.

A spear to break the heavens.

A weapon never given a name.

A forgotten past.

It was unleashed.

A colossal inferno,
Everything she had accomplished,
All of it surged toward me.

Though broken, snapped, collapsed, erased—leaving no trace behind—
The soul of a hero still blazed brilliantly.

“Challenger. Achieve what you desire, not what we desired.”

Amid flames burning hotter than the scorching sun, I let Frey hang low.
I focused my mind. At the edge of my consciousness, I reached toward ‘it’—the power calling to me. I sought strength.

But I did not wish for it.
I did not long for it.
I did not pray for it.

I simply took what I wanted.

At this moment,
What I desired most was:

Victory, and

Peace.

Slowly exhaling,
I raised Frey.

From below to above.
From earth to sky.
From past to future.

To vanish.

To burn away.

I imposed my will upon the world.

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