The Great Sword is not the Main Body!
Chapter 229 – Remaining Life (2)

I could feel the [Law]’s Authority that had resided in Sirin’s body, her heart, rapidly draining away.

From the feather of Valoran clutched in my hand, from Brunhilde’s ember, and from Kartia’s bracelet, every last trace of it.

And slowly, the souls that had drained out gathered before the Gate of the False Paradise and began to take on distinct forms.

The shapes looked as if they’d been clumsily molded by a child using clay. Though they were blurry, like the visions I’d seen of the End, as they neared completion, I could tell exactly what they were becoming.

I couldn’t not recognize them.

A black feather.

Wings cloaked in flame.

A blade that held pale moonlight.

A golden sphere, the essence of [Law], where all life converged.

All had taken shape.

And then, 

From Frey, who stared up at the sky; from Carpeng, who bristled with bloodlust; from Laila, ascending into the air, 

Their souls, their desires, began flowing toward the Gate of the False Paradise.

Crack.

Frey bit her lip hard, and a sharp aura erupted from her body. Carpeng and Laila also tried to suppress their energy, attempting to resist the extraction of their souls, but, 

“Ha, fuck.”

They couldn’t stop it.

On the contrary, the more they resisted, the faster their souls seemed to be drawn away, almost as if mocking them.

In the chaos that had erupted so suddenly, I didn’t know what I should do.

But I felt like I had to stop the Gate of the False Paradise, which was slowly opening.

And as if affirming that thought, 

Laila, standing beside me, gripped the Scythe of Life.

[Before their souls, and ours, are all absorbed, we must stop it. Before the pieces of the key fall into the hands of the Nameless One… we must stop it, no matter what.]

“For how long?”

Frey also drew her greatsword and stepped up beside us.

[…That, I do not know.]

“What?”

[Ordinarily, the Gate of Paradise only opens once all is over and all the pieces of the key have been gathered.]

“So it’s supposed to be locked? Then why the hell is it opening on its own like this?”

[I can’t say for certain… but I think the Nameless One broke the [Law]. She severed the chain of [Law] that bound her body. No, she went further. I believe she severed the chain of [Law] that binds the entire world.]

“What kind of… bullshit is that?”

Frey ran a rough hand through her hair, clearly not understanding Laila’s words.

Beside her, Carpeng radiated bloodlust, already poised to charge at any moment, clearly never interested in listening from the start.

And I, I understood everything Laila said.

I raised my greatsword.

That being had severed the chain of [Law]. Not only the one that bound her, but the chain that constricted this entire world.

Which meant… that being had absorbed the majority of Lilith’s power.

[Apotheosis] was nearly complete.

That being was about to become the true god of this world.

If that happened, then this world, Rubia, would no longer be savable.

With that conclusion in mind, 

I thought I had to cut down Valoran, Brunhilde, Kartia, and Sirin. I had to slay their yet-incomplete spirits and steal their souls to prevent the completion of the key.

But just as I was about to move, 

CRACK!

The golden sphere split apart.

From the crack, the trapped souls within poured out. They spilled across the land, trampling flower heads, snapping stalks, and ripping roots from the ground. Those souls soon took on human form.

KAANG!

A slash flew at me, one I couldn’t even sense with my [ki].

Instinctively, I raised my greatsword to block it.

That strike came from a specter, a swordsman holding a worn blade, standing in the distance.

And I knew.

There was only one person I knew who could unleash a strike like that.

“Lu…chi?”

Luchi.

The swordsman who had cleaved the world, Luchi.

And Luchi wasn’t the only one who appeared upon the earth.

As my [ki sense] drew out the landscape, the horizon wavered, 

[Wh…at is this…]

Adventurers from Arlba, whom I had seen countless times in visions.

The fallen soldiers of the Liberation Army who had gathered at Kartia to help us. The people. The villagers.

Adventurers from generations past, now forgotten. Knights. Comrades of old heroes. Beasts.

“This… fuck… that bastard…”

Ziz, whose head Kartia had severed just moments ago.

And another enormous beast in the shape of a serpent, harboring the same power as Ziz.

[Leviathan… as well.]

They all rose together.

Too many to count.

Thousands. Tens of thousands. Numbers beyond measure.

The spirits filled the edge of the world.

“Ah… ahahahaha! My god… there are way more than I expected! Maybe… I overdid it? Hehe… hahahaha! Lilith’s Authority is more incredible than I thought. No wonder she was sitting on that throne.”

Floating through the sky, ‘Rubia’ exhaled a giddy breath and raised her hand. In response, the specters on the ground raised their heads.

And then, 

Luchi raised his sword.

“I truly never thought I’d mess up my power control like this. I only meant to stall for time… but this? Hah. Well, do try your best. If you die here, I’ll have to lead these gloomy things into Paradise. Got it?”

‘Rubia’ waved her hand through the air.

“Especially you, Noah. I really hope you survive, okay?”

Luchi’s sword fell, from above, downward.

Following its path, a thin line was drawn. A line infinitely straight and unwavering. The very same line that once cleaved the world.

That line quivered, forming a crack in space. It spread. Distorted. Crumpled.

The line that had gradually grown larger became a colossal slash that surged toward us.

Ziz’s lightning blanketed the sky. The sound of waves, impossible to hear here, echoed. The roars of the specters rang out. The clatter of adventurers’ gear struck the earth. The howls of the beasts stirred the world.

Amid it all, I lowered my greatsword.

I expanded my [ki sense], drawing everything that existed in this place. I locked onto the first being that had to be cut down.

Luchi.

BOOM! 

I launched a full step. I gripped my lowered greatsword and, following the trajectory drawn in my mind, swung it toward the slash rushing at us.

KWA-KA-KA-KANG!

The mighty light and the slash that sought to cleave the world collided. The light overwhelmed the slash. The slash shattered. Shards burst from the impact. 

CRACK!  

The specters that touched the fragments crumbled without resistance. Those that struck the ground left deep scars before fading away.

And from within, the specter shaped like Luchi swung his sword once more. A massive, tidal slash surged forth. I swung my greatsword to meet it.

BOOOOM!

The slash shattered again. It scattered. The fragments, now countless disasters, collapsed the earth. They tore space apart. Shattered the landscape. Killed the specters.

Then, lightning that had cloaked the sky descended toward us. At the same time, Frey kicked off the ground and soared upward. Her greatsword glowed with light. She swung. She cleaved the lightning and split the earth.

THUUUUD! 

A massive wave of blade energy surged forward, swallowing the specters. But it was only for a moment. The energy that had torn through them was blocked and extinguished by a massive shield.

At the same time, 

A great wave rose. The tide surged. From its rolling depths, the charge of the mindless specters began.

“GRRAAAAAAAHHHH!!”

As if to drown out their march, Carpeng let out a fierce roar and hurled herself at them. From her blood aura, hundreds, thousands, of spikes shot out, skewering the specters’ heads and ripping out their hearts.

Laila, now in the sky, swung her Scythe of Life.

A massive light exploded. That light took root in the land, forming the image of Yggdrasil. From its branches, spirits rose. Their brilliance, mystical and life-giving, obliterated the specters surrounding Carpeng.

And Frey, now back on the ground, was no different. The slightest touch of her sword aura would slice a body apart. She unleashed it in waves into the sea of specters.

Thousands, tens of thousands of specters died with each of their movements.

But it was meaningless.

Just because you scoop up seawater doesn’t mean you can reach the ocean floor.

Still, they did not stop swinging their swords, claws, or scythes.

I too joined their ranks, cutting down specters between them. I deflected arrows shot without regard for distance, slashed through chains falling from the sky.

The power of the [Heaven-Reversing Blade] swept the land. The light of [Opening the Heavens] covered the sky and erased the lightning.

A forceful step flipped the waves. A single swing of my greatsword crumbled fortress-like walls.

And then, once again, 

SLASH!

A chilling sound of slicing rang out. A world-cleaving slash rushed toward me. I swung my greatsword with all my might to meet it.

But, 

This time was different.

CRACK! 

Behind the slash Luchi’s specter had unleashed, 

Ziz’s lightning. Leviathan’s waves.

Magic numbering in the millions.

Sword aura, arrows, boulders, 

All of it came crashing down on me.

When did they?

No time to think.

I stomped the ground hard. I gripped my crumbling greatsword and swung. I swung the light. The light swept through the specters and began tearing apart everything surging toward me in the shape of a giant full moon.

Space distorted. Cracks split open. Arrows flew through them. I raised my knee to deflect one. From the next crack, a spear shot out. Then a sword. An axe. A hammer. A halberd. A dagger. Fists. Spells. Curses. Chains.

Not at me, 

But at Frey beside me.

“Carpeng!!”

At my shout, Carpeng’s blood aura wrapped around her body. She shouldered Frey aside. Then immediately detonated her aura. She twisted her joints to brace against the recoil of the greatsword. Again, she detonated her aura. Straightened her spine. 

BOOM! 

She launched a full step and swung her greatsword.

From below to above, toward the sky. Light erupted along its path. The pillar of light split the heavens teeming with beasts, and carved a new horizon into the land.

At the very instant all of it was fended off, 

FWOOOOOSH!

At my feet, the Hellfire of Damnation erupted.

This, I can’t dodge, 

[Just barely.]

Tylant’s voice.

Her timid voice reached me.

SHHHHHH… 

The Hellfire of Damnation froze over.

And with it, winter arrived in the world.