Chapter 69. Reappearance (6)
"The world's destruction."
Tantalus's words echoed in the air.
My gaze narrowed for a moment. Tantalus murmured softly with eyes that were losing their light.
“You’re not surprised. Even by these words.”
I did not answer.
It wasn't my first or second time dealing with the Magic Empire Atlas. Because I already knew some of the contents.
What kind of ‘endings’ there were at the end of this story.
What Tantalus was trying to say now.
I already knew such things too well. However, despite that, there were still countless things I needed to know in this world that had become reality.
I asked him, who had little breath left.
“What is the purpose of the Magical Beastification experiment?”
In the original work, very little was known about Tantalus's true purpose.
Furthermore, having become Enoch Elsyde, whose fate was to be sacrificed to Tantalus's experimental subjects, I wanted to know the ultimate purpose of the experiment he had conducted.
Because from the beginning, I had wondered why I had to die at the hands of the Magical Beasts he created in the original work.
“You carried out the human experimentation recorded in the Book of Gnosis. What exactly were you trying to do with that experiment?”
“Salvation.”
Tantalus quietly muttered.
“The Magical Beastification experiment is a project to create a lost god.”
I tilted my head slightly at his answer.
It wasn't just because Tantalus unexpectedly opened his mouth so readily about the purpose of his experiment.
Because even I, being an old-timer, was hearing this story for the first time.
‘……Create a god?’
There was no such content in the original work?
Humans must become the lost god. Is this related to the 「Goddess」 he first mentioned earlier?
But that was a word related to ‘The Order’ to which mages who served the Goddess belonged.
There wouldn't be a reason for Vendetta's Annihilation Officer to mention it.
“What about the Goddess?”
“It’s a great catastrophe, Enoch.”
He looked at me with eyes that were losing focus.
“In a world that has lost its god, a great catastrophe will someday strike. That catastrophe will lead the current civilization to ruin.”
He spoke, bleeding from his mouth. Dark red blood spread over the white garment he was wearing.
“That was precisely the content prophesied on some pages of the Book of Gnosis.”
Tantalus added softly.
“Direct descendant. It will be difficult for you to understand everything right away. I, too, didn’t believe in prophecies. But no matter how much I researched and cross-verified repeatedly, those prophecies were undoubtedly the truth.”
Tantalus suddenly turned his gaze sideways. And then, looking at the experimental subjects strewn on the floor, he spoke.
“That is why I sought to create a god.”
Looking at the corpses of the experimental subjects that were rapidly decaying by now, Tantalus spoke in a calm voice.
“Because in a world where god has disappeared, we humans must necessarily become gods ourselves.”
He muttered without even a groan.
“Because if there is no god, everyone will simply meet destruction due to the great catastrophe that will eventually arrive someday. But regrettably, we can never become gods.”
“What do you mean?”
“Because we are too imperfect to become gods.”
He slowly laughed.
“Whether they are non-mages or monsters praised as demigods of Rank 1. All of them are utterly incomplete beings to become gods in the true sense.”
Tantalus raised his head and looked upwards.
As if trying to see stars that wouldn't even be visible, hidden by the basement ceiling. He gazed into the distance and spoke.
“But what if we could improve our imperfection through human experimentation and overcome it?”
He let out a dry laugh.
“If humanity could become superhumans through experimentation and approach the realm of a complete god. We could finally become gods ourselves in a world without god. That’s what I thought, that we could then stop the impending destruction.”
And then.
Grip.
Tantalus reached out one hand and firmly grabbed my shoulder, which his sword was piercing through.
In that moment, a strong grip, utterly unexpected from someone dying, was transmitted to my shoulder.
“Direct descendant of Elsyde. Do you understand why I am telling you these things?”
Before my eyes, Tantalus's green eyes, filled with intense will, were staring at me terrifyingly.
“Find out. You must.”
He declared softly.
“My experiment towards the world is not over yet. That is something that deviates from my plan. But this is not just my task alone.”
He grabbed the sword blade that had pierced him with his hand.
His blood flowed over the cold, sharp blade.
“Remember, Enoch. Someday, the day will come when you understand all my words. Even all the truths you do not know now!”
The scholar's eyes were reflected on the cold metal sword blade.
“Therefore, you must find it in your own way. The method to stop the catastrophe. The truth about the future of the world that Gnosis prophesied!”
Tantalus, Vendetta's Annihilation Officer, muttered like a specter, his raised eyes flashing even as he died.
“If things continue like this, eventually the future will have a tragic ending….”
And then.
“A tragic ending?”
I looked at him with dark blue eyes and said.
“By whose will?”
Tantalus's words were not wrong.
Because I had seen such bad endings enough to be tired of them.
I knew better than anyone else.
What kind of ultimate conclusions awaited at the end of this long, long story. And how horrific the events that would unfold.
─However.
I looked at him with a cool expression and said.
“I, for one, have no intention of seeing such an ending.”
It was an obvious statement.
Since I had become Enoch Elsyde, I couldn't get caught up in those bad endings and die.
And at the same time, as an old-timer who had become thoroughly rotten after spending a long time in this game, bad endings were conclusions I could never tolerate.
Either way. I had not the slightest intention of letting the future flow towards a tragic ending.
“Is that so.”
Meanwhile, hearing my words, Tantalus muttered with a faint smile.
“Perhaps you are, truly, the prophecy’s….”
The next moment, his eyes lost their light.
And when Tantalus's heart stopped.
CRAAACK!
A sharp tearing sound echoed in my ears from above my head.
I raised my head.
In the very center of the large-scale magic circle that filled the innermost part of the underground area, there was a large crack.
And along that crack.
Finally, the mana that formed the giant magic circle slowly shattered.
The form of the green magic circle broke apart, shining brilliantly in the darkness.
Looking at the translucent green light crystals scattered in the darkness of the underground area like that. I slowly retrieved my sword.
‘There are more things I need to find out.’
Not much had been clearly revealed yet.
Only a string of plot hooks and questions.
However, that doesn't mean there was no harvest.
‘Although I only found out roughly what kind of purpose Tantalus was moving with….’
Even this alone was actually an unexpected harvest.
For now, just this much was enough.
‘Anyway, as I prepare according to the original work's plan, I will gradually learn everything.’
Furthermore, unlike those uncertain questions, there was one fact that was clearer than anything else.
Whoosh.
I looked up at Tantalus's large-scale magic circle that was slowly breaking apart for a moment.
Now, the very first goal I had set was finally being completed.
‘Finally, I stopped Enoch’s destined death.’
That was the most important thing.
The Magical Beastification experiment, which was the decisive incident leading to Enoch Elsyde's death in the original work.
That giant magic circle, which should have undoubtedly been activated in the official history, was breaking into pieces, proving that at this very moment, his fate was flowing in a different direction than in the original work.
Enoch Elsyde, who was an unfortunate genius in the official history, ending his life without even being able to display his talent.
His fate, which had been determined as such, would now take a different path with this moment as a turning point.
─Dizzy.
However, the moment after the tension released.
My vision suddenly blurred.
‘Huh……?’
I lost my balance and stumbled.
Extreme fatigue suddenly swept over my body, to the point where a deep groan leaked out unconsciously.
The cause of this physical state was sufficiently guessable.
‘The recoil from using the Emperor’s Supreme Sword’s mana!’
Just a few minutes.
That was the time I had projected the Emperor's Supreme Sword's mana.
When I projected my fire-like Unique Mana onto the sword, I was able to wield the swordsmanship he actually used in the past and its power more perfectly.
But at the same time, it seemed to have come with tremendous strain on my entire body during that short period.
I barely held onto my consciousness.
‘Perhaps, for now, directly using the Sword Saint himself’s Unique Mana is too much of a burden.’
Indeed, my entire body was simultaneously screaming from the recoil of using the Emperor's Supreme Sword's mana during that short time.
……Well, maybe it was only natural.
The fatigue that had accumulated in my body continuously until now, and the minor injuries that hadn't even healed yet.
All of those things were already piled up.
But after directly projecting the Emperor's Supreme Sword's mana, I had overworked my body by swinging my sword several times more strenuously than usual…….
As a result, the injuries and fatigue that had accumulated until now likely burst out all at once.
“Khk.”
I clenched my teeth against the encroaching fatigue. This time, the degree of fatigue was quite severe.
To the extent that I couldn't even properly support my body.
─Stumble.
Stumbling a few times, I realized I was losing my balance. My vision instantly plunged towards the floor.
‘Oh no.’
The floor of the severely destroyed underground area.
That ground, emitting coldness, seemed to try and swallow me.
I finally lost my balance and collapsed.
But just then.
Before my body completely fell.
Thud.
Someone held my falling body from the front.
I felt a soft touch and a faint scent.
‘…Ah.’
Somehow, I felt like I knew who it was.
My dark blue eyes, blurred with fatigue, glanced back towards the person who had held me.
Long silver hair subtly shining in the darkness.
Held in her arms, I slowly opened my mouth.
“Lien.”
The silver-haired maid received me, who was quietly collapsing into her arms.
She was quietly looking at me with her usual indifferent eyes.
I asked her.
“What about the enemies outside?”
Before coming here earlier, she must have been tying down Vendetta's reinforcements alone in the outer tunnels.
Lien answered quietly.
“They fled. As soon as something went wrong with the large-scale magic circle.”
I nodded slowly. The destruction of the magic circle would be a sign to Vendetta's forces that things had gone wrong.
Meanwhile, seeing my body condition with increased injuries, Lien's cold gaze narrowed slightly.
“……I should have come sooner.”
I answered, smiling unconsciously.
“It’s enough.”
I didn't die.
That was the most important thing.
And from now on, there will be no chance of me dying as planned in the original work's future either.
Because Vendetta's Annihilation Officer, who mass-produced Magical Beasts through human experimentation to kill Enoch in the original work, was no longer here.
That fact gave a little strength back to my legs, which wanted to collapse onto the floor right away.
Shhh.
Meanwhile, seeing Lien trying to take out a bandage from her maid uniform's apron as before, I shook my head. Although there was some bleeding, it wasn't a severe injury requiring immediate hemostasis.
It was just that fatigue and pain had accumulated terribly.
But there was something even more important than that.
“It’s not over yet.”
I slowly looked up towards the surface.
Rumble!
The ceiling of the underground area shook greatly from a large impact. A few fragments of the ceiling fell down due to the vibration.
Even though the battle here was already over, vibrations were weakly transmitted from the ceiling above.
Directly above this underground area.
It was the aftermath of the battle that must have been happening on the surface.
-Sirocco and Leontos.
The final showdown that two powerful Beast-kin mages must still be engaging in at this very moment.
Feeling their presence, I raised my body.
“Because there are still things I need to confirm.”
Until then, I couldn't lose consciousness.
I slowly took a step.
I had done everything I needed to do.
So, I wanted to see it myself.
The great destiny of the original work that I had changed for the first time.
The tomorrow of the Beast-kin that would change from the Official History.
And…….
The first beginning of the future that I would change from now on.