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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: FusionX
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[T/N: despite the title, no this is not the last chapter of the novel lmao weve still got 100 more ish ]
Honestly, I thought I couldn’t get any stronger. I had inherited the power of Kurika, recognized by the goddess as one of the strongest on the continent.
Coupled with the ability to stop time, granted by the Goddess of Time, I believed there was no higher level to reach.
‘But there’s always someone stronger.’
I felt the mana surging within me, a potential for further growth.
I knew too much power could be dangerous. Just like the witches, banished to the Demon Realm Forest for incurring the wrath of the gods, I too could become a target if the gods deemed me a threat.
‘But I’m strangely confident.’
Despite the potential danger, a sense of confidence washed over me.
Even the Army of Death, unleashed by the Goddess of Death, a powerful deity, was being swept aside by my power.
The human army had retreated.
I stood alone against the encroaching darkness, yet…
I felt no fear, no hesitation.
Just like Kurika, in my past life, wielding the Sword of Rest, marching towards battle alone.
“This time, the outcome will be different.”
Did the darkness surrounding the Demon Realm Forest hear my words?
It trembled, as if recoiling in fear.
I was about to charge forward, but a green wind enveloped me, pulling me back.
My heightened senses picked up the familiar scent of the forest, Eris’s scent, and I turned my head.
She landed beside me, carried by the wind, raising her bow.
“You’re going in, right?”
“……You’re coming with me?”
I wanted to tell her it was dangerous, but her sharp glare silenced me.
“I have so many questions.”
The soldiers of the Army of Death, dissolved by the silver slime’s acidic goo, began to regenerate.
Even the slime itself was absorbing its scattered remains, regaining its massive form.
“Ask. It’s better to get them out of the way now.”
Lingering questions would only become a burden, a source of regret during the battle.
I had prepared my answers, and Eris spoke calmly,
“Do you still love me?”
Her voice was steady, devoid of any tremor.
I was surprised by her composure, but…
Having known her since my past life, I understood the elf’s ability to mask her true feelings, a skill honed from years of hardship.
I could sense the fear hidden beneath her calm words.
I didn’t want to answer, but I knew I couldn’t remain silent, not for Eris’s sake.
I never thought I would say these words, but…
“No.”
My grip on my sword tightened.
I forced the words out.
This was the only kindness I could offer the Eris of this world.
“I don’t love you.”
“……”
“Like you said, the Eris I loved was someone else.”
Eris’s gaze dropped, her golden hair cascading around her, a visual representation of her heartbreak.
I couldn’t bear to look at her.
Her voice, now tinged with sadness, trembled slightly.
“I see.”
What could I say? Any apology, any explanation, would be meaningless.
I chose silence, and Eris’s response came sooner than expected.
“Do you love the girl inside?”
She pointed towards the swirling darkness within the Demon Realm Forest.
I didn’t want to answer, but I did.
“……I don’t know.”
I knew I was drawn to Rin. She was my first love, and she had never hidden her feelings for me.
‘Do you hate me?’
I remembered her asking me that, her voice trembling with fear, on the school rooftop.
I had told her I didn’t hate her.
‘I’ve liked you since we were kids. And I still do.’
She had never wavered in her affections.
Unlike me.
‘Daniel, I’m… so scared. I’m so, so scared…’
That night in Yggdrasil, when she discovered the Goddess of Death’s mark on her chest, she had cried in my arms.
She was afraid of being consumed by the power, of becoming something other than Rin, of becoming a threat to me.
‘I want to sleep with you.’
In Bethel, after the Murder Hotel incident, she had come to my room late at night, her body hidden in the shadows, making a desperate request.
‘If I ever hurt you, please kill me.’
That night…
We had talked for hours.
Rin, who had dreamed of becoming a doctor, had asked me to kill her if she ever became a monster, consumed by her power.
‘I’ll protect you too, Daniel.’
She had hugged me tightly, making a promise in return for my vow to protect her. I hadn’t said anything then, but her words had comforted me more than I realized.
“You really don’t know?”
Eris’s golden hair flowed in the wind. She didn’t want me to avoid the question. She raised her bow, drawing the string.
“Then go and find out.”
A blue light enveloped the arrow.
The mark of Artemis appeared in Eris’s eyes, and then…
A brilliant beam of light shot towards the darkness of the Demon Realm Forest.
It pierced through the regenerating silver slime, creating a massive hole, its momentum unwavering.
Eris pointed towards the path created by her arrow.
“It was an honor to open a path for you, Daniel McLean.”
She placed her hand on her chest, offering a formal farewell, a gesture I recognized as an elven goodbye.
I thanked her and followed the path she had created, venturing into the forest.
The forest was dark, but the faint blue light from Eris’s arrow illuminated my way.
The Army of Death stood in my path.
Ordinary beasts, ancient magical beasts…
They all lunged at me, trying to stop me, but they were like insects, scattering before the Sword of Rest.
‘Rin…’
I had so much to say to her.
It hadn’t been long since we parted, yet I missed her terribly.
The hope of freeing her from the curse of the goddess’s power filled me, a weight lifted from my heart.
The end of the path.
Just like in my past life, Eris’s arrow had guided me to my destination, striking the sword wielded by the Earliest Apocalypse.
The goddess possessing Rin’s body swatted away the arrow and glared at me.
“Get away! Get out of here, you monster who knows nothing of the divine will!”
Then, she vanished into the darkness, avoiding a direct confrontation with the Sealing Dagger.
Knowing she had nowhere to run, the darkness coalesced, reaching for me, but…
“Let me make this clear, Rin.”
I shattered the darkness with the Sword of Rest, my voice firm.
“You can’t hurt me. You can’t kill me.”
The goddess might not understand, but I believed my words would reach the Rin trapped within.
“So…”
Mana enveloped the Sword of Rest.
I was still a novice in using mana, unfamiliar with its intricacies.
I plunged the sword into the darkness where the goddess hid, unleashing a torrent of mana.
The darkness exploded, and the goddess, screaming in pain, reappeared.
“Ugh!”
“I won’t kill you.”
You asked me to kill you if you ever hurt me?
Don’t be ridiculous.
The power to destroy the continent couldn’t even scratch me.
So…
“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”
“Stop…!”
Crack!
Time stopped.
The apocalypse, who had been trying to stop me, froze mid-reach, her words cut short.
I drew the Sealing Dagger.
I planted the Sword of Rest in the ground, walking past the frozen mounds of earth, towards her.
“It hasn’t been that long.”
Only a year had passed since my return. I had managed to avert the apocalypse that was supposed to occur ten years later, in just one year.
‘Of course, I’ve heard there are other apocalypses.’
Kurika had told me there were other apocalypses after the Earliest Apocalypse, but they were unlikely to be numerous.
The thought of facing more battles like this was daunting, but I knew I could overcome them with the power I now possessed.
I plunged the Sealing Dagger into the goddess’s mark.
Time resumed.
“Stop!”
The white Sealing Dagger, now exposed to the flow of time, activated its power.
It began to absorb the surrounding darkness. The apocalypse, trapped in my embrace, thrashed and screamed.
“No! No! If I fail this time, I…!”
“Any god will fail.”
It was a warning.
The Goddess of Death had experienced my power firsthand. I wanted the other gods to understand the fear she had felt.
But the goddess continued to struggle, tears streaming down her face.
“The continent is destined for destruction! Daniel McLean! It would have been better if I destroyed it now! You don’t understand the tragedy that awaits you!”
“……You gods talk too much.”
Crack.
The dagger completed its seal.
The goddess, having lost control of the darkness, her strength gone, placed her hand weakly on mine, the hand holding the dagger.
“Why… my list clearly stated…!”
Whoosh!
The last vestiges of darkness vanished.
The dagger, its purpose fulfilled, its white blade now blackened, crumbled into dust.
It was a shame I couldn’t use it against the other apocalypses, but for now, a sense of victory filled me.
The long and arduous battle, spanning across lifetimes, was finally over.
The Earliest Apocalypse had been defeated.
“D-Daniel…”
“Rin!”
“Y-You really… protected me…”
Rin regained consciousness, her eyes fluttering open. I had been worried, but she seemed unharmed.
“Yes, we did it.”
I wanted to hug her, to embrace her, but my claws made me hesitate.
Instead, Rin, gathering her remaining strength, hugged me tightly.
Her warmth filled me with a sense of relief.
“Thank you… Daniel. Thank you for saving me.”
“Rin, I have so much to tell you.”
Where do I even begin?
How will you react when you hear my confession? What will you say?
Will you be happy?
I hoped so.
The battles ahead would be difficult, but I wanted her to wait for me, safe and sound, far from the fighting.
I opened my mouth to speak, but…
The sun fell.
That was the only way to describe it. A massive meteor of fire descended from the sky, crashing into the continent.
“Rin!”
Forgetting my sharp claws, I hugged Rin tightly.
KABOOM!
The earth-shattering explosion subsided.
Nothing remained but a desolate wasteland.
The Demon Realm Forest, once impenetrable, was now exposed, its trees burning, the ground scorched.
Was this the hell some gods spoke of?
I could hear Rin’s shallow breaths.
Kurika’s power shielded me, but even so, the searing heat made it difficult to breathe.
“D-Daniel…!”
I wanted to reassure her, to tell her everything would be alright, but…
I had no hand.
Not just my hand. My right shoulder had been cleanly sliced off, as if by a giant blade.
I couldn’t touch Rin.
I tried to lift her, to shield her from the burning ground, but my left arm wouldn’t move.
I nearly lost my balance.
Sweat, or what I thought was sweat, dripped down my body, but it was red.
It was blood.
And then…
A blonde man approached us.
“The Earliest Apocalypse has failed. Therefore, the ‘Following Apocalypse’ has arrived.”
His golden eyes shone like the blazing sun.
Our childhood friend, his mind completely overtaken by a god.
“Daniel McLean.”
He spoke my name, his voice filled with wrath.
His mere presence radiated an unbearable heat. My tongue felt dry, parched.
“This is the end for you.”
His golden sword pierced my heart.
That was it.
I didn’t have the strength to stop time, to escape.
The goddess’s power was useless, and my friend’s power couldn’t protect me.
Daniel McLean, his body failing him, clung to his childhood friend, the woman he loved, but…
She met the same fate.
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The setting sun cast long shadows.
The searing heat vanished, replaced by a cool, comforting breeze.
“Rin? What’s wrong?”
The boy who had just stabbed her in the heart approached her with a puzzled expression.
Rin stumbled backward, fear gripping her.
She recognized this scene.
Aios Academy.
She was on her way home from school, and…
“What? Did Ares do something?”
“No, I just asked him if he sent that letter to Diana about Daniel getting expelled.”
Hare, her former best friend, who had been secretly a member of the Tudogs, approached her.
“Uh…?”
A wave of nausea suddenly overwhelmed her, but she didn’t have time to react.
Because…
Memories she had never experienced before flooded her mind, a violent intrusion.
Her head felt like it was about to explode, but she couldn’t resist.
[Daniel McLean was expelled, and she searched for him tirelessly, eventually collapsing from exhaustion.]
[Aios Academy was closed down due to numerous incidents.]
[Rin, having failed to find Daniel, became a doctor in her village, caring for the children.]
[Ten years later, she was killed by a woman calling herself a Priestess.]
[And she became the ‘Earliest Apocalypse’.]
[She killed the Priestess.]
[She killed everyone in her village.]
[She destroyed the human kingdom.]
[She devoured the beast-kin kingdom.]
[She burned Yggdrasil.]
[The dragon-kin perished.]
[The dwarves couldn’t even put up a fight.]
[She entered the Demon Realm Forest.]
[She slaughtered the Tyrant and the King.]
[She pierced the heart of Eris Anen Seriere, the elf.]
[She killed Daniel McLean.]
“Uh…?”
No, she had never done any of those things.
That couldn’t be true.
“No! No! No! No! Daniel! Daniel saved me! He… he didn’t abandon me, he stayed with me, he kept his…”
[Daniel McLean failed.]
“His… promise…”
[And he started again.]
“Daniel…”
Rin, finally understanding the truth, fell to her knees, tears streaming down her face.
No one in this world knew the tragedy she had just experienced.
And the boy she loved was dead.
She finally understood.
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[ what the fuck ]
[ Reader notes]
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[Commenter notes]
[ What the fuck ]