Chapter 334: World Annihilation

Just as Hode was thinking this way, twelve chains suddenly appeared, piercing through the golden barrier and binding Corleon’s body tightly.

The speed of these chains was so fast that it felt as if the binding was already complete the very moment they were seen.

“Another existence like Pegira.” A certain will spoke.

“He must die, Aivas must also die, and this being who seeks to do the same thing as them must die as well.” Another will said.

“How do we kill Him?” Yet another will questioned.

“He is on the same level as us, but we lack anything that can kill Him.” The first will replied.

“Then what should we do?” The fifth will asked.

“Fate, speak!” The sixth will spoke, sounding extremely irritable.

“Fate is already sealed. We are to be exiled.” Fate spoke.

“Cut the nonsense! You stole fate and became fate itself. You have always been defying fate.” The sixth will cursed.

“Kill His followers, seal His will, then open a space akin to annihilation and exile Him forever.” Fate said.

“Then let us first kill His followers.” The sixth will declared. Then, His will swept forth, instantly erasing all life upon the earth.

There was not the slightest sound. The sky remained clear and calm, the waves of the sea continued to surge, yet the entire world fell into silence.

York City—this city once bustling with noise now stood silent. Only scattered items on the ground remained: armor, robes, bread, fruits, wagon frames…

Just from these alone, one could imagine the prosperity of York City.

Yet now, within this city, aside from these lifeless objects, no other signs of life remained. Humans, horses, cattle, chickens, doves—everything had been erased.

No—wrong. Two lives still existed.

At the Monastery where the Church of the Sanctuary resided—

Cicero sat limply on the ground like a baby, his face blank, eyes dazed. A crack had formed on his forehead. The Holy Relic Corleon had given him was shattered, and dust-like fragments Aivas had once made for him scattered around his body.

He had been in Melia’s office, preparing to ask her for gold coins.

Olivia’s body trembled. Within one of her eyes, a pool of water surfaced, ripples spreading across it. Big Gold had already hidden at the bottom of that pool. Her body was covered by an invisible thin membrane.

She had been with Agamemnon, pressed down and taught to handle administrative affairs.

Meanwhile, beyond York City, across the vast ocean, on a continent nearly equal in size to Greenwood, more than ten alien beings trembled as they hid inside the belly cavity of a colossal beast.

“So this… is the power of the Progenitor Gods?” A massive three-eyed giant curled himself up, his body alone occupying half the beast’s belly cavity.

“Yes, this is the power of the Progenitor Gods.” The Wolf God’s body trembled as he sighed. “The emperor who once slaughtered the alien races was far more terrifying than you can imagine. Before him, what am I, a deity, worth? Even these Progenitor Gods, who can annihilate all life on the earth with a mere thought, dared not reveal even the slightest trace of will when he still lived.”

“You already knew… that man would die?” The hoarse voice of the Vampire Progenitor, once trampled upon by Olivia through Big Gold, asked.

“No, I did not.” The Wolf God replied. “But sometimes, there are things one does not need messages to know.”

“What do you mean?” The Vampire Progenitor asked.

The Wolf God looked at him. “This world has three kinds of eyes: those that can see the past, those that can see the present, and those that can see the future. And at any given moment, there can only be one of each. Yet after I awoke, I read from my children’s memories that a second pair of eyes capable of seeing the future had appeared in this world.”

“So, you only suspected that he would die?” The Vampire Progenitor asked.

“Yes, merely suspected.” The Wolf God said. “But suspicion alone was enough.”

The Vampire Progenitor fell silent. Such overwhelming power—if not for the mysterious Phantasm beast’s belly cavity forming its own space—they all would have been erased by the mere sweep of that will.

Before such a will, only beings on the level of deities could hope to survive.

“What about now? What should we do? Hide here forever?” A scaly being resembling an upright lizard spoke.

He was the Progenitor of the Half-Dragon, counted among the Dark Creatures.

Of course, humans also called him the Lizardman.

“We can only wait.” The Wolf God said. “Before you revived, my will traveled beyond this land to others, but those lands had already fallen into annihilation. Even if we were to awaken them anew, it would take ages—it would require recreating creation itself.”

“And aside from me, who has ascended as a deity, none of you can survive the long years of creation without eating or drinking.”

“Of course, that is only if those beings even allow us to leave.”

His words left them all silent.

“This feeling truly is…” The three-eyed giant growled irritably.

“Remain calm. At the very least, we still live, and while we live, there remains hope.” The Wolf God said.

“Do you think the one who sees the future can win?” The Vampire Progenitor asked.

“Who knows?” The Wolf God said. “Before existences of that level, we are no different from ordinary life. Even if we escaped this land, should those beings wish to erase us, we would still perish.”

“You are already a deity. If you wish, you could return to the eternal annihilation and await being awakened again in the future.” The Vampire Progenitor said.

“Heh, you are no god. You cannot comprehend what eternal annihilation means—that is the most painful place of all.” The Wolf God said. “I would rather be truly slain than return there.”

“That emperor truly had the power to kill me, yet he did not. He merely tormented my will in the Material Realm until it perished, forcing me to sink into eternal annihilation, to endure the deepest despair.”

Though the Wolf God’s tone was calm, all within the beast’s belly could sense that despair.

After a brief silence, the Wolf God said, “Wait. Wait for the end of everything…”

The beast’s belly fell into complete silence.

…

“Now, there are no more of His followers on this land.” The sixth will spoke.

“Sun, you are acting strange.” The first will said.

“……” The sixth will, named Sun, fell silent.

“Perhaps you sense that your fate is near.” Fate spoke.

At the very moment Fate’s words fell, the bound Corleon opened his mouth. “Sun, he has already come.”

Instantly, the Morning Star above the heavens blazed forth, its endless light and heat scorching the surface of the earth into charred blackness. This time, even the plants were erased.

“It is the Primordial God! Pegira freed you? You actually came out!” Sun’s voice was filled with terror.

The Primordial God Sun ignored the Progenitor Sun. His will descended onto the chains that belonged to the Progenitor Sun. Then, with a thunderous boom, that chain shattered into countless blazing points of light, each as scorching as the sun itself.

“Human, remember what you promised me.” The Primordial God Sun spoke thus. Without sparing a glance at the terrified Progenitor Gods, he departed.

The chains whipped violently, binding Corleon even tighter.

“Pegira!!!” The Progenitor Gods roared in both fury and fear.

…

In the distant past, “gods” was merely a title given to the Primordial Gods who had emerged at the dawn of creation, birthing all phenomena.

‘Sun’ was the first to be born, bringing forth all light.

Where there was light, there was darkness. Thus, ‘Moon’ was born.

The alternation of light and darkness birthed ‘Time’ and ‘Space.’

The cycle of light and dark, the intersection of time and space—thus came forth ‘Order.’ From it, ‘Earth,’ ‘Flame,’ ‘Storm,’ and ‘Water’ emerged, forming the foundations of the world. From these, ‘Life’ stirred.

But life was not godhood. It was born with the world and would perish with the world. Only gods equal to the world itself were exempt. Thus, life was destined to meet ‘Death.’ This was ‘Fate.’

Sun, Moon, Time, Space, Order, Earth, Flame, Storm, Water, Life, Death, and Fate.

Throughout endless time, these Primordial Gods became known as the Twelve Pillar Gods. They were the world itself, and so all beings revered them. The Twelve Pillar Gods possessed everything.

Yet, just as the Twelve Pillar Gods were born in sequence, so too did life beneath them birth ambition and desire.

At last, one unremarkable human dared to challenge the Twelve Pillar Gods.

No one knew why this human sought to challenge them. Perhaps there was no reason at all. One day, it simply happened.

Yet the Twelve Pillar Gods were primordial existences. No matter how strong he was, that man could not defeat them.

So, he sought allies. Among them, twelve powerful beings erected an altar, stealing the power of the Twelve Pillar Gods.

Thus, the Primordial Gods were defeated and imprisoned.

The twelve who accepted their stolen power proclaimed themselves as the Progenitor Gods—

The first to ascend to godhood through faith.

…

The Progenitor Gods trembled. They knew Pegira could not have released the Primordial Gods voluntarily. In truth, had the Primordial Gods resisted back then, not even all of them combined could have defeated a single one.

To oppose them was to oppose the will of the world.

But now, Pegira was dead. The Primordial Sun had descended and annihilated the Progenitor Sun.

They even sensed the hiding place where the Progenitor Sun had once fled Pegira’s pursuit—it now lay bare, devoid of any will within.

They were terrified.

They understood—though they were the strongest beneath the Primordial Gods, they still only wielded stolen power. Their faith was not yet established, their anchors in the Material Realm not yet descended. Should the Primordial Gods seize even the slightest trace of their will, their stolen power would be reclaimed at any time.

Even the departure of the Primordial Sun brought them no relief. Instead, it drove them to madness. They had to seal Corleon as soon as possible. They had to recreate creation. They had to establish their anchors of faith.

But Corleon simply allowed them to bind him. His eyes gleamed brilliantly—he had finally found the two chains.

Time and Fate.

In an instant, golden will surged into them. Corleon directly collided with the Progenitor Gods of Time and Fate.

“Argh! This madman! Even now, he still dares to bite back!” Time roared in fury. “His followers are gone, he has lost his anchor! Even if you are ‘One,’ I am closer to Time. I will devour your time!”

“No! He still has an anchor!” Fate’s voice went mad. “Below—one protected by Aivas’ heart and His will! The exile I foresaw was not for us—it was for our Primordial selves!”

Just as Fate said, below, Hode had not been touched by the Progenitor Sun’s will, nor erased by the Primordial Sun’s power. He stood frozen in an iceberg, blankly staring upward at the chains binding the Pope, watching as two of them were rapidly drenched in gold—then shattered.

At the same time, it was as if Hode’s very soul had been ripped away. He embraced death.

The soul connected to magic, and magic was born of the world. Thus, the soul could serve as the anchor to the world. Faith, too, claimed the soul.

The very moment the chains of Time and Fate shattered, the remaining nine chains vanished, their wills retreating into their hidden realms.

Freed from his bindings, Corleon’s Holy Sword transformed into a light orb, floating before him.

Raising his hand slightly, the remnants of the Progenitor Sun, Time, and Fate were summoned, gathering around the orb. Above his head, Aivas’ heart slowly descended, touching the light orb. With a sharp “tak”, the sound rang out.

It was like the sound of the Clock Tower striking midnight.

At that sound, the world fell still.

Then, Corleon flicked his fingers. Aivas’ heart shattered with a boom, dissolving into golden fragments absorbed by the orb.

And with the golden fragments of Aivas’ heart, the Hall of Heroes—connected at the top of the golden passage—was pulled piece by piece into the orb.

The orb of the Holy Sword was linked to the world’s root. Now, borrowing the power accumulated within Aivas’ heart—the magic of the entire land—Corleon paused time and stuffed the Hall of Heroes into the crevice of time.

The other lands of the world were already annihilated. Only this land beneath their feet remained alive. Thus, its magic bore the concept of the world’s magic itself.

Therefore, Aivas had inherited the concept of connecting to the world’s magic, becoming the Thirteenth Pillar God—‘Magic’—beyond the Progenitor Gods, yet beneath the Primordial Gods.

Only such magic could support Corleon in cramming the vast Hall of Heroes into time.

Sensing his connection with the orb capable of bestowing Commandments, even though Corleon had foreseen this result, he could not help but let out a sigh of relief.

Then came sorrow for his own fleeting moment of gratitude.

After all, Corleon had not truly become the “One”—the “Lord.” He still bore fragments of human emotion.

Yet precisely because of this, Corleon had to finish what needed to be done swiftly.

Confirming that the Hall of Heroes was successfully sealed within time, Corleon seized the remnants of the three Progenitor Gods’ wills. With the Sun as power, Time and Fate as guides, and the Holy Sword as passage, he turned back the world’s time—

Back to the moment before the Progenitor Sun annihilated the world.

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