The Return of The Mythical Archmage [EN]: Chapter 403

The God of the End.

It’s said he doesn’t really have a name.

‘He was born in the sky of the divine realm.’

A long time ago, in the mythical era.

The ‘rank’ of gods was determined by their birth process.

A god born from the earth of the human realm was low-ranked.

A god born from the clouds above the human realm was mid-ranked.

And a god born from the land of the divine realm, which existed above the human realm, was high-ranked.

The higher the place a god was born, the higher their divine rank was by birth.

‘A god born in the sky of the divine realm. In short, he was a god born with the destiny to become the next ruler of the divine realm.’

Being born in the sky of the divine realm meant he was a being born with a rank high enough to encompass the divine realm.

‘Yes. A leader who would stand at the top of the divine realm. The god of gods. He was a guy born with that destiny.’

Umbra’s expression turned grim.

I thought she was reliving her anger as she recalled the God of the End, but it didn’t seem to be the case.

The resentment and murderous intent towards the God of the End were more blatant.

The murderous intent Umbra held now wasn’t directed at the God of the End.

‘Resentment towards the divine realm.’

Umbra hated the divine realm itself.

It was presumed that she loathed the divine realm’s system where ranks were determined from birth.

‘…Deep within the underground of the human realm. The god Umbra, born from the deep shadows. According to the divine realm’s system, her rank was the lowest of the low. She would have been treated practically no different from a human.’

Having been born with nothing and having acquired a divine rank close to the high rank through her own power, the divine realm’s system must have been a thorn in her side.

‘The reason why the goddess Umbra went over to the evil god’s camp was also because of the divine realm’s system… because of the elitism.’

It was inevitable that Umbra would frown as she said those words.

‘It was the first time it had ever happened since the birth of the divine realm. In the long history of the divine realm, there had never been a god born in the sky of the divine realm.’

‘…A myth within a myth.’

‘That’s right.’

It was an event that could be called a myth even in the mythical era.

‘How flustered we were when that guy was born…’

The birth of a leader of the divine realm who was born with more power than anyone else. If he completed his growth safely, there was no hope for the evil gods.

It was inevitable that the evil god’s camp would be in an uproar.

‘At this rate, everything will end. We concluded that, and immediately decided to gather all our forces and invade the divine realm.’

If they stayed as they were, all that awaited them was death.

Now that things had come to this, it was all or nothing.

They would squeeze out all their power to deal with him.

That must have been what they thought, and what they acted upon.

‘After deciding to invade the divine realm, we finished all preparations in 10 minutes.’

Ten minutes. It was an astonishing speed.

To finish all preparations and act in just that amount of time.

The desperation of the evil god’s side was evident.

The thought that everything would end if that guy opened his eyes must have made all the evil gods move.

‘And so, we forcibly infiltrated the divine realm… and that happened.’

Umbra’s expression darkened.

‘The God of the End declared the end.’

‘…Wasn’t the God of the End born not too long ago?’

According to what I had heard, the evil god’s camp invaded the divine realm right after the God of the End was born.

That meant it was within at least 30 minutes.

‘That’s right. It was when he was less than 20 minutes old.’

‘…But he declared the end?’

For a newborn who was only 20 minutes old to declare the end.

I couldn’t understand what was going on at all.

‘A god born with a high rank doesn’t have an infancy. Gods born in the divine realm usually have the body of an adult within a few days.’

‘Ah.’

I had read it in Dante Roa’s book. That there were no children in the divine realm.

So that was why.

‘He finished all his growth in 20 minutes after being born, and had the appearance of an adult. And… he declared the end of the divine realm out of the blue.’

It was a story that sounded like a lie from a book.

For a god who became an adult in 20 minutes after being born to suddenly declare the end of the world.

‘At first, no one believed it. Not even the hard-headed people of the divine realm. Nor us. No matter how great a rank he was born with, there was no way he could destroy the divine realm alone.’

‘Yes. That’s right.’

If it were me, I probably would have scoffed.

‘But…’

Umbra’s pupils trembled very slightly.

‘That absurd statement… became reality.’

‘…Does that mean the divine realm was destroyed?’

‘Yes.’

It was as if a wave of regret was shaking the lotus leaf that was her pupil.

‘Right after he declared the end. The divine realm disappeared without a trace. Without any warning. As if it had never existed from the beginning. The entire divine realm vanished.’

My eyes slowly widened.

Without any warning, it just disappeared?

‘What kind of…’

Just how strong was he?

To be able to erase the divine realm in an instant.

‘We could only stand there blankly, watching the divine realm turn into dust and scatter.’

What would have happened if I had seen that scene before my eyes?

It goes without saying.

I would have been just like Umbra, standing there with my mouth open.

‘And then, that guy appeared before us.’

That guy.

She was talking about the God of the End.

‘And he said.’

Umbra closed her mouth for a moment, frowning.

An expression as if she was relishing her hatred.

An expression that seemed to be filled with rage just by recalling that time.

‘There were still some bugs left.’

‘…’

Umbra’s expression grew more and more grim.

‘He had that greasy face unique to gods born in the divine realm, and he wore a vulgar smile that only evil gods would make. And he slowly reached out his hand towards us.’

A very small fear settled in Umbra’s eyes.

‘At that time. Someone called my name and pushed my body hard.’

She was afraid, and she was sad.

‘My mind was completely frozen at the time, so I don’t know who pushed me. But I remember the will to protect me.’

She must have remembered the desperation in that person’s voice.

‘Thanks to that, I survived.’

Umbra lowered her head.

‘I was the only one who survived.’

‘…Alone?’

‘Yes.’

Umbra slowly raised her head.

Looking at the ceiling, she spoke with a complicated expression.

‘Everyone died with just a light gesture from him. If someone hadn’t helped me, I would have disappeared without a trace on the spot.’

‘…’

The evil gods lost their lives all at once without even putting up any resistance.

Just how powerful was that God of the End?

‘Left alone, I just sat down… and looked up at that guy. Looking up, I asked.’

As if recalling her powerlessness at that time.

Umbra bit her lip.

‘Why are you doing this…’ I said in a trembling voice, terrified.’

Umbra turned her gaze back to me.

‘And then… do you know what he answered?’

‘…I don’t know.’

There was no way I could have guessed.

There was no way I could understand the mind of a crazy god who decided to destroy the divine realm 20 minutes after being born.

‘Just because.’

‘…Yes?’

I was momentarily stunned.

‘Just because, he said.’

‘Without any reason… he destroyed the divine realm?’

‘Yes.’

‘What a crazy…’

I thought he was a crazy god, but he was even crazier than I had imagined.

‘Well, he only said that, but there must have been a reason. Because he said this right after, putting his hand on my head…’

Umbra put her hand on her head and said.

‘This world is mine anyway. It’s my choice whether to break it or not, right?’

That flippant tone.

The voice of the ‘god’ I had heard while glimpsing the dragon’s memories in a dream overlapped.

‘I prefer to create everything from scratch rather than adding something to a sculpture someone else made. That way, it feels like mine, right?’

I was speechless.

‘So that’s why he declared the end. To erase everything and create it anew.’

It was too childish.

It was such an absurd thing to say.

It was such an incomprehensible thing to say.

I couldn’t even react.

‘He just killed the divine realm, the gods of the divine realm, and us for the absurd reason of creating his own world.’

‘…’

The God of the End.

The betrayer of the gods.

When I heard that name, I was thinking of something like Ragnarok [the end of the world in Norse mythology].

That the gods also had their own circumstances, and those circumstances clashed and intertwined, leading to destruction.

That the God of the End was the starting point of that destruction.

I had vaguely thought that.

‘He was just… a madman.’

‘That’s right. He’s a madman.’

But it wasn’t.

The God of the End wasn’t a god with a story who had no choice but to declare the end for some reason.

He was just a lunatic.

He was a guy who shouldn’t have been born with power, but was born with power.

‘Do you understand why I hate that guy?’

‘…Yes.’

The God of the End was her enemy who killed her, and the enemy who killed her comrades.

Moreover, there was no reason for that death.

The God of the End’s act of killing was like a kind of pleasure killing.

She lost everything to such an existence.

Umbra’s hatred was natural.

‘And that guy… although it’s not his main body, there’s a human with his power in front of me.’

Umbra’s eyes changed again.

The whites of her eyes turned black, and the pupils turned red.

It seemed to change like that when her emotions fluctuated intensely.

‘What does it matter if you’re a bastard who forcibly stole my power? Right?’

Compared to her resentment towards the God of the End, her desire for revenge against me was less than a firefly in front of the sun.

If she could just get one hit on the God of the End, her desire for revenge against me wouldn’t matter at all.

‘Do you understand?’

‘…Yes. I understand.’

I understood very well why Umbra had come out so kindly to talk to me.

‘Does understanding mean you trust me?’

‘Of course.’

As long as Veil Stole was the opponent, there was no way Umbra would stab me in the back.

Evil god or not, I could trust Umbra now.

‘…Okay. It was worth the time I invested in explaining.’

Umbra chuckled.

‘Then, here.’

She smiled and held out her hand to me.

‘Let’s make a contract.’

The origin and foundation of Umbra.

Shadows gathered in her hand.

‘I will transfer all my power to you. In return, you…’

‘Yes. I will do my best to deal with Veil Stole.’

Umbra narrowed her eyes.

‘Doing your best isn’t enough. You must kill him. Kill him and bring his soul to me.’

Bringing the soul wouldn’t be a problem as long as Miho was there.

Killing him was also not a problem.

Whether I died or he died, the result was only one of the two.

‘Okay. I will make a contract under that condition.’

I immediately took Umbra’s hand.

I could get Umbra’s power by doing what I had to do anyway.

There was no reason to refuse.

‘I like your coolness.’

Power flowed in from Umbra’s palm that I was holding.

A familiar power.

Mana in the name of shadow was flowing into my body.

‘…Kuh.’

Instantly, a scream escaped my lips.

Massive power flowed in all at once, causing pain throughout my body.

‘Don’t be a crybaby. It hasn’t even started yet.’

Umbra said as she poured power into me.

‘From now on, I will transfer all the authority of my power to you.’

As if this was the real deal, the speed at which power flowed in began to increase even more.

It hurt as if my whole body was twisting.

‘Hold on tight. It’s going to hurt a little… no, a lot.’

‘…Kuh!’

At the same time as the warning, the pain intensified even more.

It was a terrible pain, as much as the evil god had warned it would be.

‘Still… it’s not to the point where I can’t endure it.’

I endured the pain and focused all my efforts on managing Umbra’s power.

‘Yeah. Not bad. If you’re going to fight that guy, you have to be able to endure this much easily.’

I heard Umbra’s laughter.

Since my eyes were closed, I couldn’t see her expression, so I couldn’t be sure, but it was definitely a favorable reaction.

‘Just keep enduring it until the end.’

As I listened to Umbra’s voice, one thought suddenly flashed through my mind.

‘Ah, come to think of it…’

The soul of the God of the End that Umbra hated was also possessed by my teacher, Ray Bell Bytenner.

That meant that I should also be included in the targets that Umbra hated.

Because the Bytenner style was the same as the remnants of the God of the End.

‘But…’

However, Umbra didn’t seem to hate me at all.

‘There’s no way she wouldn’t have noticed.’

Umbra had a sensitive sense that allowed her to sense the power of the God of the End immediately after seeing Veil Stole through the relic.

With that level of sensitivity, she should have been able to sense the power of the God of the End in my magic as well.

‘She noticed, but she’s not acting like it.’

I could be sure of this.

It was impossible to hide her true feelings so perfectly with that much hatred.

If she had maintained a blank expression, I wouldn’t know, but Umbra was unleashing fierce hatred towards the God of the End from time to time.

To explode with emotions, and then perfectly manage her emotions towards me?

That was absolutely impossible.

‘Then that means she didn’t sense the power of the God of the End in my magic…’

My teacher had clearly said that the divine rank of the God of the End was imbued in the Bytenner style.

But Umbra wasn’t feeling any trace of the God of the End in my power.

What could be the reason for that?

Why couldn’t Umbra sense the power of the God of the End in me?

‘There’s something.’

There was something.

‘Something I don’t know. Something my teacher doesn’t know…’

My teacher and Veil Stole.

And the God of the End.

There was something between them.

Something we didn’t know.

‘Could the secret be in the reason why the God of the End was split into two?’

That’s what I thought.