NOVEL NEXT WORLD Chapter 1039
<1039 – Master of Darkness (17)>
Great challenges lead to great achievements.
“The one who defeats a mythical creature earns the right to be recognized as a hero, and the one who kills a god can achieve immortality through the Achievement of God’s Killing Tool. It’s quite rare, you know? Kekekeke.”
“I really don’t want to nitpick, but I can’t help it. How many years ago was it that a God Slayer appeared on the continent?”
“You’d be surprised; it wasn’t that long ago! This year, the ‘Representative of the Man God’ also sacrificed gods and succeeded in slaying them, and Lord Oknodie buried and weakened quite a few gods himself.”
“Your grandfather’s information network is starting to get a bit frightening.”
“Hoohoo. Among them, the true God Slayer was ‘Seonhwang’. If I remember correctly, it must have been a bit over a thousand years, right? Ah, what a glorious battle it was! Even after such a long time, there’s a reason this Okashii-ne has been serving as his domain.”
The Okashii-ne reminisced about the glory days of Seonhwang, overwhelmed with feelings about the rare Achievement of God’s Killing Tool in Continental History.
Truly, it could be regarded as an extraordinary feat above the ordinary.
Zuang was shocked to learn that the suddenly deceased Representative of the Man God had accomplished such a grand event.
Was the Three Great Evils just a bunch of strong guys who got unlucky when they bumped into someone?
One of those significant figures was Oknodie’s biological father, and it felt strangely satisfying recalling the past when he had been buried by Oknodie’s Avatar of the Outsider Summoning Spell in one hit.
“Oknodie might have been underestimated for relying on his Avatar, but now it’s different. If he defeated the Heavenly Sovereign of the Eastern Empire with his own strength, then he’s incredibly strong.”
“That’s right.”
“If Seonhwang is stronger than the Representative of the Man God, and if he defeated the Heavenly Sovereign of the Eastern Empire corresponding to the Seonhwang of the Western World, then he could be considered even beyond a God Slayer.”
I want to boast vehemently.
That I accompanied him on a journey of achieving something greater than burying a god.
Even though it was a feat I accidentally achieved after being kidnapped by the professor’s lecture, still, it’s something.
As long as Zuang keeps his mouth shut, the truth won’t come out.
Sia and Sadi both have heavy mouths.
Sister Sia is kind-hearted and will likely comply if asked nicely…
Sadi loves to play with people’s hearts and threaten others to keep secrets, so she won’t spill anything easily.
Oknodie is my best friend, so of course, he will keep quiet.
But there’s one concern.
The ever-elusive Okashii-ne, who shows up everywhere and tells strange secrets no one knows, then suddenly disappears again.
I just need to shut that person’s mouth.
“Keep it a secret.”
“Hehe. What are you talking about?”
“The reason I joined Oknodie’s quest to defeat the Heavenly Sovereign was that I was forcibly dragged into the professor’s lecture.”
“Don’t you worry. This Okashii-ne is not foolish enough to blab about something that hasn’t happened yet.”
“Good attitude.”
Zuaz felt relieved by the assurance of not having seen anything.
The persuasion clearly worked, but…
Why does it feel so eerie?
Zuang felt a strange discomfort.
The instinct of an assassin.
A primal warning that something was going terribly wrong.
His spine prickled with the effect of the <Crisis Detection> triggered by a ‘life-threatening’ sense.
“You said it hasn’t happened?”
“That’s right.”
“Does that mean you intend to keep the secret?”
“My mouth is heavy, but in this case, it has another meaning. Just like I can’t say something that hasn’t happened, so can’t you.”
“…That shouldn’t be the case. If you say it like that, it sounds like…”
“It means the Heavenly Sovereign isn’t dead yet.”
With that cold voice from Sia, Zuang finally faced reality.
Her gaze turned to where Sia was looking.
━━━
Heavenly Sovereign Phase 3
???’s Avatar
━━━
The Heavenly Sovereign as a human was defeated.
The Heavenly Sovereign as a creature and a dragon was also defeated.
Mythical beings that shouldn’t exist in this world, if we look broadly enough, could be considered weird.
It’s an amazing feat.
To have defeated such a powerful being.
However, that could not lead to the death of the Heavenly Sovereign.
The reason is simple.
The Heavenly Sovereign neither reached the form of a dragon, nor existed as a weird creature, nor touched its deepest essence.
“Weird Princess. I didn’t expect you to put me in such a dilemma. To conquer the empire, gather death, and plan to become the heavenly sovereign to rule over more lives, I didn’t expect you to disrupt that plan so severely.”
“Hehe. Seems like you’ve finally revealed your true self? I waited a long time, you know?”
Oknodie, sweeping his palm over the wound in his abdomen, forcibly sealed it through <Disguise>.
Both he and the Heavenly Sovereign knew it was merely a temporary first aid measure, not a complete healing.
The situation was tough.
Oknodie was severely injured after overcoming the second phase, yet the Heavenly Sovereign still had strength left.
The Heavenly Sovereign unflinchingly revealed the true nature of that remaining power.
“Avatar of the God of Death!”
To grow stronger, more lives must die.
The one enjoying and observing the countless tragedies stemming from the Evil Dragon Omoshiroi, seeking to truly save humanity.
The one who laid the foundation that the benevolent deity, Seonhwang, could never overcome, alongside the many strong individuals from the Academy who had struggled to barely overcome the Death God.
One of the marks he left in this world.
The vessel that had schemed for the death of as many as possible in the secular world revealed a chilling smile.
“Yes. I am the avatar of the God of Death, and I come to deliver vengeance upon you who destroyed my true self.”
Alliance of Necromancers.
An organization seeking to open the Gate of the Netherworld.
The first wizard of that organization.
The one who turned the Heavenly Sovereign into a lowly god and servant of the God of Death.
The true heir who inherited the will of the God of Death, the culprit who turned the Eastern Continent into a hellscape.
“You think a mere avatar can defeat me, after my true self finally faced and fell to me?”
“That was not solely your achievement. Just as I am incomplete, you can’t invoke the luck you had back then anymore. ‘That’ record of battle that my ‘true self’ left before perishing is here.”
He pointed at his own head with his finger.
Both the human form.
And the dragon form.
He had lost them all and assumed his third form.
The form of a demon.
Beyond the surging aura of death and despair, he drew out his weapon.
━━━
<Mythical Grade Treasure: Book of Death>
<Effect: Anyone whose identity is written in this book will die.>
━━━
Even the strongest of veterans refrained from tackling the Eastern conquest for a second reason other than internal failings.
The reason why the many benevolent deities observed the calamities in the East and chose to ignore them.
“The Book of Death, which sharpens the deaths of countless beings to make one stroke, would descend here, Weird Princess, Dark Princess, Oknodie. You shall die today.”
An unavoidable death.
The Death Note of the Shinigami unfolded.
“Shall we begin then?”
“…How? How can you…”
From the Heavenly Sovereign’s hand came one book.
And from Oknodie’s hand came another.
“How is it possible for the Book of Death to be in your hand, and in that hand?!”
“Eh? Is that really strange? I’ve caught various things from the depth of the Netherworld, where the two gods of the Netherworld are my mentors and Papa.”
Writing down all of Oknodie’s identities to kill her.
The shock received by the Heavenly Sovereign was immense, enough to temporarily forget that plan.
However, his wavering mind tried to return quickly.
“If you possess it, how do you intend to use it? As I said, using it requires…”
“One must write the death of ten thousand beings for each stroke. Hehe. That’s hilarious. She already possesses ‘the most deaths in the world’.”
The Okashii-ne beamed brighter than ever, grinning like a child.
Before the Heavenly Sovereign could react in shock to the sudden appearance of the ancient figure who seemed to have jumped dimensions, Oknodie shocked him further by truly picking up the pen and drawing a stroke.
The act of drawing a stroke in the Book of Death.
If even a single death contributed by oneself is lacking, one cannot escape becoming part of the stroke and dying.
A harsh treasure where arrogance won’t work.
Yet, the stroke was entirely drawn.
Oknodie truly, boldly declared that she would write down every identity of the Heavenly Sovereign and proceeded to do just that.
━━━
Avatar of the God of Death
Parent of All Weird Creatures
The first wizard of the Alliance of Necromancers
The highest-grade weird of the Eastern Dragon
Heavenly Sovereign of the Eastern Empire
━━━
He admitted it.
He saw death.
He felt tremendous fear.
For just a moment, he forgot his superiority.
Zuang wavered at Oknodie’s move.
Yet the Heavenly Sovereign laughed.
Covering his face with his hands.
Shaking his shoulders like he was sobbing.
He genuinely burst into laughter.
“Hehe. Haha! You did it. Yes, you could do it. So, what does that mean? The identity of this avatar, who is practically immortal and free from the constraints of lifespan, is not merely that. Can you define all my relationships I’ve built in this world?”
━━━
Oknodie
Dark Princess
Weird Princess
Top Ten Bandit of the Continent
A person blessed by the two gods of the Netherworld
━━━
The Heavenly Sovereign wrote down an equal number of characters as Oknodie in one fell swoop.
His eyes gleamed coldly.
“Resisting would be futile. The Book of Death records the ‘records’ of all living beings. Just how long do you think it will take to ‘see’, ‘read’, and ‘copy’ your identity?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh really? Then let me give you a hint. The God of Death records every death in the world. In the Middle Realm, five people die every second. Four hundred thirty-two thousand die in a day. Do you think that while writing that down daily, the ‘writing’ function experience points will accumulate significantly?”
Functions grow more proficient the more they are used.
The writing function held by the God of Death would naturally reach extraordinary levels.
“Even if the avatar and the body pass on part of that massive experience, could your writing speed ever surpass that?!”
“Do you know? Professor Weird, she writes down spells on the blackboard using dozens of pieces of chalk held by her wooden vine and tentacles. Then she nods proudly to herself after finishing and erases it all. In that lecture, I would fill my notebook and sell copies to my friends.”
With a playful smile, Oknodie raised her pen.
“Shall we have a contest? Let’s see who’s faster.”
Characters began to be written densely in the Book of Death at a speed impossible for the eye to follow.
The Heavenly Sovereign realized.
Oknodie’s hand was faster than his.
Even more astonishing, she was so familiar with death that she too could ‘see’, ‘read’, and ‘write’ in the Book of Death, capable of disregarding countless forms of death through <Complete Resistance>.
Oknodie wasn’t beneath the Heavenly Sovereign.
She was, rather, above it.
“What the hell is going on? Why is the Gift Academy, why does the foundation’s parental figure push such harsh experiences onto a girl in her early teens?!”
With the terrifying writing speed of the Dark Princess, the Heavenly Sovereign hurriedly began to draw strokes.