Chapter 158: Beings of the Ancient Era (4)

Pluto looked at the divine strike that pierced the ground in front of him with a wary expression.

The goddess had returned.

The goddess of order, who had been absent from the world for a while, had come back.

The fact that she was back would have a huge impact on the world.

Philrun was a hero who deserved his name, but Pluto could not ignore the goddess behind him either.

“The goddess of order…”

Order.

The goddess who was in charge of the natural laws and rules of this world.

The laws that she established were the proper norms for everyone, and the immutable principles of the world.

The goddess of order would judge and condemn anyone who violated the order that she had set.

And Pluto would also be a target of her judgment.

Pluto was an immortal who defied the logic of mortals, and an apostle of the evil god who opposed the six goddesses.

Philrun, who had the support of the goddess on his back, was more confident than ever as he aimed his divine weapon at Pluto.

“Why don’t you surrender now? I’ll let you die without pain.”

“…”

No matter how powerful Pluto was, he could not win against the goddess.

He was nothing but a creature who lived under the logic of the gods.

Pluto Astria’s name was eternal, but his memory was not.

But the being called a goddess was beyond the logic of such creatures.

Pluto and her had different lengths of time and history that they had accumulated and remembered.

That’s why humans called them gods and worshiped and revered them.

“But still…”

Pluto’s red eyes, filled with determination, stared at Philrun who stood beyond him.

His attack could not reach the god.

But the hero in front of him was a different story.

He could do it.

He could pierce through the divine punishment that the goddess unleashed and kill Philrun.

It was a possibility that only he, not any other apostle, had.

Pluto firmly believed in that possibility.

“If you retreat now, you will disgrace the honor of your lord.”

With that judgment, Pluto gripped Deathscythe and started to move forward.

His flesh, soaked in darkness, scattered and turned into black mist. Pluto’s body charged toward Philrun.

Was it because he had already lost two pairs of wings?

Philrun was wary of Pluto and held his sword while stepping back.

“—-Deathscythe.”

Ziiiiing.

The divine weapon resonated and the shadow of the reaper appeared behind Pluto.

He aimed for a strike that would cross the distance.

With one hit, or two at most, he was confident that he could bring down Philrun.

Kwang!

As Pluto’s body kicked the snow and approached, Philrun swung his light beam and opened his mouth.

From the snow that scattered in all directions, Philrun and the goddess’s voices echoed at the same time.

“Oh goddess!”

-“Do not touch my child.”

A golden curtain spread in the air and blocked Pluto’s strike.

Kagagagak!

The reaper’s scythe, glowing blue, slid along the curtain and moved toward the ground.

There was no doubt that the goddess of order had spread the curtain to protect Philrun.

The curtain, made of dense divine power, was not the kind that could be passed through by mistification.

Pluto, who had turned into mist, quickly changed his strategy and tried to bypass the curtain with his fast mobility.

‘Again.’

His body, which had dispersed like a mirage, slowly coalesced beyond the curtain.

The darkness began to intersect.

The darkness that began to take on a human shape revealed its true form at that moment. Countless beams of light poured down around him.

A foul smell that twisted his nose assaulted Pluto’s sense of smell.

Pluto frowned and hastily restored his body to its original state.

“Huuh…!”

Kwang! Kang! Kaang!

Pluto swung his scythe and fended off the holy light that poured down to the ground.

The arrows of light that collided with Pluto’s scythe twisted their trajectories and embedded themselves in the floor.

Crack.

The arrows that he deflected turned into fragments of divine power and scattered.

The beams of light that the goddess shot all conveyed a heavy sensation.

Indeed, it felt like a huge wall to reach her fully with his power.

‘A little faster.’

Faster. And stronger.

Pluto put more strength into his scythe.

Kwang! Kagagagak!

With one swing of his scythe, three beams of light crumbled.

Kwang! Kang!

With two swings of his scythe, Pluto’s footsteps advanced one step forward.

One step. And another step.

As Pluto stepped forward, Philrun shot a beam of light from Clawsolas at him.

“—-Clawsolas!”

Chiiiiik.

The beam of light bent by Deathscythe stabbed the ground.

Pluto’s eyes followed Philrun’s movement, who was consumed by fear.

A frightened prey was in front of him.

A human hero who had always offered blood to his kin, trembling with fear at the name of his great race, was in front of him.

He could not retreat from such a human without disgracing his ancestor’s honor.

He had to kill him.

He had to kill the hero and rule over him as the ancestor who came before him.

‘Faster. Stronger.’

A forgotten sensation revived through his hand.

The ancestor he knew had to excel at everything.

Art. Culture. Ruling. Fighting.

Everything he had forgotten was a qualification of a great lord.

Faster. And stronger.

The proud ancestor did not bow to the threat in front of him.

Even after losing all her people, she had to stay here and avenge them.

-“Proclaim it.”

She heard a voice calling her in Pluto’s ear as he swung his scythe to reach the past.

The lord of darkness was calling her.

She knew what he wanted, what he wished for.

If he wanted it, she could reach it.

That’s why she had only one thing to do.

‘If you wish for it.’

She had to proclaim it with her own mouth.

She had to announce who this battlefield belonged to.

She had to say who owned the snow that covered the earth, the bushes that grew abundantly, the clouds that flowed in the sky.

She had to declare who the day and night of this world were for.

“Sanctuary proclamation—-.”

If her lord wished for it, she had to work for him.

That was the new mission given to her who had lost everything.

The third apostle, Pluto Astria.

This was a right granted only to herself as an apostle.

Her bloodstained eyes looked beyond the logic.

“Wait… Sanctuary proclamation?”

Philrun’s voice, soaked in confusion, echoed.

But a mere mortal’s question was lighter than a crow’s feather.

This was a declaration carried out under the great command.

She raised her left hand slowly with an elegant gesture.

And, with a lofty voice, she spoke to all the beings in this place.

“—-Logracion.”

The moment the agent of evil god declared the age of darkness.

The golden world collapsed.

***

The darkness of night.

Under the city’s night sky where no stars twinkled, only the screen of the smartphone in his hand emitted light.

He could see the faint starlight of Polaris here, but he was captivated by a more brilliant sparkle.

The countless colors created by electricity and signals.

A yawn escaped from his mouth as he looked at the smartphone that shone instead of the stars.

“Huuh…”

I had just noticed Pluto’s anomaly while yawning.

I was browsing through the screens to check on the apostles’ situations, when I found a place where the screen was not visible.

After [The Contract of Regression] lost its effect, there was only one thing that could block my sight.

The sight-obstruction pattern unique to the boss monsters who used ‘Sanctuary proclamation’.

If not, the only explanation for this phenomenon was a smartphone malfunction.

“It can’t be broken.”

Chijik. Chik. Chiik—-.

The screen that was blurred by noise returned to normal.

What appeared on the restored screen was a strange character facing Pluto.

An unidentified character with wings of light.

Considering his skill pattern and appearance, he was definitely a boss monster of the kind called heroes.

He was looking at Pluto with a light sword in his hand, with a bewildered face.

-“Wha, Sanctuary proclamation… Clawsolas said that the evil god couldn’t interfere…”

-“Your faith in the goddess of order and running away will end here, Philrun.”

Pluto, who used <Sanctuary proclamation: Logracion>, aimed Deathscythe at the boss and spoke.

There were countless numbers of light stuck near Pluto.

Someone had shot magic at Pluto for sure.

As I watched their conversation, I couldn’t help but doubt a certain word.

It was a word that was familiar to me, but also a bit strange.

“The goddess of order? Is this boss from her side?”

The goddess of order was one of the six goddesses who were called so in the continent.

According to the game’s setting, she was also the one behind the boss monsters called heroes who attacked the cult.

Judging from their conversation, the boss in front of me was surely a hero made by the goddess of order.

As if to prove it, the hero called Philrun raised a short prayer to the sky with his sword in his hand.

It was a short prayer that the boss monsters who faced me often uttered.

-“Oh goddess! Guide me!”

“What kind of navigation is the goddess? They always look for a fake goddess.”

Of course, that didn’t mean that the goddess would pop out.

If the goddess came out every time they called her, Ebeni wouldn’t have become my apostle.

At least that’s how it was according to my experience.

With that thought in mind, I started to think about what skill to use to kick Philrun’s ass.

-“Oh goddess! Guide me!”

“Call her a hundred times. Your goddess won’t come out.”

<Lightning>. <Lightning Arrow>. <Giga Lightning>.

As I was pondering over various choices and moving my finger between the skill icons.

A strange voice from the speaker pierced my ears.

My eyes, which were looking at the icons, automatically turned to Pluto.

-“You are arrogant, child.”

At the same time as the woman’s voice flowed from the speaker, a light arrow flew toward Pluto.

Kwang!

Pluto, who was holding his scythe, swung it and ran toward Philrun.

I couldn’t help but be surprised by the scene.

The one who shot the arrow at Pluto was definitely not the guy called Philrun.

“…This is really happening.”

The goddess, whom I had only heard of, appeared in front of me.

Pluto was blocking the arrows that the goddess shot and advancing forward.

Seeing that, I moved my finger to the <Voice> skill that was heading toward the attack magic.

A hero character who attacked the apostle with the goddess.

Was this a special pattern that manifested by causality correction?

I realized then why the messages had been warning me of causality correction until now.

-Warning: Excessively biased karma in one direction may cause <Causality Correction>.

“Yeah, this is fun. Let’s fight together, huh?”

Pluto had held his own against the boss monster even when his sight was blocked.

If I helped her, there was no reason why we couldn’t defeat the enemy in front of us.

Causality correction or whatever, it would be over if Pluto and I overcame it.

Tuk.

I touched the <Voice> skill and used it to talk to Pluto’s ear.

There was only one command I had to give her with my voice.

“Pluto. You take down that guy. I’ll back you up.”

-“Move forward. I’ll guide you.”

-“If that’s your will, I’ll do anything.”

Pluto could take down the boss for sure.

Because I would help her myself.

Tadadadak–.

Pluto, who gripped his scythe, ran toward Philrun while scattering snow.

In front of Pluto who was advancing, arrows filled with light revealed themselves.

-“Submit to the proper order.”

Countless arrows emitted light and flew toward her.

I created a <Barrier> in the air and blocked the arrows that were shot at Pluto.

My countless <Barriers> overlapped and collided with the arrows that flew at me.

Kwang! Zhezhezhezhek.

The <Barriers> that were hit by the arrows crumbled, but I created new ones beyond them.

-You used <Barrier>.

-You used <Barrier>.

-You used <Barrier>.

My skill control, which I had honed for a long time, was not bad at all.

The spectacle of <Barriers> that the human macro poured out was enough to block the enemy’s attack.

As I blocked the pattern that was made to pressure Pluto by myself, a smile burst out from my lips that were using skills.

I laughed as I thought of the goddess who was spouting nonsense.

“Shut up. I am the order.”

Tuduk. Tuk. Tuk. Tuk.

I tapped the skill icons and blocked the goddess’s attacks one after another.

Crack. The fragments of the broken <Barriers> scattered star dust beyond the screen.

Before I knew it, I had accidentally pressed the <Voice> skill along with it, and a mechanical voice flowed from the speaker.

-“I am the order.”

-“That’s a good word for you, my lord.”

Pluto smiled and accelerated even more than before.

Logracion was the stage that I had prepared for her.

The brightest thing in this stage had to be my apostles.

Otherwise, everything I had poured out until now would lose its meaning.

I gave wings to Pluto’s back as he moved forward.

My trailing touch became a shield to protect her, and my pressing sparkle became a blade to trap the enemy.

-“—-Deathscythe.”

Kwang!

Darkness shot out from behind Pluto who was accelerating.

A crack opened in front of the spreading darkness, and the crack swallowed Philrun.

Philrun, who was mixed with Logracion’s ash, shivered and pushed away the crack.

Zhezhezhezek.

One of his wings made of light burst and a huge speech bubble popped out and covered the screen.

-“Oh goddess!!! Save me!!!”

He shook his pitiful outer wing and widened his eyes.

It was the biggest speech bubble I had ever seen.

It was so big that even though I only saw it with my eyes, I could feel his intense emotion.

Of course, I had no intention of watching his pathetic struggle until the end.

Pluto, who cut through the darkness and moved forward, was already in front of him.

-“Hello.”

Deathscythe tilted greatly and throbbed once.

Kieek.

The reaper who appeared behind her laughed at him.

It was a sight I had never seen before.

The reaper who appeared as the effect of [Divine Weapon: Deathscythe] was mocking the enemy.

-“Guide me!!!”

-“—-Deathscythe.”

His arm, fully tilted, swung at Philrun from a close distance.

Kwaaaaang!

A loud explosion and countless beams of light burst out from there.

Under the scattered light, Pluto and Philrun’s faces froze at the same time.

A black and white world where only shadows existed.

As red blood splashed, a new message appeared at the bottom of the screen.

-[Divine Weapon: Clawsolas] has been destroyed.

-[Divine Weapon: Deathscythe] has grown.