296 – Coming Back
Rize cut off the neck of a middle-aged man who was running towards her. When the soul dwelling in the blue dagger denied its existence, his decapitated body collapsed.
Three people filled the place where one person was missing. Rize, who stepped back to avoid the attack, looked around him. Claudia, Erica, and Iris were fighting desperately.
The progress was not very good. Compared to the first time, it was clearly visible that the movement was noticeably slower. Her breathing was rough, and her white sleeveless shirt was drenched in sweat and slightly see-through.
But there was no time to rest. Rize caught the blue dagger that was swinging and struck it, gritted her teeth and swung her arm.
“Why? Have you already had a hard time? If you don’t fight properly, these things will spread to your world?”
Eater of the World, who did not miss every move of the remaining humans even while fighting Eclipse, saw Rize like that and made a sarcastic remark.
Actually, the word “Fighting” Wasn’t very appropriate. Eclipse was literally overwhelmed without being able to deliver a single effective hit. It was something that couldn’t even be called a battle.
“I showed mercy so that I wasn’t just cheering from behind, so why are you not happy?”
There was no such thing as mercy. The copies crawling out of the floor indefinitely were not made to kill you.
They were made to play with.
If I had intended to kill it, I would have sent it out with a lot of specs from the beginning. It’s not like it is now, just a little less than the original, so you can kill it with all your might.
“Explode!”
Crystals made of mana protruded from Aurora’s fingertips like bullets. The crystal bullets that were embedded in the bodies of humans were broken into small chunks once again inside the bodies.
The humans who were hit directly by the bullets rolled on the floor with holes pierced in their bodies, but even then they stood up and attacked. He didn’t care whether the hole leaked blood or not, whether the bones were broken or not.
“These tenacious things… ….”
While Aurora was talking harshly, a magic circle was drawn from the hand of a human who looked exactly like the woman who appeared in the imperial palace. Aurora gritted her teeth and unleashed her magic in defense.
Hundreds of crystal bullets hit the defense magic.
ㅡ Kwajik!
“Ah!”
The magic didn’t last long. With a sound like shattering glass, a shotgun that pierced the protective shield and entered the right calf. Aurora staggered her body.
Dozens of bullets in succession shattered the shield, but in the next moment, Aurora had moved somewhere else. She was by Minerva’s side.
Her Minerva was also in poor shape, as she had to adjust her range so that her magic would not harm her allies while dealing with clones of herself. Her face and even her breastbone were covered in sweat.
Minerva said, wiping the sweat off her cheek with the back of her hand.
“Try to focus, child. It has not yet collapsed.”
“…… I’m sorry, Minerva.”
“What is there to be sorry about? Take a break if you need to. Time seems to be something I can earn.”
“No. We can fight more.”
Aurora limped on her leg, but somehow managed to stand up, gritting her teeth and holding back her moans. She had no face to see other people when she was down here.
She didn’t use healing magic. Because it is impossible to heal wounds anyway because of the laws of the world. That Delta-like piece of junk was a fact directly explained.
I didn’t believe it, and after trying it, I was right.
“You guys are struggling. Isn’t that right, Goddess?”
The World Eater, who looked at all of that with eyes full of ridicule, turned his head to Eclipse.
“Mere humans are fighting so desperately. You’ve become like a goddess, shouldn’t you try harder?”
“Cool, shut up… ….”
“You have a bad mouth habit.”
The wingless Nightmare slapped Eclipse’s abdomen with its sheath. Eclipse, who had taken a deep breath, sat down on one knee, clutching at the spot he had been hit by.
As he exhaled, clear liquid dripped from his mouth. His body was already covered with scars. His skin was torn everywhere, and there were more than ten blue bruises.
“At this point, shouldn’t we start by questioning whether you are really a goddess?”
Eclipse couldn’t even refute the word. Because even at this moment he was being stripped of his power.
In other words, as time goes by, that guy gets stronger and Eclipse gets weaker. Even in a situation like this where you just sit on the floor and get beaten up.
The World Eater walked around him as if on a slow walk with his hands behind his back. Humans fighting their copies with all their might were put into the red vertical pupils.
“Look at those insignificant beings. See how foolish and stupid it is to deny and deny the truth. Aren’t we repeating meaningless outbursts while forcibly reliving hopes we can’t have? Even though all of those actions are just illusions.”
“… ….”
“I will give you a chance to save them, Goddess.”
Eclipse, who had not been able to properly heal even his simple wounds due to his power draining away, raised his head with a trembling body when he heard those words.
“Deny hope with your own mouth. That man is dead, and he won’t come back. Declare in the name of the goddess. Then don’t let those people live. How are you?”
“Speaking nonsense…… Creepy?!”
Eclipse rejected it with a single stroke, as if it was an unworthy proposition. The nightmare that had lost its wings beat his head again. His battered body fell flat. The spot where he had been hit was swollen red.
The World Eater had never used a blade since the battle. It was meant as a mockery that a scabbard was enough for someone like you, and in reality it was enough.
“You’re starting to get bored. If you said you would take the time, shouldn’t you please me that much? How long are you going to be beaten like that?”
“I can still fight more—”
ㅡPeruk!
“This process does not deserve to be called a fight, Goddess. Know the subject.”
Eclipse, which hit the ship, floated and flew away, then crashed and rolled on the floor. The World Eater walked leisurely to the spot where the goddess had fallen.
“Tell me where. Do you believe in meaningless hope too? The man is not dead, does he still believe he will come back alive?”
“…… Delta is. Yet, he is not dead.”
“Oops, oops. It must be a goddess who can’t understand her words. It’s already been ten times since I told you how I killed it. Does that mean you haven’t given up yet?”
“The first time I brought Delta here, cool. It was. I thought it was impossible, and it couldn’t be. But, what about now? You get hit by Delta and run away unsightly—”
ㅡQuaang!
Eclipse’s body fell to the floor. The World Eater turned part of her left hand back into dragon form and crushed it from above. There was a hint of anger in that expression.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Goddess. One more word and I will rip her tongue out.”
“If you want…… Again and again, tell me…… Because of Delta…… The subject that ran away—- oh, uhhhhh?!”
“I knew your will well.”
Quaddeuk, as the power to suppress it grew stronger, Eclipse let out a moan full of pain. The pupils that were torn vertically were filled with flesh.
“I’ll do whatever you want. I wouldn’t need the right to talk to someone like you.”
The World Eater removed his left hand. A strange black liquid crawled out from the floor, forcing Eclipse to kneel, grabbing his lower jaw and forcing his mouth open.
The black liquid was about to enter the mouth to pull out the tongue. Suddenly, the movement of the liquid stopped within a distance of two fingers from her mouth.
It was because the World Eater sensed something strange.
“…… What?”
A shadow suddenly appeared in front of the body.
There was no time to understand the situation. The surroundings brightened and the shadows became clearer. In an impossibility, the World Eater turned his head in the opposite direction of the shadow.
I saw the sun rising in the sky.
“… ….”
Everyone on the ground, everything has stopped acting. And at the same time I looked up at the sky. The noise of the battle that filled the empty space disappeared as if obliterated.
The sun illuminates the dark sky. All that had eyes were witnessing the brilliance.
But that was the sun, but not the sun. Because it wasn’t made by Eclipse. Because it wasn’t the sun of the eclipse.
“Ah… ….”
With the ecstatic voice of the eclipse, the sun fell to the ground.
It was as if the world itself was sinking. Nothing on earth could match the sunset sky. I just stare at the sky blankly and witness the sun breaking as it touches the ground.
ㅡKuuu…….
As soon as the sun completely set down, a tremendous radiance burst out. Waves of light swept across the land. Everywhere the eyes reached was dyed golden.
The body swept away by the light began to heal. The arm that was broken came back, the skin that had been cut off was attached, and the broken bone was healed. Even the scars of Eclipse.
All of the wounds that had not been healed by any means and were growing recklessly were all healing. Eclipse watched the healing skin and the disappearing bruises with cloudy eyes.
Clear tears formed around my eyes.
“ㅡ!!!!!”
Unlike humans whose wounds have healed, there were those who were swept away by the light and screamed in pain.
These were replicas made by the World Eater. As soon as the replicas were enveloped in light, they let out screams of pain and rolled on the floor.
“Black… ….”
The teardrops that had been forming ran down my cheeks.
It was a divine spell called ‘Benevolent Sun’ that had just been created. Eclipse himself even put it into Brightest Darkness 4, so he couldn’t help but know.
The effect is to recover the HP of allies in a wide range and deal damage to the enemy by a portion of the recovery amount. In other words, that sun recognized Eclipse and other humans as allies.
“Your year! Goddess!”
I heard the World Eater’s furious voice. He was staring at Eclipse with bloodshot eyes. He ignored it and looked up again.
The full moon rose in the sky.
A silver light took the place of the disappearing golden light. Slowly, very slowly, the full moon sank to the ground. The replicas that were rolling on the floor in pain were swept away in one fell swoop.
Eclipse knew this too. It was a divine incantation named ‘Benevolent Full Moon’.
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The effect is to deal damage to enemies in a wide range and recover allies’ HP by a portion of the damage dealt. Again, that full moon recognized Eclipse and other humans as allies.
As if to prove that idea correct, Eclipse’s body was much more alive than it was before the fight beyond recovery.
“Oops…… Does not make sense…… !”
While the World Eater stared somewhere with bloodshot eyes, Eclipse gathered the women scattered around him. Numerous gazes filled with bewilderment turned to the goddess.
“What the Goddess did just now…… ?”
“I didn’t do it.”
Eclipse shook his head slowly. Twelve pairs of pupils turned round as if she had noticed the tear marks on her cheeks.
There was silence for a while, but the silence didn’t last long.
Someone with a familiar appearance was walking this way.
As soon as I got out of the strange space, I saw the world eater, who was still wearing my appearance, looking at me with a face full of astonishment.
I was in the middle of expressing the feeling of being surprised with my whole body with the expression that I had thrown away everything. I frowned.
“Are you still shaking that damn thing with me?”
“You bastard… ….”
He gnashed his teeth. His pupils, which had already been very red, were dyed even more crimson. Instinctively, he seemed to have noticed that this wasn’t a fake.
“You are dead! Should have died! I mean, I checked thoroughly until the very end!”
The relaxed manner of speaking he showed so far was nowhere to be found, and his voice was full of evil.
“Yes. Dead I can’t be sure because I lost my memory, but I’m sure he was thoroughly confirmed and killed.”
I took it back calmly. I reacted like this, and his voice became sharper.
“I confirmed that there is no sign of reviving, but why! How are you still alive!”
“How are you alive, the reason is obvious.”
Aimed at the nightmare that lost its wings. Then, he opened his mouth, giving back the fishy laugh he had shown so far.
“It’s the second phase. You son of a b*tch.”