Chapter 124
Chapter 124: The Collapse of Paradise
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The gods buzzed around me .
「Is…Is that thing a human head? 」
「It can’t be . Isn’t that some kind of performance? 」
「He…Hey…! Who’s that…? 」
Someone from the crowd pointed towards one particular spot . The gaze from the gods, including mine, looked that way .
I noticed that a being slowly walked into the arena from the side door . That said being had a slender body and wore a blackish gold armor . But, what caught my eye was the mask it was wearing .
「Im…Impossible…!! 」
I stood up impulsively, and I tried to head towards the arena .
「He…Hey, Lista? Wha…What’s wrong? 」
「Wait! Where are you going? 」
Adenela and Celseus called me, but I still ran in a hurry .
That was not some kind of performance! Ethan Sifford was really killed! I knew that for certain because I remembered that being! That masked person emanated an insane reddish black aura of madness from its entire body!
…At that time, that person was with Merseys!!
—
When I reached the grounds of the arena, I shook Aria’s shoulders violently .
「Aria! You must call Mochizuki Reimi now! That person is dangerous! 」
Mochizuki Reimi was watching the masked person approaching her with suspicion . Aria nodded silently upon hearing my words . It wasn’t necessary for me to say much more . The atmosphere was strange and ominous .
「Reimi! Let the gods handle the outsider! 」
「Bu…But… 」
「Just listen, and retreat now! 」
Reimi seemed surprised by Aria’s unusually strong tone . Then, Reimi retreated reluctantly . A goddess stepped into the arena instead of Reimi .
Valkyrie, the Goddess of Destruction, approached Ethan’s head after it rolled in the ground . She stared at it for a long while . But, eventually, she moved her eyes and glared fixedly at the masked person standing at the center of the arena .
「Were you the one who did this? 」
「Yeah . 」
The moment I heard the muffled voice from behind the mask, Valkyrie disappeared from my sight . Then, I heard a dry sound instantaneously, and the position of those two people was reversed .
…No way…Did she attack!? On this precise instant!?
The masked person spoke after regained its posture .
「Oh my . That was dangerous . As expected of a goddess . You have great speed . 」
「And I praise you for avoiding my direct hit . I wanted to break your neck . But, did you say that it was “dangerous”? You didn’t see anything yet . So, don’t joke with me . 」
Valkyrie clenched one of her fists . At the same time, the mask cracked severely .
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「… Destruction Operation Method the First…“Shattered Break” . 」
The cracked mask was destroyed into several pieces and fell to the ground . I imagined that beneath the mask was the face of an eerie, ugly monster . But, the face that appeared beneath it had glossy lips . Eyes with long eyelashes . And then…
「Eh . I thought that you performed it properly . But, what on earth is this? Disappointing . 」
I clearly heard the voice of the masked person because the mask itself had come off . It was the voice of a young woman .
「Well, I guess it can’t be helped, since your essence is different from mine . Gods and goddesses can’t harm human beings, am I right?」
Valkyrie’s complexion changed when she stared attentively at the shorthaired woman who spoke to her so carelessly and confidently .
「You…! 」
…Eh! Valkyrie! Did she know that woman…?
However, the woman spoke with a sarcastic tone .
「But, it doesn’t matter that much if I’m the one allowed to take such an action . 」
She pointed at Ethan’s head and smirked .
「By the way, was that man a candidate for the championship? He wasn’t good enough . 」
「Did you just say that my hero wasn’t good enough? 」
「His stats were high . But, he wasn’t that strong in the first place . If a person who graduated from a top-ranked university is caught later as a molester, do you really think he was a smart person to being with? That’s how I describe him . 」
「I don’t know the meaning of those words, but don’t you dare smile at me . 」
「As a former hero, I’m just sad to see the insignificance of levels nowadays . 」
…Fo…Former hero…!?
I shouted to Aria, who stood right next to me .
「Listen, Aria!! Who is that person!? 」
Then, Aria muttered in response .
「The Sacred Hero…! 」
Wa…Was that the title that I saw in the memorial hall a while ago…?
「But…No way, how is this possible…! It’s absolutely impossible for a person whose soul has shattered to be able to revive…!」
Aria spoke with a trembling voice . Valkyrie and Aria seemed to know this woman . I wanted to ask more about her, but Aria was extremely disturbed upon witnessing such appearance .
When I returned my gaze to the center of the arena, I became horrified! That woman was staring attentively at me!
「I’ve met you before . Hey, hey, why aren’t you with that man? You see, I think that he was definitely strong . 」
「Se…Seiya isn’t at the God’s realm right now! 」
「Hmm . That’s boring . 」
The moment she showed a disappointing expression…
「…Where the hell are you looking at . 」
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Valkyrie stood behind that woman . Then, she swung down her arm with the power of destruction . A metallic sound resonated high…I witnessed something unbelievable again .
A familiar goddess, dressed in a camouflage cloth, stood between Valkyrie and the woman who called herself as a former hero, and blocked Valkyrie’s fist of destruction with her double sword .
「Ze…Zeth!? 」
I screamed involuntarily!! No way!! Wasn’t she imprisoned by the Supreme God Brahma!?
Zeth, the other Goddess of War, who once taught Seiya about the state Berserk, spoke to the former hero after she broke the chains of Valkyrie’s fist with her double sword .
「Don’t be caught off guard . She is the strongest goddess of the God’s realm . 」
「Then, Zeth . Can’t I win with Phase 4th? 」
「Did you reach State Berserk Phase 4th, huh? It’s quite strange for you to learn it even though I didn’t teach you that . Well, that’s probably because of Merseys’ great power . 」
「Hey, can’t I win? 」
「…Anyway, we have to move accordingly to our strategy . 」
「I see, yeah . That’s right . 」
Zeth faced Valkyrie directly while holding her swords . In the meantime, the female former hero took a piece of paper out of her chest . When she threw that paper in the air, the red magical circle drawn on it transformed into a giant hole!
「I connected the gate . Hello, you can enter now . 」
From the ominous bloody circle, a rotten arm from a decayed corpse first appeared .
「It…It can’t be…! 」
I had a very bad feeling about it . And it seemed that my hunch was correct . First, several undead with armors, then others emanating evil from black robes, and finally, horrible insect-like monsters…Horrible and frightening beings were crawling out of that bloody circle!
「The…The devils!! 」
The gods in the amphitheater were terrified and unsettled . Those evil beings, which resembled the power of Demon Kings from S-rank difficult worlds, bended the knee around the magical circle when they got out . Eventually…From the magical circle, the Goddess of Violence with mottled hair appeared dashingly .
…Merseys…!!
She emanated an evil jet-black aura that was the opposite of the pureness aura of the Gods’ realm . However, she had such an overwhelming presence that I felt a certain kind of beauty from her . I actually felt awed upon seeing her .
After passing through the devils, Merseys looked around .
「I’m home, Gods’ realm . 」
Valkyrie, who stood on a straight line with Merseys, retorted after witnessing her grand arrival .
「So, you were the one behind this . 」
「Valkyrie . I see Aria as well . So many nostalgic faces . 」
「You shouldn’t behave so carelessly . Do you think that you’re safe in here? Don’t forget that you are surrounded by countless of gods in this arena . 」
「There’s no problem . I chose this place at this particular time for a reason . 」
「I hate this because it seems that we’re the ones following your scheme . How did you get here without Isister knowing? “You released Zeth . You summoned a former hero . You even recruited an army of evil beings”…There’s no way that we wouldn’t know about your invasion of the Gods’ realm in advance . 」
Tru . . True . The Great Goddess Isister could foresee the near future . Then, why did this happen so abruptly without us even knowing…?
「I learnt from my past mistakes . I knew that Isister couldn’t foresee her own future . The primary goal of this invasion was to kill Isister in other to prevent future predictions . 」
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「What the hell did you say… 」
When Merseys signaled, Zeth went out of the arena . She returned shortly thereafter . I noticed that she carried a large straw bag with her, and placed it beside Merseys .
「Here it is . 」
I heard a strange sound when she placed it in the ground . Zeth laughed next to Merseys .
「I don’t need to tell you what’s inside of this . 」
Red blood was flowing out of the bag . My whole body froze upon realizing it .
「It…It…It can’t be!! Is that the Great Goddess Isister!? How could you!!」
「Calm down, Lista! Gods won’t die even if their bodies get destroyed! I…I’m sure that Lady Isister is fine!」
Aria shouted to me, while she tried to appease this horrid situation . Zeth responded after she heard Aria’s words .
「Well, that’s certainly correct, yes . But, as you know, there is an exception . 」
Zeth held her double sword and showed us the jet-black blade . The double sword released a familiar dark miasma .
「Chain Destruction…With this method, I’ll make sure that every god will die permanently . 」
As soon as she professed those words, Zeth jumped into the audience with her double sword! On that signal, the devils also held their weapons in their hands, and avalanched into the place where the gods were watching!
「Whoaaaaaa!! 」
「Noooooooo!! 」
Upon hearing that they would be killed forever, the gods, who usually had a dignified appearance, changed their complexion and tried to escape in a panic . Zeth declared the following words amidst the chaos of stepping sounds and screams .
「I shall announce that peace between gods have broken up! Today marks the start of Armagezedah Second!…Eh, ugh!?」
On this instant, a vibrating and strong sound came straight from the crowd! The ground of the amphitheater around Zeth was wrecked in a second! In front of Zeth, who managed to evade the direct hit, stood the sword-wielder Adenela, the Goddess of War, with her hair turned upside down .
「A…Adenela…! 」
「Ze…Ze…Zeth…! 」
Both stared at each other with terrifying eyes . And then…
「Ze…Zeth! Di…Di…Di…Die!! 」
「You are the one who’s going to dieeeeeeeeee!! 」
I knew that there was a long-term feud between Adenela and Zeth . Both of them began to furiously exchange swords with anger and grudge that each of them felt for one another for the last 10,000 years!
「Ahhhhh! I’m getting excited! 」
The female hero was laughing happily next to Merseys . Valkyrie stared directly at the female hero .
「Hey, you bitch . Answer me one question . Did you kill Ethan with the Chain Destruction?」
「Yeah . That’s right . 」
「…That guy had a kid . 」
「So what? 」
Valkyrie showed a fierce expression . The sky roared while the female hero laughed wickedly . When we looked up, we saw that the magical circle was going backwards at the front side of the heavenly sky . Merseys muttered after staring at the sky .
「The power of time magic…Chronoa huh . But, it’s useless . We’ve already deployed an anti-clock field . 」
…Chro…Chronoa was the one who taught Seiya how to prevent Time Manipulation beforehand!! Merseys knew how to do it as well!? How was that even possible!?
「The world has already started to distort . 」
Merseys murmured pleasantly . So many things happened so fast, and I didn’t understand most of them . My head was in the state of half-panic . The…Then, what’s going to happen to the Gods’ realm…!?
However, the strongest goddess, who seemed dependable and fearless, stood in front of Merseys to confront her .
「No need to stop time! I’m going to destroy every one of you! 」
「Valkyrie, the Goddess of Destruction…You are indeed the strongest in the God’s realm in both skill and offensive power . Last time, most of the gods who were with me disappeared because of your power…」
「And those events will repeat again . 」
「After my soul was exiled, I wandered throughout many different worlds and gained the power of greater violence . 」
「You knew that the odds were stacked against you, and yet, you dared to appear in the Gods’ realm? Don’t get arrogant . But, it doesn’t matter much now . Prepare yourself . 」
Valkyrie shouted to the heavens .
「Innermost world of gods! Order!! 」
Immediately, an unexpected amount of aura erupted from Valkyrie’s body . The innermost gods on behalf of the Great Goddess Isister may have granted the Order . My body trembled upon seeing Valkyrie’s original power! Her force was the ultimate status that exceeded the limit!
「You’ll meet your second demise, Merseys . Did you forget what I did to you back then? 」
I was horrified when I realized that the strongest goddess held her left hand with her right hand, and aimed at the opponent with a fierce stance . The battle against Demon King of Geabrande came to my mind . That was Valkyrie’s final destruction technique! A direct target technique that couldn’t be avoided!
「You’re trying to activate the Valhala Gate . 」
「You must be vexing without knowing what to do now . 」
「Not really . 」
Before Valkyrie turned her hand at Merseys, dark miasma overflowed from Merseys’ body . The space around Merseys looked distorted like a mirage .
…Wha…What was that bizarre aura…!?
I felt a huge menacing feeling when I saw that type of aura for the first time . I shouted to Valkyrie then .
「Lady Valkyrie! You must activate the Valhala Gate soon! 」
「Tha…That’s…! 」
Nevertheless, Valkyrie’s hand pointed towards Merseys began to shake! She couldn’t aim her hand directly towards her opponent! Merseys spoke with a tranquil voice .
「The long history of the God’s realm has ended today . And everything shall be reborn into a new and corrected world…」
Shortly before the Valhala Gate was activated, Merseys waved down her arm against the ground of the Gods’ realm .
「Through The Never . 」
The ground was greatly swayed because of Merseys’ fist of command, and it transformed into soft material . The waves were conducted from the ground to the space, and the entire arena got twisted and distorted at the same time .
Now…Everything that appeared in my view was shaking . I couldn’t even stand up properly, much less walk out of here . I crouched in the spot . I suffered from an intense dizziness . Eventually, my consciousness, and even my thoughts, faded away .