Yes, what stood before me now was undoubtedly a being deserving of the name “god.”
Not only had it torn through the very fabric of space, but a single finger of that being was nearly enough to cover the entire interior of the church.
Realizing that it was impossible to comprehend the size of its full form, just facing it caused my mind to spiral into dizziness.
“Oh… you…”
But despite standing before such a being, Gwen did not despair.
Perhaps her body had already reached its physical limits, or maybe her mind was so far gone that she could no longer make rational decisions.
“Have you come… in answer to my prayers?”
Regardless of the reason, the noble composure she had maintained until the end was beginning to crumble at the sight of this apparent hope before her.
The bright smile spreading across her face sent a chill down my spine.
If this was truly an Outer God standing before us, then whatever future awaited her would certainly be tied to it in some way.
-Hmmmmm.
As if to confirm my fears, the god’s hand reached out, its massive finger extending toward Gwen.
As soon as Gwen carefully placed her hand on the finger, an eerie power began to envelop her body.
“…Ah, ah…”
Her body shook uncontrollably as it absorbed the power, and the soft moans escaping her lips gradually took on a tone of ecstasy.
“I understand now…”
She had realized something.
In that moment, hearing her words, I could immediately sense the truth.
“A witch…”
Those who, through some circumstance, come into contact with knowledge from another dimension.
Those who accept such knowledge throw aside morality and decency without guilt, ultimately disrupting the very order of the world.
The origin of the Corpse Lord… was a witch.
At this moment, I had encountered the birth of a being that could be called the root of all evil, brought to life in this world that reflected the past.
As I realized this, Gwen whispered before me.
“I understand everything now…”
Her voice, once filled with pain, was now calm and at peace.
“I understand why this land became what it is… and what beings like you intended.”
Yes, now she was a vessel for the knowledge of an Outer God.
With the power to disrupt the very order of the world, physical pain likely meant little to her now.
“And how to make the tragedy of this land… disappear.”
As she clasped her hands and unleashed her power, the tentacles rooted around her began to shrink.
No, they weren’t just shrinking—they were drying up, drained of blood.
The once-living flesh decayed, leaving behind nothing but corpses with exposed bones.
“Ah… Ah… What a fleeting, futile existence this is.”
As her power spread from the church to the entire city, I, too, was not safe.
If my avatar hadn’t formed a protective barrier around me, I would have rotted away as well.
At this moment, the power Gwen had awakened as a witch was something absurdly potent.
No matter how much one clung to life, no matter how noble they might be… in the face of such beings, a world where everything could vanish or collapse at any moment was not surprising.
As the power spread across the land, everything began to return to death.
When her strength finally ran out, Gwen knelt down on the floor, her trembling gaze fixed on the coffin in front of her.
“But my love…”
Her voice was filled with an unthinkable tenderness for a being that had transcended humanity.
“I still want to believe that your teachings were not wrong.”
“No matter how much the truth I now possess tells me that everything I will do from here on is meaningless, I hope that it will not render everything we have accomplished until now meaningless as well.”
Her prayer revealed one undeniable truth to me.
Even after experiencing tragedy, receiving knowledge from an Outer God, and reigning as a calamity…
In the end, all she used her remaining power for was to offer peace to those in pain and to honor the death of the fallen.
“So, my king…”
That was the end of Gwen Hwibar, the queen and saintess, a noble woman who had loved one person deeply.
“May you live forever…”
With those final words, her body collapsed to the floor, but the peaceful smile on her face remained, as serene as ever.
Because she held onto her heart until the very end, her life was able to be buried in this land, wrapped in dignity and beauty.
-Thud.
Then, the power that had been dwelling within her body took root in her heart and began to revive her flesh.
As an avatar-like being, continuing her life…
As the entity that would later grow into the great calamity known as the Corpse Lord.
“Ah, ah… My love.”
But even knowing that she would commit such a terrible sin, why did the beginning of this moment seem so achingly sorrowful?
“Even though this body has long grown cold and lost all its warmth, I still feel a heartbeat for you… In the midst of this crumbling world, I remember our memories and the longing I have for you.”
I knew it.
No matter how monstrous the disaster would become, its beginning was something even I could understand—it stemmed from human emotions.
“If you feel the same as I do, then please rise.”
Even though her body was that of the dead, I could feel the desperation in her prayer.
Watching this moment from the past, I could understand.
“…Gwen.”
“Even if it’s a lie, it’s okay.”
Her resurrected lover…
Now, as she faced her resurrected lover, nothing but bare bones remained of his former self, and from her lips, a bittersweet joy began to spill.
“Even if it is false, it exists because your will was right. I exist now because, until the very end, I believed that your teachings were correct.”
She clasped her hands together as she whispered these words.
As if she could still feel the heartbeat in her now still heart.
Even if it wasn’t real now, she clung to that longing for the past.
“So I am grateful for this new life and will follow your teachings.”
Her hands, reminiscing about the warmth they once held, slowly reached out toward her resurrected lover.
Once those hands were held, what would follow would be a hell unleashed upon the living.
A wise king would have surely foreseen such a future.
Even with a body turned undead, he must have known that what he was about to achieve was not what he had once desired as a living man.
In a world that would soon crumble… if there was even a sliver of beauty left to be preserved, then that must be their true wish.
“I…”
Unable to shake those thoughts, Boudoin Britannia finally grasped her hand firmly.
At that moment, he became the Blue Knight of Death, descending into a knight who would defend the very catastrophe spawned from his ideals.
This was the beginning of the disaster known as the Corpse Lord.
Because they had been so human…
The fate of a king and a saintess who accepted a world that would spiral into endless despair.
-Crack!!!
As I watched their fateful birth, the sound of something crumbling reached my ears, snapping me back to attention as I turned toward the source of the noise.
No, I didn’t even need to turn.
I saw that the place where Gwen and Boudouin had just grasped hands was being swallowed by something that had surged up from the earth.
“…Huh?”
What is happening…? What’s going on…?
Why were those two suddenly devoured by that dark entity?
After this, wasn’t she supposed to awaken as the Corpse Lord and resurrect the dead to become a threat to humanity?
-Squelch, squish.
No, this wasn’t something that happened in the past.
Something had gone terribly wrong. And it wasn’t like when the Outer God interfered… this was something that shouldn’t exist in this space.
“Run! Get out of there immediately!”
As I stood there, dumbfounded by the absurd sight, my avatar’s urgent shout rang out.
By the time my body finally reacted and dashed out of the church, something from the underground had swallowed the church whole.
-Rumble! Rumble!
Amidst the surging debris, pieces of the church fell in disarray.
As the dust stirred and the chaos unfolded, my eyes were drawn to the enormous shadow within the wreckage.
A massive undead creature made from the interwoven corpses… it was smaller in size, but I had seen something like this before.
“The Infinite Devourer of Void…?”
Yes, the creature that appeared before me now was the one Boudouin had named the Infinite Devourer of Void.
Like Gorgon Zola, which had devoured the Corpse Lord, this being had appeared at the scene of this tragedy and swallowed Gwen and Boudouin whole.
But why?
This time frame was supposed to be about Briton’s downfall and the rise of the Corpse Lord, so why had Gorgon Zola suddenly appeared and devoured them?
“…Consciousness.”
As I stood questioning the situation, my avatar seemed to realize something, speaking in a tense voice as she stared at the risen Gorgon.
“That thing reacts to the remnants of life and the dead… it has become a monster that feeds on consciousness. And right now, we’re standing in a place full of lingering thoughts.”
“…So that insane monster can interfere with the afterlife as well?”
“There’s no other explanation. That creature was born in Briton, and it’s not impossible for it to instinctively follow the remnants of its past here.”
“In the real world, it devours everything—living or dead—and now it’s even invading the afterlife, consuming whatever catches its attention.”
“What the hell is it? Why has such an absurd monster appeared before us?”
“…Ah, ah…”
Even though I couldn’t understand it, Gorgon Zola had now fully revealed itself before us.
As I stared, frozen, at the sight, the creature that had consumed the entire church began spreading its arms wide under the moonlight.
“Oh, most compassionate King and most noble Saintess…”
“Your memories have been passed on to me the moment I devoured you. I feel my hunger for knowledge being sated as my understanding grows.”
Its voice was filled with ecstasy, delighted by this realization.
But that feeling was fleeting.
Soon, it let its arms drop, and with hollow eyes, it gazed endlessly up at the moon.
“…But it is not enough.”
-Crackle, crack…
The flesh inside its bones squirmed.
“This alone cannot sate my hunger.”
Responding to its emotions, its body began to swell, growing larger and larger.
“I must learn more. That is my sole desire. That is the reason for my existence.”
There would be no limit to that process.
I could feel it. As I stood there, the creature prepared to slam its mouth into the ground below.
“So I must… devour moooore!!”
With a thunderous crash, its head plummeted downward.
As its mouth closed around the earth, cracks spread across the ground, and the shockwave reached me.
Yes, this place was made of thought and consciousness.
To that monster, both the living and the dead were nothing but prey, and this entire world was a feast for it.
“Run away, now!”
And yet, why…
Why am I standing here, staring at that monster, despite my avatar’s urgent cries?
“This place is about to collapse! If you don’t get as far away from it as possible…!”
“…Ga-ram.”
I knew the reason immediately.
Because I could feel the faint aura becoming more distinct after that monster appeared—this place was full of the energy of the dead.
“Ga-ram is inside that thing.”
“What?”
“Ga-ram is inside that monster!”
I don’t know why Garam is in there.
Maybe Garam got dragged into it on the way to the afterlife… or maybe she had already been eaten…
“…I have to go inside that thing.”
“That’s insane! Are you seriously saying you’re going to go inside that monster’s mouth?!”
“I can still sense the energy of life here. If Ga-ram is alive, I can find a way to survive inside!”
“You’re staking your life on a hunch! If even one part of your plan is wrong—”
“Please help me, Annabel!”
This chapter is updated by freēwēbnovel.com.
A desperate cry filled with emotion.
Annabel, who had been scolding me, stopped in her tracks and stared at me in shock.
It was to be expected. Despite having the same origin, she bore a different identity, and there was no way she could ignore the name I called her.
“Annabel Britannia. That’s your name, right?”
“……”
“Annabel, you’re knowledgeable about this world and the dead. You can find a way where I can’t.”
I pleaded with her again, earnestly.
To my avatar, my independent counterpart, or perhaps even my sibling.
“Please, help me save Ga-ram.”
Annabel stared at me in silence for a moment before clutching her head and letting out a sigh.
It was only natural for her to hesitate. From Annabel’s perspective—not Pheloi’s—Ga-ram wasn’t someone particularly precious.
“Damn it, how did I end up stuck with someone like you?”
Yet she didn’t refuse my plea. She entered the armor that surrounded me, preparing herself for what was to come.
I could feel the strength of her presence, and I expressed my sincere gratitude.
“…Thank you, Annabel.”
“Shut up and focus. I have no idea what’s going to happen from here.”
Yes, where we were headed now was the void that could devour even the afterlife.
As I felt the entrance to that void slowly turn toward me, I calmed my breath, preparing to face it head-on.
“Come on, you damned monster.”
The only small spark of life left in this place.
As the gaping mouth drew closer, stirring a storm in its wake, I braced myself to step forward into its maw.
-Kwaaaaah!!
In search of hope.
I took a step into an abyss deeper than hell.