Chapter 652
The World Tree, its entire body engulfed in flames, was crying.
It was not grieving for its own death.
It was grieving for the destruction of the world it had supported.
Zeon released Levin and Brielle's hands and walked toward the World Tree.
“Hyung!”
“Zeon!”
The two called out to him, but he did not stop walking.
He knew it was an illusion.
He knew it was not real.
Even so, Zeon had to approach the World Tree.
Because he felt that the World Tree was calling him.
As if rejecting Zeon's approach, the flames devouring the World Tree intensified.
Though it was an illusion, the heat felt real.
An ordinary person would have turned to ashes the instant they approached this heat, but it had no effect on Zeon, who possessed the Authority of Flame.
Just as Zeon pushed through the blaze and drew near the World Tree—
“A human approaching the World Tree?”
Suddenly, someone's voice rang out.
Zeon stopped and looked toward the source of the voice.
Someone was standing at the top of the burning World Tree.
A beautiful man with long silver hair fluttering in the wind.
His skin was white as snow, and his eyes were blood-red, resembling a world facing destruction.
His black coat billowed like wings in the wind, and the sword hanging at his waist emitted a chilling aura of sharpness.
Even the flames burning the world and the World Tree seemed unable to dare approach the man, merely flicking their crimson tongues nearby.
The moment Zeon saw him, goosebumps rose all over his body.
Zeon had encountered countless powerful beings and fought many of them.
Among them had been supreme existences such as Dantal and even dragons. Yet even if all of their presences were combined, they could not compare to the man before him.
He had the form of a human and spoke like a human, but the man was not human.
The overwhelming presence of the man made Zeon's mind grow distant.
At this rate, it felt as if his consciousness would be swallowed by the man's presence and by the illusion itself.
Zeon gritted his teeth.
Blood burst from his lips and flowed down.
Only then did his mind clear.
Using flight magic, Zeon flew up to the top of the World Tree.
The man looked at him with a surprised expression.
Just receiving his gaze caused Zeon to feel pain as if his eyes were burning away.
Simply the man's existence itself was absurd.
Zeon was also a being who could be called Earth's strongest Awakened.
Yet he was being suppressed by nothing more than the man's gaze, feeling as though his eyeballs were being burned out.
And this wasn't even a real space.
It was merely a place where a moment of the past had been preserved and replayed.
The man was not the master of this place.
He was only part of the image recorded on the film.
Yet Zeon was being overwhelmed by the man's aura.
This was the first time since his Awakening that such a thing had happened.
Even during his first meeting with Deioden, he had not felt this intimidated.
Forcing away his fear, Zeon hardened his gaze.
His eyes were bloodshot as though they might burst at any moment, but he did not avoid the man's stare.
Perhaps because Zeon's reaction was unexpected, a smile appeared on the man's crimson lips.
“You are not a child of this world. Nor a child of this era...”
The moment he heard the man's voice, Zeon became certain.
The illusory being preserved in the past was clearly aware of him.
Merely existing while being able to interfere with time and space was impossible even for a god.
If such a being existed, there was only one.
“You are Lord Krasias.”
“You know me?”
“How could I not? Thanks to you, Earth was destroyed.”
“Earth? So that is the world we are about to cross into.”
“We?”
With a puzzled expression, Zeon followed the man's gaze.
On the opposite side of the burning World Tree stood countless beings gathered together.
Humans, elves, beastkin, dwarves, and other races stood in ranks while looking toward Krasias.
All of them gazed at him with desperate expressions.
Yet it seemed they could not see Zeon, who was standing face-to-face with Krasias.
Not a single one of them even glanced in his direction.
The only one who could see Zeon was Krasias.
“Are you about to cross over to Earth?”
“That is correct. As you can see, our world is doomed. We have no choice but to move elsewhere...”
“Even if the result is the destruction of another world?”
At Zeon's words, Krasias frowned.
He spoke as though he could not understand the issue.
“Why should I care about that?”
“The fate of another world is at stake, and you don't care?”
“My own home is burning down. There is no reason for me to worry about another house catching fire. Look at them.”
He gestured toward the crowd.
“If I told them not to go because the world we're crossing into might be destroyed, would they listen? One must survive first before one has the luxury of worrying about the surrounding environment.”
“So you're saying you cannot stop?”
“If I stop now? Should I simply perish along with this world? What a foolish thing to say.”
The corners of Krasias's mouth curled upward.
It was unmistakably a sneer.
The outcome had already been decided.
No matter what Zeon said here, Krasias would not listen.
In the end, he opened the gate to Earth and attempted terraforming.
As a result, Earth became a desert, and billions of humans perished.
Zeon already knew the outcome, but witnessing the process with his own eyes was torture.
Thick veins bulged across his clenched fist.
Krasias chuckled as he looked at him.
“What? Are you going to try something? Our timelines are different. Only someone like me can perceive you and influence you. You, however, can have no effect on me.”
“...”
“Watch from there. See how powerless you are, and see what I am capable of.”
Whoosh!
In that instant, unimaginably massive wings burst from Krasias's back.
Five pairs in total.
Ten wings spread out and covered the world.
At the same time, his body transformed as well.
His handsome human form vanished, replaced by an enormous dragon.
From head to tail, he appeared to be at least three kilometers long.
The very fact that such a gigantic lifeform could exist was astonishing.
He was at least ten times larger than Arisedon, the largest being Zeon knew, and dozens of times more imposing.
The moment Krasias revealed his true form, the destruction accelerated.
As if someone had fast-forwarded a clock, the end hastened.
The earth split apart, revealing the roots of the World Tree.
The massive World Tree, engulfed in flames, swayed as though it would collapse at any moment.
Zeon landed atop the shaking World Tree.
All of the World Tree's emotions and memories flowed into him without any filter.
The World Tree had witnessed the rise and fall of the world called Kurayan.
The emotions and memories of such a being were not something a human could endure.
“Ghh!”
Zeon groaned as pain exploded through his head.
His brain was overloaded, pushing him to the brink of madness.
Then—
Whoooosh!
A refreshing energy suddenly arose from deep within his chest and flowed into his mind.
Instantly, Zeon felt the pain begin to fade.
His mind, which had been on the verge of exploding, gradually calmed.
‘This is...?’
The energy came from the black gauntlet on his hand.
It was offsetting the pain.
The gauntlet Nigel had once given him.
Whether Nigel had known this would happen and handed him the gauntlet because of it, Zeon could not know, but thanks to it, he avoided cerebral overload and saved his life.
And now he learned something he had never known before.
‘So that's how it was. It was fate.’
It was no coincidence that the seed of the World Tree had crossed over to Earth and ended up in Zeon's hands.
The connection they shared now had clearly continued all the way to Earth.
His meeting with the World Tree had not been coincidence, but destiny.
And the World Tree was revealing a great secret to him.
Zeon's eyes widened as he stared at Krasias's back while he opened the gate.
Rumble!
The atmosphere, already violently turbulent, shook even more fiercely.
This was not some storm capable of swallowing a single region.
The entire atmosphere surrounding Kurayan was shaking wildly.
Violent winds howled, and the earth spewed fire.
The cracks extended deep into the ground.
Craaack!
Beneath fissures that stretched dozens of kilometers underground, magma churned.
Countless lives fell into the depths and melted away in the lava.
There were no screams.
As though they had never existed from the beginning, countless lives vanished.
Anxiety appeared on the faces of those waiting for Krasias to open the gate.
Among the multitude, Zeon spotted familiar faces.
‘Lady Latrisha, Lady Floa, Lady Serian...’
Many others were there as well.
Del Roa, Crudu, Dantal...
All people whose paths had crossed with Zeon's.
They looked slightly younger than they had on Earth.
Seeing their faces stirred strange emotions within him.
KRAAAA!
Then a small crack appeared before Krasias.
Beyond the crack, a blue world could be seen.
It was undoubtedly Earth.
However, the crack was far too small for Krasias to pass through.
Nor could he cross in human form.
To move into another world, even Krasias had to use his full power.
His human form could not unleash all of his strength.
In the end, Krasias chose to tear the crack wider.
His authority was unleashed at full power.
Rumble!
The crack gradually widened.
Unable to wait any longer, some of the races tried to cross before Krasias.
But crossing an incomplete crack was not permitted.
Psssh!
Those who rashly attempted it lost their lives without even having time to scream.
The sight of their companions dying before their eyes froze the others in place.
Whether they liked it or not, they had no choice but to wait for Krasias to fully open the passage.
“It is done.”
After a long effort, Krasias finally completed the crack leading to Earth.
The first to cross would be Krasias himself.
Just before entering, he turned his head and looked at Zeon.
His eyes spoke.
—Your world will become my world.
As though he had no need to hear Zeon's answer, Krasias immediately crossed over to Earth.
Zeon silently watched as the gigantic three-kilometer-long body disappeared into the crack.
“My world will never become your world.”
Krasias was unquestionably a transcendent being.
He possessed the absurd ability to perceive and converse with beings from other timelines, and the terrifying power to tear open the walls between dimensions.
He had strength befitting a body over three kilometers long.
Yet despite that terrifying power, he ultimately failed in terraforming Earth.
The price was annihilation.
Zeon did not bother telling Krasias that he would be destroyed.
His destruction was a predetermined future.
“Let's go!”
“We're crossing too!”
Following behind Krasias, the survivors of Kurayan leaped into the crack.
Leaving their dying world behind, hope still shone on their faces as they crossed into another.
But Zeon knew.
The Earth they were entering was neither paradise nor a promised land.
Only after the dragons who had hidden themselves and waited patiently for their chance crossed over did the crack finally close.
Rumble!
With all life gone, Kurayan collapsed even faster.
The enormous World Tree turned to ash and disappeared.
The atmosphere evaporated.
The land itself became ash and vanished.
The world called Kurayan ceased to exist.
Zeon witnessed with his own eyes the end of Kurayan, an ending even Krasias never saw.
The survivors of Kurayan had said:
One day, the apocalypse came without warning.
It was an unavoidable fate.
But Zeon knew.
The truth was different.
The World Tree had told him.
The real reason this world had been destroyed.
“It was because of you, Krasias.”
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