Chapter 559: [A Godless World] (END)
"Bang! Boom! Crash!"
Explosions echoed one after another, accompanied by the heavy, muffled thuds of Ember’s massive baseball bat slamming into the ghostly spirits, tearing through them before smashing into the ground or the surrounding walls.
The spectators had clearly underestimated them. Even while carrying Adrian, Ember didn’t slow down in the slightest.
Just then, a shrill scream suddenly rang out from above.
Ember came to an abrupt halt. Almost instinctively, he looked up with a grim expression.
The sixth floor.
The scream had unmistakably come from countless voices all at once, pitched so high that it felt capable of drilling straight through anyone’s ears.
A deafening explosion followed.
With no one left to restrain them, the resentful spirits surged outward like a dense tide of black mist, endlessly spilling into the corridors.
Before the danger could reach Ember, that voice spoke once again.
[Until this very moment... you never once called upon me.]
Ember trembled ever so slightly. For once, he fell into an unusual silence.
At that moment, the entire building lurched violently. All Ember could do was brace himself as the rolling black mist began flooding in from both ends of the hallway.
Then, he finally spoke.
"Can you really bring Adrian back to life?" he murmured.
[That depends on your own will, Ember. Do you truly wish for him to exist once more?]
Ember had never imagined he would place his faith in something that was neither clearly a god nor a demon.
He had never been particularly attached to his own life. If he could survive, then good—he would fight for it. If not, then so be it. He had never intended to sell his soul to some incomprehensible existence.
But now...
Ember could feel the icy coldness of Adrian’s body.
If Adrian could truly be brought back to life, then he wouldn’t mind becoming that being’s slave. But if it was lying... then even if it meant fighting until the very end of his life, he would kill this thing that dared to call itself divine.
The spectators, however, had no idea that the bargain between them had already been sealed.
Within their sight, Ember stood frozen like a statue, as though he had already resigned himself to being buried in this dungeon alongside Adrian.
[Has Ember really given up?]
[Look at all those monsters. There’s no way he can win!]
[I know, but if it’s Ember, he should’ve fought until the very end.]
[As expected... no one escapes the curse of the Fourth Dungeon.]
[It’s been a long time since an Artist managed to clear the Fourth Dungeon. There are fewer and fewer of them every year.]
Only the viewers in Adrian’s livestream found the situation utterly unbelievable.
[Adrian didn’t choose Ember?]
[I thought they were pretty close.]
[Figures. You can never trust that snake-faced bastard.]
[Seriously. He even pretended to be dead.]
[Or... is he actually dead?]
[Don’t be ridiculous.]
[Why do you people have so much faith in Adrian?]
[You wouldn’t understand, because you haven’t met The Most Loyal Missionary of Erebus.]
Everyone believed Ember was finished.
This was nothing less than the final act of his story before everything came to an end.
As the tide of demons surged toward him, ready to swallow Ember whole, no one could see him silently reciting the incantation that had been bestowed upon him.
All they saw was the swarm of monsters engulfing Ember and Adrian. In an instant, the pair vanished into a pitch-black mass, as though they no longer existed.
The livestream chat fell into a strange silence.
Only the gleeful messages mocking Ember continued to scroll across the screen.
Ember’s fans were probably wiping away their tears. But there were countless Artists in this world. Without Ember, sooner or later they would find someone else to cheer for.
Even so...
Perhaps they had never witnessed a death so quiet—one without even the slightest struggle.
And for that reason, an uneasy feeling lingered in their hearts.
Now, all that remained was to wait for the livestream screen... to fade to black.
Huh...? Wasn’t Ember already dead? Then why hasn’t the livestream ended?
The moment that thought crossed everyone’s mind, a crack suddenly split through the surging darkness.
An instant later, a colossal pillar of water shot straight into the sky, carrying with it a brilliant golden radiance.
The torrent burst forth with unstoppable force, swallowing everything in its path. The massive structure collapsed with a deafening roar, crumbling like a cheap toy beneath the overwhelming flood.
Standing at the very center of that immense power, Ember watched the gigantic vortex spiral upward until it disappeared into the heavens.
Then his vision suddenly tilted...
...until the world became a strange horizontal line.
Ah.
He had fallen.
Almost instinctively, Ember reached out and grasped the hand beside him.
[If you are willing to trade your own life for the life of the one beside you, then I shall bring him back.]
Ember couldn’t help recalling Erebus’s words.
Watching the enormous tide begin to reverse, as though it were a monstrous maw ready to swallow him whole at any moment, he lowered his gaze.
"At the very least... live, Adrian."
"And don’t throw your life away for someone else ever again."
Then he closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the crushing force to end everything.
Yet just before it happened, he suddenly felt himself being wrapped tightly in something.
It was as if an enormous serpent had coiled around him, squeezing so firmly that he could barely breathe.
Then came a deafening roar.
Its pitch was so impossibly high that even the surface of the water shattered beneath the sound.
Flames erupted into the sky.
Yet instead of being extinguished by the flood, the fire merged with the raging waters, becoming one. Together they swelled larger and larger, transforming into something as magnificent as a tsunami poised to sweep away the entire world.
Before the eyes of everyone watching, an enormous creature emerged.
It resembled a serpent...
Yet it was far too vast and far too long to be one.
Its shimmering golden scales looked as though they had been forged from pure gold itself, while an immense pair of wings spread proudly from its back, making the creature appear even more surreal.
Small antler-like horns protruded from its head, like the newly sprouted antlers of a young deer.
Ember stared blankly as he was pulled back from the depths of hell itself.
His eyes remained fixed upon the strange creature before him.
Then it slowly opened its eyes.
A pair of luminous sapphire-blue eyes met his.
The next moment, it threw back its head and let out another furious roar.
Ember’s short hair was too cropped to be blown about, but the tattered clothes hanging from his body were shredded even further by the sheer force of the sound.
He squeezed his eyes shut, feeling the sharp pain as violent winds lashed against his face.
Those fangs...
They were unimaginably sharp.
With a mouth that enormous, the creature could probably swallow three Embers whole in a single bite.
But Ember suddenly opened his eyes.
He stared at the great serpent.
No...
"Adrian..." Ember whispered.
Unable to stop himself, he slowly raised a hand and gently stroked one of Adrian’s massive fangs.
Tears rolled down his cheeks, only to be swept away by the raging wind.
"Tch. I told you not to get so sentimental, Ember."
At that moment, the serpent before him spoke.
Ember froze.
Then he burst into laughter.
Without another thought, he threw himself forward and wrapped both arms around Adrian’s enormous head.
"This will be the last time, you idiot."
"You’re the idiot," Adrian growled.
With a powerful beat of his wings, he carried the two of them into the sky, disappearing beyond the clouds.