Chapter 248
Translator: Pai_
The reason Turan had not withdrawn the World Barrier in advance was not because he arrogantly believed he could win without its power.
It was simply because even just having absorbed the soul of hell had already brought him close to the limits of controllable power, and he was wary of the various side effects that might occur if the World Barrier became thin or disappeared altogether.
Just now, the reactions of people who had directly witnessed the fleeting appearances of transcendent beings in the sky illustrated exactly that.
“Ah, ah? Huh?”
“Ugh......”
“Kyaaaaaaaaah-!”
The moment the blue sky was engulfed in blackness and a shadowy figure appeared, most of the people who were outside fell into madness.
Some merely expressed confusion as if seeing something utterly incomprehensible, others groaned in pain, or screamed and began to harm themselves.
Animals also went mad, foaming at the mouth and rampaging, while machines either shut down or had their internal circuits burn out and emit smoke.
“Get everyone inside! Make sure they can’t see the sky!”
“Please come in this way!”
What allowed the situation to be managed at all was the presence of relatively sane wizards.
“They're rampaging too much......!”
“Then suppress them with control magic!”
“That’s illegal-”
“I’ll take responsibility for what comes after, so don’t worry about that nonsense!”
Most of them were soldiers of the Empire, and the Imperial Army, compared to the military forces of other nations, was not particularly large in number.
After all, armies exist either to invade somewhere or to defend against invaders, and since the Empire ruled the entire world, there was neither a place to invade nor to defend.
Because of this, they functioned more as a police force than as an entirely separate armed group from civilians, which made them more effective in controlling the populace.
“Looks like things are calming down a bit now.”
“More importantly, what the hell is that in the sky?”
“An unidentified monster... and a golden eagle?”
“Could it be His Majesty the Former Emperor?”
Since only shadows were cast across the sky, it was difficult to see clearly, but the image of a grotesque monster and the golden eagle clashing was clearly visible.
Moreover, among the other sporadic shadows, one could discern beings wielding powers akin to those of the wizards of the Cradle, fighting against the unidentified monsters.
Soon after, the command delivered from above confirmed what they were thinking.
[At this moment, His Majesty the Emperor and the Ascended Ones of each dominion are battling against powerful enemies. Isolate civilians indoors to prevent the spread of damage and prepare for enemy invasion.]
“If by enemies, who exactly do you mean?”
[Consider all beings that are not normally seen as enemies.]
Though they were momentarily baffled by the overly abstract explanation, they soon shuddered as they realized the shadows in the sky were truly those of wizards who had reached great heights.
And they also felt fear toward the enemy that even such beings could not easily repel but had to fight against.
And before long, they understood why their superiors had not bothered to explain the enemy in detail.
“Is that it?”
“What else could it be? Fire!”
A grotesquely shaped bird falling from the sky.
Called Uruka, the scouts of the Phantom Beast Realm cried out in triumph as they entered the Cradle for the first time through the breach in the World Barrier.
What welcomed them was a barrage of gunfire from anti-air turrets pouring in from all directions.
“Kill them-!”
“Anyone out of magic power, switch out now! Fire as if you're ready to die!”
Though they had once displayed overwhelming power on Earth, they could not rampage as they once did in the face of the Cradle's military.
In the past decades, the Empire’s military technology, despite having no need to project force, had only advanced slightly beyond that of the old Earth, but every operator of these weapons was a wizard.
As large-caliber machine gun shells, enhanced and enchanted with tracking magic, rained down, the rampaging Uruka were shot down one by one.
“Aaaargh!”
“Get down!”
Of course, even so, it was impossible to prevent the massive human casualties that occurred in the process.
The Uruka swarm either crushed the machine gun turrets firing at them or bypassed them to rampage through residential areas where civilians had gathered.
People hiding together in their homes to escape the madness screamed in despair as their houses collapsed, witnessing the deaths of their parents and children.
The residents of the Cradle, who had lived their entire lives in places like paradise.
Facing tragedy for the first time since birth, they naturally sought something to rely on.
And of course, for the past hundred years, the only one they could pray to was the god of the Imperial Church, which had reigned as the state religion of the Empire.
“We pray to His Majesty the Great Emperor.......”
“Please, save these helpless lambs!”
Commoners praying in despair, knowing nothing, and wizards who somewhat understood the circumstances, praying earnestly that their Emperor might drive out the invaders as they fought the enemies falling from the sky.
The faith of all these people was directed high above, to the shepherd confronting the wolves that had invaded the pasture.
***
Higher even than the highest place in the material world, at the boundary of the world often called the Celestial Palace.
Turan continued to ravage his opponent, wielding the massive essence that filled his entire body.
He stabbed with ice spikes and detonated them after vaporization, wrapped the opponent’s body with shadow tentacles, and used his own small beak and claws to gouge out where the eyes would be.
He used every creative method he could to tear his opponent apart.
Now, the opponent standing across from him, the bird that devours the moon, no longer had its body completely cloaked in black darkness as before.
From the black blood flowing down the exposed areas that no longer rewound as if turning back time, it was clear the opponent was also accumulating significant damage.
[To think you would lift the veil yourself.......]
Its muttered voice, sounding incredulous, no longer held the composure it once had.
And it was understandable, for Turan’s power, wielding the immense essence gained by shattering the boundary of the world, was now formidable enough to properly stand against it.
This was thanks to the overwhelming control power born from the intense emotions of all the people in the Cradle, writhing in agony at the sudden disaster from the sky, focused on him at that moment.
The amount of presence transferred from that was far stronger than what he had received when he displayed the first miracle back on Earth.
Had it not been so, he would not have had the control capacity to handle all the essence that had been contained in the World Barrier.
Even the surrounding situation now favored Turan.
Originally, the other Ascended Ones had struggled because the Uruka swarm, along with several strong enemies, were attacking from all directions.
But now, as the Uruka swarm that had been persistently lingering around them had descended to the ground, they could focus on one-on-one battles.
“Just, die, you, bastard!”
Solif shouted as if growling, hammering a white flame into the head of the beast biting him, then pounded it in with his fists to force it deeper like a nail.
Opposite him, Luska also moved like a shadow, using the throwing techniques he had learned from Turan to confuse other enemies and assist his allies.
As for Meisa, after roasting two powerful enemies surrounding her to death, she converted them into essence and absorbed them as she soared toward Turan.
“Watch out!”
With her warning, a massive ice hammer formed in Meisa’s hand.
She had also seen that the bird that devours the moon had resistance to light and heat, which is why she used a technique outside her specialty.
Heeding the warning, Turan quickly dodged, and the hammer that passed through where he had been struck the side of the bird that devours the moon.
When the full-powered blow from her, whose raw strength was even greater than Turan’s, landed on a part of its body not cloaked in darkness, the sound of bones and flesh being crushed echoed.
“Over here too!”
Haram shouted as he slashed with a longsword of light, only to be thrown off when it was consumed by darkness.
There were some minor issues, but in any case, as the Ascended Ones each defeated their own enemies and joined the fight, the bird that devours the moon was gradually being cornered.
It looked at the surrounding enemies with thousands of eyes, then retaliated by firing the same type of beam that had previously threatened Turan.
“Argh!”
“Watch out, Mila!”
While Luska quickly rescued a comrade in danger and pulled them into his arms, Turan took advantage of the opening, rushed in with his own body, tore into the interior wildly, and slipped back out.
The wounds inflicted by the counterattacks from the birds making up the creature's body didn’t even require direct healing.
Thanks to Osel, who now had the leeway to restore him more efficiently.
[You're far greater than I expected. I never thought it would come to this……]
“You should’ve just left when you had the chance. Would’ve been better for both of us.”
Now, the voice of the bird that devours the moon no longer carried the composure of someone dealing with weak beings.
If anything, it held something closer to rage and frustration.
Even while mocking such an opponent, Turan didn’t let up in his assault.
He had seen far too many end up flat on their backs for letting their guard down just because they thought they were winning.
Then, suddenly, the bird that devours the moon hurled itself into a spatial rift flying toward it.
Its massive body split into two, scattering in all directions with an explosive force.
At first glance, it seemed like it was trying to kill itself, unable to withstand its rage.
“Hm?”
“This is……!”
“Uruka!”
Just as Meisa shouted in alarm, the body of the bird that devours the moon transformed into a swarm of more than thousands of Uruka as it exploded.
Come to think of it, weren’t all the Uruka essentially extensions or clones of that being from the start?
The monstrous birds with dog and cat heads on either side all let out a simultaneous roar as they descended into the material world, creating a scene reminiscent of doomsday.
“Damn it……”
“We have to stop them!”
“Wait, the main body’s escaping that way!”
Solif, the sharpest-eyed among the Ascended Ones, spotted the enemy’s main body flying toward the corridor and shouted the alert.
Having shed many of the birds making up its form, the creature was now much smaller and moved all the more swiftly and stealthily.
It was once again cloaked in shadows, perhaps because it now had the breathing room to do so.
Turan made a decision after a momentary pause, one that lasted barely an instant.
“Everyone handle the enemies on the ground! I’ll chase it alone.”
After all, a pursuit ultimately comes down to a matter of speed.
Even Meisa couldn’t match Turan’s speed, so it made more sense to reduce damage on the ground while he gave chase alone.
With no time to seek anyone’s agreement, Turan hurled himself into the dimensional corridor in pursuit of the enemy.
Just like when he traveled to Earth, he stepped onto a branch of gray wood, and his body began to glide forward naturally.
However, the enemy moving ahead was slightly faster than he was.
‘Of course, now that my spiritual rank has grown, I can’t move as quickly as before……’
The speed of a being moving through worlds is inversely proportional to the power it holds.
Because Turan was stronger than the enemy, which had weakened by shedding its clones, his own speed was actually slower.
After a short while, Turan arrived at the second world and could immediately sense that this was a closed world that did not welcome him.
Unlike Earth or the Cradle, there was a pressure here that tried to push him out just by remaining at the boundary.
Quickly scanning the surroundings, he saw that the enemy, which had arrived just before him, was already moving to board the next corridor.
With a few sweeping motions of the golden eagle’s wings through the void, his body reached the top in an instant.
[No-]
“Where do you think you’re going!”
With a bang, a steel storm summoned by Turan swept through the dark veil surrounding the bird that devours the moon.
But the creature gritted its teeth, endured the attack, and barely managed to escape by boarding the second corridor.
Naturally, the chase continued.
As they moved along the ashen branches, the distance widened, then closed again with a swift attack upon arrival in the next world, followed by another leap onto the next branch.
How many worlds had they passed, repeating this same chase?
After tumbling, biting, and clawing through the void countless times, Turan finally succeeded in pinning down and completely subduing his opponent, who had become a wreck.
“Persistent bastard, aren’t you.......”
[That’s my line.]
Though Turan had won the fight, he wasn’t in a relaxed state either.
As they moved farther from the Cradle and closer to the Phantom Beast Realm, Turan’s power weakened while the bird that devours the moon grew stronger.
He had only barely managed to win by constantly staying on the offensive and chipping away at its power, had things gone even slightly wrong, he might’ve been counterattacked instead.
Then, the body of the bird that devours the moon, flailing under the golden eagle’s talons, suddenly went limp as if it had given up.
Catching his breath for the final blow, Turan remained tense despite his confusion.
But contrary to his expectations, the creature didn’t attempt a new form of counterattack or escape, it simply muttered in a low voice.
[Charging out so confidently, only to end like this... I have no face to show Mother.]
“Not that I think you’ll be seeing her again.”
[This isn’t the first time I’ve lost and been devoured by someone. And probably not the last. After all, Mother can always give birth to her children again and again.]
Turan almost sighed in disbelief at the utterly unexpected remark.
He’d gone through all this hell to finally drive the thing back, and it could just be reborn again?
No, it couldn’t possibly be that easy, just as it claimed.
If it were that simple, she would’ve already spawned thousands, tens of thousands of those monsters and conquered every world.
It wouldn’t have scattered its clones and fled earlier just because it thought it might lose.
Surely, for the so-called Queen of Beasts to give birth to another bird that devours the moon, a significant price had to be paid.
As Turan assumed this and drew upon his power to deliver the finishing blow, the opponent glanced sideways and spoke.
[In any case, congratulations on your victory, young hero. I hope next time we can settle things in my homeland.]
"What a horrible thought."
Rejecting the near-last-words-like invitation, Turan continued pounding the creature’s body with massive steel ball bombardments.
Its head, its body, even its six wings.
The bird that devours the moon lay still and did not moan or scream until it could no longer maintain its form.
‘At least it went more quietly than the others I’ve fought.’
Though, unlike those other enemies, it could afford to die because it could just be reborn again.
Finally, as Turan absorbed the creature’s completely pulverized essence, he realized something alien had been dragged along with it.
Something even his all-observing perception could not fully identify.
‘This is......?’
The beings of the Cradle, with their bodies made of matter and souls of essence, were deeply different from those of other worlds.
They were less like true spiritual beings and more akin to a form of informational life.
But at this moment, for the first time, something within Turan’s being had formed that was not based on essence.
A soul.
The spiritual origin that many beings, especially sentient ones, across many worlds are born with.
As that came into existence, the entity known as Turan was reconstructed in a completely different form.
With the soul of a transcendent being, who had devoured many sentient creatures over eons to amass its power, as the core, and information constructing memory and thought wrapped around it, forming a material body on the outside.
After a moment that passed like an instant, or perhaps an eternity-
Turan regained his senses and realized his spirit form was no longer just a collection of information.
He had become the first among the Cradle’s beings to possess a true soul.
And not just an ordinary soul, but that of a mighty transcendent.
‘I never imagined it would turn out like this.’
Now, Turan could give a name to his being, a divine name, and let others know it, receiving prayers in that name.
He could also bestow his authority in exchange for the power of souls, or even souls themselves.
Until just a moment ago, he had merely been the first Ascended One in the Cradle who wielded the greatest quantity of essence.
But now, he had truly become a god-like existence.
*****
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