NOVEL NEXT Chapter 9
9. It’s The Time Of Endings And Beginnings
After a three-hour journey on a magic carriage, I returned to my town—Tyralis City.
Upon returning home and showing the reward in coins, my parents wore bewildered expressions.
Though I had told them about the reward, seeing such a large sum of money in person seemed surreal.
Still, they gradually started smiling and eventually jumped for joy.
When I tried to give them most of it to help with household expenses, they hardly accepted any and told me to keep it.
They said it was money I had earned with my own hands.
I had thought about buying something for my parents as a gift.
But when it came to actually doing it, it felt incredibly awkward.
I’ll plan to buy something for them soon or perhaps gift them a small trip.
Will my ordinary, peaceful days return starting tomorrow?
Waking up at the same time every day, going to school, attending classes.
—But I had a premonition.
That it was soon coming to an end.
From a mundane, unchanging student life to a life filled with adventures—.
I was already preparing to leap.
※
It was a space shining in pure white.
Endlessly, infinitely—just white light spreading.
In a vast space rivaling a grand nebula, get enveloped in solemn silence.
In its center, seven pillars of light were evenly aligned.
“Have the seven souls finally gathered?”
A man’s voice with a hint of bitterness came from one of the pillars.
To be precise, from within the pillar.
The speaker was Galerza.
Leader among the seven pillars. Essentially, the Chief God.
“We should have started much sooner.”
“Indeed, we’ve been kept waiting quite long.”
“That’s because of Ilfaria’s tardiness. The other six gods finished half a year ago.”
Complaints leaked from the other pillars one after another.
“Well, for us who live in eternal time, half a year is merely a blink.”
Smiling calmly even in criticism, the Goddess Ilfaria spoke from within her pillar.
“Nevertheless, all the souls we’ve chosen have been bestowed with the appropriate skills. The preparations are complete.”
Each human soul gets engraved with a number.
These numbers were inscribed by the gods when the souls were created.
In essence, they are like soul identification numbers.
This time, seven numbers were randomly chosen by the gods.
All of them were souls destined to die within six months under normal circumstances.
However, by the power of the gods, their deaths got canceled.
They were given another chance to live, along with mighty skills bestowed upon them.
One of them is the soul with the blessing number 759066182.
Was his name Haruto Riva?
He was a straightforward and honest boy, quite to my liking.
Ilfaria smiled unknowingly.
The [Absolute No Damage] skill she granted him would stir up great turmoil in this battle.
However, what he would do was beyond Ilfaria and the others’ influence.
Gods don’t intervene in humans’ decisions and actions.
They only watch.
Even if there is hope ahead, or perhaps despair waiting.
“How he will confront the monsters of darkness, or if he will at all… is quite intriguing.”
Ilfaria’s smile deepened.
When gods and demons clash, opposing attributes act fiercely, diminishing each other’s power, and devouring each other’s existence.
What awaits is mutual annihilation.
But if it’s a human who isn’t bound by such restrictions?
No, precisely because they’re human.
They might be able to defeat magical beasts, demons, and even the Demon King.
Of course, it’s a one-in-a-million chance.
After all, monsters of darkness possess powers far beyond humans—.
“Then, let us begin.”
The chief deity Galerza solemnly declared.
“It’s the time of endings and beginnings.”