NOVEL NEXT Chapter 528
EP.528 Catastrophe, Yormun (9)
“In this world, regulations are necessary.”
One day, Gletus said.
“It’s a chaotic world. People hate each other, invoking the gods’ will to wage war, and the flames of conflict scorch the continent. That’s why regulations are even more needed.”
Regulations.
“Established regulations. A solid foundation. The kind that calms chaos and brings stability back to the world. Only with such regulations can humanity rise again.”
She smiled as she spoke.
“It sounds grand, but to put it simply, we need something akin to parents.”
“Parents?”
“Yes, parents. They pick up fallen children and protect them until they can move forward on their own… I thought it would be great to have a presence like that.”
Well, she let out a long sigh.
“Neither you nor I have ever felt that. We’ve been cast away by everything.”
Those born bearing the scars of divine punishment.
Those with the qualities of a Guide had been killed or abandoned by their parents. Yormun was one, and so was Gletus.
“And we’re not the only ones abandoned.”
She said.
“All of humanity has been forsaken in this world. No god embraces us nor listens to our wishes. It’s a sad affair.”
She stretched out her hand towards the sky.
“I just hope that one day, I can wish for something, not in curse, but in hope towards that sky.”
Gletus’s eyes glimmered with a green light as she gazed at the heavens. Yormun suddenly found her dreamlike beauty striking.
After all, he knew the life she had lived.
She bore the same scars of divine punishment and was cast away by everything. Surely, she had experienced an unfortunate childhood being kicked and ridiculed by her kin, just as he had.
She was unloved.
Abandoned by everything.
Constantly harassed and had to spill blood at the hands of fellow humans.
Having gone through such a childhood, Yormun had grown excessively cruel. He cared for nothing but his own survival. But Gletus was different. Though she must have lived a life like his, her gaze was directed towards a completely different horizon.
Even though she was unloved, she pondered about what she could do for this world. She often sacrificed herself to save someone.
Yormun felt the nobility in her life and found it beautiful as she walked her own path. Because of that beauty, he was drawn to her. And because he was drawn to her, he walked the same path with the same dreams.
“Let’s go, Yormun. To the last battlefield.”
He might not be able to become like her.
He might not be able to love the world as she did.
But he felt like he could love the new world she would create. He thought that if he followed her, someone like him could change. He longed to see her smile in that changed world.
So they ran together.
Extinguishing the flames of war, cleaving through the divine forces, toppling the deities, and etching regulations into the sky at the end of a long journey. They had finally reached the destination after overcoming countless trials.
Thus, the world changed.
The regulations she established kindly illuminated the world, and beneath the stars, humanity began to rise again. They wished upon the stars floating in the night sky and began to thrive under their protection.
The world she had so longed for had opened up.
Yet…
‘There.’
There, you were absent.
Only you were missing.
“······.”
Yormun blinked.
Slowly, he opened his eyes amidst the flowing memories. He frowned against the bright sunlight streaming through the shattered ceiling of the platinum temple.
His sight was narrower than usual.
Strength hadn’t returned to his body.
He no longer felt the dragon eye and constellations that had been with him for millennia. The sense of omnipotence was likewise absent. It felt as if he had returned to being human.
“Oh.”
A voice echoed.
Yormun lifted his head towards the source of the voice. There was a human looking down at him.
“Finally awake, huh? I was worried you were dead.”
Raniel van Trias.
The Guide of this era who had subdued him was gazing down upon him. Looking up at her, Yormun chuckled softly.
“Normally, if you punch a face with a fist that can shatter steel, a person dies. Basic knowledge.”
“Even so, you’re still alive, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know if I can call this living, but it seems like it for now.”
Yormun exhaled a long breath.
He sat leaning against a pillar of the crumbled temple. The constellation that adorned his body had shattered, and cracks ran all over him. It was something he had anticipated to some extent.
The constellation was akin to his life. The moment it shattered, his body would likely begin to collapse too.
“So, I lost.”
“Not just lost; you were utterly wrecked.”
“Well, you don’t look fine yourself.”
Shrugging while glancing at the bloodied Raniel, Yormun acknowledged the accuracy of her words. He had been defeated. Terribly.
“You completely pulverized the regulations.”
“Looks like it.”
“If I had known it would come to this, I should have broken the taboo and stomped on it earlier. I was too complacent.”
“Quite a relief seems to be showing on your face, though?”
“Can you tell?”
“Pretty easy to see.”
Yormun hung his head while laughing.
He had finally understood during that last moment. The form that the current regulations reflected in Raniel’s eyes.
The regulations he wished to protect were no longer there. The regulations they had once hung in the sky together… had already disappeared. Perhaps, he might have realized that a long time ago.
‘I just chose to ignore it.’
Closing his eyes and blocking his ears.
He must have just clung to the only trace she left behind, unwilling to let it go. Ultimately, he could only accept that reality after all had been denied by the hands of the juniors.
“Haah…”
Exhaling deeply, Yormun lifted his head once again.
He spoke briefly to Raniel, who looked down upon him.
“Aren’t you going to finish the job?”
“What’s the point of beating someone who can’t even move?”
Then, she added.
“I thought you should see this up close, at least.”
“What?”
“Come on, you know.”
Raniel extended her hand.
Her outstretched finger pointed towards the blue sky. In the place where Yormun had originally placed the constellations, there was now a gaping hole. As she extended her finger towards that hole, Raniel said,
“Isn’t this the view of a new era unfolding?”
“To ask me to watch the regulations I wanted to protect crumble before my eyes; that’s quite cruel.”
“But you have to see it.”
Raniel smiled bitterly.
“As a parent to humanity, you should witness your child becoming independent.”
Parent, huh.
Gletus’s words echoed in Yormun’s mind, falling into silence.
Thud.
That was the last of it, and Raniel turned her back to Yormun, beginning to walk away. After watching her retreating figure for a while… Yormun finally spoke up.
“Sorry to interrupt your grand exit, but isn’t it a bit tricky without the tower? As far as I know, all the towers you prepared got destroyed.”
It was something he had tried not to mention for the sake of his junior’s dignity, but it was because he had caught sight of Raniel looking around as if searching for materials for the tower.
“······.”
Flinching, Raniel eventually halted.
She slowly turned her head to look at Yormun. It struck a nerve. The path to the sky above had been entirely destroyed in the confrontation with Ganikalt.
“Did you know?”
Hit to the core, her ears turned slightly red as she awkwardly stopped in her tracks, and Yormun chuckled. Smiling, he spoke up.
“Use it as you like.”
Yormun lightly tapped the temple with his fingertips.
“This platinum temple itself is material for the tower.”
“Looks like a wreck.”
Upon hearing that voice, Kyle slowly raised his head. Leaning against the debris of the crumbled temple, Kyle looked towards the source of the voice.
“And you seem similar.”
“I feel like a mess all over.”
Bitter, Destel.
After defeating the Ancient Dragon in the blood-soaked end, he was patting his shoulder. Like Kyle, Destel was also covered in wounds. He wiped away the soot smeared on his face and let out a long breath.
“Looks like things are wrapped up over there too.”
He pointed towards the platinum temple.
The space was cracking, the scenery was distorted, and the sky was torn apart, becoming a realm of stars. The shockwaves that had been erupting from there were quieting down.
“What the hell are you and that guy over there?”
Destel laughed incredulously.
“While fighting, the temple shatters to bits, and the sky gets tilted apart; what is this, a glass window breaking at last?”
“I don’t know either about that last part.”
“So you know everything but that, huh?”
Wow, what a bunch of lunatics.
While Destel grumbled, someone emerged from the temple. Raniel van Trias. She lightly waved her hand towards Destel and Kyle as if announcing her victory.
“Looks like she’s a wreck too.”
“Typical of a Hero.”
She wasn’t in any better shape as a human.
The three heroes, all battered, exchanged incredulous smiles while looking at each other. They all seemed like they could barely stand as if they were just patients.
“Well, it’s no lie anymore that I can’t participate in the festival because of these injuries.”
“I just threw that out as an excuse, but it turned out to be true.”
“At times like this, I envy your regeneration. Mind lending me some Starlight? I could really use some healing right now.”
At Kyle’s not-so-joking joke, Raniel chuckled.
“Just ask Sara for that.”
“That makes sense.”
With a shrug, Kyle let out a long sigh.
“So.”
Kyle spoke.
“What are you planning to do now?”
“I need to go up.”
Raniel looked up at the sky.
In that place where the colossal regulations that had bound the sky for ages wavered, a rift had formed. As she gazed at that rift, Raniel continued.
“I have stories to share up there.”
About the stars and my long-time senior.
As Raniel muttered that, Kyle felt strangely distant. It was the same sensation he had when first confronting Yormun, a feeling of facing a transcendent being.
“Raniel.”
Perhaps that was why.
Kyle suddenly spoke up.
“I haven’t forgotten about the promise to buy you a drink.”
“Out of the blue?”
“I mean, I’m saying I’d come to collect the bill if you don’t come back.”
Not catching on to what he meant, Raniel tilted her head in confusion but soon seemed to understand his words, smiling.
“Okay.”
Raniel nodded and took a step forward. Thump, as she stepped down, the platinum city trembled. Fragments of the ruined temple began to rise into the sky.
“I’ll be back.”
Babel.
A path to the sky was starting to be created.