NOVEL NEXT Chapter 46: (1)
About the Beginning of This World–
The sealed land. The land where the excess of the world’s overflowing magical energy gathered. For an unknown period of time, the land had turned into a place where phantom beings were simply born, ate each other and then perished. Such a monotonous ashen world was now unusually stirring.
Anomalous yet powerful beings known as phantom beasts. Jet-black beings that far surpassed them were laying waste to this world. This place was a sealed land with no living being there. Hence, this battle was supposed to be known by none. And yet, there was a lone existence who was watching this battle.
「Those people… Who in the world are they?」
She was the witch of abyss, Beatrice. The most powerful witch in history, who had inherited her power from generation to generation. An existence that surpassed even the phantom beasts, creatures that were referred to as monsters by the apostles and the foolish Gods who served as the administrators of the world. Moreover, what she had inherited wasn’t only limited to power, but was also knowledge, thus making her the closest person to the truth, surpassing even the Great Sage. It was no small wonder that she was well-versed in the art of power discerning. However, beings that were beyond even her understanding had appeared in front of her.
For example, the demon that was currently fighting in front of her. In the knowledge she had inherited, there were once existences known as the demon lords who were said to be the strongest demon in their generations. However, she felt that the power of this demon was far beyond that of the demon lords. The power it was exhibiting was enough to convince her that it could take on a normal spirit on its own.
And then, a spirit who for some reason fired out magic that mimicked himself. Judging by the magical energy released by him, he seemed to be a considerably high-ranked spirit. She expected that should he step up another three ranks, he would turn into a being that was capable of rivaling Morinaga, the chief administrator of this world.
And lastly, the biggest problem of all. The man who was soaring through the ashen world. The magic that brought about demise to the phantom beasts was impossible to comprehend. The latency of his magical energy was also impossible to perceive. There soared a being whose existence seemed to be impossibility in itself.
The man, who had been laughing boisterously after annihilating the phantom beings, emitted a presence that seemed to oppress the world. An impossible height of magical energy. Beatrice perceived that the man was about to perform grand magic.
「Such an enormous amount of magical energy…. Just how many miracles is he trying to embody…?」
And then the miracle manifested itself.
There, Beatrice bore witness to it.
The halo that shone around the man.
The sphere that appeared overhead the man.
The sphere that suddenly split in two.
The storm of papers that rained down from within.
And then, the hanging down fabric with the word Victory written on it–
「–That’s it?!」
The witch of abyss’ retort echoed through the sealed land.
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「–I see. The witch of abyss, huh…, heck, never heard of it! Ring a bell, Kaku-san?」
Along with her retort, the witch of abyss Beatrice appeared in front of Tanaka. When Tanaka first saw the translucent granny who appeared out of thin air, his lower body was about to cave in, but he was ultimately a powerful and cool man. He promptly adapted to the situation and braced himself to communicate with the ghost.
「It’s a lineage of witches that dates back to the age of creation. That’s all I know. My former boss, who was an apostle of the god of creation, might have known a thing or two about it, though.」
Even Kaku-san, Team Tanaka’s fountain of knowledge, was unaware of the details pertaining to the witch of abyss.
「Since you are a spirit who boasts such a power, I thought for sure you were an apostle of the God of Creation, but that doesn’t seem to be the case, huh.」
It was a wonder how surprised she would be should she know that he was an apostle of the middle-aged man in front of her. However, Beatrice didn’t seem to press her interest on this matter. At the moment, she had approached them with a purpose in mind. To accomplish that, she had to start by imparting onto them the necessary knowledge.
「Well, fine. Let me tell you about it then. About the witch of abyss…, no, about the beginning of this world–」
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–The crevice of the worlds. A world of darkness. Like a cosmos of shining stars, it shimmered with paths that connected to myriads of worlds.
In this world of darkness, a pillar God was born. The name was Umus. God Umus then built another path in the world of darkness and gave birth to a new world. God Umus, who had turned into a Creation God, created the sea, the land, the space, and released a multitude of creatures into the world. He also then created beings to manage the world, thus giving birth to an ideal world. An era of bliss that seemed would continue for an eternity. However, the end came out of the blue.
It was the invasion of a being on the same level as the God of Creation Umus. A being born from the world of darkness who similarly possessed the power of creation. The name was Kyou. This God, who had existed for far longer than Umus, had already created and destroyed his own world.
It was unknown how it ended up that way, but not only Kyou had destroyed and devoured the world he created, he even tried to devour other worlds as well.
The one who had descended into the world of Umus, the God of Creation, was Kyou, the God of Destruction. Umus and Kyou confronted each other with the survival of the world as the bet. However, the aftermath of the battle between two beings capable of creating and destroying the world alone was enough to threaten the very existence of the world. Hence, Umus gave up on fighting back and decided to assimilate himself into the world, turning himself into the world’s protector.
The world was thus surrounded by a powerful barrier. Driven out, Kyou continued to linger around the world that was now surrounded by the barrier and watched vigilantly for an opportunity to seize it.
「—there was such a thing, huh-degozaru.」
Suke-san, who was brimming with curiosity, was astonished.
「Well, that’s about it. The explanation is a bit too rigid, but I’ll give it a passing grade.」
Tanaka nodded with a smug look on his face. His eyes were overflowing with joy at having found a like-minded person.
「What are you acting all smugly for? Also, cease that lukewarm gaze of yours.」
Beatrice continued her tale.
Umus, the God of Creation, left duties for his children to fulfill in order to ensure the continuation of the world. The apostles, their duty was to manage the world, the same as what they had been doing. The humans, their duty was to bring in new blood from the other worlds. And then the witch of abyss, her duty was to produce a new guardian of the world to replace herself.