Chapter 113 – Quasi-Omnipotence

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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When seeing the gathering angels, what Ceciel felt was impatience.

Scratch marks torn fiercely into the sky by the Mad God’s silver light.

Because the angels with pure white porcelain faces crossing over through them without hesitation all belonged to the Celestial Church.

Ceciel hurriedly scoured the surroundings, but it was a meaningless act.

It was difficult to count the exact number.

Just counting the angels who had crossed over right now would easily exceed hundreds.

On the other hand, the number of angels following Star Creation was a mere six.

It was natural for sorrow to be cast over Ceciel’s face.

She didn’t even have the leeway to use her boasted divine speed, charge, and slashing attacks.

Rolling her eyes downward right now, she could see people squeezing their two eyes shut, hoping for this to end.

And the god Ceciel served, Star Creation, wanted to protect people rather than kill enemies.

In the end, all Ceciel could do was drag out this ominous confrontation even a little longer.

While swallowing her annoyance inwardly, that is.

‘There are still that many?’

Of course, it was a somewhat expected sight.

What kind of state did the Three Churches supporting the heavens each meet in the first place?

The Armed Church fought to the end after fleeing before being annihilated, and the Church of the Cycle had given up resistance and scattered.

On the other hand, the Celestial Church lost half their numbers while persuading the Sun God and chose to submit.

No one could deny that the Celestial Church, having preserved even half, was the most powerful organization in this world.

However, no matter how much they banded together, it was nothing but a futile trick before a true transcendent.

What was more fearsome than the assembled Celestial Church was the sight that followed.

The sky thumped, beating.

Every time the sun sparkled, the sky of the whole world undulated.

The constellations arranged around the blue sun soon became blood vessels flowing with light.

From the heart to the extremities, from the ends back to the heart.

Looking up at the flashing sun, Ceciel couldn’t think of any other expression than a heart.

And the moment an invisible hand sent starlight flowing, the dying world regained its pulse.

The trickling starlight began to take form as it fell to the ground.

By the time it touched the ground, it could no longer be called light.

Hoo-gook-reuk, hoo-goo-euk…

The hooting of an owl replaced the horn trumpet announcing the advance.

Beasts that had disappeared early on were running across the vast horizon.

The vigorous wingbeats of flying creatures created a breeze on the quiet plains without a drop of wind.

Ceciel repeatedly gasped in astonishment while looking back and forth between the pulsating sky and the earth full of life.

Because she was once of the Church of the Cycle, she knew the greatness of this miracle before anyone else.

“It’s the authority of Growing Life. To use it this easily?”

Creation is much more difficult than destruction.

Anyone can destroy, but the act of reproducing and creating is permitted to only a few.

Even if one was a god, it was no exception.

Rather, because they were gods, many did not create because they couldn’t forgive crude results themselves.

Even Growing Life himself chose not to use his authority rather than wielding it freely.

Furthermore, it was impossible for someone other than himself to revive diverse and various creatures that had already gone extinct with a single gesture.

Ceciel’s thoughts inadvertently led to a single word.

A joke that only ignorant people who didn’t know the heavens would spit out of their mouths.

People say that gods are omniscient and omnipotent.

However, gods were never omniscient and omnipotent, and they were not absolute even in the domains they governed.

Omniscience and omnipotence is merely a kind of utopia that no existence can possess.

However, one could get closer to it.

If there existed a god who could freely wield authorities usurped from other gods.

They would truly be boundlessly close to omnipotence.

<<>>

At that moment, the world was divided in two.

The vivid blue light spewing out as the sun exploded soon became a heavy wind and swept the world.

The clear and blue radiant light weighed those to keep alive and those to kill as it passed by.

The innocent ones, the fearful ones, and those who sought forgiveness survived.

On the other hand, those who exceeded Star Creation’s standards, those who did not repent, and those who blamed others couldn’t leave a single trace.

The angels belonging to the Celestial Church with vermillion halos were representative.

In a dying world, hundreds of angels were a military force anyone would acknowledge.

But what use were numbers?

The angels of the Celestial Church crumbled into mere dust the moment they touched the blue light.

No matter how tenaciously they held on, delaying death a little was everything.

The angels died like flying insects, and flying insects with their wings torn off at that.

The hands gripping their sword hilts loosened.

Losing both their sublime resolve and grim fighting spirit, they were simply overwhelmed.

Looking blankly like that, she made eye contact with one of the angels falling due to their soul and flesh being shattered.

It was salty and bitter to the point her tongue felt rough and scraped.

Even Ceciel, who was dull to emotions, could faintly feel the regret felt by the angel of the Celestial Church.

=How precious it is. A prayer that is answered, a faith that can be followed.=

The blue light stretched out straight without caring about such grievances.

It was to become the pulsation that would reawaken the dying world.

Naturally, impurities were not permitted.

Because Star Creation was not a god of generous forgiveness.

Even while knowing it was incorrect and regretting it, the angels of the Celestial Church ultimately followed the Sun God blindly rather than protecting the people.

The price was a futile death.

The angels of the Celestial Church who had made Ceciel tense just a moment ago had all disappeared.

So easily and simply at that.

It was truly an overwhelming victory that couldn’t help but cause a shudder, but what Ceciel felt was endless vanity.

“They, they’re all dead…?”

The Celestial Church was swept away in a single miracle.

It was the same for other existences to tremble before this amazing miracle.

The silver scratch marks crossing the world began to heal.

The god leading the Celestial Church, Serving Moon, retreated.

Even a lunatic god was bound to regain their reason before a mighty power.

Then, the tightly tensed air from just before relaxed softly.

The stuffiness pressing down hard on her chest vanished at some point, and her breathing became much lighter.

Star Creation, knowing the fight was over, had withdrawn both his fighting spirit and hostility.

However, perhaps because the fight ended anti-climactically, her mind was unsettled.

What returned Ceciel to reality was Anniel’s voice.

=…Lady Ceciel, look at the beasts sent by Star Creation.=

“Anniel, I’m tired. I need to get some sleep.”

=Those beasts, they were not real but illusions.=

“What?”

Startled, Ceciel turned her head.

It was just as Anniel said.

All the beasts that were breathing, running, and flying just a moment ago were crushing down.

Losing their shapes and outlines, they melted down and returned to starlight.

The grand army that had filled the horizon was disappearing as if snow melting.

Amidst the melted starlight, the only real life forms were a wolf and an owl perched on it preening its feathers.

Ceciel, who had been staring at that sight for a long time, ultimately couldn’t hold back her unfairness.

“I’m originally from the Church of the Cycle, you know? I felt them as living creatures.”

=Lady Ceciel, I did too. If we were confused, the reason must be among the authorities Lord Star Creation possesses.=

“There’s something like that?”

=There probably is.=

And Ceciel wasn’t the only one appealing her unfairness.

An illusion of Anniel dropping her head with her two eyes gently closed flickered before Ceciel’s eyes.

***

Survivors are incredibly important in [Last Comet].

Preserving the survivors is the victory condition itself, and above all, it is the seal preventing the early descent of the Sun God.

Imagine the final boss popping out arbitrarily before you even defeat all five Great Demons.

As such, the very act of consuming survivors is carrying a risk.

Operating an army, creating holy knights… all of these things.

Then are lives other than humans not precious?

If you calculate purely rationally, nodding your head is correct.

And if you pursued rationality, if winning against the Sun God was everything, killing and devouring all the currently living survivors was the answer.

It’s a truly irresponsible attitude towards the lives I created.

To bear the responsibility of a creator, I accepted a bit of irrationality and inefficiency.

As the first step of that, I resolved not to use them in war unless they were a group that volunteered themselves.

I have never broken this resolve.

Even at this moment.

As I swung my hand again, the illusions of animals that were merely condensed starlight all melted down.

Authority Manifestation, Accumulating Deception.

I hadn’t formed an army composed of animals from the start.

I merely showed it like a mirage.

To the extent that even angels who had their names registered in the Church of the Cycle were perfectly deceived.

Of course, if there was a divine name belonging to the Church of the Cycle, they probably would have noticed easily.

However, the enemies were the Celestial Church, and furthermore, they were bastards hunting them down, let alone co-opting or appeasing them.

In the previous fight, there was not a single existence who would notice my illusion.

I looked around the translucent map window… and could finally take a breather.

“You all worked hard. Lead the survivors and return. The Celestial Church will not dare touch the living for the time being.”

25 star marks and a hundred or so blue dots.

I somehow managed to block the crazily narrowing time limit.

As you can see, inducing and forcing this fight was to put the brakes on the Celestial Church’s actions.

It was possible because their ill disposition of slaughtering them all rather than handing over the survivors to me was clearly visible.

The illusion of the animal army was bait to draw out Serving Moon’s misjudgment.

If I was going to eliminate them in one breath anyway, scraping them up from the very bottom and sweeping them away is clean and looks good.

Perhaps there was a reward for plotting it alone without telling anyone, the results were passably okay.

Although there was definitely regret left because it wasn’t the best outcome.

“However, their main forces still remain. Do not completely let down your guard.”

In the Celestial Church, not only angels but gods are also alive.

Seeing that not a single Elysium remained, it seemed the gods didn’t come to this battlefield.

Serving Moon either made a quick judgment or procrastinated, one of the two.

I quickly recalled the gods belonging to the Celestial Church in my head.

Trumpeting Bright Star, Flag-Bearing Giant Star, Sentencing Ominous Star.

Individually they were nothing special, but if left alive, they were crazy bastards who applied buffs to Serving Moon.

Among them, the most concerning one was the third of the three gods.

The unique miracle [Supernova Sentence] possessed by Sentencing Baleful Star.

It literally meant the moment right before a star dies, when it shines the brightest.

As long as that bastard was alive, the Celestial Church still had a final phase remaining.

The bastards who received the Baleful Star’s unique miracle would become bombs as they were and rush in indiscriminately.

If I fiddled around trying to only catch the top brass for no reason, the day I made a single mistake, the survivors would be completely annihilated.

Only by going with a strategy of reducing the numbers of the Celestial Church itself like this time could I guarantee the safety of the survivors.

However, if defeat became clear, those bastards would also push forward the Baleful Star without hesitation.

“I will provide a bit of time to rest when everyone returns. The holy knights will step forward for the task of hunting the dragon.”

Before that, I would swiftly slaughter the dragon.

Now that the Celestial Church had retreated in defeat and the sky was empty, it was the right time to lure out the dragon hiding underground.