Chapter 28 – Rest

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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One who rose again with faith in oneself and a sense of duty was called a hero.

However, heroes weren’t the only ones who overcame hardships.

No matter what adversity and hardship struck, a human could heal as much as they wanted as long as they had time and someone to be with them.

Even if they couldn’t be whole, they could live on by sharing their emotions. Even if a scar remained, they wouldn’t break.

That was why there were those who felt regretful over Meunt’s defection, corruption, and the death he met in the end.

If only Meunt had people around him to pour out his worries to. If only he had helpers to share those difficulties.

Wondering how many more people of Atrea could have survived.

“Seeing how he was only foolishly honest.”

“His stuffy personality caught his ankle in the end. Tsk… With the world in this state, he should have reasonably slacked off. Acting stuffy all by himself doesn’t work out.”

The spot where Meunt died and disappeared.

Hwen and Bartol let out deep sighs while looking at Meunt’s rusted sword, his memento.

“He wasn’t someone who would crumble like this.”

Bartol couldn’t even sob and just dropped tears.

At that, Hwen clicked her tongue and patted his shoulder.

“It’s nothing strange for a friend who suffered all by himself day in and day out.”

Although even Hwen, who spoke like this, had a choked-up voice as if her throat was clogged.

However, even if they could sympathize with Meunt’s corruption, they couldn’t forgive it.

It was fine for me, who knew all the circumstances.

The problem was the survivors who were originally with the Lion Shield Legion.

They were the ones who barely kept their lives by avoiding the massacre that unfolded inside the inner keep.

The hostility they showed against the Lion Shield Legion transcended imagination.

To the point of dragging in and cursing even the soldiers who were finally freed from the curse.

There was only one way to seal this precarious rift. Pinning all the sins entirely on Meunt.

“…Meunt, let us blame you to our hearts’ content, for we must disgrace you even in death.”

Bartol carefully lifted the rusted sword as if afraid someone might take it away.

Hwen gently closed her eyes at the fall of her old comrade.

Meunt was a good person, but he was not a great hero.

And as the price for failing to become a hero, he had to become the enemy that would rally the survivors.

It was enough to make Hwen and Bartol, who had known him while he was alive, feel guilt.

I helped so that their hearts could become even a little lighter.

“The sin of failing to carry out his initial intentions and turning his sword towards the innocent is not light. Offering others as sacrifices to become a demon is also an unforgivable sin.”

Now that I said it, there was no son of a bitch quite like this son of a bitch. If you let it slide just because they are pitiful, where would the good people in the world be?

…I was making the people think like this.

“However, since I cannot kill twice a person who is already dead and dragged away by a demon, his name shall be remembered in disgrace.”

Chwareureureuk.

The sound of the scale tilting was heard.

The authority usurped from Exceptionless Judgment, the scale of causality, was swaying like a seesaw with my conscience and thoughts as its standard.

Because it was an authority tricky to use, I had to be extremely careful.

If the punishment was lighter than I thought, a ‘Self-righteousness Penalty’ arose and weakened the authority. Conversely, if I handed down a punishment heavier than I thought, a ‘Tyranny Penalty’ arose and the authority weakened.

However, if I adjusted the scale close to horizontal, I could use a miracle close to an instant-kill skill.

Clack.

The moment the scale was balanced, I finally felt the authority melting inside me.

-Exercise of rights, Punishment

The stars inside my flesh became comets and gathered at my fingertips.

Then the hand that previously looked vaguely pale twinkled so brightly that it was dyed pure white.

“This is.”

As expected of a priest, he was quick to notice.

He realized it was not simple words, but a verdict handed down as a god.

Bartol nervously looked around, then looked up at me floating in the sky and pleaded.

“O Star Creation. T, that is. Do you not know Meunt’s efforts.”

“Old man, why is someone who said we must serve Star Creation like the heavens suddenly acting like that.”

“They are not simple words. They are words intertwined with divinity, divinity. It is the first time Star Creation has been this enraged.”

As expected of a devout priest, he looked for me first.

Of course, I had no intention of tormenting Meunt in the slightest. He was a pitiful man.

I went down to the ground, placed my hands behind my back, and burst into laughter.

“It seems I have acted too authoritative lately. Priest, do you remember when you wandered around with me?”

“Of course. How could I forget the days I with you.”

“If I had intended to hand down harsh punishments simply because a sin was committed, I wouldn’t have permitted the people of the Bell Tower from the start.”

Instead of Bartol, I looked at Hwen and subtly tested her intent.

Hwen kept her lips tightly sealed but had both hands clenched into fists. It wasn’t just Hwen doing this.

The people still hadn’t completely forgiven the ones from the Bell Tower who committed human sacrifices with a child.

They simply kept their mouths shut because the situation was difficult and they knew bringing it up now would only cause division.

Only then did Bartol’s gaze head towards Hwen.

“Hwen.”

“…”

“If Star Creation had not stepped forward before making His Divine Name known, no one would have survived. Even that strong Meunt succumbed in the end. No one is strong beneath an eternal night sky. They merely needed someone to rely on.”

“If even you bring those words up, old man, you’ll be beaten up by the people who lost their children.”

“O Star Creation.”

Bartol asked for my help, but I shook my head.

If it was a prayer to fix a shattered body, then maybe. If he hopes for the salvation of Meunt or the people of the Bell Tower, he shouldn’t pray to me.

“Everyone knows it. They said there was no other choice and are trying to understand. They are continuously persuading themselves. What they need is not pleading, but rest.”

“Rest… you say?”

“They are people who went through difficult things. You cannot urge people who are just taking a breather to work even harder.”

Since becoming a god, I was feeling all sorts of thoughts and emotions with my five senses entirely.

There were more than just one or two instances where I knew but pretended not to know and moved on.

“That’s why I am getting angry in their stead. Because there are many people who can only either sympathize or show annoyance because they are exhausted.”

Hearing these words, Bartol silently dropped his head, and Hwen kept her mouth tightly shut.

To loosen the stiff atmosphere and bring about my own way of change, I strolled around them.

“Let’s wait until the people can take a breather. Do not forget that getting hurt by an impatient heart applies to them and to you as well, Priest.”

The only ones who could forgive people were people.

My role was to untangle and soothe so that the grudge did not become deep-seated.

The stars shot up into the sky also twinkled as if agreeing with this.

Among them, the star that reacted the most fervently was none other than the Consoling Star.

Despite being the faintest star, it twinkled with all its might and spoke to me.

Saying that passing too bright of a light forced people to close their eyes, but a single ray of dawn made people yearn for the light.

How like the Consoling Star.

In the end, it was a problem where time was the solution.

42 people from the Lion Shield Legion.

174 people who came with me.

56 people who survived in Atrea.

A total of 262 people.

Around this point, the pressure slowly began to get severe.

The central building of the Atrea outer keep shelter, which used to be a hospital. We agonized over what to do there.

To do that, raising a problem was inevitable.

The one who opened his mouth first here was Ryugen.

“We cannot last with just thin soup.”

The news Ryugen brought after thoroughly searching the inside of the inner keep was not very good.

Indeed, if supplies were abundant, Meunt wouldn’t have made an extreme choice.

In a world where neither farming nor hunting worked properly, feeding all 262 people had a limit.

“This is the reason the Legion Commander made a deal with the demon. He agonized over whether to commit cannibalism or deal with the demon.”

Meunt chose the latter to protect human dignity.

However, since he dealt with a demon, there’s no way dignity would remain.

It’s obvious since the demon only stalled a little to torment and devour humans.

“Either way, it was an atrocious choice. So that was why, Meunt.”

“…Tsk.”

Hwen and Bartol each showed regretful reactions.

On the other hand, the drunkard Ad merely scanned the surroundings with an unsatisfied face.

He was Ad, who was somewhat acknowledged as a representative after rescuing the man being dragged by a Corpse Demon.

Ad expressed the inner thoughts the refugees had been pressing down in their stead.

“You should have been able to at least put a dead person in your mouth. To think it’s like this after dealing with a demon…”

“Look here, even so, the Godfather of Stars is here.”

“I know the Priest is saying the right thing. But people don’t live doing only the right things.”

Ad glared at Ryugen with a sharp attitude and raised his voice.

“Because you couldn’t eat people, you killed people left and right? Try saying that to the survivors.”

“Then should we have left you to die? The legion sacrificed for you. If the legion, if we… if we were a kind that put people in our mouths, no one here would be alive.”

The atmosphere looked ready to ignite at any moment.

It was the moment I had to step forward personally.

“Ad. Even if you cannot acknowledge the result, respect the effort.”

“…I follow the words of Star Creation.”

Though still uncomfortable, he accepted it in a corner of his heart and stepped back.

The anger of Ryugen, who almost got equally agitated, also subsided, and he made a somber expression.

I had hoped that putting people’s heads together would result in some good opinions, but it seemed a heartwarming sight like that was not happening no matter what.

In the end, it fell on my share to provide an opinion.

“As you also know, I am retrieving the Elysiums of dead gods and usurping their authorities.”

“That is correct. This time… it seems you probably defeated Exceptionless Judgment.”

“You figured it out quickly. Indeed, I did make it quite obvious.”

There was always a reason for doing something out of character.

True to being a priest well-versed in inherited knowledge, Bartol quickly figured out the authority I gained this time.

“And I also knew what needs to be done to fundamentally solve the food problem. There was a way.”

“Is, is that true?”

“As expected!”

When they put their heads together with people, there was no clear answer, but it seemed their insides were cleared up when a god spoke.

All of them were rejoicing and giving off the smell of sweet cupcakes.

It was about time to inform them of the truth of the world and the rules forced upon the world.

First, the sun no longer illuminated the world. With this, demons freely strode around without being bound by time.

Second, new lives could not be conceived. With this, all lives in the world will inevitably face extinction.

Third, the soul of the dead was bound to the one who killed them. With this, even if there was a surviving god, the souls of their believers were handed over to the demons.

“The food problem cannot be resolved unless the second rule is broken.”

“S… Such a thing. Not because the Sun God turned its back, but because of a rule?”

“Who on earth would do such a thing.”

Who else could it be.

Among the demons of the underworld and the abyss, it was obvious which demon demanded the second rule more fiercely than anyone else.

Isn’t there a demon that tried to kill me even by revealing her true body herself?

“It is the Holy Mother of Stillborns. Because she favors only the dead and the dying, she does not forgive those to be born and the living.”

The Holy Mother of Stillborns ate growing lives and severed the cycle of birth and death.

Confirming the death of a species and the death of an individual, she promised to grant immortal time and demanded eternal submission.

Even if she looked the most benevolent, beneath that she was the most deceptive and cruel demon.

“…Then the legion. The Legion Commander and us, we played right into the hands of a demon from beginning to end.”

At Ryugen’s regretful words, Ad’s sharp attitude was put to shame.

However, I couldn’t comfort each and every one of them.

The time had come to do what must be done first in Last Comet where the time limit was clear.

“Neither seeds nor fruits will sprout. As long as she, who eats lives and does not tolerate birth, is there, that is.”

Belatedly grasping the context of the conversation, the people looked at me in extreme astonishment.

But it was only a matter of whether the time was late or early, I had to unfailingly fight the demon that ate lives.

“Therefore, I will route through Santiom and cross into the territory of the Blood-Soaked Mud to draw out her main body. Will you be able to be with me?”

“I, is it, is it possible?”

The problem was the power possessed by a Great Demon’s main body.

Even I, who became quite powerful, would have to struggle for quite a long time, so my worry preceded whether people could hold out.

What worried me more than that was them being terrified and leaving me.

But since it concerned their own lives, I couldn’t let my bluff blur their eyes.

“It will take a long time.”

The drunkard Ad, the prickly Hwen, the old priest Bartol, and the injured soldier Ryugen exchanged glances with each other.

What wafted from them was not the smell of sweet cupcakes.

“It is enough. O Star Creation, we will follow you.”

“It is scarier to be left behind in the darkness.”

“I remember the old man telling me to stick closely to Star Creation’s side. Hwen Achrat, I shall follow you in the army.”

“We are soldiers who know how to endure. We will hold out until the moment you accomplish it.”

A salty and distinctly bitter taste spread.

Regardless of who it was, they were answering with a united heart.

An earnest wish, not hope.

I looked around at them and gave my first instruction.

“First, inquire about the people’s will.”

There were people who hesitated.

There were definitely people who trembled in fear.

Shek, who I had created a heart for, even shed streams of tears altogether.

“But why are you saying you’ll go, you.”

“Being left alone in the darkness is scarier!”

His firm statement actually shocked Ad, who came to persuade him.

Shek, remembering the story of his rescued nephew Den, loudly blew his nose with his sleeve and stood up from his seat.

“I, I don’t have the confidence to protect Den like my brother did. So I will stay by Star Creation’s side.”

“You… were surprisingly a decent guy.”

“If you’re going to praise me, sniff… just praise me…”

The result was unanimous.

The survivors deeply felt the reason why they had to kill the Holy Mother of Stillborns.

They were not heroes, but nevertheless, they decided to join my journey to delay the apocalypse.

It was when I was looking down at them from the sky.

[A foolish god who challenges the sun.]

A familiar voice was heard beyond the night sky where the starlights had risen.

[It seems this time you wish to cast a curse of mortality upon those who can enjoy immortality.]

The Holy Mother of Stillborns growled in indignation.

[Your arrogance will offer everyone who follows you to me.]

“On the contrary, you’ll be the one vomiting them out.”

[Star Creation, you consider me a deceiver. But isn’t deception your domain? How many do you plan to lure with sweet words of making them into stars? Do you think a sunless world can embrace lives?]

Even to a mocking tone, there were words to return.

“My Divine Name is Star Creation.”

[…]

“And making a sun in a sunless world is my mission.”

[You shall pay the price.]

One of us had to die either way.

I didn’t have even a speck of a thought of placating a demon. For compromise with a demon doesn’t exist among the conditions for a happy ending.