Chapter 54 – Defeat Condition

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Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

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[Why do you cherish them?]

It wasn’t a question that desired an answer.

Bearing Responsibility glared fiercely in this direction, then firmly shook his head side to side.

[It is natural to look after humans as a god. But you are too heavily bound by them.]

Just in time, a cheer erupted from the people gathered below the watchtower.

“It’s a god! There was another one alive!”

“As expected, he didn’t abandon us!”

Those people were so delighted by the appearance of a new god that they didn’t notice the strange atmosphere.

Bearing Responsibility and I began our standoff, exchanging hostility with each other.

[It is not that I cannot understand your heart at all. For I, too, have a heart that cherishes humans. However, I have not forgotten what is more important.]

Jeobeok, jeobeok.

Amidst the ongoing standoff, I deliberately moved my steps to change my position.

So that the place where the people were gathered was behind my back.

[Your mission is to create a new sun. If you waste your power like that to protect a mere handful of humans, their salvation will only be delayed.]

“I am taking them along to draw the Black Sun’s attention more certainly. They are not unnecessary.”

[Your existence alone is already drawing the Black Sun’s attention. The sole adversary confronting the sun. Adding a flock of humans who can do nothing there will only hinder you.]

The speed at which the halo floating behind Bearing Responsibility’s back spun was gradually increasing.

[You are merely looking for a reason. A reason for taking the flock of humans along with you. What can you possibly do taking along those who cannot be of any help? You have taken in an angel of the Church of the Cycle, so you should know. Even angels die helplessly like insects against demons who have taken the flesh of a god. Only the angels of our Armed Church bravely fought against them… and most were killed in action.]

“Ceciel is fighting for atonement. She resolved she would never run away again.”

[If you want to assert that they won’t run away, they should have fought together when the Armed Church fought!]

Ureureureureung-.

The sound of thunder emitted by Bearing Responsibility growled like the cry of a beast.

[Only our Armed Church joined forces and fought together with the human army. Only us!]

“Even so, running away in front of the Sun God would have been the same.”

[The moment we knew we couldn’t contend with the sun, we had to protect even one more person!]

It was right at this moment that Bearing Responsibility’s agitated emotion subsided.

The platinum halo, which seemed to spin fiercely, slowly began to stop.

Of course, he hadn’t completely forgotten. He merely suppressed it inwardly.

His eyes were still blazing intensely.

[And I realized that no matter how brave and spirited humans are, they cannot accomplish it. The reality is that, regrettably, no role is given for them.]

With these words as the end, what I had worried about occurred.

Bearing Responsibility unreservedly revealed his inner thoughts after a long introduction.

[But we are different. You possess the power and will to become the main pillar of a new pantheon. And I have potential much higher than mere angels, higher than powerless humans.]

“You.”

[If you tell me to serve, I will serve. Both your divine name and the power you possess are sufficient to become the owner of the world. If you overcome but that sole flaw, all the survivors will serve you.]

When I glared at him, roughly guessing what he meant, the opponent countered exactly the same way.

The surviving god reached his hand towards me and chose to glare with a grim gaze.

[You are already leading too large a number. It will delay the journey ahead, the amount of supplies consumed is too high, and the possibility of them being targeted by demons and becoming hostages is also too high. You must put them to useful use.

What you need to win this war is the resolution to determine how to use them. Give them to me. I will accept them and be reborn as your helper, a god who serves you.]

“Don’t give me that bullshit.”

I answered while making the stars in my flesh orbit.

I had no thought of bluffing from the start. The opponent was serious. I gathered my strength with the thought of taking him down completely.

Bearing Responsibility stared intently at me preparing for a fight and spoke in a quiet voice.

[I knew you would say that.]

Flash-.

The flash of light swallowed the surroundings full once again.

The moment I saw the trajectory left behind as the star departed, I cried out like a scream.

“Ceciel!”

Ungseong-ungseong…

The people were flustered, not knowing what was happening.

Time was precious.

I threw myself down from the watchtower and landed right between the people as it was.

My landing and Ceciel bouncing away happened simultaneously.

BOOM!-!

“Kkyak!”

Ceciel was smashed into the stone wall without even properly letting out a single scream.

However, there was no time to care about Ceciel’s safety any further.

Bearing Responsibility, who had simply suppressed the resistance, was grabbing the neck of a young man nearby and lifting him up.

“gasp!”

[Rather than spending your one and only life, your one and only youth in pain, I will let you enjoy eternal rest.]

I moved first before the god’s power could shatter the living.

And the moment I rushed in, Responsibility threw the young man down as if he had been waiting.

Kwaaaaa-ang!

The flash caused by light clashing with light was truly violent.

“Heuaaaaaak!”

“G-get down!”

The impact generated by fists clashing smashed the surrounding floor into pieces.

The people hurriedly lay face down to avoid the stone fragments scattering in all directions.

In the midst of that, I realized what Bearing Responsibility’s intention was.

My miracles were strong.

…To the extent that if used carelessly, they would completely swallow even the surroundings.

BOOM!, BOOM!, BOOM!!

After exchanging offense and defense with fists a few times in such a manner, I realized it.

Even if rotten, it was the Armed Church. It was a strength on a different level from ordinary demons or gods.

I gained the conviction that deciding the outcome in a short period of time was impossible. It seemed the opponent thought the same.

As we stepped back, realizing each other’s strength, the unpleasant standoff began again.

Bearing Responsibility glared at me with nothing but blazing eyes, without any sense of ecstasy.

[Young people won’t do? Then, are old people who don’t have much time left to live okay?]

“No.”

[What about the children crushed under the darkness at an age where they should be dreaming good dreams in their prime?]

“I won’t allow it.”

At my repeated firm answers, Bearing Responsibility admonished me in a voice mixed half and half with annoyance and pity.

[Young god, do not be bound by human emotions. Humans are nothing more than a flock of sheep of a moment. A god has no need for humans.]

“I don’t need them.”

[The reason the Armed Church pities humans is not because they are humans. It is because they were the first to possess intelligence worthy of revering our existence. I can understand if you cherish them for that reason.

However, O god who makes stars, do not hesitate to sacrifice them if they are willing. Our defeat is soon their defeat. If you cannot guarantee a comfortable life for humans, it is right to give them at least a comfortable afterlife.]

“Will shoving them all forcefully into Elysium solve it?”

I rebutted, dumbfounded.

What was even more mind-boggling was the fact that Bearing Responsibility returned an unimaginable answer.

[Do not worry about them feeling depressed because they miss life. You have already usurped the authority of Pleasant Oblivion.]

“…What?”

[Make those who dwell in Elysium forget their memories of when they were alive. If you do so, they will gladly accept a comfortable life in Elysium. They will sleep peacefully within us without a single painful or sad memory.]

It was that moment.

The intuition as a god evolving into precognition whispered a certain possibility.

A possibility that I hadn’t yet considered due to the words shooting like rapid-fire.

I felt the strength entering the hand clenched into a fist and opened my mouth.

“Then why did you go around harvesting them yourself instead of fighting Blood-Soaked Mud? To persuade them, the other way would have been easier, wouldn’t it? Fine, I’ll let it slide that you had to hide your identity before I arrived, but you didn’t fight even after I came.”

[Blood-Soaked Mud is the final arrangement for this war. An important arrangement that shouldn’t grow too strong, but shouldn’t become too weak or die either.]

“Arrangement?”

Only after hearing the words that followed did I finally understand.

[Because the Heteromorphs created by Blood-Soaked Mud are also strictly the living.]

“Y-you.”

[As long as the living exist, the Sun God will never intervene directly on the surface. Should that happen, we may not be able to win the war, but we will not be defeated either.]

Bearing Responsibility’s goal was victory or maintaining the status quo.

Maintaining this world and continuing the fight against the Sun God at the cost of any sacrifice, concession, or compromise was Responsibility’s goal.

***

What those words meant was obvious.

Bearing Responsibility purposely targeted other places. He moved in his own way so that Blood-Soaked Mud would devour an appropriate line, and wouldn’t be able to completely sweep away even the other shelters entirely.

At a glance, the alternative Bearing Responsibility put forward looked reasonable.

However, a fatal flaw remained.

“Then what do you plan to do with those reduced to Heteromorphs? The ones who will live twisted regardless of their own intentions?”

The answer was rational, concise and clear…

And cruel.

[Make them forget the fact that they walked the earth on two legs. As mentioned earlier, you have the authority of Pleasant Oblivion.]

…..

[I know where your power originates from. It is natural that you worry. If you are worried about your power, just leave the longing for light.]

I could know what would happen if that were done.

I had already seen the end of those submerged in the sea through the precognitive dream.

A life of merely swimming in the deep sea, flailing limbs having become a part of a monster.

Trembling in fear in the pitch-black deep sea, it would be a life less than a firefly chasing after merely faint streaks of light.

[If you do so, they will wander the sea where the Sun God’s interference cannot reach and ceaselessly empower you. Enough so you can create a new sun someday.]

-Forgetting even why they themselves miss the light.

The opponent noticed that the hostility I harbored led to murderous intent.

[To win a war, sacrifice is naturally required. Young god, purely remember the mission of creating a new sun. Accomplishing your mission is the only path to save everyone.]

Sacrifice.

I thought of the simplest way to deny those words.

“I haven’t considered this a war even once.”

The war had already ended.

Due to the defeat of the heavens and the gods, that was.

Even while playing Last Comet, I never once considered it a war.

It seemed Bearing Responsibility considered the death of the gods as the defeat condition, but.

[Do not be bound by human emotions.]

“Do not push the human logic that sacrifice is necessary for war onto me.”

[This is the logic of a god.]

“Then write it down again.”

My defeat condition was set differently from the very beginning.

“Gods.”

I did not consider people as baggage or troubles to be eaten away.

Because saving them as much as possible was my victory condition!

“Do not abandon those who believe!”

Kwaaaa-ang!

I rushed in in a single breath and swung my fist.

However, Bearing Responsibility, befitting of the Armed Church, raised both his arms in a fleeting moment and blocked the vitals.

Responsibility, bouncing back, fixed his posture in midair.

The final negotiation broke down.

Responsibility fiercely spun the platinum halo behind his back, then began to emit light from his entire body.

[If so, I shall take your divine name. Young god, pay the price for forgetting your mission!]