Chapter 56 – Armed Church

===================

Translated by Heavenly Cat

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net

===================

When celestial beings clashed with each other, victory went to the one with stronger physical force.

Because they could not inflict harm on the opponent with divine power.

The sole exception was the sunlight emitted by the sun.

It was the reason why the Authority of Judgment, the Golden Path, was evaluated as the strongest miracle despite its tremendous constraints.

It was a power that worked well all around without any type disadvantages, so it was natural.

The god who was confident in victory with an arrogant attitude until just a moment ago was no more.

He was merely floundering, trapped within the sunlight that illuminated the darkening night sky blue for just a very short moment.

Pacheucheucheucheucheu-.

The pure white armor that had cracked completely smashed and began to crumble.

Presently, the moment the sunlight gradually faded and disappeared, Bearing Responsibility quietly plunged down.

If it were a demon, they would have perished as is, but it was thanks to him being a celestial being that even his form remained.

Someone might have considered this enough by now.

However, I did not.

I must finish it cleanly.

The moment I kicked off the sky, Responsibility, falling in a tattered state, was right before my nose.

I spun my body around once in the air just like that and stretched my leg straight out.

“I’m hitting you to hurt, so don’t feel wronged.”

Kwaaaaaa-ang!

It landed properly.

Responsibility, struck by the roundhouse kick, flew away slightly crushed like a soccer ball and got smashed straight into the ground.

Even so, perhaps because his endurance was amazing, he wriggled his limbs and was trying to stand up again.

I had assumed a combat stance just in case, but as expected, it was impossible. Responsibility’s body couldn’t keep up with his effort.

Excluding his pupils blazing with an ever-sharp momentum, everything about him was a god who had reached his limit.

Right away, starting from the platinum halo floating behind Bearing Responsibility’s back, it could no longer rotate. Not even a handful of the golden starlight that appears when manifesting miracles was visible.

It was roughly sorted out.

I slowly descended from the sky and personally stepped on the ground.

To face Responsibility, who glared at me calmly without letting out a single scream or groan.

“It’s your defeat.”

[…]

“O god who bore too much, now it is time to put it down.”

Perhaps he might have made a final struggle.

It was around the time I raised my vigilance to strike back anytime.

[Responsibility does not permit putting it down. Bearing everything that follows the path one chose. That is responsibility.]

An atmosphere noticeably softer than before.

Nevertheless, Bearing Responsibility’s pupils were still ablaze.

[If the best I chose brought about criticism and critique, screams and crying, and defeat and death… I shall gladly bear it.]

“How about fighting under me instead. I even have an angel named Ceciel.”

[Young god of the azure halo, your courage is possible because you have not experienced defeat.]

“I know better than anyone how strong the Sun God is.”

Although I experienced it through a game, I’m a gamer who saw the All-Slayer ending three times.

True to the game’s final objective, the Sun God boasted heinous performance.

Especially because the world got rougher every time a constraint was lifted, it became harder to save people. There were dozens of cases where all the survivors died before even reaching the Sun God, resulting in a game over.

Users doing speedruns even gave up on fighting the Sun God in the first place.

Even if you barely arrived, you had to purposefully build from the start to beat the Sun God.

If I just counted the number of times the game blew up the moment I slipped up while doing well, it would have been hundreds of times.

It was while chewing over the memories of playing [Last Comet] like that.

[Then you must also know the fact that you cannot help with my trivial power.]

“There is no such thing as trivial help in the world.”

I cut him off, but as expected, he was a god blocked solid.

Bearing Responsibility immediately answered without the slightest sign of hesitation.

[My thoughts are different. If you have resolved to bear humans who are of no help to victory, then, as you say, you must not bear me, who has lost the fighting spirit toward the Sun God.]

Only then could I feel a faintly felt emotion.

A foul stench like what might come from a sewer wafted subtly.

It was fear hidden behind the strong exterior.

“It was because you were afraid.”

Our defeat is human defeat.

There was a reason he kept repeating these words as if chewing them over.

The moment a god was defeated and devoured, Elysium turned into a cage that trapped human souls inside a demon’s physical body.

That was the reason why, despite being of the Armed Church, he gave up fighting and hunted survivors while moving to avoid the Black Sun’s gaze.

[…The only responsibility I failed to bear.]

The blazing pupils slowly faded away.

I understood why he said he couldn’t help me. He genuinely had no strength to help.

A divine name was a name that symbolized a god’s identity.

The standard was only one’s own heart, but if one violated that standard, it was no different from losing their identity on their own.

And Bearing Responsibility had already violated his own divine name and commandments.

He had held out until now by repeatedly rationalizing, but the moment he was defeated by me, even that was completely shattered.

[That was the responsibility for my own incompetence, unable to guarantee even the afterlife.]

The shattered and scattered armor pieces crumbled and turned into dust.

The pure white form that had taken on a humanoid shape was also losing its outline.

At this rate, not even a single piece of Elysium would remain.

Before Bearing Responsibility completely lost his identity and returned to dust, I had to kill him.

Presently, the moment I clenched my fist.

[O god who makes stars, do not immerse yourself only in making stars.]

…Words I’ve heard once.

I jumped in surprise as familiar words were heard.

Because I was flustered, I wondered if Tinting Leaf was still alive.

However, the one who brought up these words wasn’t a dead god, but a dying god, Bearing Responsibility right before my eyes.

[The stars you have floated are not enough. With only that level of brightness, they will merely sink under the Sun God’s sincerity. Make them shine brighter, and longer.]

“How?”

I remembered how great a role Tinting Leaf’s advice played.

So I was asking, even forgetting that he was an opponent I was fighting until just a moment ago.

Bearing Responsibility pointed at himself with his right thumb instead of finding fault with my attitude.

[You will know once you usurp my Elysium.]

Taking a step closer and raising my fist, I asked.

“Did you come with the thought of dying?”

Responsibility didn’t answer right away.

Peoeok-.

He only opened his mouth again after my fist completely pierced his chest.

[No. I came with the thought that my best would be right.]

Truly a consistent god.

I met Responsibility’s gaze, which faced me emotionlessly, head-on, and gave plenty of strength to the hand grasping the Elysium.

And the moment the Elysium shattered, another surviving god disappeared.

*

All sorts of sounds were mixing everywhere in the city where a bout of chaos had passed.

“H-how come? Why did a god of the pantheon attack us?”

“What in the world is going on… Weren’t they on the same side?”

“Keoeok, keok. M-my neck still feels cramped.”

The people who had cheered at the appearance of a new god couldn’t easily accept the situation.

People looked at each other and constantly threw questions, but naturally they couldn’t know the reason.

“Waaaah!-.”

“There, there. It’s all okay. It’s nothing big, let’s not cry. Hm?”

Parents sweating profusely trying to soothe crying children were also seen.

It was the same for those who weren’t usually enthusiastic to be sweating profusely from cold sweat.

Among the people who witnessed the sight of gods clashing right under their noses were Carpenter Ad and Coward Shek.

“Pushung, he flew away and then kwagagang!”

“….”

“Streaks were drawn continuously in the sky so I wondered what it was, to think that was the traces left behind after the god flew away!”

“Hey, Shek. Do you think I acted too rudely?”

“BOOM!! Shuk, syushuk! BOOM!! I’m glad I stayed by Lord Star Creation’s side!”

“…Knock it off, man.”

“Uncle, it’s embarrassing so stop it.”

Even though Ad moved away, fed up with Shek chattering excitedly.

It was quite funny seeing him like that for a while even when his nephew, whose face turned red from shame, tried to stop him.

On the other hand, Ryugen was in the middle of a busy time quelling the soldiers’ agitation.

“C-commander. If even a god of the pantheon is hostile to us.”

“If the god of the pantheon won, we would have reunited in Elysium by now. Star Creation has won. Step back with peace of mind.”

“T-the overwhelming sense of helplessness felt at that time. It was truly the authority of a god.”

“The one who conquered that authority is with us. He must be watching over us even now. Keep your composure.”

“….”

It was the same for Hwen and Bartol soothing the people gathered before them.

Especially in Bartol’s case, as the priest who had served me, he was suffering from a barrage of fierce questions more than anyone else.

“Why did a god of the pantheon attack? Isn’t Star Creation the same god!”

“He is a god from after the pantheon and was born in the Dark Light. He must have had somewhat of a difference in opinion with the gods of the pantheon.”

“What difference in opinion makes him try to kill us… Why must we suffer from the gods’ fight?!”

“Eheo, what’s the use of arguing with the old man about that. Don’t you know the act of expecting a mere human to fully interpret the will of gods is itself blasphemy?”

“T-that’s.”

If the meticulous Hwen didn’t block for him from the side, Bartol’s difficulties would have been even greater.

However, Bartol, perhaps due to the divine power he harbored, seemed to have eavesdropped on the conversation between me and Responsibility.

It was blatantly obvious that he was hesitating with a frown, wondering whether he should say this or not.

Instead of directly intervening on whether to tell or not, I left it so Bartol could choose.

I merely watched the people clamoring from all directions… and vividly realized it anew.

It was not a big deal that instilled the feeling of being a god to the gamer playing [Last Comet].

Even if you cut mountains and made river waters flow, it was merely empty without people opening their arms.

I was drawn to [Last Comet] by the sight of people revering the player as a god.

And I felt satisfaction and regret together at the sight of them enjoying a short life after leading the survivors and setting up a settlement for them.

In the sense that the survivors prospered, and in the sense that they couldn’t prosper further.

“This is the reason my name is Godfather of Stars. My identity originated from human memories, from the memories of leading them as a god, even if indirectly. I am the father of those who will become stars.”

Then the lingering thought that had been watching silently until now spoke to me.

Pleasant Oblivion seemed to have watched this fight quite favorably.

Unlike his usual self, it was an energetic and bright voice overflowing with laughter.

[Indeed. Godfather of Stars, young father… There was a reason my brothers stopped me.]

…It was a statement I couldn’t ignore.

“Stopped you?”

[If one must burn all the gods to create a sun, what is needed to kindle the flame that will burn the gods.]

It was a meaningful statement containing many meanings.

The moment I frowned wondering if this guy was under a constraint too.

[Bearing Responsibility took on the role of dragging for time. The Armed Church found another way to win the war.]

Pleasant Oblivion stopped talking about chasing clouds and continued his trailing words with a quiet laugh.

[Dark memories bring forth madness, but bright memories call forth courage. My brothers told me something good. Although I will soon forget it within eternal rest.]

Pleasant Oblivion’s lingering thoughts completely disappeared with these words as the last. It was a remark meant to assume I’d understand well enough.

And in reality, I did understand it.

“What a truly crazy world.”

The final god was born in the Dark Light.

…To give birth to that final god, the gods had offered themselves up as a sacrifice.

Probably all of the divine names that could be played within the game.