Final Battle – 1
I paused at the mention of “2nd Phase.” It was a word that couldn’t possibly come up unless one had knowledge far beyond mine. After all, even in-game, the term “phase” was never officially used.
“Seems that goddess was pretty desperate. She created this bizarre virtual reality based on all the experiences from our fights until now. All for the sake of a mere human.”
“A mere human? What does a guy who has run away from that mere human in disgrace have to say?”
I scoffed, but the Creature that Devours the World completely ignored it, acting as though my words had never reached its ears.
“I did consider you to be a peculiar human. The goddess is overly protective of you, and you go around acting like you know everything. If your knowledge is some sort of foresight, then I can understand that trivial confidence of yours.”
“I wouldn’t call it trivial confidence, considering it’s been working out until now. You’re the only exception.”
It grinned maliciously. Its pitch-black eyes briefly transformed into the vertical pupils typical of dragons, then returned to reflect my own gaze.
“I’ll share an interesting fact with you. You are not the first human to whom the goddess granted power. Once, she entrusted a mission to some human from her own world, commanding him to eliminate me.”
I quietly listened to its words. I did not find the information particularly intriguing. I was just sizing up the possibility of a surprise attack while it droned on.
But the slightly long distance was a hindrance. Since I still couldn’t use mana or faith, it was nearly impossible to dash toward it fast enough without it reacting.
‘For now, let’s observe. It could come closer.’
And there was also the possibility that it might divulge some important information while it kept blabbering away. After all, it wouldn’t hurt to let it run its mouth.
As long as this space wasn’t a trap like that red world above.
“The one who was given that mission, according to your knowledge, is the human referred to as the ‘Pope.’ She was the first woman to ascend to the position of Pope in the world created by the goddess.”
It was the tale of the Creature Abandoned by God.
Since I already knew that from the goddess, I almost told it to shut its mouth and stop babbling uselessly, but I bit my tongue as it took a step forward.
If I could just get it to take a few more steps, it would put me in range for a sneak attack. Until then, I decided to let it keep talking. I gripped the handle of the Wingless Nightmare a little tighter.
“However, once she gained immense power, that pope harbored a misguided desire for the goddess. What do you think happened next? Naturally, as soon as I nudged her a little, she was consumed by her own desire and went berserk. And—”
“The concept of a monotheistic god became tainted. I already know the story because the goddess told me, and I really don’t want to hear something I’ve already heard again. Can we talk about something else?”
The berserk former pope, Eclipse, was easily suppressed without even being touched and was plunged into the Abyss, becoming a Creature Abandoned by God.
The essence of the Abyss that filled the surroundings was precisely the tainted divine power. It was the divine power from the era when she served the monotheistic god. The divine power currently in use was something created anew, uprooting that concept.
All of this was information shared by Eclipse.
‘I never thought the reason she was stuck in the Abyss would be something like that.’
If there was such a backstory, it made sense that Eclipse would hide the reason for becoming a Creature Abandoned by God. Unless I asked, there would be no reason to disclose that past first.
“To say you’ve already heard it makes you quite quick to catch on. Aren’t you curious about what the goddess was thinking as she suppressed that woman? What thoughts would arise when the being she emulated and granted immense power to approached her with misguided desires?”
“Not curious at all. Why would I care about such nonsense?”
Just a little more.
If it took one more step closer—
“I’m doing it to buy time.”
“What?”
At that very moment, it stopped moving. The faint vertical pupils, previously evident between its eyelids, vanished completely. Perfect round eyes filled the space where vertical pupils had been.
“I know you were hesitating about whether to attack or not. I also know you thought you were a bit too far to attack before I could react. And the reason you were feigning interest in my words and waiting for me to come closer is exactly that.”
“…….”
It read me like an open book. As I recognized that fact, I immediately aimed the Wingless Nightmare at it. The Creature that Devours the World shook its head with a twisted smile at my stance.
“It’s too late, human. If you intended to attack me, you should have done so earlier. Knowing you’ve looked into my eyes, you surely realized that the fusion hasn’t completely finished yet. Didn’t you know that being overly cautious can become your poison?”
“Well. I think I still have plenty of time.”
I replied through clenched teeth. I had said that as long as what it was saying wasn’t a trap, I was fine, but it turned out this was a particularly clever trap.
“Then you’re seeing things incorrectly.”
Five fingers grasped at the empty air. Suddenly, the nearby space warped, gathering toward its hand. A long object sprang forth beside its pinky and thumb.
The object held in the hands of the Creature that Devours the World began to take on the shape of a sword. A crossguard formed over the thumb and index finger, the blade appeared, and the tip changed into a pointed end.
I also focused on the blade of the Wingless Nightmare. It was likely a sword similar to or slightly smaller than the Wingless Nightmare’s size.
‘No more time can be wasted.’
I was the first to move. I launched myself from the ground with maximum speed to close the distance. It stood still in place, extended the weapon in its right hand horizontally, and then slashed it.
The Wingless Nightmare collided with the pitch-black sword, creating a sharp metallic clang!
“Ugh!”
I was pushed back several steps.
‘What kind of strength is this?’
It was as if I had struck a massive steel bar, even though it was just swords clashing. My hand felt numb from swinging the sword.
Taking advantage of the moment I was pushed back, it gripped the sword with both hands. The hilt was drawn up to its abdomen, and as it released the left hand, it thrust forward at high speed.
As I deflected it, my body was shoved back considerably. I planted the tip of the sword into what I guessed was the ground, trying to steady myself. Honestly, I was starting to doubt if this was even the ground. My sense of spatial orientation felt like it was fading away.
Just as I was thinking that, it rushed towards me. The weapon in its right hand began to twitch and morph again.
‘……A dagger?’
The sword, which was somewhat larger than the Wingless Nightmare, had now shrunk to the size of a small dagger.
The Creature that Devours the World swung the dagger, targeting my neck. I brought the Wingless Nightmare to intercept the trajectory, and clang! my whole body staggered.
The numbing sensation flowing through the hilt made me bite my lips, and I quickly countered with the next combo. After deflecting the third attack, my body began to feel heavy. That meant I was filled with combat fatigue.
It faintly smiled, then gripped the dagger with both hands and quickly jumped back. That move seemed oddly familiar.
The Creature that Devours the World jumped back again and transformed its weapon once more. It now wielded a massive scythe.
“Your body has slowed down. That means you won’t be able to dodge this attack, will you?”
The distance closed again, and it extended the scythe in its right hand slightly diagonally, then made a slow sweeping motion. The attack was unmistakably slower than regular strikes.
‘……Could it be?’
As I tried to deflect the attack with the Wingless Nightmare, a sudden chill crept up my spine, and I instinctively kicked off the ground and jumped sideways.
The scythe passed through the space where my neck had been. It seemed more like a pulling motion toward the Creature that Devours the World than an attempt to behead me.
Had I tried to deflect it, I would have been drawn right to it as the weapon caught me.
That movement felt strangely familiar. A thought flashed in my mind.
“What was that just now?”
“I have no reason to tell you.”
Its weapon morphed again. This time, it became a massive greatsword.
After carefully examining its form and confirming it resembled something I remembered, I recalled all the weapons the Creature that Devours the World had used thus far.
The sword that had appeared first, then the dagger used second, the scythe used third, and now the greatsword it was wielding. All of these were weapons from Brightest Darkness 4.
—Whoosh!
As the greatsword cut through the air, I snapped back to reality and rolled to evade its trajectory. I felt the wind from behind me.
If my guess was right, I had to roll one more time. I rolled sideways just as the greatsword, swung in the opposite direction, sliced through the air again.
Avoiding the second attack, the Creature that Devours the World approached me directly. It pointed the tip of the greatsword away while lowering its center of gravity, preparing to swing the weapon. It was a very familiar stance.
As the greatsword swung down diagonally from my left, I swung the Wingless Nightmare to intercept it just as it came near.
With a sound of metal far sharper than anything before, my body was propelled back significantly. While being pushed back, I kept an eye on the Creature that Devours the World.
It raised the greatsword over its head, then twisted its body to straighten up, quickly shifting the blade to the opposite side.
‘That’s… the special technique of a refined enormous sword, isn’t it?’
There was no time to think. The Creature that Devours the World had changed its weapon and charged at me again. It wielded a weapon slightly longer than a regular sword, with a gentle curve from the middle of the blade extending towards the crossguard.
It was a curved sword.
It slashed horizontally from the top right to the left, then gripped the weapon with both hands and spun in a complete circle. The spot where the blade had just passed was filled with a new slash.
If I was right, it would spin around once more and then leap to execute a downward plunging attack.
As anticipated, I deflected the expected incoming strike and swung the Wingless Nightmare to push it back. I was now certain about what it was trying to do.
“It seems you’ve finally found your certainty.”
Reading my gaze, the Creature that Devours the World ceased its attack.
Judging from its remarks, it seemed my thoughts were indeed correct. It had claimed to have acquired my knowledge, yet I had never imagined it would utilize that knowledge in such a way.
It began to show off as if to prove something, changing the appearance of its weapon. It morphed from a gigantic greatsword to a small dagger, then to a bizarrely twisted curved sword, and finally to a sharply bladed weapon.
All of them were familiar to me.
Weapons from Brightest Darkness 2, weapons from Brightest Darkness 3, and lastly, weapons from Brightest Darkness 4. The fragments of all those countless weapons were showcased in its right hand.
“The knowledge that has helped you throughout your journey has turned into blades that constrict your neck.”
It spoke while wielding a blade resembling the Wingless Nightmare.
“Isn’t it a truly ironic situation?”
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