The storm rages on.
It counteracts attacks to some extent, possessing its own powers, but it’s the roar of a spear imbued with the Holy Power of Destruction.
“…Huh?”
And it’s a staggering ten thousand of them.
I might dodge or endure one or two storms, but I can’t escape ten thousand.
Countless gods, who stirred the heavens and the earth, fell like autumn leaves.
Nothing remained where the storm had passed.
“……”
“…You. What are you?”
“Sure, the 4th is nice. With this power, I might actually take on the real Kraken…”
“How. Did. You. Kill. All. That?”
“I didn’t kill them.”
“?”
Kwaiiiaaaang!!!
The ten thousand storms erupt again.
The White Guardian’s power, ‘Clone’.
─Krearrrr!!
A lion, fully spiritualized and hiding its body, collapses with a roar.
The same goes for other gods in different spiritual states.
I look around Ertarn while retrieving the White Guardian.
“The physical part is dead, but the soul is intact. It should recover to some extent over time.”
Of course, regaining the same power and abilities as before would be impossible.
[Kyah]
[The Great Lily]
[Lily the Angel ㅠㅠ]
[Oh, they’re not dead]
[Hahaha]
[Didn’t they die?]
[Eh?]
[Is the scenery not coming through?]
“Are you feeling relieved?”
“…?”
“Those gods won’t be able to do anything now. The most they can do is cause trouble for the knights.”
The ‘monsters’ humans opposed. They’ll be reduced to that level.
No one in this world can touch Ertarn anymore.
“…I don’t know.”
“Still?”
“I feel relieved. These beings that tormented me. But it’s in the past.”
Ertarn has lost everything.
She lost her villagers and sought out the gods who were the cause, but was met with utter rejection.
Instead, they attacked her without understanding her.
“I created the giants. To protect.”
So that nothing will ever be lost again by someone.
As long as they exist, she has shared her power to resurrect them thousands, tens of thousands of times.
“Repeating. Again. Does it even matter?”
“It does.”
“How?”
Plop.
She raises the spear.
Numbers are engraved in the air.
I’m not sure if it’s still maintained, but this is the last time.
So, I just need you to hold on a little longer.
“100…?”
“You’ll know when you see it.”
Aaaaaaah!!
I hear a scream from far away.
Ertarn tilts her head, but I think I know the situation.
I think I roughly understand the situation.
‘Did someone hit me or something?’
To ‘edit’ and break out of this immersion, I need to wake my mind up.
Time accelerates.
├100 years have passed.
■
A hundred years have gone by since that day. The village was safe.
The residents had multiplied over the years, and soon the number of villagers surpassed two hundred.
The Kingdom of Lyons, ruled by ‘that woman’, also grew.
As countless gods who influenced each kingdom vanished, the whole world fell into chaos, and she seized the opportunity to unite all kingdoms.
I felt a bit tense knowing she held power greater than the gods, but thankfully, nothing serious happened.
She simply made the continent prosper and elevated her authority even more.
There was no oppression or persecution of anyone.
Kududdud!
“Eating well, aren’t you?”
By the way, Buabua has returned to normal.
Having fixed its eating habits, Buabua still shovels dirt into its mouth today, happily producing fine soil.
Thanks to it, the village was always bountiful.
“God! God!”
Cooook!
Today, just like any other day, a young child approached Ertarn, who was resting in the fields, tugging at their clothes and looking up.
This child wasn’t the same one who gave the flower crown back then.
This was the great-great-granddaughter of that child.
The once not-quite-ten-year-old child grew up, had children, and those children had children too.
And it repeated once more.
The line continues.
“What’s the matter, little one?”
“This! It’s a gift!”
The child handed over a flower ring.
This time a flower ring, huh.
Last time, the one claiming to be a granddaughter gave a flower bracelet—how come it changes every time?
Hehehe.
As the child laughed, the villagers laughed along with her.
The little snot-nosed kids who once were tiny now moved harvested crops like women.
The young man who guarded the village is now a wise old man, leisurely sitting in the town center.
It continues.
Indeed, it continues.
This surely is a false tale.
Reality isn’t like this. It’s merely a happy dream, just a delusion.
Yet, Ertarn felt content.
Even if reality was just a bunch of blunt giants like her.
‘It’s not that I don’t love them.’
She was just scared.
Scared of having to let go of someone she cherished too much.
For Ertarn, a divine being who had lived for ages, even she needed time to adapt.
And she spent that time.
“Alright. It’s done.”
She opened her eyes happily.
I opened my eyes.
■
[Collapse Level – 16%]
[Collapse Level – 8%]
[Collapse Level – 5%]
[Collapse Level – 2%]
[Collapse Level – 1%…]
Beep.
[Collapse Level – 0%]
[Great Achievement! Awakened the sleep of the Marble Giant in Ertarn!]
[Title – Liberator of Rest Achieved.]
[Title – Why the Opposite? Achieved.]
[Special achievements adjust the collapse level from 0% to 100%.]
[Collapse Level – 100%]
[The dream of the Celestial Being is collapsing!]
[World – Cleared the Dream of the Giant (EP. 1)!]
[Received a large amount of Experience Points!]
[LV. 125]
[Title – Liberator of Ertarn (Sub-Transcendent) Achieved.]
[The favorability of the Giant race increases by 100.]
[Protection from the Marble Giant in Ertarn is granted.]
[The fame of ‘Lily Elbrite’ spreads widely in Ertarn.]
[Obtained the Giant’s Stone.]
[World Quests in Ertarn will be temporarily deactivated and the second episode will…]
——
“Wow.”
I returned.
Looking at the crumbling stones over the body of the Giant, I blinked my eyes.
Before me were dozens of message windows and Jeokhye, who had turned into a frog slime, totally drained.
The quest was over.
“It feels like a lot has happened.”
[Wow]
[???]
[What the heck, lol]
SDVIMVFoanVzY1YwSVhjamMzUkt1WE83WnhqbmRkVmFBelZMWWxOUi9nRThXMFpmNm1HV2JHOFJOUVlYaTlTaA
[That was awesome]
[Why so many rewards? lolol]
[Oh]
[What’s with the 100 years spinning?]
[MVP Jeokhye;;]
[God of Spear Lily! God of Spear Lily! God of Spear Lily!]
[Great Lily]
To ensure a definitive conclusion, I spun the time for a whopping 100 years.
You might think that’s a bit excessive, but Ertarn has existed for thousands of years.
Considering the time before gaining consciousness, the units of time could have been much larger without any surprises.
For such a being to realize and feel something, a mere glimpse of time wouldn’t suffice.
‘At least enough time for several generations of residents to pass.’
After considering various circumstances, I thought 100 years was just right, and when I snapped back to reality after spinning it, the situation was already over.
I felt like I had woken up one last time at the end…
‘Hmm.’
In an immersed state, I am affected by the flow of time, which takes me a while to regain my senses.
It took about 10 seconds to wake up even after a week, so it must have taken way longer than that for a century.
“Well, that’s great.”
No matter what it is, the important thing is that I cleared the World Quest.
My level shot up by 2 levels, bringing me to 125. I also gathered some titles and items related to the Celestial Being, so overall, I’m satisfied with the results.
As I was finishing up with the numerous message windows, I suddenly looked down.
Right now, I’m on top of Ertarn, which is bigger than all the gods I saw back then combined.
Now that Ertarn has awakened, it wouldn’t be strange at all if this place started moving.
Tap tap.
“Um, Ertarn?”
“……”
“No response, huh?”
It’s not that it’s sleeping, but it also doesn’t answer.
I worked hard to let it have a happy dream, and yet, the result is just silence.
“Wake up! You need to explain how to use this stone.”
“……”
“Hmm…”
[How rude]
[Ugh, so frustrating]
[Should I kill it?]
Kaboom!!
I place my hand on the ground and release the holy energy.
As Ertarn’s head stirs, rocks rise from the crumbled gravestones, and a 2-meter tall Ertarn appears.
It looks quite flustered, which is a rather un-stone-like reaction.
“Hey, just a second.”
“Why are you pretending to sleep?”
“No, talking. It’s been a while.”
“That’s not good. I helped you out, and it’s only fair you explain things, right?”
“True…”
Ertarn nods.
For sure, after seeing my technique once, Ertarn’s attitude has changed a lot.
If before it thought of me as just a strong ‘person,’ now it’s clearly something to be wary of.
Of course, if I were to actually face off against Ertarn, who devoured an entire world, I’d have to go all out, but she wasn’t aggressive to begin with.
This time, I showed the most crucial reward, the gray stone.
It looks like a stone axe, nothing much different from a regular rock.
“That. My piece.”
“Piece?”
“When you want. Once. Summon me. I’ll go.”
“Summon, huh…”
“Yeah. I’ll help with whatever you need.”
I can summon a presence as strong as the Kraken once.
Not a bad reward at all.
For now, with just Ertarn, I could break any game.
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