The space lay gracefully in a gentle drift. I was hoping to absorb a bit more of the realization I had just come to.
To be honest, right now, I didn’t have the power to kill the Solitary Hero, Lee Ji-hoon.
Of course, his attacks wouldn’t affect me either. Most of them could be deflected by my scales, and if he used a special technique, I could prepare in advance for the signs of it.
However, there was no sure way to definitely kill him.
It was impossible to just crush him under my sheer weight, and even with the most terrible poison that I could unleash, I couldn’t kill him.
Because of that, for the first time, I found myself in a dilemma.
[…How can I win?]
I had been too complacent. I hadn’t prepared any offensive tactics.
I was merely executing simple attacks with my serpentine form. I hadn’t even considered an enemy who could withstand my physical strength and divine presence.
That was only natural. Until now, what I had was enough.
Most beings had perished simply by my might, and he didn’t even need to engage in hand-to-hand combat.
Even they would probably fall victim to attacks that distort the very fabric of space.
But Lee Ji-hoon was different.
Even in the worst situations, he made the best choices and managed to read and counter my attacks one by one.
And so, we ended up in a state where we could not kill each other.
That’s why the anxiety deepened.
[……?!]
I couldn’t even comprehend. I was clearly in a different dimension, yet it felt as if that world itself was cracking.
A crack splitting an infinitely vast world diagonally.
And within that crack, I too was included.
——Crack.
The world was tearing in half. I felt my vision warp, and with overwhelming pain, I sensed my entire body being split.
[……!!]
No sound came out.
This was the first time. To feel my entire body being severed this helplessly was an experience I had not undergone before in my life.
At that moment, I was also bewildered. The sword-wielding hero, Lee Ji-hoon, surely couldn’t unleash such an attack.
Over the distorted crack, I saw Lee Ji-hoon raising his sword, his face glowing with triumph.
Our eyes met. Yet, at the same time, it felt like they didn’t.
It was as if we were looking in opposite directions. His gaze seemed to dart around, as if he were looking into a distant future.
I twisted my body. I didn’t just die when split in half.
Just as I was about to regenerate…
“I already anticipated this.”
——Swish!
Again, his blade struck my body, cutting through once more.
I couldn’t even resist. His prowess was beyond what I could handle. The height of the gaze he held was different from mine.
I was dying.
For the first time, I felt the sensation of death.
My instincts prompted my body to move in order to survive. The techniques I hadn’t been able to execute until now felt exceedingly vivid at this moment.
Beyond my distorted vision, I stared hard at the space where Lee Ji-hoon stood.
And suddenly, the space began to twist. As if a tiny black hole had appeared, overwhelming gravity started to pull him in.
But… it didn’t work.
Lee Ji-hoon had already leapt away the moment something invisible attacked.
It was an assault that could surely even absorb light.
Yet, the sword hero was untouched.
No, he wasn’t just ‘untouched.’ Even at this moment, he was swinging his sword.
He was moving so fast that it didn’t even register in my vision. He was endlessly slicing through the space around me, creating a new realm unaffected by the gravitational pull.
At the same time—
“Die.”
His eyes finally locked onto me.
In those vivid red irises, there was no longer the great being known as Lord Jörmungandr.
There was only a serpent that had become infinitely small and weak.
[…….]
The sword hero lifted his sword.
Every scene unfolded like it was in slow motion.
Slowly, the sword was raised. And then, it was brought down.
The moment the sword had descended halfway, it slashed through so quickly that I could barely register it even in the slowed-down world.
Countless cuts. If lines were drawn endlessly to create a surface, would it feel like this?
When I faced that attack, I instinctively knew.
If hit by that attack…
I would die.
Space Slash.
The sixth form.
——Shortened Life.
The final strike was unleashed. I realized it was my last.
I stopped struggling. That attack couldn’t be dodged simply by evasion.
Just like that, at the moment the hero whispered softly.
“…For a happy ending.”
———Slash.
The massive serpent broke into countless tiny fragments and faded away.
* * *
Who am I? My consciousness was slipping away.
Only the endless dark shrouded me.
Then it hit me.
The Solitary Hero’s final technique aimed at me.
Does that mean I’m dead?
I no longer felt any sensation. Even the final nerves to move my body had completely faded.
It was hollow. At the same time, anger surged.
I wasn’t angry at the hero. I was angry with myself for not being able to relentlessly pursue the power I had, despite my remarkable talents.
Why?
Why hadn’t I prepared?
Because it felt meaningless.
I thought there would be no one stronger than me.
So what happened as a result?
I met a miserable death at the hands of the sword hero and another version of myself from a different world.
Slowly, I closed my eyes.
And then…
[…….]
Fleeting relationships came to mind.
Princess Eliserde, Asgard, Rehilis, Belial.
I recalled their faces. What did they think of me?
Perhaps those were fleeting ties. However, they surely thought of me that way.
A god that triumphs in any situation, overwhelmingly powerful.
How ridiculous.
That god faced destruction at the hands of another self.
A hollow laugh escaped me. Yet that laugh faded into the transparent space.
My consciousness began to dull.
Am I dying like this?
If this gradually fading consciousness goes completely dark, then… will I die?
Yes, then….
Nothing… is left… to remain.
Hollow…….
‘This cannot be.’
Give up?
That doesn’t suit me.
My consciousness hasn’t completely faded.
Then there is still hope.
I haven’t faced complete death.
No, even if I actually died and this is the afterlife, it doesn’t matter.
My consciousness exists.
I, the being known as Lord Jörmungandr, still exist in this world.
Just that fact alone gives me tens of thousands of reasons not to give up.
Move.
I couldn’t feel anything.
But my mind was still scheming on how to survive at this very moment.
‘It’s impossible.’
My body is shattered.
Scattered into too many tiny pieces across the world.
Even an entity as divine as I could not reassemble that vast array of fragments.
And more importantly, the many scars left by the blade were preventing those cells from dividing again.
To come back to life, it would take a long time, at least until those blade wounds vanished.
How long would that take?
Thousands, tens of thousands of years?
Perhaps even after an eternity, the scars may never disappear.
Then what should I do?
Even if those scars fade, it would be too late by then.
After the world is destroyed by the Demon God.
After my… precious ties meet their end.
What on earth does that mean?
Live.
Survive.
Endure, no matter what.
Force my consciousness to stay awake, and rise again, even in a gruesome and terrible form.
And then, protect this world once more.
Fight back.
Kill the enemies.
Protect what belongs to me, my precious ties!
It was a complacent thought.
Why do I need my physical body?
‘I am… a god.’
Is the god I envision merely a being dependent on pieces of flesh?
Am I so weak that I can only live in this world because my body exists?
No.
The body no longer holds any significance for a god.
Then,
Rebuild it.
From nothing to something.
Construct my new vessel.
I don’t need pieces of flesh.
My resilient spirit that desires to live—that is my body.
——Thump.
———Thump, thump….
Finally, I realized.
This space I occupied was not just an emptiness where nothing existed.
It was simply…
[A new sheath enveloping me.]
* * *
“…I did it.”
Lee Ji-hoon stared vacantly into the space.
There existed a Lord Jörmungandr that had shattered into countless pieces, leaving no trace of its form.
Lee Ji-hoon sheathed his sword.
“I have proven it.”
The Demon God.
I don’t know if I can kill it.
But that doesn’t matter.
As long as I can protect my precious lover with everything I have.
The moment he turned to leave…
———Thump!
“……!!”
Lee Ji-hoon felt it.
The grand heartbeat resonating throughout this vast space, no—throughout every world.
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