Chapter: 451
The moment I figured out the opponent’s identity, I immediately drew up the Divine and infused it into my mace.
If this forest belongs to the queen, then it must also be the queen who crowns the end of this trial.
“Wait! Please listen to me!”
“What is there to say? I don’t have the guts to talk to a rotting auntie.”
“…Ughhh.”
The Fairy Queen seemed to have a lot to say, opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, but all that escaped was a scream filled with pent-up frustration.
Watching her like this, I couldn’t help but wonder.
Is the Fairy Queen really the end of this trial?
For someone corrupted by the Evil God, she seems a bit too sloppy, doesn’t she?
If the Fairy Queen had truly succumbed to the Evil God, she should already be crazy and attacking me, right?
“Spit it out already. Auntie. Unlike you, my time is precious.”
“Uh, yes. Understood.”
As I lowered my mace to show my willingness to listen, the Fairy Queen sighed and continued.
“You must have seen what has been happening. The state this forest has fallen into.”
“Yeah. It’s so disgusting that even the smelly auntie seems normal.”
“…Can you stop using that chicken coop auntie expression?”
“Why? It’s true that you smell rotten, isn’t it?”
“No matter how I… Haaah. Fine. Anyway, if you’ve seen the fairies consumed by darkness, you’d know the crisis this forest is in. It’s a shameful story, but this forest has been swallowed by the Evil God of Darkness.”
The story the Fairy Queen told wasn’t much different from what I already knew.
The creeping Power of Darkness invading the forest. The fairies who were unaware of it.
By the time they noticed the abnormality, it was already too late.
“I did my best to rein in my own mistakes, but all I got in return was this sight.”
The Fairy Queen had failed.
If she had been in a perfect state, things might have been different, but the moment more than half of the fairy forest was consumed, and most fairies flowed under the Evil God’s influence, she was bound to lose.
The Fairy Queen, who thinks of the fairies under her as children, could never attack them.
In such a desperate situation, the last thing the Fairy Queen chose was to endure.
Believing that salvation would come one day.
Believing that the great gods would save them.
Believing that heroes would take their place against the Evil God from above.
Enduring.
And continuing to endure.
“Basically, it sums up to you being old and useless, right? You really do talk a lot for an auntie.”
“That… may be true.”
Seeing the Fairy Queen sulk with her head down, I pondered her future.
The Fairy Queen’s desperate efforts wouldn’t be rewarded until the end.
She would ultimately be consumed by the Evil God and stand at the frontline of war.
Causing the blood of many to spill, harming the nature she had to protect, and sacrificing the lives of the fairies she felt like children, ultimately to be subjugated by heroes.
The problem was that the existence of the Fairy Queen wasn’t just a simple life.
As long as there are fairies in this world, no matter how many times she’s defeated, she is a conceptual existence that always resurrects.
In the end, what the heroes chose was to seal the Fairy Queen along with the forest.
So that she could live forever in her dream. Spending time in an eternal sleep, turning away from a cruel reality.
“I know it’s shameless of me. But, oh hero who bears the will of God, please save this forest. Please redeem the fairies that are being lost due to my incompetence.”
I couldn’t respond to the Fairy Queen, who bowed her head.
This place was Ganshu’s trial.
A space that recreates a scene from history that had already occurred. No matter what you do in this place, the events are bound to happen.
It’s impossible to change a history that has already been recorded.
– A small fry has crawled in.
A sinister voice echoed from beyond the darkness of the forest.
The moment that voice pierced my ear, nightmares I had experienced until now surged in my mind.
The wooden sword aimed at my head.
The Minotaur’s fist, shot to crush me as it fell.
The gaze of Nakrad, looking at me like a subhuman.
Fear.
Fear.
Endless fear.
Rising one by one, choking my breath.
Sincerity.
I feel my hands trembling.
I can’t breathe properly.
I need to calm down.
Thoughts cut off.
This is just a trial.
I hear something rolling on the ground.
That voice isn’t real.
My weakened legs crumble.
I’m okay.
I don’t wanna be okay.
I’m okay.
Help me.
No problem at all.
I don’t wanna die.
I’m okay.
I’m sorry.
I’m okay.
Please save me.
“…Hoo.”
Biting my lips, I gather the Divine I had once lost.
As the darkness that had seeped into my head recedes, clarity returns.
When I staggered to stand, I saw the Fairy Queen looking at me with compassion.
In her eyes, my reflection looked utterly miserable.
Haha. Damn it. Is this the full power of the Evil God of Darkness after all?
Did I have to face such an enemy during the Age of Myth when the Good God and Evil God were at war?
What on earth did my grandpa fight against?
Even Benedict seems strong enough to be confident in winning.
I wiped my face, clearing the traces of emotions that had erupted, and picked up the shield and mace that had fallen to the ground, looking towards the direction where the voice came from.
“Run away.”
The Fairy Queen urgently called out.
“You don’t have the ability to face that guy yet. You have to flee. Survive and tell the tale of this forest.”
“Auntie, has your brain rotted or something? Where am I supposed to run to?”
I asked, gazing at the pitch-black forest, and the Fairy Queen’s lips quivered.
Meanwhile, the darkness residing in the forest deepened gradually. The Evil God was approaching.
“…I have power I was saving for the last. If I use it, I can send you away.”
“Then what about you, Auntie? You’d be completely rotted away.”
“It’s fine. I’m just paying the price for my mistakes.”
I couldn’t deny that the Fairy Queen’s words were tempting.
Even now, fear of death was welling up inside me.
My hands were still shaking.
My breath was still frantic.
The bells were still ringing in my head.
But if you ask if it was to the point of crumbling?
Not really.
“Sorry, but I don’t want help from a rotting auntie. I feel like I’d catch the smell of a chicken coop if I got involved.”
“This isn’t the time for that! If this continues, you!”
“So what? That gloomy recluse is a total shoddy mess. What’s gonna change now that a lowlife who got beaten up and ran away is feeling a bit stronger?”
If I can control my emotions, facing it wouldn’t be entirely impossible.
For better or worse, no one has faced the Evil God more than I have.
Even my grandpa, who looked me in the eyes, probably didn’t face as much as he did.
Of course, he couldn’t have defeated that recluse more than I have.
“Just keep watching. Rotten auntie.”
I don’t think there’s such a thing as impossibility.
There are things that cannot be done, and that’s fine.
Just like how my tone doesn’t change no matter the chaos.
Like how all the various things I did secretly to raise my intelligence were meaningless.
Like how no matter how much I insult, the Sloppy Fox only enjoys it.
But it’s different in the Soul Academy. In the dungeon, impossibility doesn’t exist.
Because the rotten water makes hope feel natural.
“I guess I’ll have to get used to living alone for the rest of my life.”
Forcing a laugh, I finished speaking and stepped forward, desperately ignoring the rising tremors.
Hehe. In a way, this is a good thing.
It’s the new content I’ve been longing for.
Although it’s a bit crappy that it’s not a dungeon strategy but a mini-game to protect something.
What can you do? If they give me something new even like this, I’ll say thank you! and gobble it up.
– A minuscule thing attempting to resist me?
“Why should I be scared of a puny thing that’s been beaten down?♡ I’m sure it’ll scuttle back into its hole before it gets smashed again!♡…”
As I chatted to confront the Evil God, the surrounding scenery scattered, and the library appeared before me.
Standing opposite me, Ganshu looked at me as if utterly baffled.
The moment I faced the annoying little brat, the tension that had filled me eased naturally, allowing my body to relax.
Before I knew it, my grandpa had come up to support me, preventing me from collapsing, but if it hadn’t been for that, I would have been sprawled on the ground.
“You really are consistent.”
While I was taking deep breaths to erase the fear I’d been trying to ignore, Ganshu shook his head and started flapping his gums.
This damn brat. He pulls tricks in the trials and can’t even apologize, yet he’s making such a fuss.
I won’t forgive him.
I’ll never forgive him.
“Just like how you’re a little twerp in body and mind?♡”
“…Hmm. I did make a mistake just now, so a slight insult is acceptable.”
“Must be tiny between your legs too, huh?♡ Maybe just a fingertip’s length?♡ Or is there even anything there?♡ It must be so embarrassing that it’d run away!♡”
“….”
“Cough, cough♡ Does it hurt that much since I hit the truth?♡ I’m sorry~♡ I didn’t notice!♡”
As I vented all the words I wanted to say, the Fairy Queen’s face quickly turned beet red.
Even with the veins visible on his hands, he couldn’t rebut, which was enough to stir my sadistic heart.
I wonder if I keep tormenting him, he’ll cry?
It’d be even more entertaining if he scrubbed his tears away while saying he won’t forgive me.
At that moment, as I was about to seek advice on how to hit his weak spots, grandpa firmly pressed down on my head.
Surprised by the sheer force that felt like he might shove my head into my neck, I quickly turned my head, and grandpa shook his head with a chuckle.
“That’s enough.”
“What’s up, old man? You had a thing for such brats?”
“…That’s not it. I’m just saying that if you keep moving your lips, you might miss out on what you should gain.”
Missing out on what I should gain?
The moment I pass the trial, Ganshu has no choice but to grant [History Verification], right?
The promise of the Good God isn’t that light.
Struggling to understand grandpa’s words, I tilted my head, and Ganshu let out a long sigh.
Then he approached me and handed me a book.
“Choose the blessing you wish from that. I’ll make sure to deliver it in any way.”
The title of the book Ganshu handed over was [Powers of the Gods].
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