Chapter 344: River of Blood, Mountain of Screams (7)

Unlike Franken, who had calmly chosen annihilation for Keter’s sake, Paratul attempted to escape at the final moment. He tried to break free from Keter’s world of unconscious and cross over into the mental world. It was certainly something close to impossible, but he was a dragon, after all. With immense concentration and innate luck, he was just about to succeed when an apple jam sun fell from the sky and struck Paratul’s head. As a result, his concentration instantly shattered.

“

Ow

.”

With that, Paratul was annihilated.

Then an unexpected situation arose for Keter. As Paratul vanished, his memories were transferred to Keter. This wasn’t something that was originally supposed to happen, nor was it a gift from Paratul. Most of the memories had perished between the unconscious and the mind world, but some of them were engraved into Keter’s head.

Keter stepped into a strange space. It was a space with endless mirrors, and Paratul’s memories were replaying in it.

“

Hmm.

”

Keter observed the world of mirrors. Soon, he realized they were the memories of Paratul’s everyday life, but they didn’t make Keter feel anything.

“No fun, no emotion.”

Still, Keter carefully examined the countless mirrors. There could be a memory that was interesting or useful. However, even that had a time limit. Cracks began to form in the world of mirrors as well.

“I may not necessarily be losing anything, but I’d like to at least gain something from this.”

Keter quickly ran and looked at the mirrors, then suddenly came to a stop. There was a mirror showing the face of a certain woman. She had a plain face with freckles, making her look like a typical country girl raised by rural parents. However, Keter could immediately tell who the woman was the moment he saw the face. It was Akrah.

Keter stepped into the mirror. A woman who looked like his mother stood before him. It felt vivid, but he couldn’t move or speak at his will, becoming Paratul.

“Akrah, what are you plotting?"

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

She really was Akrah.

“A world not for gods, but for humans. That is all I desire,” Akrah replied.

“Many civilizations tried to surpass the gods, yet none succeeded. Even the dragons, who are far superior to humans, failed.”

“That is because humans granted power to the gods. Fear, reverence, all of that make gods into gods. Thus, I’m going to make all humans disappear.”

“Hah, kill humans first in order to kill the gods? Is that sophistry? You’re saying you will create a world for humans, yet you’re going to kill them all?”

“I cannot tell you what comes after that. However, when all humans die, the gods will naturally perish as well. Object permanence does not apply to most gods. Once all of them die except the ones truly necessary, the dragon will become the strongest species in this world.”

“The dragons will take the place of gods. Good. Not a bad proposal. So, what is it you want from me?”

“It will take thousands of years to deceive the gods. In that time, please put yourself to sleep using your heart as a link. I’ll prepare the body you will resurrect into.”

“No matter if you are the goddess of &%&#@, I cannot simply trust you. I need to peek into the future.”

“Wait. Someone is spying on us.”

Akrah struck the air, and Keter’s mind snapped awake. Peeking into the memory was abruptly cut off. The mirror of memories had shattered completely.

“

Hah...

”

Keter was dumbfounded by Akrah’s plan to kill all humans in order to eliminate the gods. Moreover, he had imagined she must be an extraordinary being, but this was beyond that.

Compared to Akrah, even Lillian is nothing special.

He wasn’t given long to dwell on his thoughts. Feeling a floating sensation as if gravity had reversed, Keter awoke from his sleep. The sensation that immediately followed was a crisis of death. Endymion was in the middle of stabbing Keter’s heart with an arrow imbued with Ein Sof.

Without any time to enjoy the fact of having defeated Paratul or to ask why Endymion was doing this, Keter reached out and grabbed Endymion’s wrist to lift it up.

***

Seeing Keter awaken, Endymion thought he was too late, and for good reason. Though the motion had been simple, the strike just now had been carried out with the intention to actually kill him. It wasn’t an attack that could be blocked with Keter’s skill. The fact that this attack had been stopped meant that Keter wasn’t Keter, but a dragon.

I need to kill him before the dragon adapts to Keter’s body.

Everything that surrounded them at the moment could disappear. Countless people could even be sacrificed, caught in the aftermath of the fight. However, Endymion thought that was better than all of Sefira dying.

Just as Endymion drew up his power of Ein Sof, Keter passed by Endymion. He approached Six, who had collapsed, and sat beside him.

“Six, put your hand down.”

Endymion couldn’t believe it. He had been watching Keter’s every movement, yet he had missed this. If Keter had intended to attack, he surely would have suffered a fatal wound.

Endymion slowly turned around. He saw Six and Keter. While Six was extending his hand, Keter was stroking his head.

“That’s...”

A significant amount of mana could be felt from Six’s hand. Though Endymion thought he had destroyed Six’s head. It was surely the power of eight-circle magic.

He had been pretending to be dead?

Judging he couldn’t win head-on, Six had used a trick. He had been waiting for a chance while pretending it would take a long time to recover. He tried to attack while Endymion was completely focused on Keter, but Keter stopped him at that moment.

Endymion created another arrow of Ein Sof and asked, “Who... who are you?”

“Who am I?”

Keter sprang to his feet, stroked his chin, and showed both his palms. Then with each phrase he spoke, he folded one finger.

“An abandoned bastard without even knowing who his parents were. Liqueur’s mad dog. Liqueur’s Solver. Liqueur’s lunatic. The unwanted illegitimate child of Sefira...”

With a faint smile, Keter gestured apologetically to Endymion, then continued, “After that, I became known as Sefira’s golden hand and fixer. These days they say I’m Sefira’s divine archer.”

One finger still remained unfolded. As Keter showed no sign of saying it himself, Endymion asked, “And the last one?”

“I wanted to brag about that one somewhere with more people, but I’m dying to say it. I can’t hold it in.”

Keter took a deep breath and smiled brightly.

“The man who fought a dragon and won. That’s who I am.”

***

Endymion didn’t say anything.

“Is it because you’re an elf? I don’t really like that reaction,” Keter said.

Endymion wasn’t surprised, even after hearing Keter had beaten a dragon.

“Looking closely, that’s the face of someone who doesn’t believe it.”

“Dragons enjoy games. They even make bets with each other over who can act like a human best. I can’t tell whether you are Keter or a dragon.”

“Why do you think I’m a dragon?”

“Because a human cannot defeat a dragon.”

Keter was going to refute that, but nodded instead. “That is true...”

Serena—the Witch of the Stars—had sacrificed herself, and Franken, the chimeric healer, had helped him. If it weren’t for them, he couldn’t have possibly defeated Paratul.

Damn it, I didn’t want to think about that.

Keter hated the feeling of becoming gloomy, so he had been forcing himself to forget about it. However, due to to Endymion, Keter had to face it again.

Endymion caught the change in Keter’s emotions. “That expression just now, what does it mean?”

“What expression?”

“All the muscles of your face drooped, as if recalling something, like someone who lost something precious.”

“Good observation. I lost something precious while fighting the dragon.”

“What was it?” Endymion asked.

“The person I love, and my master.”

“Are you sad?”

“Do you really have to ask to know? Do I need to shed tears for you to be sure?” Keter frowned.

“Dragons cannot shed tears. Not even as an act. If you truly weren't a dragon, you would have cried.”

“If I cry, I look weak. I have decided not to cry anymore in this world where looking weak is the end.”

“That sounds like nothing but an excuse.”

Endymion eventually took on a battle stance. His tightly closed lips showed his resolve not to be toyed with any longer.

“Man, I am tired...” Keter said.

Though he said that, Keter stretched his shoulders and also prepared to fight.

Just then, the spatial distortion in the treatment room became normal, and Daat barged in. He had sensed that Endymion had forced his way through the distorted space, and had immediately rushed over.

“Big Brother?!”

When Daat saw Keter standing perfectly fine, he ran straight toward him. However, Endymion blocked Daat’s path.

“Stop. That is not the Keter you know. His body has been taken over by a dragon.”

“His body was taken over by a dragon?”

Daat stopped for a moment and examined Keter. Soon their eyes met, and they laughed as if they had planned it.

“Elder, that’s not a dragon. That’s Big Brother Keter.”

“A dragon’s acting isn’t bad. They are creatures that easily deceive even the parents who bore them. What exactly do you see that makes you certain it is Keter?”

“

Hm

. Just a feeling. What should we do, Big Brother?”

At Daat’s question, Keter shrugged. “What can we do if he doesn’t think it’s me? I’ll just have to beat him like always until he comes to his senses.”

“That sure is the Big Brother I know.”

Before Endymion could even stop him, Daat had already gone over to Keter’s side.

Endymion contemplated whether it really was Keter. In the brief moment he pondered, Six also moved next to Keter. Endymion tightly clenched his fists, telling himself he must not be deceived. After all, how many of his kin had been toyed with by dragons’ tricks?

Those two cannot see reality because they are so attached to Keter. I will never be deceived again.

Judging on his own that Daat and Six had been fooled by a dragon, Endymion rekindled his fighting spirit that had gone down.

Meanwhile, Keter also found it annoying to keep talking, so he drew up Ein. The power of Ein resonated, and the space became distorted. Daat tried to expand the space so Sefira’s building wouldn’t collapse, but the power of Ein Sof nullified it. If the two fought like this, this mansion would turn into a handful of dust at the very least.

Endymion’s fingertips slightly moved, the signal that the battle was about to begin.

Just then, his voice in alarm, Keter shouted, “Don’t come in here, Hissop!”

Of all people, Hissop must not die. Well aware of that, Endymion momentarily turned his gaze. In that instant, Keter charged and smashed a flower vase down onto Endymion’s crown.

“Gotcha.”

Watching Keter, Daat wore a satisfied smile.

“As expected, that’s Big Brother, alright.”