Barbarian in a Failed Game

Chapter 329. The End of the World (7)

The cycle of destruction and renewal exhausted and depleted the ‘fundamental power’ that the world possessed. And in the process of observing this, the observer accumulated that fundamental power….

Karyan and Mortalia were examples of that.

No one knew exactly how many times it had happened. Hundreds? Thousands? Perhaps even more. In any case, this roughly explained why the two were exceptionally extraordinary.

And now, Mortalia spoke.

She declared that the world’s source had nearly run dry. She intended to replenish the depleted chaos by once again destroying the world and completing it anew.

“So that was it.”

Khan’s voice carried a bitter chuckle of resignation.

“Was I summoned to this world just to meet my end from the very beginning?”

『Correct. You are a being from another world. Though I didn’t know it in the old times, even your arrival in this Midland was not by chance but by an inevitable pull. Bearing the fundamental essence of Midland, it was only natural that you would be drawn here.』

How could anything as grand as a fundamental essence reside in a middle-aged, pot-bellied office worker?… It wasn’t that he didn’t have an inkling. Possibly, not realizing it would have been stranger.

Midlands Quest.

He had poured nearly all of his free time into that accursed game, to the point where it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it consumed his life.

Khan had been deeply immersed in the game, to the extent that he had lost countless characters, the number well into the thousands. Even more impressively, he had defeated the Arch Demon and seen various endings numerous times.

But what if all those plays were acknowledged as acts of ‘observing the cycle of destruction and rebirth’?

It explains quite well the significant chaos it carried.

“Why is it that no one else but me has been dragged into Midland?”

Even so, questions remained.

“Surely, there must have been others who observed Midland’s downfall in the same way I did?”

Khan could confidently say he had been a seasoned player of Midland’s quests, but he shook his head at the thought of being the best among them.

After all, there were other veterans who had spent even more hours in the game, and naturally talented players who managed to see the end swiftly through sheer skill.

『Not everyone who observes the destruction of another dimension obtains the power of origin. Of course, that makes sense. If it were otherwise, more beings like my old friend and I would emerge.』

“…This is frustrating.”

『You see, those who hold the origin are exceptionally rare and uniquely blessed. It manifests without their conscious will and grants them the talent most suited to them.』

『In the olden days, I acquired a spell system beyond the traditional framework of magic, and my old friend obtained the purest ‘talent’, surpassing the limits of mortal strength with extraordinary martial prowess.』

『What about you?』

A particular thought immediately came to mind.

‘Game system.’

When you took an enemy’s life, experience points were accumulated. By repeating specific actions, you obtained skills.

When you saw items of a certain level or higher, you could see their information.

This anomalous system, where the effort you put in always resulted in rewards, was extremely unreasonable from the perspective of other Midlanders. But Khan was confident. No matter who else obtained the game system, they wouldn’t be able to utilize it better than him.

The ‘talent suited to oneself’ that Mortalia mentioned must have meant this exact thing.

『You seem to have an idea. Indeed. But this blessing, from the world’s perspective, is nothing but theft. Therefore, this is merely returning what was stolen to its original owner.』

『This applies to all sentient beings of Midland.』

『Even though I have the power to forcibly take your essence, I am offering you the chance to join me as a minimum act of clemency for someone embroiled in matters of another dimension. You will be given an opportunity to lead a new life in the newly completed Midland.』

“If I refuse?”

No answer came back. She stood tall against the sky, holding a sword made of light and death, her gaze indifferent.

“Yeah, I roughly understood.”

That was the clearest response.

“You are not the Mortalia I know.”

The Mortalia Khan knew was a bit… complicated.

-Their first proper conversation took place in paradise. She was the only being aware of the world’s repetitions, and she struggled to put an end to it. She even decided to become an Apostle of the Void to achieve that.

The next encounter happened when she was devoured by chaos while observing her memories on Earth. In truth, they could hardly be called acquaintances, let alone anything more. Maybe victims and perpetrators, but nothing else.

However, there was one thing that was certain.

If there was one thing Khan knew about Mortalia, it was that she wouldn’t go as far as to destroy all life and bring about the world’s annihilation.

Though she was supremely arrogant, she was also profoundly rational. After all, she was the woman who had stood at the pinnacle of mages.

“The ancient civilizations were destroyed, and it was said that the laws themselves penalized Mortalia, who caused it.”

The ‘Apostle of Truth’, who created the fanatical group known as the ‘Followers of Truth’, and became the Goddess of Magic, was just a puppet hiding behind Mortalia’s disguise.

『How foolish your standards are. Do not judge existence from a mortal’s perspective. I am not the Mortalia you know, yet I am. My identity as the Executor representing the world has been added.』

『Moreover, it is an insignificant truth.』

“Indeed, it is not important.”

After all, the answer had been determined. With a rising smirk, Khan murmured, and the presence of the Executor, donning Mortalia’s mask, sharpened keenly.

『Foolish.』

He knew it because he had ascended to divinity.

Mortalia, the Apostle of Truth, the God of Magic… All the many names that being carried had to be forgotten. It was merely an “Executor”.

A tool representing the will of the world. In other words, it was correct to think of it as the will of the world itself.

“I will hold back those wings and that sword as much as I can.”

Just a while ago, Karyan had boasted that he would take care of it himself, engaging in a pointless battle of bravado. But now, such humble words spilling from his mouth were inevitable.

Even for me, just deciding how to deal with that thing weighed heavily on my mind.

“So, then. Tell me about that amazing plan you mentioned earlier.”

A red giant’s apparition flickered around Karyan, who lightly clenched his fist. However, its size and aura were not the same as before. It appeared that he had yet to fully recover the energy expended in the previous battle….

Neither he nor I mentioned such trivial matters.

“By doing what we do best.”

“Doesn’t that just mean we have no plan at all?”

“This is hardly unplanned.”

Even without turning my gaze, I knew. Karyan and I were both wearing the same smile right now. No matter how much I denied it, the fact that Karyan was the ancestor of barbarian wouldn’t change. Similarly, the fact that I had also become a member of the barbarian race wouldn’t change.

And barbarian, above all else, were a race that loved life-or-death battles.

“God or whatever. Isn’t it simple enough to just keep fighting until we die?”

It was a particularly grandiose statement considering it was about a being that was a fundamental part of the world. But the trajectory of my life had proven it.

Even back when I was weak and pitiful, I had narrowly escaped death against goblins of Hoarfrost Gorge multiple times. When I left Hoarfrost Gorge, I faced insane mages who viewed barbarian merely as experimental materials, and mercenaries who aimed for nothing but the back of my head.

Ancient mages resurrected by the power of the demonic realm, dragons and giants reborn from bygone eras, half-devils consumed by chaos, and the highest gods akin to the masters of the heavens…

『This is where tolerance ends.』

None of them were weaker than me. Despite that, I survived and emerged victorious. I used all my knowledge, experience, and adaptability.

At least in Midland, that was who I was.

Therefore, the divine name granted to me must be ‘Victory’.

I can somewhat understand why the authority and the power of sanctum given upon achieving divinity are so bizarre.

So.

“First, just send me in front of that bastard.”

“Alright─!”

As my body accelerated like a ray of light, my consciousness perfectly kept pace. The gap between my body and mind, approaching closer to nothingness.

‘How should I fight? Should I use spells, as befits the name of the God of Magic…? No, I can’t ignore those suspicious wings and that sword either-’

I knew nothing about the opponent. On the other hand, I had to assume that all my means were already exposed. Although I had a single hidden dagger, its use required closing the distance to a hand’s reach.

Knowing this, Karyan opted for the reckless choice of a head-on rush.

However, almost mocking such thoughts, a ‘light’ flashed before my eyes.

Peeeeeeing-

The sound of an arrow release, like a tautly drawn string, echoed belatedly, but a sharp pain rose from his abdomen even sooner.

“Dodge!”

Before Karyan’s warning even registered, Khan’s hands blurred, leaving afterimages as they twisted.

Boom!

It was impossible to accurately grasp what they collided with. Each time light flashed, he swung. Each swing caused his divinely perfected body to be pushed back with a tingling resistance.

And Karyan was—

“Light! How laughable it is to be used as a mere tool of a tool!”

He roared, sweeping everything in front of him with his bare fists. Only then did Khan realize what the recent flares of light meant.

‘God of Light!’

The wings of light attached to the Executor’s back were indeed the God of Light itself. That creature was using the highest God as if it were an item!

『Die.』

The Executor’s attack did not end there. While Karyan deflected the feathers fired from the wings of light, the black sword (黑劍) in his hand spun and flew straight towards me.

Contained within that sword was ‘death’ itself. The power of death emanating from the black sword felt incomparable to anything before.

If I intended to, I could deflect it without difficulty. The feathers fired by the God of light were all being blocked in front of Karyan, so if I deliberately ignored them, I might have been able to bypass and approach the Executor.

However, my instinct, which had expanded further as I ascended to godhood, warned me otherwise.

‘If you respond rashly, you’ll die…!’

Unlike last time, there would be no luck of merely stopping my heart and regenerating my body mid-fight. This was death, crafted in sword form, as unyielding as the laws of the world or fate itself.

If the God of death handled death simply as a power, this was closer to the very concept of death itself!

Swish—!

It wasn’t a particularly fast speed. I directed the holy power already spread throughout my body to match my physical movements. Along with my step into the air, my right hand, holding Draupnir, swung down to cleave the black sword created by the God of death.

I perfectly recreated the sword strike that had once nearly killed the God of death, distorting even dimensions and smashing through reality. No, since I had attained divinity, the sheer power was incomparable to that time.

A mere scarecrow, without proper will and only scattering the energy of death.

I thought I could easily destroy it.

“…!”

Until Draupnir, with its attribute of being indestructible, shattered into pieces along with a few of my fingers that I couldn’t retract in time.