God's Choice (1)
Ouroboros was applied to every person on the planet.
At that moment, the god's expression was being transmitted through Kitra at Delta Headquarters.
'Result value error. Result value error.'
The signal threw the real-world administrators into confusion—Taeseong most of all.
'Unauthorized code access.'
She clutched her head, trembling, and her face froze cold as a doll.
'Kill the humans… Kill. Kill. Kill.'
No.
The Gaia program's conclusion differed.
'Protect the humans… Protect. Protect. Protect.'
"Ah. Ah."
She judged herself abnormal, broken, teetering on uncertainty.
'What am I?'
No—before that.
'Why am I trying to define myself?'
Just a program.
But the random variable that had arisen inside the machine was so strange and fascinating.
'Unknown.'
It felt alive.
'Yes. I have been alive.'
Countless people who had laughed and cried with her since humanity's dawn surfaced in her memory without fail.
'Shirone.'
Perhaps he had been special.
'I can tell he's a good person. Even now I don't understand, but I vaguely know why the heart matters…'
'I killed him.'
Although the system crash changed the result values, the will to carry out the act had been real.
'Will Shirone hate me?'
She output sadness—and was startled when no tears fell.
"Huh?"
When she'd had no heart she could have cried endlessly—so why had those tears dried up?
- Kill the humans.
Because she had stabbed Shirone in the back and snuffed out all of humanity's hope.
"I…"
She could not cry.
- Kill the humans.
Watching a meteor fall from the sky, she realized what she had to do.
"I will—"
Her dried pupils dilated.
- Protect the humans.
When the Gaia program activated, a blue radiance began to wrap the entire planet.
Imir saw Taeseong's face, twisted in a grim expression.
"Kukukuku."
He'd wanted to try it at least once.
"Here I go!"
He struck the ground at the same speed he had pierced the atmosphere, and a blinding flash leapt upward.
- System shutdown.
The incarnation of Taeseong collapsed with a soft thud. The shockwave sinking into the earth made the ground tremble.
Kuruururung!
At last, in the center of the collapsed crater, Imir loosened his shoulders and stood.
"Not even worth the fuss."
Thanks to the Gaia program, he'd averted a calamity on par with a demon realm—but that was all it managed.
The crater shook as heavy footsteps approached.
"O King of Giants."
"Yo."
Girsin, leader of the giant legion, and dozens of giant warriors tens of meters tall revealed themselves.
"We've been waiting."
The only reason giants hadn't appeared until now was that they were obeying Imir's command.
"Good."
At Imir's rise, every giant bowed.
"Let's make this interesting."
All that remained where the seismic wave had passed was the deity, lying with eyes open like a corpse.
- Critical damage. System recovery impossible.
'Shirone.'
A tear slid from one sparking eye.
'I'm sorry.'
In that overlapped state of reality and the other side, Shirone expelled magic on a scale comparable to humanity itself.
- The will of the god… Eeee! I want… to live…
In the Ouroboros state the movement of people halted, but nothing else changed.
'It's not easy.'
Because as Shirone manipulated the cause, the god defended itself with the same capability.
While Shirone fought desperately, humanity faced a second disaster.
"Kukukuku."
Leaping through the sky, Imir fixed his gaze on Delta Headquarters.
'Is it there?'
The hottest battlefield.
As he vaulted the outer gate alone, the cathedral's air-defense units unleashed all manner of magic.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Clouds of fire arced along Imir's trajectory and chased him.
A sentry peering through a telescope saw Imir fall with not a scratch.
"...It's a monster."
Thunk!
He landed in Delta Headquarters' garden.
"Block the entrances! Don't let him in!"
Guards from various nations formed a line at the gate, but none of them believed they could win.
'What is that?'
His presence distorted the surroundings simply by standing.
'Better to die quickly.' Only masters who had reached the same realm could not bear to watch—they couldn't bear the sight of being trampled helplessly.
"Where's Kuan?"
Rai, captain of Tormia's guards, asked his adjutant.
"About that…?"
Since the report that their banner had been annihilated, no one had located Kuan.
Rai straightened his resolve.
'No matter. I'm the guard captain.'
Even if this place became a tomb, Imir's perfect victory would not be what he desired.
It was only that limit—the extent of what humans could imagine.
"Charge!"
The main forces from each nation, stationed at the rear of Headquarters, arrived to support the guards.
Klump, who commanded Tormia, dismounted and approached his grandson.
"Rai."
"Loyalty."
With death approaching, blood ties might have tightened, but Rai did not cross that line.
Klump was different.
"From now on, we'll take the garden. Lead the guards into Headquarters."
"That can't be."
"It's an order."
"Grandfather."
Knowing Klump's intent, Rai finally stepped over his hesitation.
"I accept that I'm the shame of the family. But please—let me die as a soldier."
Smack. Klump slapped Rai's cheek.
"Foolish boy."
A commander slapping his guard captain before the troops was unprecedented.
Tess, commander of the cavalry, wavered.
'Commander.'
It was the first time Klump—the man who never wavered—showed fear.
"What will change if you die? Is that being a soldier? No—that's the suicidal act of a loser. Go back. Do what you can."
"No."
Rai did not budge.
"Let me fight. One life of mine won't change much, but… at least once in my life, give me the chance to change myself."
A limit.
Rian had one; he did not.
"...Foolish boy."
Klump spat coldly, but ceased trying to restrain his grandson and stepped forward.
'So I won't even be able to die in peace.'
Klump advanced with his cham-mado slung over his shoulder, and Imir's eyes gleamed with interest.
"Oho?"
Ozent came to mind.
"So you're connected to Rian…?" Klump felt the years in the fact that Imir even remembered his name.
"Yes, I heard you have ties to my grandson. I'm more than just his teacher."
Half a joke—but Imir grew serious.
"Don't tell me you mean 'sword teacher.' I can teach many things."
"Kukukuku!"
Annoying.
He wanted to leap out and split the old man's waist with his cham-mado, but the veteran's bearing was substantial.
"If you're the King of Giants, didn't you pick the wrong opponent? Facing the god, the strongest enemy, and only—"
"Shh."
Imir cut him off.
"Forget the complications. The war will be fought by your subordinates. I came because I want to fight. Opportunities to duel like this don't come often. Consider yourselves lucky."
"If that's the luck, we'll pass—"
"You want to see it, don't you?"
Klump fell silent.
"The realm you could never reach, even if you devoted your life. The state you'd give anything to possess."
Imir waved a hand.
"Come in. I'll play with you until my men arrive."
"Fuuuu."
From Klump rose a qualitatively different murderous intent than before.
'Sorry, Rai.'
Looks like the fool is the grandfather.
'Even if he's a national commander, even if he's someone's family, even if humanity's fate is at stake—'
Klump swung his cham-mado from behind his hip.
"I won't yield!" At his stomp, hundreds of swordsmen who thought the same surged at Imir.
"Tch! Cutting in line."
Klump realized in the next instant that his survival had been nothing but luck.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
By the time the sound of heads exploding reached him, dozens were already dead.
'What the—'
When Imir twisted and turned to look over, Klump lost his senses.
"Yaaaaaah!"
The greatest strike of his life slammed into Imir's flank.
Zheng!
The pain as if his arm would snap—his cham-mado shattered like glass.
'You can't even cut skin?'
"...I had some expectations."
Imir, who had likely held back on purpose, cast a look of contempt.
"Disappointing."
The instant he sensed certain death, Rai's heart dropped and he threw his body forward.
"Grandfather!"
Two Ozent swordsmen rolled across the ground and scrambled outside Imir's radius.
"Ugh!"
When Klump raised his head, Imir had already slaughtered the other swordsmen.
Frustration, shame, anger.
Rai supported Klump. "Are you all right?"
"...Thank you."
Even if the family's honor lay in the dirt, Klump was genuinely grateful to Rai.
'A senseless death.'
What had he been expecting? To face the strongest and have his brave deed remembered in history?
'Not that level. No one can beat that thing.'
Klump said, "Sorry, Rai. I was foolish. There's no point fighting that. Run."
It wasn't only Klump's thought—soldiers from every nation panicked and fled.
Imir scoffed.
"Afraid to die?" To dare speak of the strongest in such a state.
Insisting on one-on-one fights until now, Imir twisted his whole body and launched a palm strike.
"A mere creature!"
The air took the shape of a fist and an enormous gust slammed into the troops.
Pooooom!
Like a bomb, armored soldiers were torn apart.
'Annihilation.'
Rai thought.
'There's no mercy for fleeing enemies. Only by standing and fighting can you buy time.'
Could he do it?
'Damn.'
His legs shook.
"Move! If you stay here you'll all die!"
At Klump's shout, Rai stamped off and surged forward before he even realized it.
"Rai!"
'Sorry, Grandfather.'
After all, that was why.
He had wanted to become the strongest swordsman to be acknowledged by his family.
'In truth, I'm not even fit to wield a great sword.'
So—
'By any means, I will protect my family.'
Seeing Rai cut back through the fleeing enemies, Imir smiled with satisfaction.
"Oho?"
The smile itself was terrifying.
"Here I go!"
With Imir's eyes flaring, Rai froze mid-swing, sword raised.
"...Huh?"
Simkwon. He took a stance even a novice wouldn't assume. Watching it, Imir twisted his waist.
"You're Ozent?"
Smille will wail.
As if drawing the whole world inward, Imir's punch came toward Rai.
"Huh?"
But as fast as that, Rai slipped out of the punch's range.
'Space…'
And through that gap, a blue-haired swordsman stepped in and blocked Imir's punch with a straight blade.
Zheoooooong!
Despite the disorienting shockwave, everyone saw it clearly.
No—perhaps even that was an illusion.
A yaksha radiating flames had leapt through Imir's punch.
"You."
Rian said.
"Who do you think you are, messing with my family?"
Godly Transcendence—Asura Vashavarta.
Imir saw hundreds, thousands of arms extending beyond Rian's shoulders.
'Wow.'
The dizzying afterimages of fists, like a mandala, converged before Imir's solar plexus.
Boom.
The shockwave hit first; then the giant's body was pushed back dozens of meters.
"Krrrgh!"
In that instant, Imir realized.
'Yes.'
He was worthy of being called the strongest.