Volume 8, Chapter 72 – Rise from the Dead

As if the creature before her wasn’t a monster capable of destroying the kingdom of the dead, Fia’s voice was filled with mockery. With its strong divinity, combined with the familiarity it brought her and its enormous size, Fia couldn’t think of any other possibility besides the Elf God. Of course, she knew the Elf God had been killed by her long ago. However, this was a world where souls existed. A person being killed didn’t mean they were completely dead, let alone when that person was a god blessed by the world.

But even with Fia putting it that way, the black sphere before her remained motionless. Ruth, maintaining her spirit form beside her, looked bewildered.

“Fia, who did you say this is?”

“The Elf God. Just my guess, though, can’t be sure. Haah, leave an enemy of this level to me. Lucitine and Ruth, go evacuate the personnel. Also, Lucitine, was that bad feeling you mentioned referring to this thing in front of us?”

Fia tilted her head. She knew there was a telepathic connection between Lucitine and the Wall of Sighs, but the Chaos before her had clearly emerged from underground. The crisis Lucitine sensed probably wasn’t this.

Lucitine’s beautiful face grew even more serious. Her lips pressed into a thin line. After a breath’s time, she made her decision. Gazing at Fia with even more solemn eyes, her tone was filled with sincerity.

“Fia, can you really handle it?”

“Maybe it would have been a bit tough half a month ago, but now, no matter what, it can’t possibly be a match for me.”

Lucitine took a deep breath. A resolute aura brewed within her pink eyes, shrouded beneath the black veil.

“I believe in you.”

Even the atmosphere around her changed.

Lucitine’s tone was unprecedentedly sincere. Fia couldn’t see even a trace of the naive Lucitine in her now. Standing here at this moment was the Queen of Death, the ruler leading the entire kingdom of the dead.

“There’s something only I can do. Fia, I’m leaving this to you.”

Just as she’d guessed. Lucitine had other matters.

Fia shrugged.

“I’ll come find you after I deal with this thing. Don’t push yourself too hard.”

Lucitine didn’t answer Fia. Instead, she transformed entirely into a black shadow, racing at top speed straight towards the gray hall behind them. Fia shifted her gaze to the bewildered Ruth beside her, raising an eyebrow teasingly.

“Ruth, now it’s your turn to act as proxy for the Queen’s duties. Get your soldiers and subjects away from this thing.”

“Hey, you’re going to duel it alone? Its power—”

Ruth’s voice cut off abruptly. She’d been about to say that this spherical mass of Chaos was stronger than her mother. But she suddenly realized—Fia was a monster beyond monsters. The sight of her streaking across the sky like a sun back in the Weeping Mountains had already become one of her psychological shadows. She curled her lip to hide her embarrassment, slowly backing away while warning her in a stiff tone.

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“Don’t die.”

“If I die and become undead, shouldn’t Ruth take responsibility for me?”

“I’ll tell Claire and Nola when I get back.”

“…Ahem. I’ll send this thing to hell.”

Resuming a serious expression, Fia waved her hand signaling Ruth to leave quickly. Then, under the gaze of all the undead around and below her, she alone flew towards the black sphere in the sky.

She rapidly closed in to within a hundred meters.

Like the Thirteen Attendants and Nightmare Knights before, Fia also felt the sluggishness. When she fought the Elf God in the past, even standing directly on the rings revolving around it, she hadn’t felt this force trying to push her away. It must be because the Elf God combined with Chaos and grew stronger—of course, it might not be the Elf God at all.

Personally, Fia hoped it wasn’t. Resurrection was annoying no matter the circumstance. But the more you wished for something not to happen, the more likely it was to come true. If she prepared for the worst from the start, she could accept the outcome whether good or bad.

Unlike the Thirteen Attendants, helplessly mired in quicksand, Fia only needed to slightly mobilize her own magic power, and the air causing the sluggishness vanished like shattered ice.

Same as always. As an outsider, she could ignore divine protection. Especially magic power—it inherently counters divinity.

With this, victory was assured.

“All forces retreat! Leave the battlefield to Fia!”

“Retreat!”

“Retreat!”

Shouts from Ruth and the undead warriors rang out in the distance. The Nightmare Knights watching Fia from above paused briefly, then pulled their reins tight, turning their skeletal horses to fly away. However, every Nightmare Knight and vengeful spirit took a deep look at Fia as they left. Some helmeted Nightmare Knights even removed their helmets and bowed to Fia from horseback. Her courage in facing a powerful enemy alone, buying time for all the undead to retreat, had earned their respect.

They had personally experienced the enemy’s strength. Standing still, they couldn’t even scratch it. Just imagining the catastrophe if it woke chilled their blood. The one stepping forward at this moment possessed a boldness that commanded even the undead’s solemn respect.

The tense air, filled with desolation and the atmosphere of a final showdown, quickly quieted. Above the entire undead city, nothing remained but Fia and the black sphere. Finding the light too dim, Fia activated [Light]. And at that instant, as if a switch were flipped, the black sphere suddenly opened its eyes.

A massive eye with an ominous scarlet pupil. Anyone it gazed upon would tense their entire body. The fear it brought was deeply rooted in the human heart.

Unfortunately, Fia was incapable of fear by nature. Even meeting this scarlet eye’s gaze, she felt only mockery. With one arm crossed over her chest and the other supporting her chin, she looked up and down at this familiar face with bloodshot eyes.

“Oh? It really is you. I don’t know how you revived, but as a god, don’t you feel ashamed mingling with your sworn enemy, Chaos? If I were you, I’d find a place to bury myself and still worry it wasn’t enough to wash away the disgrace.”

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“…An outworlder who only knows how to quarrel.”

The Elf God’s voice was indistinguishable between male and female, resembling a synthesized sound from multiple voices, reminding Fia of Laplace. But the Elf God was different in one way—Fia could hear Milan’s timbre in its voice. In other words, her initial guess was correct: traces of Milan existed within this eye before her.

While Fia pondered, the Elf God’s body underwent a massive change. The Chaos on the surface of the spherical mass erupted with squelching sounds. Leaving the Elf God’s body, this slime transformed into four giant rings encasing it, rotating around it. The difference from before was that they no longer had dense clusters of small eyes, seeming merely decorative.

“I have been reborn, outworlder. You cannot know the wonder of this power. I must thank you. If you hadn’t defeated me, I could never have touched something so powerful. Chaos is the true dominant force of this world. My magical power is now endless. No one can stop me anymore!”

By the end, the Elf God’s voice had become frantic. The rings revolving around it spun faster and faster, eventually whipping up a storm.

“Elves and humans alike—all will pay the price. Today, I’ll begin my revenge with you!”

“You think that with Chaos’s power, you can contend with me?”

“Ignorant outworlder! I have already sensed the Overlord’s existence ¹ the chaos sovereign i guess, not that on fia side . Its power surpasses us all. Chaos is unstoppable. You are no match for us now!”

This felt like it wasn’t purely the Elf God anymore, but a mixture of the Elf God and multiple consciousnesses.

Annoying as it was, she’d see what it had to say, especially about this “Overlord.” Fia had a faint feeling the Overlord referred to is that whimsical woman who’d told her she would bring disaster to the world.

The Elf God continued roaring. A powerful repulsive force, together with blinding strong winds, pushed against Fia. An ominous scarlet glow burst from its entire body, but this wasn’t to unleash large-scale magic. In Fia’s [Wind of Exploration], the Elf God’s enormous body was rapidly shrinking, becoming a humanoid creature.

“My soul is blessed by the world. You could only destroy my body, never my soul. The Overlord took me in, letting me once again possess the power to control everything. I am now stronger than before—urgh… no… Father God… leave quickly…”

Hmm?

Was that Milan’s consciousness?

Going by verbal address, only someone from the Eye tribe would call her Father God.

Milan’s consciousness is probably struggling.

Fia wasn’t worried about Milan’s safety. From the moment Milan said his reason could suppress madness, Fia had already prepared for the worst. The Eye tribe’s Chaos shares memories and consciousness through mental links. So even if Milan’s physical body perished, he could regenerate through the link. This was also why, even though Milan’s eyes had turned red, Fia hadn’t used [Spatial Confinement] to seal him.

As long as they kept contact with Chaos, someone from the Eye tribe would eventually encounter the same situation. As Father God of the Eye tribe, Fia had to assess risks while the situation was controllable, so she wouldn’t be helpless if the entire tribe were subverted later.

Fia didn’t attack. She quietly waited for this composite consciousness to make its next move. As the Elf God’s body shrank into humanoid form, the storm obscuring Fia’s vision calmed. Standing a dozen meters from Fia now was a pitch-black humanoid monster over two meters tall, with scarlet antlers atop its head. It had the bulging muscles of a bodybuilder’s physique, but no features like a mouth or nose—only a single giant scarlet eye covering its entire face.

No different from Milan’s usual appearance, except the antlers and eyes had turned red. The frenzy the Elf God had shown was nowhere to be seen. Fia sensed only stable emotions.

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The humanoid monster possessing Milan’s consciousness stiffly twisted its neck.

“Urgh… ugh… Father God. I never imagined meeting You in this form. This is the first time I’ve seen You with my own eyes.”

It could speak despite lacking a mouth. Fia didn’t bother asking useless questions, cutting straight to the point.

“Since you call me Father God, why don’t you submit to me?”

“Forgive my frankness. Though I address You as Father God, I feel only hatred toward You. You do not belong to this world. So even if You do nothing, merely standing here, the world’s order will be destroyed by You.”

The humanoid monster quite humanely bent at the waist, bowing to Fia.

“I advise You to give up struggling early and quietly turn to dust. That would spare You the dual torment of mind and body. The Overlord was born to destroy You. You can see this as the world’s effort to protect itself. Now that I have received the power bestowed by the Overlord, I fear even hundreds of thousands of my past selves would be no match for me now.”

“Oh? Who is the Overlord?”

Not angered by Fia’s interruption, the humanoid monster politely and patiently explained.

“The Overlord is the guardian of order. When the world is on the verge of collapse, the Overlord fulfills its duty. In other words, if You make an enemy of the Overlord, You become the enemy of the entire world.”

“An interesting way of putting it. Can I understand it as: because I’m an outworlder, I must be eliminated?”

“That should be one way to understand it?”

The humanoid monster tilted its head, its voice filled with puzzlement.

“I don’t fully understand the reasons myself. The Overlord only bestowed power upon me, telling me nothing more. So, shouldn’t You also save the Overlord some trouble and end Yourself?”

“Sorry, but I can’t grant that wish.”

Without hesitation, Fia spread her hands in refusal. She attached an [Enchanted Blade] to Laevateinn, transforming the shortsword into a ghostly blue longsword better suited for direct combat.

“No one can deprive me of my right to live. Besides, no one has that ability. If my arrival brings disaster to this world, then the world without me should be peaceful and tranquil. But that’s not the case. Let’s try it out. Who is stronger—me, who once controlled the universe, or a mere Overlord confined to a single planet?”

Her gaze sharp, Fia pointed Laevateinn straight at the figure opposite her.

The humanoid monster, appearing as Milan, once again bowed respectfully.

“Then, forgive my rudeness.”

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And then. Its voice abruptly reverted to the Elf God’s dominant frenzy.

“Die, treacherous outworlder!”

Despite its humanoid form, the Elf God showed no discomfort. It stomped the air, causing a violent explosion, and shot towards Fia like a cannonball. This was no simple charge. The moment the Elf God sprang into action, the air around Fia instantly solidified. A repulsive force hundreds of times stronger than before crushed Fia from all directions. Even scarlet gold-tier magical metal would be compressed to paper-thinness under this terrifying pressure.

But Fia already knew how to counter it.

Laevateinn, infused with foreign magic power, lightly vibrated, and the air, like [Spatial Confinement], shattered instantly. As for the punch coming head-on from the Elf God, Fia casually blocked it with Laevateinn.

Even with a casual block, the shockwave from the collision created a ring of clouds spreading through the air.

About the intensity of [Strength Boost I], maybe?

Feeling the recoil transmitted to her hand, Fia assessed internally. Though she’d realized during her fight with that pure white fairy that she was much stronger than when she’d first arrived on the World Tree continent, she now confirmed—it wasn’t just a little stronger.

The benchmark for [Strength Boost I] was her past self. Now, casually swinging her sword could match that, meaning her baseline strength already surpassed her past self using [Strength Boost I].

Was it because she’d spent more time on the World Tree continent, her body adapting to this world? Or because learning more magic had strengthened her body?

Fia had no way of knowing. The battle at hand was more important. She didn’t overlook the Elf God’s underhanded move—Chaos bodies weren’t bound by form. The fist impacting Laevateinn rapidly transformed, becoming countless spikes bypassing the blade to stab straight at Fia’s face.

But the spikes failed. The moment they passed her cheek, a constant clanging of metal rang out. Looking closely, one could see a densely packed shield wall of countless hexagons before the spikes.

“Is this the only trick a god has?”

“You dare to oppose a god with magic?!”

Crack!

The moment the Elf God finished speaking, [Bee Shield Forcefield] emitted the sharp sound of shattering glass. Not because [Bee Shield Forcefield] lacked strength, but because divinity caused the elements composing it to disperse. To completely kill Fia, the giant eye on the Elf God’s face welled with scarlet light. The vast magical power it contained caused space itself to vibrate, forming layers of black cracks. Any undead seeing this light immediately looked away, feeling their very souls being drawn out by this red gleam.

“Any magic is powerless before me, who possesses divinity! I am the god blessed by the world!”

The grievance of being killed by Fia surged within it, all transforming into abhorrence and hatred. Something called the fire of revenge burned fiercely in the Elf God’s chest. It desperately wanted to tear Fia apart and trample her underfoot. The attack it now gathered would have required its past self to go all out. It absolutely refused to believe that, at this close range, this barbarian from another land could escape unscathed.

The red light converged in an instant. In that moment, the entire sky over the kingdom of the dead was dyed a terrifying blood-red. An explosion sufficient to flip over buildings shook heaven and earth. Following it, spreading from the blast center, was a circular shockwave that destroyed the entire city. The ground shattered and rose like tofu cubes, the resulting dust storm plunging the world of the dead into darkness, not a single ray of light visible.