Chapter 228: Episode 71: Becoming a God (3)
Apparently, the Hell Lord had not been extinct. He had just been trapped at Nothingness. It meant the Spirits of Darkness had reached Nothingness and had taken him out of it.
“The Hell Lord must be a sword to kill demons then…,” I muttered, nodding.
I had not heard much about him in my previous life. It was strange that he suddenly appeared and seemed to rule Devildom and the system issued a deadline—a year—to stop him.
“Randalf Bruciel, you are protected by the system. Therefore, the Spirits of Darkness can’t do anything to you using the system. They will, instead, resort to violence.”
Gustarte seemed certain that the Spirits of Darkness would not be able to infect me with viruses just like what they did to him. They had shown how powerful they were by infecting an intermediate-grade god. I thought I should be cautious, but it turned out I was immune from that.
“What do you mean by ruin his plan and achieve my dream, Gustarte?” I asked seriously.
If they could not touch me using the system, I might be able to fight them by myself. However, consulting others would not be a bad idea. Extreme measures had to be observed.
“Absorb me,” Gustarte instructed.
I wasn’t expecting that…
“I don’t want to be a god,” I flatly refused.
God… It sounded good, but that was it. Indeed, it was tempting to be one, but I would not be able to change things as I pleased.
Gustarte saw that I was confused, so he clarified, “I am not saying you need to be a god. If you become a god, then Death Bringer will be able to touch you. That will be the worst.”
Gods did not intervene in mortal affairs unless necessary. That was a rule of thumb. The best example was doom. Gods would never interfere unless it involved important matters such as annihilation.
But it seemed like things were different among gods. If I absorbed Gustarte, I would obtain divinity. I was not sure, but there was a possibility that my body could not endure divinity and would try to kill itself to raise the rank of the soul.
Gustarte touched his chest once. After the key had turned, it had disappeared as if it melted into his body.
“The Moon Arrow is a key of balance. It is my weapon, and I got it from a higher god. Death Bringer does not have this. As long as you keep this key in your heart, you will be immortal. You will gain my divinity, but you won’t be a god as long as you are eager to keep your life. However, you will lose your body as soon as you lose ‘that’ will.”
It was like a chant. I contemplated what he said, and then inquired, “I will be able to ruin Death Bringer’s plan just by doing that?”
“You have to plant the seed in the system,” Gustarte began to explain. “The result of the Seed of Creation is not registered, so it will cause a huge error in the system. Since most of Death Bringer’s divinity is inserted in the system, he will fall as well. It will take a long time for him to get back his divinity, so you have to get rid of him during that time. Otherwise, you will continue to suffer from his plots for a long time.”
I stared at Gustarte’s eyes. He was expressionless…emotionless. It seemed like he did not feel any sorrow or pleasure. Would the perfect god be like this?
“I will be the first demon to kill an immortal,” I thought, grinning.
I would be able to acquire an achievement as a god killer. It would be at least a legend grade or even above that. Death Bringer was a higher god than Gustarte.
“There is no time. He knows.”
Gustarte looked up. There was only a dungeon’s ceiling, but it seemed like he could see things that I could not see.
It was at that moment when…
Boom! Boom! Boom! Rumble!
The sky lit up. Numerous lightning strikes and strange anomalies occurred. I felt a powerful surge of mana nearby.
I was confused; I couldn’t decide. If I stayed here, Death Bringer would kill Gustarte. That meant my hardships would not yield favorable results. It wouldn’t be good business.
“I accept…”
As I confirmed, Gustarte immediately placed his hand to his chest. Soon, the key appeared, and he pulled it out without hesitation.
Crack!
Divinity flowed out from the hole. Gustarte poured his divinity on me. Shortly after, his body became translucent.
“Argh!”
Then, I could not see Gustarte properly. My body collapsed after accepting Gustarte’s divinity. That great amount of power was hard to absorb and endure. I had never felt anything like this. I soon felt a strong sense of helplessness and a desire to give up.
“I can’t give up,” I told myself. “Especially now. Too much is at stake.”
I could not give up. I would lose my body if I gave up. I didn’t want to give up my life. If I became a grief-stricken god, I would not be able to ably fulfill my duties either.
I was determined. I kept my willpower in check.
“I am going back to the Origin,” Gustarte informed me. “I will cheer for you from there. Please, stay strong. In this world, the weak dies…”
It was a familiar saying. When I was a young demon on the battlefield, a dying man told me that same line. I used it as my creed and tried to remember it when I was feeling ‘weak’.
I opened my eyes with difficulty.
Stab!
Immediately, something stabbed my chest. It was the Moon Arrow, the key of balance. As Gustarte inserted the key in me, he vanished completely, leaving a faint smile behind.
***
It was hot. I felt like burning. I wanted to scream…to do anything that would end this pain. However, regret restrained me.
That was right. I had lots of regrets. There were goals I wanted to achieve. There were also lots of things I already owned. I didn’t want to give up this life—I didn’t want to give up anything. I gritted my teeth. My teeth broke, and my gums bled, but I didn’t give up.
It seemed like forever. I even forgot about the flow of time. Gradually, the pain subsided, and I felt my vitals stabilized. But I could not remember my name, yet there was a strong lingering attachment in me. It was greed.
My body melted and vanished, but it was reconstructed. This went on for some time. Five times, 10 times, 20 times… After the 33rd transformation, my body was finally able to accept the divinity.
I had clearly gone through a great upheaval. I was ‘renewed’. As the cells of the whole body were normalized, I could remember the things I had forgotten.
At first, it was just one regret. However, many other things had brought me into this life. I moved my feet, which seemed to be stuck on the floor, as I remembered everything.
My name was Randalf Bruciel. I was one of the archdukes. I was the one who dreamed of becoming the Dark Lord. Other things popped into my head, but becoming the Dark Lord was the most important.
After a long time later, when the heat slowly subsided, I was able to open my eyes again.
Then I straightened my upper body. I could feel the soft blanket, the mana that filled the air, and familiar beings.
“Master!” Lyhee cried.
I heard Lyhee’s voice, but I raised my hand to stop her from approaching me. I needed to check my body first.
“I’ve changed a lot,” I realized.
What had changed? My mind was still the same, but everything else had been changed.
My body became a little bigger, and my hair reached my toes. I could tell that someone attempted to cut my hair. It seemed my hair grew quicker than usual.
When I raised my two hands, there was a strange tattoo engraved on the back of them.
“A dragon swallowing a mirror…,” I noticed.
It was a giant dragon swallowing a mirror that reflected the world. It would have a close relationship with the absorption of Gustarte, the god of the Reverse World.
In addition, my body became harder than steel. My strength felt like overflowing lava. It was not comparable to exceeding the limits of my potential or entering the realm of transcendence.
“Is this divinity? Is this how true gods feel?” I wondered. “Status window.”
Soon, I was able to confirm the changes in my body.
Name: Randalf Bruciel
Occupation: Archduke of Devildom (Dungeon Master)
Title:
* Dungeon Hunter (When conquering a dungeon or hunting a demon, remaining statistics +1)
*Unbreakable Warrior (Ex U, All statistics +2)
* The First One to Be Blessed by a Fairy (U, Mana +6)
* Owner of the Origin (Epic, All statistics +3)
* Undead (Ex U, All statistics +5)
* Ruler of the Underworld (Legend, All statistics + 5, the rating of all skills below epic grade +0.5)
Capability:
Power 110(+20), Intelligence 120(+15), Speed 110(+20), Strength 115(+22), Mana 130(+16)
Potential (585+93/???)
Remaining Statistics: 47
Electrical Power: 557GW
Others: The Master of the Underworld. The heart of the Hell Lord has completely awakened. You have obtained a strong divinity for some reason.
Skills: Combination of All Things (Ex U), The Mind’s Eye (Epic), Dark Sword (Epic), Sentiment du Fer (Epic, Passive), Spirit of Electric Power (Epic), Pride (Epic), Depravity (Ex Epic), The Power of Domination (Ex Epic, Passive), Commune with Spirits (Epic, Passive), Reverse World (God)
Applied Skill & Item Effects: Rage (Power+7), Sloth (Speed+7), Pride (Strength+7), Sentiment du Fer (Power, Speed +3)
[Progress Comparison]
Power 119, Intelligence 111, Speed 105, Strength 112, Mana 116, Potential (470+93/570)
Power 130, Intelligence 135, Speed 130, Strength 137, Mana 146, Potential (585+93/???)
Ah!
Checking the status window was a force of habit. I was able to see things more clearly by doing so.
I became incomparably stronger. Furthermore, I had not seen the end of my limits yet!
I didn’t receive any title, but my pure stats increased remarkably. Also, I got a skill called Reverse World.
I took a closer look at the Reverse World skill. After a while, the explanation came up.
Name: Reverse World (God)
Description – It is the strongest authority of Gustarte, the god of the Reverse World. You can choose two skills and increase their levels to Demigod permanently. It is an amazing feature that only exists in the Reverse World.
** Once assigned, you can’t switch to other skills.
It was the first time I had seen a god-grade skill. The explanation of the said skill was amazing, too. The skill itself didn’t have an effect, but I could raise other skills’ grades to Demigod level. I would be able to achieve enormous efficiency by using it.
‘It would not be weird to be called as a living god,’ I thought.
I became strong. No, strong was not the perfect word to describe me. I became a living god. Then I started to think about the existence of those who were called gods.
If I didn’t have Seven Sins, if there were no weapons made to aim at gods, I would not be able to capture Gustarte. Even though he was not in his normal condition, he was stronger than me.
But now, his power was mine.
“The Spirits of Darkness, the Hell Lord, and…Death Bringer.”
Wouldn’t it be worth trying?
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