Chapter 63: The First Crossing

At the summit of the mountain, the only sounds were the blizzard sweeping through the dead branches of the trees and the breathing of the Lord of the Mountain. But perhaps they were one and the same.

However, another sound soon joined them. A crack. Then a thud, muffled by the snow.

The axe that had kept Edrick pinned to the tree had fallen to the ground.

“Ugh… gah…”

The last hero of humanity vomited blood, but landed on his feet. At the same time, the enormous wound in his chest began to close.

“The blessing of Airinia, guardian of humanity since ancient times,” the gigantic being observed before turning back toward Edrick. “But how effective can the blessing of a goddess truly be, when she is no more?”

“This… isn’t… This isn’t over!”

Edrick gripped his spear once more and charged at full speed toward the Lord of the Mountain.

“That is how it should be!”

The gigantic figure swung his axe toward Edrick, but he vanished from right in front of him.

“Phantom Thrust.“

!!

Edrick had appeared behind the Lord of the Mountain and driven his spear into him, piercing his heart.

“Gah! Agh… well done…”

But another fanged smile spread across the Lord of the Mountain’s face, and once again, the wind carried axes with greenish-glowing edges toward Edrick. He managed to dodge them, but only at the cost of fresh, deep wounds.

***

No one could say for certain how long the duel lasted, but in the end, the gigantic being fell to the ground, bleeding heavily from every wound.

“As expected of the last hero of humanity… you managed to bring me down… you have become a godslayer.” Another spurt of blood welled from the corner of the Lord of the Mountain’s lips. “Though I see the blessing of Airinia doesn’t amount to much now that the goddess behind it is gone.”

As the Lord of the Mountain finished speaking, the wound in Edrick’s chest tore open once more, and blood cascaded to the ground. In the next instant, he had collapsed as well.

“The condition was that you had to kill me… but if you die in the process too… then the victory is meaningless…”

“Ugh… gah… Agh!”

Edrick raised his hand as best he could, pointing toward Olina, who lay weak and ailing among the roots of a tree trunk.

The gigantic figure shook his head.

“Even if I remove the evil afflicting her body… she will not survive the descent from this mountain on her own… And that is assuming she even wishes to do so without you in the first place… I can read her like an open book as well…”

“Guh! Gahaa!”

Edrick was trying to shout something, but only blood came pouring from his throat.

“Be at ease… I will not go back on my word… I said I would do something for you, and so I shall…”

The Lord of the Mountain raised one finger, and a sphere of green light formed at its tip.

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The sphere drifted away from the gigantic being’s hand and floated like a snowflake toward Edrick’s forehead, where it sank in and disappeared.

For a moment, his entire body began to shine with that same light, but it really was only for a moment. Then the glow faded.

“Last hero of humanity… I gave you what remained of my power… a power that could kill your daughter if I gave it to her… and could kill you too, with your body in that condition… In either case, it would vanish…” The Lord of the Mountain turned his gaze toward the sky, and snowflakes began to gather on his face. “No… instead, I gave that power directly to your soul… so that… even if you die now all the same… you will have the strength to protect your daughter… in the no-man’s-land that the underworld has become…”

“Ghgg… gh…”

Edrick raised his hand toward Olina again, but this time he was not pointing at her. His hand was open instead, in a futile attempt to reach her. He knew his moment was near, and his daughter’s as well.

!!

But in that moment, a golden light enveloped both him and Olina under the astonished gaze of the Lord of the Mountain.

Soon, father and daughter had disappeared.

“It does not take a god of fate for it to be horribly cruel…” the gigantic being murmured, closing his eyes. “To be saved from a world on the brink of its end, only to die in the next…”

Those were the final words of the Lord of the Mountain, who dissolved into thousands of luminous spores that the wind carried away.

***

…

…

…

He felt nothing. There was only darkness, silence, solitude… or was it peace and tranquility?

What was the difference?

He did not know. He could not know.

Everything seemed at once like a dream and like reality.

Who was he?