Chapter 377

Chapter 377

The aftermath of Cullinan and the Sand Soldiers crashing down was tremendous.

The earth overturned, and the shock wave swept across the area, raising thick clouds of sand that covered the sky.

Because of that, darkness temporarily descended over the area.

Gaia descended through the hazy sand.

Zeon was riding on Gaia’s back.

After Zeon used Mushura’s Mirror and began falling, Gaia caught him.

Thanks to that, Zeon was able to land safely on the ground.

Zeon stroked Gaia’s head and thanked it.

“Thanks!”

―Beeep!

“Yeah! If something like this happens again, I’ll count on you. Stay with Briel for a moment.”

―Beep!

Gaia wagged its tail gently and flew toward Briel.

Zeon watched that sight for a moment, then moved toward the huge crater that had just formed.

It was the place where Cullinan had fallen.

Cullinan’s state after falling from the sky was terrible.

His limbs were bent in grotesque directions, and his abdomen had burst open, spilling out his intestines.

Half his skull had vanished, exposing his gray-white brain.

What was even more horrifying was that he was still alive in that state.

Sssshhh!

Hearing Zeon’s footsteps, Cullinan moved only his eyes and looked at him.

At that grotesque sight, Zeon furrowed his brow slightly.

“You’re still alive.”

“Krrk! Sand......mancer!”

Cullinan answered in a voice thick with phlegm.

In that instant, Zeon felt a strong sense of dissonance.

Because Cullinan’s voice was different from before the fight.

Of course, it could have been because he was in a near-death state, but the voice that held no emotion at all did not suit the situation.

The sand around Cullinan was being stained red by the blood he had shed. If he kept bleeding for even a little longer, even Cullinan would have no choice but to die.

Yet Cullinan’s voice held no concern about that whatsoever.

Cullinan’s voice continued.

“Honestly, I did not expect this body to end up like this.”

“This body?”

“I mean Cullinan.”

“You speak as if you’re not Cullinan yourself.”

“I felt it earlier too, but you are extremely sharp. You don’t miss even the smallest thing.”

“So you’re admitting you aren’t Cullinan. Who are you?”

“Well! Who do you think I am?”

“Are you Lord Crasias?”

“Heh!”

Cullinan suddenly burst into laughter.

Because of that, blood gushed violently from his nose and mouth, but he did not care.

Cullinan looked at Zeon with an amused expression.

“Why do you think so?”

“I remembered Lord Nigel’s question.”

“What did he say?”

“He asked me whether I truly believed Lord Crasias had been annihilated.”

“And with only that, you thought I was Crasias?”

“There’s no other explanation. For how Lord Nigel and Lord Cullinan transcended the limits of their species by such an absurd degree.”

“Impressive! To infer that I am Crasias from only that. Is a Sandmancer impressive? Or are you impressive because you are a Sandmancer?”

Cullinan did not deny Zeon’s guess.

His eyes had sunk even deeper.

The monster who had made the world into this lay beneath his feet.

Zeon could not imagine just how immense his power must have been to ruin the planet Earth itself this badly.

Zeon asked Cullinan,

“Is that purple gem your remnant? One containing residual thoughts......”

“Excellent. I want you more and more. To think the one class I missed would shine this brilliantly. You can become more complete through me.”

“What do you mean?”

“Do you not wish to transcend the limits of the species called human?”

“Like Lord Cullinan?”

“Yes! You can draw close to god.”

Cullinan’s gaze as he looked at Zeon was intense.

Light like the sun burst from his golden eyes.

It was a mystical sight that would inevitably enchant anyone. But Zeon merely furrowed his brow, neither enchanted nor shaken.

“I refuse.”

“Why? Do you have no greed?”

“I don’t want to become a god as an existence that isn’t me.”

“You seem to misunderstand. There will be no effect on your ego.”

“Under normal circumstances, maybe. But when the moment comes that I grow weak, you’ll take that place. Just like now......”

“Hmm! You’re quite a strong-willed child.”

Cullinan smiled.

The sight of him smiling with a face on the verge of death was extremely grotesque.

“You will come to regret today’s decision. In the end, the one who exists until Earth’s final day will be ‘me.’”

Flash!

At that moment, a purple gem shot out of Cullinan’s chest.

The purple gem soared high into the sky, then flew somewhere like a meteor.

It happened before Zeon even had time to react.

Zeon stared at the direction where the purple gem had disappeared, then shifted his gaze back to Cullinan.

Cullinan, now missing the gem that contained Crasias’s residual thoughts, had already stopped breathing.

Zeon let out a sigh.

“Haa! Crasias, of all things. The scale is getting absurdly huge.”

“Hyung!”

“Zeon!”

Levin and Briel were running over.

When Zeon waved his hand over Cullinan’s corpse, crimson flames rose.

The flames swallowed Cullinan’s corpse in an instant.

“Hyung, are you all right?”

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

Levin and Briel, who had arrived in the meantime, first checked Zeon’s condition.

Zeon raised both hands and answered,

“As you can see, I’m fine. What about you two?”

“We’re fine too.”

“Not a single wound.”

“That’s a relief.”

Zeon smiled.

Because he knew how miraculous it was to go through such a fierce battle without any major injuries.

Levin looked at Cullinan’s corpse, still engulfed in flames, and said,

“Just who was that guy, to be that strong?”

“I’ll explain later. Everyone’s waiting, so let’s return to the Black Forest first.”

“Yes!”

Many questions remained, but since Zeon said that, it felt awkward to ask more. Thinking that Zeon would tell him when the time came, Levin turned away.

Gaia entered Levin’s sight.

From head to tail, it looked at least seven or eight meters long.

It was about the size of a fairly large orca.

“Wow! You’ve gotten huge.”

―Beep!

“Then what are we going to do now? You won’t even be able to fit inside the house.”

At Levin’s worried words, Briel’s face also crumpled sadly.

If that huge body entered Zeon’s house, it would clearly fill the place and be unable to move.

―Beeeeep!

Gaia spoke as if consoling Briel.

“You’re telling me not to be sad because we can still keep seeing each other?”

―Beeep!

“Can’t you possibly get smaller?”

―Beep!

“Yeah! I knew you couldn’t.”

―Beeeeep! Beep!

“No. It’s not your fault. So you don’t have to be sorry.”

Briel hugged Gaia tightly.

Gaia also wrapped Briel with its large fin.

---

When Zeon’s group returned, the first to welcome them was the spirit.

The spirit happily circled around Gaia as if it had met a lover separated from it long ago.

Gaia seemed to like the spirit too, swimming through the air and spending a joyful time with it.

Har stared blankly at Gaia, which swam through the air as if it were the sea.

“So that child is the spirit Yuri mentioned.”

“It isn’t a pure spirit, but in any case, it does possess the power of a spirit.”

“It’s truly beautiful.”

“Yeah!”

“Maybe......”

“Why?”

Zeon looked at Har with a puzzled expression. Har blushed and said,

“I feel like a new spirit might be born between those two children.”

“Is that possible?”

“It’s just a feeling. I’m not certain.”

The birth of spirits was entirely shrouded in mystery.

Har had made a great contribution to Yuri’s birth, but that too was because she had obtained the Spirit Egg.

Even she did not know where the Spirit Egg had come from, or how it was born.

Yuri and Gaia swam around the Black Forest, sharing communion.

The Dark Elves watched the sight as if entranced.

“To think there was another spirit like Yuri.”

“This is my first time seeing a whale-shaped spirit.”

“It’s so beautiful!”

As if enjoying the Dark Elves’ gazes, Gaia freely showed off its beautiful form.

Yuri circled around Gaia and scattered clusters of light.

The clusters of light scattered in every direction soon became fine particles and fell onto the Black Forest.

At that moment, an unbelievable change occurred.

“Waaah!”

“Look at this! The forest is coming back to life.”

“This is insane!”

The Dark Elves widened their eyes in shock.

The Black Forest where Yuri’s particles of light had fallen was changing.

The sprouts that had pierced through the black carbonized trees began growing at a rapid pace.

The sprouts that had been as small as a human finger joint became saplings in an instant and stretched branches in every direction.

Leaves bloomed from the spreading branches and quickly grew lush.

Such radical change was progressing across the entire Black Forest.

The Black Forest was transforming into a green forest.

At the sight of the forest changing in real time, the Dark Elves could not hide their astonishment.

The dead forest was being reborn.

Casting off all its accumulated grime and returning to its true form.

At that unbelievable sight, everyone lost themselves.

Dark Elves and humans alike.

A miracle was happening before their eyes.

“Oh! God......”

“Please let this not be a dream......”

The humans knelt and prayed to god.

Zeon, Briel, and Levin also stared blankly at the sight of the forest changing.

They could not come to their senses before the feast of green they were seeing for the first time.

Zeon stroked the spirit particles falling like misty rain with his palm and muttered,

“So this is the power of a spirit? To perfectly revive a forest that had completely died.”

“This really is a miracle.”

Levin’s eyes had also grown moist before he knew it.

But even if the emotions the two of them felt were combined, they could not compare to what Briel was feeling.

“Hic......!”

Briel was kneeling on the ground, sobbing.

The emotion a human felt and the emotion an elf, a race of the forest, felt could not help being on entirely different levels.

Something was welling up from deep within Briel’s chest.

An emotion different from what she had felt when she saw Yuri was filling her heart.

Unable to explain the feeling in words, Briel could say nothing and simply cried.

Zeon did not hastily comfort Briel.

Because he knew it was better to let her cry as much as she wanted right now.

―Beeeeep!

Even at that moment, Yuri and Gaia were swimming through the sky together, freely scattering the light of life.

It was as if a blessing were falling.