Chapter 219 – A Road has No Gate (2)
There was a strong barrier around the Temple of the Fallen God, where the grey god had descended. It was impossible for them to even approach. The army that gathered to stop her were blocked by the wall.
Crockta and the gods brandished their weapons in an attempt to crack it. But no matter what attacks they poured out, the grey god’s barrier blocked their way. Time passed. One minute, one second, it was counting down towards the world’s resurrection.
“This barrier can’t be overcome by physical force.”
The goddess of magic declared after examining the barrier. The gods were still stuck in the flesh of humans. Their bodies were maintaining the world, so they had to borrow the bodies of mortals.
Therefore, their divinity was weak compared to the grey god who descended to the ground.
“If I had my full power then I could crack it, but there is nothing I can do now. I don’t know how to disrupt that power. It is another dimension altogether. What knowledge has she gained in the meantime…?”
“Kuaaaaah! Do it somehow, gods! Grrung!”
Kumarak angrily wielded his giant axe. He swung it a few times at the barrier, but it was fine.
“Dammit!”
Kumarak wielded Mountain Slasher again. There was an explosion. However, there was still no dent on the barrier. Everyone started murmuring.
“Time is running out.”
“Find a way…”
They removed the mysterious demon Dantalian. However, they encountered the barrier immediately after. Crockta glared at the white sphere within the barrier. This was the magic spell that would bring this world to destruction.
“I don’t have time for this.”
Crockta grabbed God Slayer and slammed it towards the barrier. Kang. The wall remained steadfast. According to the goddess of magic, she lacked the power and divinity to open this, as well as the knowledge. The grey god fell to earth and learned from the science there. Thanks to that, she could create this type of barrier.
Time flowed.
Crockta frowned. He couldn’t see the way. Someone spoke from behind him.
“We have to hurry.”
***
The sun went down and rose again. Time passed. They couldn’t find the answer. The white sphere of pure destruction was gradually filling up the sky.
“There isn’t much time left.”
The calm gods started to gradually lose their composure. Kumarak was banging on the barrier like crazy, and the other orcs rushed with their weapons. There were those who punched wildly until they collapsed from their injuries.
“Out of the wayyyyyy!”
Fireballs started to fall from the sky. It was the goddess of magic’s ultimate magic that wiped out the orcs, Meteor Shower. Meteors poured towards the barrier. Flames and debris scattered. The earth shook every time a meteor crashed into the barrier. It was tremendous damage that would wipe out a few cities without a trace.
The flames diminished and the barrier appeared again. It was fine.
“Shit!”
Even the goddess of magic cursed. The army, which had fallen down from the aftermath of Meteor Shower, rose and peered through the dust. They gazed at the still intact translucent wall and felt despair.
“Unbelievable…”
“We are stuck like this and can’t even fight properly.”
The next one to try was the war god. The war god emitted powerful flames from his own body. He became a huge giant, like when he dealt the final blow to Crockta. He raised his greatsword.
“Ohhhhhh!”
The war god roared with his entire body and swung his sword. There was a dent in the wall. All those watching formed fists. For the first time, the barrier was damaged. The war god swung with all his power once again.
“Ohhhhhhhhh!”
The blade pierced through the barrier. Everybody cheered.
However.
“Kuaaaaahhhhh!”
The war god was shocked by something and thrown out. His sword flew through the air and his huge body crashed towards the ground. There was a huge vibration as he hit the ground. All the people here were talented, so no one was hurt or injured. However, everyone was shocked by the damage to the war god.
“This can’t…”
While the war god was wounded, the barrier recovered, as if nothing had happened. It went back to its original state of blocking them.
Impregnable.
“Everything is going according to the grey god’s will.” Crockta sighed.
Time passed again.
The gods and mortals rushed with their weapons towards the barrier. But there was still no change. There were occasions where it seemed damaged by a powerful attack, but they were all bounced off, just like the war god. Everybody was beaten by the barrier.
Thus, the time of anger passed. Then came the despair. After that, it was resignation.
The last sunrise was gradually approaching.
“It can’t be helped.” Crockta closed his eyes.
More time passed. They did everything they could. In the end, they couldn’t pass the barrier. The sunrise that the grey god warned them about had arrived. Its light was sweeping away the darkness on the horizon.
“Everyone did their best,” said the war god. “It can’t be helped. The grey god has her own beliefs, and she won with them.”
Everyone breathed deeply as they stared at the sun driving away the darkness. It was the same for Crockta. Numerous thoughts passed through his head.
“Tiyo. Anor.”
He called his two companions. They stood beside Crockta. They stood next to each other and watched the sun come up. The last thing they would see. It was beautiful.
“I enjoyed our time together.” Crockta smiled at Tiyo and Anor.
“Likewise dot. I met Crockta and saw many exciting things. I have no regrets dot!”
“Without the two of you, I would’ve remained in that village, unchanged. Thank you. You should’ve come to me a little quicker. Hahaha, shit.”
They stood shoulder to shoulder. Finally, they looked at the sun together. It was gorgeous. The sun. It was the last thing they saw.
Within. The world was crumbling. The vast landscape of the universe. Only darkness, darkness, and darkness. An infinite nothingness with no light or heat continued to unfold. Elder Lord’s sun turned to dust, and that dust rendered into smaller particles, tiny invisible embers. The once great sun was reduced to a handful of ashes that floated in the endless void.
However, that handful of ashes glowed incandescently. It sucked in the planet. Elder Lord was easy to swallow. A vast universe filled with white. The magic that the grey god accomplished condensed time and space to a single point.
Entropy was reversed. The scattered chaos was aimed at one point. The universe condensed towards the beginning. There was Crockta in it, Tiyo and Anor as well. All the gods, all life in the universe, they died.
The things that were once living and the things that cooled down to an eternal death all converged towards a single point. There was no time or space; there was only a point. That was it. Since time didn’t exist, it was pointless to determine how long the process took.
The point was there. An explosion. Time and space poured out. Substances propagated.
The void, where nothing existed, was erased as darkness started to cover it. Heat filled the darkness, which then turned into light that pushed away the darkness. There was now power and heat. Then, the laws that made up the world were put together.
The fire of the first sun was kindled. Within the vast universe, one or two bulbs of light, new stars, turned on. The planets were then gathered and placed in their orbits. Numerous galaxies emerged.
And there, somewhere. It was the first sign of life. At first, it was just made up of extremely crude organic matter. However, after a long time passed, in the middle of a new galaxy that was created, was life.
Life replicated and spread, conceiving other lives on the planet. In time that didn’t stop, a myriad of species spread. And within, the first flower in the universe was born. The petals opened, pointing towards the sun.
‘That is the beginning.’ Someone spoke. ‘Life will yet again spread throughout this universe. That flower will sprinkle seeds, and one day, life will rise on top of the flowers. So the cycle of life will restart.’
A vast universe on the brink of destruction. The newly born universe was brilliant. New life was born in this vast space. They will soon become equipped with intellect, creating civilizations, eating, praying and loving again, just like the past world. The end would come again someday, but until then, they would eat, pray and love.
‘What?’
And Crockta saw all of this. He saw what the grey god really feared, and the new cycle of life that she wanted to achieve. It was beautiful.
‘The universe that would’ve slept forever has warmed up again. Isn’t it beautiful?’ asked the voice.
Crockta knelt down in front of the first flower that was born. He touched it. It was beautiful.
‘Beautiful.’
‘It is. Really good.’
‘But in this world,’ continued Crockta, ‘There is no one to receive this flower.’
Crockta shook his head and said, ‘I don’t want this.’
‘It would’ve sunk forever.’
‘I don’t care.’
‘You are too naive.’
‘Yes, but that is a good thing.’
Crockta remembered the world. There were too many things that couldn’t be lost. Yes, Tiyo and Anor came to mind. They had been handed over to death. His always reliable friends. They were more precious than this new world.
Then he remembered all the people he had met and formed relationships with.
The beginning was Orcrox and the orc farmer, Grant. Crockta learned a lot from him. Crockta protected Thompson’s family with Hoyt and carried out his revenge with Jeremy, a delightful friend. From the people of Arnin, the villains of Maillard, Quantes, the Great Clan in the north, the fight with the empire in the far south, the great forest, and the mix of orc warriors that he fought the gods with, all of them were living there.
More than anything else,
‘I have a place to go back to.’
For that. This grandiose plan had no value for him. Crockta trampled on the first flower. It was fleeting.
Crockta said to the voice, ‘So help me, Antuak.’
In front of him stood the shaman Antuak.
‘I see.’
‘Yes. You must have something more important to you than the cycle of the universe.’ Crockta said.
‘Me?’
‘That’s right.’
‘Ah…yes. Me too,’Antuak smiled and said, ‘I also have that type of person. This world can’t be over.’
‘So help me. I will stop the grey god.’
‘Are you alive?’
‘Of course.’
‘An immature apprentice warrior has become a great warrior.’
He waved his staff. An unknown power flowed from the body of the great shaman, Antuak.
Gradually, time began to rewind.
Crockta and Antuak were erased. Life disappeared, the first bits of organic matter retreated into the dirt, and the universe once again became a handful of sparks. It was turned back and the universe was restored to the state before the initial explosion.
‘Please stop the grey god. I have something I want to do in this world,’ Antuak pleaded.
‘What is it?’
‘I have to…’
There was one point. It revived the universe of the past.
‘Wake my wife Aruna, and give her a flower.’
***
Someone spoke from behind him, “We have to hurry.”
Crockta opened his eyes.
They had just arrived here. The goddess of magic explained about the construction of the barrier and Kumarak was swinging his axe.
Crockta looked back. There was no one there. What had he just seen?
Then a welcome voice was heard, “The barrier has disappeared!”
“How is that possible? Who?”
“The power is gone! Go inside!”
The crowd cheered. Crockta turned his head towards the cheering. The barrier was slowly fading, allowing the gods and warriors to pass through it. Crockta also entered the dark territory of the grey god.
“There is no way. Who the hell… this is a sophisticated spell filled with the power of time and space…who is it?”
Only the goddess of magic stood in the spot where the barrier had disappeared. However, they were lacking time. There was no time to investigate this phenomenon or who caused it. They entered the barrier.
The power of the grey god felt stronger in her domain, causing everyone to shiver in anxiety. They had to fight against this enemy. Crockta’s hands also tensed up. Suddenly, Crockta looked back.
“……!”
He saw a familiar face in the distance: the shaman Antuak was looking at him with an exhausted face. Indeed, it was him. In the past, Antuak showed Crockta the future and asked him questions. When Crockta answered him, he directly neutralized the barrier.
Their eyes met. Without any strength, he waved his staff at Crockta.
Protect this world and return to Earth. Only then Antuak could give Aruna a flower.
Crockta headed towards the grey god.
