Chapter 60

Silent people are divided into two types.

Those who know nothing.

Or those who know everything.

—

“Draud. What’s going on?”

—

“Belva. There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about our future—it might be the end of everything.”

—

*

—

“Everyone, absolutely do not look at that star. Don’t even think about it. Nothing is happening. Just think of it as a picnic.”

—

All the gods, who usually laugh or chatter their way through crises, are stiff-faced and heading somewhere as if it were a joke.

Zeus’s tone, more rigid than usual, clearly showed how serious the situation was.

—

“I thought we had finished explaining the Ark. But I’ll say it again. We need to clearly remember. Our domain. Olympus.”

—

“I’m still thinking about it.”

—

“Good. Essentially, the Ark is a device that separates a certain area and makes it independent as a higher world. It sounds complicated, but it means the world is collapsing.”

—

A world-warping device.

Noah’s Ark.

—

A final page of a long war, created through the cooperation of many to prepare for the future Draud saw.

Zeus still hadn’t forgotten the emotions he felt when he first heard of the plan.

—

‘To call it an Ark is too extreme of a method.’

—

Watching the red moon gradually approach, Zeus turned his head again.

And for the last time, he took in the vast world where he was born and raised.

The endless, primal star.

—

‘We’re going to shatter the world.’

—

*

—

“Ah, I see. That’s Valhalla! Brothers, Valhalla is there! Brothers!”

—

“Quick, grab that fool! Take his weapons first!”

—

“Don’t stop me, don’t!”

—

Blood splatters, entrails tangle. Mad warriors slash, kick, and crush each other.

Odin, watching this, hesitated for a moment before simply turning away.

After all, he couldn’t save everyone.

The important thing was to activate the Ark.

And thus, save as many as possible.

—

“Freya. She didn’t come?”

—

“Yes. It seems she’s with them.”

—

“I see.”

—

Odin gripped his staff with trembling hands.

The Eye of Wisdom, which senses and analyzes the opponent’s magic power, told him he’d go mad the moment he faced it.

He forced his gaze away and commanded the gods. The sky was growing darker.

In the pitch-black darkness, he couldn’t see even an inch ahead.

As if covered by a black cloth.

—

Then, a pillar of fire pierced the night sky.

Far away, Surtr’s flames were guiding the way.

Even as he was gradually consumed by madness, he raised his burning sword to the sky and roared.

—

“Our war—!”

—

He looked at me. My oldest enemy. Surtr.

—

“Will end in our world!!”

—

Yes. It must.

Our war will end in our world.

As the fire collapsed, I reached out to the sky. A green magic circle blocked Surtr’s frenzied attack.

At the same time, the earth shook.

—

Kugugugung-

—

An absurd warp portal, elevating one domain into a world, began to activate.

—

*

—

“Huh? If Yeona comes, the world will shatter?”

—

“It won’t shatter. It will become land where no life can survive. In other words, the end will come. It’s an unstoppable event.”

—

Draud began to explain in detail. Right now, she was approaching with an immense amount of divinity, and everything affected by it would go mad without exception.

And she said she had seen such a future.

For Belva, it was hard to believe.

—

“Why…?”

—

Seeing Belva like that, Draud spoke calmly.

—

“Humans don’t walk to kill ants. They just walk. The difference between us and her is greater than that between humans and ants. We can’t even face her directly, which is why we have to resort to such measures.”

—

Saying this, Draud opened a void space and took out various items.

Massive amounts of magic stones. Mithril ingots. The core of a magic golem. Dragon hearts. Each one was comparable to a nation’s treasure.

—

“Over the years, we’ve collected these. From ogres. And we’ve achieved some results.”

—

A blueprint was spread on the floor.

Next to it was a map.

Below the blueprint were the agonies of Draud and the trio.

—

[Protecting the entire world is impossible. Protection isn’t the right word. Isolation is more accurate.]

—

[We need to move it as safely as possible. If it splits, massive damage will occur.]

—

[We need a buffer device. A normal one won’t work. Do you remember those guys we used to visit when we were bored as kids? Can we figure out how they moved?]

—

What followed were countless formulas. Traces of failure and revision. And their efforts to somehow move to the next stage.

After scanning through it, Belva noticed something important was missing.

The third paragraph, likely written by Setan.

It was about the buffer device.

—

The trio, in the past, had received a guild request for people to cross over using some method.

I had to figure out how it was used.

That was impossible. By then, so much time had passed that the other world didn’t even have records of this one anymore.

When Belva asked, Draud shook his head.

And then, ever so slightly, he raised the corner of his mouth.

For Draud, who rarely expressed himself, this was probably the closest thing to a smile.

“I found a way. Luck played a big part.”

As Draud said that, someone slowly walked out from behind him.

“I barely made it, and it was so funny that it was on the brink of destruction. To see it again, I’d have to go far away once more.”

“…You.”

The girl from my memories was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a fully grown woman appeared, reaching out her hand to Belva.

With a bright smile, free from any shadows of the past.

“It’s been a while. You’ve changed a lot too, sis. Hey, do you remember me? Yui?”

*

“There’s a problem.”

“Huh?”

In the middle of the final stages of the work, Draud spoke with a serious expression.

There’s a problem, he said.

And that problem was simple, but precisely because it was simple, it was difficult.

“We don’t have enough power. If this continues, we can’t activate the Ark.”

“That’s a serious problem!”

“Even if we combine the strength of all the gods, it’s not enough. The future has changed. She absorbed the power of some entity.”

Seraphim.

The moment that word left Draud’s mouth, Belva felt chills run down her spine.

If that was true, the moment their true forms clashed, they wouldn’t last even a second.

Fundamentally, the Ark has the function of slowing down Yeona’s descent.

That function is the core and backbone of the plan.

After buying time, the Ark’s grand design is to use the energy of the fall to destroy and sublimate the world.

But if things go as planned now, we won’t be able to control the speed of the fall, and it will fail.

We need energy. A massive amount of energy.

[Don’t worry about that.]

It was then.

A dinosaur with giant wings on its back used the Watcher’s authority to declare to Belva.

Countless dinosaurs had gathered there. They had gained intelligence through the last war and had ruled the top of this planet for a very long time. Now, they all looked up at the sky.

[We were born to kill her. We will fight to the death until the very end.]

*

“I’m sorry. For making you take on this role.”

“Ah, no! It’s not much different from what I usually do anyway!”

The hardware was all ready.

However, the Ark needed a system to fine-tune and adjust the details for success until the very end.

Originally, Belva would have taken on that role, but she had already exhausted all her divine power.

Noah, who still held Yeona’s divine power, had no choice but to take on that role.

At Belva’s words, Noah smiled brightly.

“Am I… going to disappear?”

After a moment of thought, Belva shook her head.

“You won’t disappear. You’ll just lose your physical body and remain as a spirit. When everything is over someday, we’ll meet again.”

“That doesn’t sound so bad.”

“…It will take a very long time. An incredibly long time.”

Restoring the fallen world and repairing the twisted timeline.

It was impossible to estimate how much time it would take.

Still, Noah kept smiling.

Like a fool. Scratching her head.

“It’s okay. I’ve always been causing trouble. I have no talent. But even so, I get to take on such an important role at the end… Honestly, it feels good…”

“…Noah.”

Belva, catching her breath, walked over to Noah and hugged her tightly.

Noah’s small frame meant her eyes were level with Belva’s shoulder. That spot felt warm.

“Listen carefully.”

She tightened her arms around Noah.

“I won’t let you be forgotten. I’ll make sure of it. When you return someday, the world will recognize you.”

“Ah, no, you don’t have to worry about that…”

“Noah’s Ark.”

The nameless Ark finally bore someone’s name.

Not Zeus. Not Odin. Not Draud. Not Setan. Not Airos. The Ark became the name of a small girl.

Belva calmly declared to Noah, who was staring blankly at her.

“This is the Ark’s name.”

*

Oh. I see it. That’s the destination.

[We’ve finally arrived. Wow.]

For some reason, I felt excited. It felt like coming home after a long journey.

Slowly shrinking my consciousness, I rapidly descended below.