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HELHEIM SCANS
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Chapter 243: Descent of the God (3)
A year had passed since I turned back time.
In that time, I had been able to enjoy happiness I could never have even dreamed of in my previous life.
And yet, I still remember.
It comes to me without warning.
Like a thorn embedded deep within me.
The endless expanse of snowfields, the raging blizzards, the biting cold that crushed my lungs.
So distant.
A life that never ended.
Of course, after returning to the past, the Blessing of Revival was no longer a curse but a gift that allowed me to change the future.
But that is only the result.
A good outcome does not justify the process.
That is why I want to ask.
Why did it have to be me?
Out of all the countless people, why was I the only one bound to an unending life, struggling in agony?
If there was a reason, I wanted to hear it.
No, even if there was no reason, I still wanted to ask.
Why was I condemned to such a cruel life?
"Dale..."
As if she could read my heart, Iris looked at me with trembling eyes.
"...Alright."
She nodded quietly.
Clutching the holy relic of Grace hanging around her neck, she nodded once more.
"I will call upon the Forest God through 'Descent.'"
"...Please."
[Hmm… I don’t quite understand the situation, but you want to summon the Forest God through Descent?]
"Yes, that's right."
[Understood.]
Grace nodded.
[First, bring forth the full power of the ‘Seven Eyes.’]
"Okay."
A seven-colored aura began to rise from Iris’s body.
It closely resembled when Camellia used the ‘Blessing of the Seven Stars.’
The difference was that while Camellia’s presence overwhelmed those around her with sheer power, Iris exuded a divine sanctity, as if a miracle was taking place before our eyes.
[Alright, let's begin. Follow my guidance and move the power of the Seven Eyes slowly.]
Grace placed her hand on Iris’s head.
A rainbow-hued radiance enveloped them both.
“…Ah.”
With a soft gasp, Iris’s eyes widened.
The rainbow light in her eyes shifted, turning deep green—identical to my own.
I swallowed hard as I watched Iris, now cloaked in a green aura.
'This is different from Camellia’s blessing.'
Camellia had borrowed the power of a god to manifest their presence.
Iris, on the other hand, had borrowed the god’s spirit to descend into her own body.
Unlike Camellia, who had merely borrowed divine power, Iris made it feel as though she herself had become the god.
"Ah, ugh… ah."
Iris's body trembled violently.
I hurried toward her, but Grace raised a hand to stop me.
[Focus. Don’t resist the god’s power—just accept it into your body.]
“…Aah… Yes… Mother.”
Iris answered with difficulty and took a deep breath.
Ssshh
The unstable green aura gradually began to settle.
[…Hah.]
Grace let out a quiet chuckle as she watched.
[She amazes me. This is her first time using Descent, right?]
Though I wasn’t sure, judging by Grace’s reaction, it seemed the ritual had been completed successfully.
“……”
Iris remained silent, her head drooping like a puppet with cut strings.
Then—
She slowly lifted her head.
No.
The being before us was no longer Iris.
“It’s been a long time, Grace.”
The Forest God, speaking through Iris, gazed at Grace with a faint smile.
[I greet the Forest God.]
Grace drew a holy sign in the air and bowed her head.
The Forest God looked at Grace’s translucent spirit with sorrowful eyes.
“You, too… have not been able to escape the passage of time.”
[I am only human.]
Compared to the lives of gods, a human’s existence was but a fleeting moment.
“Heh. Don’t say such things. Even gods do not live forever.”
The Forest God smiled faintly and continued speaking.
“…They do not live forever?”
At that moment—
Iris’s green eyes briefly returned to their original color.
“Oh? You maintained your consciousness despite being linked to me?”
Her eyes turned green again.
“This is truly your first time using Descent?”
[Yes, it is.]
“…Incredible. Even Grace fainted the first time and lost our connection.”
[Hehe. My daughter is exceptional.]
Grace puffed up her chest proudly.
“So, to answer Iris’s earlier question… Yes, it’s true. Even gods do not live forever.”
This was different from what was written in the Seven Stars Church’s scriptures.
Even though I wasn’t a devout believer like Iris, I, too, had never doubted the eternity of the ‘Seven Gods.’
Yurina, Elisha, and Lanez, devout believers themselves, also seemed visibly shaken.
It was only natural.
It was common knowledge that gods were eternal and immortal.
“After the Tree of Creation burned and vanished, even the gods were bound by the concept of lifespan. Of course, our lifespans are far longer than those of humans, but still… nothing in this world is truly eternal anymore.”
The Forest God spoke with a bitter smile.
“…Wait a second.”
I slowly approached the deity.
“What nonsense is that?”
[Son-in-law! How dare you speak that way before a god?!]
Grace cried out in alarm, but I barely heard her.
“There is nothing eternal left in this world?”
Then what about me?
What was the life I had suffered through?
That endless nightmare, that unceasing despair—what was it?
“Then what was it all?!”
A surge of emotion erupted from within me.
The feelings I had buried, the memories I had suppressed, the pain I had endured—
It all boiled over at once.
“Why… Why was it just me…? Why was I the only one who couldn’t die and had to live forever?!”
“…What?”
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The Forest God looked at me in confusion.
I clenched my teeth, glaring at her.
“Hah, so you’re going to play dumb?”
Crack!
I roughly yanked open the shirt I was wearing, revealing the Stigma engraved on my left chest.
The distinct mark of the ‘God of the Forest.’
"You… You were the one who gave this to me! You were the one who made me eternal!"
"……."
"And now you say that nothing is eternal? What kind of nonsense is that?!"
Then what was my life?
What was that excruciating eternity I endured?
"…I’m not sure what you’re talking about."
The God of the Forest shook their head with a flustered expression.
"It seems there has been some misunderstanding."
"A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding?"
"Yes."
The God of the Forest nodded slightly.
"I… have never given you anything."
"…What?"
What were they saying?
"Look! Right here, your Stigma…!"
"That is not my Stigma."
"What do you mean…?"
"No, to begin with, the mark on your chest… isn’t even a ‘Stigma.’ It only resembles one in form but is something entirely different."
"……."
Then what?
What the hell are they talking about?
The mark on my chest isn’t a Stigma?
Then how am I able to wield magic?
Why do I have the blessing of revival?
"Then… what is this?"
"…I don’t know."
"You don’t know?"
A god says they don’t know.
Then who in the world does?
"It’s as if it’s shrouded in ashen mist… hidden from sight."
"……."
It was the same thing Professor Elisha had said when she examined my body with the Blessing of Insight.
"But one thing is certain."
The God of the Forest looked into my eyes and continued.
"Within you… lies something far greater than divinity itself."
Something greater than divinity?
Does that mean the power residing within me surpasses even that of the gods?
‘That’s ridiculous….’
Suddenly.
The massive figure I had seen in my mental realm resurfaced in my mind.
The deep, ashen presence that effortlessly suppressed flames burning as if they would consume the world.
"—Ah."
A quiet gasp escaped my lips.
The scattered pieces of the puzzle clicked into place.
—I was never able to accumulate mana through breathing techniques like other heroes.
Of course.
The mark on my chest wasn’t a Stigma.
It was only natural that I couldn’t accumulate mana like others.
—The only way for me to accumulate mana was by burning my own body with the Primordial Flame to generate it.
The deaths I repeated every day to increase my mana.
It was all to stimulate the Primordial Flame through my "death."
I had thrown my own body into the blazing fire as fuel.
And then.
—Mana is a byproduct of the Primordial Flame burning the Tree of Creation.
"Hah."
I clutched my head and let out a hollow laugh.
The clues had been there all along.
The answer had always been written on the test paper.
It was almost laughable how late I was to realize it.
"Hah, haha."
Memories.
They ignited like fire, filling my head.
—Why wasn’t my Stigma burned?
The flames of the Primordial Flame, which incinerated Stigma.
Even the demonic fire that devoured divinity had never burned my Stigma.
—There were not one, but two.
—Cadet Dale has two powers residing within him.
Yes.
Before I embraced the Primordial Flame, there was already another power residing within me.
—Inside you, there is a power that extinguishes fire.
If it was a power capable of extinguishing the flames of a Demon God, there was only one possibility.
—In any case… there is no such thing as ‘eternity’ left in this world anymore.
In a world where eternity had vanished.
The reason I alone remained eternal.
"I see… so that’s how it was."
I placed my hand over my left chest.
Closing my eyes, I sank into my mental realm.
Whoosh!
Before my eyes, flames blazed.
Beyond the violently surging fire, a massive form enshrouded in ashen mist appeared.
As I slowly reached out, the ashen mist gradually dispersed.
‘It wasn’t the Seven Gods who granted me eternal life… it was you.’
As the ashen mist vanished—
Standing there, gazing down at me—
Was an unimaginably colossal tree.
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