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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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Chapter 114: God-Slaying (2)
“The first scene I saw was the destruction of Asgard.”
Perhaps it was due to the reinforcement of the Soul Barrier.
The electric ropes binding Skuld’s limbs lost their power and hung loosely on the ground.
With her body slightly freed, Skuld spoke more comfortably.
“The rampage of Chaos… On the already-destroyed Earth, dungeon portals opened endlessly. The Lords of Chaos emerged on every continent, tearing the planet apart and massacring all the Einherjar.”
So, even though they claimed they would become a creator god, they ended up failing and getting slaughtered by Chaos?
But since I keep regressing, the future could change.
Even if we lose in this timeline, if we keep going back to the past, we might be able to win.
When I voiced my thoughts, Skuld nodded.
“You already know about regression. Yes, that's right. I have seen the same future countless times. A future where we cannot defeat Chaos and fail to protect Earth. But…”
Skuld gritted her teeth.
“I saw a new scene.”
“What was it?”
“Zeus appeared.”
Zeus?
Did Zeus get destroyed too?
Skuld’s eyes trembled violently.
“Zeus was… attacking Odin. Odin was being pushed back.”
Zeus was?
They were allies, yet he attacked Odin?
I couldn't understand it.
“Are you sure it was really Zeus?”
“I have seen him before. It was definitely Zeus.”
“No, but he could have been in disguise…”
“No matter how well someone disguises themselves, they cannot replicate Astrape, the multicolored lightning.”
Hmm, the way she’s so certain… It really must have been Zeus.
But why would Zeus attack Odin?
Chaos was invading Asgard, and instead of defending, Zeus was trying to subdue Odin?
“If Chaos is attacking Asgard while Zeus is attacking Odin… Does that mean they’re actually on the same side?”
“The order of events in the future I see isn’t always fixed. It’s possible that Zeus attacking Odin happened first.”
I see.
So Zeus could have attacked Odin before Chaos invaded.
But why?
Did he finish gathering all his SP…?
If he had already become the Creator, he could just create a world to his liking.
There would be no need to suppress Odin.
“Why would he even do that? If he achieved his goal of becoming a creator, wouldn’t he just create a world as he pleases?”
“I don’t know the exact reason. I was simply so shocked by the vision that I went to Odin immediately.”
Then why did she end up in this state?
She brought valuable information—shouldn’t they be thanking her instead?
“If you warned Odin that Zeus was attacking, why did he imprison you?”
Skuld’s face twisted in frustration.
“I don’t know that either. At first, Odin simply said he would be cautious. But then, he suddenly started interrogating me, demanding to know if I had seen any other prophecies.”
“Another prophecy… Was it about Odin’s adversary?”
The one destined to bring Odin’s downfall.
The soul god who would open a new world.
If that was me, then what does that make Odin, who was already attacked?
As doubts filled my mind, I looked at her.
She swallowed hard.
“Yes, just before I was interrogated, I realized something. That prophecy…”
Another prophecy.
As soon as she began to speak about it, the lightning attacking the Soul Barrier surged violently.
Crack!
The Soul Barrier started to fracture again.
A fierce barrage of attacks rained down.
Damn it, I need to recharge.
But Skuld’s expression stiffened at the sight of the onslaught.
“Odin is trying to interfere now that I’m about to reveal the prophecy.”
“Hmm, just what kind of prophecy is it…?”
“I don’t fully understand its meaning beyond the part about you being the adversary… But if I tell you now, you will be in grave danger. Odin will do everything in his power to hunt you down.”
“I have form maintenance. I’ll be fine.”
“He will use a contract to force you to reveal whether you know about the third prophecy. Even if he doesn’t, his eyes will see the truth.”
Skuld’s eyes wavered.
She looked deep in thought.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, a few strands of her hair lifted.
Her hair quickly turned pure white and then snapped off mid-air.
Her black pupils turned white as she locked eyes with me.
Seconds passed.
Her eyes turned black again, and she let out a soft gasp.
“Oh… I see. This is my last…”
Zzzzzzt!
[A powerful attack is striking the Soul Barrier.]
[More SP is required. Would you like to recharge?]
“Recharge.”
[10,000 SP consumed.]
The Soul Barrier, already cracking, was restored in golden brilliance.
But it wasn’t long before it started fracturing again.
When Hercules used it, it seemed so sturdy—why is it so weak now?
The Soul Barrier was once again on the verge of shattering.
Skuld let out a hollow laugh.
“Please kill me.”
“…What? What about the prophecy?”
No, she has to tell me the third prophecy first.
That seems like the most important thing.
But Skuld firmly shook her head.
“Because of your Soul Barrier, I was able to see the future without Odin’s interference. You must kill me here. Right now.”
“Was that what happened when your eyes turned white earlier?”
“Yes… I have to die here. This is the only way.”
Then she added,
“If you learn the third prophecy now, Odin will find out no matter what. His eyes cannot be deceived. Right now, ignorance is your best defense… for your own sake.”
“If he tries to suppress a Soul Awakener, the system will punish him. He wouldn’t go that far.”
“No, I’ve seen the future. You must kill me here if Asgard is to survive.”
She looked at me with absolute certainty.
She was truly asking to die.
As I hesitated, she urged me again.
“Soul Awakener, weren’t you planning to kill me anyway? You will learn the third prophecy in time. I’ve seen it.”
Closing her eyes, she trembled slightly but kept her lips pressed together with firm resolve.
“…Are you sure?”
“Yes. Please, cut me down in one strike. I beg you.”
There was no choice.
She would never reveal it no matter what.
And she believed that if I knew, I would be in even greater danger.
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
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I couldn't ignore the words of someone who could see the future.
"Soul Emission."
I infused my soul sword with energy once more.
Pure white flames rose from it.
This time, I wasn’t just cutting off a leg—I was putting in as much power as possible to kill a god.
How could I minimize her pain?
Her body had already become divine.
When I severed her leg earlier, a little blood had appeared but was quickly cauterized.
Her soul form had been completely severed along with it.
I decided to take the classic approach—piercing the heart.
Since the flames consumed the soul itself, cutting anywhere would likely hurt.
Thrust!
"Ugh..."
Skuld grimaced.
The white flames, starting from her heart, quickly spread across her entire body.
Fwoosh!
Within the burning white inferno, her face was visible.
Her expression twisted in pain.
But after just a few seconds, her face went blank.
Her physical body was completely consumed, leaving only her soul form behind.
A translucent soul.
Her soul form was identical in size to her physical body.
Unlike her flesh, her soul burned away from the extremities inward.
Her form gradually began to fade.
Yet, even in this state, which must have been agonizing, she remained expressionless—like a doll.
Minutes passed.
Her soul was completely erased.
A mid-tier god vanished this easily...?
As her form disappeared, the lightning striking the Soul Barrier also ceased.
And with it, a system window appeared.
[250 million SP has been consumed.]
[Your soul sword is restoring SP through soul absorption. 50% of the consumed SP is being recovered.]
[Your soul sword’s rank is too low. The maximum amount of SP that can be recovered at once is 200,000.]
So it wasn’t an automatic 50% return every time.
It made sense—I had used an A-rank sword to kill an SS-rank god.
When I only cut off her leg earlier, it hadn’t counted as soul absorption.
I must have needed to completely destroy my opponent.
[You have eliminated a vastly superior entity. Your soul sword has undergone a major enhancement.]
[Your soul sword has been upgraded to S-rank.]
[Its efficiency has greatly increased, and the SP absorption limit has been raised.]
[Soul Emission’s SP absorption rate has been upgraded to 60%.]
[The maximum amount of SP that can be restored at once has been increased to 500,000.]
[The efficiency of soul absorption through Soul Emission has improved.]
Killing her had resulted in an upgrade.
A bit of a waste, but there was no way around it.
The soul sword had grown slightly longer, but its appearance hadn’t changed much.
[You have absorbed a fragment of the soul through Soul Emission. Soul Absorption is activating.]
[You have consumed and partially absorbed the soul of a mid-tier god...]
Normally, Soul Emission didn’t absorb souls, but my soul sword made it possible.
This time, the notification had a lingering "..."—was the absorbed amount unusually high?
[Your Soul Reaper skill level is too low. A maximum of 500 million SP can be absorbed.]
[Your Ability Absorption skill level is too low. Your stats have significantly increased.]
[Unabsorbed soul fragments and abilities will be lost.]
Checking my status window, I saw that my stats in the Order faction remained unchanged.
But my Neutral faction stats had increased drastically.
They had already been at an all-S level, but now every gauge had risen by over 50%.
The highest boost was in my Luck stat.
For someone who had been betrayed by Odin, she sure had an abundance of luck.
How ironic.
[You have successfully slain a god. You have earned the title "God Slayer."]
A "God Slayer" title...
[God Slayer]
[Rank: SSS]
[A title given to those who have obliterated an immortal being. Gods cannot normally be destroyed, but soul awakeners alone can accomplish this.
- All attack and defense skills of the Soul Awakener increase in efficiency by 100%.
- All general soul-related skills receive a major efficiency boost.]
100%?
And a boost to all soul skills on top of that?
That was insane.
I immediately switched my title from "Earth Pioneer - Legendary Rank" to "God Slayer."
My Soul Emission and Soul Barrier multipliers jumped from 40x to 80x, and my skill efficiencies surged.
"...This is incredible."
[You have cleared one of the conditions for ascension to divinity.]
[The requirement for god-slaying has been fulfilled.]
One more step toward divinity.
Now, the only requirement left was to raise all my stats to 1,000.
With enough SP, that would be simple—practically a given at this point.
Haah... S-rank was just around the corner now.
Was ascending to godhood supposed to be this easy?
The thought of Zeus striking Odin lingered in my mind, but I had no way to find out more at the moment.
And with Skuld dead, she couldn’t answer my questions.
Wiiing.
A portal, identical to the one I entered through, materialized in the land where the lightning had now ceased.
Was this my way back?
I had no reason to stay, but... I still hadn’t heard the third prophecy.
Even so, lingering here wasn’t an option.
I walked toward the portal.
Using Heimdall’s Return crossed my mind, but that would only confirm that I had some knowledge of the prophecy, making them chase me down with everything they had.
The portal was the safer option.
I wasn’t guilty of anything, after all.
As I slowly approached, a faint prickle touched my foot.
I stopped and lifted it—Skuld’s short, white hair lay there, having fallen when her eyes turned white.
A strand of pure white hair.
Normally, such a fine hair wouldn’t be visible, but this one stood out, as if glowing with its own light.
It shouldn’t have been here.
How odd.
And why did it feel so sharp, even through my footwear?
Was it something special?
"Huh, it’s gone."
As I bent down to pick it up, the white strand of Skuld’s hair had already disappeared.
Puzzled, a system message popped up.
[You have absorbed a fragment of Skuld.]
[Your rank is too low. It will automatically unlock upon reaching S-rank.]
A fragment of Skuld... Was this the future she foresaw?
I needed to raise my stats and unlock it as soon as possible.
For now, I’d keep it with me.
With that thought, I stepped through the portal.
The moment I emerged, Aria was waiting with her arms crossed.
Her usual demeanor was gone.
She wore a smug expression, exuding confidence.
It felt like she was looking down on me.
Her left eye glowed red—ominously so.
"You're here, Soul Awakener."
Her voice was different.
It was male.
With those words, the atmosphere shifted drastically.
The very air pressed down on me.
It felt like a massive weight had settled on my shoulders.
Boom. Boom.
The statues of the Einherjar began to move, turning their gaze toward me.
They had already surrounded this space.
"Soul Awakener,"
The voice spoke again.
"I am Odin. I have come to confirm something with you."
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HELHEIM SCANS
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Join our Discord for release updates!
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