I Became the Teacher of the Imperial Family’s Bastard

096. What Bloomed in the Snowfield (3)

The phantom soldiers summoned by Oisin were strong, but they were mindless, making it easier to kill them.

“`

Of course, it doesn’t mean you’ll die if you touch it.

You had to precisely stab the exact spot with the sacred tree, or go through the process of shaving off the barrier of force surrounding their bodies with a sawblade sword.

There were also cases where wolves bit and incapacitated them.

But there was a more effective method.

Wasn’t the force engraved on me collapsing the soldiers of the foreign god from the inside?

The problem was that it didn’t work according to my will.

The force often moved beyond my intention.

Uncontrolled power is poison.

In fact, there were several times during battles when I had trouble because of that power.

I had to find a way, and at such times, I saw the foreign god using the force.

‘He’s not controlling it.’

No matter how much it wasn’t of this world, I thought the basic usage would be the same since it was the radiance of a god, and I was right.

As I imitated the foreign god, I realized something.

‘I was mistaken.’

The force wasn’t a weapon to be controlled like mana, but my will that naturally permeated.

In other words, it was similar to the sword’s intent in terms of the manifestation of will.

When I focused on that, the will of ‘I am walking’ was engraved in the act of walking, and the will of ‘I am harming that’ was engraved in the act of swinging the sword.

The force was literally just an auxiliary that added dignity to the action.

If you try to force a dignified action, it becomes awkward, and in the actions of a dignified person, it naturally permeates, just like that.

Thunk―!

I lightly jumped and swung the sawblade sword.

The foreign god’s force was stripped from the soldiers, and the sacred tree and wolves pierced the gaps.

As I took them down one by one, a path appeared.

I approached, and then I reached.

Crunch!

The sawblade sword scraped off the barrier hastily put up by the foreign god.

It was the force imbued with the ability called the predation of supernatural power, and with this, it was safe to say that the gap between the foreign god and me had disappeared.

Crack―!

As I applied force, the barrier was shaved off more severely.

I glared at the foreign god beyond it.

“Thank you. I learned something thanks to you.”

The outsider replied.

[This is impossible…!]

“If you live so pessimistically, nothing will work out. Well, I don’t think you’ll ever realize that.”

Because you’ll die here.

Boom!

[Ugh…!]

The barrier shattered.

Taking advantage of the gap, I stabbed the outsider’s heart with the sacred tree.

Thud, with a vibration, the black flesh covering the outsider’s body crumpled.

I didn’t stop there.

Both hands moved busily.

I twisted my whole body to add strength, and when the outsider moved soldiers to harm me, I also used the wolf.

It was a melee.

The mental world shook, and the distinction between up, down, left, and right disappeared.

The center of gravity kept changing, making it feel like falling from the sky or rising from the ground.

At some moments, the space itself distorted, and the sense of distance with the outsider disappeared.

The more it happened, the more fiercely I swung my sword.

There were explosions, vibrations, chaos, and screams, and in the midst of it all, the outsider began to collapse to the point where the end was in sight.

At that end, at some moment.

Slash―!

The saw-blade sword cut through the outsider’s chest.

Gripping the sacred tree with all my might, I prepared for a second thrust, and without even catching my breath, I extended it.

Then a change occurred in the outsider.

As if the name “god” indeed had a reason.

Thud!

The outsider’s hand blocked the sacred tree.

At that moment, the gravity of the space normalized.

At the same time, the outsider’s appearance began to change.

The black flesh wriggled and transformed its shape.

The woman’s body transformed into a man’s, into a grotesque figure with bulging muscles and wild hair.

For a moment, he stopped breathing.

The foreign god muttered.

[…Yes, I acknowledge it.]

Crackling, the soldiers all melted away, but it brought no comfort.

Because the force that moved them was absorbed by the foreign god.

[It is still an incomprehensible event. This is fundamentally impossible. But it happened. Therefore, the only thing I can do is to erase the existence of such a treacherous being with all my might.]

Boom―

Every time the foreign god’s body pulsed, the mental world trembled.

[I will give it my all. So feel it.]

Boom―!

The moment the world trembled again, a sword appeared in the foreign god’s hand.

I felt a chill run down my spine.

‘Aura…?’

Because the force took on a form infinitely similar to aura.

Also, its nature.

[You are the first god-slayer who killed me. I have given my all, so consider it an honor.]

It astonishingly embodied ‘domination.’

[Die. You should not exist. I am the mother of all dreams, Vinir.]

The foreign god’s shoulders shook.

In a sense of crisis, I crossed the sacred tree and the saw blade sword to block it.

But I couldn’t block all the damage.

Boom―!

I was instantly pushed back.

* * *

Vinir was the dream of something.

Now, in memories too old, it is hard to recall everything because the self was too faint at that moment, but there was one thing I knew for sure.

From that day, from that moment, Vinir was a god.

Though born from a dream, she was so ferocious that she devoured her owner, and her vessel was large enough to contain the world in her dream.

She stepped into the world by consuming the existence of the owner who dreamed her and met gods like herself.

The formed cluster was called the Outer Gods and reigned as conquerors of countless dimensions.

Therefore, that human was a shock and a terror.

―Die, you invaders.

The first human to be endowed with everything of the gods.

A human who was not an agent but a replica of the gods, or perhaps the gods themselves.

The first god-slayer committed absoluteness with a soul and body that burned and vanished.

That brief flame burned eternity.

Countless Outer Gods died to him.

Some were reverse-summoned, and in extreme cases, their very existence was annihilated.

Vinir was one of the lucky ones.

The battle in the mental world provided a means of escape, and moreover, it was because of that battle that it became possible to mimic the god-slayer.

Humans call the power of god-slaying domination.

Isn’t it quite fitting? Even though he dragged it into the actual mental world, that man even used his own rank in reverse.

He tried to recreate that ferocity.

The target of domination was clear.

‘That…….’

The dreadful power of the ‘God King’.

But the attempt could not be complete.

What was embedded in Vinir’s eyes was only a very localized power.

He could vaguely see how the supernatural abilities used by Yuren flowed, just the flow itself.

That alone was enough.

From the moment the difference in their weapons disappeared, the aura and nature of the god-slayer brought an overwhelming advantage in dealing with Yuren.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

With a single slash, space was swept away.

At least at this moment, Yuren’s mana was not a threat and was absorbed by the pouring sword strikes.

Not a counterattack, but defense, Yuren’s sword was wielded solely for that purpose.

Although he was gradually gaining the upper hand, Vinir was anxious.

‘…It must not be dragged out any longer.’

There was an unease that he might do something unexpected, just like when he first digested the rank.

Indeed, even thinking about it at this point, there were things that could not be understood.

“How is he using the power of the God-King?”

The first god to die, and the only god to have ever died.

Only he could wield his power.

Even other gods couldn’t handle it, so it never appeared in the Myth War, and it was impossible for it to reappear in the world.

Because there is a fundamental truth that applies even to foreign gods.

“Humans cannot contain divinity.”

They can ‘borrow’ it in the form of blessings, but it is impossible to ‘own’ it.

Look at the God-Slayer of the Myth War, who used all the powers of the gods and consumed his own lifespan.

But Yuren was different.

This form of divinity could only manifest through ‘ownership,’ yet he felt no backlash.

There was only one way that was possible.

Yuren had to be a god.

Not just any god, but a new god who inherited the body and soul of the God-King.

Isn’t that absurd?

How could the body and soul of a god who perished before history began still remain?

“Surely…!”

The God-King left no successor, no demigod.

That’s why Vinir was anxious.

He felt an instinctive hatred and fear that he had to erase that existence from this land.

From some point, he had been pressing Yuren with his teeth clenched.

He closed the distance.

He drew more aura to tear his flesh apart.

Just before he reached him, the moment Vinir’s sword was about to touch Yuren’s neck.

“…Ah, you startled me.”

Thud―!

[…!]

Vinir’s breath stopped.

Because Yuren had tilted the divine tree and let ‘domination’ flow out.

His eyes shone brightly.

He seemed a bit annoyed.

“It’s been a while, so it’s tough. This business too.”

[How…….]

“How, you little brat.”

Something beyond Vinir’s perception finally happened.

“I’ve been banging my head for decades to win this, and you think I don’t know how to handle it?”

It was a clear wonder.

A single switch turned dominance into nothingness, and then reversed, piercing through and skewering the uvula. It was a marvel even from the perspective of a god.

Vinir looked up at Yuren in disbelief, black blood pouring out.

[Cough…!]

“Is the best you can do to mimic what’s in my head? But you, you’re a bit arrogant. This isn’t something you can just imitate.”

What could he mean?

There shouldn’t be the first god-slayer in Yuren’s mind.

“Well, still, it’s endearing. Looking like a homeless person, this side suits you.”

He couldn’t understand.

Even though Yuren’s mana, his rank, and something unknown were flowing into him through his pierced throat, Vinir’s nerves were focused on his words.

[Gasp… wheeze…!]

Only the sound of air escaping came out.

At that moment, Yuren spoke.

“Still, thank you. Thanks to you, I’ve learned a lot and realized what to be wary of.”

Yuren twisted the divine tree.

Then Vinir’s body began to tear apart from the inside. It was Yuren’s nature, ‘Shatter.’

“You guys can even see my regression.”

Vinir’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart.

At that moment, in the midst of pain, Vinir’s thoughts began to run wild.

Keywords were created.

Memory, decades, endearing, regression, and to win.

All those words combined to reveal the truth.

He is mistaking the first god-slayer for someone he knows.

It is the appearance that the god-slayer of the present era will reach in the future.

In other words, the appearance that the current god-slayer will reach in the future is the same as the first god-slayer.

Also, certainly, Yuren had turned back time.

It was obvious who could do such a thing.

Vinir recalled the godslayer of the present era he had been toying with.

‘Did that guy send him…?’

That means, the godslayer of this era will eventually reach ‘that’.

Then why? Why did that godslayer send Yuren back to the past instead of himself?

Why didn’t he come back directly?

He had an answer for that too.

‘…Because he had to?’

At the end of the continuing questions, Vinir let out a hollow laugh.

He finally understood.

A goddess’s face flashed through his mind.

The moment he recalled what she had done in the mythic era, the moment he reflected on how far she could go, he understood all these causalities.

He even came to understand what that Yuren was.

He felt a chill.

In the extreme madness he had seen over the near-eternal years he had lived.

That she had planned this far into the distant future to achieve her goal.

So he muttered inwardly.

‘Crazy woman…’

There was only one woman who could do such a crazy thing, who could defy all absolutes and causalities and grasp the most improbable future, and Vinir knew her.

Vinir’s lips twisted in fear.

Her gaze met Yuren’s eyes directly.

There was no more struggle.

Because even that would be meaningless.

Yuren muttered.

“Go. Now.”

Puhwak!

And so, Vinir died, buried in hope.