It was just a single scene, but Shane was able to glean countless pieces of information from it.
The rebellion that Anastasia led in her previous life was purely to protect the empire.
In that past life, without the interference of Nameless, the orcs had continuously launched monster waves and battered the walls of Viduron.
These waves came at intervals of once a month.
Anastasia had repeatedly warned the empire of the severity of the situation, but just as in this life, the empire dismissed her concerns.
So a month passed like that, then two, then three.
For two whole years, Viduron’s walls held off the relentless monster waves, but eventually, the castle could no longer serve its purpose.
With only a few hundred surviving out of the thousands of Arunvida’s residents, Anastasia made a proclamation.
“I will become the emperor of this Arunvida.”
And so, Anastasia abandoned Viduron and drew her sword against the northern nobles who had been reluctant to commit their forces.
They were fast and with nothing to lose, so the incompetent northern nobles could not stop them.
In the end, when the lord’s head was displayed on the castle walls and the surviving residents informed the empire, only then did the empire recognize the rebellion and hastily mobilize its army to march north where the orcs were advancing.
In the course of this struggle, Anastasia lost countless comrades but she charged at the orc army until the very end. She was determined to protect the empire in her own way.
The empire, by ‘coincidence,’ found itself with the time needed to halt the southward-advancing orcs by mobilizing the army that had been sent to suppress Anastasia.
[What are you thinking of, child?]
Shane quietly closed his eyes at the Mountain King’s question.
“It’s a story that doesn’t matter anymore.”
Anastasia’s sacrifice had been beautiful.
Among all the souls Shane had seen, hers burned brighter than any, even to the point where it outshone even the future Klein.
But that was a tale of a past life, and in that past life, the empire had crumbled in vain despite Anastasia’s sacrifice.
[Do you really think it was meaningless?]
The question came again.
This time, Shane acknowledged that he had been wrong.
“It became the catalyst.”
Anastasia’s death, the empire’s incompetence, and its ugly deeds.
Could the First Princess Olicia who witnessed all this have felt nothing?
Upon learning of Anastasia’s end, Olicia became even more thorough in her preparations and managed to survive until the very end within that collapsing civilization.
Later, she joined forces with Klein and emerged as a beacon of hope for the dying humanity.
Because of that, Klein was able to reach Shane and the current timeline came into existence.
“It wasn’t meaningless.”
[That’s right. Every event has a catalyst, and in the end, a new story is born.]
The Mountain King continued.
[I made a bet with her. Could she protect the empire from my children? That was the bet.]
In the end, the Mountain King lost the bet with Anastasia.
Anastasia sacrificed her soul to protect the empire, and the Mountain King decided to no longer interfere with the orcs.
And so, the northern rebellion was brought to an end.
[Child, I exist as a singular being. Even in another timeline, I remain unchanged.]
“So that’s why they started interfering.”
[That’s correct.]
Unlike in the previous life where the Mountain King steadfastly maintained his position, in this life, he no longer intervened with the orcs.
This was due to the promise between the Mountain King and Anastasia that had carried over from the past life.
Because of this, Nameless was able to see through this and get involved with the orcs.
The Mountain King had become a being who could no longer meddle with the orcs.
[I love stories. And I also love heroes worthy of those stories. Child who defies fate, you are the protagonist worthy of this story.]
“You must be mistaken. I don’t shine.”
Unless he was an endlessly dark being like the Origin he wielded.
[No, you certainly have the qualities of a hero. A hero’s color doesn’t matter. How about it? Would you like to make a bet with me as well?]
“A bet.”
[Yes, a bet.]
In response to the Mountain King’s question, Shane quietly closed his eyes.
In his previous life, he hadn’t fully understood the existence of the Mountain King.
Now, that very being was attempting to intervene in his life.
It wouldn’t have mattered if he refused.
The Mountain King was an entity excluded from this world.
Therefore, even if Shane rejected him, the Mountain King would have no means to intervene and would be forced to retreat.
The only reason the Mountain King could reveal himself was because his presence was so immense, and he was connected to the orcs who were free from the Great Seal of Akasha.
“I accept.”
Those who had made bets with the Mountain King in the past had, in some form, achieved the results they desired.
The orcs had gained the magical power they so desperately sought.
Anastasia had brought peace to the empire from the orcs.
Now it was Shane’s turn, and he too had something he wanted.
[Good, very good!]
With the Mountain King’s booming laughter, the mental world collapsed and Shane finally opened his eyes. But he instinctively bent forward.
Whoosh─!
A glaive with overwhelming destructive force swept through the space where Shane’s head had just been.
“Indeed, this is good!”
Pagabutan, the orc chieftain who had been skewered by a hundred swords, swung his glaive with a burst of laughter.
“For someone who was revered as a god, your ambush is quite sharp.”
“A hero, to me, is one who overcomes hardship and adversity! I am merely an observer!”
With a burst of laughter, Pagabutan—no, the Mountain King—instantly restored the body he had descended into and charged forward once more.
The presence of a certain god from the mythological age filled the battlefield.
This overwhelmingly tyrannical presence brought the entire battlefield to a standstill.
The only one able to move was Shane, who had absorbed the dragon’s reverse scale.
The Origin of Greed, which had previously disintegrated Pagabutan’s soul and even digested the power of the mountain king, once again swallowed the power of the mountain king that was scattered everywhere.
If Shane hadn’t absorbed the dragon’s reverse scale, he would have been devoured by the tyrannical energy that started to infuse the hundred swords.
“Hoohahahahaha!!”
A grand laughter echoed.
A hundred swords wove through the air in a chaotic dance.
When the Mountain King swung his glaive, the hundred swords dissipated in an instant.
Since it was his own power, he could shatter it more easily than anyone else.
But among the swords that dissipated, a few caught the Mountain King’s eye. They were swords infused with considerable magical power.
A blazing red magical power.
If the Mountain King could intervene, it would undoubtedly be because of the magic of the woman he most wished to see—Raviata.
Shane gathered all of the remaining magical power on the ground and unleashed it in one powerful burst.
Though the force had diminished greatly compared to when the sun had fallen,
[Expansion], [Compression], [Explosion], [Fivefold Amplification].
In an instant, the power expanded and then compressed, and the explosive force was amplified fivefold by rune magic. Although the range had narrowed, the blast erupted with even greater intensity than the sun that Raviata had brought down.
This was possible because it was the magic of Raviata who absorbed the dragon heart, which was like Shane’s dragon’s reverse scale.
“Truly impressive!”
But the Mountain King emerged from the explosion with only minor scorch marks before he swiftly swung his glaive to dispel the remaining flames.
Even Shane had to create several layers of magical shields to defend himself from the aftermath.
Though the orc body the Mountain King inhabited was weak compared to a god, it was still pushing the limits of what a single species could achieve.
“This is the limit of the orc race as I envisioned it.”
Even as the Mountain King spoke, his glaive moved as if it were an extension of his body.
It was the natural grace of a sword master who had reached the pinnacle.
Each swing sent shockwaves that split the earth, shattered rocks, and transformed the surrounding landscape.
Faced with a power far greater than even Gordon, whom he had met in the Great Mezaiya Forest, Shane finally closed his eyes.
“Offer your soul. I see what she meant by that.”
A challenge to the gods.
Attempting to achieve victory without any bloodshed would be an act of blasphemy against the gods, and it would also be arrogance.
Shane acknowledged his arrogance and quickly corrected his stance.
“I owe an apology to her Highness.”
Perhaps sensing Shane’s resolve, the Mountain King halted his swinging glaive and stared at him.
As Shane lowered his arms, the hundred swords that had been chaotically weaving through the air all vanished.
At that moment, Shane recalled the technique Anastasia had demonstrated.
It was an Origin born from the unwavering resolve of an individual, without relying on any external power like Shane or the Judgment Knights.
When he remembered the power that consumed a piece of her soul each time it was used, he analyzed it.
How much time had passed?
When Shane finally opened his eyes, they were filled with pitch-black darkness.
And the world was engulfed in a darkness more terrifying than the abyss.
***
“W-What is that?”
Benjamin, who had been walking through the illusions after falling into the trap of the Elder Shaman, was soon freed from the illusions and looked at the darkness that covered the sky.
Just looking at it made him feel as though his soul was being sucked in.
Benjamin had never felt such fear in all his life.
“…What in the world?”
Likewise, even the commander of the Knights of Judgment Daniel who had sentenced countless enemies as the Empire’s sword, had never witnessed such a phenomenon.
***
Dilaila and Artia, who had been in a deep sleep due to the effects of using too much magical power, awoke almost at the same time.
It was their instincts reacting to the movement of an immense power.
As soon as they opened their eyes, they noticed the unusually dark care room and quickly turned their gaze toward the window.
The darkness had swallowed even the countless stars in the night sky.
Where the moon once was, a blood-red eye had taken its place.
“…It’s a dream.”
“A dream.”
It had to be a very bad nightmare.
The two closed their eyes again and pretended to fall back asleep.
***
When the orcs’ movements came to an abrupt halt, Klein also stopped swinging his sword and looked up at the night sky with a dazed look.
There was a darkness that devoured the starlight, and a red eye had taken the place of the moon.
The ground was covered with countless sharp spikes.
Upon closer inspection, those spikes were actually teeth.
The countless sharp teeth began to chew on the orcs caught in them and devoured them alive.
“What… is this?”
Klein who was highly sensitive to magic couldn’t even begin to grasp who the master of this overwhelming power was.
In a situation where the outcome was entirely unpredictable, Klein looked around and started searching for the person he needed to protect.
***
The creeping darkness began to coil around Shane.
In response, the Mountain King looked at what used to be Shane with trembling eyes.
It wasn’t fear.
It was ecstasy.
The thrill of confronting someone who had reached their limit, more than any other being he had faced before, a true hero.
But could that really be called a hero?
The mass of bloodshot eyes and teeth swallowed Shane whole, and soon, it began to grow in size.
“Hahaha! Indeed, indeed! This is the making of a hero!”
Two meters, five meters, ten meters.
Finally, the Mountain King had to crane his neck to see the massive being that loomed over him.
Instead of scales, it had sharp teeth.
Instead of shimmering eyes, it had darkness dripping with red blood.
The elongated creature was a dragon that had failed to ascend.
The dragon armed with unyielding teeth that could chew through anything opened its mouth that was dripping with something thick—whether saliva or blood—and let out a roar before it charged at the Mountain King.
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