Chapter 206: The eternal and immortal Ra (3)

Shirone closed his eyes and received the memories that Peophe transmitted to him. It felt warm.

“Thank you, Peophe.”

If it were not for Peophe, they would not have even made it this far.

If they managed to rescue Amy and the others safe and sound, Shirone was willing to give all the credit to Peophe.

“Bah! What about me? I only came because I was curious about what you were doing. From now on I do not plan to get involved at all, so understand it that way.”

Peophe refused until the end to admit it, but Shirone knew. She had a soft and pure heart. That is why, even living a long life, she could not ignore the pain of humans.

“Peophe, you will surely become a great fairy.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just go in already. I am tired too and do not want to stay here any longer.”

Peophe moved aside to the side where the door opened. She was curious about the inside, but she did not have the courage to indiscreetly look into an angel’s room.

When Shirone entered, the iron door closed with a loud bang.

Even though there was only one door between them, Peophe felt as if Shirone had disappeared from the world.

Realizing that no one was left around her, loneliness invaded her. Was the place at the top of the world this lonely?

“Bah. I am going back.”

Trying to calm her restless mind, Peophe took the light elevator and arrived at the first floor.

When she returned to Shamayin, she would have to report to Igirin. She would protect her until the punishment for the usurpation ended. Then, if she slept, the next day she would continue her routine as always.

Boom. Boom.

The ground rumbled from the entrance toward which Peophe was heading. Someone was entering.

Just from hearing the sound, Peophe’s face turned pale.

Nothing could be seen yet but a shadow, but it was undoubtedly a giant. If the ground trembled like that, how big would it be?

A giant appeared from the entrance.

Unlike what was expected, he was not that enormous.

He barely exceeded two meters, which, for a giant, did not even reach the level of a dwarf.

However, judging by his attire, he seemed to have a fairly high level of the Liquor of Anecdotes.

He had broad shoulders, a developed lower jaw, arms hard as rock, and a burning gaze.

Upon recognizing his identity through fundamental knowledge, Peophe forgot even to flap her wings. She almost fell, but managed to regain her balance and take flight.

‘My God… who am I seeing?’

It was Ymir, the king of the giants.

Although he was not that large, the ground trembled because the muscles that formed his body were extremely heavy.

It was said that more than ten thousand humans had been absorbed by the Liquor of Anecdotes. The strongest giant in history was approaching.

Upon seeing Peophe, Ymir’s pace gradually quickened.

Giants are below angels and mara, but with Ymir it was different.

According to fundamental knowledge, he had destroyed several worlds with only the strength of his body.

In terms of pure strength, he possessed power superior to that of a mid-level angel.

Peophe swallowed as she waited for Ymir to approach.

When he stopped with a heavy thud, she instinctively greeted him.

“A-aah… hello.”

Regret for her impulsive decision immediately overwhelmed her.

Although giants belonged to the fifth heaven, Matei, and fairies to the fourth heaven, Makonom, in reality they maintained a balance between nature and divinity.

For that reason, fairies did not need to bow to them. Rather, when they met, they usually distrusted and spoke ill of each other.

“Who are you?”

“Ah, I am Peophe, spiral fairy.”

Peophe swallowed again. She did not know how a giant might harm her, being natural enemies.

But against all expectations, Ymir received her kindly.

“I had already heard about you. They said that an eccentric had been born in the world of fairies so it was you.”

It was the first time she had heard something like that. They were probably conversations among higher laws.

Eccentric? What had she done to be evaluated like that?

“You look cute. Tell me, what brings you to Arabot?”

“Ah, I came as a substitute on a mission from Igirin, the chief of the fairies.”

Peophe improvised an answer. It was true, but she felt guilty for using Igirin’s name.

Even so, she needed to use any connection available to get out of the situation.

“I see. I heard that Ikasa went to Shamayin. They say she captured some heretics.”

“Yes, it seems so. Ah, right… do you know what happened to the girls she took?”

Peophe wanted to hit her mouth. Why ask that now?

There was nothing she could do anymore. She just had to return home.

But, against her will, her ears were already attentive to the answer.

“It seems they are in Kariel’s laboratory. They say they found a metagate. That is why the Great Hall of the World is in an uproar.”

That he did not use honorifics with the archangel Kariel was clearly disrespectful, but Ymir did not care. That showed how great he was as a warrior.

“I see… but an uproar?”

“They say the metagate contains lost coordinates. I am not interested in the details, but soon there will be a war. That is why I came to beg Ra to return my body to me.”

“Ah… I understand.”

The story of how Ymir lost his body was well known in heaven.

While Ikasa had lost her power for a great sin, Ymir had been stripped of his body simply for being too strong.

He was strong. Too strong. That was why Ra had no choice but to limit his body.

That also went against the laws, being one of the exceptional cases in the history of heaven.

When Ymir raised his hand, Peophe closed her eyes in terror. She felt as if an enormous wall was approaching.

But what she felt was a gentle touch. The giant’s finger stroked her head.

“War is inevitable. When it begins, fight by my side. If you are with me, no enemy will be able to touch you.”

“A-ah… yes, I will.”

Ymir smiled with his eyes and walked past. Boom, boom, the ground trembled again.

Only when he reached the elevator and disappeared into fragments of light did Peophe finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Huff… at least I got out of that well.”

Although she felt embarrassed for having been afraid of a giant, considering that it was Ymir, it could be said that she had handled it with dignity.

She tried to convince herself of that, but in reality it was a memory she would rather erase.

Shaking her head, Peophe left Arabot. In her mind, the route to Shamayin quickly took shape.

But her gaze drifted.

The Great Hall of the World. The metagate. The war.

Since the Liquor of Anecdotes had dissipated, she kept hearing things she had never imagined.

Peophe walked back and forth, conflicted. The desire to run away clashed with the feeling that she should not.

Shirone’s voice echoed in her mind.

— You will surely become a great fairy.

Peophe grabbed her head and shook it. But the words were already engraved in her mind.

“Ah, seriously! I am going crazy!”

Peophe flew off at great speed.

A single fairy headed toward Jebul, the resting place of the angels.

***

Anke Ra resided in the tower of Arabot.

An omniscient and omnipotent being who could freely control the life expectancy of believers and even govern their memories.

Ymir had ascended the tower to obtain an audience with that supreme being.

The king of the giants, Ymir.

The strongest giant in the history of heaven.

The Liquor of Anecdotes is divided into a total of ten stages until reaching the perfection of a living being. And Ymir was the only giant in history who had reached the tenth and final stage.

Even someone like Ymir could not help but tense up when standing before the divine throne where Anke Ra resided.

The upper floor, which seemed to pierce the sky, did not occupy even a hundredth of the area of the first floor.

After arriving in the light elevator, the only thing he saw was a crude iron door.

“Anke Ra, your servant requests an audience.”

Ymir waited for a moment.

The door began to tremble, and a crack opened in the center, opening inward.

Ymir stepped forward without hesitation.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

A sound of expansion resonated rhythmically. It was like a loose drum, a sound that seemed to be absorbed inward.

The room did not even have one hundred square meters.

Nerve fibers as thin as hair filled the cracks in the floor and extended in all directions, while on the walls hung tubes that looked like intestines.

The nerves on the floor rose and probed Ymir’s ankles, but soon lost interest and withdrew.

Ymir knelt on one knee before Ra.

“The giant Ymir presents himself before Anke Ra.”

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Behind Ymir’s shoulders, an enormous mass of flesh pulsed like a heart to receive him.

Weight 26 tons. It was a dark reddish color, surrounded by mucus, and its shape was a collapsed structure with no defined features.

The central part protruded, while the ends hung like deflated balloons.

From those ends extended intestinal bundles that covered the walls, and from them grew nerves that spread across the floor, jumping like waves.

Ra’s body seemed like an amalgamation of all the organs of a living being.

It was heart and brain, digestive system and sensory organ at the same time.

Around Ymir, Ra’s nerves began to thrash frantically. Then, the center of the mass of flesh swelled and, with a wet sound, tore horizontally. The skin split upward and downward, and from its interior emerged a huge eye.

Anke Ra (eternal and immortal Ra, age unknown).

The iris, the size of a person’s face, contracted and expanded as it focused.

Then, a sharp sound that pierced the eardrums came out of it.

“Kiiik! Giant… Kiiik! Ymir, why… Kiiik! have you come to seek me?”

Despite the noise that sounded like nails scraping against a steel plate, Ymir did not change his expression.

“A group of heretics has entered the sacred heaven. Those who denied the Liquor of Anecdotes have been handed over to Kariel and are preparing to receive the Liquor of Life.”

“I… know.”

Ra’s voice gradually stabilized. It was still sharp, but it no longer contained noise.

Ra knew everything. Therefore, Ymir judged that he had not yet received a response. However, no matter how long he waited, Ra said nothing more.

“What is your intention?”

“None. Must I… be concerned?”

“It is an unusual case. It is said that the coordinates of a world that had never been infiltrated are recorded in the metagate. This is a perfect opportunity to transmit Ra’s will.”

“Y-mi-r.”

During those three syllables, Ra’s tone dropped abruptly, and then continued with a majestic voice.

“I am the beginning and the end of the world. Everything is connected to me, therefore there is nothing I must be concerned about.”

Ymir pressed his lips together.

Ra is omnipotent. Therefore, any event must be within his domain. But he could not withdraw without recovering his body.

“I wish to recover my body. I beg you to melt the wall of ice that never melts.”

“Ymir, were you not my servant?”

“Do not misunderstand. The giants are those who obey the laws. This is also to preserve the laws of heaven.”

“It is not permitted.”

Ymir raised his head with burning eyes. But upon meeting Ra’s enormous single eye, all his emotions vanished.

“More than the blasphemous actions of a billion heretics, a single step of a giant can be louder. And even more so if that step belongs to the king of the giants, Ymir.”

“Do you doubt my loyalty? Do you believe I would rebel against you, who is great?”

“Ymir, you are the one who must not misunderstand. Your power breaks the balance of the world. Do not forget that the laws exist to maintain the whole.”

After saying that, Ra closed his eye.

The crack of the membrane sealed completely, and the intensity of the pulsations increased.

Boom. Boom. Boom.