Chapter 127: Saving The World Of Elios
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Bing Xue was surprised; her Spear of Nirvana did not kill Rakshasa, which meant he was as durable and strong as the Primal King, who took two hits to die.
Nonetheless, she didn’t really care if it survived that.
“AGH!” He vomited blood, feeling weakened as his body now lacked his heart and lungs, yet as a god, he remained alive, albeit agonizingly. “Y-You’re… You’re the real monster here… Heh! Hehahah…!”
Bing Xue only looked down on him from above, as if he were nothing but an ant, or below an ant.
To her, he was just a small nuisance.
But even such small nuisances had to be taken care of, or they would end up creating a big nuisance eventually.
That’s why…
“It’s all yours.”
“Ah!”
Rakshasa saw as the beasts he once almost killed, sealed, and tortured jumped over his body. Urbosa, Merkite, Peperina, and Mursha had transformed, their auras becoming the shape of their gigantic divine patrons, similarly sized to Typhon.
Their jaws and beaks started biting through his flesh and soul; their claws and talons tore through his skin and pierced deep into his muscles; and their divine elements burned him, sliced his flesh, rotted his body, and absorbed his energies.
“Uuuaaagggh! G-Get away from me, you horrendous beasts! Stop…! STOOOP!”
As he screamed in agony, they didn’t stop—the beasts he fought, the beasts he humiliated, the beasts that he slaughtered, and the beasts he tortured.
This was for all of them, their fathers, who were unable to stop him as he killed, ate, and turned their children into weapons.
This was their revenge!
“YOU’LL PAY FOR SLAUGHTERING OUR PRECIOUS CHILDREN!”
“DIE AGONIZINGLY, YOU BASTARD!”
“WE WILL NOT HAVE MERCY! SUFFER!”
“YOU WANT TO SEE US BEING BEASTS?! THEN WE’LL BE THE MOST FERAL BEASTS!”
“THIS IS FOR ALL OF THEM! FOR EVERYONE YOU’VE MADE SUFFER! REMEMBER IT EVEN AS YOU DIE, YOU MONSTER!”
The barbarian god tried to run away from them even as they tore apart his arms and legs, even as he was without his legs anymore, even as his half-eaten head remained.
“STOP! PLEASE HAVE MERCY! I DIDN’T…! I…! AAAAGGGGHHHH!”
He looked at Bing Xue, extending his hand toward her.
“Help… Help me! Please…! You’re… You’re merciful!”
Yet she only smiled back at him without extending a hand.
“So? How does it feel? This is the suffering you made others go through. It hurts, right? It makes you want to die, so the suffering finally ends, hm? This is despair; this is pain. Is this your first time experiencing it?" Bing Xue asked. “Unfortunately, this will be your first and last time.”
Bing Xue walked towards him, glaring at his eyes.
“Now think, think about all those you’ve made suffer, all those your followers slaughtered… those that were even eaten by them! Do you remember them? Their pain? Their cries?” Bing Xue explained. “You’re going through all of that now.”
“No…! Please… make it… stop…!” He groaned, bleeding from all over his body.
“This is the end you sought!” Bing Xue kicked his head away, and the rest of the beasts ravenously devoured him piece by piece.
Not even his brains were spared; the hungry beasts absorbed back some of their powers, although they let Typhon feast the most.
They knew that this child would be the future and that their time as the gods of this world had long ago ended.
“ROOOAAARR!”
Typhon roared mightily on top of the corpse of Rakshasa, its roar generating a shockwave of rainbow colors, encompassing the entire world of Elios.
The pillars of all elements… answered his call!
The other four divine beast spirit gods bowed to him, as he was the vessel of their father, the Star-Gazing Lion of Beginnings.
The light quickly pierced through the planet’s crust, and the countless cracks, and ripples across it began to heal, rapidly unifying together.
The volcanoes, leaving lava everywhere, rapidly sealed themselves, moving down into the depths of the underground.
The lava-covered hellish landscapes changed, immediately cooling down and being covered with beautiful grasslands and growing forests.
The remaining divine beasts created by Rakshasa dropped dead in an instant, decaying and becoming piles of rubble and ashes.
And the destabilizing atmosphere above rapidly went back to normal.
And it was just as there was a beautiful sunset, making the scene even more tranquil and beautiful.
“Is it… Is it finally over?” muttered Urbosa, sighing.
“I-I think so… Ugh,” groaned Merkite.
The two walked to the side of Bing Xue, hugging her.
The auras of the divine beast spirit gods within their bodies quickly returned to normal, so they were able to walk on their own.
“You did well,” Bing Xue smiled, caressing their heads as she let them hug her. She hugged them back happily, wrapping her arms around their backs. “It’s finally over.”
“Can I get my reward?” Merkite asked with adorable puppy eyes.
“Fufu, of course, dear~” Bing Xue happily kissed her cute lips, and then her adorable snout. “Well done, my love.”
“M-Me too!” Urbosa gasped as she learned about the “reward” that Merkite had requested; she had no idea of such a new rule! “I deserve a reward as well!”
“Okay, I was going to give it to you anyways,” Bing Xue smiled gently, kissing Urbosa’s lips gently, and then her snout and then her forehead. “Mooch, mooch, very well done, my dearest.”
Her two wives were left even more in love with her adorable way to give them kisses and cuddles, hugging her even tightly and wrapping their tails around her waist while rubbing their faces on her chest.
“Damn… I want some of that too…” Mursha muttered without realizing she was saying it out loud. “A-Ah! I mean, I didn’t…”
“Honestly, same…” Peperina sighed, looking at the scene as she yawned. “Oh well, we’re done here, I believe… I-It was sure a long day… So much happened; I need to eat and sleep to process everything… A-At least I can come back home and tell my mom her world is finally safe now.”
“Well done,” Mursha smiled, patting the rabbit girl’s shoulders. “Let’s go have a meal then; Peperina was your name, right?”
“Yep! Mursha right?” Peperina asked. “Let’s get along! I think we can be good friends! D-Despite our size differences,
“Hahah, you’re cute!” Mursha giggled, noticing how small Peperina was compared to her. “Come here; I’ll carry you on my shoulders. You’re like a baby girl!”
Mursha laughed, treating Peperina like a child and carrying her on her shoulders.
“W-Wait! I’m not a kid, Mursha, stop it!”
Although she complained, it wasn’t as if she disliked it.
As they made their way back to the camp, they met with the rest of the cavemen and Fiery Hair, along with all the people who decided not to escape their world.
There were roughly three thousand people that stayed, so the world wasn’t completely empty when everything happened.
Thanks to their hope and trust in these new saviors, Mursha was able to channel the power of Hope too, giving her the power to pierce through Rakshasa’s defenses.
“T-They really did it…”
“The world of Elios is back to normal?!”
“T-The barbarian god… You saw him die, right? It wasn’t... this isn’t a dream?”
“They killed him!”
“And the beast spirit gods, they’re back!”
“T-This is… I can’t believe this!”
The people were all in tears, on their knees, constantly crying and thanking their heroes. Many of them were still in a state of shock, completely speechless.
What seemed to be just another War Game ended up becoming the last one.
Bing Xue walked forward with the rest of the participants, as she also noticed Seth coming back with the two gods; they had been battling the divine beasts and protecting the camp.
Without their help, the camp might have been destroyed, so she was grateful they were here to help as well.
And well, without knowing about this secret that Seth had, it wouldn’t have been possible for her to save this world properly, at least.
“You may rest at ease now, everyone. The cult has been completely slain, and the barbarian god is now dead too,” Bing Xue said. “However, the world of Elios has been left in a perilous state. I am only a foreigner, an otherworldly player who has no rights to say anything about this world. I came here and simply slayed someone I thought did not deserve to live. However, the real heroes are these people. They risked their lives for you and became the vessels of the ancient five divine beast spirit gods.”
Bing Xue happily gave all the credit to the girls, and well, it wasn’t as if they didn’t deserve it. She had tried to put Seth in there too, but he just disappeared without leaving a trace; he wasn’t someone who liked attention. She also needed to ask him a couple of questions later; there were still things she was wondering about him.
“Thank you, our heroes!”
“Vessels?! Then they must be the ancient beast gods’ apostles?”
“They’re our new apostles, hurray!”
“We have to celebrate; the tyranny of the cult of the barbarian god is no more!”
“W-We’re free? Really? No more war games? Seriously?!”
“Thank you! Thank you so much! My family... my kids... they’re all finally avenged!”
Orcs, beast-kin, thralls, and many other people ran towards Urbosa, Merkite, Mursha, and Peperina, constantly thanking them for everything and kneeling before them.
Their faith and gratefulness became divine powers, with Faith Points rapidly accumulating on all four girls, making their developing divine powers grow rapidly.
“I-It was nothing, really!” said Merkite rather nervously.
“No need to thank us, we simply fought for our world!” Urbosa said pridefully.
“Everyone, calm down…” Mursha was embarrassed. “I did this because I just love this world and all of you, people that kept struggling, just like my tribe, you’re the real heroes here!”
“I-I’m not used to receiving so much attention!” Peperina was panicking.
Meanwhile, Bing Xue walked to the side of Typhon, where the enormous metallic and crystalline divine beast spirit rested over the grasslands, glancing at the camp and then at the world.
It had been born fifty years ago, yet it was the first time it was finally seeing its world—the world it would now govern as its god.
It was a very young god at that, but thankfully, he had a great mentor within him.
“Bing Xue,” the voice of the Star-Gazing Lion of Beginning spoke through Typhon. “Thank you for everything, truly. I know that you’re the real mastermind behind everything, alongside Seth… Without you, this world might have faced its end.”
“Ah, well, it’s nothing much, really!” Bing Xue giggled. “Glad you guys are back… Because you are, right?”
“I’ll have to be honest with you…” sighed the Lion. “By the end of the day, we might no longer be here.”
“W-What?” Bing Xue asked. “Wait, is it the structure of your bodies? Let me heal you.”
“It’s not something you could heal; it is connected to the world and the laws we govern,” said the Lion. “I’ll leave behind my knowledge and my will within Typhon, but in a couple of minutes, me, the hare, the phoenix, and my twin wolves will cease to exist as we are.”
“I can heal you; let me!” Bing Xue attempted to heal them through many techniques.
Yet nothing worked; it was something she couldn’t heal, a wound that has lasted for three hundred years; it was something… existential; it was as if the very “story” they’ve built was fragmenting apart, and so their existences were coming to an end.
It wasn’t something she could heal or revive.
“You see, we gods not only subsist through Faith, but we also build Stories, Myths,” he explained. “Our myths and stories have been forgotten; most of the people who believed in us died. And the new people are too few. It’s hopeless… But that’s fine as well. I want to entrust you with the future of my people.”
“Me?! But wait, I can’t just stay here forever…” Bing Xue muttered.
“I know, but I supervise it from time to time…” The lion muttered.
“Dammit… okay,” sighed Bing Xue. “Hahh… just when I thought I was getting new allied gods, you guys are going to die... Are there other beast gods left behind?”
“There are a few, weakened and hidden, in the world. They will come to Typhon naturally,” said the lion. “With him, my children shall build a new pantheon. They will become your friends and allies. Do not worry, although our existences might fade. We will leave Divine Wills, copies of our minds and thoughts, like an archive of what we were and would be. They will become the new voices of reason for Typhon; he might speak in many voices soon enough.”
“So like clones, huh?” Bing Xue wondered. “Fine, it can’t be helped at the end. I’m sorry, I wasn’t able to come earlier. I didn’t know you for long, but I know... I at least know you’re a good person, Lion.”
“Thank you, Bing Xue... That means a lot coming from you,” The lion’s form emerged from Typhon, resting over the grasslands as he glanced at the sunset. “What a beautiful sunset this is... My last sunset.”
Merkite, Urbosa, Mursha, and Peperina walked to their side, and the divine beast spirit gods that had taken them as vessels also emerged, their bodies slowly fading away at the side of their father.
“A-Are you really going to die? A-After everything?!” Urbosa cried. “Bing Xue! C-Can’t you heal them?”
“I’m sorry…” Bing Xue sighed. “There are things that not even I can heal.”
“Hahh…” Merkite sighed. “You guys lied to us; you said you would stay with us!”
“We will,” said the black wolf. “We will leave within you all our remaining powers.”
“Please, take good care of them. I know you’re all worthy, my precious daughters.” The white wolf spoke gently.
Urbosa and Merkite started crying as they saw the two giant wolves beginning to fade away below the sunset.
“I-I don’t know what to say… My mom will be so sad…” sighed Peperina.
“It is fine, dear. Tell your mother that I always listened to every prayer she did. And that I always watched over her,” the hare rubbed their noses over Peperina's head. “You and your mother are strong. Live well. And take good care of my powers. I know you will.”
“Thank you…” Peperina shed a few tears.
“Phoenix, you won’t revive like the legends say?” Mursha asked the phoenix.
“I’m afraid even that legend that gave me such power has died long ago,” laughed the phoenix. “But worry not, Mursha. We will simply return to the world. Death does not truly exist for us.”
“Indeed, we are part of the world,” said the lion. “And we will be watching you and protecting you. Our dear children.”
The lion’s beautiful, starry eyes glanced at the people of the world, smiling gently.
“I love all of you, my children.”
FLASH!
The beast gods dissipated, becoming particles of various colors of light, slowly moving away by the wind, elevating into the skies.
For a moment, everyone in the camp and the world of Elios saw this beautiful scene as millions of colorful butterflies made of these colors flew around the globe.
Their essence, like rain, fell from the skies, giving the world the last spark of life and divinity it needed to continue.
As the sun finally set, Typhon sat there, looking at the night sky.
“Groooohhh…”
He howled sorrowfully, regretting being unable to spend more time with his parents.
Bing Xue gently patted his big paws.
“It’s fine, Typhon; they’re not gone,” she said. “They will always be inside of your heart.”
“Grrhhh…” Typhon gave a cute sound, licking Bing Xue’s entire body with its giant tongue.
“Ugh… T-Thanks…”
Seth looked at the sky, resting behind the camp’s walls.
He smiled lightly, recalling the memories of his past love.
Of a cute tiger-kin girl who meant everything to him.
“We’ve saved it, Mia... Your world,” he sighed. “I hope that one day I can see you again... Amidst the countless worlds this tower has. So we can come to your world... And build a house and a family together.”
Bing Xue remained silent as she heard everything he said to himself in a lower voice.
“Heh, so even you have someone you love, huh?”
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