CHAPTER 549

SAVIOR (III)

The red light that had eclipsed the sun settled shortly after, leaving behind a tender ruin of death and destruction. Amidst the fiery winds and the fading weeps of terror, a single, lonesome figure floated, his expression shaded in a darkened hue, his lips parting into a faint sigh. The sigh seemed to bear the cries and the curses of the millions he had just slain, as though he was letting go of their ghosts, banishing the demons from his heart.

Rammraght and Antvvara, alongside the others behind them, stared with the slacked jaws and wide eyes. There, truly, was something beyond harrowing about the scene they had just witnessed. Something that had utterly overturned what they believed to be the truth of the world.

The human figure in the sky merely glanced over the scattered survivors, completely ignoring them afterward and turning around, descending amidst the last sanctum of Ivulits. The survivors had no mind to stop him, quickly banding and hurrying away, terrified out of their wits. Since the human didn’t stop them, Rammraght wasn’t about to either; they were hardly a threat at this point, after all.

Knowing that the rest probably had no courage to step anywhere near the human, Rammraght swallowed a mouthful of saliva and took a brave step forward; countless eyes glanced at him with gratitude and relief, though he hardly had time to pay attention to them. All his wits were drawn to the abyss-like black eyes that were looking at him smilingly, lacking any previous terror he had displayed to the world.

A joint sound of footsteps echoed in Rammraght’s ears as he glanced sideways; Antvvara, though shaking and barely holding it together, had joined him. From the side, he could clearly see her lithe eyebrows flutter, her full lips quivering as though doused in a frigid bath.

“… boy, you two must suck at the sports,” the human chuckled all of a sudden, calling Rammraght’s attention back onto him. “It’s barely fifty meters, yet you sure are taking your sweet time.”

“Ah! I’m sorry—”

“Ugh, I’m kidding,” the human groaned with a rather strange and queer expression, suddenly striking a weird pose of sorts, jaw angled toward the sky, a single finger lifting the chin. “Why is it always like this? I… only want to make friends… you know?”

“…”

“…” Ah. He’s the weird type. It seemed as though everyone currently paying attention to the scene collectively understood it, their guards dropping alongside the sense of fear and horror. Rammraght barely held in a bout of laughter, while Antvvara had to shift her head sideways and cover her lips, though her shoulders were mysteriously bouncing up and down.

“If you want friends,” Rammraght approached, extending his hand. “I’d be glad to become yours.”

“… hoh? Really?” Lino smirked faintly, grabbing his hand and shaking it. “Welcome to the party, then. So, what will you do now?”

“…” Rammraght truly didn't know; though he wished to ask the human to help them, he could neither speak for the rest of the survivors nor request more from their savior.

“If you’d like, you can join me and I’ll bring you back to my home,” Lino said. “On the other hand, if you’d like to retain your autonomy, I can help you escape someplace, though I can’t guarantee you won’t be found in the future.”

“We’ll join you.”

“A-Antvvara?” Rammraght belched out, staggering.

“What?” she scoffed. “Of course we’re joining him, idiot. He just decimated the force that got us down on our knees despite all our efforts. And he did so within seconds. Where else in the entire universe is it safer than by his side?”

“… oh, stop it. You’re making me blush.”

“…” Ah. He’s the really weird type.

“That’s fine, but… I…” Rammraght muttered, glancing at their last sanctum with a heavy gaze.

“… Hu—Great Human,” Antvvara suddenly bowed down in front of Lino, surprising both him and Rammraght. “I know it’s a selfish request, but I’d like to ask you to let us bring along our last sanctum. I know it will take a while to prepare everything… but…”

“Oh? That?” Lino muttered dismissively, suddenly extending his right arm and ripping open a vortex in space. “Don’t worry about it. Just have some of your people go around and mark the edges.”

“Huh?” Rammraght asked with a questioning gaze.

"Boys, you're up!" the strange human shouted into the void; a mere few seconds later, all manner of creatures began streaming out like a flood – from animal-like to massive giants towering at nearly thirty meters.

“Oh? Who did you save this time around, boss?”

“They look like humans. Ah, when will you save another group of Iyvar’s, boss… I’d really like to meet a new girl, y’know?”

“Nice place, nice place.”

“Where do we start digging?”

“The foundations seem firm, but we should still be careful. Ungurs and Giants will be responsible for keeping it still while Moonfoys dig beneath.”

“Hey, you guys got any booze?”

“Ah, boss, you are so handsome~~”

Rammraght, Antvvara and the rest stared at the beyond ridiculous scene with eyes wider than they were when Lino was fighting. The empty plaza was quickly stacked to the brim with an insane variety of different species and lifeforms. They began to stare about curiously, inspecting the massive structures as well as the smaller ones.

“Coordinate with them,” Rammraght took a deep breath and settled his quickly-beating heart, turning to Antvvara and speaking with a faint smile. “We’re saved.”

"… hm." Though faint, there was a lingering smile on her lips as she happily skipped over to the group of newcomers and led them to their own engineers. Though the digging of the sanctum would still take some time, it won't be nearly as long had they been forced to do it themselves. Rammraght, on the other hand, walked over to Lino who was chatting with a strange-looking creature of slightly blueish skin, thin and long limbs and elongated, curved head.

“Ah, Rammraght—that’s way too long, I’ll just call you Ram.”

“I’d rather you don’t—”

“Ram, meet Ak.” Lino said, ignoring Rammraght’s helpless expression.

“Ak’gva.” Ak’gva extended his hand with the same, helpless smile.

“… Rammraght. Nice to meet you.”

"Anyway, he's way more versed in inter-galactic or whatever politics, so he can introduce you to the leaders of these guys. Right, how far have you guys charted?"

“… hmm,” Rammraght paused for a moment and began thinking. "Pretty far; but, if you're looking for another planet with life on it, I'm afraid you're out of luck. We've integrated all we found within two billion light-years."

“—by now, you’ve already cleaned enough to make them wary,” another giant, though one three times as tall as the rest, also sporting reddish hue instead of the pale-blueish of the rest walked out of the vortex, crouching down and picking the trio on the palm of his hand, bringing them up to his eye-level. Two massive, gem-like eyes nearly caused Rammraght to jump off, though he barely held on. “With today’s failed trap, the losses the Creator suffered are too much. He’s likely to pull back the truly strong Agents, and perhaps even outsource your bounty to some other World-eaters. It would be wiser if you pulled back, for now.”

“… still feels shitty,” Lino said, sighing after a short pause. “No matter how many I try and help, it doesn’t even count as a drop in a massive bucket—nay, a fucking ocean.”

“… it’s the beginning, Lino,“ Ak’gva said, smiling lightly. “We’ve already spread out rumors of you as far as we could. Now, others won’t need to simply bend over to every and any of the Creator’s whims. So long as your beacon shines across the vast expanse, they’ll find you.”

“He’s right, Lino,” the giant nodded, causing a rather powerful blow of wind that nearly sent Rammraght flying. "I know you're extremely powerful, but you are still but a single soul. The Creator has countless universes under him – you'd die of exhaustion before even getting through one-millionth of them. Rather than breaking your bones by running around and trying to rescue everyone and everything, it's better to build up an army of your own. Build your own Cosmic Throne, and I’ve no doubt in my mind that, given time, you’ll be able to end his wretched rule.”

"… I suppose it's time," Lino said after brief thought. "I've already gathered enough energy to use for the Edifice. I also do have a wife and a kid waiting for me back home… it won't do my sanity any good if I stay away from them for too long."

“… could you please stop bragging?!!” the giant suddenly exclaimed while Rammraght could swear he saw the giant’s cheeks flush for a moment. “I already told you why I don’t have a wife!”

“… oh, please,” Lino rolled his eyes at the giant cheekily. “Keep that ‘too big’ excuse for the morons who’ll actually buy it. The truth is that you just suck at talking to women. Fuck, you suck at talking to them even if they’re from a completely different species. My offer still stands – if you tell me how to craft that hammer, I will teach you how to finally get a wife.”

“Bah, what do you know?! I already told you I won’t use force!” the giant retorted.

“Eh? When did I ever tell you you’d be using force?” Lino frowned. “Wait! Is that how you think I got a wife?! Fuck you! I charmed the shit out of that woman, flirting for months and years before she caved in! Haven’t you listened to my story?! We were childhood sweethearts separated by insane distances, only to be reunited as both friends and foes before conquering all the obstacles and ending up together! What did you think I did?! Press a sword against her throat?! Fuck!”

“…” Ak’gva and Rammraght stood to the side, former shaking his head in disbelief as he once more concluded that their Savior – a human who could topple the universe all on his own – was a rather… strange figure. The latter, on the other hand, couldn't quite reconcile the man he was seeing in front of him and that figure that crushed millions in a single move. A conspiracy brewed inside his mind – the two aren't the same people. No, they can’t be the same people. It simply made no sense. No sense at all.