# "He Twisted Your Soul Structure"
"I've twisted your soul structure."
"...What?"
"Ah, I haven't made you a god. Even I don't know magic that can turn mortals into gods. I just made it possible for you to 'absorb' divine fragments. Haven't you noticed something strange?"
How were you able to keep moving until the end and finally kill Aviditas?
And now. With your body torn apart, in a state where it wouldn't be strange to collapse and close your eyes at any moment.
Why aren't you exhausted yet?
Why can you still move?
"Yes. Even at this very moment, you're consuming divine fragments. That's why I must apologize to you."
"Apologize? Why?"
Apologizing means you've done something wrong, but just hearing that, isn't this a good situation? If we consider only being able to continue fighting without getting tired when slaughtering the Seven Dragon Lords.
"You know about the curse you get from killing a Dragon Lord, right? You've experienced it."
"Yes."
"That's not a curse, Ivan. Strictly speaking, it's closer to a blessing. It only appears to be a curse because a mortal's body is too fragile to handle a divine blessing."
It wasn't a curse, so it couldn't be healed by the Saintess's baptism. Because it was a type of blessing bestowed by the gods.
"A blessing that carves away at a human soul and transforms it into a conceptual being. In other words, anyone who kills a Dragon Lord has taken the first step on the stairway to godhood."
"For something like that, I..."
"Yes. It's just the first step. On that stairway you climb after achieving transcendent feats and bathing in divine blood. If you become a concept yourself and ascend, finally shedding the remaining 'mortal parts' of your soul. Yes, you too could become such a being."
Or raise your achievements by killing Dragon 'Lords' one after another.
When the caliber of your soul itself rises, you can no longer maintain a mortal form.
"So, I forcibly pulled you up that stairway. Now your soul will gradually move closer to godhood."
"If I defeat that thing?"
"Most certainly."
"How do I defeat it?"
Ivan's blunt words caught Beolgrin off guard, uncharacteristically.
"Aren't you angry? I'm saying I've given you a death sentence! Don't you understand?"
"Was it necessary?"
"...Yes. But..."
"That's all I needed to know."
Ivan looked forward again. With Beolgrin's appearance, "that thing's" movements were gradually slowing down. As if it were wary of the man before its eyes.
He had gained some time to regulate his breathing.
"But, Ivan Petrovich. I'm telling you that I used you. You and your companions too. Even my daughter!"
Was it guilt? Ivan never expected to see such an aspect from that old elf. He looked at Beolgrin with fresh eyes.
Perhaps even elves couldn't escape dementia. The Beolgrin in his right mind would never apologize or feel guilty.
"I used your daughter too. Your relatives... yes, 'our' companions as well."
"What?"
"I wanted to return home. That was my only thought. Perhaps these people could show me the end of this story. Perhaps they could take me out of this hell-like world. Send me back to my homeland."
He thought he could return home if the Hero killed the Demon King. So, he willingly served as a scout for the Hero Party. Risking his life to explore the Dragon Lords' lairs.
When that failed, he still remained in this world.
When the Hero's children formed a new Hero Party to complete a new story, would he be able to return then? If he taught them well and finished the remaining "stories" in this world, would it be possible then?
He made many attempts. Saved many people. And just as many died.
Still, he remained in this world.
Kim Seon-woo finally gave up. He no longer said anything. He neither screamed nor complied.
He wanted to return home. Yet, he still remained in this world. But would he give up? No, he had learned many things, but giving up wasn't one of them.
So he decided to use them again.
Rescuing them when they were in danger.
Teaching them when their knowledge seemed insufficient.
Willingly serving as a scout when the journey began again.
Assisting them to ensure they were fully prepared for approaching threats.
So...
"I have no right to blame you, Beolgrin."
"Ha... haha... hahaha!!! You make me ashamed. Truly, truly.... You strangers who have fallen into this world. How do you always make me feel so small?"
Both Maximillian and you. How?
Beolgrin covered his face and sobbed. Soon, when he lowered his hands again, one could sense a certain "determination" shining beneath his eyes.
"My final resolve has been set. I too am merely a mortal, so I couldn't help being swayed by temptation. Forgive me."
"Just the conclusion."
"Defeat that thing. I'll handle what comes after."
Ivan silently looked at Beolgrin. Under his gaze, Beolgrin smiled lightly and shrugged.
"In this form, I can no longer interact with physical matter. I'm already pushing myself to the limit."
But.
Beolgrin trailed off as he raised his head. He stretched out his hand. Toward the sky.
A bright star shone through the split sky. The celestial energy twisted.
The aurora shimmered as it lowered its veil.
What he was looking at was beyond the sky. Among those stars, the magical energy flowing throughout the world. The movement of celestial energy. The rotation of the celestial sphere and the grip looming over it.
Reaching out his hand toward it, grasping it, and pulling it down again.
Crushing the world's ill omens, stirring them into good omens.
Now the whole world was in chaos, with great misfortune and great fortune mixed together.
Swirling so violently that those hands wouldn't dare reach into the world—.
"Now listen carefully."
Beolgrin slowly faded away.
Behind his fading afterimage, the snow that had been raging like a storm gradually subsided. The night was still harsh, but the snow no longer fell—.
-Flinch.
The foot that was about to step forward stopped. No, the foot wanted to move forward, but the body stopped. As if someone was pulling it back.
Since his sense of touch was gone, Ivan didn't immediately recognize the anomaly.
Since his hearing was gone, Ivan couldn't hear the sounds coming from around him now.
But since his sight remained, Ivan turned his head to look beside him.
"Senior!"
Dmitri. You're alive. Well done.
He saw a man grabbing his shoulder and shouting. And other men lined up behind him.
The emotions in their eyes were clearly visible. These were men of Krasilov, without fear.
Everyone here had once entered a Dragon Lord's lair and returned alive. The pressure of a Dragon Lord couldn't bind them.
Indeed, a trained agent shouldn't find it difficult to do something twice that they've done once.
And all of these men were sufficiently trained even by Ivan's standards.
"Total personnel?"
Thus, the last high-ranking officer of the Annihilation Squad prepared to issue orders once more.
"31 people. No loss of total force."
"No, it's seven hundred and thirty-two."
Ivan turned his head again to look at a group of people walking from far away.
At the very front, with black hair fluttering in the rough wind.
With one eye shining like a hawk, looking straight at him and smiling fiercely, toward an elf.
That one eye was proof of the feat of facing a Dragon Lord alone and surviving.
"Edelplat Koenwulf and a total of 694 members of the Sword Division. We're joining the battle."
"You're bad with numbers. Then why 732?"
"Because we're here too."
Elfihera smiled with tired eyes and responded.
"The Hero Party is originally one body. We won't leave anyone behind alone again."
I see.
Ivan nodded calmly.
As the snow cleared, the frozen landscape of Idranhill was revealed. A giant branch that had burst through the pillars of the Eternal Palace was soaring toward the sky.
Finally, the Dragon Lord had been released into the world. But, well.
With the current Hero Party and all the personnel who had faced the previous Dragon Lords gathered.
This should be manageable.
Ivan nodded to Beolgrin's gaze that he felt from somewhere in the sky and said.
"Our immediate task is the death of 'that thing'."
Somehow feeling a bit cheerful.
"Our top priority is survival."
So don't die. Ivan finished with a faint smile.
"The grand strategy is the end of winter."
"Ku Geor. Yes, kill the winter. Indeed, no season is eternal."
Beolgrin smiled as he looked down at his gradually fading body.
"Now the harsh season of the gods will end, and the season of humans will arrive. That is enough. That is enough."
Is it really?
Did you really dedicate your life to such a noble ideal?
You, a mortal who greedily devoured wisdom. Is that really enough?
Whether it was an auditory hallucination, his own desire whispering, or perhaps truly a test from the gods.
None of that mattered. Beolgrin smiled and nodded.
"Yes. How could a great elf be inferior to humans?"
All of you will face your end in solitude. No god will help you now. All your prayers will be ignored. You will wither away alone in silence.
"The gods have never answered our prayers, and we have never sought their help."
Beolgrin concluded while looking at the rippling sky.
"Also, isn't solitude proof that one stands alone? All those who can stand alone and walk on their own legs are, in themselves, their own gods. Now the mortal world will finally be free."
You will perish completely. Your soul will be torn to pieces and scattered as dust.
"That's a poor excuse for last words. Shouldn't parents bless their children's independence? Now be silent, forgotten ones. Just watch."
The first sight of your children becoming independent.
Beolgrin smiled lovingly as he looked down at the people running below.
Finally cutting off all the desires he had almost clung to so uglily, and smiling.
Yes, do it.
I'll carry that burden. And then.