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Chapter 249: Underworld (1)

“……Are you here?”

Ferzen turned his head towards what looked like a man who had retreated to the back room that was approaching him in shabby clothes.

“Seems like you have not disappeared yet.”

“It just means I still have a lot of Karma left.”

The identity of the man was the king of the underworld before him.

Ferzen chuckled as he looked at him whose name had been forgotten.

“Your tricks seem to be working for you."

“……”

“It’s my first time seeing you smile like that.”

His way of speaking was strangely unpleasant, so Ferzen just furrowed his brows while sitting on his throne.

And even though Ferzen thought about using up all the little karma he had left, he didn\'t do it because his karma was too precious.

After all, Karma was everything that represented the status of god as well as the power related to birth and extinction.

To be exact, it was a twist in the causal law that would allow them to exercise their rights, even when there was no legitimate reason for interference.

In fact, the act of reincarnating his soul into the world by putting his soul in a human body was also something that other gods, including the author, did through their own karma.

“Do you think it was the right thing to do?”

Ferzen closed his eyes as he asked the question indirectly.

Proven by the fact that the former king had almost lost all of his karma, the underworld during his reign was a complete mess that was hard to control

It could be said that the underworld back then was something that could not be stabilized even if karma was used.

It was for that reason he was born; to lead the underworld and stabilize it.

Of course, that was ultimately just a subjective perspective of Ferzen—no, a god called Bertem Elqua Erue.

“It didn’t feel right, but you weren’t willing to compromise.”

As the underworld was not properly controlled, naturally Ferzen, who was born as the next-generation god, was given overwhelming karma.

However, his tyranny was working far too well, so he was able to establish peace by consuming only about 30% of the karma he had.

Originally, the monsters had strengthened their position by inducing the consumption of karma to accelerate their lifespan, but since they could not subdue Ferzen who still had a huge amount of karma remaining, they naturally bowed down to him.

However, his tyrannical reign did not stop there.

Ferzen continued to reign with the iron hand principle and even cut the healthy areas when all the rotten areas were already cut out.

“I wouldn’t have been born if in the end, I would settle for a compromise. I was born to lead the underworld in that way, and because of that, I was unable to do anything else.”

“If you don’t maintain an appropriate line…… The god born in the next generation will be given weak karma and will repeat my days of incompetence.”

“I guess that’s your point of view.”

“……”

“Is it not because the guys up there were afraid that I, with my overwhelming karma, would continue to reign without disappearing.”

Their purpose of reincarnating him in a human body should be to familiarize him with the emotions of compassion and joy so that he could imbue his rule with virtue.

Yes, the intention of the former king of the Underworld, whose name had now disappeared, might have been like what he said.

However, the other gods that were involved might not have the same intention as him.

They must have hoped that the monsters would swell in size while he was away from the underworld.

The monsters might also support that plan. After all, even if they would not receive any consequences, descending to the world as many as five times was still too much.

Their intention was probably to prevent him from dying. Thus, delaying him from awakening his true name and tying him to the world.

“It’s best to trample on those dregs while you have time. Doesn’t this peace prove that?”

“Your method may have made peace quickly, but it would not last very long.”

“……”

“Even though you and those who lived above had been living for a long long time, it seems like you are still not aware that eternity did not exist.”

Now,

"Just look at me. I have lived as long as you have, but I am about to disappear. I believed that if the status quo could be maintained, the underworld would be in peace for all eternity. They believed it too, so they agreed with me and reincarnated you in the world."

However,

"There is no such thing as eternity. The causal law does not allow for it. On top of that, it had also announced that every being would meet their end someday. You\'ve seen a lot with your eyes in your twenty-five years of life in the world. To us, the time of mortals is nothing but a mere speck of dust, in other words, it is the mortals who reject our birth and our death."

“……”

“I just hope you can fill what you lack there.”

If he could do that, even if it couldn\'t last forever.

It would be able to last for a long time which would seem like an eternity.

“It’s good for you too, isn’t it? The next king who will rule the underworld will only accept and eat the by-products.”

Ferzen lightly snorted as he looked at the former king of the underworld whose name had been forgotten.

“I am the one who has been to the world. So, why are you the one who yap like that?”

“……”

“I will ask you a question for the last time.”

In front of the pantheon, Ferzen rose from his throne and looked down.

“From your point of view, do you have any regrets about the country that you wish you could change?”

“There is none.”

Ferzen looked away as he heard his voice giving an immediate answer without the slightest thought.

“I see……”

If the answer was the truth without any lies.

“Let your hands go from all affairs and just watch quietly.”

Eventually, Ferzen turned his back and gathered a large amount of karma before violently pounding the air.

Boom-!!

Then, a crack appeared in the empty space where nothing existed. It then expanded at a rapid pace and caused a space distortion.

「B-Bertem! 」

「What are you doing!? 」

The voices they heard were the flustered voices of the gods which stayed in heaven, not the underworld.

Ferzen did not reply to their question. Rather he ordered the monsters who had been bowing their heads to stand up.

Torn-!

Then, he completely tore apart the space distortion, forcibly forming a path from the underworld to heaven.

“You still don’t know even after seeing all this?

“You wouldn’t know it if you looked at it. I am about to twist your neck.”

The gods of heaven were shocked by Ferzen\'s words which meant that he would recreate Ragnarok with his own hands.

On the other hand, they also feared him.

After all, the amount of karma that Ferzen possessed was enormous.

On top of that, the power of the highest-level monsters he had defeated and subordinated was powerful.

「W-wait! 」

“Shut your mouth, you wench. Your death will not be a pleasant one. I will leave a little bit of your karma and throw it to the monsters, so just wait quietly.”

When Ferzen remembered that The Goddess of Protection had bestowed her blessing to Ciel Midford, Ferzen could not help but grind his teeth.

Heuk-!

In the meantime, sensing the clear murderous intent from him, the Goddess of Protection made an unsightly sound and trembled without realizing it.

「I-it will cost you quite a bit of karma if you do that! Can it even be considered beneficial? If you want something from us, let us know! 」

「Isn’t it too much of a loss to shorten your own life just to vent your anger? 」

Wriggle-!!

The monsters who had received Ferzen\'s orders and were preparing to immediately climb up to heaven trembled in a different way as soon as they heard the sound of the Gods of Heaven proposing a compromise.

If it was the Ferzen they knew, he would have ordered them to advance without even listening to those words.

An ominous feeling lingers as they look at Ferzen, who stood still and remained silent for a long time.

In fact, from the monsters\' point of view, even if they were sacrificed in this war, it would still be good news since Ferzen\'s influence would be rapidly reduced and the leash he had put on him would be loosened.

Buying time for themselves to grow stronger while he stayed in the world?

It was certainly not a bad idea. However, the ultimate purpose of their cooperation was because they expected that the returning Ferzen would start a war like this.

“Something I want, huh……”

And as if to clearly prove that ominous feeling, when Fersen, who was muttering lowly to himself, raised his head, the monsters clearly sensed that something was wrong.

“If you are willing to do that, use your karma to send me back to the world again.”

「……」

No answer came from Heaven.

No, to be exact, they could not answer because the demands he presented were so unexpected.

Of course, as much as it was unexpected, it was also difficult to accept it.

After all, putting the soul of a god of that caliber into a human body and preventing him from having his memories would have consumed more karma than anyone could imagine.

In reality, even that didn\'t work out well. Causing Ferzen, who was reincarnated as a human, to suffer from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder from birth.

……For this request.

Wouldn\'t he want all those flaws corrected?

He might even ask them to let him have some of his memories.

Since they would have to prevent his body from collapsing, it’s not Ferzen and his entirety that would die.

It was the selected few gods who would have to exhaust their karma to make it happen.

“I’ll give you half a day.”

Flinch-!!

As he spoke, Fezsen unconsciously felt an unfamiliar feeling creeping on him.

To God, time had no meaning.

After all, the passage of time did not mean lifespan to them.

It was only when he heard himself referring to a definite time did Ferzen realized the oddity.

Just like what the previous king of the underworld whose name had been forgotten said.

The reason he believed that eternity existed since he had lived for a long time was probably because he didn’t realize that it did not exist.

Eventually, Ferzen turned his back and took a step forward.

At that moment, the former king of the Underworld whose name had been forgotten, who was watching Ferzen quietly, opened his mouth.

“Didn’t you say it was nothing?”

“…… ”

“I definitely heard you say so.”

As he said, human life—that mortal time was nothing.

27 years as Lee Seo-jin.

25 years as Ferzen.

Even combining the two, it was still nothing but a speck of dust compared to the eons he had spent in the underworld.

However, Ferzen knew better than anyone else what meaning those meaningless things had for him.

Step-!!

As he took a step, Ferzen answered the question.

"It is indeed nothing."

But at the same time.

“It’s everything.”

That was what Bertem Elqua Erue realized through his life as a human being living in mortal time.

As Ferzen disappeared somewhere, the former owner of the Underworld whose name had been forgotten, looked back at the despairing monsters and smiled.

“You dregs. It was better when I ruled, right? If only you listened carefully back then, that guy would never have ruled the underworld.”

The laughter of a man whose name had been forgotten rang out loud and clear at that moment.