chapter18

Floor 1　Saint the Eldus

The interfereing figure——a young man, with the baby in his arms, took a leap to where Elpis was. He then helped her up and gave the baby back to her. Taking the baby back immediately, Elpis then asked the man hesitantly.

Elpis: Who...are you?

Saint: I’m Saint, the grandmaster of the Eldus. I’m here to repent the sins my fellows committed.

Elpis did not hate Saint in spite of his Eldus identity. He was the walking definition of love, as if his gaze could forgive all sins and purify all kinds of hatred.

At this moment, Enlil came over to Saint with a sweet smile on her face. She acted totally different from that ruthless look earlier.

Enlil: Sir Saint, why are you here?

???: We called him. We’ve told him everything you and Shamash did.

Enlil: Anu...Ninhursag…

An ill female Eldus came over with the assistance from a robust male Eldus. They were Ninhursag and Anu. A hint of anger flashed across Enlil’s face, but she smiled again and leant close to Saint.

Enlil: Sir Saint, please don’t believe in their lies. Enlil did everything for a reason——

All of a sudden, Enlil waved her arm to unleash a dark haze at Saint, but someone interfered, who pushed Saint away and slashed that haze with a sword.

Ishtar: Hmm!

Saint: Ishtar!

Ishtar: I’m alright. Just a scratch on my arm.

Enlil: Ha, I didn’t expect a miss.

Saint: ...I knew it. Enlil the Eldus had died a long time ago, who was killed by you, North, the demon possessing the source power of destruction.

Enlil: ...Hehehe, you found out, Saint. I regained my memories not long ago, the first war between us the demons and the Eldus.

Saint: I’m the one who sealed you and took your freedom away. You have every right to hate me, but why did you hurt Enlil, Shamash, the earthlings and the creatures on this realm? You used to know love and protection. How come you only know destruction now?

Enlil: How come...Cut the crap! My love and the longing of my soul were taken away by you Eldus!

The vivid old memories gushed in Enlil’s head regardless of her own will...

Floor 2　North the Demon

When the origin of all things was destroyed by an ancient creature, the source of power was torn apart. A portion of which was turned into darkness, fused with the crushed flesh of the ancient creature, that gave birth to a new form, an embryo. It was North.

The darkness contained nothing but merely a minimal energy as to the source of power. Despite that, North was unable to take it. The embryo was repeatedly squeezing while regenerating at the same time, reshaping into an incomprehensible form. Afterwards, North and the others of its kind were repelled by the power of creation. They came to the other side of the universe countless light years away and entered a state of hypersleep for self-recovery on deserted planets.

The great power residing in North made it wake up earlier than the other same kind. Crawling out, it performed a mimicry towards a jellyfish out of instinct. However, the dark energy inside caused it to transform into a deformed body.

North did not give up. It experienced the life cycle as a jellyfish, extracted a superior life sequence and did the same practice of mimicry when it moved into the next planet. Though the result was the same——A deformed body.

North: “Why...why do I look so hideous...”

Saddened, North put away the imitation, drifting in the vast universe until an iridescent light caught its attention.

North: “What is that...Such splendid and captivating...”

North was drawn to the iridescence. It turns out to be an embryo trapped in a strange container.

North: “This is...my...kind...my fellow...I need to get it out...”

North used its broken hands in an attempt to destroy the container, but it was blocked by some sort of barrier.

North: “Annoying...You disappear!”

Beclouded with intense desire of destruction, North had a resonance with the power within, releasing the crushing darkness. Crack! The container was broken. North carefully held the embryo with both hands. Moving its body, the embryo began to lick the blackish-green skin of North, analyze its life sequence and mimicked.

The embryo, growing at an amazing speed, emitted silky lights to wrap itself up into an oval pupa. Its pulse was accelerating until the limit was reached. The pupa cracked.

Beautifully shaped hands protruded from the gap, and delicate light shone through the fingers like distant stars, twinkling. Soon, a naked body jumped out as the gap was pulled open. He stretched his slender four limbs leisurely; the snowy white was dyed with his smooth and flawless skin; the shimmering veins reflected the dazzling light, constituting an exquisite flesh body.

Eventually, his delicate face was revealed. The world seemed to stop flowing, and all the colors were concentrated on that unearthly face in an instant.

Laplace: Thank you for saving me, brother.

The man Laplace put on an innocent smile. That pure face was able to shake everything in the galaxy. It was all because Laplace was the supreme species that perfectly combined the power of destruction and creation. North could not contain the tears; its heart fell into unprecedented tranquility, as if it found its majestic belief.

North: “...Such a beautiful existence...It's the dream I've been chasing...”

North came to Laplace, kneeling down with respect. Then it raised his right foot, pressing its rough and uneven face on it.

North: It's my honor to serve you.

This was the encounter between North and Laplace. Later in the time, North was taken by the Eldus to their home planet. When Laplace was on his rescue plan, he walked into a trap set up by the Eldus, which had him killed and believed that North had joined the Eldus…

Floor 3　Cease Fire

Laplace: You betray me because of your own desire…

North: I didn’t!

Laplace: Don't deny it. It's not a fault. You made your own choice, and I won't hate it nor judge it...I was unable to observe you in the past. But from now on, I'll never observe you again…

North: No! Listen to me! It's not the truth!

Laplace: Goodbye, North…

North: Please...don't...Laplace...don't leave me…

North experienced a mental breakdown as Laplace passed away. The hysteric North brutally slaughtered the Eldus. At last, it was defeated and sealed by Saint, who happened to return home during the massacre.

Unable to bear the painful flashback, Enlil opened her eyes, which contained nothing but pure hatred.

Enlil: Not only you killed Laplace, but you completely tore off our bonding! Not even your death could soothe my resentment!

Saint: ...You won’t stop even if I repent with my life?

Enlil: Bullcrap! I’ll destroy everything about you Eldus. Everything!

Tears of bitterness rolled down Saint’s cheeks, which carried the sentiment that was too genuine to be doubted of. He pitied Enlil from the bottom of his heart, as if he could feel what she felt.

Saint: ...North, you’re blinded by hatred. Without love, you’ll only live in agony and spread disasters to innocent lives. We must stop you.

Soon as Saint raised his wand, a brilliant strand of golden light was beamed at the sky. Next second, a group of visitors descended from the sky——the Eldus led by Saint, who landed onto the podium and joined the earthlings’ side. At this moment, the balance of the scale of this battle tipped.

Enlil: ...Damn it! Here you are stopping me again...I won’t lose this time!

Enlil’s body shook when she was gathering all her power to attack Saint, for the continuous battle had consumed a lot of her stamina. This hit was easily blocked by Saint, but Enlil, blinded by hatred, had no intention to stop. When she was going to strike again, she was restrained by vines.

Enlil: Vulthoom! Let go of me!

Vulthoom, the owner of the vines, decisively adopted the option of escaping as a bunch of Eldus had joined the war. Meanwhile, the other demons followed and fled the battlefield. Vulthoom conjured vines out of the flower buds to grab Enlil and lift her up.

Vulthoom: Sure, but with your injuries, you’ll be defeated by the Eldus and your dream to exterminate them will never come true. Is that what you want?

Enlil: ...Tut! Let’s leave.

And Enlil and the demons retreated from the battlefield. Meanwhile, Ishtar asked quietly.

Ishtar: Should we pursue?

Saint: We have massive casualties here. Treatment is the top priority——

???: ELPIS!

A fearful scream sounded from behind. Looking over, Saint found Elpis lying into a man’s embrace with her body full of terrifying cracks!

Floor 4　Farewell

Vulthoom the demon aborted the battle as Saint and the Eldus under his lead had arrived as an reinforcement. Cang Bi had no intention to pursue, for it saw Elpis was staggering her steps with her baby. Flying over, Cang Bi shifted to the human form and caught Elpis from falling in time.

However, he couldn’t help but screamed when he had a clear image of Elpis.

Cang Bi: Elpis! What...what happened to your body with all these cracks?

At this moment, Saint the Eldus came over to check on Elpis. The longer he checked, the deeper his frown got.

Saint: ...She used the spell to enhance her body strength at the cost of her vitality, and these cracks are the result of the overconsumption——

Cang Bi: Can you fix her?

Saint: I’m sorry... 

Leonard and Zack arrived at the scene, and Saint left the conversation to let them farewell.

Elpis: Ahaha, seems I’ve worked too hard——

Leonard: Stop making jokes! It’s all my fault. If I had taken Enlil down——

Taking the responsibility, Leonard clenched his fists tight as if he was punishing himself. At this moment, Elpis put her palm onto his fist with a gentle smile on her innocent face.

Elpis: No. This isn’t your fault. I wasn’t gonna live long anyway. Right? Zack.

Zack: ...Yes.

Zack had already spotted the cracks on Elpis ever since the battle with Rlim the demon.

Elpis: Plus I’m happy to protect my child, so don’t be too sad about it, Leonard.

Leonard’s tears were like a running tap as Elpis’s legs began to break down into ashes.

Elpis: Hehe, Leonard has always been the mature one, and now you acted like a little boy throwing a tantrum...Cang Bi, please take good care of him. And Zack, remember to reconcile with Valanthe...

While Elpis was talking, tears started rolling down her cheeks.

Elpis: Why am I crying…

Cang Bi: Elpis…

Elpis: ...I don’t wanna go...I wanna watch my son grow up...I wanna dress him up and tell him about Enkidu…

Gasping rapidly, Elpis began to lose her temperature. Despite that, she held her baby tight to feel the tiny softness for the one last time. No matter how much tears she had shedded, she couldn’t stop her body from decomposing.

Elpis: Cang Bi, Leonard, Zack, I’ll leave my child to you.

Cang Bi: ...Don’t worry. We’ll take good care of him.

At the final moment of Elpis’s life, she gave the baby to Cang Bi, held the baby’s tiny hands and said softly with love.

Elpis: Even if I break down into ashes, I’ll always love you.

As she was done speaking, her palms decomposed and the baby lost the warmth that wrapped his hands up. His tiny fingers were closed together as if he was trying to grab something, but then nothing could be kept in his grasp.

Despite witnessing the whole decomposition of his mother, of course the infant would not understand the meaning of such an eternal separation. Still, the baby’s cry was spread to the whole place as if he was aware that the world was different now...