Chapter 268

I never thought of myself as a strong person, or a special person,


or someone born with a great destiny.

I let all the words praising me go in one ear and out the other.


Because deep down, I was rotten and black, far from being such a great person.

So, I didn’t believe in myself.


I thought I wouldn’t be able to hold on in the end.


Looking back now, maybe it was because of that


that I managed to hold on this much.

– Light…

A forgotten word suddenly comes to mind.


Until now, I had even forgotten that I had forgotten the word “light.”

I can’t believe I forgot so much, and so quickly.


Even as everything I knew drifted away like a dream, I still thought I remembered a lot.


Only until I recalled the words waiting to be recognized in my heart did I think that way.

– Why did I…

What I’ve just realized is that I’ve completely forgotten who I am.


It’s not that I’ve forgotten my name. I’ve forgotten something more fundamental.


It’s been a long time since I’ve felt my limbs. And I adapted to it surprisingly quickly.


It was inevitable that everything would fade.

I couldn’t remember what I was.


Not even the fact that I was human.

– Why did I end up walking such a heavy path?

Just a moment ago, I was everywhere in the world.


Even the flowing stars were nothing but countless specks of dust scattered across this world.


The world I lived in was nothing more than a blue dot, not even worth calling dust.

I couldn’t interpret what I saw. I could only accept it.


Everything there was bigger than this small world. It was incomparable.

– I don’t know you. I don’t know why you awakened me. And now, I’m not even curious about it.


The only thing I know is…

Those who were called the greatest on this earth.


And the many things I admired in my lifetime.


Things already erased in the flow of time.


Everything I once thought was precious has already faded.

– You must take me to the core.

The only thing left after letting everything go.


It’s not something grand like a mission.

Just the last remnant of a foolish human—‘me.’


Nothing more than a stubborn delusion.

*****

Let’s call that thing ‘the Thorn’ for convenience.

It’s so long it seems to reach the sky, and it’s deeply embedded in the ground.


This massive Thorn, as if piercing the entire Arctic, is a giant stake planted in this northern land.

If it could be used, nothing on this earth could compare to it.


Not Roka’s Resonance Sword, not the Princess’s Dragon’s Sword, not Yurinel’s Sacred Sword,


nor anything else I’ve ever seen could dare to match it.

With such a gap, there’s hope.


The possibility of tearing through this doomed world and opening a new future.


A hope to stop the destined time of destruction that awaits us.

But that’s only if it can be used.

– I’m not cut out for this. Even if I live, it’s only a few more days, but I don’t want to die now.

Oberta had already given up. She didn’t even touch the Thorn and retreated, disheartened.


She seemed depressed about it and didn’t speak anymore.

Out of pure curiosity, Yanid, who was nearby, reached out to the Thorn.


She gently placed her palm on the massive thing.


Then her expression changed, and she desperately pulled her arm back.


With a sickening crack, her frozen arm was torn off. The child’s face turned pale.

“W-what is this…?”

Just a slight touch, and the moment she made contact, her arm turned into an ice block.


Surprisingly, Yanid wasn’t too shocked about losing her arm.


Rather, it was me and the others watching who were more shocked.

“…It’s impossible. No way.”

She seemed more shocked by the Thorn’s overwhelming coldness.


I healed her arm with Divine Power, but the torn-off arm didn’t disappear.


So now, a frozen, bloodless arm dangled from the Thorn.


Yanid’s expression looked strange, but it was understandable.


My expression probably wasn’t much different.

[Your body is weaker than mine now, but the difference isn’t that big.


If you lost your arm in an instant, I’d probably be the same.


At best, I’d last a few seconds longer. Or, if I used magic…]

The dragon, after some thought, added with a sullen expression.

[Still, it’s hopeless. It’s not exactly the condensed cold of the entire universe,


but it’s at least a fragment of that level. As I said before,


it’s not just about me as an individual—even our entire species wouldn’t stand a chance.


The scale of power is just different.]

[My magic isn’t weak, but that’s not the issue.


There’s no magic that can control power of this magnitude.


Even the most renowned magic is meaningless in the face of such overwhelming power.


This is the first time I’ve felt this small since hatching from my egg.]

Something cosmic. That’s the true nature of the Thorn, a fragment left by an Ancient God.


I don’t know what it is or what it does. I can speculate, but there’s no way to prove it.


I once heard this somewhere:

– Don’t try to evaluate those sitting higher than you with your way of thinking.


They might be seeing things you can’t from their higher vantage point.

A mountain climber can only see one side of the mountain,


but someone who’s reached the summit can see the entire mountain from above.


If they can see what others can’t, it’s natural that their way of thinking is different.

The Ancient Gods must have been looking from a higher place, seeing further than I could.


Trying to guess their way of thinking is clearly not wise.

According to Azahadaka, the Ancient Gods had to pay a terrible price to directly intervene in this world.


I’ve heard such stories before. An unnamed Ancient God who punished a vampire.


He sacrificed his existence to curse the sun.

The reason they left this thing here, despite such a cost,


can only be answered by the one who left it.

But the Ancient God who left this is probably already gone,


and even if they weren’t, we have no way to communicate with them.


So, there’s only one thing we can try.

It’s a bit crude and impulsive, but let’s try infusing it with Divine Power.


I know it’s a one-dimensional thought, but there’s no other way.

“Is this thing really that amazing? Then I’ll give it a try.”

Just as I thought that, Roka jumped forward.


Learning from Yanid’s actions, she didn’t grab the Thorn directly


but circled around it, carefully observing it.

Though she only looked at the part just above the ground,


it was understandable. The Thorn was so massive that


a thorough inspection would take at least two days.


Roka didn’t seem that interested in the Thorn.

“Hup!”

As the child clasped her hands together,


a blazing sun-like figure shimmered behind her, radiating light.


It was as if the sun from the sky had fallen here,


so similar to the real sun that no difference could be found.

One in the sky, and one on the ground.


For a moment, it seemed like there were two suns.


Seeing the scorching heat of the sun, the dragon already concluded the result before it even began.

[If it were the real sun, maybe. It might have been possible to melt the Thorn.]

Roka looked at the dangling arm still attached to the Thorn,


gulped, and then cautiously touched it with a single finger.


Just a slight, very slight touch.


The moment her finger touched the Thorn,


the sun behind her began to extinguish like a dying bonfire.

Sssss!

As if someone had poured water on it,


the blazing sun instantly froze.


It turned black, then completely froze into ice.


Roka immediately pulled her finger away, shivering from the cold.


At least her finger didn’t get torn off like Yanid’s arm—that was the only success.

[But even so, it would’ve only been about melting the Thorn, not using it.


And it wouldn’t have been any help.


If a mere human could truly wield power like the sun,


what would the Primal Body matter? You could just burn it away.]

On earth, there’s nothing to compare it to,


so we have to use the sun in the sky as a reference.


From that perspective, this is clearly not something a human can use.

At Roka’s level, it’s not about holding or using it—


just touching it is life-threatening.


It’s the most amazing treasure in the world, but it’s far from being precious.

In the end, no one succeeded in handling the Thorn,


so now it’s my turn to try.


Slowly approaching the Thorn, I carefully placed my hand on it.