CH 316

If one had to visualize the barrier that Zeus created, it would be something like a sphere.

And Zeus’s body was in the center of the sphere—well, if you could even call it a body at this point. But it functioned as the core of the barrier.

So if the barrier was viewed as a hard sphere, and the core was Zeus’s body, the Human World was everything in between.

Only the outermost layer was the barrier.

In other words, if you viewed the Human World from the outside, all you would be able to see was this outer layer.

Long ago, after Hera was defeated by Yamato, she plotted to somehow return and recover Zeus’s body and soul.

According to Yamato, Zeus’s soul was inside of his body. And Hera had sacrificed much in order to reach it.

While I had just described the barrier as the surface of a sphere, it could also be compared to an apple.

It caved in near the stem.

In this way, with Zeus’s body as the singular point, the energy that maintains the barrier is released, and flows into the surface of the apple.

Hera must have learned of this, and figured out that Zeus’s body was in the center.

However, there was no way to actually see Zeus’s body.

After all, Yamato had used the structure of the barrier and created the Other World.

“Because all of the elements used to construct the Other World were taken directly from Zeus’s barrier. I was not going to give my own life to provide it with energy, like he did.”

In other words, the Other World was not nearly as strong as Zeus’s barrier.

And so its fate was to vanish when Yamato died.

Regardless, Yamato had made the Other World before Hera’s return.

And so Hera didn’t know about it.

At first, Hera was not able to find Zeus’s body no matter how hard she tried.

‘She must have been very confused at this phenomenon of there being a barrier but no core’ said Yamato with a laugh.

After many years passed, Hera realized that the Other World existed, and how it worked. She searched for ways to get close to it, and gritted her teeth at how difficult a task it was.

Even more years passed, and Hera was finally able to get through the security net that was created around the Other World.

“I was watching carefully for any celestial intruders, but she still almost got the better of me.”

Apparently, Hera was very good at such things.

But she was discovered in the end, and that led to a battle.

Ultimately, Hera was annihilated.

When Melvis had gone to the Under World, he said that he saw Hera’s soul there. So it must be true that Hera had been erased from the Human World.

“However, when Hera was annihilated, she cast something on me that even I did not understand. But after thinking about it, I realized it must be a type of curse. It was the powerful technique that was supposed to help her get Zeus out of the Human World.”

To put it simply, it was a way of getting out of the barrier from within.

Upon being hit with the curse, Yamato’s soul separated from his body.

And like that, he traveled through the Under World and ended up in the Demon World.

Had it been cast on Zeus’s body instead, his soul would have likely gone through the Under World and reached the Celestial World.

Once he reached the Demon World, Yamato’s souls entered into an abandoned vessel and he stayed there for a short while.

But during that time, he was forced to move through the Demon World in that form.

“So the person I met was…”

“It was me, while I was in a Personification vessel. It had been brought down during the invasion from the Celestial World, and functioned in the same way as the vessels in this world. While you cannot see someone else’s mana level, you also don’t release any yourself. And you are not affected by mana or holy power.”

As for why Yamato was walking through the miasma zone.

One of the reasons was that he wanted to avoid being seen by anyone, but it was also because he wasn’t affected by it.

“And when we met, you saw that there was another soul inside of me.”

But I thought that he shouldn’t be able to tell how much mana I had?

“My special ability deals with mana, but it also deals with the soul.”

Where did mana gather inside of the body?

Of course, it was inside of the Orb of Control.

Even someone like Yamato should not be able to measure someone’s mana when inside of a vessel.

And so he would have to use a different method to see it.

The current of mana.

Apparently, when Yamato touched me, he had sent mana into my body and seen how it flowed.

And when he reabsorbed the mana, he noticed that there was ‘another soul’ there.

Why did he do something like that? I wondered. But the vessels were something that the celestials made in order to descend to the Human World.

You could say that they were used as a human disguise.

And so in terms of durability, it was similar to the average human.

It could be strengthened if you charged it with mana, though, it wouldn’t work in the Human World.

You would just be a weak human.

As for the Demon World, there were some whose appearance and age did not match.

And so not being able to measure a person’s mana could lead to disastrous results.

So, though I had collapsed in the miasma zone, there would still be a possibility that I was actually someone who was strong, and just pretending to be weak in order to lure people in.

You had to be cautious in the Demon World, or you wouldn’t last long.

And because he knew this, Yamato had not let his guard down, even though I looked like a child.

In any case, after our encounter, Yamato traveled through the Demon World as he became stable inside of the vessel. And then he realized that his soul was still connected to his body.

In other words, if he escaped the vessel, then he could return.

And so he shed the outer shell and did not resist the current. That’s how he returned to the Human World.

My meeting with him in the Demon World had been completely by chance.

“I see. Fate is a mysterious thing.”

As they say, God’s in his heaven, and all’s right with the world.

Well, now I had heard everything Yamato had to say.

There had been some sidetracking, but it hadn’t been a waste of time.

Ultimately, it was the result of a lot of thought during a long history.

You start to not care too much about small details when you’ve lived for so long.

However, my mind was set. I would not tolerate this distorted world.

The other me was no longer here.

But if he was, I know what he would say.

‘What is the point of being a resident of the Demon World if you can’t fight?’

And I agreed.

So there was no point in talking any further.

It was just a matter of who would have their way.

“Alright, it’s time we get started.”

“Are you certain? I very much doubt you can beat me.”

“There’s only one way to find out. This is how things are done in the Demon World.”

“I see. Then I will not hold back. If that’s what you want.”

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

We were past the need for words.

It was all about fists.

(Still…my first ever Gekokujyo was against a Commander…)

How the hell did I find myself here? Fighting a Lesser High King?

I would never have thought that the Battle on the Lookout Hill would lead to this.

Had I known back then, I wonder what kind of expression I would have had.

It was with such thoughts that I bared my teeth and laughed.

“Now, let’s see the power of a Lesser High King.”

This would likely be my final fight.

(Are you watching me? I’m going to do things my way. That’s what we do in the Demon World, isn’t that right?)

And so I charged my whole body with mana.