Chapter 150: A Dead Seed
"What are you doing?"
He had seen the last wisp of darkness, the remnant of the goddess's will, and had been about to destroy it, but Alia had been faster, and had enclosed it in her palm. Did she not fear being possessed herself?
"It's alright," she said with a gentle smile, seeing his concern. "Don't worry. This child will bring no more disaster."
"Can you be sure?" he was still worried. They had paid too much. He himself could not have replicated the final battle on his own. The world had no more faith for him to squander, the last of it having been used in that final, devastating blow.
"I am."
She looked at him, at the human who had taken her most beloved child, who had taken the Heavenly Kingdom she had created, who had killed her dearest sister. And yet, she felt no hatred.
It had been she, in the beginning, who had realized that the faith of the elves was not enough to sustain them both, who had created the Sky-Winged to be her own, while her sister would have the elves. But that child... she had not listened to her explanation, had just retreated into her own stubbornness. And perhaps, she, herself, was also to blame. She had been too demanding of her. But it was too late now.
A short distance away, Kraft stood, staring at the bottomless crater, his body trembling.
The child who had been so thoroughly corrupted, and the terrible darkness within him, were gone.
He opened his mouth, but all that came out was a long, deep sigh.
"If that thing were to corrupt you, I'm not sure I could save the world again," Rhodes said to Alia.
"Look," she said, and opened her hand. The wisp of black matter hovered there, inert, no longer writhing, a dead seed. "She's dead," she said, her voice a calm statement of fact. Her gaze moved from the darkness in her hand to the massive crater. "She will not be resurrected, and she will bring no more disaster."
He looked at the wisp, then at her calm face. She had given him her assurance, but he was still wary. This was, after all, the remnant of a god, the source of all their tragedy. If she had been so easy to kill, the Goddess of Life would not have been possessed, and there would have been no war between the demons and the allied forces.
She met his scrutinizing gaze without flinching. To be looked at with such audacity... he was the only one. But she didn't mind.
In the end, he chose to remain silent. He nodded and looked up at the sky, at the thin clouds, at the place where the grand Heavenly Kingdom had been.
"You're not taking Olivia with you?" he asked, his voice low. With all the other Sky-Winged gone, to be alone, in that vast, empty city... he couldn't imagine the loneliness. And she had fulfilled her mission. She had, at his command, unleashed all of the city's stored faith, and had destroyed the Demon King's castle.
"She refused," she said, her voice devoid of any anger, only a hint of a slight confusion. She closed her hand, and the wisp of darkness was absorbed into her body. "She is bound to you by a life pact, to share your life. It is good that she will live on."
Olivia's own life force had been sacrificed in the battle, her once-long lifespan now drastically shortened. But the pact with him had replenished it. As long as he lived, she would live on. And though Alia could have fixed her lifespan herself, she would respect the child's wishes. She had made one mistake already; she would not make another.
"It seems you have figured it out," she said. He was surprised that she had discovered his secret so quickly. "You have the authority over life, after all. I am sure that with your ability, you will find a way to achieve eternal life."
"Is that a reward for the hero?"
"You can think of it that way, if you wish. But," she paused, as if hesitant, "that authority... you cannot use it on others."
"I understand," he said with a solemn nod. For now, at least, he had no intention of using his power to grant eternal life to anyone else. The one he wanted to be with... was already an immortal herself.
Having said all that was to be said, she turned to Kraft.
"Farewell, Kraft."
He slowly knelt before her. "To have adventured with you, it has been an honor."
He had not believed in a goddess before, but now... now it was time. He had not known, at first, who she was. But as they had traveled together, he had sensed it, her otherworldly air, her incredible power, a power that could only belong to a god. And her conversation with him... it had confirmed it. Alia was the legendary Goddess of Life, Alis.
"And you, Rhodes," she said, her voice clear in the desolate ruins, "it is all finished now. My pact with you has been fulfilled. My time has come to an end."
She walked to the edge of the crater, and her form began to fade. "It is time for me to leave this world."
"Leave this world?" he asked, a look of shock on his face. He had thought she was just talking about the end of their adventure, not... this. She was the last of the gods. And with her departure, the Age of Myth would truly be over.
"An era has ended," she said, not looking back, her gaze fixed on the sky, where the sunlight was now streaming through the tattered clouds. "And so it must. My children have found their own paths. To remain here... I would just be a ghost of the past, a hindrance to the new life that is about to bloom." She turned her head slightly and looked at him. "You have done well, Rhodes. You have taken much from me, but you have also prevented a much greater disaster."
(End of chapter)
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