Chapter 379: Is It Finally Victory? (3)
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His Bloodline Abilities were back, and using Jogan he saw the situation on the surface world.
Yes, he survived, but nobody else in the world did. He was alone. He was the last man on this planet, now filled with creepy Laḫmus calling themselves the New Humans.
"No… I have some people left."
Neji called forth his Gate a few meters from the floor, as people dropped from it. From Fujimaru to Rumi, and from Rhongomyniad to Ozymandias.
Lastly, Kurai dropped on Ozy's chest and bounced.
Da Vinci, and Fujimaru. Ozymandias, Sanzang, and Nitocris. Rhongomyniad, and her Knights. The remaining Hassans. Lastly, Merlin.
Only a few were actually missing, but that gap in the group was noticeable.
The entire group looked around, very confused and unsure, as they stared at Neji.
"Papa…"
Kurai sounded angry and frustrated as she called. But all that vanished when her eyes met with his and she couldn't sense any emotion in him.
"Is everything all right?"
She didn't ask if he had won. She asked if everything was all right or not.
Neji opened his mouth to answer, but he could only sigh in the end.
The things that happened today were just too much for him. Apparently, he had a child. Apparently... his Lady Luck was now gone. He lost Quetzalcoatl in his arms, and he couldn't do anything to stop the others' death.
"No,"
In the end, he could only say that.
"Nothing is all right. I am just… Well, I don't know anymore. But the Goddess is gone for now. So you guys can rest assured that at least."
The survivors exchanged glances. Neji stayed silent like that until one of the survivors spoke.
"Um, what's that thing?"
He blinked when he realized who was talking. With half of her hair black and the other half blonde, the woman who wore a black dress with a golden lining spoke.
"...?"
Neji frowned at her, instead of looking at where she was pointing.
"Who are you?"
"Ah, I am… Ish-kagel? Eresh-tar? Just call me anything you want. We figured something out as you had said, but you never called for her to help."
Neji looked at her, the tier floating on her head.
[Ereshtar – God of Destruction – Tier 21]
It was an interesting title, but given her Tier… No, she wouldn't have been of any help. Her participation wouldn't have changed anything at all. But… huh, so they fused somehow.
"Anyway, what's that hanging from your waist?"
She pointed at his waist again. Neji looked down at his waist and frowned. There was a thread attached to his Armor, and from there, a coupon hung.
A literal coupon. Neji grabbed it and looked at it.
[A 'Timely' Miracle.]
That's what it read. Neji's frown slowly deepened.
What was this?
Neji hesitated. He was about to decide what to do with this, but right then the sky rumbled. the ground above them was shaking, it looked like it would soon collapse.
Neji held onto the coupon and looked around.
"Let us leave. My Temple is still there. We should get into it and rise high in the sky."
Ozymandias spoke as she pointed at the pyramid that was poking into the underworld, acting as a cap that blocked the red sea.
The red sea had calmed down by now, slowly solidifying, since Celestine was gone. But the solid sea was too much for the ground to bear. It was about to crumble down, and the underworld was about to meet its end.
"B-but wait! So many souls are here, we can't just leave them!"
Ereshtar yelled, pointing at the zillions of souls around them. All the humans who had died had come here in the form of souls. If Neji and friends left, they would be left under the rubble.
"I got this,"
Neji said gently and waved his hand. A portal opened, stuttering before it was stabilized. It was empty terrain on the other side, filled with nothing but clouds.
"Ah…"
"It's my heaven."
Neji casually created Heaven. Just like how he created one in the Naruto world.
With another wave of his hand, he threw all the souls into heaven. The underworld kept quacking, as zillions of souls rushed into the new heaven.
Kurai, Nitocris, and Ereshtar herself raised their hands to help the other souls as well. In mere thirty seconds, all the souls were thrown into heaven, with lastly the few servants that were in Ereshkigal's home here.
– Duddummm!
The underworld quacked one last time before it broke down, falling down at them.
Neji closed the portal to heaven with a wave of his hand, and just before a large boulder fell on the group, he waved his other hand.
In a second, all of them were teleported into Ozymandias' temple.
"We are safe now. Ozymandias, can you levitate us up?"
Before the sea could completely freeze, Neji told Ozymandias to lift them up. The Goddess did as asked, waving her hand and raising her home upwards. It was broken in many parts, as sides of it stuck with the stone sea, but overall it lifted upwards, steady and straight as it floated.
Most fell on their butts and sighed. Only Rumi, Rhongomyniad, and Neji stood, but none of them spoke to each other. Rumi stared at him in silence, her eyes filled with emotion, but she didn't speak. Rhongomyniad had a perplexed expression that Neji ignored.
Instead, he was looking down at his hand. He was looking at the coupon.
"A timely… miracle, huh."
Neji grabbed the coupon with both his hands. He hesitated one last time, and then he tore it apart.
"Let's see what that means."
He wasn't sure where this originated from, but… the result left him paused regardless.
The torn-apart coupon shone white. It was a bright glow that spread around the entire temple. Then, it expanded. It was like a ripple in the pond that somehow expanded into the sea. The glow expanded into the stone sea beneath, and then into the mountains. In mere seconds, the golden glow had gone right around the entire planet.
The entire earth gleamed, and soon the result of it waited inside the temple.
"Huh?"
A high-pitched voice spoke.
Humanoid figures of light glowed, it was six of them.
"Oh, my. This is interesting…"
A deep voice spoke.
"How surprising."
A man said as all six of them finished forming.
Neji looked at them, sprawled on the floor on their knees as they were.
"I thought I died…"
Ana said. Ana who had died before.
"M-Master?"
Mash Kyrielight gulped, looking around in haste before she paused when her eyes locked on a broken figure. The broken figure slowly revitalized when her eyes locked.
Neji looked at the gathering of people. It was stunning. All of them were dead, but now they were here. They were back.
"Ah… are you… Gil?"
Neji paused, hearing the name. Slowly, he looked at the source of the call. It was an androgynous body with long green hair, wrapped around with white robes.
"...."
Neji was confused. Who was that? Was it Kingu? But the vibe was… His stupid questions were answered when he saw the text hovering over the person's head.
[Enkidu – Divine Clay – Tier 21]
For someone who was roughly equal to Gilgamesh in his prime, that seemed to be a good enough Tier. This was not Kingu, no… it was the real deal.
But how? If the coupon revived those who died just now, why wasn't Kingu back but instead Enkidu?
"Ah, right…"
Neji blinked.
"A miracle."
Instead of answering Enkidu, Neji was taken by a sudden hope. He looked at everyone who was revived before him.
Ana, Jaguarman, First Hassan, Enkidu, Tristan, and lastly Mash. Everyone was busy already, with Ana being hugged by Merlin, and the First Hassan being surrounded by the other Hassans. Sir Tristan was with his fellow Knights, and Enkidu was staring up at him.
It was only Jaguarman who was left alone, confused as she looked around.
Neji's hope died down. He couldn't find her. The coupon was weird, based on what caused his "Miracle"? It didn't revive the entire population, so did it work based on his subconscious wish? Or did it revive whom he wished didn't die?
Was that why… Quetzalcoatl wasn't back? Because he accepted her death by letting her use that divine buff? Even if Celestine didn't kill her, Quetzalcoatl would have died on her own due to that overuse of her divinity.
Or was it because this coupon couldn't revive someone who was soul killed by the Creator Goddess?
"...Dammit."
That woman he neglected, yet who didn't think twice before sacrificing herself… that Quetzalcoatl was now gone forever, it seemed.
With a strange gap in his heart, that didn't let him be happy even though nearly everyone important was back, Neji could only curse.
"Hey, why are you angry?"
Two arms gently wrapped around him from behind. Neji sighed in frustration, he didn't exactly want consolation from anybody right now.
Grabbing her hands, he broke the hug and turned around to confront whomever it was.
When he turned, he paused.
"Anata!"
With blonde hair as bright as the sun, with two streaks of black that imitated the night, the beautiful chief Goddess of Aztec grinned at Neji as her wrist was being grabbed by him.
"Say, how did you bring me back? It's weird, you know. This is my real body, not a servant one, yet I have all of my memories. It's like a miracle, huh?"
Neji just stared at her in disbelief. He let his heart calm down, to make sure he wasn't hallucinating, before he yanked her by her wrists and kissed her deeply.
"Eep-!"
Quetzalcoatl yelped and moaned, as she felt his arms wrap around her in a tight grip. She hugged him back after the shock ended, as he kicked the ground and slammed her back against the wall, still kissing her and feeling her body all for himself.
The world hadn't changed. Apocalypse was still there. All life had ended, and creepy Laḫmus walked the Earth. However, with the presence of these few in this temple, Neji felt that indeed… this wasn't a total loss.
No…
In fact,
This was a miracle.
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