Everyone Else is a Returnee

The strength God possessed as Greed was mostly exhausted from his clash with Michael. However, thanks to sacrificing that, God could regain his very own powers from Michael.

And now, it was time to steal Michael’s power as well.

[How, but you…… how……!

[The five of you, in the end, were still unable to surpass me. That is simply because you are bound to me. You, Lucifer, and Gabriel too. Lucifer has expressed his subservience to me once again, and Gabriel has passed on so you are the only one left. And unfortunately, my child, I do not plan to leave you alive. I need your strength. So offer yourself up to me.]

[How, how can you be here!]

[Child, my naive child. Let me ask you one thing.]

God pointed at one object. It was the Wall of Chaos that separated Elo Katra from Heaven. The final wall that protected Heaven from the predators.

[Who put up that wall?]

[Who? What do you mean who? Of course, it was…….]

The wall was built by…… who? The wall was built around the end of the great war, and the Destruction Demon Army could not invade again. With that, the war came to a halt and…… but how?

Michael momentarily could not find the answer. God smiled and told him the answer.

[It was me.]

[How, how did you!]

[How exactly could Elo Katra be right next to Heaven?]

God’s eyes flashed with a glint of sadism. All this while, Michael’s power was being stripped away little by little, but his realm wasn’t something that was lowly and easy to manipulate.

Although it originated from God, Michael, like Satan, had become able to stand whole by himself. He wouldn’t so easily go down just because he lost God’s power……!

[That, is you utilizing your powers as a predator……!]

[Wrong, you are wrong. It is because both of them are my worlds. Elo Katra is just an imaginary world that I made up. They are both part of Heaven. They are one and the same.]

Michael gritted his teeth. He couldn’t hide his frustration at the fact that he was played the fool from beginning to end.

[Even so! I, Have become God! You were wrong, and I am right! My father, I do not consider you as my father anymore! I shall not serve you as your son, I will not kneel in front of you, nor will I harbor any hope for you!]

[Yes, you are completely correct. I was wrong. However, that does not mean that you were right either. We were both wrong.]

God’s lips twisted. By peering into his mouth, all that one could see an endless abyss of nothingness.

[Mana is wrong. I should not have relied on it. I should have walked a different path from the beginning. I should have acquired something else, and should have created more… creative things. I have finally recognized my mistake. That is why I intend to fix it. I will erase everything that I have done wrong, and make them anew.]

[That’s impossible!]

[It’s possible!]

God put his arms wide. Michael sharpened his light with the intent to pierce through his body, but the tide that had changed wouldn’t come back so easily.

[Yes, my children! When I fell thanks to you, I thought that all was over. However, it was ironic that you also gave me hope! The power you gave me in compensation for my divine power! The power of stealing! With that, I regained my will to surpass records once again!]

He devoured everything in sight. The power of stealing that originated from Michael had evolved in a completely different direction thanks to his evil intentions.

He gathered all records, and dreamed of making a new record with it. He intended to comprehend the entirety of the Akashic Record, and dreamed of an improved Akashic Record.

[And I have regained my power! I have found a new path! I have gathered not those who harbored will to betray me like you, but monsters that only aimed for one thing in the first place! I have long since fallen from the ever-glorious and sacred position and had to take in those maggots! Michael, can you imagine the dejection, the despair I felt then! The feelings I had when I had to console lowly monsters that praised my hideous body! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!]

[Not my problem! I don’t care and never will, you damned monster!]

Michael’s light brightened. His power was endless! As his power was stolen by God, Michael instead actually started gaining enlightenment into his own unique realm of power.

Since what was God’s went back to his posession, Michael only had the light left. The light that he had wished to acquire for all his life, it still remained his. It was solitary, but retained its brightness and assaulted God once again. No matter how much of it was devoured, it continued to burn even more brightly!

[I am God! You are merely the God of the past, a record that cannot return to prominence, the sun that has long since fallen below the horizon!]

[I am not the past, but the future. What you are grabbing onto is but an illusion, and what I shall acquire Is true Creation!]

God’s body expanded. The stronger Michael became; the stronger God became as well. Then, the tide was reversed again and God pressured Michael again.

[The era of humiliation is over. I have endured for a truly long time, working to raise my power, went berserk, erased, prevented myself from being discovered, and lay hidden while crouched in a corner. In my long years of waiting, Lucifer understood me, came to me and I regained what I had lost in the past. So, I no longer need that wall anymore.]

Just as Michael was about to counterattack, he heard something of tremendously large size crumbling. He instinctively knew what it was and turned around.

The Wall of Chaos that separated Heaven and Elo Katra was collapsing. The border between two worlds that were part of one, but still separate, had already disappeared. Mixing without harmony, attacking each other amidst the chaos that was left behind.

Despite that, the two were one. God’s past and God’s present were unwilling to accept each other but still homogenised with each other. It was as if one were looking at the figure of God now.

Power drained from Michael’s body. Because the world he reigned over was being ruined?

No, his magic power was actually decreasing. He could feel the league of his soul decreasing.

[Just, what…….]

[Heaven and Elo Katra are one and the same. They are all merely illusions that will disappear soon, but it is a suitable object to crush you with. So, my child…… do you feel it? You have become alone.]

God’s power was becoming stronger. As Heaven and Elo Katra mixed into one, power was stripped from Michael and flowed into God. Michael finally realized why God was in a hurry to regain his power.

Heaven obeyed whoever possessed God’s power. Since that power returned from Michael to God, this was a natural flow of events.

Michael lost his world. Now, all of this was God’s again. Not even aware of the tyrant that will destroy the world, this world was granting power to that man.

God opened his eyes. With the unstable, but strong body, he pressured Michael and spoke again.

[Where are the angels that was with you? Where are the ones that followed you? Where is the world under your management? What is the source of power that gives you strength?]

[I…… I am light. I am wholly complete, and luminescent, I do not need a place to call home!]

[In that realm which you believe to be wholly complete, many, many, have ascended to it.]

[What……?]

Michael lost his final bit of will as well. However, God mercilessly forced the cold hard truth onto him to rip his morale to shreds.

[You have merely reached the realm of recorded gods.]

Recorded, gods……? The original owners of those blessings that Yu IlHan and his group use all the time? The unique power that is granted unto a single being through the Akashic Record? Michael clenched his teeth and denied that.

[R, recorded gods…… they are merely records! They are merely agglomeration of records and are not real!]

[And who was the one that told you that?]

[You! It was you! None other than you!]

[Yes, it was indeed me. So, my child, I will correct it for you.]

God’s lips twisted hideously. Mana gathered and covered his body, and became a murky armor that escaped the boundaries of mana due to the integration with countless mutated soul fragments that he had devoured until now.

[That is a lie.]

[What…….]

[That term is the biggest insult and arrogance in front of them. They are not ‘recorded gods’. In fact, they originated from records but have surpassed it. I estimated that the answer to surpassing mana would lie within them. That is why I captured them. Because they were beings that could not be bound with records, I attempted to capture them with something that were not records. I put them all into one world and bound them there.]

[Just, what are you saying…….]

[Can’t you even imagine? You are foolish, my child. I have attempted to make a new record storage for the multiverse. I wished to become the Creator, and the manager of that multiverse.]

If Yu IlHan was here, he would have been annoyed, saying something like ‘don’t mention something that was mentioned before already’, but unfortunately, God didn’t even realize that Yu IlHan not only saw through his schemes, but had even obliterated it into tiny pieces.

[I have attempted to make them into a new library to store new records. Gathering soldiers that obey only my will, to gather information, reflect on them, manage them, and create them. Although I temporarily lost my power thanks to your interference before I could finish, I have in fact been able to complete a more perfect record storage after my fall. Thinking back on that, I should instead thank you.]

Michael took a step back without knowing.

Recorded gods were real, making a new Akashic Record by capturing them – these were things he actually knew of before, but this man was definitely insane. He mistook his emotions for reason and was enforcing them on others as well!

[And now, I have gathered many, many beings that have surpassed records. Although some of them escaped and dreamed of rebellion, that’s merely a portion of them. I can just get them back later. I can just fill the empty slots again. The new world will arrive soon. Though, I had to test it before it was fully complete because the situation became urgent…….]

Thinking about the Legnae and Archlegnae that weren’t fully satisfactory, God shrugged his shoulders. All of this was due to Yu IlHan. He could only shift his plans forward as his growth was much too fast.

[However, all is well. Yu IlHan has grown, and acquired power that is close to Creation. This is what it means to reverse the tides.]

Although the power that Yu IlHan had acquired was that of Creation, one that surpassed God’s by miles, God still looked down on him. That was why he could be at such a leisure.

[And then I reunited with you again. Now I will devour you, and devour Yu IlHan as well, in order to become more perfect than before. I will create a new world, and a new set of records.]

[You’re looking down on my power…… a being that is in the wrong; a relic of the past, you can only boast with the powers you have stolen from me, and you insult me for desiring something that was not mine……!]

Michael brought up his power for one last time.

However, what he chose was to escape. He judged that there was no hope of victory head on.

What did he have to do, and how? He thought that he had to ally with Yu IlHan albeit unwillingly. Yes, since God was aiming for Yu IlHan right now, Yu IlHan would also have to kill God. With their powers combined, someone that just fell from power in a hideous and unsightly manner should easily be dealt…….

[My child, where are you going.]

[Kugh!?]

God appeared again in front of him when he tried to cast magic to flee. Michael tried to activate Warp with his eyes widened in shock, but his hopes didn’t come to fruition. God’s hand was already right in front of his head.

[Truly foolish and unfortunate. There wasn’t even a one percent chance of victory for you in the first place.]

“Just, what…….” (T/N: Quotation marks in the raws as well)

[Didn’t I already say it, that you have been left alone.]

God chuckled and twisted his hand.

Michael’s head split into two with those movements.

[There is nowhere for you to go, my child.]

[G, ggaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaak!] (T/N: Back to brackets for this one….)

Michael died, and God devoured him whole.

The rightful ruler of Heaven had returned.