Alice and Sabrina were two women who rarely ever let emotions overtake them. Their faces remained cool most of the time as proof of that.
But seeing the man who'd tormented them to such a degree die in such a simple manner left their mouths hanging as if two little girls had seen a ghost.
'All it took was two simple taps…'
They both thought while simultaneously turning to the most likely culprit behind Ashen's bizarre change.
Lucia kept an unchanged expression unlike the other two, even though she herself didn't understand what she'd just unleashed. She was, after all, still a con artist, no matter how flawed.
The moment he turned around, everyone stopped overthinking and held their breath, but the man in question didn't even acknowledge them anymore. Now all of his attention was turned to the frozen Secrets.
"Are you still intrigued?" He smirked. "Don't worry, I'll tell you everything slowly…"
"I'll tell you who you are, how you came to be, where you came from, and why you don't know any of it."
"So, why don't you hand over that lady in the meantime?"
Secrets started almost vibrating in return, its eyes turning bloodshot as if it wanted to devour every word that came out of his mouth.
Ashen regarded its behavior as though he'd expected it all along. This Outer God was considered the weakest for a reason.
Or rather, two reasons. Those reasons were constituted of two big weaknesses.
One. Its concept doesn't distinguish between foe, ally, or even the host itself.
And two… Its unbearable, maniacal need to know every secret that is beyond its concept's ability to pry.
Normally, these two can't be considered real weaknesses, since who would know a secret unknown to the hoarder of secrets himself? And if by some unholy miracle they did, they'd have to be stronger than the Outer God to use it against him.
But due to its abysmal luck, the moment it came down it this cursed planet, it was met with a regressing dreamweaver.
The dreamweaver in question shrugged nonchalantly when the crow disregarded his request. He wasn't in a hurry anyway. So, he started fulfilling that burning curiosity instead.
"There was once a little crow whose name was Gomba… Everyone always added 'little' before its name though, since it was the cutest and youngest in the family."
⛧
This crow lived on a distant planet. Its life was quite fulfilling. It had many loving siblings, a doting mother, and a king for a father.
The time it lived in was peaceful. Its species were on the top of the food chain, and its family was on top of the species. No one could harm it, especially when, as the youngest, it was the most protected and doted on.
Such protection and peace made it easy to breed cowardice when confronted with hardship, and little Gomba was no exception. It even learned the space element as its first concept since it allowed for hiding the furthest and running the fastest.
But when peace dominates and conflicts recede, a new emotion eventually rears its ugly head: Boredom.
And just like it wasn't immune from cowardice, little Gomba was not immune from boredom. Thankfully, it soon found the cure: curiosity.
The moment it got curious about anything, it would soon forget that tedious feeling and immerse itself in the fun of discovery, adventures, and the joy of unraveling secrets. Its space concept was finally put to something aside from fulfilling its cowardice.
With it, Gomba was able to reach any place it liked on the planet, and with it, no space was safe from the crow's relentless curiosity. Its family indulged and even supported this behavior, allowing it to let go of all restraints, forgetting the concept of personal space, and ignoring the existence of privacy.
And who would dare stop the most doted-on prince if even its family encouraged such behavior?
The boredom was, however, a relentless feeling. The moment you stop, it strikes. So Gomba never wanted to stop, but it was forced to when it discovered that all there was to know about its planet was already laid bare before it.
There was no place it hadn't visited, nor a secret it left unknown. Its people weren't exempted, nor was its family. The cowardly crow had ultimately become the most informed individual on the planet.
This feat didn't please it at all, for with it came the unchangeable fact that there would be nothing left to be curious about. And that would lead it to stay vulnerable against its most fearsome foe… boredom.
Days passed, then months, then years, and finally centuries. The pitiful crow was ready to go mad with blahs—but a sweet… sweet voice unexpectedly whispered to it, putting a halt to the tedium and reigniting its long-dead curiosity.
At first, the voice didn't ask for anything. It simply narrated tales of unheard-of places. Planets beyond its own, entities with untold mysteries waiting farther away from here…
Gomba asked for the mysterious entity's identity, but it only replied that, like its father, it was a God—the God of Fated Freedom, and She had come to it since She could feel that it was destined for liberty. But that only made Gomba even more curious about Her.
Eventually, after more than a thousand stories, filled with countless adventures, and even a promise of gaining strength that would allow it to shed its cowardly self, the crow folded and asked for the voice to bring it away so it could see such sights personally.
The voice guided it to the core of its planet in turn, and for the first time since it obtained its space concepts, it hesitated.
Its father, the king of this planet and its sole God, had warned it countless times not to mess with the core. Despite allowing everything else, that was the exception, so Gomba remembered the warning well.
Anyhow, it wasn't even that curious about it. The core only contained the conceptual energy of the main concept held by the planet, which was Taboo.
But Taboo and Space were unrelated, and holding two unrelated concepts was a shortcut to death at best. Gomba knew this, and so did the voice, but She kept urging it nonetheless.
She said that as long as it was its fate, it would not die. She would make sure of it. The planet's core concept is the last key for it to pierce the barrier surrounding the planet. If it did so, its space concept would allow it to finally soar beyond the confines of a singular rock.
There would be infinite space and beyond to discover!
Despite the promise of such sights, cowardice still ruled the crow… but that did not last for long.
The voice did not insist, though the tales it used to whisper ceased, and that made it restless.
Before, it managed to tolerate boredom because it thought there was nothing to be curious about. But how could it still stay still when a whole new world was right there, just at the tip of its claws, and it just had to reach for it!
Death? Why would that still faze it when it had started contemplating ending itself to escape the blandness of life?
Madness? Isn't it going mad already?!
The only thing still holding it back was the safety of this planet, where its people and family resided, but even that was put to rest when it was reminded that the voice said it only needed a little bit of that conceptual energy. Just a little… right?
Alas, the moment it had a taste, it couldn't stop anymore. It ate and ate and kept eating. It couldn't stop itself for a moment.
With every bite, its form changed, turning more grotesque as if trying to forcibly put together two incompatible shapes that could not be combined.
At the same time, oceans raged, the earth fractured, and the sky wept as if doomsday had come. Perhaps it had. The planet had no more core to sustain it, and the apocalypse was simply a prelude to its complete unraveling.
Little Gomba had no idea; no, it simply could not afford to care right now. It was too far immersed in the forbidden knowledge granted by its new Taboo concept that kept assaulting its mind without pause.
Its countless eyes glazed over, whatever was left of its complexion turned ecstatic, as if it had discovered the truth of the universe itself.
When it returned to the surface, its drugged brain didn't register the dead planet despite its eyes seeing it.
It only gained awareness when She descended upon it. Finally having a face to associate with that sweet voice, Gomba felt dizzy from the assortment of emotions assaulting it.
It felt joy at finally uniting with the guide that liberated it from its boredom.
It felt rage at the cost of such freedom, now that it was able to notice the aftermath.
It felt joy at having any secret on the tip of its tongue the moment its curiosity stirred.
But above it all, it felt mad rage and endless despair at that very same fact!
Every curious thought was immediately satiated, every inquiry was directly answered. Where was the discovery in it?! Where are the adventures it was promised?!
Isn't this the same as it was!!?
Had it sacrificed everything in vain?!!
The only thing stopping it from lashing out was that, against all odds, it still could not glean into the secrets of the entity before it. It could not even pry Her real name.
⛧
By now, the humongous creature had long disappeared. In its place, a pool of mana barely holding the shape of a crow stood. Despite that, Ashen didn't relent from narrating the tale in the same soothing voice he'd used to ask the Astrologer to relax with.
"So, as always, unable to hold its curiosity, little Gomba asked… and the entity simply answered."
'No. Not yet. Not whole. Give it. Give it now—'
"But the moment it heard the name of that entity, the crow was introduced to the reason why its concept was Taboo. Any knowledge it could not obtain from its concept was considered forbidden, and forbidden things always require a price…"
'Stop. Stop. Don't let it finish. Don't let it finish—'
"The price was its memories."
'Curses, I know it. I know it, I know it, I know it—'
"Its home planet, its people, its family… everything got erased."
'Mine. It's mine now. But I'd give it back if I could. I'd—'
"Even its name. And from that moment on, little Gomba died, and in its place the Outer God that roamed the universe was reborn as Secrets."
'No. No. Keep it. Keep it and drown in it if you must. I needed to know. I needed to know and now I do.'
Two molten orbs had replaced its eyes along the way. They were filled with so much obsession, a desperation so heavy to know the truth that they'd started literally burning.
"You followed Her around since She was the only enigma left for you, harvesting planets, destroying civilizations, and now… you stand before me."
Cornelia had long been passed into Ashen's arms in a desperate attempt to escape some of the curse's devastating effects.
But if it wanted to really escape, it could have simply flown away from the start. Or killed the still-standing corpse-like regressor before it.
But it could not. No. It would not. Its whole reason for existence had always been to uncover secrets, and what better secrets than its own?
But now that its curiosity was satisfied, the desperate will to know tethering its crumbling form finally let go, allowing the soul to latch back to its original body.
Secrets figured that this was also its foe's plan. Push it far enough until its vessel is destroyed and its soul is kicked beyond the Shroud. That way, the crisis of an Outer God roaming freely on earth would be averted.
What's more, Secrets hadn't merely lost its vessel. So many of the minor concepts it had devoured during its long life had vanished, and its soul was badly damaged.
It reckoned that it would be forced into slumber for the next few decades to heal this damage. But that was fine. It had survived all while getting what it wanted.
Now, Secrets knew of its past, which also meant one less weakness for it.
And the moment it woke up, it would make sure to 'reward' the regressor who removed this weakness plenty.
'Hey… I should be able to kill it, but I don't know if our body will be able to handle the aftermath. Should I do it?'
While the Outer God thought Ashen was trying to expel it, a more apt expression would be… cooking.
Now that the prey is cooked, it's time to dig in. It was just that his body was at its limits, and he didn't know if it could handle such a big dish.
So he asked the younger self, since it was also a co-owner of the body.
{Do you even need to ask? Kill it.}
And the older self was glad that his younger counterpart was on the same page as him.
'Alright then… watch closely, this is a real spear thrust.'
He held the spear with one hand diagonally, but his stance stayed relaxed. It was almost clumsy.
His eyes sharpened. He took a deep breath, and along with it, another even bigger light shone above.
It was another icon. It was far bigger than the Crown, reaching far above it. At its center, crimson words hung majestically, exerting a tyrannical presence that suffocated every citizen of Ashbastion and made even the countless Narkals halt their steps.
『Godkiller』
Veins started throbbing and then popping, turning him red, but Ashen acted as if nothing had happened.
The Outer God's vessel, which by now had turned into a white pool of liquid from the mana of billions of beings, started moving on its own.
Nay, it was the same man moving it using something he'd acquired in this new life. 'Mana Authority, huh… if I'd had this skill, they would have died a lot faster.'
The liquid twisted and turned under the tyrannical will until it obediently reached his face and then got sucked behind his pupils, with only a tenth settling on his spear.
The moment the last drop vanished, he thrust forward, and with the motion, the icon above trembled.
The spear that was colored white from mana gained the same crimson color as the Godkiller words hanging above—all for the sole goal of accomplishing its meaning.
The spear elongated into a straight red streak that reached for the skyline.
The line passed the wall, and whenever it met Narkals, they dropped as corpses with a hole at the center of their brains. Billions fell, and when it passed by the two Catastrophes, they fell all the same.
Finally, the streak tore through space and vanished, chasing that running soul until the ends of the earth, and then beyond it.
Then it tore through time and appeared above the moon, right where the crow's soul and body had just joined, and collided.
"AH??!!!! OHAHARHGGHHHHH—"
Agonizing pain ripped through it as it felt its body tear and rend from itself.
The moment that red streak of death struck its body, it knew that its life was over. But what it didn't know was—
"HOW can he move in that STATE??? How could he still slay a God in that STATE!!!! It's incomprehensible. It's unbelievable. It's inconceivable!!! There must be a secret that you're hiding from ME!!!"
Ashen, through the will in his mana, heard its frantic questioning of his strength, even when it was at death's door, and shook his head.
"Pitiful crow, I already told you… If the body breaks, the will carries it."
⛧
⛧
⛧
The spear in his hand fragmented into tiny dots of metal that the night breeze took along.
He did not die, but he might as well have. The hand that thrust that spear was slowly turning black as if it was completely sucked of life. Every inch of his body carried the same black spots, and his body itself refused to move an iota.
But the result was worth it.
His gaze looked down at the endless Narkal tide that now lay motionless on the earth, at the distant titanic ifrit and its accompanying priest that suffered the same fate…
And the will imbued in the red streak had just confirmed the demise of his foe.
'This should be enough for the domain to survive this time around…'
With nothing more to accomplish, he was about to let his will recede and switch back, but then he remembered something and halted.
'The Pit's poison… that disgusting parasite dares to put its will in my body? How brave.'
With a last flex of the dissipating Crown icon, the living poison fell into eternal slumber.
He knew that the current Ashen was far from combating something like a poison from the Pit, since it was supplied by the Envy Sin Lord himself.
Anything from someone who reached Second Step and beyond usually carries their will along, and that poison was practically insidious since it was not only alive but also quite clever, which meant no biological means could purge it.
'Alright… switch back.'
{...Is there anything left for me to switch back to anyway?}
'Ah, don't complain. You'll get used to it. Either way, we will live. We always do.'
{Haah… alright.}
{Innate Skill Activated: Twin Souls}
The moment the switch happened, Ashen found his body shutting down. His prone form tilted back, but before it hit the ground, it was caught by two soft bodies.
He knew them from the smell alone.
'My love and… my partner.'
☽⟲✧⸸✧⟲☾
Volume 4: Curiosity Killed the Crow~ End.