Chapter 51: The Throne Below

In the vast underground chamber adorned with crystals and precious stones, there stood a great stone throne. Upon it, the titan Erebion had taken his seat once more after examining the lifeless body still lying at his feet.

"An absolute death, inevitable..."

The titan murmured to himself, his luminous eyes shining amid the dark mist that gave shape to his figure.

"The natural order of the world has already changed..."

His eyes flashed again for an instant, as if betraying the titan's thoughts or emotions.

!!

But his thoughts were suddenly cut short. In front of his throne, near Drazel's body, two figures had appeared out of thin air.

One of them was a young woman with twintails as red as blood, carrying an immense scythe. Her gaze swept across the stone chamber in an instant, and the moment she caught sight of him, her face lit up.

She was about to lunge at him, but the young man accompanying her quickly held her back. Erebion's eyes flashed once more as they settled on that young man in particular.

"What are you doing, Nerez?! You promised I could fight him!" Cerys complained, trying to pull free from his grip.

"I know, I know, but let me try talking to him first!"

Still trying to restrain his servant, Nerez glanced at Drazel's lifeless body. But he said nothing about it; what had happened was clear enough.

"Why waste time?!" the redhead snapped, crossing her arms with a pout. "We all know gods can't coexist with titans. They're just remnants from the age when the world was formed. Words like 'change' or 'coexistence' don't exist in their vocabulary."

"I think if 'coexistence' is in your vocabulary at all, it's because someone forced it in there pretty hard..."

Nerez studied the titan carefully. Since they had appeared before him, Erebion had shown no sign of reaction apart from the brief flash in his eyes.

This one looks way more like a 'lord of darkness' than I do. I wonder if titles can be transferred... In any case, good thing I didn't bring the others. This isn't an opponent mortals can face.

"You are... something that should not be here."

Erebion's voice was deep, each word drawn out with deliberate slowness.

"See?! See?!" Cerys exclaimed again. "There's no point trying to reason with titans!"

As though he agreed that no more words were necessary, Erebion rose heavily from his throne and lifted his hand, wreathed in black mist, toward them.

" I call upon you, those who once were. "

At Erebion's call, the chamber began to tremble, and the crystals visible through an opening behind the titan shone with a blinding radiance.

A few moments later, countless souls began pouring out of that same opening.

Among them were the souls of creatures and nature spirits native to Eryndea, but there were also souls of mortals who had died shortly after arriving. Nerez even spotted a few goblins and orcs among them.

The souls began advancing toward him and Cerys like an orderly army marching toward the enemy.

At the sight, Cerys let out an exasperated sigh and rested her gigantic scythe on her shoulder.

"Titans really don't have brains. It's not as if he can't feel our connection to the domain of death, but even so, he can't think of anything better than this..."

As if the souls had heard Cerys's words, they all stopped after advancing only a short distance.

The titan's luminous eyes flashed amid the dark mist, but the souls did not react.

Only after a long silence did they turn around and return to the opening in the wall from which they had emerged.

"That went beyond anticlimactic... What even was that?" Nerez muttered, watching the last of the souls disappear into the distance.

"That much was obvious. The souls know who they must not anger after death," Cerys declared, gripping her scythe once more. "The titan is the only one who still doesn't understand that his time has already passed."

Nerez looked beside him at Cerys, who seemed utterly eager to start fighting, and let out a resigned sigh.

"All right, it looks like we won't be able to have a civilized conversation after all... But don't get overconfident. A titan is almost certainly far more powerful than a thousand-year-old spirit."

Erebion looked at Cerys for a few seconds, but his attention remained focused mainly on Nerez.

"This being is already one with the world... that cannot be allowed," the titan declared as he began advancing toward them. "My reason for being is to preserve stability."

But he had barely finished speaking when Cerys appeared behind him, swinging her gigantic scythe as though it were made of feathers.

"Enough with the blah blah!" the redhead shouted as she launched her attack. "I'll give you the stability death brings!"

The titan's luminous eyes settled on Cerys again, but only for an instant. The next moment, the dark mist surrounding him lashed out at the goddess like a whip, and she disappeared from where she stood, only to end up embedded in the wall of the stone chamber.

"This anomaly must be corrected," Erebion stated.

Nerez looked toward the cloud of dust raised by the pulverized rock, now hiding his servant from view.

"Are you alive, Cerys? I told you not to get overconfident..."

But the dust cloud was swept aside by the wind Cerys kicked up as she burst out of the rock and shot toward the titan.

"You know I'm alive! Why are you asking?!"

"That happy look on your face isn't exactly what I'd expect from someone who was just slammed into a wall... Well, to each their own, I suppose."

Cerys swung her scythe again, but the mist streaming from Erebion's body rose into a shield around him and stopped it.

"That weapon is dangerous," the titan intoned as the dark mist whipped out again and sent Cerys flying once more.

As much as that lunatic is enjoying the battle she's been longing for, it'll be dangerous if she keeps taking that much damage for too long... There isn't room for many skeletal warriors in this space, and I have no idea how useful they'd be against a titan... No way around it, then. I'll have to choose from the skills I unlocked after raising the proficiency of 'Veiled Trail'.

[Ferryman's Due]

[Soul Rend]

[Black Pyre]

It's a shame, but I don't think this is the moment for the ferryman.

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