ch35

“I apologize. It’s quite a long story, and I had a lot to sort out in my head.”

“…Are you sure you’re alright with this?”

“It’s not exactly a story I’d go around broadcasting, but it’s not something I particularly need to hide either. Besides, you might be working with me in the future.”

“That’s something I can’t confirm.”

I firmly cut off Araya’s attempt to subtly involve me.

Araya, unusually, smiled slightly, her eyes crinkling, and opened her mouth.

“Hmm… I don’t have a talent for making stories entertaining, so I’m not sure where to begin.”

“…You’re not a child. There’s no need to try and make it entertaining.”

“Hehe.”

Araya covered her mouth with her hand and smiled elegantly, her eyes the same as when she looked at the succubus sisters.

Her relaxed attitude made me feel like I was being treated like a child, and I felt a surge of irritation, but I calmly composed myself and opened my mouth.

“So?”

Despite my best efforts to control my emotions, my voice still sounded somewhat disgruntled.

Regardless of my attitude, Araya slowly began her story.

“El-Prigion, was it?”

“Huh?”

“The name of the Elder Roa who created Ara.”

“Ah, I don’t know exactly what an Elder Roa is, but she’s the one who created me.”

“Creating new life is the domain of the gods. In the Eastern Continent, we call the god-like, great beings who can create beings like us Elder Roa. Unlike the Western Continent, you can’t talk about the history of the Eastern Continent without mentioning the Elder Roa.”

Araya held up her index and middle fingers in a V shape and continued her explanation.

“The first Elder Roa is the oldest, primordial Roa. Bwon Krshka, who desires the diversity of life and chaos.”

“The second Elder Roa is our great father of the night. Ul Kanadiel, who holds the power of sleep, dreams, and death.”

“In fact, the history of the Eastern Continent can be said to be the history of these two.”

◈ ◈ ◈

The existence of the first Elder Roa, Bwon Krshka, was a mythical one not only in the Eastern Continent but also in the history of this planet.

When this planet was still pristine and undeveloped, without change for a time close to eternity, a fragment of chaos that had been pooling in the planet’s origin fell to the ground and shattered, infusing itself into various primitive beasts.

Those fragments of chaos caused various beasts to deviate from the natural order, giving birth to omnipotent Roa.

Among them, a large fragment gave birth to an exceptional being among the Roa.

That being was the first Elder Roa, Bwon Krshka.

Bwon Krshka, who took the form of a giant stone ape, and the Roa who were born at that time, are said to have existed since the time when the Eastern and Western Continents were originally one supercontinent.

“I am a star spirit born from the will of the planet, and I will set the planet’s stopped time in motion again!”

Bwon Krshka is said to have shouted that loudly to the world as soon as she was born.

And what she did next was to disrupt the balance of nature at the time.

The Roa who have survived from that time until now all say that she tried to devour every beast she saw, destroyed forests, stimulated volcanoes to erupt, and committed all sorts of atrocities.

Fifty years after Bwon Krshka began to rampage, the planet’s crust changed, and many Roa were swept away and died.

The biggest event during the crustal movement was, for some unknown reason, that water gradually filled the ground, dividing it into the Western and Eastern Continents as it is now.

“The idea that there was another land at the end of the endless sea was almost legendary to our generation. Escaping here was half a gamble,”

Araya explained as an aside.

But after a time equivalent to the planet rotating 50 times, Bwon Krshka became calm as if it were a lie.

The planet’s stagnant ecosystem was busy adapting to the changed environment again.

The ecosystem was chaos itself due to the creatures becoming desperate for survival.

“All life needs to struggle to become a better being! If you want to survive, leave behind a superior clone of yourself for posterity! Only the fittest species will become the master of this planet!”

She said, shouting with satisfaction, and then disappeared for a while from the Eastern Continent, one of the two lands divided from the supercontinent.

Even if it was said to be a short time, it was only a short time for transcendent beings like the Roa, and for ordinary beings, it was a time that could be called years.

Another fragment of chaos fell to the Eastern Continent.

What was born from there was Ul Kanadiel, the Elder Roa of night and death.

When Ul Kanadiel was born, an angry, giant cry shook the entire Eastern Continent.

“Planet! I am here, and you create another being like this!”

Bwon Krshka, who was thought to have disappeared, appeared and pounded the ground as if venting her anger on the planet.

Several mountains were flattened into plains because of it.

“This land no longer needs someone like you!”

And then she came to Ul Kanadiel and tried to kill her without warning.

But Ul Kanadiel, the Elder Roa of the night, could not win against Bwon Krshka head-on, so she used her power to skip through the shadows and run away.

As Ul Kanadiel ran away and Bwon Krshka chased after her, wreaking havoc, the Eastern Continent began to be devastated.

As the ecosystem, which had been developing in a good direction, was ruined, the Roa, who had been reclusive without interfering much in the world, also came out and tried to mediate the fight between the two.

“Bwon Krshka! Are you going to ruin this land that you created!”

“Have you ever seen such an ignorant one!”

“Three mountains and seven forests have already disappeared in your tag game!”

The Roa in the form of beasts confronted Bwon Krshka with their innate wildness, only expressing their indignation, when a Roa in the form of a giant snail spoke.

“Bwon Krshka, if you claim to be a star spirit who governs the flow of the planet, you need to rule in a way that is appropriate for that.”

“…Speak, snail.”

She was about to beat the beast Roa who were defying her to death, but she began to listen to the words of the snail Roa, who had mentioned the word star spirit.

“As you said, a star spirit is someone who makes all life on the planet progress in a better direction. Then wouldn’t someone who raises more adaptable and superior life forms be more suitable to be a star spirit?”

“Indeed, you are right.”

Bwon Krshka, who agreed with those words, proposed a bet to Ul Kanadiel.

“Let’s bet on which of us can raise a better species! If you lose, get out of this land and never appear again!”

“…You’ve been chasing me around without my permission from the start. Why should I follow your arbitrary bet?”

“If you don’t accept this bet, I will follow you to the end and kill you someday!”

Ul Kanadiel shook her head at Bwon Krshka’s ignorant attitude, but accepted the bet at the earnest expressions of the gathered Roa.

“What if I win?”

“There’s no way you can win!”

“Even so, what if I win?”

“I won’t chase you around and try to kill you anymore!”

“…Alright.”

The period of the bet was 10 years.

Bwon Krshka must have been confident.

In the first place, all the creatures on the earth now, except for the Roa, were her creations.

Among them, there were creatures that had already begun to show intelligence and were developing in groups.

In comparison, Ul Kanadiel, who had just been born, had to start everything from scratch.

From the beginning, the winner was destined to be Bwon Krshka.

Ul Kanadiel pondered.

It seemed difficult for her, who had just been born, to beat an opponent who had already raised many different species.

Ul Kanadiel looked at the numerous species around her and made a decision.

That day, various beasts on the ground were sucked into the shadows and disappeared.

And 10 years later, at the place where all the Roa gathered when the period ended, the match began.

A saber-toothed tiger with huge, sharp fangs and claws.

A variant monkey that uses precise fingers, uses tools, and hunts large beasts in groups.

A bird with eyes that can see far away even from hundreds of meters in the air, and that can make accurate claw attacks.

A very fast bug with tremendous survivability, black and hard scales, shiny shells, and that likes dark, narrow, and humid places.

And various other kinds of creatures.

Bwon Krshka was confident.

She thought that she couldn’t have raised more wonderful species than these in 10 years.

And Ul Kanadiel appeared from the shadows created in the place where the giant Roa gathered.

Ul Kanadiel, who appeared before Bwon Krshka and the Roa for the bet, appeared with her energy considerably weakened compared to before.

“Coward, are you ready to disappear from this land forever? You look so weak and feeble, have you decided to accept your fate?”

“I will win today, so you don’t need to worry.”

“Hmph! So where are your children?”

At the same time as that question, several beings popped out of Ul Kanadiel’s shadow.

A small variant monkey.

A horned variant monkey.

Two types of winged variant monkeys.

And a monkey with a pale complexion and a collapsed vessel of life.

And a bipedal, hoofed, cow-like fire-breathing beast.

“You…! This is…!”

“These are what I created. In order, they are called Imp, Maine, Succubus and Incubus, Vampire, and Balak.”

“I am the first succubus who was there at this time.”

Araya pointed to herself with her finger during the story.

“…The story you’re telling sounds like a very long time ago.”

“If we’re talking about human history, it’s actually a very long time ago.”

“…Could you tell me about how long ago it was?”

“Hmm… I guess this planet has revolved around the sun at least 400-500 times? I think the seasons have changed that many times.”

“So… does that mean you’re about 400-500 years old?”

“I guess so?”

As I was momentarily speechless due to the staggering difference in time, Araya continued her story.

The creatures that popped out of Ul Kanadiel’s shadow were life forms with forms that could never have come out of a normal evolutionary lineage.

Even after the succubus creature, the concept of existence itself was different from that of ordinary creatures.

“You! Are you going to desecrate life!”

“Well, isn’t the goal to raise superior species to live on the planet? What does it matter how they are born?”

“I can’t accept this!”

“The content of the bet was to raise a more adaptable species. There were no restrictions on the method.”

“You guys! What do you think?”

The Roa who had gathered to judge, and the Roa who had come to see the spectacle, were all flustered.

“Um…that’s…”

“It’s ambiguous…”

The Roa looked at the creatures that had popped out of Ul Kanadiel’s shadow.

Beings who had deviated from the normal lineage of life and possessed Ul Kanadiel’s energy.

Moreover, when viewed through the eyes of the transcendent Roa, the beings called succubus, incubus, and vampire did not even appear to be living beings in the normal sense.

“The species called vampire in particular feels very foreign.”

“Did she intentionally break the vessel of life? Unique.”

“I thought she was weakened, but is it because she took out her power and gave it to them?”

“To divide her status among inferior creatures. Crazy!”

“Those things look stronger than you?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Cat, those things are just a bite for my fangs!”

Bwon Krshka, angry that the Roa were only buzzing and couldn’t come up with an answer, stamped her feet and became furious.

“Snail! Give me an answer!”

The wise snail Loa listened to Bwonsamdi Krixaka’s words, pondered for a moment, and soon replied.