A Wish to Grab Happiness - Book 12: Chapter 296

Chapter 296: Sacred Body

“Fear is sticking to my stomach. My eyes feel intense pain as if the back of my eyes is being dug out.”

Unknowingly, Eldith lost her feet and fell to the ground. Her legs were weak and abandoned their role, and her hands were numb and helpless.

Her blue eyes were wide open, and her originally white skin was now dyed pale to the point of being seen as sick.

Only the breath exhaled from her throat had a strong heat. Her viscera creaked. Eldith stretched out her twitching fingers as she crawled across the floor.

“What happened to my body?” Eldith understood this deeply. A compulsion that agitated her insides was forcibly ripping her mind apart. She felt shivers everywhere in her body.

It was both congested and terrifying.

Right now, her body was bound by the curse named fear. When she tried to look directly at it, her breathing became rough, and her mouth dried up.

Eldith’s body was numb, and her mind was panicking.

“I know where the root of this fear is. I am worried. A sign that pierces the soul. It is everywhere, powerful everywhere. A race to which the elves had no choice but to subordinate. The presence of the founder is certainly here.”

There were no doubts, whether it was true or not. The authenticity was told by Eldith’s own soul.

“It’s real. It’s here now, in this temple. The founding giant Flimslat, who is too great and awe-inspiring to speak about.”

Just thinking about it made Eldith’s skull unable to think of anything else. Naturally, because that was how the race of elves was formed.

The elves couldn’t doubt the existence of the ruler and didn’t think about anything else in front of them. After all, the elves were created in such a way that their race was not allowed to resist the giants at all.

“Even if it was a long time ago, the memories of our ancestors are stuck in our souls.”

“How easy would it be if I just fainted here and had everything thrown out of my consciousness? How wonderful would it be if I could bow my head without knowing it.”

At least, that was what normal elves were supposed to do. “No, sooner, sooner, sooner. Even if the other is better. So, so, so, so…”

Eldith reflexively bit her lip. A clear red leaked from her mouth. The pain that cut through her body forcibly pulled Eldith back to sanity. Her blue eyes flashed with indignation.

“…It came to my head.”

Not to anyone, but to herself. A feeling called shame. Eldith pressed her numb fingers to the ground.

The fact that she was part of a subordinate race was in a distant past, an era where one even called the age of the gods. Even the elves, who believed in the good old days, had no recollection of worshiping even the loathsome past. “Why do I still have to obey that rule?”

“What a joke, what a terrible joke.”

Eldith shook her cheeks, saying that she couldn’t laugh at being bound by an ancient curse, the one who cursed humans. She tried to move her body, which was still crouched, and got up.

The legs that stepped forward were weak. A step that seemed to stop if she let her mind wander.

But that didn’t stop her. Step by step, Eldith kicked up the stone floor with her legs.

Eldith had one more thing in her heart. A fear that was grabbing her to the point where she couldn’t look away. It shredded Eldith’s mind more than it awed her race’s ruler.

Since a while ago, the reaction from the spirited equipment had become quite weak.

As an alter ego in itself, it did not precisely transmit Lugis’ state, who was originally the wielder. At most, it was just telling his whereabouts and his movements.

However, that reaction had never weakened until now. In order to reliably convey his existence, Eldith created it that way.

The reaction got weak. In other words, Lugis’ existence, who was almost identical to the equipment, was about to disappear.

“I have a chilling pain in my neck.” Again, Eldith made an effort and took a step forward with shaking hands.

“Impossible. It’s not a good thing. I can’t let that happen. Even if it happened, how could I let him die?”

“…Even if I bind that soul to this world.”

While muttering so in her heart, Eldith opened her blue eyes wide. She could see the altar of the Great Temple of Flimslat.

—

The altar of the Great Temple of Flimslat. It was surrounded by a sky with a dim and solemn atmosphere.

It was a blue and clear sky. A sky reminiscent of a high, distant, distant sky. It was neither a metaphor nor a fantasy, but it manifested around the altar.

It felt like another world. Blue and high everywhere. And then, under such sky, it was there.

A huge body that made even the great sky feel small, as if the world itself had risen. Its eyes were so big and menacing that seemed to be filled with chaos.

The pressure it exerted could surpass anyone and anything. Its instinct could destroy the sacred canopy and trample the father’s earth.

The divine spirit said in front of such overwhelming power.

「Even though I’m here with this body, it’s been a while, Flimslat. The founding and last giant. Are we meeting for the first time after I put you to sleep?」

Indifferently, Ariene…no, Altius said so with such an ease as if it were singing. In the face of grand giant, that way of being was still unshakable.

The giant made a sound as if it had finally noticed the golden eyes. No one was sure if those were really his words. But it was a fact that he showed intention.

「…I heard the voices of my kin, human’s ruler. Why did you enter my territory? Are you arrogant or senseless?」

The space vibrated by itself. It seemed that the temple would be blown away with just one giant’s breath. None of the humans here were conscious anymore. There were only two grotesque beings.

Altius’ eyes narrowed. His face mechanically created a facial expression. Then, he sneered at the grand Giant.

「Don’t make me laugh, King of Giants. Arrogance and foolishness are your specialties. That’s why your kin died. Or do you want to do the same thing again?」

As if continuing with the words, Altius spoke with overlapping sounds. The color reflected in its eyes even meant contempt.

The space creaked as if it were torn apart.

「You too have lost your original flesh. Are you willing to deal with me in borrowed clothes, human’s ruler?」

The giant’s large hand still held a large hammer that was too strong to wield. Following the giant’s will, it changed its appearance according to its words.

Right now, it contained enough power to easily crush a mountain range. The power of the giant king was here.

Even the world trembled at the sight of them both. There was no wind, no sound, and only a suffocating sense of oppression attacked the space.

Altius still laughed, looking amusing. What was his intentions?

「…For example, what do you think will happen to humans who have had the same experience, lived the same life, and had the same power? 」

Raising its hands with great exaggeration, Altius continued its words as if asking a question to the giant.

「This woman was abandoned by her parents and used the well as her pillow. She raised loneliness in her heart at the orphanage and lived a life full of suffering as a nun. Then, while clenching her teeth, she rose to the rank of Saint candidate, and made a harsh pilgrimage.」

Altius fondly caressed its hands. There were faint traces of how she had gripped it many times in the past. Her arms could hardly be said to be ignorant of hardships. Such marks remained on Ariene’s body.

The golden lips quivered.

「…That figure is exactly the one that traces my past life. That’s how I wrote the script, to be suitable for this body, to be the same as me.」

There was a slight but proud appearance floating in the overlapping sounds.

It was true that he wrote the script, and it was also true that he led it. But God was not omnipotent. Sometimes the rash behavior of the Son of Man could not be stopped. Altius continued, saying that this was the reason why he had to go through such hardships.

「Some even died as babies. Some had their bones broken when they were thrown down a well, while others committed suicide because they could not endure their life as orphans. Those who died in poverty, those who were bullied by men, those who died of illness, those who died while receiving the violence that fell on them. Many people died before I could finally use a suitable body. This girl named Ariene did everything well. She survived well, bit her own pain, and still she pushed on. It was even better than before. Oh, my goodness, she painstakingly built a sacred body for me.」

How wonderful, Altius said as if he could sing. At that, the giant opened its eyes.

「…You’re inferior to beasts. 」

A large hammer was swung with the intention of crushing even the world.