In a World without God

Chapter 37

If someone were watching this land from a distant sky, what would they think of this scene? Would they think a flower had blossomed in the middle of the desert, or would they think a white flame was burning?

Along the sound of weeping, the curved curved sword clattered to the ground like a crescent moon. Murjana sank to her knees and sobbed, teardrops falling onto the dry sand, but the falling black snakes covered them.

The snakes wriggled in agony as they touched the white light, then melted into black specks. As a result, the ground around Murjana was stained black.

Taharka's body was like a lighted match. As the fire continued to burn, the blacker the matchstick became. Tiny bits and pieces fell from Taharka's blackened body like crumbling bits of charcoal.

"Stop, Taharka, are you going to end it like this?"

"Please, Bosha. Prove that Akale was wrong, and..."

There's just a little bit left. Just a little longer, and Murjana would come to her senses. Edulis believed so. But why?

Edulis tried to stop Taharka but realized too late. Everything happened in a flash. The white light burned hot, and the witch's poison quickly eroded Taharka's body.

"Prove to me that I made the right choice one last time."

"What??"

Those were Taharka's last words.

"When have you ever made the wrong choice!"

However, the words did not reach Taharka. He had already turned as black as charred firewood. At the same time, the horn on Murjana's forehead snapped and broke, rolling across the floor.

Edulis's body had hardened, as had Taharka's. Bosha, who had intervened between the Kingdom Astania and Empire Ur many times, knew. Taharka was a soldier. He had never made a wrong choice. It was Granadilla who messed up the consequences of his choices!

Is this it? Is this how it ends so quickly?

Suddenly, he remembered the Bosha of the past. A dead Bosha, eroded by the witch's poison.

Beside him was Laotou, her face contorted. He couldn't see Ygraine's face in his blindness, but she probably had a similar face to Laotou's.

Edulis realized what a burden he had placed on Laotou and Ygraine, what a burden he had become.

"I will not allow you to be called Emperor of the Ruins. You must....'

Before Edulis could digest Taharka's death,

"That's not fair." Something said.

"What is this?"

The butterfly tattoo on Murjana's cheek flew open. Then it morphed into the shape of a blue serpent, thicker than a grown man's forearm.

It wriggled and rose from the sand and became a blue sphere. A figure hovered above the sphere— auburn hair, black horns, butterfly tattoos, black robes down to his knees, and a childlike expression...

It was Akale.

But it was not the same intimidating figure Edulis had encountered in Trisis. No curses were spreading around it, no oppressive feeling of being submerged in a swamp. It was clear this was not Akale's true form.

Nevertheless, an Akale was Akale. As soon as the serpent turned into an Akale, a powerful wave of magic washed over Edulis and Ishkur. Edulis was thrown to the ground, and Ishkur fell from his Velox.

"And what the hell are you saying? That I don't know humans. Don't you know how many years I've lived?"

Unlike before, her voice was not playful. Akale scowled, her face contorting like a child deprived of a toy.