Translator: Pai_
Odin, who had hastened his descent by using the Pope as a sacrifice, finally began to prepare to descend from the sky.
Seeing that, Iron urgently swung the White Sword.
Kwaaang!
-Not enough.
Hræsvelgr, who had appeared again at some point, spoke while looking at Iron.
Although Odin's power was significantly weakened due to the urgency of his descent, he was still overwhelmingly powerful, far too strong for Iron to face alone.
And now Odin was trying to descend at full power, so it was only natural that Iron would have difficulty stopping him.
“So you're saying we have to weaken him more?”
-Yes. In your current state, it's impossible.
At Hræsvelgr's words, Iron bit his lip.
Just then, the Drake Knights nearby, who had overheard this conversation, relayed it, and soon, through Saeriden’s voice amplification, even those on the ground were able to hear.
“So we need to weaken his power further, is that it?”
At Kim Jung-tae’s words, others nearby nodded.
“We’ll hold these guys off, so go destroy the relics.”
Though Kim Jung-tae’s arrogant words made the expressions of other people from another world twist, once the six otherworlders offered to hold off the cardinals, everyone quickly scattered.
If Odin were to descend as things stood, they would be annihilated, so they moved as quickly as possible.
They destroyed every building in Saintrea, smashing anything that could be suspected of being a relic.
Like the saying 'many drops make a flood', while breaking relics only added slight debuffs to the enemy, it clearly had some effect.
Not only in Saintrea, but also in the eastern region of the Holy Alliance, they began destroying the altars. The west and south likewise diverted part of their forces to destroy the altars.
Perhaps thanks to that?
“He's weakened.”
-Don’t waste your strength. Focus on recovering. When the timing comes, you have to finish him with a Transcendent Skill.
-Tweet!
At Hræsvelgr’s words, Iron nodded slightly.
The Blue Baepsae also did its best to help restore Iron’s strength while perched on his head.
Having already fought Tyr while still suffering internal injuries, Iron’s condition was already a mess.
And now, he had to fight Odin too, a daunting situation, to say the least.
‘It’s definitely... different.’
Iron thought this to himself as he desperately wished for Odin’s power to be diminished further.
Even though Odin had not fully descended yet, the difference in level he could feel was despairing.
Even gods like Thor or Tyr, who were top-tier deities, would be overwhelming if they descended like this, but this was Odin.
The key figure who led the Mythical Era, and once stood among the ranks of the Lord Gods, the strongest deity.
He was coming down.
‘This is dangerous.’
As the black pillar neared the ground, everyone thought the same thing.
As Odin’s descent drew closer, the Imperial Army charged forward, risking their lives to destroy the altars, while the people from another world kept moving to find relics, even when it seemed they might collapse from exhaustion.
Despite their efforts, the black pillar gradually descended and eventually reached the Central Temple.
Kugung!
[The Descent of Odin is in progress.]
As Odin’s descent finally began, the sky started to turn black.
And slowly, something began to descend from within the black pillar.
‘I’m going to die.’
The moment they saw the being descending from the sky, everyone, whether otherworlders or Imperial soldiers, thought the same thing: death was imminent.
That was how overwhelming the power descending to the ground was.
“That... is that the Absolute God?”
-Even that’s not perfect.
Hræsvelgr said this and clicked his tongue.
In this state, there was no hope of victory.
The moment Odin reached the ground, humanity would be wiped out without even the chance to resist.
-We have to weaken him more! Otherwise, humanity will be destroyed!
Hræsvelgr's words, nearly a declaration, spread through communications between Iron and all of Saintrea and the Imperial Army.
“Huff... huff... destroy it quickly!”
After killing the last remaining cardinal, Kim Jung-tae shouted toward Rovanov, who had dashed ahead.
Then she used all her strength to smash the crystal sphere in front of Mimir’s Spring.
Kwa-chang!
The giant crystal sphere shattered into pieces with one punch and fell.
“...What the?”
Rovanov tilted her head.
The system had clearly instructed them to destroy the black crystal in the Central Temple, but there was no notification sound at all.
While the otherworlders were bewildered, the Absolute God Odin continued to descend.
“It’s not here!”
“There’s nothing! Not a single one!”
“I don’t feel even a trace of Divine Power or Corrupted Energy!”
Across all of Saintrea, the people from another world grew furious and rummaged through the debris of destroyed buildings.
It was the same for the Eastern Army.
They smashed everything that even remotely resembled a relic in Saintrea, but the quest still wouldn’t clear.
Just as everyone was falling into despair while watching the Absolute God draw closer with each passing second.
“Isn’t it that?”
One of the otherworlders who had entered the Central Temple pointed to the black crystals near Mimir’s Spring.
They briefly tilted their heads as they looked at the crystals that were arranged like decorations around the spring.
“That’s it!”
“Break them! Quickly!”
The moment they identified the true nature of the last relics in Saintrea, all of the otherworlders, despite being surrounded by Corrupted Energy, threw themselves at the black crystals with all their might and began destroying them.
Finally, when all the crystals around Mimir’s Spring were shattered, the long-awaited notification sound rang out.
[You have destroyed the Black Crystals. Odin's power is further weakened.]
[All relics in Saintrea have been destroyed!]
-The descent speed of Absolute God Odin has slowed further.
-Odin’s power is weakened further.
-A massive debuff is applied to the entire Holy Alliance Army.
“We did it!”
“We really did it!”
At the system’s message, the otherworlders and the Eastern Army embraced each other and cheered over the cleared quest.
Perhaps their efforts had not been in vain, cracks began to appear in the black pillar, and from those cracks, Corrupted Energy continuously leaked out.
The power that was supposed to be entirely absorbed by Odin within the black pillar was now spilling out instead.
At the same time, perhaps due to the massive debuff, even the gods who had been holding out until the end could endure no longer and lost their lives at the hands of Lioner and Terrion.
[The Southern central pillar has been completely destroyed. The power Odin can descend with is reduced by 5%.]
-If all Southern altars are destroyed, Odin’s power can be reduced by an additional 5%.
-Odin’s descent is slightly delayed.
[The Western central pillar has been completely destroyed. The power Odin can descend with is reduced by 5%.]
-If all Western altars are destroyed, Odin’s power can be reduced by an additional 5%.
-Odin’s descent is slightly delayed.
Finally, the system message rang out that all the central pillars of every camp had been destroyed. Cracks continued to spread in the black pillar rising from Mimir’s Spring, and an enormous amount of Corrupted Energy spread outward.
It wasn’t just enough to fill the sky, Saintrea itself became shrouded in black mist.
-Wait.
Just as Iron was about to form an Aura Blade, as if he could wait no longer, Hræsvelgr stopped him.
-Until the very end… wait until his power is as weakened as possible.
“But…”
-Trust your comrades.
At Hræsvelgr’s words, Iron looked at the black pillar and gave a small nod.
While Iron stared at the pillar, Odin continued to descend slowly and finally came close enough to make eye contact with Iron, who was floating in the sky.
Even during that time, as the altars were destroyed, Odin’s power steadily weakened.
And at last, the moment Odin’s foot was about to touch Mimir’s Spring.
-Now!
At Hræsvelgr’s shout, Iron concentrated the energy of nature into the White Sword.
At the same time, all the Divine Beasts leapt out and unleashed their Transcendent Skills.
The two Transcendent Skills that had tormented the War God flew toward the black pillar, now filled with cracks.
[All altars required for the descent of the Absolute God have been destroyed. ‘Odin's Complete Descent’ changes to ‘Incomplete Descent.’]
Miraculously, with the destruction of all altars, the black pillar shattered.
Simultaneously, the Transcendent Skills of Iron and the Divine Beasts shot toward Odin, who had just touched the surface of Mimir’s Spring.
In that moment, Odin's one closed eye opened.
“Guh!”
As Odin’s only eye opened, the entire world froze, as if time itself had stopped.
“What… is this…?”
Iron tilted his head at the incomprehensible phenomenon.
[You have stopped the Complete Descent of the Absolute God. As an otherworlder, you have completed all your missions.]
[Would you like to return to your original world?]
An unbelievable message window appeared before Iron’s eyes.
As he stared blankly at the system window asking if he wished to return to his original world, the bodies of the otherworlders began to be engulfed in light one by one.
What was strange was that everyone, including Odin, remained still, as if "frozen" in time.
Although the otherworlders could not move elsewhere, they were apparently allowed to move in place and were cheering over the cleared quest.
At that moment, Kim Jung-tae, who was on the ground, looked up and stared at Iron.
Iron, too, stared intently at him.
Then Kim Jung-tae moved his lips slightly in Iron’s direction.
‘You're Lee Jung-hoo, aren’t you?’
At that question, Iron gave a small nod.
Seemingly satisfied to have finally gotten the answer to a long-held question, Kim Jung-tae gave a twisted smile and moved his fingers.
And then, with a bright light, Kim Jung-tae’s body vanished.
“……”
Rovanov, Jaime, Harry Williams, Hikardu, and Al-Assad disappeared in order, dissolving into light, and soon, all of the otherworlders in Saintrea were engulfed by light and vanished.
The otherworlders who had fought alongside them until now had completely disappeared from this place.
Only Iron remained.
‘Am I the only one left?’
Iron sighed as he looked at himself, left alone in the frozen time.
You’d think at least one would remain, but every one of them had returned to their original world.
While Iron remained indecisive for a long while, another system window appeared.
[Hidden Quest Exclusive to the Last Surviving Beta Tester!]
[Will you prevent Destruction and return?]
※ Only you, standing at the boundary between worlds, can make this choice.
A quest only he could receive.
A quest impossible for those who came to this world later, only he could choose it.
Now he finally understood why he alone remained.
From the beginning, the otherworlders were never given the choice of whether to return or stay.
Though the quest offered no grand rewards and was filled with danger that could take his life at any moment, a smile crept onto Iron’s lips.
“Alright. I’ll stop Destruction and then return.”
The moment Iron answered, time began to flow again.
The people who had been frozen began to move once more, and the Transcendent Skills of the Divine Beasts and Iron struck Odin.
And at that moment, a system window appeared before everyone.
[Main Quest ‘Standing Alone!’ has been generated.]
-The friends who came to help prevent Destruction have returned to their original world. Erase the remnants of the past and face true Destruction.
The moment the system voice echoed, the Eastern Army and Mobile Field Army in Saintrea looked around.
Only then did they realize that all the otherworlders had disappeared.
“Ah…”
As the Imperial Army realized the otherworlders had returned to their original world, they wore blank expressions filled with emptiness.
It was then that Odin, struck by the Transcendent Skills of Iron and the Divine Beasts, radiated light.
Now, without the help of the otherworlders, they would have to fight this mighty enemy with only the people of the continent.
The Absolute God, the one who must be defeated to begin facing true Destruction, stood before them, holding a spear of light.
***
To support me for my translations, you can check out my Patreon here –>https://patreon.com/Pai_
If you enjoy this novel, please review and rate it at Novelupdates. Thanks! 😊