MTLNOVEL Chapter 302
Episode 303. The Secret of Birth (4)
Turan said that he was the Book of Creation itself.
Therefore, the book lying in front of Keter now was undoubtedly the Book of Creation. Not a fragmented document, but the original Book of Creation itself.
Keter’s eyes blinked rapidly.
“What kind of trick is this now?”
He didn’t foolishly pick up the book, thinking it was a good idea. Gods, after all, act all noble in front but take pleasure in deceiving humans behind their backs.
Keter, with his palm on the ground, used the power of Toban, which contained divine energy, to examine the Book of Creation.
He felt nothing.
‘It’s too much.’
It wasn’t even in a state where it could be said to be hidden. It was as if Turan himself had disappeared.
‘But it’s hard to believe that the Book of Creation itself has lost its function.’
Keter plucked a strand of his hair and touched the book with it.
Whoosh!
A pure white flame erupted, burning the hair to ashes.
Snap.
Seeing this, Keter immediately grabbed the Book of Creation. Then, a white flame also ignited on his hand, but—
Whoosh!
The divine energy of Ain and Toban suppressed it.
Yet, the white flame didn’t easily extinguish and resisted as if angry.
Keter didn’t panic. Like fishing, he loosened his grip when pulled and tightened it when it slackened.
“……”
Whoosh! Fssss!
As if refusing to belong to anyone, the Book of Creation emitted white flames, and Keter, with his burning hand, refused to let go until the end. The battle between the two continued endlessly.
But Keter, being the one involved, was too focused to notice the passage of time. He didn’t have the luxury to gauge time.
If he made even a slight mistake, he would be engulfed by the white flames, leaving not even a handful of ashes.
In the abyss where there is no day or night, how much time had passed?
The Book of Creation, which seemed like it would resist forever, finally showed signs of faltering.
But Keter didn’t get caught up in it. He didn’t rush to exert force but slowly tried to extinguish the white flames.
Whoosh!
As expected, this was a trap set by the Book of Creation. As Keter slowly tightened his grip without being deceived, the white flames, as if they had lost their strength, engulfed Keter.
His entire body was burning. His clothes, his hair.
Even Keter’s skin, which could block an Aura Sword, began to burn.
Sizzle!
But Keter, instead, poured all his strength into his hands holding the Book of Creation. He realized that the Book of Creation was emitting its final flames.
Even as his entire body burned, Keter didn’t blink an eye and continued the tug-of-war with the Book of Creation. It was at that moment.
“…What’s this?”
Kron, dressed in luxurious fur clothes and carrying bundles in both hands, returned.
Keter didn’t notice Kron’s arrival. He was so engrossed in the tug-of-war with the Book of Creation that he had exhausted all his concentration, even for breathing and blinking.
Kron, who had been enjoying the mortal world, immediately reached out to subdue Keter and the Book of Creation but soon stopped.
‘If I intervene, Keter will die. But the Book of Creation is something I manage.’
Originally, the Book of Creation housed the divine entity Turan. But now, Turan seemed to have vanished.
Regardless of how the evil god Turan disappeared, the Book of Creation becoming someone’s possession was a big problem for Kron.
‘Although sealed as an evil god, the ownership of the Book of Creation lies with the Syndicate. But if Keter becomes the owner of the Book of Creation…’
The responsibility falls on Kron. That means Keter, who is trying to take the Book of Creation, is an enemy and must be eliminated.
But despite thinking so, his body didn’t move. Thus, he made a decision.
“Ha, why should I care about him?”
Whoosh!
Kron lunged towards Keter.
But where his body landed was not Keter but beyond, in front of the orbs of the evil gods. The silent evil gods had been waiting for this moment to attempt an escape.
“Do you think you can?”
Crack!
Kron instantly subdued the orbs of the evil gods. As he did, he muttered while looking back.
“Syndicate or whatever, my blood is more important. It’s not someone else taking the Book of Creation but my son, so what does it matter?”
He might get an earful from Mejai, the head of the Syndicate, but Kron just laughed.
“It’s been a while since I met a friend, so good! Thanks, Keter!”
At that moment, the evil gods, who were waiting for a chance to escape, changed their target. They turned their direction to possess Keter’s body.
“That’s why I said no.”
Kron blocked the evil gods targeting Keter. But the evil gods, thinking this was their last chance, didn’t easily give up.
Thus, Keter fought with the Book of Creation, and Kron blocked the four evil gods.
How much time had passed since then?
Rustle.
Suddenly, an unfamiliar sound was heard.
It was the sound of the bread Kron had brought for Keter, now dried and hard as a rock, crumbling.
Whoosh!
Keter was still burning in white flames. Now, it was impossible to recognize him as ‘Keter.’ Only the shape of a person remained.
But at that moment, a miracle occurred. The white flames that were burning Keter began to heal him instead.
Even the severe burns, muscles, bones, skin, organs that are hard to recover once damaged, even eyebrows and hair. Moreover, the jewelry and clothes that had burned away returned.
It took less than a second for Keter to return to his original form.
But that wasn’t the end.
Keter’s entire body slightly floated. The white flames didn’t disappear but were absorbed through Keter’s mouth.
Kron, watching this, couldn’t believe it.
“Even if it’s just a part, the power of life and soul belonging to an individual…”
The ‘power’ of the Book of Creation itself had been attributed to Keter. This meant that even without the Book of Creation, Keter could use its power.
“Keter, what on earth are you…?”
Even when he first saw him, Kron thought it was strange. He had his blood and the blood of the Sephira lineage.
But that wasn’t all. Keter also had the power of another lineage. Of course, Kron pretended not to know, fearing Keter would become more confused.
But now, the one most confused was Kron himself.
‘I’ve never heard or seen anything like this.’
After becoming an absolute being beyond a transcendent being, he thought he would no longer feel the emotion of ‘strangeness.’
But seeing Keter shattered that expectation. To him, Keter was something ‘strange’ he had never seen before in this world.
Thud.
Keter, who had been floating in the air, descended to the ground. He was standing, but his eyes were closed.
“Keter.”
Kron grabbed Keter’s wrist. At that moment, Keter opened his eyes, and a light flashed in them.
“Where are you looking?”
Like father, like son, Kron poked Keter’s eye with his finger.
No matter how much Keter had absorbed the power of the Book of Creation and had become stronger through survival of the fittest after dying and coming back to life—in front of the true absolute being Kron, he was still just a child.
“Ah!”
Keter screamed as his eye was poked. The same Keter who didn’t even flinch at the burning pain.
It was because all his senses had become too sensitive.
Sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch. And even the sixth sense, intuition, had become too enhanced and sensitive.
“Ugh, damn it.”
Keter cursed involuntarily. With all his senses heightened, he could see and feel things he hadn’t before.
All beings in the abyss were exuding overwhelming presence.
Originally, Kron was protecting Keter, but even with that protection, Keter felt the abyss too keenly, causing him pain.
Kron advised the confused Keter.
“Gather your senses as you breathe in. Don’t forcefully deny the unnecessarily enhanced senses, just let them be.”
Keter followed Kron’s advice. Like sinking underwater while flailing in the sea, he relaxed his body and gathered his breath.
Then, the raging senses gradually subsided.
Blink.
Thinking it was done, Keter opened his eyes.
The flashing light in his eyes also disappeared.
“……”
Keter looked around.
Shattered orbs of the evil gods were rolling around, and in his hand, he tightly held the Book of Creation.
Kron’s complex expression clearly showed his dilemma of ‘what to do with this guy.’ Keter, now, knew exactly what to do.
“Father!”
Keter hugged Kron, who was pondering.
Kron made an awkward face, thinking ‘this kid?’ but—
Pat.
In the end, he hugged Keter back.
Keter and Kron sat cross-legged on the bare ground, facing each other.
In Kron’s hand was the burning Book of Creation.
“Phew.”
Kron let out a short, heavy sigh and handed the Book of Creation to Keter.
As it entered Keter’s hand, the Book of Creation withdrew its white flames.
“The Book of Creation has fully recognized you as its master.”
“I guess so.”
“You guess so?”
“Sorry about that, Father. But there was no other way.”
“Explain what you mean by ‘no other way.'”
Keter honestly explained. He was bored and playing with the evil god’s orbs when Turan suddenly spoke to him. After some back-and-forth, Turan shattered on his own, leading to this situation.
“Ha.”
Kron rubbed his forehead and clenched and unclenched his fist. He felt the urge to punch Keter hard right then and there.
“I knew you were impatient like me. But how could you cause such a huge accident in just two days?”
“Wait, two days? You said you’d be back in a day.”
“I thought it was fine since you didn’t touch my heart. But you didn’t touch it at all, which was strange, so I came back to check… and found this mess.”
“Isn’t it good that it’s good? With one less evil god to watch over, you’ll be more comfortable, Father.”
“Shut your mouth. I’m debating whether to kill you right now and take ownership of the Book of Creation or not.”
“Uh, Father, your heart is still in my hand, right?”
Though it’s called a heart, it’s not a real beating heart. It was a glass heart, like a dragon’s heart.
As Keter threatened by holding the heart, Kron snorted and flicked his finger. Instantly, Kron’s heart disappeared without giving Keter any chance.
“I don’t even trust my own blood.”
Hearing Kron’s cold-blooded words, Keter suddenly thought.
“Really unlucky. So this is how my brothers felt.”
“…Do you have family in Sephira too?”
“Yes, well, that’s right? But what do you call each other when you meet? This side is Father, that side is Father too.”
“That doesn’t matter. Keter. What’s your purpose? What’s your reason for living? Tell me how you ended up contacting the Syndicate and meeting me.”
Keter stroked his chin. He had used more time than expected.
But there was no reason to save time here. Despite his terrible personality, Kron was clearly his father.
“I don’t have any particular dreams. I guess I’ll just live doing what I want until I die.”
At Keter’s dreamless answer, Kron leaned his head back.