Chapter 156 A New Beginning
The large explosions that shake space-time and create waves.
Will the same happen if the sun in this world or any star in this magical world dies?
A star, part of the great nature, is an entity made from different unique energies and not the same hydrogen-helium transformation and atomic fusion.
If the sun, the great entity of nature, even differs from what it has been, will things change even a little bit?
I could not explain this world of magic and fantasy with the limited knowledge humans of my past world had.
This place was not the world I used to know and even if some basic principles were also applied here, the concept was the same, and even though the outcome was expected by those things, there were still differences.
I was reborn in this world after getting hit by a normal supersonic truck from my past world. Maybe the driver died and the AI couldn\'t understand the instructions so, I also died there.
It was unfortunate but, that life was already meaningless.
Who liked seeing blood every day? I certainly didn\'t.
But the job was the job, and I was already deep into that swamp.
I liked the fact that I died there, and even more that I was reincarnated in a world where I had a family.
A big one at that.
Unlike last time, when everyone left me at a very young age, this time was different.
Nothing should have happened to them when we were going back to our house in the capital but, a bigshot demon decided to raid the entire country and play some games with his new minions.
I didn\'t know what that was, but I at least had killed the one that tried to harm my dear family.
If I meet a weak bastard like that now, just Asta would deal with it alone.
But the one behind them was a different deal altogether.
If I can compare the demon slime with a demon baron in their prime, the one behind the multiple attacks in the notation was nothing less than a (Count).
Demons in this world were strong, very strong, that I couldn\'t believe it even after gaining such knowledge about them.
But even more unreal powerful demons\' natural enemies were divine beasts.
Having unimaginable powers that even high demons would tremble in the mere presence of them.
And one such being was my savior, grandma, and teacher.
The same being that could kill those demons with a flick of her finger had taught me the basics of weapon, magic, as well as energy.
She had taught me cooking, gardening, reading, and writing, too.
And it was easy to learn all those unreal runes with her teachings.
She was the best I could ever wish for and now, after being with me and teaching me everything I might need according to her, she wanted me to grant her long-cherished wish.
She was a phoenix.
And she had lived for a very long time.
I knew she would have met people of other races, lived with them, and other stuff.
But I was still precious to her.
I knew just like I found her at that time, she also found me.
Maybe, when she first saw me, there was only the idea of fulfilling her wish of death after teaching me some stuff but, many things changed with the time we spent together.
She knew if someone can handle the one after her, it would be someone compatible to have the knowledge that she had.
Well, all things considered, she was leaving.
A divine beast\'s death and even in that, someone like her who has lived far longer than others and surpassed even the gods... how would it look like?
Yes, I was angry, sad, and broken on the inside but... this soft, gentle, and warm light that covered my body wasn\'t letting those emotions get ahead of the pure bliss of this moment.
Tears sure were flowing out of my eyes but, these were tears of joy... for some strange reason.
I was happy to witness this spectacle, and my heart was beating calmly even when her soul was disintegrating in nature.
\'They say we are born from earth and will one day return to this very earth without anything in our hands.\'
I knew... and now that I was seeing this; I was even more confident.
Something like true immortality doesn\'t exist in this world.
And that living that long life would be a curse.
Yes, there were beings who were called immortal. Skills that had immorality in their name and beings that lived for a long time.
But... even gods can die if the scenario is right.
I knew she would leave me someday, but not today in the name of testing me and making me kill a dumb pig.
She just wanted to get me over that nightmare-like night I had spent on the first day by this and even after understanding that, I could never forgive her for leaving me like this.
I could not accept that but, she also knew that.
And that selfish grandma of mine accepted it as her punishment.
She had smiled at me warmly in her last moments, and that smile was enough to melt me.
Well... with a broken heart bathing in the warmth of her death, tears that carried joy, an unwanted smile of acceptance, and this helpless feeling of happiness.
Was I the weird one or this scene before my eyes were so magnificent that even nature would sing the hymns of harmony?
Well, I wanted to hate myself for enjoying this but, I couldn\'t even do that.
This was more than that divine skill mom and dad had seen.
Master\'s divine skill was her pure white flames and I would never forget them.
A long time had passed and my eyes had never wavered from the sky that was supposed to be a night sky.
Her ethereal true body had become an actual sun that spread warmth and joy and healed the soul.
The countless colors were turning into pure white and the life in this closed place was increasing as time passed.
New flowers were growing, the grass was getting gentler, and the outside of the tower where countless, most advanced runes were engraved deep inside them, started surfacing.
The top of this tower, a place Celes said had the best view of the sky, was glowing more than the entire tower.
My eyes were starting to hurt from this increasing white light, but not that much.
Even so, eyes still glued on the spectacle, I took out a sunglass artifact from my white storage crack and wore it blankly.
Celes was doing fine as she can use the shared scenes we had and protect herself.
This was somewhat like the northern lights, but more colorful than them.
And bright.
And these disappearing colors were signs that her soul was becoming one with her origin, nature.
Now, most part of this soul will be gone that contained \'her\' and someone new, someone who just had the knowledge of her and not the memories will come to life from the ashes that fell from the sky after this pure white brightness.
I wanted to cry at this moment, not like this happy crying, the one of abrupt bad end and sadness.
But damn... even after her death, she was stopping me from crying.
Damn this inexperienced, bad author. If I meet him, he will have a punch before the talk.
Even my mouth was closed shut in the awe of this marvelous scenery.
I lacked the words to describe it, but if one can see heaven after death, this was it.
This was the end of an old one, and as if the heavens were crying the tears of ash, a show like ash was falling all over vast grass fields.
This was my first time seeing the weather differently from clear, sunny days in this place.
The great forest had two seasons.
Warm spring or heavy rains.
The dark forest had two seasons.
Cold, eternal night and autumn.
I had never seen snow in this world before, not even when I lived with my parents in that place.
It was also more like here, almost always clear weather.
And now, I was seeing a slow snowfall for the first time.
A snowfall of ashes.
The remains of my grandma and the ashes of a phoenix.
A phoenix lives a long life and dies while burning itself.
Then, they are reborn from those ashes and grow to be new birds of the afterlife and rebirth.
Would we call this a cliché?
A reincarnation, a good family, a cute little sister, a tragedy, a forest, life-death situations, a strong and unbeatable enemy, a master and new life, and then... her death.
Sounds pretty cliché, but I don\'t think others choked on a coffee when their master sneaked in on them.
I don\'t think any master would teach cooking, gardening, handling chemicals, even reading and writing, and teach everything like teaching a baby.
Though there would be many characters as strong or even absurdly strong as her, would they show the true loving smile as her?
Would they tease the one they call a child for their fit body?
Would they look even close to how she did?
I don\'t know if there are other books like my own dear life but, there sure is no way they are the same as this one.
A cliché is an overly used plot of a story like some good-evil shit, a rebirth and truck, a master and training, and such.
I know these are coincidences in a true way but, my life had been more than just some cliché.
I had lived, survived, and now... I was seeing the death of someone dear to me for the first time.
I didn\'t want this, but I didn\'t regret this one.
She had no regrets when she made that decision.
She was happy, smiling warmly at me in her last moments.
And I will have a responsibility to take care of the one after her.
[[ *Do...not...worry...* ]]
Again, this voice sounded like my grandma, but static, like some AI\'s initiation.
I just ignored it completely, not that I could think about it or anything.
My mind was blank, and I was thinking with my subconscious mind, something that should have been impossible.
But right now, everything happening couldn\'t be explained with any kind of logic or anything like that.
Right now, at this moment, this space, anything one could do was... feel.
Feel this unearthly blissful warmth, this magical ash that fell like snow and vanished when touching the soil.
It covered the vast area of this closed, magical place and just continued like that until the first rays of the true sun shined on the horizon.
That was the end of this spectacle and the flames that had burned in a distinct pattern all this time shook like saying their last goodbyes and intensified severely.
A tear, different from those joyous ones from before, filled with sorrow and sadness, finally slid down my warm cheeks, cooling them with the coldness of suffering.
The light that was wide and covered the entire sky condensed, became smaller and started taking a humanoid shape.
This suddenly became an even more spectacular scene that I didn\'t expect would happen.
And I never thought I could witness what was happening right before my eyes.
Birth of a [Divine Beast].
The sky that had been painted in countless colors, then pure white, was now back to those countless colors.
New flames, different from those old and marvelous ones, burned from the white ash-like humanoid figure that exuded a blinding light.
The new flames that burned were young, weak and, most importantly, these flames had no experience of their own.
They were just sparks in comparison to the ones she had, but still, these new flames were... gorgeous in their own way.
The new being that had taken a human-like form, this new girl with a still pure white energy body that was shorter than me, was finishing the body creation like she already knew what she was doing.
The energy body became physical, and naturally, she wasn\'t wearing anything at this moment.
Her face resembled grandma, and she also had hair and eyes like a grandma but this one lacked the fire she had in them.
She looked normal compared to her, but... this normal was also as beautiful as me, or maybe even more.
Her face was smaller, and her body was perfect for someone my age.
She was a young girl and from what I knew and liked those C...
So, she was my little sister.
Well, she wasn\'t like Anna. No one could be like her.
But this one was special.
She was a child who knew what she was and everything in this world, but she had no experience.
She was a newborn on the inside and I will have to take care of this little one.
And now that master was gone... it was time for me to go, too.
Her body was slowly falling to the sky, and she was looking around in fear, her eyes in search of someone.
And when our eyes met, an innocent smile appeared on her face.
\'Cute...\'
I smiled at her, and she increased her speed and flew towards me in excitement.
"O-ok. S-slow dowwwwn!"
-Dhum!
I didn\'t see this one coming, and she just collided with me at high speed.
She hugged me tightly in happiness and fear. Her strength being no joke.
She was already as strong as a (Rank-2) knight, but fortunately, I could handle it.
She just buried her face in my shoulder and stayed like that.
I could understand her emotions like something connected me to her like Celes.
And Celes was hugging my face with a sad expression.
Now I had two little ones to take care of and... there were going to be more when I get back there.
For the first time in this life... I had lost someone irreplaceable.
I don\'t think I will meet someone like her, and no one will have a place in my being like her.
A one-of-a-kind has now become one with nature and something had now ended in the true meaning.
An end. My first end.
But this was not the end of my journey.
I hugged her back, and we stayed like that as the new morning sun graced us with its first rays of light.
This was a new morning, a new start and a new end will be waiting for me at the end of this path.
But I didn\'t worry at all.
I had them on my side now.
And, as she said before going... she will always be with me.
[[ *Yes, I will always be with you.* ]]
"Hmmm?" surprised, I looked around at the sound of the exact same voice as grandma in my head.
What was that just now?
Was she…
No... I know she was gone.
Then...
I didn\'t know why I was doing this even before calming her down, but... there was something different about me, too.
I could feel that both of them were confused right now but, I couldn\'t help this feeling.
Even my tears had stopped at the end of my eyes.
An end not only brought a new character into my life but, I was now different from just some moments ago.
I was now...
\'Status Window.\'