Ubermensch – Chapter 180

Chapter 180

And so Mason’s journey ended in failure. All that remained was to return home.

Even with faster-than-light travel, it took tens of thousands of years to reach the edge of the universe. The return trip would likely take just as long.

The old man, trapped in an immortal body, no longer held any expectations.

He entered sleep navigation.

With the instruction to wake him up if, by any chance, they found another life form.

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It was around that time that Oztalon discovered the First Mason.

‘The sensors are on.’

If a god decided to hide, nothing could find him.

Not even the sensors of advanced science.

Oztalon looked around, keeping himself concealed.

‘The Destroyer is…’

Gone. The First Mason had fallen asleep, disappointed at not encountering anyone, and the sensors hadn’t detected anything either.

Fortunately, Oztalon had succeeded in getting ahead.

Oztalon sat atop the spaceship.

Roughly gauging the distance and speed, it would be a homecoming that would take tens of thousands of years.

‘I can just wait here.’

Oztalon sat atop the spaceship for years.

Space was empty. The sense of wonder at the meaning of emptiness lasted only a few days. This infinite space soon felt like a prison.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled a fact.

‘But is this really the best course of action?’

It was a fragment of the Destroyer that had infiltrated this dimension. In other words, the Destroyer’s main body was continuing its work. Destruction and annihilation.

‘Perhaps… the Destroyer devised this operation to tie me down?’

Time Trouble was an event that affected all dimensions, including the Destroyer himself. The reason the Destroyer went mad was his disappointment in humanity during the fight against the monsters. And it was Nodens who had spread those monsters.

In other words, if something changed due to Time Trouble.

To be more precise, if the First Mason didn’t become Nodens or didn’t spread the monsters, it could mean that the Destroyer wouldn’t have been born either.

Perhaps, it could be salvation.

Preventing Nodens, and the monsters, from being born could prevent the painful memories that the Destroyer experienced from ever arising.

But…

‘Would the Destroyer, truly regret becoming the Destroyer?’

The Destroyer’s madness was in the realm of fanaticism. He believed that the things he had experienced gave him the right to revenge, and that right was to annihilate all dimensions.

Could the Destroyer, already driven mad, be denying himself?

Mason pondered and came to a conclusion.

‘No.’

The Destroyer was annihilating the universe of his own volition, by his own choice.

If he thought he was wrong, he could stop now.

But he didn’t stop, which meant he didn’t think he was wrong.

In other words… the Destroyer wouldn’t prevent the birth of Nodens.

Because only when Nodens is born, and spreads the monsters, can he himself be born!

‘If he’s not aiming for Time Trouble, what is the Destroyer aiming for?’

After a moment of thought, Oztalon suddenly realized.

‘The Destroyer only sent a mere fragment of himself.’

The fact that he was here.

‘But, I’m here to stop his fragment.’

In the Dreamland Pantheon, excluding Nodens, Oztalon was the most powerful and active Elder God.

While other Elder Gods were fighting the Destroyer indirectly, through spiritual warfare or protecting citizens, Oztalon was in charge of the front-line battles, rescuing people from the Destroyer.

No. It would be the same even if it wasn’t Oztalon.

Whoever among the other gods came, there would be a vacancy to that extent.

‘If someone plays with fire in front of a powder keg, someone has to stop them.’

The problem was, how long would it take?

“Nodens.”

Oztalon summoned an avatar of Nodens.

Nodens’ avatar appeared in response to the call.

“How long did it take for the First Mason to become Nodens?”

“There might be slight variations, but I think it took about 6 billion years.”

“6 billion years?!”

Oztalon was horrified. By the boundless loneliness Nodens must have felt, and by the time Oztalon would have to spend here.

“Then you’re saying I have to protect you here for 6 billion years?”

“It seems so.”

That meant that the one who was in charge of the front line in the fight against the Destroyer, the Guardian Deity Oztalon, would be virtually sealed in this dimension.

“No, wait a minute.”

At that moment, Oztalon looked at Nodens’ avatar.

“Can’t you protect yourself?”

What the Lord of Time was guarding was not the timeline itself. Gods like Oztalon or Nodens could use dimensional travel to achieve time travel.

What the Lord of Time guarded were the coordinates of spacetime.

No matter how capable of dimensional travel, one couldn’t arrive without knowing the coordinates.

But Oztalon now knew the coordinates of The Origin, and Nodens also learned these coordinates since Oztalon had summoned him.

After a moment of thought, Nodens’ avatar nodded.

“It would be possible.”

“Can you protect yourself instead of me?”

“I will.”

Nodens’ avatar smiled a complex smile.

“Waiting is my daily routine.”

Oztalon set up layers upon layers of barriers using his divine power and spells. It was a level of barrier that would at least buy him some time even if the Destroyer’s avatar appeared.

“Please, Nodens. Protect yourself.”

“Yes, I understand.”

Oztalon shook hands with Nodens and performed dimensional travel.

He had departed to the people he had to protect.

“Well then…”

Nodens sat atop the spaceship.

“I am… alone again…”

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When Oztalon returned, the Destroyer’s offensive was in full swing.

“Big guy.”

Deroa, true to her nature, gave a brief greeting and a short briefing.

“It’s a mess everywhere. We’re going to have to move quickly.”

“Yes, let’s go.”

As usual, Oztalon’s Pantheon fiercely rescued people from the Destroyer.

The solar system was filled with rescued people, to the point that Nodens had to receive a new galaxy.

And so, tens of thousands of years passed.

As Oztalon was rescuing people as usual, he felt a signal.

“…Hmm.”

It was the barriers and spells he had placed on the First Mason.

Those spells were informing him that the Explorer had arrived on Earth.

‘Earth.’

Oztalon smiled bitterly.

Since he had already asked Nodens’ avatar, there was no need to go and check himself. There wasn’t, but…

‘I do miss it.’

Oztalon was also curious as Mason.

If there had been no monster attacks, and if he had gone on a space journey, how would the world have changed when he returned?

“I’ll be back in a bit.”

“Yes, Oztalon.”

Teshub said in a gentle voice.

“I’ll pray if anything happens.”

“Yes, thank you.”

Oztalon took a step.

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As it entered the solar system, the Explorer switched modes from faster-than-light travel to normal navigation. It was time to start decelerating for landing.

“The solar system, huh.”

It was then that Mason’s hibernation was lifted.

“Guide.”

Mason asked, still lying in bed.

“Did you find anything…?”

The Guide’s voice was kind, but its content was harsh.

Mason smiled bitterly.

“Right. I figured as much…”

The Explorer gradually reduced its speed from faster-than-light to light speed, then sub-light speed. And finally, it arrived at its destination, Earth.

“Okay.”

Even the intense resistance of the atmosphere and gravity was no different from a gentle breeze in the face of future science. The Explorer landed on the ground without a single tremor.

At that moment, Mason asked in surprise.

“Landing site?”

“Where is that?!”

“That’s impossible…”

Mason hurriedly disembarked from the Explorer.

To see with his own eyes, not through a monitor.

However, what he saw with his own eyes was no different from what was displayed on the monitor.

“It’s gone. It’s gone…”

There was nothing. Just a plain.

Let alone a building, even the traces of a building were gone.

“Uncle! Uncle!”

Mason screamed.

“Where are you? Uncle!”

His cry, shouted with all his might, shook the empty sky in vain.

“Uncle! Please!”

Mason’s cry turned into a wail, and the wail into a sob.

“Please! Don’t leave me alone!”

Sobbing, Mason suddenly exclaimed.

“Right, Guide!”

“Search for human life signs on Earth!”

The Guide answered before Mason could finish his sentence.

“Then the solar system! Search the entire solar system!”

After a few minutes of silence, the Guide replied.

“That’s impossible! My father is on Mars! The Mars Pioneer Corps is there!”

“Then where is my uncle? Where is he?”

“…Buried?”

Mason’s heart sank.

The Guide said in its usual gentle voice.

“Yes.”

The nanites loaded on the Explorer moved like a silver wind.

A short while later, a deep pit was revealed, showing the Agency for Defense Development and the grave in front of it.