The Second Son of The Marquis Runs Away from Home ~ Lacking Talent, He Abandons Everything and Becomes an Adventurer ~ - 193

Chapter 193: Light Devouring the World

At first, it was a small light illuminating a modest dining table.

Gratitude for being able to obtain daily sustenance in a small village turned into a prayer towards that light.

Even when the village perished, it continued to drift through the world, a prayer to sustain existence as long as light illuminated the dining table… because it could attain thoughts.

Eventually, over thousands of years, it began to devour itself like everything else, giving rise to hunger alongside consciousness. The thoughts it gained could no longer be contained on the dining table, and as hunger increased while everything else diminished, it realized.

The more it illuminated, the more it could consume.

And so, it illuminated not only the small dining table but the dining tables of all beings. Yet hunger was never satisfied.

Gradually, it became clear that thoughts gained from oneself and others’ consumption were no longer enough. Hence, it continued to increase what it illuminated.

Increasing, illuminating, increasing, illuminating… Illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating, illuminating.

It was perhaps inevitable that it would reach this conclusion when it expanded to manifest.

If it illuminates the world, it can consume everything…

—

Light emanated from the Ill-Eater, coloring the space white, turning everything except me white.

“What’s… this?”

Aria and the others were also uniformly white, but from their bodies… no, from everything turned white, tiny lights like sand floated up.

“This is… bad!”

Eilsied’s voice resounded, followed by Ruskdite’s rough voice.

“Aria, this light is life! If we don’t get out of this area quickly, everything will be consumed by that thing!”

“Hurry!”

We hurried away from the Ill-Eater at full speed. Fortunately, the area of light didn’t spread that far, so even after leaving the area, we continued to fly away to keep our distance from the light zone.

The moment we landed at a distant location, Aria and the others released their formations and kneeled. Ruskdite and the others, who had turned into demonic forms, also appeared nearby.

“…So that’s what it is.”

Serena muttered as she breathed through her shoulders, then spoke while looking at the gradually expanding area.

“That area takes away the lives of everything without question. The lives taken become the power of the Ill-Eater, further expanding the area… and eventually covering the world.”

“In that area, we will also lose our lives without question. Considering the situation earlier… we will likely be consumed before we defeat the Ill-Eater.”

“I see.”

Serena’s foresight was accurate. Even the higher beings like Ruskdite understood the power to take lives without question… It was understandable that even with Victoria and the whole world combined, we couldn’t win.

…But.

“I’m fine, though.”

In that area of light, only I wasn’t deprived of life. I may have exhausted myself fighting Lowd, but I wasn’t consumed like Aria and the others.

“That’s the power of the Chaos Crusader. Only those connected to the Ill-Eater or… the Chaos Crusader, created as a countermeasure to the world, can exist in that area.”

“…So only I and the Chaos Crusader can defeat him, is that it?”

Muttering while looking at the area, I asked Eilsied and the others while checking my condition.

“What happened to Lowd who was absorbed?”

“…That person is certainly strong, but he’s still human. Once absorbed by an entity akin to a god…”

“He won’t be saved, his mind must have long been shattered.”

“I see…”

Complex feelings circulated in my heart, but all of that had to wait until we dealt with what was in front of us.

“Aria, Serena, Shurin, I’m going.”

Spreading my wings, I informed them.