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Chapter 293: The Vile Rat that Pollutes the Seas (10)

A blow that left an indelible scar on the world, cutting down nature.

The rat\'s body was struck directly by that blow, crashing into the wall.

BANG!

The rat’s body collided with the wall, causing cracks and making it crumble.

The rat collapsed with a pained groan.

[Kaah...]

The rat tried to get back up but failed.

It barely turned its head and let out a hollow laugh.

The rat\'s right front paw...

It had been completely severed from the shoulder.

Under normal circumstances, with the rat’s usual regenerative powers, this wouldn’t be a big wound.

Even if severed, it could have regenerated within hours.

But not now.

The severed limb showed no signs of recovery.

An indelible wound had been carved into the rat\'s body for the first time since its birth.

Then, a hand gripped the rat\'s head and slammed it into the wall.

The already crumbling wall could no longer hold and collapsed.

[Kyaaak!]

Ketal, who had subdued the rat, clicked his tongue.

"As expected of a rat. You\'re strong."

Under normal circumstances, the final blow would have split the rat\'s body in half.

However, the rat had narrowly dodged the blow, escaping with just one severed paw.

"Well, that\'s all there is to it."

The rat’s reaction was certainly remarkable.

But even so, the situation hadn\'t changed.

Although it had survived, it had expended all its strength.

The corruption that had enveloped its entire body had completely vanished.

[To be this drained... not since the Great War of the distant past.]

The rat muttered with its head still held down.

[You’ve truly become a monster. To fill the void in such a way... You could even reach those three old ones inside with your current strength.]

The rat spoke calmly.

[I admit defeat. I never imagined that death could come for me too. Kill me, monster.]

The rat awaited the end quietly.

But Ketal did not deliver the finishing blow.

Instead, he wore a puzzled expression.

"...Hmm."

He could kill this horrific monster that he had so desired to defeat.

But Ketal didn’t.

Because right now, it was impossible.

He had drawn out the mystical beast and unleashed a powerful attack.

But controlling the power of that attack was impossible.

In other words, that attack had exhausted all of his remaining mystery.

It would take at least a day to recover.

And the rat would have enough time to recover and escape as well.

After a moment of contemplation, Ketal made his decision.

He released his grip on the rat’s head.

The freed rat looked at Ketal with a bewildered expression.

[What are you doing? Don’t toy with me. Kill me.]

"As much as I want to kill you, there’s something more important right now."

Killing the rat was impossible.

So, it would be better to extract what he needed.

Ketal spoke.

"I\'ll spare you. But in exchange, you must reveal the information you know."

* * *

The rat’s eyes widened at the response.

[You’ll spare me?]

"Unfortunately, killing you won’t solve the situation at the moment."

The monsters of the White Snowfield were numerous.

Among them were monsters on par with the rat.

And there were even stronger ones.

The fact that the rat had appeared meant the barrier of the White Snowfield had been broken.

Other monsters might appear as well.

In that situation, killing one rat wouldn’t change anything.

So, Ketal sought information from the rat.

He might have hesitated even if he had the power to kill the rat.

But since it was currently impossible, there was no need to hesitate.

Ketal spoke.

"Swear by your name and honor. Tell me what you know, and never come out again. Stay imprisoned in the White Snowfield forever. If you do, I will spare you."

[...How humiliating.]

The rat let out a bitter laugh.

The rat didn’t believe that Ketal was unable to kill it.

The power Ketal had shown was that formidable.

And so the rat answered.

[I am the loser. I must obey the winner. Besides, I don’t want to die either.]

The rat began to swear.

[I am the second being born from the swamp of filth. I swear on my honor and pride that I will never set foot in this world again. Even if the barrier is completely broken, I will remain in the White Snowfield as my home.]

It was an oath bound by the rat’s honor and pride.

If broken, the rat would suffer a great loss of power, making it easy prey even for someone like Bayern.

This was the only way to suppress the powerful monsters of the White Snowfield.

"Good."

Hearing the rat’s vow, Ketal nodded and began to ask questions.

"You and the others... you’re monsters, right? The oldest beings. Entities not of this world."

[...What a strange question. You\'re one of us too.]

"I am different."

[What nonsense. Even though you’ve destroyed yourself, you are still one of us.]

The rat spoke in a puzzled tone, as if it truly believed Ketal was one of them.

"Hmm."

No matter what Ketal said, the rat didn’t seem to understand.

After organizing his thoughts for a moment, Ketal spoke.

"Let me be clear. You and most of the monsters in the White Snowfield... you existed before the current universe, before order was established, didn’t you?"

[...Ah, so that\'s what you meant.]

The rat\'s face showed a hint of understanding.

[Where did you learn that? ...No, I get it.]

The rat’s gaze shifted to Ketal’s waist.

The broken holy sword trembled involuntarily.

The rat squinted its eyes.

[So, it was the tool of the young ones. That thing told you, didn\'t it? What an odd thing to have.]

"Just answer the question."

[Yes.]

The rat confirmed.

[We are the oldest. The first beings born after the creation of the universe.]

"...Hmm."

It was true.

Though he had heard it from the Holy Sword, hearing it directly from the rat felt strange.

The beings he had been fighting in the Snowfield were truly ancient.

Ketal spoke again.

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"You lost, didn’t you?"

[We were defeated and imprisoned in that cage due to the ambush by the young ones born after us.]

The rat grimaced as if disgusted.

[It was truly perfect timing. We already had conflicts because we didn\'t get along, and they seized that moment. They’re just like rats. And you’re siding with those things. Traitor.]

“I told you, I’m not one of you.”

Ketal clicked his tongue.

He couldn\'t get through to them no matter how much he denied it.

But the rat looked more amused than angry.

[From a fundamental standpoint, maybe you\'re different. But in the end, you’re just like us. You\'re qualitatively different from those outside.]

The rat’s words were strange, as if implying they were a different species altogether.

[Well… you’ve changed quite a lot. Damaged your own essence, have you? How bizarre. How is that even possible?]

“Shut up.”

Ketal had no interest in continuing this conversation since it was bound to go nowhere.

Instead, he asked something else.

“You always said you were the second life born from the swamp of filth.”

In the snowy plains, it sounded like nonsense, but now Ketal could understand the meaning.

That made him curious about one more thing.

“If you\'re the second life, does that mean you were the second to be born in the world?”

[No. The swamp of filth was indeed the first to be born in that era. But many other things existed. I was one of the first, but not the second.]

“I see. Then let me ask something else.”

Ketal narrowed his eyes.

“If you were the second born from the swamp of filth, what was the first?”

[You already know.]

“…Is it one of those things inside the snowfield?”

Ketal clicked his tongue.

The horrid things.

The twisted things.

The grotesque things.

It was one of them.

[The old ones. You’d think they’d already be tired of it, but they’re still going strong.]

“Well, fine.”

His minor curiosities had been resolved.

Now it was time to get to the main issue.

Ketal’s gaze darkened.

“You made it outside.”

First the white thing, now the rat.

It was the second one.

“Has the barrier completely shattered? Can other monsters come out like you?”

[The seal between our world and this one has definitely weakened. But it’s not completely broken yet.]

“So it hasn’t fully shattered.”

[Some weaker beings might slip through the cracks… but beings like me? It’s difficult. I had to push myself quite hard to get out. And even if others could, not many are interested in the outside.]

But it wasn’t impossible.

Ketal asked another question.

“The old ones would be very interested.”

The strongest of the white snowfield.

Those beings were very, very interested in the outside world.

The rat agreed.

[That’s true. But they’re too busy devouring each other to focus on the outside.]

“Their fight isn’t over yet?”

[It’s been going on since their creation. It won’t end anytime soon.]

“Hm.”

Ketal stroked his chin.

At least for now, there were no major threats interested in the outside.

That was a small relief.

Now it was time for the most fundamental question.

“The seal on the white snowfield.”

It had weakened.

It had cracked, crumbled, and shattered enough for creatures like the rat to emerge into the outside world.

Ketal asked.

“Is it breaking because of me?”

* * *

[Is that what you think?]

The rat let out a bitter laugh.

[It’s true that the seal weakened because of something you did. Thanks to you, I was able to escape. But nothing in this world lasts forever. Even the beings that came after us will eventually decay and rot.]

That includes the immensely powerful seal.

[The reason the old ones are fighting is to prepare for when the seal inevitably breaks. Do you think you\'re the sole cause? Quite the ego you’ve got.]

The rat sneered at Ketal.

But for Ketal, that was actually a relief.

“So it’s not entirely because of me.”

He had indeed accelerated the weakening of the seal.

But it wasn’t as if he had shattered an unbreakable seal.

The barrier was weakening on its own over time.

Though the situation hadn’t really changed, Ketal found some comfort in that.

The rat, on the other hand, seemed curious.

[But you… What exactly did you do?]

“What do you mean by that?”

[The seal that trapped us was created by the young ones who exhausted all their power. At one point, even the old ones joined forces in an attempt to break it.]

The monsters hadn’t just sat there passively.

For a long time, the creatures of the white snowfield had tried to break the seal and escape to the outside world.

But they failed.

In the end, the monsters decided to wait.

Nothing in this world was eternal.

They judged it best to wait it out for however long it took simply.

And then Ketal shattered that very seal and escaped to the outside world.

The rat narrowed its eyes.

[You. What did you do? How were you able to break the seal and leave?]

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