Chapter 1026: The Name Cernunnos
When he woke up, Eiji felt as if he had returned to his childhood.
His body was right there, yet he couldn't control it no matter what he did. It was as if all his nerves had been severed, leaving him with a suffocating sensation that made it hard to breathe.
"The curse on you hasn't been cleansed yet, so don't move."
A gentle, concerned voice came from beside him.
Eiji turned his head.
Even this simple motion felt incredibly difficult for him now, as though he were bearing hundreds of times the usual gravitational force.
"Celyn…"
Kneeling beside him was a girl radiating a soft magical glow.
She had been channeling her magic to purify the impurities within Eiji, her motionless posture suggesting she had been kneeling there for a long time.
Beneath Eiji was a soft carpet, and around them stretched an endless grassland. The sky, at some point, had become covered with stars.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"About ten hours."
Celyn placed her hand on Eiji's chest, her pure magic shining upon him like holy light.
"I've done my best to expel the curse, but the amount is simply too much. With my power alone, it's barely enough…"
Celyn looked troubled, her expression somewhat dazed.
Even with strong mental fortitude, continuously expelling Eiji's curse for ten hours straight was too much to endure.
Eiji lay quietly for a while.
Memories from before his unconsciousness flowed back like a gentle stream, gradually reminding him of everything that had happened.
"...I really didn't expect this."
Eiji's spirits were low, the curse coiling around his entire body making it difficult for him to even gather the energy to speak.
"That massive cave actually contained so much curse."
It was like an ocean—the amount of curse in that great cave was endless!
Eiji himself was not afraid of curses. Though he didn't know much about this type of systematic power, with his god-like "nothing cannot be cut" swordsmanship, even a curse cast by a god could be slashed apart on the spot!
But the curse in that great cave was different.
The curse there was a hundred thousand times worse!
It was far beyond what any ordinary human could resist!
Even someone like Eiji, with his cheat-like swordsmanship, was instantly overwhelmed by the ocean of curse, nearly losing his mind and almost failing to walk out standing!
No wonder his intuition had given him such an unprecedented sense of dread—because if he had truly gone in, there was a real chance he might never have returned!
"The amount of curse in there is astonishing."
Celyn shifted her focus, forcing herself to regain some energy.
"If it were to spill out, it might cover the entire Earth! Something like that wouldn't just be a disaster for the Lostbelt—even Pan-Human History would be dragged into destruction!"
A curse that could cover the entire Earth?!
Eiji was dumbfounded upon hearing this.
"Facing something like that, even just making eye contact would be enough to make anyone without resistance lose consciousness. Yet you managed to hold on for half a minute before collapsing! Honestly, I was shocked by you. It seems what you said about having strong mental fortitude wasn't a joke."
Celyn looked at Eiji with a strange expression, her face full of awe.
The curse in the great cave was indeed terrifying, but Eiji's mental resilience had completely exceeded her expectations.
"Resilient" is far too modest a description!
"What on earth is inside there?"
Eiji, his spirit thoroughly drained, didn't even have the energy to voice his subdued thoughts, only managing to voice his confusion with difficulty.
"How could such an immense amount of curses have accumulated?"
It was completely incomprehensible. He couldn't fathom what kind of grudge, how powerful, could accumulate curses enough to envelop the entire Earth.
"About that... I actually have an answer."
Cean hesitated for a moment, glancing around.
To avoid being contaminated by the curses clinging to Eiji, she had long since sent Mash, Habenyan, and the others away.
Seeing that no one was nearby, she spoke with a serious expression.
"I haven't told the others yet, to avoid causing unnecessary panic, but you should be fine—before you emerged, you must have seen that fiery crimson light too, right?"
Mash, Ector, and the others aren't strong enough. Faced with such a terrifying disaster, knowing about it would only add to their worries.
But Eiji is different. His strength is considerable, perhaps even on par with hers! Only Eiji can be told about this. With his abilities, he might even become an ally in her quest to eliminate the calamity of the Great Pit!
"That wasn't just light, was it?"
Eiji nodded first, then immediately refuted.
"Correct, it wasn't light."
Cean nodded gravely, acknowledging his guess.
"It was an eye."
"An eye... but that light was at least several hundred meters wide?"
Eiji's face showed utter disbelief as she revealed the truth that made his mind go blank.
"That only proves that the entity inside is likely a colossal being, at least several kilometers tall!"
A shadow of gloom gradually crept over Cean's expression.
"And if I'm not mistaken, that giant is probably the great beast god depicted in the Fairy Kingdom's Genesis—the Celtic horned god, Cernunnos!"
Cernunnos!
Eiji was very familiar with that name!
The mural in Londinium recorded the Genesis of the "Great Beast and the Six Fairies"! It mentioned the name Cernunnos!
If it is the Celtic horned god, then it makes perfect sense.
The Great Pit, which has existed for over ten thousand years—no one has ever known what lies within. If it dates back to the time of Genesis, many mysteries could be explained.
"Moreover, it might not be a Divine Spirit, but a true God! And one that has been dead for a long time!"
Cean's expression grew even darker, unusually troubled by the god within the Great Pit.
"Only a native God, after death, could accumulate such an immense amount of curses over ten thousand years!"
In the Type-Moon World, Divine Spirits and Gods are distinct concepts.
Gods are native lifeforms of Earth. They inherently possess various authorities and are not powerful because they are worshipped by humans; rather, they are worshipped because of their innate power.
Divine Spirits, however, are different. They are the degraded forms of Gods, integrated into concepts, drawing power from human worship. Their strength fluctuates with the intensity of faith, and if humans forget their existence, they fade into nothingness.
Divine Spirits are beings similar to True Ancestors and fairies, akin to nature spirits, while Gods are far nobler and more powerful!
However, in this day and age, true Gods should no longer exist on Earth.
Why has the Celtic Horned God appeared here, and even been dead for over ten thousand years?
Undoubtedly, there are still immense secrets hidden within this!
"Once the Curse God emerges from the Great Cavern, present-day Britain would be utterly powerless to stop it! That said, even if we attempt to seal the cavern entrance, the Curse God could likely shatter it with a mere flick of its finger... At this point, we are completely helpless."
Ash's face was filled with apprehension for Britain's future.