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Chapter 109: The Honoured One Wears the Crown
In the War of the Gods, the Life Goddess and the Fertility Goddess fought outside the world.
The Life Goddess, backed by the Skywing Clan's faith, defeated and killed the Fertility Goddess.
The Fertility Goddess's corpse fell into this world, transforming into chaotic divine power. This formed the Godfall Land, which devoured all life that entered it.
This was the truth of the Godfall Land.
The Life Goddess thought that after killing the Fertility Goddess, she could rest easy.
She never expected that even in death, the Fertility Goddess would leave behind a trap. It would erode the Life Goddess's body until her soul was crushed, her body taken, and she became the new Fertility Goddess.
But before she could take the Life Goddess's body completely, she met Kurtz and his group.
Then came the battle with the divine being.
Kurtz spoke slowly. "The final battle was worse than I expected. The Fertility Goddess's power was dark poison from life itself. It could rot everything and corrupt souls. When I killed her, my body... was corrupted too."
But Kurtz wasn't the only one affected.
Norn hesitated, his jaw tight, because the memories hurt, but his friend deserved the truth.
When Kurtz's sword killed the goddess, wild divine power swept over everyone while Kurtz threw his staff to Serie, shouting for her to make a barrier.
Serie put up the barrier fast, though some people were still corrupted since the divine energy moved too quickly, slipping through gaps in their defense.
No one knew this happened, not even those affected.
Norn only figured it out ten years later, after he and the other person started adventuring again.
Back then, his friend acted strange. He talked to himself and sometimes looked pained. When Norn asked, he always said he was fine, just tired. The lie came easy, with that smile that made Norn believe it.
Maybe the divine corruption had already started working.
Then one morning, his closest friend vanished. No note, no goodbye, just an empty bedroll.
When Norn finally heard news of him, he had become the First Generation Demon Lord Asmodeus, bringing disaster to the world again.
The memory made Norn's chest tight with guilt.
Kurtz kept talking.
He raised his pale hand. In the moonlight, Norn saw faint black marks under the skin, running from his hand to his wrist like dark veins.
"My body collapsed completely, and my soul was corrupted too." Kurtz's voice was flat, like he was telling someone else's story. But the danger in it made Norn shiver. "To survive, and to stop myself from becoming the divine being's vessel, I had to choose this way."
He paused, fingers moving slightly as he chose his words, or perhaps remembered the pain.
"I destroyed my own body. Used life's authority to make a new one, then started reincarnating."
Kurtz created the reincarnation magic while making his new body.
It wasn't moving into someone else's body. It wouldn't change how he looked or what he remembered.
You are still you.
It was just reshaping his own body, rebuilding from nothing.
"But this took too long. Thirty full years for my soul to enter the new body."
He clenched his fist gently. The movement was stiff and clumsy, like broken clockwork learning to tick again.
Kurtz clearly hadn't mastered his new body yet.
"It's like taking a broken piano string, straightening it, then putting it on a weak piano." His voice got quieter. "I focused everything on tuning, letting my soul get used to this new, fragile body. One mistake would scatter my soul or destroy my body again.
Even now, this body is weak and can't take any hits."
Norn stood frozen.
Shock and guilt hit him hard. His throat felt tight, hands shaking.
He'd imagined many reasons for Kurtz's disappearance, trapped somewhere, maybe died with the divine being, but never something this cruel.
Thirty years!
Not traveling or exploring, but fighting to survive every moment, alone with only will and hope.
He looked at Kurtz's pale face. Thousands of words stuck in his chest became one sentence: "You... suffered so much."
Kurtz shook his head slightly, smiling, the same gentle look Norn remembered: "Seeing you again, seeing you wear that crown, it was all worth it."
Norn took off the crown carefully.
He remembered what Kurtz once said during a night by their campfire.
If he ever became the Human King and wore the crown of glory and duty, he should let Kurtz wear it too.
Now Kurtz stood before him, weak but alive.
"Will the crown's weight hurt you?"
Kurtz understood and nodded: "It should be fine." He reached out, fingers steady despite looking fragile.
He didn't feel the weight of being a king.
The crown meant glory and duty, but Kurtz just wanted to wear it to keep a promise, one that survived thirty years apart.
The cold metal touched his fingers. Norn's crown was made with ancient Elf magic that hummed softly with power.
Kurtz lifted the crown and gently put it on his head.
The honored one, wearing the crown.
But this time, no crowds cheered. No glory from watching eyes.
In the quiet bedroom, only two old friends sat together, their bond somehow unbroken after everything.
"How does it feel?" Norn's voice held tension and hope.
Kurtz closed his eyes briefly, feeling the weight on his head.
Then he opened them, smiling sadly: "Much heavier... than I thought."
He shook his head slightly, afraid the crown might fall or his weak body couldn't handle even this small weight. "Carrying the hopes of a nation, a people, this weight is huge. Norn, you... worked so hard all these years."
Norn had actually done what Kurtz joked about. He'd turned a simple joke into the foundation of human civilization.
Building the first human nation in this world took unimaginable hardship.
Kurtz carefully removed the crown and walked to Norn. Norn understood, lowered his head, and let Kurtz put the crown back where it belonged.
Then he looked up at Kurtz, carrying thirty years of unsaid words and all the grief, joy, and relief that came with them.
"You're back. That's what matters most." Norn took a deep breath. "Everyone's still here, but they're not the same as before."
[End of Chapter]