Chapter 208 - Episode 28. Rupture (2)
Chapter 208: Episode 28. Rupture (2)
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From the moment the meeting began, Yoonhwan had not expected the negotiations to go smoothly.
《Great Realm》 and Rupture were bitter enemies.
Among Rupture’s past members were those who had massacred Lords or killed Great Lords.
Would the Great Lords truly be willing to negotiate properly with Rupture under such circumstances?
Yoonhwan’s grim expectation reached its peak when he came face-to-face with the strange figure in a black cloak who entered the hall.
It felt as though the entire hall had sunk into deep darkness. He felt as if he had been trapped in an exquisitely constructed, airtight chamber, a fear too difficult to put into words.
These were the Great Lords.
A sinister aura flowed forth whenever the hem of the cloak brushed the floor.
The instant Yoonhwan met the cloak’s owner’s eyes, he felt frozen to the marrow.
They were supposed to negotiate with people like this?
Impossible.
These people had come to wage war.
That certainty filled the depths of Yoonhwan’s heart. Without realizing it, he reached for the short sword at his waist.
Meanwhile, the Great Lord watched Yoonhwan remain largely unfazed by such overwhelming pressure, and curiosity appeared in his eyes.
Just as an even stronger wave of force was about to erupt from the Great Lord’s body.
“Darkness, that is enough.”
Mirel stopped him.
Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, grinned.
“It has been a while, Rupture wench.”
“Your mouth is as cheap as ever, Jerome.”
Judging by their exchange, they had met before.
Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, looked at Yoonhwan and Seoyul, who stood awkwardly at the edge of the meeting hall, and asked, “What are those scrawny brats? New Division Commanders?”
“They are the scribes for this meeting. They will record the negotiations.”
“I thought they were far too weak to be Division Commanders.”
Yoonhwan lightly bit the inside of his lip.
It was frustrating, but true. Even after reaching his third Awakening, he had struggled just to endure the casual wave of force the Great Lord had thrown at him.
After brief greetings, people began taking their seats one by one.
To the left of the central seats sat Rupture’s Third, Fourth, and Fifth Division Commanders. Across from them sat four Great Lords from the 《Great Realm》.
Yoonhwan cross-checked the names of the Lords attending the negotiations against the list.
First Zone, Lord of the Forest Illiones.
Second Zone, Lord of Ruin Siegfried.
Fourth Zone, Dragon Lord Varkant.
Ninth Zone, Lord of Darkness Jerome (Representative).
‘Four? Ten were originally supposed to attend.’
Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, spoke first.
“Some time ago, when I participated in the subjugation of the 《Forgotten Land》, I sent my subordinates to find your Rupture headquarters. No matter how hard they searched, they could not find it. Had you already moved your headquarters to the 《Abyss》 by then?”
“You are talking about something from ages ago. We moved a long time ago.”
Imai, the Third Division Commander, replied with a sneer.
Silence settled over the room after that exchange.
The Division Commanders’ and Great Lords’ gazes crossed in midair, as though each side was measuring the other’s strength.
Within that blood-chilling atmosphere, Yoonhwan had to suppress a nervous gulp.
Even Yoonhwan, who had only reached his third Awakening, could tell. At the center of the hall, a brutal contest of World Force was taking place.
The World Pressure was so violent that someone at Yoonhwan’s level would have their soul torn apart if they carelessly intruded. It seemed to be a preliminary clash before the negotiations began in earnest.
After some time passed, Dragon Lord Varkant was the first to break the silence.
“Where is that girl with the chain scythe? I was planning to teach her a lesson.”
The voice was unbelievably relaxed. From that one sentence, Yoonhwan knew the Great Lords had gained the upper hand in the preliminary clash. Rupture’s Division Commanders had been pushed back in their contest of World Force.
Imai, the Third Division Commander, frowned. “Chain scythe? Are you referring to Seolha?”
“I heard she was the one who killed my predecessor. Well, he never had what it took to be a Great Lord anyway. He was only at the level of a General, yet he held the position of Great Lord.”
Varkant, whose form was half human and half dragon, stuck out their long tongue and smacked their lips. Having ascended as the new Great Lord of the Fourth Zone around four hundred years ago, Varkant was among the newer Great Lords of the current twelve zones.
“Seolha left Rupture.”
“Is that so? What a shame.”
Varkant seemed genuinely disappointed.
Yoonhwan quietly held his breath at the killing intent dripping from Varkant’s tone. Perhaps Varkant had truly come here intending to fight her.
‘They are all insane.’
Yoonhwan slowly drew a deep breath so no one would notice his trembling wrist.
At his level, it was difficult even to gauge the Division Commanders’ World Force, let alone that of the Great Lords.
Still, he could roughly estimate the Division Commanders’ strength from the rumors he had heard. According to those rumors, Imai was the strongest of the three Division Commanders present. Kasim came next, followed by Mirel.
Yoonhwan had heard Kasim’s World Force was around three billion. It was easy to assume the other Division Commanders were around the same level.
Then how strong were those Great Lords?
Judging from the Division Commanders’ expressions, the initiative already seemed to be shifting in the Great Lords’ favor.
Yoonhwan was finding it harder and harder to breathe. As the Division Commanders lost ground in their contest of World Force, some of that burden began reaching him too.
Jerome, the Lord of Darkness, calmly swept his gaze over the Division Commanders before asking in an indifferent tone, “Why has Maiad not come?”
“That is not a name you may speak so carelessly.”
“If he does not come, negotiations are impossible.”
“The Commander has granted the Division Commanders full authority over these negotiations.”
“To the likes of you?”
Jerome’s voice was filled with deep ridicule.
“You are not qualified to hold authority over these negotiations.”
At the same time, everyone in the meeting hall staggered violently.
Even Kasim, who was so steadfast, and Imai, who was so proud, were turning pale.
The World Force Jerome emitted continued to grow. Kasim muttered in a strained voice, “So there was a reason the war in the 《Great Realm》 suddenly stopped. You had been hiding your strength?”
“It happened a little earlier than expected. Some strange bastard showed up in 《Chaos》 and caused a mess.”
“The Lord Massacre...”
Not knowing what the Lord Massacre was, Yoonhwan struggled to move his fingers and wrote down the term.
“That is right. A large number of vacancies opened up among the Generals, so hyena-like bastards started swarming into the Ninth Zone. It was a real headache.”
Jerome looked at the three Great Lords seated beside him and smiled.
The smile was so chilling that even the Great Lords avoided his gaze.
“Well, it has worked out better now. I no longer need to take the trouble of ‘persuading’ these people one at a time.”
“...”
“With no Fruit even at stake, they were all charging at each other, ready to die together. It was a truly absurd situation, was it not, Siegfried?”
“H-Hm. Y-Yes, it was. We were sorry about that.”
Siegfried, the Great Lord of the Second Zone seated directly beside Jerome, answered in a cowed voice.
That was enough for Yoonhwan to understand.
This Jerome was exceptional even among the Great Lords of the twelve zones.
Someone neither the Great Lords nor the Division Commanders could contend with.
Who could possibly face him?
Could the Commander?
Yoonhwan did not know.
“Anyway, where is Maiad?”
“He is not coming, Jerome. He is no longer here.”
“Not here? Did he get scared and run away?”
“Watch your mouth. You did not all come either, did you? If all ten people who promised to come had arrived, the Commander would have come here to receive you. Yet there are only four of you. We are the ones who should be asking whether you are playing games.”
“There were circumstances. We originally intended for all ten of us to come.”
“Circumstances? They must have been important enough to miss these negotiations.”
“Do not play dumb, wench. You must already know.”
Mirel fell silent.
After a moment, she slowly blinked. “It seems Catastrophe did not let you pass so easily.”
Catastrophe. The gatekeeper guarding the passage between 《Chaos》 and the 《Abyss》, and one of the strongest Three Ancient Gods.
Jerome ground his teeth.
“Catastrophe did more than refuse to let us pass. They blocked the path entirely. Why did you not tell us?”
“We never expected Catastrophe to try to stop you. Catastrophe had never shown any concern for the passage of Lords.”
“Lies. There is no way you did not know.”
“So you fought Catastrophe head-on?”
As Jerome slowly steadied his breathing, Yoonhwan felt as though all the oxygen around him had been sucked away.
“Four of the ten Great Lords died. Two more suffered critical injuries and could not come up here.”
The Division Commanders glanced at one another.
If Jerome’s words were true, it was an utterly devastating loss for the 《Great Realm》. Half of their main force had been wiped out.
Dragon Lord Varkant added, “But we still have more than enough strength to kill all of you, so do not get any foolish ideas.”
Ignoring Varkant, Mirel asked Jerome again, “What happened to Catastrophe?”
“Catastrophe has entered a state of complete, though temporary, sealing. Ridiculous, really. Ten Great Lords attacked them, yet we still could not kill them. The injured Lord of Gold is guarding their seal.”
Yoonhwan unconsciously moved his pen, unsure how much of the conversation he should believe.
To him, both the Division Commanders and Great Lords were already figures as distant as the heavens. What kind of monster was Catastrophe, that ten Great Lords had to attack them just to seal them?
Jerome continued.
“Either way, I believe we have paid more than enough to meet with you. Are you still going to demand such ridiculous courtesy from us? This is a situation where it would not be strange for us to demand compensation instead.”
“Do you want compensation?”
“Release the Fruit you have monopolized.”
“That is an item to be traded through these negotiations. We cannot hand it over because of such an insignificant variable.”
Jerome’s expression hardened at Mirel’s words.
“An insignificant matter?”
Terrifying World Force erupted with the words.
The Division Commanders’ expressions changed drastically, and they almost simultaneously drew their signature weapons.
A sneer appeared on Jerome’s face.
“I should have done this from the beginning. I never should have tried negotiating with the likes of you.”
The killing intent had surpassed even the Division Commanders’ defenses, and Yoonhwan’s mind was beginning to grow hazy. Beside him, Seoyul, who had been helping him record the meeting, vomited silver light.
The situation was poised to erupt into full-scale war between Rupture and the Great Lords at any moment.
That was when a man entered the meeting hall.
“It does not look like any of you intend to negotiate.”
Through his scattered consciousness, Yoonhwan looked toward the man.
He was half-naked, wearing clothes that looked like old rags.
For a moment, Yoonhwan had hoped the man was the Commander, but he was not.
“This will not do, Jerome.”
The crushing pressure weighing on the room vanished as though washed away with those words. The vast World Force erupting from the man’s body had pushed away everyone else’s World Force at once.
Some of the Great Lords had turned pale.
Jerome’s expression was especially grave.
“Why are you here, Buddha?”
Buddha.
Yoonhwan remembered hearing that name somewhere before.
He had definitely read it in one of the booklets during new recruit orientation.
‘Could it be, Buddha of the Eight Divine Thrones?’
The Eight Divine Thrones.
The universally acknowledged strongest gods of the 《Abyss》.
Their official name had originally been the Seven Divine Thrones, but the title had changed after Rupture Lord Maiad became the owner of 〈Caspion〉, the Eighth Site.
Buddha, the God of Reincarnation, held the sixth seat among the Eight Divine Thrones.
‘Why is one of the Eight Divine Thrones here?’
At that moment, Yoonhwan looked at one of the empty seats at the table.
Even excluding Maiad’s seat at the head of the table, two seats at Rupture’s table remained empty.
Even considering the Second Division Commander’s seat, which had been left vacant after its owner ceased to be active in Rupture, there was still one empty seat left.
Goosebumps slowly rose along Yoonhwan’s spine.
A feeling of disbelief seized his entire body.
Buddha grinned. “I am an Awakened One too. Did you not know?”
“An Awakened One?”
Jerome tilted his head, then his expression changed.
“Do not tell me, you...”
“That is exactly what you think.”
Rupture’s true second-in-command, and the strongest person in Rupture aside from Maiad.
The Division Commanders put away their signature weapons one by one and briefly greeted Buddha.
“It has been a while, Buddha.”
“It has been a long time.”
“You are late.”
“Yes, my apologies.”
After returning their greetings, Buddha passed calmly between the Division Commanders and finally reached his seat.
With a scraping sound, Buddha sat in the First Division Commander’s seat, crossed one leg over the other, and looked at Jerome.
“Now you feel like negotiating properly, Jerome.”
The sound of teeth grinding quietly echoed through the hall.
Buddha, Rupture’s First Division Commander.
The veiled First Division Commander whom even Yoonhwan had known nothing about.
He was, astonishingly, Buddha of the Eight Divine Thrones.
“Then shall we begin again?”
* * *
Jaehwan opened his eyes after completely restoring the 『Record of the Abyss』 through 「Gestalt’s Eye」.
An unbroken history had seeped into every corner of his mind, and the lingering impression of that grand story dyed Jaehwan’s heart in a quiet light.
“You are awake.”
When he opened his eyes, Runald, Karavan, and the entire Longevity Clan had gathered around him.
Jaehwan asked, “How much time has passed?”
“Nearly a month. The Great Warrior said you would wake up around today, and they were right.”
A month. It had taken far longer than he expected.
Still, reading the 『Record of the Abyss』 had been worth it. By reading all of those records, Jaehwan had gained a completely different perspective from before.
There was now a depth to Jaehwan that could not be compared to the past.
As a Follower, Runald felt it especially deeply. Yet he did not miss another emotion that had grown within Jaehwan alongside that new depth.
Jaehwan looked lonely.
Perhaps that was the expression of someone who had alone realized the secret this world had quietly hidden.
Runald wanted to know what Jaehwan had learned, but he could not easily ask. There was an indescribably thick wall between them. He had felt something like this before, but the wall had never felt as difficult as it did now.
Though they were clearly looking at the same Worldview, Runald felt as if Jaehwan had become an entirely different being.
A little later, Jaehwan and his Allies stood at the entrance to the Forest of Madness.
While Runald and Karavan waited, Jaehwan exchanged brief final greetings with the Longevity Clan and La-Hamad. Runald could not make out exactly what they said, but it seemed they were making some kind of promise.
“I never thought we would leave this place after only a hundred days.”
Karavan removed his back-scrubbing gloves, tossed them aside, and stretched. With Jaehwan’s help, he was nearly done restoring his link with Ignis.
As befitted a Vicegerent of one of the Eight Divine Thrones, the World Force flowing from Karavan after restoring the link was in no way inferior to Jaehwan’s.
“It seems you have grown quite a bit in there too, if you can feel my World Force.”
“I just chanted Ouroboros diligently.”
“Now that I think about it, what exactly did that mean?”
“I do not want to know.”
Jaehwan could be seen walking toward them from afar.
Runald asked, “Will we leave right away?”
“Not yet. There are people waiting.”
“People waiting? Who?”
“My Companions.”
Runald wondered if he had made an unintentionally rude expression. Still, he could not help it.
Companions? What Companions did Jaehwan have?
Jaehwan had been alone since he came up to the 《Abyss》. He had met Andersen and Runald there, and in the 〈Metaverse〉, he had gathered several people who followed him. Yet they had all died during the 〈Caspion Catastrophe〉.
There were other Companions?
Feeling something like a betrayal he could not understand, Runald asked, “Who could they possibly be...”
“They will probably arrive soon. I have a feeling.”
At that moment, something like a gigantic shadow appeared on the distant horizon.
Karavan let out a pleased whistle.
“Oh, those friends from before. They made it out safely.”
A massive airship floated in the sky.
An airship painted entirely black, with a gloomy and sinister atmosphere.
Runald stared blankly up at it, his mouth open.
Come to think of it, he remembered boarding that airship just before entering the Forest of Madness. At the time, he had lost Andersen and had been too overwhelmed to ask about it properly, but Karlton, who had climbed the 〈Metaverse〉 with them, had also been part of that ship’s crew.
There was a mark of Destruction on the side of the vessel.
Only then did Runald remember its name.
“What a grand name.”
Along with Jaehwan’s faint smile, voices carried from afar.
“Jaehwan!”
The ship’s name was Destruction.
“You brat!”
“Fortress Lord!”
Voices rang out through the sky at once.
Runald could feel the emotions in those voices. They were voices that had waited for one person for so long, voices that had missed him for far too long.
People came running toward Jaehwan.
Those must be Jaehwan’s true Companions.
Runald suddenly felt strange.
It was as if he were in an entirely different place despite standing in the same space.
He could not fully understand their smiles, their laughter, or their joy.
Only then did Runald think he understood the faint wall he had felt from Jaehwan.
This was a wall of time.
A wall of relationships that could not be entered through the history he possessed.
Was this the wall I had felt all along?
He missed Andersen.
The boy’s instincts told him he could never enter that wall. Alienation washed over him. Amid deep despair, the voices drifted farther away.
Then, the next moment.
“Runald.”
At the sound of a voice from somewhere, the boy raised his head.
“Let us go.”
It was a voice calmly calling his name.
At Jaehwan’s call, which held not the slightest hesitation, Runald realized he was crossing a wall far too easily. As he crossed it, he also knew something was about to begin.
Runald unconsciously looked back.
The Longevity Clan members who had seen them off were no longer visible.
The forest of black leaves and the Forest of Madness receded in the distance.
He had learned much in that forest, and he had also let much go.
Slowly, Runald turned his head and looked at Jaehwan’s people running toward them.
Just as one puts on Clothes and takes them off, one thing goes and another comes.
At that moment, Runald thought he understood Ouroboros a little.
He did not know whether this was its complete meaning.
Even so, Runald did not want to hide this feeling.
The boy quietly closed his eyes.
Then a song began to drift in from somewhere.
Quiet, warm lyrics Andersen had once sung for him.
Poor Naked God
All alone, on the way home,
Thought to himself.
Still, just one person.
Still, just once.
As he savored the song, Runald quietly murmured, “Ouroboros.”
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